A Harry Potter Quest: He who was not

Tabula Rasa · May 26, 2018

Some of you may know me from my other Quest (Rien ne va plus – A Marvel based quest you should definitely look into), which is going to conclude Part II in the next week or so. I'll use the time skip in that story to accompany it with a real passage of time and will entertain myself (and you hopefully) with this quest. A disclaimer right from the start. My focus is on telling a good story and not an attention on a simple min-maxing, which is easy to fall into in a world full of magic and possibilities. So, lets go into this with an eye for fun and adventure, ok? Let us begin then. The first stage of the Quest: The Character Creation. Who do you want to be?

Vote 1:

This quest will start in your third year in Hogwarts. This is where you decide who you are and where you are from. Before those speculations even start, these do not choose the house you're sorted into in Hogwarts. See it as the starting base for your character instead. Think about it carefully, it will decide quite a significant part of your character and thus the Quest you'll be playing. So, which is your Country of Origin?

[ ] Spain – You've grown up on a small Mediterranean island, which is mostly hidden from Muggles. The passing by ships see only a piece of land void of any life, instead of the beautiful little town that you call home. Growing up here was peaceful, but lonely. The largest part of the population consisted of old wizards and witches in the last chapter of their life, trying to live the rest of their days in peace and under the hot sun of Spain. Your parents are as old as the rest of them, being able to procreate and raise you as their child only thanks to a multitude of potions. Growing up surrounded by people a hundred years older than you, had given you quite a different perspective on the world. You were calmer and more observational than your peers.

[ ] Morocco – Hot headed. Those would be the words you'd use to describe your family. At times you thought that your parents hated each other's guts, seeing their fights escalate to epical proportions. You'd lost the living room to flying spells and explosions more often than they'd care to admit to any outsider. But then, you saw how heartwarmingly they adored each other on other days, letting you almost forget how intense their fights could be. You grew up with an older brother, who is four years your older and is now in his last year in Hogwarts. Your relationship to him was a mirror of that of your parents, fighting to the blood when both of you had lived together all year round, only to become an inseparable mess every time he came home, after he had left for Hogwarts. Because that was when you realized: There is nothing more important to you than family.

[ ] Germany – Why your parents hadn't sent you to the Durmstrang Institute? Well, because they were rich and that was what rich people did at times, just go against the mainstream because they could. While you knew that they loved you, it had taken quite some time to understand that. You'd barely seen the two of them for more than an hour, when it wasn't some kind of political or business event. It was such a typical cliché that you'd always assumed your creation to have been merely a point on their to do list. You should be thankful nonetheless. Few people had the possibilities you'd had growing up with all resources in abundance. Maybe it hadn't been too good for your character, though. You'd grown complacent.

Vote 2:

You can distribute 11 points on your attributes. None can go higher than 3 and lower than 1 with this vote.

Attributes:
Constitution - Your general physical condition, endurance, health, and strength.
Creativity - The ability to create innovative ideas or things using your imagination.
Intellect - The ability to think in an intelligent way and to understand difficult or complicated ideas and subjects.
Empathy - The ability to understand how someone feels because you can imagine what it is like to be them.
Luck - Success that you have by chance and not because of anything that you do.

Vote 3:

While you can't change your core subjects (Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions and Transfiguration); Now that you start your third year in Hogwarts, you may choose three electives or take one action less each month to take a fourth one. Classes may be changed in subsequent years:

[ ] Study of Ancient Runes - The Study of Ancient Runes is a general theoretical subject that studies ancient runic scripts. It is taught by Professor Bathsheda Babbling.
[ ] Arithmancy - Arithmancy is a branch of magic concerned with the magical properties of numbers. Arithmancy is reportedly difficult, as it requires memorizing or working with many charts. The subject is taught by Professor Septima Vector. It is separated into normal Arithmancy and Advanced Arithmancy Studies, the latter of which is taught as a NEWT-Course.
[ ] Magical Theory - A subject taught in Class 67 on the fourth floor of Hogwarts Castle. It covers magic from a purely theoretical view.
[ ] Care of Magical Creatures - Care of Magical Creatures is the class which instructs students on how to care for magical beasts. Classes are held outside the castle.
[ ] Ghoul Studies - A subject taught to learn about ghouls like poltergeists, vampires, Veela, etc. and how to defend themselves from these creatures.
[ ] Divination - Divination is the art of predicting the future. Various methods are described, including tea leaves, Fire-omens, Crystal balls, Palmistry, Cartomancy (including the reading of conventional playing cards and the tarot), astrology, and Dream interpretations. Divination is described by Professor McGonagall as "one of the most imprecise branches of magic". Supporters of the subject claim that it is an inexact science that requires innate gifts like the "Inner Eye". Those opposed claim that the subject is irrelevant and fraudulent.
[ ] Muggle Studies - A class taught by Charity Burbage which involves the study of the Muggle (non-magical) culture "from a wizarding point of view." It also includes Muggle Art and Muggle Music. The only need for witches and wizards to learn about Muggle ways and means is to ensure they can blend in with Muggles while needing to do so.

Tabula Rasa · May 28, 2018

[ ] Plan Theoretical
-[ ]Spain
-[ ] 1Constitution - Your general physical condition, endurance, health, and strength.
-[ ] 3Creativity - The ability to create innovative ideas or things using your imagination.
-[ ] 3Intellect - The ability to think in an intelligent way and to understand difficult or complicated ideas and subjects.
-[ ] 2Empathy - The ability to understand how someone feels because you can imagine what it is like to be them.
-[ ] 2Luck - Success that you have by chance and not because of anything that you do.
-[ ] Study of Ancient Runes - The Study of Ancient Runes is a general theoretical subject that studies ancient runic scripts. It is taught by Professor Bathsheda Babbling.
-[ ] Arithmancy - Arithmancy is a branch of magic concerned with the magical properties of numbers. Arithmancy is reportedly difficult, as it requires memorizing or working with many charts. The subject is taught by Professor Septima Vector. It is separated into normal Arithmancy and Advanced Arithmancy Studies, the latter of which is taught as a NEWT-Course.
-[ ] Magical Theory - A subject taught in Class 67 on the fourth floor of Hogwarts Castle. It covers magic from a purely theoretical view.

Thinking back to where all of this had begun, you always came back to the first day of your third year at Hogwarts. You couldn't fight the smile that forced itself on your face, when you thought about how different you had been back then. Yes, you were sure of that. All of this had started years back. When you had been merely thirteen years old and had not yet learned neither of the wonders, nor of the cruelties that this world had to offer. You closed your eyes and remembered where you had been sitting. It was as if the old wooden bench was right under you again, older than it had any right to be. The perfectly polished wood of the bench you were sitting on and the large table you had left your hands on was older than even the oldest wizards back home were.

You turned back in your memories. Looking past Professor Snape's barely hidden annoyance, sitting next to Professor McGonagall and the newest addition of the year: Professor Remus Lupin. They were waiting for the choir to end their interpretation of a Quintet of Toads. Something so ridiculous that it could only have happened in Hogwarts. You remember looking at Argus Filch and not understanding why his expression was always so dark and brooding. Mrs. Norris was flicking her tail from one side to the other at his feet, as if she was conducting the choir itself. And then finally, Dumbledore had risen from his place, thanking the choir before turning his attention to the rest of you.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" he had said. His silver beard and hair were so long that they could have easily fit in between his yellow belt and his crimson robe. Dumbledore had been eccentric even by measurement on the Old-Wizard-Skala. "I have a few things to say, before we become befuddled by our excellent feast. I myself am particularly looking forward to the flaming kiwi cups, which, while somewhat treacherous for those of us with facial hair-..." McGonagall cleared her throat, trying to reign the director back in. "Mm… Yes," Dumbledore said, caressing his long beard to remember where he had derailed from his speech. "Yes, yes. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Good luck to you, Professor."

Ominous words accompanied by his still cheeringly energetic attitude. Amid scattered applause, you could hear a small group somewhere down the Gryffindor table clap way louder than the rest. You hadn't even heard how Professor Lupin had saved the train from the Dementor's just yet. But there still was the memory of you choosing an empty wagon to take in the passing by view and fall asleep at some point of the voyage to Hogsmeade. For you it had been as peaceful a journey as always.

"As some of you may know, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid!" Another scarce applause, with an even louder engagement by the same group at the Gryffindor table. Unlike Professor Lupin, Hagrid stood up to introduce himself. Doing that, he nearly toppled the staff table, sending water goblets weaving only tot hen turn ruby red. How a man of his stature could have an expression so sheepishly and embarrassed was not to understand. Dumbledore waited for him to sit down, before taking on a more serious and grave tone.

"Finally, on a more disquieting note, Hogwarts - at the request of the Ministry of Magic - will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban." A murmur of apprehension filled the hall. "The Dementors will be stationed at the entrances to the grounds. While they are under strict orders not to enter the castle itself, you will on occasion see them as you go about your daily activities. Under no circumstances are you to approach them. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving."

And without changing back to his usual cheery self, the vast quantities of food and drinks appeared in front of you. The smell still watered your mouth every time you thought back to your time in Hogwarts.

You remember stepping through the large gates of the Great Hall to stand in line with all the small creatures that you'd all been just two years prior. Where others were decided upon the second the piece of cloth touched their heads, the Sorting Hat had taken its time and asked you where you wanted to go. Your answer had been one that you'd thought over for a long time:

[ ] Gryffindor - "You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart"

[ ] Hufflepuff - "You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal, those patient Hufflepuffs are true, and unafraid of toil."

[ ] Ravenclaw - "Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind."

[ ] Slytherin – "Or perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends, those cunning folk use any means, to achieve their ends."

As soon as the meal was over, you grabbed your wand and headed in the direction of your dormitory… ah, yes. Your wand. What a special thing indeed. You still remember Ollivander's words, when it chose you:

[ ] Malus domestica wood, Unicorn hair core, 9.5" long - Applewood wands are not made in great numbers. They are powerful and best suited to an owner of high aims and ideals, as this wood mixes poorly with Dark magic. Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard. (-15 to dark magic, +5 to charms, +5 to DADA, +5 to transfiguration)

[ ] Fraxinus wood, Unicorn hair core, 11" long - The ash wand cleaves to its one true master and ought not to be passed on or gifted from the original owner, because it will lose power and skill. This tendency is extreme if the core is of unicorn. Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may 'die' and need replacing. (+5 to all spellcasting. If wand is taken from someone or if being disarmed, loses bonus permanently)

[ ] Populus wood, Dragon heartstring core, 13" long - Wand-quality aspen wood is white and fine-grained, and highly prized by all wand-makers for its stylish resemblance to ivory and its usually outstanding charmwork. As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner. (+10 to charms)

[ ] Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core, 12" long - The true match for a beech wand will be, if young, wise beyond his or her years, and if full-grown, rich in understanding and experience. Beech wands perform very weakly for the narrow-minded and intolerant. Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalise, and their allegiance is usually hard won. (Wand only available due to chosen origin. +5 to all spellcasting. If too many actions are taken that speak against the ideals of the wand, the wand will mark you unworthy and lose the bonus)

[ ] Prunus Spinosa wood, Dragon heartstring core, 12.5" long - Blackthorn, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in my view well-merited, of being best suited to a warrior. The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental. (+5 to all spellcasting during combat.)

Tabula Rasa · Jun 1, 2018

[ ] Ravenclaw
[ ] Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core, 12" long

Present Date: 01st September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Your steps took you up, climbing the tight spiral staircase that lead into the single tower of the castle, which was not open for every house but Ravenclaw only. The night sky was almost void of any light, not allowing for you to see all too much, if you looked out of the several windows you passed by, climbing up the wide and circular tower. You looked down to find the water that should be below at the feet of the castle. The lake that was dark blue and beautiful by day, now seemed like a giant hole of despair so deep and far that nothing could exist down there.

Excited chatter that had needed to hold itself back during the ceremony, now started to erupt all around you. The students had formed little groups. Friends and classmates that had missed each other for the entirety of summer vacation now had to tell each other everything about the new family broom or about how my father fought against a troll! Not for the first time did you feel like a spectator to those around you, walking amidst them but never being really part of them.

Climbing up the last steps, brought you to the small corridor, where the magic happened – quite literally even. While you didn't know how other common rooms in the school handled keeping outsiders outside, for your house it was a bronze eagle-shaped knocker that decided over your permission to enter. A logical riddle must be answered to enter, which didn't sound too difficult in theory… but brought the one or other group of Ravenclaws to stand around out here for hours.

It seemed that the little eagle wanted to show off today, as you were not the first to arrive upstairs, but the door to the common room was still closed shut. A group of four older Ravenclaws were standing in front of it, trying their best to solve the riddle.

"That doesn't even make sense," the only girl in the group said. "How do you want to explain moral?" They looked like they had been trying to get in for a while already, likely having disengaged from the feast downstairs early. People behind you had halted, blocking anyone from entering the corridor. It was causing quite a ruckus even after only a minute of blocking. One fourth of the school was soon going to be waiting behind you on the staircase, trying to get up to their rooms. As if acknowledging that more people wanted to try, the small eagle spoke again:

"There was a man who was born before his father, killed his mother, and married his sister," the eagles voice was smooth and didn't fit the doorknob that it originated from. If you closed your eyes, you could almost imagine it to be a large and majestic eagle, sitting atop a mountain and speaking to you. "Yet, there was nothing wrong with what he had done. Why?" Ah, now the problem was clear to you. They were overthinking it, choosing to try and see the problem in the ethics and not in the wording.

"His father was in front of him when he was born, so he was born before him," you said, stepping closer to the large door and trying to address the doorknob through the group of Ravenclaws standing in front of it. "His mother died while giving birth to him and he grew up to be a minister and married his sister to her husband at her ceremony." The only answer you got was a soft giggle that fit the small eagle more than its grandiose voice.

Klick. And with that, the large doors to the common room swung open. You gifted the older Ravenclaws a sheepish smile, before pushing yourself through them and stepping into the large common room as the first student of the year. What a great feeling that could be!

The room was usually so bright. Light shining in through the graceful arched windows. Now the only lights were those from the fireplace and the oil lamps all around the room. The walls were hung with blue and bronze silks. The domed ceiling was painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. Not as awe-inspiring as seeing the real star sky through the ceiling of the great hall, but you still marveled at the details that had been worked into the painting above you. Tables, chairs, and bookcases covered the expanse of the floor, and a white-marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw sat next to the door that lead to the dormitories above.

You left your housemates behind to walk right by Ravenclaw, passing her with a forced high five to the statue, which could not defend itself against your attack, before you went up and made yourself ready for sleep. While you had been sleeping quite a long time in the train… you still felt the need for a few more hours of relaxation.

You were already missing sleeping in to the sound of the waves hitting against the rocks of the island you had been growing up in. Well, at least you had left home to come back home.

Present Date: 02nd September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Going to sleep so early gave you the advantage of being the first down in the Great Hall again. Even the magic that brought food to the great hall had only activated itself, when you'd arrived. Funny that really… you had never asked yourself what it was that made the food. Or how it worked really.

You started the day with some tasty grilled cheese sandwiches, before you focused on your chocolate milk. Then you took some of the cereal, taking your time to mix fruits in to give it a stronger and fresher taste. That meal was followed by a peppermint tea, something that your parents loved to drink, while you watched the first students step in to the hall. By the time the great hall had started to finally fill itself with other pupils and the staff, you had already started your third and final breakfast. Pancakes, marmalade and scrambled eggs. At the end of all that you felt just great… and ready for a little nap to be honest, but that had to wait it seemed, as you could see Professor Flitwick appear out of seemingly nowhere and start handing out the time-tables to each student.

