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A Harry Potter Quest: He who was not

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[X] Plan Attribute Plan Luck + 2
Because I believe luck rolls have saved our lives a couple times. So having it high is good.

[X] Attribute Plan Creativity: Creativity +2
Mental skills up :D.
 
[X] Plan Attribute Plan Luck + 2

Makes the most sense, and I don't think we're planning any major expeditions for the rest of this year so we could just make next month a more self improvement focused once.
 
Finally finished re-reading the quest.

On the current subject of stats, we definitely should put more Personal Actions into training them in the future. That's both how we get the most value out of our level ups, and how we become more versatile on a narrative level.

While I haven't minded Jacob's relative social obliviousness (he's a young teen boy) he's had enough experiences this year to justify a greater understanding there. And for constitution, it'll always be needed in clutch time, as Basque showed us. Plus with Talaria, we get benefits from it near future, not far future.

I'd say every month we should devote 2 personal actions to stat training until they're all at least at 6. Outside extenuating circumstance. Getting the baseline up high is important if we want, say, an Intellect of 12 or similar, because of the 5-range limit.

On a related note, I find the image of a super-strong but still withdrawn Jacob to be hilarious. Just, his head in the clouds, inadvertently shouldering his way past bullies with sheer strength, pondering on how to maximize his GAINZ so he can spend less time walking and resting and more time secreted away in distant caches of mystery.
 
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8.1 April, 1994
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    • [X] Plan Attribute Plan Luck + 2

    [x] Case IV: The girl that is two (2 Actions) - There's a strange mystery at Hogwarts. There are basic laws that are ultimate. If you throw something up, it falls down. Magic changes these ultimate laws, into mere guidelines, to be stepped around whenever needed. If you are in one place, you can not be in another place at the same time. But somehow, there is a girl that seems to not abide by this specific law. How is this possible? You are determined to figure out the truth, even if it means delving into the dark corners of the castle and risking not eating lunch to uncover the mystery of the girl who is two.

    -[x] Runes Club Research x 2

    -[x] Random Encounter – Just… Go and live your life. You don't need to plan everything in your life out.

    -[x] Write a Letter (Free Action) – To Nicolas Flamel tell him about Mermaid's Breath and ask for any insight or advice he has in regards to the Soul-Snatcher. Also write a letter to our parents telling them about the misadventures we seem to be having at school, though try not to worry them overly much either.

    -[x]x7 personal actions.

    -[x] Legilimency & Occlumency x1
    -[x] Alchemy x2

    -[x] Train Constitution x1

    -[x] Learning x 3 (Protego (Deep Understanding), Shrinking Solution (Needed for exams at the end of the year), Antidote to Uncommon Poisons (Needed for exams at the end of the year), Point Me, Lumos (Deep Understanding)



    Present Date: 1st April 1994
    Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

    It was the last Friday before a two-week long break for easter. Professor Sprout stood in front of the herbology class, a small plant in her hands. "This is a stinksap plant," she explained, holding it up for the students to see. "It's called Mimbulus mimbletonia, and it has a very unique defence mechanism."

    She gently touched the plant, and a few moments later a pungent smell filled the greenhouse. "As you can smell, the plant releases a green fluid called stinksap when it's touched," Professor Sprout said, holding her nose. "It smells like rancid manure, but it can actually be used to nurse ill animals. It would also work on humans … but the smell makes it a rare use case."

    The students wrinkled their noses in disgust, but Professor Sprout continued. "You will each be responsible for taking care of a Mimbulus mimbletonia plant for the rest of the semester. If you leave for the Easter Break, I will oversee them until you are back," she said, placing the plant back in its pot. "They will stay in the greenhouse for everyone, so make sure you visit them regularly and give them proper care."

    She smiled at the class. "Today we will learn about how to take care of them primarily and how to apply them."

    As Professor Sprout continued her lecture on the properties of stinksap, Justin leaned over to you and Megan to whisper: "Well, the plant will have to wait for me! I can't wait to go home for Easter break. My family is taking me to Paris this year. Have you guys ever been?"

    Sadly, today you had come in too early for the class and when the other students joined one by one … Justin had chosen the empty seat to your left and Megan soon after the seat to your right.

    You sighed. You had been surrounded. Again.

    Megan shook her head. "No, you definitely will have to tell me how it was, when you are back!" She sounded excited about the prospect of the foreign city. "My parents are taking me to visit my grandma in Scotland, though. I can't wait to see her again. It's been too long."

    Grandparents. That concept was a bit alien for you. What would it feel like to have the parents of your parents still around?

    "Stinksap can also be used as a deterrent for pests and vermin," Professor Sprout said in the background, her nose still wrinkled from the smell. You were watching the plant in her hand, trying to not be part of the conversation that was happening to both sides of you.

    When Justin noticed your lack of participation in the conversation, it seemed like a reason for him to pull you in actively. He nudged you: "Hey, Jacob, what are you doing for break? Going home to see your family?"

    You shook your head. "I'll probably just stay at Hogwarts."

    "Why?" Megan asked. "You were with your family over Christmas. Don't you want to see them again?"

    She had been attentive as always.

    "The end of the term is closing in, and I still have a few projects I might want to finish up over the break," you said, before writing down a sentence into your notebook.

    Herbology Notebook said:
    Comment 1: The defensive mechanism of the plant itself is not awe inspiring. But the trigger is interesting. Could this be used to trigger something else that is more useful? Then I could combine a good trigger, with a strong effect?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...


    "That sounds … productive?" Megan said, taken aback by something.

    "What do you mean?" Justin asked, his voice amused. "You think that Jacob ever just relaxes and has a nice day by the lake or something?"

    "You should also take a break from time to time, Jacob!" Megan said almost defensively. "You can't just keep working hard all the time."

    You struggled to answer, unsure as to what she was trying to tell you with that. It hadn't escaped your attention that she had been studying a lot herself. You saw her take classes more seriously and she was even keeping up with you in your rune's studies.

    So why take issue with you doing the same?

    "But I am taking plenty of breaks," you answered. And it was true; you had been doing plenty of things that had been fun over the last few months.

    Herbology Notebook said:
    Comment 2: Would that be a Potion or Alchemy? I feel like these two fields meet somewhere in the middle, where there is no clear distinction left.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...


    "I don't believe that. Megan," Justin said from your other side. "Did you ever see him relax?" He tried to hide a chuckle behind his raised hand as if he was trying to scratch his nose.

    Professor Sprout did either not notice or not care. It probably helped that all three of you were still carefully following along with her explanations.

    "That's correct," Professor Sprout said, nodding to one of your classmates. "Well done. Alright, let's get to work on taking care of our delicate friends. And remember, be careful when handling them! We don't want the whole greenhouse to smell like manure."

    Being attacked by both sides, you felt the need to defend yourself. It was weird, because you were quite conscious about the fact that what they thought of you mattered to you for some reason. That was an interesting change to your emotions.

    "I was quite in fact having a nice day out with Tracey at the Lake just a few days ago." There! That counted as relaxing, right? Giant squids, darkness, water and meerpeople. It had been such an energizing retreat and you had even thought of having someone participate in a part of it. A very small part of it, but the intent had to count for something.

    No one could realistically expect more of you, surely!

    "So, Jacob …" Justin said, leaning closer to you and Megan.

    "You had a date with Davis, huh," he said, his voice high pitched as he wiggled his eyebrows at you. "Care to tell us about it?"

    You opened your mouth to answer, when you felt Megan turn to your right.

    Instead of answering Justin, you focussed on her. All positive emotions had disappeared from her face as she starred at you.

    "You went on a date?" Her voice was so quiet that you almost didn't hear her words.

    Why was she looking so angry?


    Class Progress +1 → Now 3/5 progress to next skill level


    Alchemy Training I, DC 0→ 1D100 → 83 (78 + 5) → Automatic Success, New Grade: D

    Alchemy Training II, DC 0 → 1D100 → 18 (13 + 5) → Automatic Success, New Grade: D+




    Present Date: 6th April 1994
    Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

    → Hidden roll for Random Encounter

    Legilimency & Occlumency Training, DC 0 → 1D100 → 13 → Automatic Success, New Grade: D+

    You sat on the thousand-year-old stone ledge, one foot dangling over the open window as you gazed out at the empty castle grounds below. It was a rare moment of peace and tranquillity, with most of the students gone for the Easter break. You relished in the solitude, feeling free and unencumbered without the constant hustle and bustle of so many people around.

    This felt like the perfect environment for your headspace.

    Breath in.

    While you couldn't lie to yourself anymore, it was now a fact that you liked to spend time with your friends – this right here was what truly gave you energy; solitude, time to think and a beautiful environment full of magic and mystery to surround yourself in.