He stopped, when he passed by you, looking at your chosen subjects, before smiling a bright smile. "I'm quite relieved that at least you are taking your studies serious, Mr. Basques." You nodded awkwardly when he passed you your document. "Thank you, Professor, I'm trying my best to fit in," you answered, without the need to look up even from your sitting position. Rumors were that your Professor and Head of House was part-goblin and you could see the truth in that. He was smaller than even the youngest students, when they started their years in Hogwarts.

"Yes, yes," he said, nodding to himself. "Everyone tries to fit in, but sometimes you shouldn't forget that you don't need to fit in too much." His words were spoken rather low, so that only you could hear it. "Well," the Professor then said with a stronger voice again. "I hope you are going to join some extracurricular activities as well? I hope to see you in our Dueling Club this year, Mr. Basques. We are always looking for young talents!"

Ah, yes, you had almost forgotten. Professor Flitwick was the one taking care of the Dueling Club. You had heard that he had been quite the famous champion in his youth, but you had never seen the need to join any club.

If not now when then, right?

Clubs and Rackets – Hogwarts is a castle with too many children to let them to their own devices for too long of a time. Good then that there is an abundance of clubs you can go to. Choose two (Or take one less action per monthly plan to choose a third one)

[ ] Quidditch Tryouts
[ ] Dueling Club
[ ] Potions Club
[ ] Club of Magical Creatures
[ ] Charms Club
[ ] Astronomy Club
[ ] Hogwarts Ancient Runes Club
[ ] Wizard Card Collectors' Club
[ ] Diagon Alley Arts Club

Tabula Rasa · Jan 30, 2019

[x] Study of Ancient Runes - The Study of Ancient Runes is a general theoretical subject that studies ancient runic scripts. It is taught by Professor Bathsheda Babbling.

[x] Arithmancy - Arithmancy is a branch of magic concerned with the magical properties of numbers. Arithmancy is reportedly difficult, as it requires memorizing or working with many charts. The subject is taught by Professor Septima Vector. It is separated into normal Arithmancy and Advanced Arithmancy Studies, the latter of which is taught as a NEWT-Course.

[x] Magical Theory - A subject taught in Class 67 on the fourth floor of Hogwarts Castle. It covers magic from a purely theoretical view.

Present Date: 02nd September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

The air carried from afar, blowing over the distant mountains and through the fear invoking forest. It made its way over hidden entrances and past secret hideaways that no one had gazed into in generations. The wind was all-knowing and wise, but the wind didn't want to share its secrets.

Instead it chose to fly upwards, colliding against the walls of the old castle, only to then caress its towers like an old lover that lusted for the other.

The carefree and all-seeing lover rose up to meet the sky for a short moment, roaring and bursting up to challenge the gods, before it lost all of its energy and fell from grace. The air took a moment to look over the castle below and its surroundings, before it let itself fall again, touching the dark lake for a moment only to head up again to one of the cliffs watching over the water. There the air took the last of its energy to blow through the hair of the only pupil that had left the castle at this time of the day.

Diner had been served inside and all, but this one boy had chosen to go inside and feast after their first stressful day back in the castle. All had, all but you.

The first day of classes was always more of a leisure time activity, than actual work. The professors and students both liked it that way… Well, most did. But today hadn't been the Ravenclaw's day for Potions with Professor Snape, so it had all been easy for you.

Your eyes roamed over the huge lake in front of you, not allowing you a glimpse past its surface even on such a bright day. The gate to a possible underworld was dark and would stay a mystery from up here, sitting atop the highest cliff right behind the castle.

This particular place had been one of your favorite spots outside the castle, reminding you of a similar place you had at home. Early in your first year this had allowed you to keep a sense of the small island that you had been brought up in, surrounded by wizards and witches a hundred years older than you. The smile on your face grew as you thought of back home. You felt the surrounding calming and soothing your spirit.

Up here you'd rarely go without a few of your peers meddling around. Today it was different though, not a voice was to be heard, nothing to disturb the peace. You could close your eyes, listen to the soft waves caused by the blowing wind and remember the place near your home that mirrored this spot, where you had spent a lot of your time growing up.

You could almost smell the salt in the air and hear the tall waves breaking against the shores below you. As long as you didn't open your eyes, it would be far too easy to imagine what would lay behind you; a small island with a tiny village on its top. A place, in which you'd known every person for as long as you could possibly remember. This place up here reminded you of home. It reminded you of peace.

Breath in. Breath out.

You knew that you were different, you'd always known. Normal people liked to socialize and to have others around for most of the day. You on the other hand simply preferred silence when it was available. How could you not? It was so enticing and beautiful. Why would you spend time talking, when you could spend time listening and learning?

After what felt like seconds, but might have been minutes or hours, you finally reopened your eyes.

Hogwarts Magic → 1D100+2 → 88(86 + 2)

Your eyes tried to imprint everything that you were seeing to its mind; every mountain and every tree, every cloud and the shape of the lake. You tried to remember even the way to warm wind blew over the water, moving it and shaping the small waves… until you saw something in the water.

And that something was starring right back at you. You blinked, as if blinded by the sun to refocus, but once you looked back down it was… gone.

Whatever you had seen – or thought to see – it wasn't there a second later.

The only thing you remembered was the green skin of the human shaped face.

Where you should have been doubting your mind, you felt intrigued. Were your peers would be trembling out of fear for what they had just seen, your heart beat only faster because you were smiling wider than you had in days.

Two years of Hogwarts had let you start to think that you knew the castle by now. It had let you think that finding the classrooms and the library was the difficult part in getting to know your new home… but right now, you had been confronted with conflicting evidence.

It seemed that you actually didn't know everything there was to know about this place. No, it was even possible that you had barely scratched the surface if something like this lifeform was living so close to your home and you'd never even seen it before.

Your smile only grew wider when you realized the possibilities that laid before you.

→ Unlocked: Stage I, Shadows behind paintings (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Hogwarts is not a school. That you understand by now. It is a mystery, waiting for someone to understand it. Start looking for those rumored hidden staircases, secret passages and walls that aren't truly there. (You gain an understanding of some of the shortcuts through Hogwarts. Gain one additional action per month). Medium high DC.

Present Date: 03rd September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Looking down at your copy of Intermediate Transfiguration, your eyes followed the depiction of someone transforming into a horse; the moving picture of an animal looking up at you, before turning around to canter out of the field and your view, only to return a few moments later and transforming back into the man it had been at the beginning.

The title to the first chapter of your new book was intriguing: Animagi, introduction into the beasts inside us all.

Around you the classroom started to fill. You were sitting to the left of the first row today, because you had come up early and it was simply the best place in this classroom. There was a large window opening up to a beautiful view over the surroundings of Hogwarts and this place gave you a chance to look outside whenever you wanted to.

Today your eyes were focused on the book in your hand, though.

It takes skill, practice, and patience for wizards and witches to become Animagi. The process of becoming an Animagus is long and arduous and has the potential to backfire and cause the transformation to go horribly wrong. Many witches and wizards simply feel that their time might better be employed in other ways, as the skill is of limited practical use unless one has a great need of disguise or concealment.

Someone sat down next to you, but you didn't look up. You never talked much anyway, and you didn't believe that whoever it was needed you to greet them.

The difference between Transfiguration and the Animagus transformation ability is that an Animagus can change into an animal whenever they want, without a wand or an incantation. Being an Animagus is an ability, and Transfiguring requires a spell. An Animagus still thinks the way a human does even in their animal form when…

Something small to your left moved down on the ground, so you halted your readings to see what it was.

A silver tabby cat made its way past you and down the classroom to then jump up elegantly and land on the professor's desk. It turned around as if curious to who was sitting in the classroom, to then start watching the rows of students intelligently.

"What's that cat doing here?" someone asked from behind you. You didn't turn around to look out for who it was. Instead you looked down at your book and then up again. The square markings around the cat's eyes reminded you of something familiar. As if you had seen it a hundred times before.

Detective Work → 1D100+5 → 52(47 + 5) (Int + Emp) DC 50 → Success!

And with hitting realization, you couldn't help yourself but smile. What an intriguing way to make the class question their perspective on this subject.

Had you been more Gryffindor, you'd have called her out for it. As a Slytherin you'd have made fun of the guy who had obviously not understood what was going on. Would you have had a speck of Hufflepuff in you, you'd have helped him to realize, because you didn't want him to embarrass himself.

But you were neither of those. You might gain some of those traits in the future, but right now you were simply not. It was enough for you to have solved the mystery in front of you and satisfy your curiosity, before the professor resolved it herself.

And so, you simply watched as the small and proud cat started transforming in front of your eyes to turn into a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes. Her stern face was somewhat softer than usual, as if she had been able to do something that she enjoyed.

Professor McGonagall's square spectacles matched the markings around the eyes of her Animagus, something you wanted to remember for the future. It was interesting and fascinating how magic adapted at times. Sometimes it didn't seem to make any sense to you in the beginning, but in the end there always was some kind of hidden logic – an idea that just needed to be found under all other falsehoods. You just needed to dig deep enough.

"Welcome to your third year, class. Shall we begin?"

And thus, you began.

Present Date: 04th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

It was early in the morning and you were already up and about. It would have been a wonder if you'd developed into someone that liked to sleep in while growing up on an island with a population that barely slept at all. It seemed the older one got, the fewer the hours of needed sleep were.

Well, you were still young, and you still needed the same amount of sleep that all your peers needed, you just went to sleep earlier. And so, it was only you who was sitting in the great hall this early in the morning. It would take another hour for most of the teachers and pupils to arrive and then another for the classes to start.

You'd made it through the first few days without any unexpected complications, but in those few days you had already seen two new wonders that had made you remember how vast and wondrous the world could be.

Something popped into existence on the Ravenclaw table in front of you, as if it had been waiting for your arrival. You took the empty plate that had arrived with the food and helped yourself to a portion of scrambled eggs, cheese and bread.

You looked around the wide variety of food that the castle had served you, only to realize that there were no drinks anywhere to see-… with another plop a glass of juice appeared by your side.

You let the plate down to inspect the glass of orange. This was nothing new. You had come here countless times to see the hall still empty and without food, only to have it appear in front of you. The thing was, you'd never asked yourself where it was this came from. What magic was at play here?

Another riddle.

This year would be interesting indeed.

Plan September – What do you want to focus on this month?

The following Actions differ from each other and have different value propositions.

Social Actions are mostly about your social life, things you do for other people or random encounters that can be really anything or nothing at all.

Special in this bracket are the "Cases". These are available for you early because of your Ravenclaw trait. They allow the most versatile benefits and are limited to a specific amount per year, that I won't share with you yet. Most need multiple actions to get done, but all of them expand your world view, give you a variety of advantages and are encouraged to be taken.

School and Work are the hustle game in the quest. They give you resources for your adventures and are important to keep up with the world.

Personal Actions are what you do for yourself. How much extracurricular studying do you want to put in? Do you want to keep your body fit? Do you want to take a break and just chill? This is all about you.

You have 9 Normal Actions and 5 Personal Actions.
2 Normal Actions can be exchanged for 1 Personal Action.

Social

[ ] Case 1: Hidden behind Memories I – Investigate how the magic works that makes food for the students. Where does all that food come from? (Spend 3 actions to finish the entire case in one month)

[ ] Quidditch Tryouts – The weather is nice and you have a lot of time at hands, because lets face it, you don't have that many social obligations. Go and watch the Quidditch Tryouts. It could be funny and if it is not, well you will be high enough up to watch the clouds instead. Win-Win.

[ ] Write your Parents a Letter (Free Action) – You arrived well and healthy and they might like to hear that. Tell them about your thoughts

[ ] Write a Letter (Free Action) – Specify to whom it is that you want to write and what you want to talk about

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

School & Work

[ ] Business School of Hogsmeade (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – This is the first year, in which you can go to Hogsmeade. Good that you've been planning for this since first year: Buy Books, Ingredients, Joke Shop Articles, Instruments and other things. Go and look, if you can make some money by buying things for first and second years. Roll for how many are interested and then for how much they want to spend. Take 10% of their spending as a fee.

[ ] Stage I, Shadows behind paintings (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Hogwarts is not a school. That you understand by now. It is a mystery, waiting for someone to understand it. Start looking for those rumored hidden staircases, secret passages and walls that aren't truly there. (You gain an understanding of some of the shortcuts through Hogwarts. Gain one additional action per month). Medium high DC.

[ ] 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.

Personal Actions

[ ] Train, Learn, Achieve – Specify what you want to train or study

[ ] Do your research – Learn a Spell, a Potion or something different that is available to you at the moment

Potions (Potions needed for class are free of ingredients costs for training)

Antidote to Uncommon Poisons (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - A potion that cures minor magical or uncommon poisons such as doxy bites. The ingredients required are fire seed, graphorn horn, billywig stings and chizpurfle carapaces. ~~Cost for ingredients: 2 Galleons~~. (Requires Transformation skill of at least D), DC: 100

Shrinking Solution (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - Also known as a Shrinking Potion, is a potion that causes the drinker to shrink to a smaller form. It is bright green when brewed correctly and, if prepared incorrectly, it can apparently be poisonous. One practical use of this potion is in the transportation of livestock — it allows for a wizard to carry an entire herd of pigs in the pocket. Could be used to lay a trap. ~~Cost for ingredients: 2 Galleons~~, DC: 50

Wideye Potion (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - Also known as the Awakening Potion, is a potion which prevents the drinker from falling asleep and could also be used to awaken someone from drugging or concussion. Gives you one extra action if taken. May come with side effects. It acts as an antidote for the Draught of Living Death. ~~Cost for ingredients: 3 Galleons~~. (Requires Transformation skill of at least D+), DC: 150

Alchemy
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Avifors (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - is a transforming spell that could be used to change the target into a bird, flock of birds or occasionally a flock of bats with a vivid flash of blue light. Transforms the targeted object into a bird, which can then be used to carry a small object or message to someone. (Requires Transformation skill of at least D), DC: 50

Diffindo - The Severing Charm is a charm used to precisely and accurately cut something. It is taught in second year charms classes, and if used inappropriately can cause death or injury. DC 50.

Draconifors (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - The Draconifors Spell is a Transfiguration spell used to transform small objects into Dragons, which can then be controlled by the caster. The dragons produced from this spell are much smaller and less powerful than true dragons, and their size depends on your skills and the object from which they are transfigured - i.e. a smaller object will produce a smaller dragon, and a larger object will produce a larger dragon. (Requires Transformation skill of at least D+), DC 75.

Engorgio - The Engorgement Charm, also known as Growing Charm is a charm that causes the target to swell immensely. If the caster attempts to engorge the target beyond a certain point it will violently explode. Although this spell is safe to use on animals, it is not recommended until the counter-charm (Reducio) has been perfected.
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Reducio - The Shrinking Charm is a charm that enables a witch or wizard to decrease the apparent physical size of the target, both internally and externally. It also can act as the counter-spell for the Engorgement Charm, causing the Engorged object to return to its original size. There are several variations of this charm. DC: 100

Expelliarmus (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - The Disarming Charm, is a defensive charm which forces the victim to release whatever they were holding at the time. It is common to see this spell used in duels, to make an opponent release their wand. (Requires Charm and DADA skill of at least D+), DC 100

Glacius (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - The Freezing Spell is a freezing charm that causes air in front of the tip of the wand, to reach cold temperatures in the extreme, which in turn can extinguish fires and create ice blocks from water.. The spell is capable of freezing several inches of water solid within seconds, making it durable enough to walk across without falling through or injuring themselves. (Requires Charm skill of at least D), DC 75

Lapifors (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - The Lapifors Spell is a transfiguration spell that can be used to transform the target into a rabbit; it works best on smaller artefacts such as statues, salamanders and cats. It may also work on humans, but it has never been tested. DC 50.

Reparo (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - The Mending Charm, also known as the Repairing Charm, is a charm that can be used to seamlessly repair a broken object and works on most materials. This useful charm was invented by Orabella Nuttley, in or before 1754. DC 50.

Vote in Plans!

Tabula Rasa · Jan 31, 2019

[X] Plan Probing Hogwarts
-[X] Case 1: Hidden behind Memories I – Investigate how the magic works that makes food for the students. Where does all that food come from? (Spend 3 actions to finish the entire case in one month) x3
-[X] Random Encounter
-[X] Stage I, Shadows behind paintings x3
-[X] Business School of Hogsmeade x2
-[X] Write your Parents a Letter (Free Action)

-[X] Train, Learn, Achieve – Defence Against the Dark Arts
-[X] Train, Learn, Achieve – Transfiguration
-[X] Train, Learn, Achieve – Charms
-[X] Do your research – Reparo (Needed for exams at the end of the year)
-[X] Do your research – Lapifors (Needed for exams at the end of the year)

Present Date: 06th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

And with the first Monday of the School year, you were back to your favorite Professor.

"Settle down, settle down," said Professor Snape idly.

The most feared man in Hogwarts was a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose and yellow, uneven teeth. He usually dressed in flowing black robes which made him resemble more of an overgrown bat than an actual human. Maybe he was an Animagus as well?

You did not smile at your own joke, because you were sure that he would see it. Severus Snape saw everything that happened in his classroom and he liked absolutely nothing of it. His was the only class where you couldn't simply follow your instinct and fall into your never ending and self-spiraling thoughts. Instead, you focused on him.

Professor Snape had shoulder-length, greasy black hair which framed his face in curtains, curling lips and dark, penetrating eyes that resembled tunnels. It wasn't the clean look that your parents had taught you, but more the way some of the old geezers looked that didn't see any usefulness in taking care of their appearance anymore. Those your island home had in spare. That wasn't what bothered you about the Professor.

Snape had a strong, authoritative presence. He spoke in a soft, contained voice most of the time, except during the occasional instances when he lost his temper. Then the man came out that had made you change your attitude in his classes. There were times when it was appropriate to look out of the window, there were times when something fascinating held your attention in place and then there were times where you knew that you would face detention if you did as much as sneeze too loud. His classes were the third one.

"Settle down", he said. Two simple words and with a blink of an eye all movement in the classroom came to a stop. You could still hear someone whisper at the right side of the room, where the eight Hufflepuffs were sitting, but even that died down after a few seconds.

"Today's subject of interest will be the Shrinking Potion", he said with a voice that was not loud but commanding. "Who can tell me what the Shrinking Potion is?"

You took it as a riddle. Shout a question into a room half filled with Ravenclaws and the other half Hufflepuffs. Which side will raise more of their hands?

With a clear set answer in mind, you turned around to see half of your house mates raise their hands. On the other side of the room you could see only one tentative hand. It was one of the three Hufflepuff girls.

On your half, everyone but you had raised their hand.

Legend was that all Ravenclaw's had the perfect drive, were studious and always prepared.

Reality had fallen outside of that small spectrum of defined possibilities. Instead you knew by now that most of their motivation came from this being the first week of classes. It would only hold for the next month or so, until it came back in time for exams.

"Yes, Mr. Boot." Snape pronounced Terry's name as if it was an insult.

If the Ravenclaw noticed, he at least didn't show. Instead he let his arm drop to the table and onto the closed book, as if it was giving him the courage to talk. Yeah… Snape had that kind of effect on you as well.

"It is a potion that causes the drinker to shrink to a smaller form. It is bright green when brewed correctly and, if prepared incorrectly, it can apparently be poisonous", Terry said, before waiting a second for confirmation if that was enough. He didn't anticipate the uncomfortable silence that followed. Snape did not comment. So, Terry did the only reasonable thing and kept on talking.

"Eh… One prac-… I mean, one practical use of this potion is in the transportation of livestock — it could allow a wizard to carry an entire herd of pigs in the pocket and-…"

"That is quite enough, Mr. Boots."

And there it was. No compliment, no affirmation for being correct. Snape just went on as if Terry hadn't even been there. Instead he chose to move his hand into the air. Chalk that had been sitting on his table followed his lazy movement and floated to the blackboard, where it started to write the recipe down.

"Well, then. What are you waiting for? Do you want me to skin the shrivelfig for you?" Snape asked.

You spend the next quarter of an hour carefully shredding the roots to exact equal pieces. Something that your mother would have done in a minute, but you had to face the fact that you weren't quite as good yet.

Dropping the first ingredients into the potion, you looked up at the recipe that had been written by ghostly hands. The next step was to skin the shrivelfig. It stank and it was tedious, but over the next hour and with every following ingredient your potion slowly turned into the bright and acid green that it was supposed to be.

You didn't remember half the steps by the end of it and you suspected that you could do it better with just a few more tries, but it was a good first step. You were still thankful that Snape chose one of the Hufflepuff's to test their potions and not yours.

No one died, no one cried, and no one lost any house points. All in all, a good Potion's day.

Present Date: 07th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Case 1: Hidden behind Memories I

The next day was to be a special one and with something special in mind guiding you, it was you who was the first one to arrive in the Great Hall again. This time it wasn't an early morning fueled by your usual want to spend some time in silence and while that still was a worthy cause, you knew yourself well enough to see which of your desires was the strongest right now.

This time you needed to satisfy your curiosity. You had stayed awake in bed for far longer than you usually would, reading a book that was about to help you with your endeavor even after your roommates had arrived, prepared for bed and went to sleep.

You had been reading a tome thicker than thick and of such complicated wording that you had only been able to work yourself through one single chapter in four hours: An Introduction to the Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.

How do you get through the first clue? DC 30 (Intelligence + Creativity) → 1D100+6 → 32(26 + 6) → Success!

Walking into the hall you took a step back inside your mind to look at this riddle from a distance.

What had you observed until now? At some point food was supposed to appear on all tables. It was always good, but rarely the same on consecutive days. If someone – say, you – entered the hall before it was time for breakfast, whatever caused the food to appear knew to react and give him what he craved for.

You headed for your usual spot down the Ravenclaw table.

What did you know? Your mother couldn't produce food out of thin air. That had been your starting point. It was the reason you had been reading well into the night, but now you knew for sure; no one could. Food was the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration and it stated that it was impossible to make good food out of nothing.

You could Summon it if you know where it was, you could transform it and you could increase the quantity if there was some measure of it available.

That left three possibilities for the wonder that you were confronted with. Which it was, didn't matter though. Because the only real question that needed to be asked was another:

Was it an automated spell or was someone actively casting it each morning?

This was why you had come down so early in the morning, even if you would have rather wanted to sleep for a few more hours. It had been a late and stressful evening to work through a tomb so dry and ill-worded. But you were a real Ravenclaw in the end. Nothing could stop your curiosity once it was sparked.

You sat down in your usual spot…

Plop.

… and food appeared out of thin air. Nothing was to be seen besides your food, and no one was around. It just happened to appear.

You had found no answer to the last question. Maybe there was a way of determining it, but you were sure that it was beyond you still and would need more work until you got it right. How would you even attack the fact that you wanted to identify if magic was new and active or old and automated?

Well, instead of brute forcing it like your peers tried with the entrance riddles to get into the Ravenclaw Common Room, you tried to look at it from a different perspective. And what had you learned in Hogwarts so far? If you didn't know something, you could always just ask.

"Hello?" you asked aloud just as the food arrived. "Could I please talk to you?" Your voice echoed softly against the walls of the empty hall, coming back to the only pair of listening ears. There was no one around. No one appeared.

Your gambit hadn't paid off-…

Plop.

And just like that you were looking into vibrant blue eyes of something that was standing across from you on the other side of the table. Even sitting you were taller than the small creature. She had pointed, bat-like ears and instead of pillowcases or tea-towels that you'd seen another House-elves wear, this one wore a toga bearing the Hogwarts crest.

"How can I help you, Master Basques?" she asked with squeaky voice.

You couldn't stop the grin that had formed on your face. It had actually worked.

First Impression (Int + Emp) → 1D100+5 → 90(85 + 5) → High Success!

"I… I wanted to ask you something. What is your name?" you asked, still fascinated by the little creature. House-elves were nothing new to you. While your parents never got one, some of the other inhabitants of your home island needed them for help in old age.

While most wizards were healthy and strong even past the hundred years, some simply found it easier to be cared for than having to do the labor themselves.

The young House-elve bowed her head in greetings before she answered. "This one's name is Nally, Master Basques." When her eyes found their way back to yours, you saw nothing of the usual shyness and eagerness to serve that you had seen in other house-elves before. This one was different somehow and you could tell even after just this short of an interaction.

"Nice to meet you, Nally. I wanted to thank you in person for always helping me out this early in the morning", you said.

The House-elves' following ear to ear grin was more than enough for this whole thing to have paid off. She looked so happy as if you had just gifted her something huge and expensive. Then she bowed again, this time it was not only her head, but her entire upper body.

"Thank you, Master Basques. Nally is always there to help, Master Basques. Just call for Nally!"

"I have one question left, Nally."

"Yes, Master Basques?"

"Where do you guys work?"

"Oh! Yes, in the kitchen, Master Basques. Do you want Nally to show you?"

"Yes", you said, smiling from ear to ear just as she was.

You were about to see something new of Hogwarts.

"Yes, please."

Present Date: 11th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

It was Saturday and Saturday meant that there was no safe time for you to eat in the Great Hall. It was full at all times even at days with such good weather as today, there were always people that just hated the outsides… Well, you didn't appreciate too many people, so it all made sense in the end. Everyone had their pet peeves.

In the past, you would have just taken as much food as you could during breakfast and headed out to explore the world. But the past was the past and the present had become nothing but pleasant.

And that pleasantry came in the form of a kitchen that was located directly under the Great Hall, down the staircase leading to the Hufflepuff Basement and down a broad stone basement corridor, brightly lit and decorated with food-themed paintings.

It was a floor that you'd never passed before, but even if you had done that there would have been nothing out of the ordinary for you to see. It was filled with the most boring paintings in all of Hogwarts. There was no movement, no soul inside and nothing of interest but food.

Well, that was until one had a smart little House-elve that would explain how to tickle a specific pear on a specific painting of a bowl of fruits.

The pear giggled in response to your sudden attack and retreated to turn into a large green door handle, revealing the entrance to the Hogwarts Kitchen. You didn't know how long it would take for you to not grin like a madman whenever you went through the opening in the wall and climbed into the large kitchen that stretched itself under the entirety of the Great Hall.

You had come down here every single day since you had found the place and while it had caused a lot of frantic excitement and fuss at first, you noticed how the energetic House-elves were starting to just work around you, while they prepared food and went on with their work.

It was so interesting to see them work. One House-elve was a small ball of sophisticated magic. They didn't need wands but were able to use the most complicated of spells. It was as if they had immersed themselves so deep into magic that it had turned them into something other… something that could not live by itself.

Your eyes caught the small house-elve that was most interesting to you. Nally was waiting for you already, as if she had known that you would come at exactly this moment. A small table had been prepared for you to sit down and a delicious-looking meal was waiting for you on top of it already.

"You are the best, Nally", you said, sitting down in your designated place.

"Whatever you need just call for Nally, Master Basques", she said with a sophisticated bow. By now you knew that she rather liked those.

In here you had realized that Nally was simply different. None of the other House-elves had shown the anomalies in personality traits that Nally was showing. She was calmer than the rest of them and easier to talk to.

Your eyes roamed over the rest of the House-elves. They were all moving around so fast that you couldn't track them for so long. They apparated – or whatever it was called that they did – so fluently and fast that sometimes it just seemed like fast movements to you.

They could split focus not only for two simultaneous spells but onto multiple things at the same time, as if it was nothing special. In here you felt more inadequate than you had ever felt in Hogwarts. These creatures had an inkling into magic that you envied. They didn't need to study and understand like you did… they just knew.

Going into your third-year things had become clearer to you. Wizards and witches could be categorized into three groups. There were those that just simply couldn't. Looking at your Ravenclaw companions it was clear to you that this category fit the best to Michael Corner.

He was neither talented, nor driven. Michael still failed at spells that the rest of you had mastered late into your first year. You could see that people still liked him though. There were five people sharing your bedroom. Michael, Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein were almost inseparable, leaving Stephen Cornfoot, the last boy sharing your bedroom, find friends with some of the Hufflepuff boys instead.

You had simply stayed on your own and you liked it that way. There was no way that you could hang out with someone like Michael Corner. He was everything that you despised. Loud, obnoxious, lazy and worst of all; ignorant.

Then there was the type of wizard that was not all too talented but driven. This group you respected. They were hard working and knew that they had to keep their minds open to keep up with the top. Anthony Goldstein was one of these. Him you liked, even if you had rarely interacted with him at all.

And then there was the third group. They had talent to spare, were destined to become powerful and most of the times they even had all drive in the world. There were a few people in your year that came to mind. One was Terry Boot, another was Hermione Granger… and naturally the most famous of them all, Harry Potter.

You had observed all three of them in classes and knew that they were not exactly the same. While Terry Boot was easily as talented as Granger and worked harder than most of you, her unparalleled effort just gave her the needed extra to be on top of your year. Everyone knew it by now.

That she was friends with the most famous student in Hogwarts had only cemented that.

You were not into rumors and school politics, but you had eyes on your face and those had nothing to do but to look and observe.

And then there was the most famous of all, maybe even the most talented of your year but someone that had absolutely no drive; Harry Potter. The boy-who-lived. The one you'd grown up reading stories about. He had fought trolls and basilisks at an age where others still had never even dueled another child… like you.

The thing was, none of those three groups of people had ever fascinated you as much as these little creatures in front of you did right now. None of those three groups could simply snap their fingers without having been taught and conjure magic as if it was their nature. House-elves magic was simply astonishing.

"… break the thingies!" you heard a House-elve next to you shout to another elve. It brought you out of your thoughts for a second.

"Sally-Anne!", the House-elve shouted. Three syllables that shouldn't mean anything to you. They still triggered something that had been buried deep inside you.

And with something simple as that, it was as if your mind had been released.

You were thrown back in time, ripped out of your body and pushed into your mind as if some magic that had been on you before had broken by that simple name.

Suddenly, you were sitting in class again, looking around like you always did. Everyone was smaller than you had become used to. Everything was blurry, as if you were just remembering things, not experiencing them. You looked up to see Professor McGonagall teach you the first transfiguration spell that you had ever learned. This was a moment in time during your first month at Hogwarts.

You looked to your right, turning your perspective, without moving your eyes. The yellow crest of the Hufflepuff emblem was on every attire on the right side of the room. There were five boys and four girls…

Something was wrong. There were only three Hufflepuff girls. You knew them by name; Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Megan Jones and Sally-Anne. Only three Hufflepuff girls. Hannah, Susan, Megan and Sally-Anne. Yes, you knew all three of them.

Hannah, Susan, Megan… and Sally-Anne.

Why did you remember four Hufflepuff girls?

And as soon as it had come, it was over. You were thrown out of your mind again, a spell older than you were taking its place back in your mind, erasing everything that you remembered from back then.

What it didn't erase? The memory of remembering it.

"What-…" your voice was hoarse, as if you had not used it in weeks. You cleared your throat before trying again.

"What did you say?" you asked the small House-elve at your side. You didn't know the name of the House-elve, but it wasn't important right now.

The small House-elve was startled. It was the first time you had talked to this specific one.

"Silly, An", he said. His face showed fear, as if he was afraid that he had done something wrong.

"An is this one's name, Master Basques, Sir."

Silly, An. The elve didn't say that name. You had misheard his words and it had triggered something slumbering deep inside you.