    Breath out. Slowly. Bring your heartbeat down.

    You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, again savouring the cool, fresh air coming through the open window.

    You held your breath for a while. Then you let it out again slowly. When you opened your eyes again, you glanced around the tower that led up to the Ravenclaw common room, enjoying the emptiness and stillness and glanced down at the huge lake below.

    For a moment, you considered the idea of throwing caution to the wind, taking your things and jumping into it again to finish up what you had started. But as you sat there on the window ledge, you couldn't bring yourself to feel anything but calmness. The thing had survived decades, if not longer. It would have to wait a little bit longer until you had the necessary tools to fight it again.

    You were curious and brash, not stupid. There was much work to do before the hunt, and this right now was the perfect opportunity to get in a chunk of the work done without any distractions.

    With a contented sigh, you settled back on the window ledge and closed your eyes once more, basking in the peace and quiet of the empty castle and focusing on your breath.

    You let go of all your thoughts and worries, being aware solely on the present moment and the sensation of the cool breeze on your skin. And as you cleared your mind, a sense of peace and clarity washed over you.

    For a while, you sat there and kept focused on your breathing, trying to clear your mind and enter a meditative state. It was as if you were travelling back in time, reworking what you had experienced in a different body before. A dream that had been so real to you, that you could still feel the blood and sweat on your body.

    You had started working on your mind skills in your free time, something that Basques had learned from Lobo and you through her experiences. And if it wasn't for that first-hand experience, this would have been an impossible task.

    The art of protecting the mind from outside intrusions was one that was difficult to research. You had found only few mentions of it in the library, and there had been no sensible approach mentioned to learn it in any of those books. But even worse, there had not been a single mention of the art of how to attack a mind yourself. You had only learned of the name in the definition of Occlumency; Legilimency. A topic thought either too sensitive for students or for the entirety of wizarding society.

    Caught inside your mind, thoughts manifested and disappeared again. You were in a state of trance, so deep that you stopped noticing the breeze of wind on your skin. You focused on the sound of your own breathing, trying to block out any external distractions until also that sound disappeared. You had been practicing occlumency for weeks now, determined to master this difficult and mysterious art, but it was difficult to push yourself to something that would only come to you, when you applied no pressure at all.

    Pressure. The need for a tool that was essential for your plan to defeat the Soul-Snatcher. You let it go.

    Now those thoughts were nothing but past emotions that did not matter. With every breath you began to feel your mind becoming vaguer and more distanced. You could sense your own thoughts and emotions, but it was as if you were looking at them from the outside, able to push away any distractions that tried to enter your mind.

    Your mind slowed down to a calm body of water. No waves and no currents moved the water along. There was no cold breeze, no hard surface you were sitting on. Even time had stopped with your last heartbeat.

    And then, only then, you could feel it. Hidden deep inside you, something was moving against that body of water. It was not intruding, instead it was simply not coming to a stop like the rest of your mind.

    You turned to it as the body of water had come to a full stop. Faint whispers started to arise. The sounds were too weak for you to make the words out, so you tried moving closer. The whispers started getting louder finally, but you could still not make out the words.

    You tried to reach for it.

    "Hello," a voice said suddenly.

    The body of water started moving again. In a mere moment, the current started gaining traction. You tried stopping it, fighting against the unsurmountable power of this force of nature, but you failed. The next moment you felt the wind on your skin again, the weight of your clothes, the smell of flowers. All thoughts were back. Chaos reigned supreme over your mind again.

    You opened your eyes.

    As you emerged from your meditative state, you saw a figure standing in front of you. It was a girl with long, dirty blond hair that fell in waves around her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright, electric blue and seemed to glow in the reflection to the sunlight shining into the tower from behind you.

    Her clothing was unusual, to say the least. She wore a long, flowing blue cloak that seemed to shimmer and change colour in the light. It was adorned with strange symbols and patterns that you couldn't quite make out, and it seemed to be held up by a series of woven chains.

    As you looked at her, you couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder and curiosity. She looked just as strange to this world as the headmaster did at times.

    "You aren't down at Lunch," the girl said vaguely, glancing around you as she stepped left and then right to look at something past you. You turned around to look outside, but there was only the open window and the sky with nothing particular to notice. When you turned back to her, her eyes were glued to forehead.

    Who was this person?

    You cleared your throat, trying to break the awkward silence between you. "I'm sorry, I'm Jacob. I didn't catch your name."

    The girl hesitated for a moment before smiling. "I'm Luna. It's nice to meet you, Jacob. But we already know each other!"

    Well, that could not be true, could it? You could believably swear that you had never seen this person in your entire life. There was no way that you had ever heard of someone called 'Luna' and forgotten about it.

    … on the other hand, she looked like she was younger than you. And it wasn't like you had registered many of the students outside of your year or your usual activities.

    Maybe you should not take that oath then.

    "Eh, nice to meet you, Luna," you said in the end.

    Silence again, as she watched you intently. You waited for a few seconds for her to speak up again. She had first talked to you, so your expectation was that she would now state what she wanted from you.

    But as you continued starring at each other, you did not get the feeling that she had any need to comply with sensibility and common procedures of human interactions. Luna did not speak up again.

    Huh.

    Was this how people saw you? A strange individual that defied common attitude.

    That realization made you smile.

    "How come you're not at Lunch?" you asked. "It probably just started." Your question made her finally break the very uncomfortable eye contact.

    "I'm definitely planning to go down in a minute," she said. "But I just saw you up there with all those strange Blibbering Humdinger around your head!" A moment passed. Then her eyes widened in shock. "I've interrupted a deep thought, haven't I? I am terribly sorry!"

    You could almost feel her brain jump from one half formed though to the other. A chuckle escaped you.

    "Don't worry," you said. "The thought will come back again. But you should move along and go eat something."

    "Oh, I can't just yet … Well, I've lost most of my possessions," said Luna serenely. "And I wanted to get new shoes before going down again," she said.

    Only now, did you take the time to look down at her feet.

    "How did you lose them, Luna?" You asked, a bit amused of all the strangeness around this child in front of you.

    Now, she looked back up again. She smiled, but it looked forced in comparison to her honest expression of wonder before. "People take them and hide them, you know. But as we are in Easter Break, I don't really need them back. I will grab new ones and later, put up some signs. Sometimes, they get returned when they are thrown away."

    The smile on your face disappeared again.

    "How did you lose them, Luna?" You asked again, more serious than before.

    "I was out by the lake before Lunch and I wanted to put my feet in the water a bit," she said. "It was probably the group of Hufflepuff boys, but don't worry! They will surely return them."

    An odd feeling rose in you — an emotion quite different from the anger that you had felt in the past. It took a few moments before you realized that you were feeling sorry for Luna.

    "How come people hide your stuff?" you asked her, frowning.

    "Oh . . . well . . ." Luna shrugged. "I think, they think I'm a bit odd, you know." You looked at her and the strange new feeling intensified. "Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood, actually."

    In a different world, this could have been you. If your parents hadn't taught you to be strong when needed.

    "That's no reason for them to take your things," you said flatly. "Do you want help finding them?"

    "Oh no," she said, smiling at you. This time it was an honest smile. "They'll come back; they always do in the end. No, I think I'll just go down and have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up."

    You nodded. You could respect such a decision. She wanted to be her own person, care for her own problems. This person in front of you was not victimizing herself. That was something that you would have disliked.

    But there was still a big gap to what she actually needed to do. You felt like your father when you said: "Grab your new shoes and then follow me down, Luna. We'll get your things back."



    A few minutes later, Jacob and Luna sat together in the Great Hall, eating their lunch in silence. Most of the students had left the castle for the Easter break, leaving the hall eerily quiet and empty. Only a few teachers remained, keeping a watchful eye over the students who had stayed behind.

    Professor Snape sat at the head table on Dumbledore's seat, his hawk-like gaze fixing over the students as they ate. To the left side of the table, Professor Lupin looked tired and worn again, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. You did not have to look up at a moon calendar to know what the reason would be. Dumbledore was absent. From the right, Hagrid smiled at you and waved. He pointed at the enormous watch on his wrist and then formed a four with his fingers. You smiled back and nodded, but it was a strained smile - your mind was focused on something else.

    Your eyes roamed over the Hall again and caught those of Cedric for a moment. He had been watching you. Now, he simply smiled at you and looked down at his food again.

    As they finished their meal, you observed two smaller students sitting a distance from Cedric. Wayne and Zacharias were getting up from their table and leaving the hall. These two you knew; they were both part of your year. Wayne Hopkins had black hair and quite the stocky build. You knew that he had some German heritage. Padma's and Morag's never-ending gossips had some kind of advantage, when you cared to actually listen to them.

    Zacharias Smith was tall and blond, with a lean and athletic build. He was a Chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, even if you never had seen a game with him in. You had not stepped into the Quidditch field in the past year.

    You waited for a few moments, then motioned for Luna to stand up and follow you. The two of you left the Great Hall and started to discreetly follow the two Hufflepuff students through the castle.

    It took you two staircases until you got a good sense of what direction they were trying to go. So, instead of keeping up with them in a suspicious manner, you told Luna to follow you into one of the secret passageways that would bring you to a place that they most certainly would have to pass by, if they were walking into the direction of the Hufflepuff common room as you suspected.

    You pushed against a specific stone to have a bookcase slide away far enough for you and Luna to push through. With this you skipped a few corners of floors and were suddenly well ahead of the Hufflepuff students.

    Eventually, Zacharias and Wayne would find themselves in a quiet, deserted corridor where you were already waiting for them.

    "Jacob," Luna said, something on her mind, but you cut her off. She had followed you quietly until now. But now, she seemed unsure. "I am sure that they will return them once they get bored with it."

    "I am not doing this for you, Luna." You said instead, not turning around to her. "I just don't like bullies."

    Zacharias was laughing, when he entered the corridor. You waited a few seconds for them to have walked up closer, before you stepped out from the shadows, revealing yourself to the two surprised boys. His laugh died down when he saw you at the end of it, Luna somewhat behind you.

    Why start with platitudes, when you could just jump into the solution?

    "Hand over Luna's things," you said firmly.

    Wayne's smile stayed half frozen on his face as he processed the situation. Then he sneered at you. "What are you talking about?" he asked, trying to play dumb.

    You narrowed your eyes at him. "We both know what I'm talking about," you said. "Luna's possessions that you've been hiding from her. Her shoes, her bag, her books. Hand them over, now."

    Wayne looked nervously from you to Zacharias, clearly unsure of what to do. Zacharias, on the other hand, seemed to relish the opportunity for a confrontation.

    That settled the hierarchy then. One dumb enough to be a bully, one weak enough to follow.

    "We don't have anything that belongs to that weirdo," he spat, gesturing towards Luna. "And even if we did, we wouldn't give it to you. You're just another lunatic, thinking you're better than everyone else."

    You had never liked Zacharias, with his ignorant and arrogant nature. And the way he was talking about Luna made you feel more secure about your decision to allow for confrontation.

    "I am not better than everyone else," you said, a familiar sentence on your mind. "I am just better than you."

    "You son of a bitch," Zacharias shouted over the corridor as he came closer towards you. Wayne was following him closely, his eyes darting nervously between his housemate and you.

    You felt sure about who would come out ahead in a fight, but you knew that resorting to violence wouldn't solve anything and bring attention to you again. Instead, you took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. This was about showing that Luna would be no pushover in the future.

    Even if it would be much more fun to strike first.
    "I'm not trying to start a fight," you said, trying to reason with him. "I just want you to do the right thing and give Luna back her things. It's not too much to ask, is it?"

    Zacharias sneered at you again. "I don't have to do anything for that freak," he said, turning to leave.

    You knew that you couldn't let him get away with it. You moved your left arm out, blocking his path. "I'm not going to let you walk away from this," you said firmly. "You're going to give Luna back her things, or you'll have to deal with me."

    Zacharias rolled his eyes, but you could see a hint of fear in them. He knew you. Even if he knew nothing besides the skills you showed in class, he had most certainly heard the rumours.

    Montague had been taken out of school for a week until his eye had regrown. And while there had been no official announcement, there had been a lot of talk in the weeks after when he turned up with a completely new wand.

    Not many people had heard of the schoolboards decision to keep it on the low as Montague's parents tried their best to have their son not be expelled for the attack on a fellow student. Your mother had been furious, but the fact that a wand had been broken gave the other party just enough leeway that everyone agreed to settle things in a draw.

    No one wanted two pureblood families battling it out in the open.

    So, for the studentship there were only two rumours that had become facts: Montague, Slytherin Chaser and fourth year student had attacked Jacob and the attacker had lost an eye and a wand in the process.

    But it seemed that a wrong sense of pride made you overlook these things.

    "You should just shut up, before I make you," Zacharias said. You did not need to follow his hand to see what it was grabbing behind his back. Instead, you focussed on his eyes. There was fear in them. You could see shame and anger as well.

    You on the other hand felt nothing. Calm and focused you stepped to your right to stand between Luna and him for what would obviously follow just a moment later.

    It was interesting how fighting against the quick spellcasting of your father had made you much more relaxed when reacting to your fellow students' movements. A change that you had already felt in the duelling club, but that was so much more obvious against someone as untrained as the Hufflepuff in front of you.

    By the time, he finally cast his spell you had already put up a shield in between you: "Tarantallegra," he shouted after you said: "Protego."

    With a weak deflating sound, a charm that you had learned in your first year was swallowed by your shield. Zacharias was probably thinking about his next move or was still surprised by your quick reaction when your wand moved a second time: "Glacius," you said, casting it at the wand in his hand.

    Cold air rushed out of the tip of your wand, finding its way to the piece of wood in his hand as it froze. Zacharias screamed out in pain as he threw the wand into the air to escape the cold bite of the ice. By the time the ice block with a wand inside landed on the ground, you had already moved again.

    "Expelliarmus," you thought but did not say yet, as you were still in mid movement.

    Wayne lost the wand that he was trying to frantically grab out of his pocket, but it jumped away the moment he put his hand around it.

    The thing was you did not cast that spell. As quick as you possibly could, you turned around, your wand still in hand only to see the tall and bulky boy that had stepped out of the same hole in the wall as you had moments earlier.

    Good-looking and charming as always, he smiled at you while raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

    "Nah, Jacob. I come in peace," Cedric said.

    You put two and two together.

    "You followed me." You said.

    "Obviously, I did," he answered, dropping his hands to his side. Each one of them held a wand. One of them disappeared in his pocket, the other one that had been Wayne's just moments before, started swirling around between his fingers.

    "You are not as good a shadow as you think," Cedric said with a carefree smile on his face. "I was thinking that you may want to lay harm on my poor little babies." His eyes left you and moved to the two students that stood unarmed, angry and shamed next to you. "But it seems that I have misjudged members of my own house."

    Cedric gestured at Luna, while looking directly at Zacharias: "So, I come to learn that I have two little Hufflepuff bullies?"

    "No!" Zacharias said, a little panicked when the situation started to settle against him. "They are lying."

    "I know you two have been taking Luna's things and hiding them," you said, your voice firm and steady. "I want you to hand them back to her now."

    Wayne and Zacharias looked at each other in shock, clearly not expecting to be caught and having had no backup lie to defend themselves with.

    "We-we don't know what you're talking about," Wayne stuttered, trying to play dumb.

    "Don't lie to me," you said, your anger rising at their stupidity and stubbornness. "I know what you've been doing and it's not right. Luna has done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment, and I won't stand for it."

    Zacharias, always quick to anger, stepped forward and sneered at you. "You have no right to tell us what to do," he said. "Who are you to judge us?"

    Suddenly, he froze in motion. You had not heard a spell, but you hadn't been paying attention to Cedric behind you, who was still only holding on to Wayne's wand.

    "There are many stupid things in life," the Hufflepuff prefect said, pointing his wand at Zacharias. "But there are not many that rank below a bully that doesn't know when they should just shut up and say sorry."

    He looked at Zacharias, then at Wayne who didn't move from his position and looked down at the ground in shame.

    Cedric sighed.

    "You will say sorry to Luna and I want to see you treat her with respect and kindness in the future," Cedric said with clear annoyance in his voice. "Now, we will have a quick talk with Professor Sprout and later you will hand over her things to our dear Ravenclaw."

    With that Cedric carelessly flicked back the wand in his hand and dropped it to the ground between him and Wayne.

    "And be thankful that I came after you," he said, now gesturing at you. "He would have cleaned the walls with you."

    Zacharias Attack I → 1D100+7 → 15 (8 + 7)

    Jacob Defence I (DADA + INT + CRE + Perks + Wand, Talaria not equiped) → 1D100+31 → 91 (60 + 31)

    → That settles it in one round.

    + 20 Exp

    How many Duels in Duel Club this month? → 1D4 → 1
    Average EXP → 1D22+6 (LCK) → 24 (20 + 6)
    → + 26 EXP




    Present Date: 6th April 1994
    Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

    You and Luna made your way through the castle and out into the grounds, heading towards Hagrid's hut. Since leaving the castle, the girl had gone back to being a bubbly version of herself again. Well, maybe it wasn't that bad that you had asked her to come along to your planned daytrip.