You didn't touch your food again. There was only one thing on your mind.

There were three Hufflepuff girls in your year. But there had been four at some point in time. Not only that, but there was something hindering you from remembering it.

All that you knew was her name.

"Sally-Anne", you repeated to yourself, still afraid that the magic that had blocked your memories would take the only clue you had left.

"Who are you?"

You are smart… but let's face it, all versions of what you could have been were. You are curious though, more curious than any of them. You rarely speak up, choosing to listen. You rarely move, choosing to stay and watch. You rarely act, choosing to learn. Right now, something opened up to you that would have not appeared to those that you could have been.

You strive for knowledge in the form of riddles. You need them to breath. You need them to grow. And this is your first one.

[ ] The Trophy Room – You have never been there before, but you know where it is. Maybe you will be able to find a clue there?

[ ] Loony Basques – You don't remember the fourth Hufflepuff, but maybe someone else will. Good that you don't really care what people think of you… because they will think that you are crazy if they also don't remember.

[ ] Ghostly Memories – Maybe there is magic at play that works on you, but will it also work on ghosts? Find and ask a ghost… you have never talked to one either way.

[ ] A Cat Remembers – Professor McGonagall was teaching a class with four Hufflepuff girls in it. Maybe she remembers the fourth?

[ ] Write in – Show your ingenuity working with so few clues. What is important and relevant and what is only smoke to distract?

Tabula Rasa · Feb 1, 2019

[X] Evidence Matters - Students get photographed, paper records exist. Look for the student yearbook and match each Hufflepuff first year for your batch to a name. Then do it again for the second year, and the third. While you're at it, ask Nally if she can show you where the submitted old homework are stored. You want to reference a class from your first year. Its nagging at you.

Present Date: 13th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

The riddle of the missing Hufflepuff was your only companion over the weekend. But before you had thought of your next step, Monday had arrived somehow and with the new week classes came around again.

You tried your best to focus but you knew that it had always been one of your weaknesses that you got distracted too easily. Your attention was brickle and weak, directly subordinated to whatever your curiosity found the most interesting… even if it was a rather odd-looking cloud.

Who are you Sally-Anne?

No one answered your inquiry. No one heard it.

The school day passed with you none the wiser and left you stranded in the common room that was so intricately decorated to sport enough shades of blue as to drown an entire ocean in it.

You were sitting in an armchair near the windows, trying to work yourself through your schoolbooks to be comfortably ahead again and not needing to get yourself to actually listen to what the teachers were saying in class. It was the easiest way to not fall behind without having to combat your short attention span for uninteresting things.

The Kappa resembles a scale-covered monkey with webbed hands and a water-filled depression atop its head. The water in this hollow is the source of the creature's strength.

Kappas feed on the blood of humans, strangling anyone unlucky enough to wade into their ponds or rivers. One can protect and appease a Kappa by throwing a cucumber inscribed with that person's name; however, if they can trick it into bowing, the water in its head will spill out, weakening it. They live in shallow water, mainly in Japan, rarely on the mainland in Mongolia or China.

"Jacob", a voice said, taking you out of your readings. You looked up, but it took a second to see who was calling your name. The blonde locks were the first thing about him that you detected.

"Jacob, are you listening?" Anthony Goldstein tried again, as if he had been calling out for you for a while now.

"Huh?" you asked with your usual eloquence. Behind Anthony you could see Michael Corner, Terry Boots, Padma Patil and Sue Li. Half of the Ravenclaw's in your year had gathered up near the entrance to the Common Room and they all looked dressed as if to head out.

Reading the Mood (Int + Emp) → 1D100+5 → 83(78 + 5)

"We want to go and watch the Ravenclaw Quidditch Tryouts", Anthony said, walking up to you. From your place it was easy to see the faces of everyone in the group and just as easy to see what they thought of Anthony bringing everything to a halt to ask you to join them.

There were those that looked like they actually wanted you to join. Terry and Padma were smiling at you as inviting as they possibly could. Then there was Sue Li. The Asian girl wasn't even looking at you, choosing to open the entrance as if just waiting to exit the Common Room. She didn't care if you went, but she didn't want to wait any longer.

It was understandable. You had never put much effort into interacting with your classmates. Sometimes it surprised you that they even knew your name.

But then there was Michael Corner. His smile was the brightest and the most welcoming. Had you not observed him for two years, you would have fallen for that empty smile. He didn't like you and didn't want to be seen with you. The only reason why he didn't protest was because he didn't want to go against the popular guys in the room.

"Thanks Anthony," you said instead. "I'm a little behind and I want to get back on track as fast as possible."

Anthony smiled at your answer as if he had been expecting it.

"At least one of us is a true Ravenclaw", Padma said from her place. Michael was the one to laugh the loudest at her joke, while everyone chuckled along.

"Next time, I promise", you said instead.

"Sure", Anthony said, before following his group outside.

The Common Room stayed empty over the next few hours, which gave you the chance to do quite a little more than you'd expected. You had been working to get through your Transfiguration material since the first school day. Then Charms had joined that and over the last few days you had been able to focus on DADA.

The material was just as interesting and novel as it had been last year. You couldn't believe how many new things that you'd never heard about were in those books.

Transfiguration Training, DC 0 → 1D100 → 62(62) → Automatic Success! (Lower than P-) → New Rank: D
Charms Training, DC 0 → 1D100 → 32(32) → Automatic Success! (Lower than P-) → New Rank: D
Defence Against the Dark Arts Training, DC 0 → 1D100 → 13(13) → Automatic Success! (Lower than P-) → New Rank: D

You were not quite were you would need to be at the end of the school year for your exams, but you were getting quite ahead of day to day classes.

The best thing was that it let you focus on something different than the riddle that you hadn't been able to solve yet.

Yes. You felt like you had finally arrived back at Hogwarts.

Present Date: 14th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Hola mama, Hola papa,

espero que estéis bien.

You started the letter, hoping that they were well. You had not talked to them since you arrived at school. It was time again. As you always did with them you switched between Spanish and English more than you would like to admit. It was just the way you had always spoken to them. It was part of yourself.

I arrived well and we are now past week two without any trolls or other beasts inside the castle.

You smiled, knowing how your father would laugh at such a joke. Your mother on the other hand wouldn't take it too lightly.

I heard that Sirius Black has escaped prison and they have stationed Dementors all around Hogwarts, but I haven't seen one yet, so I'm not too sure if the rumors are true.

And something interesting happened. I tried to understand what magic it was that produced our food in Hogwarts and found out that there is an entire kitchen hidden from us students with an armada of House-elves buzzing and working inside. It must be one of the most interesting ordinary things I have seen in my entire life.

But through that I've found something that is bothering me. There is something that I'd like to ask the both of you. Is there any kind of magic that can simply block memories? I mean, I haven't found anything in my schoolbooks, but I suspect that this isn't quite third year material.

I feel like there is something that I could grasp in my mind if I just stretch far enough… but it isn't there. I'm unsure about the meaning. But I'm starting to understand that Hogwarts is truly fascinating. There are quite some things that hide in plain sight and I want to check them all out.

Hasta la próxima, cuidaros mucho y que tengáis una feliz semana,

Jacob Marvan Basques

You took a few minutes to read over the parchment, before you rolled it together and attached it to the small owl that had been your companion for more than two years now.

The little Owl had relatively long legs, a short tail, and a rather flat head with no ear-tufts. Her facial disc was ill defined and was basically a mop of greyish-brown with some light mottling. She was an Athene noctua, one of the smaller owls and absolutely adorable. That was why you named her Peque, the small one.

"I'm sure you miss home just as much as I do", you told the small owl, caressing her head as she proudly waited for her mission statement.

"Go home, Peque."

And that she did, spreading her wings as far as she could, before taking of after a short sprint. She flew upwards, circling the air above you before leaving the owlery through one of its many openings. It would be a long flight for her, but she could handle.

She was small, but she was a special one.

Present Date: 16th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

It was Thursday and all that everyone could talk about was that it would be the first Hogsmeade weekend of the school year. Looking at your finances, you realized that you had blown through your entire allowance before arriving at Hogwarts. You were not even sure what you had spend it on to be honest.

Every time you and your mother had went out because she needed to buy things, you had parted from her and made your own adventure. And while most of the things you'd bought had been useful (if you could call fiction novels and other oddities that you had found interesting, useful), they had left you with only four Galleons, four Sickles and nineteen Knuts left.

Which was kind of a problem now that you were allowed to head to Hogsmeade once a month and were able to purchase whatever it was that you wanted… at this rate even the few experiments that you had in mind were out of your financial reach. Ingredients and materials costed money.

You could always ask your parents for a few Galleons… but did you really want to? Two weeks after starting school and telling them that they didn't need to worry about you?

This left only one other option; You needed to work for it. And who were you but someone who liked to tackle problems from different angles.

You took a single piece of paper and put it up on the information wall next to the entrance of your Common Room.

Hogsmeade Delivery Service – Whatever it is that you need, I'll get it to you*

The letters were bold and had been written carefully. You wanted it to look professional and trustworthy. The rest of the text was a little smaller though and backed into the corner of the large piece of parchment.

*Small fee of one tenth of the product price.

You smiled, before you produced a few more copies to give around outside of the common room. Honest labor for honest money.

How many are interested? → 2D5 → 4(1 +3)
How much do they spend on average? → 1D20+2 → 13(11 + 2)

→ 4*13 = 52 → 52 / 10 = 5.2 → Your fee for the delivery will be 5 Galleons and 4 Sickles

Present Date: 18th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Stage I, Shadows behind paintings

Shadows behind paintings DC 50 (Int + Crea) → 3D100+6 → 90(44 +38 +2 + 6) → High Success! → Extra possibility for something special

And then Saturday came around.

It was warm, it was beautiful outside and-…

"Permit", Filch said, stretching the first syllable for way longer than it needed to be. You showed him the slip of paper that your mother had signed a month into your vacations. It had only occurred to you that she needed to sign it, because you had been looking for a particular book inside your trunk… well, she had signed it in the end. That was the only thing that was important. Nobody needed to know that you had forgotten about it.

"Here", you said, giving it to him. His eyes narrowed as he looked over the signature. How would he even want to know if it was real or not? There was no magic at play with Filch and he couldn't simply know all signatures of all parents.

"Pass", he said, and you followed his order, going out into the open as you left the Castle. A small pouch was awaiting inside your pocket. Its weight way beyond what you were usually familiar with… such a tragedy that most of that money wasn't even yours to begin with.

You didn't take long to arrive in the small town just outside of the school grounds. The shopping spree that followed took a while, though. The list of things you needed to buy was long, but at least you got to know the different shops in the small town.

While you had been one of the firsts to arrive in Hogsmeade, the town didn't stay empty for too long. Just a few hours later every shop and café was filled with energetic Hogwarts student wanting to enjoy their short few hours of freedom.

You filled your backpack with the last few items that you had brought for your first costumers, before heading back to leave Hogsmeade behind. There was nothing for you to do here really. One wanted to enjoy the freedom with friends… and those you didn't have in abundance.

Everyone had always made a fuss about Hogsmeade, but in the end it was not all that it was cracked up to be. There was the Sweetshop's that could bring some joy, Zonko's Joke Shop which was what most of your costumers had wanted you to head out for and one or the other book store with some interesting reading material.

In the end there had been only few things that caught your eye… mainly because you wanted to break them apart and see how they worked. You had never tried yourself in reverse engineering, but maybe it was time for it.

What is the first object you buy to take apart?

[ ] Aviatomobile - A burgundy toy car, which was presumably bewitched to fly. It seems to have its own mind as it sometimes choses to follow you, only to randomly fly off at other times. Cost: 2 Galleon, 6 Sickles, 9 Knuts

[ ] Peace Disturbers - Simple fireworks from the Explosive line at the Joke Shop. Cost: 1 Galleon, 3 Sickles, 11 Knuts

[ ] Dungbomb - These contraband items are useful for clearing a room. A magical stink bomb that gives off a putrid odour. Dungbombs were invented in the 1800s by Alberic Grunnion. When handled, Dungbombs leave a person's hands dirty. Cost: 1 Galleon, 0 Sickles, 4 Knuts

[ ] I will keep my hard-earned money

Your feet carried you over the well trampled cobblestone path out of Hogsmeade and into the lands surrounding the castle.

Bonus, do you see it? DC 50 → 1D100+6 → 55(49 + 6 → Success!

You had been spending as much time in between your studies and classes to look out for hidden pathways inside the castle and you were getting closer to understanding the way that they were structured… but you were still not all the way there yet.

The most important thing you had learned was to keep your eyes open for everything out of the ordinary.

"That's the Shrieking Shack?", you heard one of the students heading into Hogsmeade ask his friend as they passed you.

"Yes", the girl said. You didn't look at them, because you didn't really care for who they were. You only cared for what they were saying.

"It is thought to be haunted because they often hear screams coming from inside", she said.

"But," the boy said, before your distance had gotten too big and his words were too far away to hear them. You didn't need to hear his words to know that he was right with his next argument.

But Hogwarts is haunted, too. We have ghosts in the castle.

And with such a simple comment they had made you curious. You couldn't help yourself but to look up the hill and let your eyes roam over the abandoned house on top of it. It was old and looked as if no one had cared for it in decades. It was something that was so special and different that no one would even get the idea of wanting to know more. It's legend guarding it from curious eyes.

You smiled as you took your wand out. It was a short way to the old gate that kept intruders outside.

"Alohomora", you simply said, and the rusty gate opened for you with an ominous creaking sound.

Adventure.

Disappointment.

That was the perfect word for what you'd found. Total and utter disappointment. There were no ghosts, no creatures not even House-elves inside the old house. Instead you had only found a building that hadn't been touched for longer than you existed. You weren't sure what you had expected. Maybe a little something interesting or intriguing or at least something that wasn't utterly boring and empty of things.

The rooms and halls were all dirty, covered with dust, and the furniture was moth-eaten and broken. There was a chair in the foyer of the Shack that had one of its legs ripped off. In the foyer, a staircase lead to the second floor. Upstairs there was one room with a magnificently large but dusty four-poster bed.

The living room downstairs was disordered and dusty. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor and every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up. And you could see what looked like scratches all over the walls.

The interior of the Shrieking Shack was a mess.

"Lumos", you said, pushing your wand forward, before heading into the basement.

The old wood below creaked and screamed in agony under your weight as you headed into the darkness below. It might have been scary at night, but right now there was nothing to see but a small basement that was empty and an entrance in the wall that was so dark it looked like a pathway straight into hell-…

"Que putada… What is this?" you asked aloud, when your feet finally touched the ground of the hidden floor.

Just in front of you the wall to the side of the basement opened up into nothing but darkness. You didn't need anyone to tell you that you shouldn't simply go in there unprepared and without thinking things through… it would be stupid and too Gryffindor…

But how would you ever sleep again if you had no idea what was behind this gaping hole into the ground? You had decided that you wanted to learn as much of Hogwarts as you could and while you were technically still in Hogsmeade, this had to count somehow.

If you were ever to tell the story of what happened here, you would have to change the part of: And then I headed straight into the obvious deathtrap.

You nodded to yourself. That was a sensible thing to do.

And then you headed straight into the obvious deathtrap.

The tunnel twisted after a few short steps, before going down steeper than you would have imagined it. What creatures could hide here? You didn't remember any that lived below the ground. An obvious gap in your knowledge.

As the path was getting smaller and lower, you started to first duck your head in, before needing to crawl on some patches of the tunnel. You moved carefully, not wanting to fall over a gaping hole in the ground and you had to adjust your backpack more than one time, when it randomly hooked into one or the other root that had grown into the tunnel.

On and on went the passage and all you could think of was that you knew of no spell that would allow you to blow your way up to fresh air if something unexpected happened. Your spell arsenal was not as large in variety as you would have liked it for such a situation.

And then finally, after what felt like an hour; you could see a patch of dim light through a small opening. You came up to it slowly, before sticking your head out of the opening and…

Evading, DC 30 → (Con + Luck) 1D100+3 → 10(7 + 3) → Failure!

You were scrawny, you were slow, and you had never been involved in any action before. There was simply no way for you to anticipate that of all places in the world, it was right under the Whimping Willow where you would choose to stick your head out from.

Her branch hit you right in the face. So hard indeed that it sent you back flying into the hidden tunnel below it.

Darkness surrounded you.

When you opened your eyes there was only pain. You tried touching your face but recoiled when you touched the long streak on your face that felt as if it had swelled to enormous proportions. There was no blood on your fingers. Either there had been no blood, or you had been out long enough for it to dry already.

You took a deep breath before sitting up, grimacing at the pain inside your head. The Willow had gotten you good.

"Man up, Jacob", you said to yourself. "You are a wizard. This is nothing to you."

Ah, the pep talk that you had always needed. From yourself to you. What a kind gesture indeed.

Leaning against one side of the tunnel, you looked up at the Whomping Willow through the small hole above you. What was a tunnel for that you couldn't enter or exit? Was this also a riddle? Was the tunnel even manmade or did you fall into some animal's home that just wasn't compatible with human sizes?

Is there a passage? DC 50 (Herbology + Int + Emp + Luck) → 1D100+7 → 87(80 + 7) → Success!

Well, at least you could still think and what was your brain for but to be used.

You had been in a house, just outside of Hogwarts. It could be old, but it didn't look like hundreds of years old the way some other buildings looked like in the magic world. The house hadn't been used in years and the insides were all destroyed and scratched up as if there had been a large animal revolting.

There was only one real solution. It had been abandoned and an animal had used it as his new home, before dying or abandoning it after a few years. It could be no coincidence that it chose the Whomping Willow as an entrance point. The old willow was its guardian… the thing was; if you chose such a dangerous thing as your guardian, you would need a way to stop it to pass through yourself.

Disregarding the possibility of an innate ability of the creature to evade the willow's attacks, there had to be something near the entrance of the tunnel that told the willow to stop.

Taking a deep breath to gather courage, you stood up again. This time it wasn't your head that went out first but your hand instead. You grabbed a knot down the willow's trunk for hold to bring you up and search with your eyes… and as if through magic, the tree stopped moving above you.

Ah. That had been easier than expected.

"Next time you hit me", you said, as you pushed yourself out of the hole. You were dirty and sweaty, but it seemed as if the products inside your backpack had survived it. "I will brew the Herbicide Potion and see at what quantity it will turn you into rampant weeds."

"I hope we understand each other?" you asked the tree, before letting go of the knot you were still holding and sprinting outside of its reach.

→ One secret passage out of Hogwarts found
→ ???

You were standing inside your shared bathrooms, butt naked and without worries because the others would need at least another hour before they came back from Hogsmeade. Most students came back as late as possible to savor the weekend.

The products you had gone out for had already found their destinations and with it you had officially earned the pertaining fee.

→ + 5 Galleons and 4 Sickles

The mirror in front of you didn't talk. You remembered being oddly disappointed when you realized that in your first year. Right now, you were thankful. It wouldn't have anything nice to say right now. Your face looked like it had been split in two. A long and read streak parted half of your face, but it didn't seem as if you would need to visit Madam Pomfrey over this.

Only now did you realize that you had changed a bit since you first started your school life at Hogwarts.

What do you look like? Keep in mind that you have dark hair. Everyone can propose a picture, before we start the vote for this.

Tabula Rasa · Feb 2, 2019

[X]I will keep my hard-earned money

Present Date: 19th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

You had gone to sleep early and fled your bedroom before the sunrise to evade having to answer any questions about what had happened to your face. There was neither a spell, nor a potion in your repertoire that could heal the purple streak that had developed on your face. Maybe you'd need something for next time? You should definitely search the library for healing options if you wanted to stay out of Madam Pomfrey's reach and questions in the future.

Passing a large window in the corridor, you stopped for a second to look out of it. It was still dark outside, but you were able to imagine the forbidden forest in the distance. The moon of the 19th September of 1993 had been non-existent. Weak and hidden behind clouds. And for you it was as if you were looking into the dark tunnel leading out of the Shrieking Shack again.

"Lumos", you said, raising your wand against the dark window to shine light into the world. For a second your eyes did not adapt to the sudden brightness. You saw yourself mirrored in the glass window before you, the darkness behind turning it into a weak mirror.

Why were there two set of eyes looking at the window?

Your heart stopped as you turned around as fast as you possibly could to see who was standing behind you. Your wand lightened the dark corridor only to show you that there was nothing but air behind you. Turning around to the window again, you tried to look for what you had clearly seen standing behind you. A girl, shorter than you. She had dark, long hair; her skin pale, almost of a silvery substance and her blue eyes were more vibrant and brighter than you had ever thought possible.

Heart pounding hart against your chest, you stepped forward with your hands raised as if to touch the space where you had seen her standing. Your hand went right through thin air.

"Sally-Anne?" you asked into the air, but nothing answered. Whatever had been here, it was gone.

Frustration was building up inside. How could one solve a riddle without clues?

You took a step forward and kicked out against the wall in anger, bracing for the pain that was to come. Instead, your foot went right through the massive wall and made you lose your balance as you crashed trough the stonewall that only existed to the eyes.

You lost any footing, falling down the slide and desperately trying to save your life by grabbing onto something to save you from the darkness below.

Reaction Time, DC 50 (Con + Luck) → 1D100+3 → 58(55 + 3) → Success!

A scream escaped your throat; that you couldn't help.

Something had changed, though. The action of the prior day had let you stay attentive. Right now, there was no time to analyze whatever had happened. You were falling and you were afraid of crashing hard.

"Spongify!", you shouted moving your wand downwards into the direction that you were heading.

Just a second later you crashed through another imaginary wall without losing any momentum. You left the slide with enough force as to fly over the ground to crash back-first against the wall on the other side of the floor.

The only thing that saved your bones was the spell that you had used a moment prior, turning the hard stonewall soft and bouncy. You took the soft landing to redirect yourself and fall on your knees and hands, plopping hard against the ground.

"Bloody castle", you spat out in between your fast breaths.

Letting yourself fall against the wall behind you, you finally took time to look around. The corridor you had fallen into was familiar. Somehow you had gotten from the sixth floor into the second.

There had been a hidden entrance on a wall that you had passed dozens of times before and that you'd never noticed before. This treasure gave you something to work with. There was a clue about how these things were hidden in Hogwarts…

Sally-Anne was forgotten as you spent the next few days looking for hidden pathways in every waking hour you had outside of class. Not even curfew stopped you… and boy did you find an abundance of these hidden shortcuts.

You gained an understanding of some of the shortcuts through Hogwarts.

→ Gained one additional Normal Action per month
→ New Option available

Present Date: 22th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Lapifors Training, DC 50 (Transfiguration + INT + CRT) 1D100+9 → 60(51 + 9) → Success! → New Spell learned!

Reparo Training, DC 50 (Charms + INT + CRT) → 1D100+9 → 30(21 + 9) → Failure! → New DC 20.

"Lapifors", you said, raising your wand to move it from right to left and then down at the target. Your mind was clear of everything that was not the small salamander in front of you. You could see in your mind how his legs got longer and thicker and his thick skin turned into something fluffy and white moments before reality bent to your will.

And as if reality had accepted you as its master, the salamander turned into a fluffy rabbit that still didn't knew how to move in its new body but was very happy to be able to test it out.

"I am impressed, Mr. Basques." Professor McGonagall's voice brought you back to the classroom in which you were sitting. Only now did you realize that she had been still explaining the exact wand movements. It had been hard for you to sit through the lecture and it seemed as if you had just lost against your attention deficit again.

"Maybe next time you'd do us the honour to wait until the end of the explanation", she said in a stern voice.

"Two points from Ravenclaw", she said as you looked up to her with an apologetic smile. There was amusement in her eyes. "And five points to Ravenclaw for an exceptional demonstration of the spell."

You could feel heat rising up behind your ears as a few sets of eyes turned around to you.

That short attention span of yours was going to ruin you one day.

Present Date: 23th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Random Encounter (+ Luck) → 1D100+2 → 24(22 + 2) → You see nothing out of the ordinary

Your way up to the fifth floor was a short one, as you exited a door behind a thick curtain that only opened to those who knocked three times. It was such a basic riddle to solve that you'd needed an hour of spell-testing, lockpicking and password trying until you had solved it.

The good thing: It gave you a shortcut from a corridor near your common room to the floor next to the Dueling Club.

After the short life of a failed Dueling Club in your second year, Professor Flitwick had taken the responsibility onto himself to try again this year. It was clear that the euphory of last year had died down, now that no one was afraid of a monster that lurked around the corner.

Inside the large room there were the same two dozen students that you had seen during the last two weekly meetings as well. It was a mixture of different years and houses as everyone was allowed to attend, even if most people were from upper years trying to get a little more practice in.

To no one's surprise, anyone who had attended in the first week had stayed loyal and come back in all following weeks.

It was clear to see why that was.

"Welcome, Welcome", the short man said who didn't quite share neither Professor McGonagall's nor Snape's heavy aura. Still, there was a specific charisma to him that the other two lacked and it was easy to understand why the Club-members liked to attend the club.

Professor Flitwick, who was a tiny little wizard with a shock of white hair, was carrying a wooden stool to the front of the room, where he proceeded to climb on the stool to be able to look over the standing crowd.

"As I said last week, today we will step away from the form and nature of dueling. I think you have heard me rambling quite enough for a while", Professor Flitwick joked, provoking quite a few people to chuckle along.

"Instead we will focus on the actual spell work", he said. "So, who of you can show me what the Protego Charm is?"

New Spell Research available:
Protego (Basic) – Weakest version of the Shield Charm. Protego is a term applied to several varieties of charms. They create a magical barrier to deflect physical entities and spells, in order to protect a certain person or area. Conjurations may sometimes rebound directly off it back towards the caster or in other cases, may ricochet off in other directions or dissipate as soon as they hit the shield. Gives a +5 to defending rolls. DC: 100

Empathy Check (INT + EMP) → 1D100+5 → 45(40 + 5)

The blonde girl in front of you was in a way more intimidating than the gaping hole you'd crawled through or the sentient tree that had chosen to hit you right in the face. At the end of each lecture Flitwick made a point out of it to pair all Club-members and let them duel each other.

It was fun, it let you learn a lot… but it wasn't without drawbacks.

"I've known you for two years", the blonde Slytherin said. "But I don't think that I ever heard your voice." Tracey Davis held her head in a slight angle to look at you. Her wand was raised to her chin.

Both of you were standing on the stage, all other students sitting around as tradition had become in a few short weeks. One could learn just as much from sitting down there as from being up here. They were just as quiet as you were right now.

"Are you a mute, or something?" Tracey asked with the clear intention of making fun of you. There was no maliciousness in her voice. She just wanted to provoke you. Well, she really didn't know you at all, did she?

Jacob Attack (Charms + INT + CRT + Wand) → 1D100+14 → 55(41 + 14)
Tracey Defence → 1D100+10 → 22(12 + 10)

"I am clearly not", you said as your wand moved upwards and shot forwards. "Flipendo!"

She had clearly not been expecting this first blow, because she had nothing to defend herself with. The spell threw her out of her feet and let her crash hard against her back. She had not been expecting the spell, nor had she been able to attempt evading it.

You still had to respect her for a different thing; Tracey's wand never left her hand.

Tracey Attack → 1D100+10 → 62(52 + 10)
Jacob Defence → (Charms + INT + CRT + Wand) 1D100+14 → 77(63 + 14)

Tracey Davis was as fierce as one could be. You didn't know how such a character had formed itself at Slytherin, but you could see it in her eyes. There was no embarrassment for being on her back after one spell exchange, nor was there any anger and need for vengeance on her mind.

No, her eyes told you that she simply didn't want to lose. There was no false pride to be found in them.

"Incendio", she said, surprising you with her spell choice. Luckily, your wand had already been moving even before she had spoken that incarnation.

"Wingardium Leviosa", you said half a second earlier, throwing one of the older students out of his chair to grab his seating and throw it between you and Tracey. If there was anyone in the audience who thought Tracey to be a weak witch for losing the match, they were shown how wrong they were.

The chair was hit by the spell immediately, engulfing it in a ball of fire. You raised your wand and with it the glowing ball of fire that you were levitating between you and Tracey.

It was clear to you that she was one of type two of your definition of people; not gifted with talent, but extremely hard working. A good thing that she was in the club with you. She would keep you motivated.

"Catch the hot potato!" you said, as you threw the chair right back at her. Her eyes went wide as she saw the oncoming object. Tracey raised her hands above her head as if to guard herself on the ground, only for the chair to stop a few feet away from her face. Then it changed its course to move outside of her reach and come down near Professor Flitwick.

You didn't know any spells to stop the fire.

"Ehm, Professor?"

→ +10 Experience Points
→ Up to four random duels each month. Now rolling for the rest of them:

How many duels fought this month? → 1D3 → 2(2)
Exp on average → 1D20+2 → 18(16 + 2)

→ Exp = 10 + 2*18 = 46 → +46 Experience Points total

Dueling Club - Perks:

As long as you attend the club, get +10 in training Charms, Transfiguration or DADA
At least one duel per month, at max 4 duels per month (Experience and possible Perks gain)
Tournament at the end of the year

Present Date: 23th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

For all the energy and joy the members of the Dueling Club brought, they couldn't hold a candle to the quiet peace of one of your new favorite activities. Hogwarts Ancient Runes Club or shorter H.A.R.C.

…

Yeah, you didn't like neither of those names. Who was there to stop you from calling it Runes Club in your mind? Right; no one at all.

Runes Club was the best thing that happened to you this school year. It didn't want to hit you in the face – the streak was still hurting but was not as visible anymore - it didn't try to set you in fire, nor was it a wall that went disappeared suddenly and let you fall three stories into pure darkness.

Runes Club was peace. Runes Club was home.

"Guys", one of the older members shouted as he entered the club room. There were no strict time schedules, because there was no teacher in charge. Most members simply found themselves here whenever they had some time.

Of all the members you only knew one. One of the three Hufflepuff girls: Megan Jones.

Megan was a quiet one. Not Jacob-grade quiet, but she was not the extroverted type like the other two Hufflepuff girls were. She had dark, short hair and had always been nice to anyone around her. Which was why people liked her… and it was the reason why the fourth year Hufflepuff that entered the room headed into her direction excitedly.

"Look at what I found", he exclaimed, turning a few heads around.

"Not again", Megan whispered more to herself than to you. You had just been able to hear her because both of you had chosen a position near the window to try and get some reading in and catch up to the rest of the Club-members.

"Not the first time?" you asked, looking up from your book.

Only now did your classmate realize that you had heard her. Her eyes widened as if surprised by her own words. She shook her head as fast as she could.

"No, it wasn't meant like that", she said, looking at the group that had intercepted the weirdly energetic boy. "They always find something with any kind of runes in it and think it to be of importance", Megan said, trying to sound as apologetic as she could.

"It's mostly crap, though."

"Ah", you said, closing your book to stand up and get a closer look at what the rune fanatics had gathered around.

"I think I understand", you said.

Something interesting or crap? → (+ Luck) 1D100+2 → 30(28 + 2)

"Is it an old wand?" you heard one of the older boys ask.

"An iron wand? That would be sick!" another one said, as you walked around them to get a look on the object.

"Do you see these runes down here? I think it's something really old!" the founder said proudly.