    It was better for her to not be alone right now … probably.

    As you approached the hut, you could see Hagrid standing outside, a large bucket in his hand in the process of feeding his chickens. He was dressed in his usual attire of a worn, brown coat and boots, with a hint of a smile on his face as he saw you approaching.

    "Ah, Jacob, good to see yeh!" he called out. "And who's this yeh brought with yeh?"

    "This is Luna, Professor" you said, introducing her to Hagrid. "She's in my house a year below."

    "Nice t' meet yeh, Luna," Hagrid said, offering her a friendly nod. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper o' Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." After a moment he added: "Oh! And Professor for Care of Magical Creatures. Always forge' about that." A hearty laugh followed his introduction.

    Luna smiled widely and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Hagrid. Jacob has told me a lot about you and your magical creatures on the way here."

    Hagrid chuckled and patted her head with his gigantic hand. "Ah, yeh have an interest in creatures, do yeh? Well, yeh've come to the right place. I've got all sorts o' critters here at Hogwarts, from Flobberworms to giant spiders. An' I could use some help feedin' 'em today."

    "We'd be happy to help," you said, looking over at Luna who nodded in agreement.

    "Great!" Hagrid said, leading the way around his hut. As you followed him behind the building there were already two dozen buckets set up. Without waiting for any instructions, you walked over to the first one and pulled it up to your waist.

    "Jacob, ye sure ye don't wanna use yer wand again?" The Professor asked when he saw you proceed.

    "No, Professor," you said with a smile on your face. This felt just as good as it had felt last time. It made it even better that you were here voluntarily and not for detention this time around. "I think I need this right now."

    Constitution Training, DC 20 → 1D100+10 → 37 (27 + 10) → Constitution up to 3.

    Over the day you were greeted by a wide variety of creatures, each one more unique and fascinating than the last. There were fire-breathing sheeps in one corner, a family of Nifflers snuffling around in another, and the highlight; a group of Unicorns standing regally at the end of a clearing.

    They waited until you had cleared the space again until they approached.

    The final group of animals you fed, were the most beautiful and strange. By then you had seen water horses, horned-horses but you knew that you had always found these winged-horses to be the most fascinating. You had discovered them in your first year, when no one around you was able to, carrying the carriages.

    It was not a good sign, when a child could see them. That you had learned. The only time you had witnessed another child gaze at these creatures had been through the eyes of Sally-Anne. When her father had carried her atop his personal Thestral on her first day at Hogwarts.

    The group of skeletal horses moved their thin bat-like wings in anticipation when you approached with their food. Luna was levitating a large bucket next to her, while you were struggling against the one you were carrying yourself.

    "Whoa," Luna breathed, taking in the sights around her. "This is amazing."

    "You can see them?" You asked surprised at her reaction.

    Luna nodded happily, not conscious of the nature of your question.

    A pang of sadness fell on you, when you watched the girl walk up besides you and drop the bucket to the ground. The skeletal horses moved up to her, fighting for the first bite.

    Hagrid chuckled and handed them both buckets of food he had been carrying. "Alright, let's get to work. We've got a lot o' mouths t' feed."

    As you set about feeding the creatures, the sadness lost its grasp on you. You couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder and awe at the magic that surrounded you. It was moments like this that made you grateful to be a part of this world, and to have the opportunity to experience all the wonders that it had to offer.

    "So, Luna, have ye ever helped out with creatures before?" Hagrid asked as you worked.

    Luna shook her head. "No, this is my first time. It's really interesting, though. I've never seen so many different kinds of animals all in one place before."

    "It's always been one of my favourite things about Hogwarts," Hagrid said with a big smile. "There's just so much tae learn and discover here."

    As the afternoon passed, you and Luna worked alongside Hagrid, feeding and caring for the creatures.

    When you finished feeding the creatures, Hagrid clapped his hands together. "Alright, that should do it for now. Thanks for your help, ye two. It's always appreciated."

    "No problem, Hagrid," you said as you handed the empty bucket back to him. "It was fun as always."

    "Yeah, it was great," Luna added with a smile.

    Hagrid beamed at the two of you. "Well, if ye're ever free and want tae come help out again, just let me know. I'm always in need o' a few extra hands."

    You took him up on that offer: "I'll come over tomorrow then!"

    Hagrid was the happiest you had ever seen him, when you said those words. He slapped you on the back happily, throwing you over the pair of clean buckets that you had set up in front of you.

    A thousand mumbled 'sorry, my boy' and a few minutes later, you and Luna made your way back. By then it was already getting dark. You were sweaty and happily exhausted.

    "Luna," you said, trying to catch her attention while looking at the Lake to the right that you were passing by.

    This was the time for the moral of the story. But how to do it best?

    "I don't think it's right for people to hide your things or call you names because they think you're odd." You said, not looking at her to make it less uncomfortable for the girl.

    "You have the right to be yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks."

    A moment of silence.

    She was walking close to you, her steps out of sync with you, because her life was in sync with no one but herself. "I know that Jacob," she answered. "It doesn't bother me too much. I like being myself. It's just that sometimes it's hard to be yourself when other people keep trying to change you or make fun of you."

    You nodded at that.

    She was strong willed enough. There had just been a push needed to guide her into the right direction. And maybe … just maybe this could have been the day for that.

    Today, you felt good about yourself.

    As your eyes stayed on the lake, a new idea came to your mind.

    "When something is that difficult, it is often worth it." Your words were half directed at Luna, half at something else. A thought that was forming.


    New Notebook started: Magical Creature Projects

    You have worked on yourself a lot, but you have never thought to use your energy to work on a beast instead. There are two things you could do next. But you are not sure which one to go for just yet. Only one entry will get written into your new Notebook though:

    [ ] How to tame a wild Water-Horse – Taming Creature. A Kelpie lurks in rivers and streams and will kneel in invitation for anyone to ride it across. If this is attempted, the Kelpie will drag the rider underwater and attempt to eat them. The creatures are shapeshifting water demons native to Great Britain and Ireland. They are able to take any form. But what if you have the possibility to meet it under water? Go into its lair and have it get used to you. A Kelpie could be rendered docile and harmless by making it familiar over time. [Requires Understanding of Magical Creatures skill of at least P D+ due to available Mermaid's Breath), DC: 150.

    [ ] How to tame a wild Winged-Horse – Taming a Creature. Thestrals are horse-like creatures with black, bat-like wings and glowing red eyes. They are only visible to those who have witnessed death and are notoriously difficult to tame. However, if you are able to approach a Thestral cautiously and offer it food, you may be able to gain its trust over time. It is important to approach a Thestral with caution, as they can be dangerous if provoked. But who would need a broom if you had a flying horse? [Requires Understanding of Magical Creatures skill of at least P D+ due to available Perk 'Hagrid's Friend', DC: 150]



    Unlocked new Perk: Hagrid's Friend – You like to spend time with the good-natured Professor. You guys share a lot of common interests. Get a + 10 in training Constitution & Understanding of Magical Creatures related Rolls.



    Six-hour Moratorium! As always, please take time to discuss the chapter and the vote first.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • So, a flying horse friend would be much more handy than an underwater one, due to Jacobs shoes and lip ring.

    But putting that aside. I just find thestrals much cooler than kelpies.

    (Though I do want Jacob to get a cheap broom and the basic abilty to fly in a straight line someday, for that really long trek to the underground place. But that's like. a year away from coming up again.)

    Edit. Magical creatures are amazing... and I don't recall Magical Theory class coming up in the narraitve at all actually. Has it had a background style effect that I've missed?
     
    Last edited:
    Wow, awesome as always... There is a lot to unpack here
    Tabula Rasa said:
    Present Date: 1st April 1994
    Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

    It was the last Friday before a two-week long break for easter. Professor Sprout stood in front of the herbology class, a small plant in her hands. "This is a stinksap plant," she explained, holding it up for the students to see. "It's called Mimbulus mimbletonia, and it has a very unique defence mechanism."

    She gently touched the plant, and a few moments later a pungent smell filled the greenhouse. "As you can smell, the plant releases a green fluid called stinksap when it's touched," Professor Sprout said, holding her nose. "It smells like rancid manure, but it can actually be used to nurse ill animals. It would also work on humans … but the smell makes it a rare use case."