When you saw what the fuzz was about, you couldn't help yourself but grimace. Who would have thought that the guys running the Ancient Runes Club would be idiots?

"That's a nail", you said. "You found a brad nail – and that's why it doesn't have the usual head."

You couldn't help yourself from saying: "Congratulations!"

Hogwarts Ancient Runes Club (H. A. R. C.) -
Perks:

As long as you attend the club, get +10 in training Ancient Runes and History of Magic, +5 on Alchemy related research
???

Present Date: 24th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

"Now, imagine looking for a girl", you said, caressing its soft and white fur. The small rabbit that you had turned out of an empty plate looked at you, as if it was trying to listen attentively.

"The only thing you know about that girl is that she went to a school for a short time", you said as your free hand turned another page.

1798 - Second year, Ravenclaw class.

"And that you don't remember her, nor have you ever heard anyone talking about her. Which is weird isn't it? If someone went missing suddenly, surely there'd be rumors?" The rabbit turned to the book on the table that you'd opened up besides him. On the ground below the table were ten more of the kind, all discarded as useless. The only interesting entry had been one of a specific Dumbledore from 1892. Who would have thought that your director was younger than your parents were?

You turned another page and looked over the faces.

1798 - First year, Hufflepuff class.

Again, nothing. No resemblance. The name Sally-Anne itself had come up two times, but none of the girls had been sorted into Hufflepuff, nor did they spark any memory. The only reason why you had kept going back and searching through the older books was because you remembered the vibrant eyes and the silvery skin that had been mirrored in the dark window. They were still haunting you.

"How do you tackle such a problem, Mr. Rabbit?" you asked the small rabbit, that didn't know how to give you an answer. You turned another few pages.

1797 - Fourth year, Gryffindor class.

You had found yourself walking into the old Clock Tower in the Castle. It had been built atop a hill and offered no floor below the third as it was connected to the rest of the castle… which made you quite anxious about the fact that there was a lot of space to hide things below the tower.

The Clock Tower had few things to offer, but it kept an archive about any student that had ever set foot into Hogwarts. That knowledge had been a courtesy of Nally. It was smart and a clever way to solve the problem… but it simply hadn't helped you. There had never been a Sally-Anne in Hufflepuff.

You turned another few pages as the small rabbit started to move and struggle under your hand. It squeaked as loud as it could.

It took a moment for you to realize that you were grabbing the rabbit with too much force, your hand had cramped up around the small animal. You let go of the rabbit, who chose to jump off the table and hop across the room to hide somewhere away from you.

You didn't mind the rabbit. Your eyes had fallen on something very, very interesting.

1797 - First year, Hufflepuff class.

Sully Adams, Minerva Johnson… Sally-Anne Hudson.

Your eyes fixated on the moving picture above that name. She sported neither the vibrant eyes, nor the silvery skin you had seen, but it was clear to you who you were looking at. You had found her.

"Sally-Anne… Hudson", you whispered as if testing the name.

The room was empty when your face hit the table hard enough to almost break your nose.

No one saw how you fell into darkness when you said the name that hadn't been spoken aloud in almost two hundred years.

You are eleven years old.

You remember your first day, arriving at Hogwarts. Father had carried you atop his personal Thestral. He had been angry, but you were not sure if it had been directed at you again. Father was often angry. You were sometimes the cause.

"Don't come back if you are the half-squib your brother is", he had said as he had let you head into the castle alone. You saw the other parents hug their children.

You are eight years old.

Your brother is crying. "You are no child of mine", father had said, when your brother had failed to produce the charm again. A whip of father's wand and the wound on your brothers back started bleeding again. You would never forget those vibrant blue eyes and how he was looking at you while father was hurting him.

Brother would never speak again after that day.

You are eleven years old.

Classes are a breeze. The other students are just as inexperienced as you, but somehow, they take far longer than you to imitate the teacher's spells. You don't understand neither their struggle, nor those of your brother. Why had he not just simply swished his wand and done the spells that father had shown him?

Your teachers were praising you. You didn't know what that feeling was. The warmth that was spreading inside your chest.

You are nine years old.

Mother is swinging, just like she had done to you when you had been young enough to be allowed to play with a swing. Mother had used the rope of the swing to put a knot in it and pull her head inside. "I love you", had been her last words to you, as you watched her jump down.

You watched her swing back and forth until father arrived. Brother was standing behind the swing. Simply looking up at you as he always did. Brother didn't say anything.

You are eleven years old.

Halloween is coming closer and there are so many people around you nowadays. They want to talk to you and play with you. Everyone envies your prowess. You don't understand why they can't simply do the things you do. You started discarding your wand. There was no need for it anymore. Magic was so easy to grasp, so easy to bend to your will.

You just needed to want.

You are ten years old.

Brother came back from his sixth year in Hogwarts. There was only one more year until he turned into a fully trained wizard. The first day he arrived, father took his
wand out. "Show me", father said. Your brother failed. Father showed him.

You are eleven years old.

Today is the day of Halloween. You have been invited by your friends to go to the Great Hall with them. You will soon join them. Brother wants to see you in a floor you've never been to. He wants to show you something. Brother waited in there for you. Brother spoke.

You never spoke again.

Your magic didn't defend itself against brother. It couldn't. You couldn't.

Your magic screamed. The world cried.

You are eleven years old.

Thirteen years have passed, but you are in first class again. It's the first day of classes. You sit with the students, you show them how talented you are. Everyone cheers for you. Everyone says your name.

You want to hear your name again.

You come again for the next seven years. Always repeating your first two months, before disappearing. Your magic grows stronger, but it needs time to rest.

You are eleven years old.

Thirteen years have passed, but you are in first class again. You are in first class for seven years.

You are eleven years old.

Thirteen years have passed, but you are in first class again.

You are eleven years old.

You are eleven years old.

You are-…

You are thirteen years old.

When you finally open your eyes again nothing has changed. Your eyes roam over the empty archive, searching in the shadows. There is nothing waiting for you.

Slowly standing up, you notice that there is dry blood on your hand. You remember everything. And that is why you don't startle when you turn around to look directly into those vibrant blue eyes that she had always seen in her brother's face.

Her silvery skin was bright in the dark room. Hours must have passed for it to turn dark.

"I…", you tried to say. Your voice hoarse again, as if you had been screaming for hours.

Sally-Anne was not looking at you, she was looking right through your chest.

"I am sorry", you said. She never heard you. By the time you spoke again, she had disappeared.

Tabula Rasa · Feb 4, 2019

[ ] This cracker doesn't taste good

Present Date: 25th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

→ Monthly skill progress for September class-subjects added → 1/5 progress to next skill level

Peque was sitting on your shoulder, patiently waiting for you to feed him the next piece of raw fish. You took another chunk out of the small bowl Nally had graciously offered you and held it up for Peque to take it. She had earned it.

Your small owl had been away for quite some time, which could only mean that your parents hadn't answered right away. This was something that bothered you. They were busy people, yes, but they usually sent a letter back with Peque as soon as they got one from you.

A feeling of helpless worry spread through your body as you held their unopened response in hand. It was a baseless worry, but you couldn't help the fear that haunted you at times. All your peers had young and healthy parents and while your parents could still mostly run laps around you, you knew that the day would come when that wouldn't be the case anymore.

They were more than a hundred years older than you and age started to catch up - even with wizards. You feared the day a letter would arrive, informing you that one of your loved one's was not around anymore.

You took a deep breath, before you finally opened the letter.

Hijo,

I'd like to inform you that your mother found it vital for our communication to happen in plain English and not in Castellano (As if that had not been compromise enough. I still wish for you to learn Basque as I have in my childhood). And while your mother may have a point in that this language is important for your education – I see it necessary to teach you about the history of our ancestry.

We…

Your father had written that single words a few times over as if to make a point. You could almost imagine your mother's stern look on her face as she watched him over his shoulder. A pang of homesickness befell you imagining of such a familiar scene.

You really missed the both of them.

… came to the conclusion that you are old enough for the ancestral education that has been part of our name for as long as we exist.

While I can't answer your questions as easily as you would might like it, there is a good example for mind magic in this special lesson. It may help you to expand your horizons and find answers to solve your problem.

And before I forget it; Our neighbors send their regards. They are hoping for you to visit us during your Christmas vacation, but neither I nor your mother will be pestering you about it.

It is your decision as always, but we would be glad to have you around.

Ah, would you do me a favor and say "Basques" aloud?

Bueno, hijo.

Cuídate, amor mío, cuídate.

David Marvan Basques e Isabella Mia Cortez

You looked up from the letter. His words saddened you more than you would have thought, but they made you happy at the same time. Your parents were well and that was all you could ask for. Skimming over the letter, your eyes roamed over the most curious sentence:

Ah, would you do me a favor and say "Basques" aloud?

To be frank, you had no idea what they had been talking about in the letter. Your father had made allusions to mind magic but there had been no actual answers to find. So you simply followed the instructions of your father:

"Basques", you said aloud.

The letter in your hand started crumbling and moving. The edge started to fold onto itself. Then the paper folded closer to the center. It happened again and again, gaining speed with every passing moment. Startled by the sudden movement, you let go of it, but the parchment kept itself steady in the air even without your help.

Troubled by your sudden movements Peque had been forced to jump off your shoulder and onto the grass field you were sitting on just outside of the castle. The little owl watched unfazed as the letter was getting smaller and smaller by the second until it was nothing but a little pebble to the eye.

And with a loud - whush – as if air had rushed into a vacuum the what had been left of the letter disappeared and a large book appeared out of nothing. It floated in its place for a second, before finally losing its battle to gravity and falling to the ground.

"What did just happen?" you asked Peque as you looked at the old tomb that had appeared out of thin air. What kind of magic had that been? You'd never heard of such an exchange of objects. How did it work? What were the rules? Why…

No. Focus, Jacob.

Your eyes fell onto the book again. There was no adornment to decorate the old leather binding. There was not even a title to be seen. Lifting it carefully with your right, you used your left hand to sweep over the old cover. While it looked old and well-used, it certainly didn't feel like it. The cover was smooth and soft as if it had been redone quite recently.

Your fingers searched for the first page as you opened the old tomb to look inside, only to find it empty. Flipping through the book you could see that any following page was just as empty as the first one had been.

Another riddle?

→ New option available for next month's plan

Present Date: 27th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

The weekend had come and gone with you not being able to locate Sally-Anne again. While the History of Magic's Professor levitating from one side of the class to the other, tried to explain you the causes of yet another Goblin rebellion, you were trying yourself at math.

Gone was the magic inside your head, blocking your memories of Sally-Anne. You could remember your own experiences with her. You remembered the small Hufflepuff from two years ago, because you had been astonished by her. She had been ahead from the very first school lesson, using her wand as if she had been born with it and quietly taking over the top of the talent pool.

There had been no one that had been able to compare to her. That you remembered.

You remembered the envy you had felt back then. It was a treacherous feeling now that you had seen the way her short life had left her hurt and broken, but the girl had just been on a different level to you in mind and magic.

You remembered the feeling of inadequacy. Something you thought alien to you even now… but confronted with someone that much more talented than you had humbled you.

You emerged the feather in your hand out of the ink to keep protocol of your thoughts.

Sally-Anne was sorted in 1797 and died two months later at the mere age of eleven years old. Her brutal death by the hands of her older brother defined the window in which she seems to appear in Hogwarts.

She starts on the 01st of September and stays in classes until her death at Halloween. It leaves me one month to solve this problem, before she disappears again.

After her first death she disappeared for thirteen years, only to then return on seven consecutive years.

Those were the time frames. Thirteen-year pause, seven years activity for the first two months of each year. You drew the timeline up, comparing it to the dates of entry you remembered from your Professor's entries in the archives.

Death in 1797.

The feather was plunged deep into the ink, before it came back to write on the parchment again.

Active in 1810-1817; 1830-1837; 1850-1857; 1870-1877; 1890-1897; …

Dumbledore had been sorted in one of her active years. How had he compared to her? Had he been able to best her or had she overshadowed even the most powerful wizard alive?

McGonagall had been sorted in an inactive year, which meant that she had only been confronted with Sally-Anne as a teacher. The question was if she remembered her? Was Sally-Anne's magic so strong as to even work on teachers?

… ; 1970-1977; 1990-1997.

Sally-Anne had come back out of her slumber in your first year and would likely repeat it every year until your sixth year.

There was still a month left to her reoccurring death on Halloween. This explained why you had seen her in person; right now, she was a first-year again.

Somewhere in the castle, there were classes with her and that made the case only more captivating. Did people remember her during the active months outside of classes?

"Ehm… Professor?", someone said, pushing you out of your thoughts.

You had to blink a few times to readjust to your surroundings before looking up. It was not that the girl with the brown bushy hair had been loud. No, that hadn't been what had broken your thought stream and brought your spirit back into the classroom that you had been sitting in for the last hour. It was just the unexpectedness of someone participating in the class.

"Yes, Miss Grant?", the Professor for History of Magic asked.

Professor Binns - and being a ghost certainly did him no good there - looked ancient and shriveled. He wore glasses which were small and thick, and had a dry, reedy voice that sounded like someone was softly humming to you.

It was no coincidence that half of the students were sleeping for most of the two hour block you had with him. Which was why no one ever participated… not even you Ravenclaw's. Never.

"It's Granger, Sir", Hermione said, letting her hand drop to the table in front of her. "Sir, I tried looking through old newspapers, but I couldn't find anything", she said. The redhead sitting behind her had only one eye open as he raised his head from the table, where he had most certainly been sleeping for a while.

"Has It ever happened before that Dementors were stationed around Hogwarts, Sir?" the girl with brown bushy hair asked. Her eyes didn't waver when half of the heads in the room – mostly those who were not dozing off - turned around to her. Instead she pushed her back straighter and kept her focus on the ghost that was hovering in front of them.

Professor Binns paused, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.

"Ah, well… yes, I understand your question, Miss Grant. One of utmost importance as I understand", the old ghost said, slightly spinning around in place to turn the Hermione.

"One point for Ravenclaw for this good question", Professor Binns said. You heard Michael and Terry laugh behind you. It wasn't the first time the old ghost had gotten the houses wrong.

You'd always thought him senile and just not fully there anymore for mistakes like these. Your new experiences with death and the afterlife gave you another perspective, though. What if he was fully there, but just living through his past life right in this second. What if he was not seeing Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor ace, but a Miss Grant, who had been sorted into Ravenclaw?

You added one more sentence to your notes:

Do ghosts see the same world we do?

Then you let your feather drop on the parchment and simply listened.

"Dementor's have not been part of our society for as long as you might think, Miss Grant", Professor Binns said. His voice sounded different, more alive and energetic. It was like those moments when someone who had been sickened with senility, had a good episode with a clear and sound mind.

"When Damocles Rowle was elected Minister for Magic in 1718, he insisted on utilising Azkaban's dark pedigree, seeing the Dementors as a potential asset", the ghost said, for once not reading from his ghostly notes.

"He argued that putting them to work as guards would save expense, time, and lives. This plan was eventually put into motion and, despite protests, Azkaban remained the prison of the wizarding world."

You saw the rest of the Ravenclaw's turn to the Professor, their faces intrigued. Su Li, sitting in the first row, had even started to take notes.

"From that point on, the Dementors served the Ministry of Magic as the guards of Azkaban, as the arrangement allowed them to feed on the emotions of the prisoners within its walls. In 1735, Minister Eldritch Diggory visited Azkaban and was horrified at the sheer despair and insanity that the Dementors induced within the prisoners. He formed a committee to find alternative solutions, the least of which was to remove the Dementors, which met opposition from those who feared a mainland invasion by the dark creatures if they were deprived of their food source."

"Alas, Diggory died of Dragon Pox while in office…" he said, without any further emotion in his voice. The way he had formulated those words, though… was Professor Binns instigating that there had been foul play? Was this the sort of man he had been in his youth? Someone trying to school his students into ask what parts of history made sense and which were likely wrong?

"… and thus the campaign to find an alternative to Azkaban's Dementors stalled. Though their primary function was to guard Azkaban, Dementors also performs other services for the Ministry, such as being sent to guard other locations, escort prisoners to trial or even hunt down certain criminals", he said, finally coming back to the question that Hermione had asked.

"The use of Dementors developed to being accepted more freely over the centuries… but no, Miss Grant", he said.

"This is the first time Dementors have set foot on the grounds of Hogwarts."

Present Date: 30th September 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Understanding Magic (CRT + INT + Magical Theory) → 1D100+6 → 85(79 + 6)

It was Thursday and the last day of the month, exactly one month away from Halloween – which marked the gruesome death of an innocent little girl, whose life you remembered as if you had lived partly through it yourself.

Mother was swinging back and forth… back and forth. Brother was watching you with those vibrant blue eyes. Father screamed in agony.

You had waited for today, because the night would be marked as special not only by a full-moon, but by the half-time mark of her seven-year active phase. Sally-Anne's slumbers gave her enough power for seven years – but not really. It was only ever two months each year, which made her active phase exactly fourteen months long. Which meant that tonight with the end of her seventh month, half of her time would be over.

A numerical advantage that you'd like to use as her magic had made those numbers relevant to her existence.

Still, you had to sit through Snape's class first… and with Snape's class you didn't mean Potions, but DADA. Professor Lupin had called in sick and it seemed as if the human bat had been ready to jump in. The class had been educational, but you had been the first to leave the room when it had been finally over.

Do you make a connection? DC 80 (INT + EMP) → 1D100+5 → 96(91 + 5) → Uncomfortable Success for the GM…

→ Perk Gained: My name is Riddle – You have a keen mind that shines the brightest whenever it is confronted with a riddle. +5 to all detective work

While it had been interesting to see how different Snape acted in a subject that he actually wanted to teach, one other thought hadn't left your mind for a second during the entire lecture.

Teachers called in sick at times. Not often, there was rarely a thing that Madam Pomfrey couldn't solve in minutes, and Wizards didn't simply catch a cold – but it happened sometimes. Most of the times you suspected them to need a day off for personal business, but who knew what a teacher's life entailed? Maybe they just went on vacation for a day or two.

Professor Lupin had been looking worse with each passing day for the last week. Either it was the curse over his position catching up to him earlier in the year than it did with his predecessors or… or, you had to face the possibility that it wasn't simple happenstance that he was sick on the day of the full moon.

A shiver went down your spine in fear as the smile on your face grew in joy. Had Hogwarts always been so fascinating?

Your hand reached out to knock on the door.

Knock. Knock.

Before you could hit the door a third time, you heard someone call: "Come in." You didn't hesitate, pushing the door open to enter the office of the head of your house; Professor Filius Flitwick.

Communication Check (INT + EMP) → 1D100+5 → 86(81 + 5)

Flitwick was distinguishingly short and had been frequently described as "tiny little Professor Flitwick" by your housemates. He was kind, caring and you had never seen him lose his temper even once. It was all the ingredients needed for a recipe called: pushover Professor…

Gladly, that was not what your head was seen as; he commanded respect in spite of his sensitive nature and small stature.

You knew him well by know. More than that, you felt deep respect for the man who was rumored to have been an international Dueling Champion in his youth. There was no need for beating around the bushes with him. He understood when you spoke to him.

"Ah, Mr. Basques. What an honor! Please, come in and sit", the tiny Professor said, sitting in a chair that was higher than usual, only for it to allow him to be able to work on a table of normal size. There were papers on it that he had been working on, but you did not get to see what was on them. A swish of his wand and they sorted themselves by a ghostly hand to end as a neat staple in a corner of his table.

"Hello, Professor. I hope that I'm not bothering you", you said, as you closed the door behind you and began to walk over to the chair the Professor was offering you.

"My doors have always been open for my students, Mr. Basques", he said with a kind smile on his face. "How can I help you?"

You took a moment before you started speaking: "I have a few questions, sir", you said, sorting through the different ways you had imagined this to play out. "How many Hufflepuff girls have been sorted into Hogwarts this year, Professor?" you asked him.

Professor Flitwick's eyebrows rose above the frame of his spectacles in surprise.

"Why are you asking that, Mr. Basques?" he asked, his surprise turning into a frown.

"Just see it as a riddle by one of your students, Professor", you simply answered, having imagined the course of this conversation countless times over the last few days.

Your Head of House seemed to consider what you said, and you could see in his face that he was only humoring you because you had never been the type for pranks and misleading actions.

"There are five girls in Hufflepuff's first year", he said.

"How many girls have been sorted into Hufflepuff last year?", you asked.

"There are currently four girls in Hufflepuff's second year", the Professor said, clearly not understanding what you were leading up to.

"There are three in third, four in fourth and fifth, three in sixth and four in seventh year", you said, going through all active classes. It had been interesting to see that Sally-Anne had even been manipulating Hogwarts into keeping her spot free in the thirteen-year frames that she had been too weak to manifest.

Had you been sitting across a different person; the individual wouldn't have caught on so fast. But you were sitting across the man that was Head of a House that reigned over traits as intelligence and wisdom.

"That is… curious", your Professor said, frowning before raising his hand to massage his temple as if in pain.

"Houses limit themselves to ten children per year. Five girls and five boys", you said, repeating the fact more for yourself than for him. "Sometimes there are too few a number of new students and a house falls short, but…", you started. It was Flitwick that ended your sentence.

"For six consecutive years?" he asked aloud, before suddenly grimacing. The tiny Professor rubbed his eyes, before he refocused on you. "How long?" he asked. How long has this going on for, he meant but you could see that he was in pain.

Was he fighting the magic? You hadn't been sure if it had even befallen him, but it seemed as if not even the Professors had been safe.

"For two hundred years", you said.

Silence fell upon the room as Flitwick was likely trying to remember a year in which there had been five Hufflepuff girls.

It was you who broke the silence again.

"Imagine a powerful wizard", you started. "Say, Professor Dumbledore. Now imagine him falling victim to a spell that he may be able to detect in his later years, but not as a child, still without education. The spell would take hold of him for the rest of his life, dormant and safe under all his prowess, because it was as large of a part of him as Hogwarts was."

The Professor wasn't responding anymore. Both of his hands were rubbing his eyes. When the spell had broken for an instance, it had left you dizzy and weak. You had carried Sally-Anne's magic inside you for only two years… how must it feel for someone who had been walking around with it for decades? A hundred years? It had to be part of your mind by then. Part of the construct that you had built for yourself.

You'd gone through the Archives to find Sully-Anne, but you'd seen the birthdays and the year of sorting for most of the Professors in your searches. Dumbledore had been sorted in 1890. Sally-Anne's first year after another thirteen-year disappearance.

Flitwick had been born in 1958, but only in October, too late in the year to be sorted exactly eleven years later. So, he had been sorted in September of 1970, when he was almost twelve years old. It was again Sally-Anne's first year after a pause of thirteen years.

Snape had been sorted a year later in 1971. Most teachers had gone through a similar fate, being bewitched on the first day of their first year. They had no chance of escaping the spell. There were some that did escape that fate: Professor McGonagall for example. She had fallen into a year in which Sally-Anne had been dormant. But it seemed as if she had still not been able to fight the magic as it had hit her when she started her teaching position.

"Tell me Professor", you said. This time you felt the magic tingling around you. It was so thick in the air that you could smell it. The spirit that had been part of Hogwarts for two hundred years knew what you were about to do.

"Do you know a student called Sally-Anne Hudson?"

For a moment the magic around you froze. Just for a second you felt as if time had stopped. Nothing moved, nothing could move even if it wanted to. You were frozen in place. The chipping of the birds outside, which you had heard only moments earlier was cut off instantly.

Sally-Anne was not happy about the fact that you wanted to break her secret.

Everything froze for just a moment. Then the table between the Professor and you exploded.

Reaction Check (Charms + INT + CRT + Wand) → 1D100+14 → 32(18 + 14)

There was nothing you could do.

You were catapulted backwards in a speed that you had never reached even on a broom before. The moment your shoulder crashed against the stonewall behind you, you felt a crack that blinded you with pain.

A scream filled the air and it took time to realize that it was you who was screaming. You had to fight against the darkness that threatened to win you over. Unconsciousness was calling for you again.

"Sally-Anne!" you shouted as loud as you could. Screaming your pain out to keep your consciousness.

Most of Professor Flitwick's furniture had been ripped apart by the force that was pushing and holding you high up against the wall. The pieces of broken wood and glass were swirling around as if creating a storm, getting faster by the second. In the center you could see a little girl. Her eyes and skin were so bright that you couldn't even look straight at her.

Only when you evaded looking directly at her did you see the small form of the Professor on the other side of the room, held up against the wall and mirroring your position. His eyes were wide open, but you could see that he was not fully there. Neither his face nor his body showed any movement. He had fallen unconscious.

If he was living through the memories that you had seen when you first spoke her name, then he would be out for a while.

"I don't want to hurt you!", you shouted at the spirit that had become an axis of magic of Hogwarts. She had become what she had always wanted to be. Someone who was important and who got praised… and right now she thought that you wanted to take all of that from her.

"Sally-Anne," you said again. "I am sorry for what your brother has done to you."

For a moment the magical storm stood still. The pieces of glass and wood that had started cutting at you stayed immobile in the air.

Then there was a cry. This time it was not yours.

The window and the door exploded out of their frame as Sally-Anne exited the room screaming as if in pain herself. You heard another explosion in the corridor, followed by screams of panicking students.

Trapped in your position inside Professor Flitwick's office the storm of glass and wood started moving again, cutting your skin as you tried to keep your eyes shut for most of the time. Magic was still keeping you up in the air as if held by an iron fist.

There was another explosion, now farther away. More screams followed.

Free yourself, DC 90 (Charms + INT + CRT + Wand) → 1D100+14 → 24(10 + 14) → Failure!

Sully-Anne's magic was beyond anything you had ever been confronted with. Even with her moving out of your reach and creating chaos inside the castle, there was nothing you could do. She wasn't even focusing on you and still…

"Professor!", you shouted as you opened your eyes again, giving up on the hope of freeing yourself with your own capabilities. You tried squinting to cover as much of them against the avalanche of splinters that were cutting at you.

Flitwick didn't react, his eyes still wide open as if in trance.

"Damnit, Professor", you said, trying to move your wand against the constraints. It was hard, but it was possible. The storm inside the office had calmed down with Sully-Anne's exit, but you were still bleeding from a dozen little wounds the splitters had caused. The little Professor didn't look any better.

You took aim at him, before using the only spell that could help you right now:

"Rictusempra!", you shouted with all of your might, trying to fight the limited window of movement you had with an excess of will.

The tickling spell hit the unconscious Professor, but nothing happened. You repeated the spell: "Rictusempra!" Then you did it again and again, layering the spells on top of each other until his eyes started to move.

Laughter filled the room as the Professor came back to life. He couldn't move from his place, but he was laughing as uncontrollably as one did when hit with four times the dose of the Laughing Spell.

"Professor", you said. "You have to free me. I think I can stop this!"

You didn't know if he did hear you, because his eyes had closed, and his laughter had not dwindled in the least. But after a few seconds of uncertainty, you felt the strong grip of the magic around you wither away.

Professor Flitwick had been hit as hard as you had, collapsing against the wall behind him and damaging his body. He had been unconscious, living through memories of old, had lost his wand and had been hit by three Laughing Spells… and he still had been able to free you of something that you had not been able to get out off even with your wand in hand.

You could only pay your respects for such a master of his craft by solving the problem that you had caused.

When your feet touched the cold stone below, you hit the ground running.

You grabbed your wand tighter in your hand as you exited the office into the corridor. Chaos surrounded you from the beginning. Paintings had been ripped out of their places, windows had been destroyed and students had been thrown around. Some were hurt, but you already saw how other students were helping them.

You didn't stop for them.

How fast are you? (+ Constitution) → 1D100+1 → 25(24 + 1) → So very slow!

For the first time in your life, you regretted not having taken more care of your body. Your shoulder was hurting, you were bleeding from wounds all over your body, but what slowed you down the most was that you simply weren't used to moving as much.

Your lungs started cramping after a few short corridors, your legs felt shaky and weak. It felt as if every step could be your last one.

Turning another corner, you saw only more chaos. A door had been ripped out of its frame and thrown across the corridor where it had penetrated the wall. Magic had to be at play when a wooden door could do that to the castle walls.

"Help me!", someone screamed from behind you. You didn't mind them. There was only one thing with which you could help; stopping the madness.

"Professor Snape is unconscious!" someone screamed.

"Someone come fast! She broke her arm."

You hit the staircase. Always following the chaos, never able to use a shortcut because you simply didn't know where she was heading to. Another corridor. A corner right. A staircase and two floors down. Always following the chaos.

And then you heard another explosion and more screams.

As your feet touched the ground-floor, you finally knew where Sally-Anne had been heading to; the place where everything had begun for her: The Great Hall. The Place where she had been sorted 196 years ago, a few short months after she had turned eleven years old.

One of the large doors to the Great Hall had been ripped out and was moving in a wide circle around the creature that had walked to the center of the great Hall. Screams filled the hall as Sally-Anne's magic grasped for everything in their vicinity.

You sprinted inside to see the many students in there as fear and panic was hitting the crowd.

The long benches and tables were slowly rising to meet the books, candles and paintings that Sally-Anne's magic had taken with her. If every teacher that she had been in first class with reacted the way Professor Flitwick had to the broken spell, then Sally-Anne was in full control of the castle. There was no one to contest her but the students.

Which meant that you couldn't hesitate.

"It's ok", you said as you stepped through the crowd. Even the long tables were starting to lose their footing on the ground. Everything else was already high in the air, circling around what was the eye of the storm.

Had you looked into the faces of the students, you would have seen how afraid they were. But they weren't your focus. The thing that shined most brightly in the Great Hall was one little girl that had been in a state of fear and loneliness for far too long already.

"Sally-Anne!", you shouted through the storm as a book passed by your head. You weren't afraid of her. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She had snapped and caused damage to some… but she didn't want to truly hurt anyone. She was keeping a tight grip over her magic that wanted to leash out against the world.

Your legs carried you further down the Great Hall, past the bravest of upper-years that had positioned themselves between the younger students and the silvery presence that was ripping everything out of its place with her magic.

"Sally-Anne Hudson", you repeated now that you were closer to her. Her magic reacted just the way her magic inside your mind had reacted when you had heard her name for the first time earlier in the month. Every object circling in the air around you came to a full stop.

"I know who you are", you shouted, when her eyes fell on you. You could feel her icy presence inside your mind as if she was roaming through it to look for memories relevant to her. You would feed her how sorry you were for what had happened to her, if you knew how to. Instead, she took what she wanted. Images of your life flashed into existence in front of your eyes.

"I know that you don't want to hurt anyone, Sally-Anne", you said lowering your voice this time. The screams behind you lost in volume as the thick magic that was in the air found a moment of pause. It was as commanding a present as you had ever felt.

"I would never… hurt" the little girl said, who had been eleven years old for far longer than your parents had been alive.

"I know that, Sally-Anne. You would never hurt anyone. You just want to go to your classes and learn about magic", you offered, when she stopped talking. "I know that, because I am like that, too. I just want to learn new things and see all that Hogwarts has to offer."

Her eyes brightened at your words. Someone was shouting something from behind you, but you kept your focus on the brightest mind in the room.