    The students wrinkled their noses in disgust, but Professor Sprout continued. "You will each be responsible for taking care of a Mimbulus mimbletonia plant for the rest of the semester. If you leave for the Easter Break, I will oversee them until you are back," she said, placing the plant back in its pot. "They will stay in the greenhouse for everyone, so make sure you visit them regularly and give them proper care."

    She smiled at the class. "Today we will learn about how to take care of them primarily and how to apply them."

    As Professor Sprout continued her lecture on the properties of stinksap, Justin leaned over to you and Megan to whisper: "Well, the plant will have to wait for me! I can't wait to go home for Easter break. My family is taking me to Paris this year. Have you guys ever been?"

    Sadly, today you had come in too early for the class and when the other students joined one by one … Justin had chosen the empty seat to your left and Megan soon after the seat to your right.

    You sighed. You had been surrounded. Again.

    Megan shook her head. "No, you definitely will have to tell me how it was, when you are back!" She sounded excited about the prospect of the foreign city. "My parents are taking me to visit my grandma in Scotland, though. I can't wait to see her again. It's been too long."

    Grandparents. That concept was a bit alien for you. What would it feel like to have the parents of your parents still around?

    "Stinksap can also be used as a deterrent for pests and vermin," Professor Sprout said in the background, her nose still wrinkled from the smell. You were watching the plant in her hand, trying to not be part of the conversation that was happening to both sides of you.

    When Justin noticed your lack of participation in the conversation, it seemed like a reason for him to pull you in actively. He nudged you: "Hey, Jacob, what are you doing for break? Going home to see your family?"

    You shook your head. "I'll probably just stay at Hogwarts."

    "Why?" Megan asked. "You were with your family over Christmas. Don't you want to see them again?"

    She had been attentive as always.

    "The end of the term is closing in, and I still have a few projects I might want to finish up over the break," you said, before writing down a sentence into your notebook.



    "That sounds … productive?" Megan said, taken aback by something.

    "What do you mean?" Justin asked, his voice amused. "You think that Jacob ever just relaxes and has a nice day by the lake or something?"

    "You should also take a break from time to time, Jacob!" Megan said almost defensively. "You can't just keep working hard all the time."

    You struggled to answer, unsure as to what she was trying to tell you with that. It hadn't escaped your attention that she had been studying a lot herself. You saw her take classes more seriously and she was even keeping up with you in your rune's studies.

    So why take issue with you doing the same?

    "But I am taking plenty of breaks," you answered. And it was true; you had been doing plenty of things that had been fun over the last few months.



    "I don't believe that. Megan," Justin said from your other side. "Did you ever see him relax?" He tried to hide a chuckle behind his raised hand as if he was trying to scratch his nose.

    Professor Sprout did either not notice or not care. It probably helped that all three of you were still carefully following along with her explanations.

    "That's correct," Professor Sprout said, nodding to one of your classmates. "Well done. Alright, let's get to work on taking care of our delicate friends. And remember, be careful when handling them! We don't want the whole greenhouse to smell like manure."

    Being attacked by both sides, you felt the need to defend yourself. It was weird, because you were quite conscious about the fact that what they thought of you mattered to you for some reason. That was an interesting change to your emotions.

    "I was quite in fact having a nice day out with Tracey at the Lake just a few days ago." There! That counted as relaxing, right? Giant squids, darkness, water and meerpeople. It had been such an energizing retreat and you had even thought of having someone participate in a part of it. A very small part of it, but the intent had to count for something.

    No one could realistically expect more of you, surely!

    "So, Jacob …" Justin said, leaning closer to you and Megan.

    "You had a date with Davis, huh," he said, his voice high pitched as he wiggled his eyebrows at you. "Care to tell us about it?"

    You opened your mouth to answer, when you felt Megan turn to your right.

    Instead of answering Justin, you focussed on her. All positive emotions had disappeared from her face as she starred at you.

    "You went on a date?" Her voice was so quiet that you almost didn't hear her words.

    Why was she looking so angry?


    Class Progress +1 → Now 3/5 progress to next skill level


    Alchemy Training I, DC 0→ 1D100 → 83 (78 + 5) → Automatic Success, New Grade: D

    Alchemy Training II, DC 0 → 1D100 → 18 (13 + 5) → Automatic Success, New Grade: D+
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It is pretty cute to see how Jacob´s friends are worried for him, and his workaholic nature...

    And wow, we have to speak with Megan, let´s hope that we don´t screw this up... I mean Jacob is as hopelessly dense as a classic Harem Protagonist which in any other setting is not funny, just exasperating...

    Tabula Rasa said:
    Present Date: 6th April 1994
    Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

    → Hidden roll for Random Encounter

    Legilimency & Occlumency Training, DC 0 → 1D100 → 13 → Automatic Success, New Grade: D+
    You sat on the thousand-year-old stone ledge, one foot dangling over the open window as you gazed out at the empty castle grounds below. It was a rare moment of peace and tranquillity, with most of the students gone for the Easter break. You relished in the solitude, feeling free and unencumbered without the constant hustle and bustle of so many people around.

    This felt like the perfect environment for your headspace.

    Breath in.

    While you couldn't lie to yourself anymore, it was now a fact that you liked to spend time with your friends – this right here was what truly gave you energy; solitude, time to think and a beautiful environment full of magic and mystery to surround yourself in.

    Breath out. Slowly. Bring your heartbeat down.

    You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, again savouring the cool, fresh air coming through the open window.

    You held your breath for a while. Then you let it out again slowly. When you opened your eyes again, you glanced around the tower that led up to the Ravenclaw common room, enjoying the emptiness and stillness and glanced down at the huge lake below.

    For a moment, you considered the idea of throwing caution to the wind, taking your things and jumping into it again to finish up what you had started. But as you sat there on the window ledge, you couldn't bring yourself to feel anything but calmness. The thing had survived decades, if not longer. It would have to wait a little bit longer until you had the necessary tools to fight it again.

    You were curious and brash, not stupid. There was much work to do before the hunt, and this right now was the perfect opportunity to get in a chunk of the work done without any distractions.

    With a contented sigh, you settled back on the window ledge and closed your eyes once more, basking in the peace and quiet of the empty castle and focusing on your breath.

    You let go of all your thoughts and worries, being aware solely on the present moment and the sensation of the cool breeze on your skin. And as you cleared your mind, a sense of peace and clarity washed over you.

    For a while, you sat there and kept focused on your breathing, trying to clear your mind and enter a meditative state. It was as if you were travelling back in time, reworking what you had experienced in a different body before. A dream that had been so real to you, that you could still feel the blood and sweat on your body.

    You had started working on your mind skills in your free time, something that Basques had learned from Lobo and you through her experiences. And if it wasn't for that first-hand experience, this would have been an impossible task.

    The art of protecting the mind from outside intrusions was one that was difficult to research. You had found only few mentions of it in the library, and there had been no sensible approach mentioned to learn it in any of those books. But even worse, there had not been a single mention of the art of how to attack a mind yourself. You had only learned of the name in the definition of Occlumency; Legilimency. A topic thought either too sensitive for students or for the entirety of wizarding society.

    Caught inside your mind, thoughts manifested and disappeared again. You were in a state of trance, so deep that you stopped noticing the breeze of wind on your skin. You focused on the sound of your own breathing, trying to block out any external distractions until also that sound disappeared. You had been practicing occlumency for weeks now, determined to master this difficult and mysterious art, but it was difficult to push yourself to something that would only come to you, when you applied no pressure at all.

    Pressure. The need for a tool that was essential for your plan to defeat the Soul-Snatcher. You let it go.

    Now those thoughts were nothing but past emotions that did not matter. With every breath you began to feel your mind becoming vaguer and more distanced. You could sense your own thoughts and emotions, but it was as if you were looking at them from the outside, able to push away any distractions that tried to enter your mind.

    Your mind slowed down to a calm body of water. No waves and no currents moved the water along. There was no cold breeze, no hard surface you were sitting on. Even time had stopped with your last heartbeat.

    And then, only then, you could feel it. Hidden deep inside you, something was moving against that body of water. It was not intruding, instead it was simply not coming to a stop like the rest of your mind.

    You turned to it as the body of water had come to a full stop. Faint whispers started to arise. The sounds were too weak for you to make the words out, so you tried moving closer. The whispers started getting louder finally, but you could still not make out the words.

    You tried to reach for it.

    "Hello," a voice said suddenly.

    The body of water started moving again. In a mere moment, the current started gaining traction. You tried stopping it, fighting against the unsurmountable power of this force of nature, but you failed. The next moment you felt the wind on your skin again, the weight of your clothes, the smell of flowers. All thoughts were back. Chaos reigned supreme over your mind again.

    You opened your eyes.

    As you emerged from your meditative state, you saw a figure standing in front of you. It was a girl with long, dirty blond hair that fell in waves around her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright, electric blue and seemed to glow in the reflection to the sunlight shining into the tower from behind you.

    Her clothing was unusual, to say the least. She wore a long, flowing blue cloak that seemed to shimmer and change colour in the light. It was adorned with strange symbols and patterns that you couldn't quite make out, and it seemed to be held up by a series of woven chains.

    As you looked at her, you couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder and curiosity. She looked just as strange to this world as the headmaster did at times.

    "You aren't down at Lunch," the girl said vaguely, glancing around you as she stepped left and then right to look at something past you. You turned around to look outside, but there was only the open window and the sky with nothing particular to notice. When you turned back to her, her eyes were glued to forehead.

    Who was this person?

    You cleared your throat, trying to break the awkward silence between you. "I'm sorry, I'm Jacob. I didn't catch your name."

    The girl hesitated for a moment before smiling. "I'm Luna. It's nice to meet you, Jacob. But we already know each other!"

    Well, that could not be true, could it? You could believably swear that you had never seen this person in your entire life. There was no way that you had ever heard of someone called 'Luna' and forgotten about it.

    … on the other hand, she looked like she was younger than you. And it wasn't like you had registered many of the students outside of your year or your usual activities.

    Maybe you should not take that oath then.

    "Eh, nice to meet you, Luna," you said in the end.

    Silence again, as she watched you intently. You waited for a few seconds for her to speak up again. She had first talked to you, so your expectation was that she would now state what she wanted from you.

    But as you continued starring at each other, you did not get the feeling that she had any need to comply with sensibility and common procedures of human interactions. Luna did not speak up again.

    Huh.

    Was this how people saw you? A strange individual that defied common attitude.

    That realization made you smile.

    "How come you're not at Lunch?" you asked. "It probably just started." Your question made her finally break the very uncomfortable eye contact.

    "I'm definitely planning to go down in a minute," she said. "But I just saw you up there with all those strange Blibbering Humdinger around your head!" A moment passed. Then her eyes widened in shock. "I've interrupted a deep thought, haven't I? I am terribly sorry!"

    You could almost feel her brain jump from one half formed though to the other. A chuckle escaped you.

    "Don't worry," you said. "The thought will come back again. But you should move along and go eat something."

    "Oh, I can't just yet … Well, I've lost most of my possessions," said Luna serenely. "And I wanted to get new shoes before going down again," she said.

    Only now, did you take the time to look down at her feet.

    "How did you lose them, Luna?" You asked, a bit amused of all the strangeness around this child in front of you.

    Now, she looked back up again. She smiled, but it looked forced in comparison to her honest expression of wonder before. "People take them and hide them, you know. But as we are in Easter Break, I don't really need them back. I will grab new ones and later, put up some signs. Sometimes, they get returned when they are thrown away."

    The smile on your face disappeared again.

    "How did you lose them, Luna?" You asked again, more serious than before.

    "I was out by the lake before Lunch and I wanted to put my feet in the water a bit," she said. "It was probably the group of Hufflepuff boys, but don't worry! They will surely return them."

    An odd feeling rose in you — an emotion quite different from the anger that you had felt in the past. It took a few moments before you realized that you were feeling sorry for Luna.

    "How come people hide your stuff?" you asked her, frowning.

    "Oh . . . well . . ." Luna shrugged. "I think, they think I'm a bit odd, you know." You looked at her and the strange new feeling intensified. "Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood, actually."

    In a different world, this could have been you. If your parents hadn't taught you to be strong when needed.

    "That's no reason for them to take your things," you said flatly. "Do you want help finding them?"

    "Oh no," she said, smiling at you. This time it was an honest smile. "They'll come back; they always do in the end. No, I think I'll just go down and have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up."

    You nodded. You could respect such a decision. She wanted to be her own person, care for her own problems. This person in front of you was not victimizing herself. That was something that you would have disliked.

    But there was still a big gap to what she actually needed to do. You felt like your father when you said: "Grab your new shoes and then follow me down, Luna. We'll get your things back."



    A few minutes later, Jacob and Luna sat together in the Great Hall, eating their lunch in silence. Most of the students had left the castle for the Easter break, leaving the hall eerily quiet and empty. Only a few teachers remained, keeping a watchful eye over the students who had stayed behind.

    Professor Snape sat at the head table on Dumbledore's seat, his hawk-like gaze fixing over the students as they ate. To the left side of the table, Professor Lupin looked tired and worn again, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. You did not have to look up at a moon calendar to know what the reason would be. Dumbledore was absent. From the right, Hagrid smiled at you and waved. He pointed at the enormous watch on his wrist and then formed a four with his fingers. You smiled back and nodded, but it was a strained smile - your mind was focused on something else.

    Your eyes roamed over the Hall again and caught those of Cedric for a moment. He had been watching you. Now, he simply smiled at you and looked down at his food again.

    As they finished their meal, you observed two smaller students sitting a distance from Cedric. Wayne and Zacharias were getting up from their table and leaving the hall. These two you knew; they were both part of your year. Wayne Hopkins had black hair and quite the stocky build. You knew that he had some German heritage. Padma's and Morag's never-ending gossips had some kind of advantage, when you cared to actually listen to them.

    Zacharias Smith was tall and blond, with a lean and athletic build. He was a Chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, even if you never had seen a game with him in. You had not stepped into the Quidditch field in the past year.

    You waited for a few moments, then motioned for Luna to stand up and follow you. The two of you left the Great Hall and started to discreetly follow the two Hufflepuff students through the castle.

    It took you two staircases until you got a good sense of what direction they were trying to go. So, instead of keeping up with them in a suspicious manner, you told Luna to follow you into one of the secret passageways that would bring you to a place that they most certainly would have to pass by, if they were walking into the direction of the Hufflepuff common room as you suspected.

    You pushed against a specific stone to have a bookcase slide away far enough for you and Luna to push through. With this you skipped a few corners of floors and were suddenly well ahead of the Hufflepuff students.

    Eventually, Zacharias and Wayne would find themselves in a quiet, deserted corridor where you were already waiting for them.

    "Jacob," Luna said, something on her mind, but you cut her off. She had followed you quietly until now. But now, she seemed unsure. "I am sure that they will return them once they get bored with it."

    "I am not doing this for you, Luna." You said instead, not turning around to her. "I just don't like bullies."

    Zacharias was laughing, when he entered the corridor. You waited a few seconds for them to have walked up closer, before you stepped out from the shadows, revealing yourself to the two surprised boys. His laugh died down when he saw you at the end of it, Luna somewhat behind you.

    Why start with platitudes, when you could just jump into the solution?

    "Hand over Luna's things," you said firmly.

    Wayne's smile stayed half frozen on his face as he processed the situation. Then he sneered at you. "What are you talking about?" he asked, trying to play dumb.

    You narrowed your eyes at him. "We both know what I'm talking about," you said. "Luna's possessions that you've been hiding from her. Her shoes, her bag, her books. Hand them over, now."

    Wayne looked nervously from you to Zacharias, clearly unsure of what to do. Zacharias, on the other hand, seemed to relish the opportunity for a confrontation.

    That settled the hierarchy then. One dumb enough to be a bully, one weak enough to follow.

    "We don't have anything that belongs to that weirdo," he spat, gesturing towards Luna. "And even if we did, we wouldn't give it to you. You're just another lunatic, thinking you're better than everyone else."

    You had never liked Zacharias, with his ignorant and arrogant nature. And the way he was talking about Luna made you feel more secure about your decision to allow for confrontation.

    "I am not better than everyone else," you said, a familiar sentence on your mind. "I am just better than you."

    "You son of a bitch," Zacharias shouted over the corridor as he came closer towards you. Wayne was following him closely, his eyes darting nervously between his housemate and you.

    You felt sure about who would come out ahead in a fight, but you knew that resorting to violence wouldn't solve anything and bring attention to you again. Instead, you took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. This was about showing that Luna would be no pushover in the future.

    Even if it would be much more fun to strike first.
    "I'm not trying to start a fight," you said, trying to reason with him. "I just want you to do the right thing and give Luna back her things. It's not too much to ask, is it?"

    Zacharias sneered at you again. "I don't have to do anything for that freak," he said, turning to leave.

    You knew that you couldn't let him get away with it. You moved your left arm out, blocking his path. "I'm not going to let you walk away from this," you said firmly. "You're going to give Luna back her things, or you'll have to deal with me."

    Zacharias rolled his eyes, but you could see a hint of fear in them. He knew you. Even if he knew nothing besides the skills you showed in class, he had most certainly heard the rumours.

    Montague had been taken out of school for a week until his eye had regrown. And while there had been no official announcement, there had been a lot of talk in the weeks after when he turned up with a completely new wand.

    Not many people had heard of the schoolboards decision to keep it on the low as Montague's parents tried their best to have their son not be expelled for the attack on a fellow student. Your mother had been furious, but the fact that a wand had been broken gave the other party just enough leeway that everyone agreed to settle things in a draw.

    No one wanted two pureblood families battling it out in the open.

    So, for the studentship there were only two rumours that had become facts: Montague, Slytherin Chaser and fourth year student had attacked Jacob and the attacker had lost an eye and a wand in the process.

    But it seemed that a wrong sense of pride made you overlook these things.

    "You should just shut up, before I make you," Zacharias said. You did not need to follow his hand to see what it was grabbing behind his back. Instead, you focussed on his eyes. There was fear in them. You could see shame and anger as well.

    You on the other hand felt nothing. Calm and focused you stepped to your right to stand between Luna and him for what would obviously follow just a moment later.

    It was interesting how fighting against the quick spellcasting of your father had made you much more relaxed when reacting to your fellow students' movements. A change that you had already felt in the duelling club, but that was so much more obvious against someone as untrained as the Hufflepuff in front of you.

    By the time, he finally cast his spell you had already put up a shield in between you: "Tarantallegra," he shouted after you said: "Protego."

    With a weak deflating sound, a charm that you had learned in your first year was swallowed by your shield. Zacharias was probably thinking about his next move or was still surprised by your quick reaction when your wand moved a second time: "Glacius," you said, casting it at the wand in his hand.

    Cold air rushed out of the tip of your wand, finding its way to the piece of wood in his hand as it froze. Zacharias screamed out in pain as he threw the wand into the air to escape the cold bite of the ice. By the time the ice block with a wand inside landed on the ground, you had already moved again.

    "Expelliarmus," you thought but did not say yet, as you were still in mid movement.

    Wayne lost the wand that he was trying to frantically grab out of his pocket, but it jumped away the moment he put his hand around it.

    The thing was you did not cast that spell. As quick as you possibly could, you turned around, your wand still in hand only to see the tall and bulky boy that had stepped out of the same hole in the wall as you had moments earlier.

    Good-looking and charming as always, he smiled at you while raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

    "Nah, Jacob. I come in peace," Cedric said.

    You put two and two together.

    "You followed me." You said.

    "Obviously, I did," he answered, dropping his hands to his side. Each one of them held a wand. One of them disappeared in his pocket, the other one that had been Wayne's just moments before, started swirling around between his fingers.

    "You are not as good a shadow as you think," Cedric said with a carefree smile on his face. "I was thinking that you may want to lay harm on my poor little babies." His eyes left you and moved to the two students that stood unarmed, angry and shamed next to you. "But it seems that I have misjudged members of my own house."

    Cedric gestured at Luna, while looking directly at Zacharias: "So, I come to learn that I have two little Hufflepuff bullies?"

    "No!" Zacharias said, a little panicked when the situation started to settle against him. "They are lying."

    "I know you two have been taking Luna's things and hiding them," you said, your voice firm and steady. "I want you to hand them back to her now."

    Wayne and Zacharias looked at each other in shock, clearly not expecting to be caught and having had no backup lie to defend themselves with.

    "We-we don't know what you're talking about," Wayne stuttered, trying to play dumb.

    "Don't lie to me," you said, your anger rising at their stupidity and stubbornness. "I know what you've been doing and it's not right. Luna has done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment, and I won't stand for it."

    Zacharias, always quick to anger, stepped forward and sneered at you. "You have no right to tell us what to do," he said. "Who are you to judge us?"

    Suddenly, he froze in motion. You had not heard a spell, but you hadn't been paying attention to Cedric behind you, who was still only holding on to Wayne's wand.

    "There are many stupid things in life," the Hufflepuff prefect said, pointing his wand at Zacharias. "But there are not many that rank below a bully that doesn't know when they should just shut up and say sorry."

    He looked at Zacharias, then at Wayne who didn't move from his position and looked down at the ground in shame.

    Cedric sighed.

    "You will say sorry to Luna and I want to see you treat her with respect and kindness in the future," Cedric said with clear annoyance in his voice. "Now, we will have a quick talk with Professor Sprout and later you will hand over her things to our dear Ravenclaw."

    With that Cedric carelessly flicked back the wand in his hand and dropped it to the ground between him and Wayne.

    "And be thankful that I came after you," he said, now gesturing at you. "He would have cleaned the walls with you."

    Zacharias Attack I → 1D100+7 → 15 (8 + 7)

    Jacob Defence I (DADA + INT + CRE + Perks + Wand, Talaria not equiped) → 1D100+31 → 91 (60 + 31)

    → That settles it in one round.

    + 20 Exp

    How many Duels in Duel Club this month? → 1D4 → 1
    Average EXP → 1D22+6 (LCK) → 24 (20 + 6)
    → + 26 EXP
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    This is also extremely awesome, we have not only established contact with Lina Lovegood, probably the most beloved character in HP fandom (and for pretty good reasons) but we are seeing real character development in Jacob... The fact that we immediately went out of the way to help a fellow student against some bullies is not only something that the Jacob of a few months ago wouldn´t have done but is also shows that despite his quirks, ruthlessness, and recklessness (not to mention his origin) Jacob is, at the end of the day, a good person who is contiiously growing nicer.

    It is also interesting to see how much of a reputation Jacob is getting, even in Jacob doesn´t give a fcuk about it...

    Tabula Rasa said:
    Present Date: 6th April 1994
    Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

    You and Luna made your way through the castle and out into the grounds, heading towards Hagrid's hut. Since leaving the castle, the girl had gone back to being a bubbly version of herself again. Well, maybe it wasn't that bad that you had asked her to come along to your planned daytrip.

    It was better for her to not be alone right now … probably.

    As you approached the hut, you could see Hagrid standing outside, a large bucket in his hand in the process of feeding his chickens. He was dressed in his usual attire of a worn, brown coat and boots, with a hint of a smile on his face as he saw you approaching.

    "Ah, Jacob, good to see yeh!" he called out. "And who's this yeh brought with yeh?"

    "This is Luna, Professor" you said, introducing her to Hagrid. "She's in my house a year below."

    "Nice t' meet yeh, Luna," Hagrid said, offering her a friendly nod. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper o' Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." After a moment he added: "Oh! And Professor for Care of Magical Creatures. Always forge' about that." A hearty laugh followed his introduction.

    Luna smiled widely and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Hagrid. Jacob has told me a lot about you and your magical creatures on the way here."

    Hagrid chuckled and patted her head with his gigantic hand. "Ah, yeh have an interest in creatures, do yeh? Well, yeh've come to the right place. I've got all sorts o' critters here at Hogwarts, from Flobberworms to giant spiders. An' I could use some help feedin' 'em today."

    "We'd be happy to help," you said, looking over at Luna who nodded in agreement.

    "Great!" Hagrid said, leading the way around his hut. As you followed him behind the building there were already two dozen buckets set up. Without waiting for any instructions, you walked over to the first one and pulled it up to your waist.

    "Jacob, ye sure ye don't wanna use yer wand again?" The Professor asked when he saw you proceed.

    "No, Professor," you said with a smile on your face. This felt just as good as it had felt last time. It made it even better that you were here voluntarily and not for detention this time around. "I think I need this right now."

    Constitution Training, DC 20 → 1D100+10 → 37 (27 + 10) → Constitution up to 3.
    Over the day you were greeted by a wide variety of creatures, each one more unique and fascinating than the last. There were fire-breathing sheeps in one corner, a family of Nifflers snuffling around in another, and the highlight; a group of Unicorns standing regally at the end of a clearing.

    They waited until you had cleared the space again until they approached.

    The final group of animals you fed, were the most beautiful and strange. By then you had seen water horses, horned-horses but you knew that you had always found these winged-horses to be the most fascinating. You had discovered them in your first year, when no one around you was able to, carrying the carriages.

    It was not a good sign, when a child could see them. That you had learned. The only time you had witnessed another child gaze at these creatures had been through the eyes of Sally-Anne. When her father had carried her atop his personal Thestral on her first day at Hogwarts.

    The group of skeletal horses moved their thin bat-like wings in anticipation when you approached with their food. Luna was levitating a large bucket next to her, while you were struggling against the one you were carrying yourself.

    "Whoa," Luna breathed, taking in the sights around her. "This is amazing."

    "You can see them?" You asked surprised at her reaction.

    Luna nodded happily, not conscious of the nature of your question.

    A pang of sadness fell on you, when you watched the girl walk up besides you and drop the bucket to the ground. The skeletal horses moved up to her, fighting for the first bite.

    Hagrid chuckled and handed them both buckets of food he had been carrying. "Alright, let's get to work. We've got a lot o' mouths t' feed."

    As you set about feeding the creatures, the sadness lost its grasp on you. You couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder and awe at the magic that surrounded you. It was moments like this that made you grateful to be a part of this world, and to have the opportunity to experience all the wonders that it had to offer.

    "So, Luna, have ye ever helped out with creatures before?" Hagrid asked as you worked.

    Luna shook her head. "No, this is my first time. It's really interesting, though. I've never seen so many different kinds of animals all in one place before."

    "It's always been one of my favourite things about Hogwarts," Hagrid said with a big smile. "There's just so much tae learn and discover here."

    As the afternoon passed, you and Luna worked alongside Hagrid, feeding and caring for the creatures.

    When you finished feeding the creatures, Hagrid clapped his hands together. "Alright, that should do it for now. Thanks for your help, ye two. It's always appreciated."

    "No problem, Hagrid," you said as you handed the empty bucket back to him. "It was fun as always."

    "Yeah, it was great," Luna added with a smile.

    Hagrid beamed at the two of you. "Well, if ye're ever free and want tae come help out again, just let me know. I'm always in need o' a few extra hands."

    You took him up on that offer: "I'll come over tomorrow then!"

    Hagrid was the happiest you had ever seen him, when you said those words. He slapped you on the back happily, throwing you over the pair of clean buckets that you had set up in front of you.

    A thousand mumbled 'sorry, my boy' and a few minutes later, you and Luna made your way back. By then it was already getting dark. You were sweaty and happily exhausted.

    "Luna," you said, trying to catch her attention while looking at the Lake to the right that you were passing by.

    This was the time for the moral of the story. But how to do it best?

    "I don't think it's right for people to hide your things or call you names because they think you're odd." You said, not looking at her to make it less uncomfortable for the girl.

    "You have the right to be yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks."

    A moment of silence.

    She was walking close to you, her steps out of sync with you, because her life was in sync with no one but herself. "I know that Jacob," she answered. "It doesn't bother me too much. I like being myself. It's just that sometimes it's hard to be yourself when other people keep trying to change you or make fun of you."

    You nodded at that.

    She was strong willed enough. There had just been a push needed to guide her into the right direction. And maybe … just maybe this could have been the day for that.

    Today, you felt good about yourself.

    As your eyes stayed on the lake, a new idea came to your mind.

    "When something is that difficult, it is often worth it." Your words were half directed at Luna, half at something else. A thought that was forming.


    New Notebook started: Magical Creature Projects

    You have worked on yourself a lot, but you have never thought to use your energy to work on a beast instead. There are two things you could do next. But you are not sure which one to go for just yet. Only one entry will get written into your new Notebook though:

    [ ] How to tame a wild Water-Horse – Taming Creature. A Kelpie lurks in rivers and streams and will kneel in invitation for anyone to ride it across. If this is attempted, the Kelpie will drag the rider underwater and attempt to eat them. The creatures are shapeshifting water demons native to Great Britain and Ireland. They are able to take any form. But what if you have the possibility to meet it under water? Go into its lair and have it get used to you. A Kelpie could be rendered docile and harmless by making it familiar over time. [Requires Understanding of Magical Creatures skill of at least P D+ due to available Mermaid's Breath), DC: 150.

    [ ] How to tame a wild Winged-Horse – Taming a Creature. Thestrals are horse-like creatures with black, bat-like wings and glowing red eyes. They are only visible to those who have witnessed death and are notoriously difficult to tame. However, if you are able to approach a Thestral cautiously and offer it food, you may be able to gain its trust over time. It is important to approach a Thestral with caution, as they can be dangerous if provoked. But who would need a broom if you had a flying horse? [Requires Understanding of Magical Creatures skill of at least P D+ due to available Perk 'Hagrid's Friend', DC: 150]



    Unlocked new Perk: Hagrid's Friend – You like to spend time with the good-natured Professor. You guys share a lot of common interests. Get a + 10 in training Constitution & Understanding of Magical Creatures related Rolls.
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    Wow, and this is awesome as well, despite its differences Jacob and Hagird have so much in common, and it makes a lot of sense that they would end up bonding over their love for the wonders that the world offer them and that many people willingly ignore...

    I am all for getting into Hagrid´s class and the Magical Creatures Club next year, even if it ends up costing us a couple of actions...

    And for the horse, I hope that we can eventually pull it off with both of them, but it would be much more practical to get the flying horse than a horse that can go underwater...

    LightLan said:
    We can walk on air, we need neither.
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    Exactly, we can walk in the air, which is frankly amazing and it has extremely high versatility, but Talaria allows us to travel at around 5 km/h...

    Getting even a cheap second-hand broom (I am not talking about a Nimbus 2000, or a firebolt) would allow us to travel through the air at least 20 times the speed of Talaria and without tiring ourselves, which is also pretty practic...
    Nurgle said:
    Why have a broom where you can have a flying invisible horse of death.
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    Mainly because it is more practical to carry a broom than to be followed around by a fairly big horse...
     
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    I think we keep getting unlucky with the number of duels in duel club. So much so I looked it all up.

    Sep - 2 (1d3)
    Oct - 1 (1d3)
    Nov - 1 (1d3)
    Dec - 1 (1d3)
    Jan - 3 (1d3)
    Feb - 2 (1d3)
    Mar - 2 (1d4)
    Apr - 1 (1d4)

    So out of 28 possible duels Jacob has gotten 13.

    Mechanics wise, other than the special duels Jacob seems to average on the lower half of possible duels.
    Story wise I'd just say he has too much of a reputation. He's too good and that makes the average person not want to fight him.
    Player wise I weep for that lost possible EXP.
     
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    What an awesome update! Some thoughts:

    What were we touching on at the end of the occlumency training? Was that our soul? Something else?

    Who are we related to in England? We know our mother's family traces back to England and we apparently have enough familial cache to be partly protected by the board of governors.

    I wonder why Hagrid hasn't had trouble over Malfoy and the hippogriff.

    We definitely need to work on our empathy and do something about clearing things up with Megan.
     
    Raikazin said:
    Who are we related to in England? We know our mother's family traces back to England and we apparently have enough familial cache to be partly protected by the board of governors.
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    I mean it seems to me that Jacob's parents were known long-time retainers to the Flamels and with how much of a reputation the two still has in the wizarding world even after they secluded themselves. The fact that the Basques are pure bloods does raise them in the eyes of the Board of Governors even if it's not even the main reason since they seem to be part of a pretty prestigious group in Spain and Latin America with how Isabella is said to be a renowned painter who still manages to sell paintings there with relative ease.
     
    I would like to go for the Kelpie, as it is new and interesting to me. It would also give us a great excuse to visit the water or any water perhaps more frequently. I think the Lake and the underwater in such a high-fantasy world have a lot to offer that is usually unexplored in fiction.

    Also @Tabula Rasa it is great to see you back. Hope you're having a good time with the quest. I'm loving it as always of course.
     
    For me, it's the fact that the kelpie will only be useful for the lake combined with the fact that I find the magics surrounding the Threstral to be more interesting than the kelpie's shapeshifting. A threstral could be a legit battle mount, while a kelpie would probably only be relevant 2 or 3 more times in quest.

    Though on the subject of magical creatures, I'm sort of surprised becoming an Animagus hasn't appeared as a high DC option yet considering it was learned about this year. Maybe Jacob needs higher scores in certain areas before it's even listed as a future possibility? Or he won't have the standard animagus option because of his abominable nature.
     
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    Bob Saget said:
    Though on the subject of magical creatures, I'm sort of surprised becoming an Animagus hasn't appeared as a high DC option yet considering it was learned about this year. Maybe Jacob needs higher scores in certain areas before it's even listed as a future possibility? Or he won't have the standard animagus option because of his abominable nature.
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    Basically, the Animagus ritual has not appeared as a possible action yet because we have not actively looked for it...
    Tabula Rasa said:
    [ ] In Search of New Spells – Go into the library and look for new spells that you could try to learn. If you have some specific effect in mind, write it down.
    [ ] In Search of New Potions – Go into the library and look for new potions that you could try to learn. If you have some specific effect in mind, write it down.
    [ ] Do Something! – Be creative. Or go and do nothing. Your decision really. Specify what you want to do.
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    We have all these actions to search for new things to do and interesting stuff to learn, if we want to unlock the process of becoming an animagus we need to specify it...
     
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