All of this was only possible because of one little girl, who had left the world too early. She would have been a force of nature otherwise. Her magic had kept her in this world, disregarding the possibility of just merely being a ghost and choosing to cement herself as a force inside Hogwarts' walls.

She could have been one of the strongest witches to ever roam the world. But she wasn't. She had been robbed of that possibility. Instead her life had found a cruel end.

"I just want to do magic. Like my parents. Why wouldn't he let me?" she asked. She was looking through you, not really talking to Jacob Basques, but to her own destiny. It had given her a bright mind and all the talent in the world, only to take it all away and kill her after two months at Hogwarts.

"But you are doing magic, Sally-Anne", you said, stepping closer to her again. You were now only a few feet away from her. If she wanted to kill you, there was nothing that you could do to stop her… but you knew that she would not want to hurt you. All of her self-imposed rules had been there to grant her own wish of being part of Hogwarts, without hurting anyone else.

People forgot about her, because she didn't want to impact their lives. She just wanted to have some happiness for herself.

"I am?" she asked, her eyes never focusing on you.

"Yes, you are. I've never seen something like it before. You come back every year and live inside the castle and no one ever notices. You let people see you, but never remember you and you are so strong that not even the most powerful of us could do something against it."

Her magic had rules and it had power… but it was fundamentally centered around a little girl that just wanted to be in class and learn from the Professors. She wanted to hear her own name when they praised her. Which was the reason why her magic had failed the moment that you thought you'd heard her name in the kitchen below the Great Hall.

The magic inside your head had been affected by that for just a second, still weak because it didn't have the time to cement itself inside your being over the years. That short weakness had been enough for you to remember. It had been enough to get to this very moment.

"You are awesome and extremely powerful", you said, finally reaching her place in the middle of the Great Hall.

"So, I can go home?" she asked. "I am not a failure? I am not a Squib?"

"No", you answered, letting your hands fall on her small shoulders. You could touch and feel her, but she felt cold against your skin. She felt wrong. As if she wasn't supposed to be here.

The air was thicker the closer you got to her. For the first time in your life you could actually feel magic. It vibrated against your skin, pushing against you and making it hard for you to breath.

"You are the single most talented witch I have ever seen", you said. Sally-Anne took a moment to register your words, before she smiled. She was looking right through your chest as if you weren't even there.

"Don't you want to go home and tell your family how strong you've gotten? They will surely be missing you", you said.

"Yes", she answered as her skin turned silver. She looked up, locking eyes with you for the first time. Your mind was attacked ever so softly as she remembered her mother's last words to her.

I love you.

"Yes, I want to go home", she said.

"Then go home, Sally-Anne. Hogwarts will always be waiting for you. The doors will never close for such a bright mind", the tears that dropped down your face were not yours. They were hers as she tried to feel human emotions for one last time through your mind.

The tears dried up by the time that Sally-Anne had disappeared, never to return again as she left this world for good.

After one-hundred-and-ninety-six-years, Sally-Anne Hudson was free.

Everything fell into silence, only to be disturbed by the failing magic, dropping some smaller objects that the storm had carried.

You rubbed your eyes, before you turned around to look at the crowd around you.

There were two dozen students inside the hall looking at you and at the entrance you could see Professor McGonagall who had hurried in, following behind two Gryffindor's that had run for help. Only now did you see the doors, tables and benches that had been frozen in the air by her outstretched wand.

Ah, yes.

Professor McGonagall had not been bewitched by Sally-Anne as a child. That was a sensible choice for a teacher that would still be able to help right now. She would have been one of those least damaged by the breaking mind spell. Those Gryffindors had made a good choice.

"A few points to Gryffindors, I guess", you said aloud. Your voice was the only thing that penetrated the silence.

Some in this world are driven by destiny and prophecies. You are not one of those. There is no prophecy with your name on it as destiny had not thought your name worthwhile. Your way is not that of prophets, but that of curiosity. And what is there more curious than time itself, withering through all and every secret, letting them fade away or bringing them out of deaths grip when saw them worthy.

→ You have earned 5 Time Echoes.

→ You can use 1 of those points to raise the probability of any roll by +5… and some other interesting things. You may or may not see.

What have you learned from the first case?

[ ] Magic is All - There are people that can become extremely powerful under the right circumstances

[ ] The World is Cruel - Sometimes it is those that can't stand up for themselves who are left behind

[ ] Death is simply Change – You have seen that death may not be the end to all things

Tabula Rasa · Feb 6, 2019

[ ] Death is simply Change – You have seen that death may not be the end to all things

Traits gained: Traits give you no roll bonusses but are there to describe your character instead.

True Ravenclaw – Some things are interesting. Mind you, not all things and you can't really choose what you find interesting, but in general you are a being defined by his curiosity. It gives you and advantage in learning new things, but it also leaves you with a focus as fickle as the wind.

I am not afraid of dying – It is not that you don't fear; you are not a Gryffindor. You feel terror and experience fear just as anyone else. But you are not afraid of dying. There is no reason to be afraid of the unavoidable. You will live your life to the fullest and answer as many of the questions that linger on your mind as you can. But when it is time… you will smile and go.

Present Date: 4th October 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Uncovering the truth by Rita Skeeter.

The front-page title of the Daily Prophet was as simple as it was brilliant. It made you feel anxious about the fact that you may be losing out on something interesting and let you contemplate if it was worth the three Sickles that it would cost you.

It was early in the morning, only an hour before classes but the Great Hall was already packing and if you didn't take the newspaper to keep yourself busy, then someone may get the idea that they could approach you.

You wanted the first weekday after The Incident to be one of normality. Well, as far as that was possible at least. Most students hadn't been hurt in any way or come into contact with The Spirit as they called her now. The initial panic had soon transformed into curiosity and fascination as there was no reason to live in fear - not after a year with an open Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts student had become resilient. They had become strong and durable… and they had become a pain in the ass for you.

Ignoring the eyes you felt on the back of your head, you looked at the picture of the blonde journalist that was winking at you from her front-page article, as if she knew that you would eventually give in.

And she would be right about that.

"Here you go", you said, as you put the silver coins into the small pouch of the News-Owl.

→ - 3 Sickles

The bulky owl was three times the size of Peque and looked like she would have fought you to death if you had as much as thought of not paying her the proper amount. Her large size was likely needed to carry more than one newspaper at a time. The owl looked down at her purse and shook her head in pleasure as she received the coins.

"Hoot Hoot", she said, letting go of the newspaper, before making her way up into the air to search for the next customer willing to pay.

One week ago, you could have sat here, read your newspaper and would have been bothered by no one. Not a soul in the entire hall would have felt the need to talk to you or even bothered about looking your way. Sadly, that had changed dramatically. The first few days after The Incident had been quite stressful for someone like you who desperately needed his peace of mind.

Instead of your usually silent daily routines, you had been confronted with a number of reocurring inquiries; people had been pestering you with questions.

How had you known Sally-Anne's name? Why hadn't the spell worked on you? Was it true that you had dueled The Spirit side by side with Professor Flitwick? Had Sally-Anne been one of your ancestors? How had you known how to stop her?

When they realized that you wouldn't answer any of their questions, they started approaching your classmates. Only when they had realized that even those closest to you didn't know a thing, people started to whisper behind your back. Just loud enough that you could hear their every word… and just near enough that you could never escape their eyes for long.

Taking another bite of your croissant, you spread the pages of the newspaper out to read the newest article in a series of essays talking about The Incident. This one happened to be on the frontpage of the Daily Prophet… just like all newspapers had done for the last few days.

Journalists knew how to get their moneys worth out of anything that was remotely interesting to the public.

My most loyal readers managed to contact me a few hours after The Incident, asking if I wanted to speak up about it and inform Wizarding Britain about what had occurred.

I asked them for patience.

My kind editor asked me a day after The Incident why I had still not sent him an article for publishing.

I asked him for faith.

My friends asked me, when it was that I wanted to finally speak the truth that the Nation was seeking.

I asked them for support.

Because today, my very most dearly loved witches and wizards, today is a day of truth. Today is a day of virtue. I will tell you the story of how I went to school with a girl that was as extraordinary as she was dangerous. A girl that was as frightening as she was kind. I will tell you the story of my friendship with Sally-Anne Hudson.

You halted for a moment, trying to remember the Archives. Your memories were fading. With every passing day the names and dates in your head got a little blurrier. While you had a fine mind, even for you it was difficult to remember all data that you had seen while looking through the documentation of past Hogwarts students. Most of those that you remembered were because you had heard the names before and even of those you had forgotten about half already.

Rita Skeeter you had known. She, you remembered; born in 1950, sorted into first class in 1961. Which meant that Rita Skeeter was lying through her teeth. Rita Skeeter had not only been sorted in one of Sally-Anne's inactive phases. No, not only that. Rita Skeeter's entire education had been outside of Sally-Anne's active phases.

Sally-Anne had been active from 1950 to 1957 and then again from 1970 to 1977. Rita Skeeter had gone to school from 1961 to 1969.

I was a young girl. Afraid and happy at the same time, looking forward to the grand adventure that…

You skipped a few parts.

… Sally-Anne was the best friend I ever had. We talked into the nights and laughed. We played and giggled. We were like sisters…

It was astonishing how brazen her lies were.

No article had made the connection yet as to when Sally-Anne had been active. While large portion of the wizarding world had experienced dizziness as they regained their memories once the spell had been broken, most didn't experience anything.

Only about a third of Wizarding Britain's previous Hogwarts students had been sorted in an active phase. You had not grown up in this country but you had taken your time to learn as much about your new home as had been possible, which meant that you knew that only an elite part of the population had even studied at Hogwarts.

While it was the only officially accounted school by the Ministry, it wasn't the only educational center. Most children were homeschooled or went into some of the smaller schools around the country.

An education at Hogwarts was reserved for basically three groups: Those that were wealthy, those that were connected to the Ministry and those that were Muggleborn. This was why every single Hogwarts student was special in a way and why most of those that graduated made a name of themselves in their later lives.

Having only a third of such an elite group report about past events with a ghost that they had forgotten about until last week, meant that there was quite a bit of skepticism in the rest of the population. You suspected that it would take some time and investigation for them to figure out who exactly had been under the effects of the spell.

And here you had Rita Skeeter using the missing link, as to who had been under the effects of the spell and who hadn't, to put herself in the spotlight.

For most of the ex-students there had been no such dramatic an effect as there had been with the Hogwarts Professors. They had only been inconvenienced in their daily routines. While most people had gone through only two months of mind magic, the teachers had experienced a heavier subversion of their own magic. Having been confronted with Sally-Anne's magic year after year seemed to have let her magic fester only deeper into their minds. Rumors were that Snape had been out of it for an entire day.

Your eyes searched for the chair to the center of the teachers table. Dumbledore's place was still suspiciously empty.

Out of your periphery you saw a head turning to you. Before anyone got the wrong idea, you submerged your head deep into the newspaper again.

… and that she wanted to be like me, she said. That I was what she had always been looking for. Back then, I didn't understand the meaning of her words, dear reader. But now I do. Sally-Anne Hudson wanted to be just like me, and it is my fault that I was not old enough to simply break her spell. I was not strong enough to save her. I am at fault for what happened, because in the end… she just aspired to be my friend.

Wow.

There were truly despicable human beings out there.

If you hadn't known that she was lying, you would have felt bad for reading something as intimately written. As if she was laying her thoughts out into the open for the reader to analyze and scrutinize. Knowing that it was all fake let you see how perverted and sickening the woman really was.

There she was, out in the open and presenting herself as a hero. Rita Skeeter was a liar - and she was really good at it. It made you rethink some of your past evaluations of people.

"Well Rita", you whispered into the newspaper. "Better hope that Sally-Anne's magic doesn't come haunting you for this."

You turned the page to get a look of what else the Daily Prophet had to offer. There was an ad for Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands – as if anyone in the country didn't know him… but he had to keep his name relevant, you guessed.

You skimmed over the next few articles.

Is the young wizarding generation in peril?: Exclusive excerpts from a new sensational essay

Muggle Type-Writer: The Hidden Advantages to scribing the Muggle way

Save Sickles by ordering fashionable shoes

There was nothing of worth to be learned there. It took you four pages, until you found something interesting again:

Sirius Black has been sighted.

Why only page 5? DC 40 (INT + EMP + Perk) → 1D100+10 → 93(83 + 10) → Success!

It was interesting how far back the Daily Prophet had chosen to put an article about the most famous Sirius Black. Two months prior, this would have been front-page material, with a close-up photograph of the deranged murderer to attract as many buyers as possible.

Even with newer revelations there was no reason to put it behind page two. There was nothing of interest between The Incident and Sirius Black. Was there a reason for this?

Keeping in mind what Professor Binns had taught you in his only interesting class this year, it was more than possible that the Ministry had been betting a lot of goodwill by stationing Dementors at Hogwarts. Black had been a fugitive for three months already, likely keeping himself out of their grasps without any resources or any wand.

And there may lay the exact problem; he was making the Ministry look incompetent.

First breaking out of what was thought to be an unbreakable fortress and then keeping a few steps ahead of the ministry for months. It was possible that someone in the Ministry had pressured the executives of the Daily Prophet to put this new article about Black as far away from the frontpage as possible.

You folded the newspaper to pull the article up as you took another sandwich out of the mix. With food in the one hand and the newspaper in the other, you stood up, making your way out of the Great Hall and into the direction of your next class.

An article by E. Limus

Sirius Black, the most infamous prisoner — of Azkaban, — has been sighted in Dufftown by an astute Muggle. The Muggles think that he is just an ordinary criminal, they don't have a clue how dangerous, powerful and vindictive Black can be (not that you could expect more from them).

The female Muggle communicated, via a machine called Telephone, the Muggle Crime Watchers Hotline, and immediately the Ministry of Magic Witch Watchers were informed. Minister Cornelius Fudge was taken by surprise and sent Witch Watcher Special Forces to the Village, but when they arrived there, Black was gone.

The Minister was absolutely disappointed to lose Sirius Black. The situation got worse when hundreds of Dementors turned up making the small Dufftown population quiver in panic. It took more than 4 hours for the Special Force to tranquillize what was a great shock for those Muggles.

If this was the least Ministry-critique wording that had been possible, it was easy to understand why the article meant bad publicity. The Ministry had fudged their first good lead since Black's escape and not only that… they had shown an absolute lack in control over their Dementors.

Hundreds of Dementors in a small town with defenseless Muggles.

There was no mention of Muggles that had been hurt, but there was absolutely no mention of no one having been hurt either. It was ominous to say the least.

Sirius Black, escaped from Azkaban Prison, leaving the wizard community very apprehensive and in panic, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has already asked all the Wizards to be really careful and act with caution and to not attempt to use magic against Black. The Minister only asks to notify immediately by owl the Ministry of Magic or the Witch Watchers Sirius Black Hot[line].

"Hey! Watch where you're bloody going!", someone cried out as you stepped on a foot, not looking up from the article.

"Oh", you said as you took another bite of your sandwich. "Sorry."

You continued your journey through the corridor without your eyes ever leaving the newspaper even for a second.

Present Date: 4th October 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

You were the first to stand up from your place in the last row of the class. Professor Lupin had still not officially dismissed you, but he couldn't blame you for wanting to flee the scene before your classmates had time to catch up to you and try to bother you.

The interest in your person was visibly dying down even after only a few days of silence, but it was still much higher than you had ever experienced and that was unnerving you quite a bit. Pushing the door open with the help of your wand, you rushed out of the door while you were still shouldering your small bag. Your septs carried you into the corridor outside and you were already planning your escape route; only one corridor down to reach a thick curtain that would lead you into a passage that was hidden away. You could make it…

"Basques", someone said from behind you, trying to rob you of the fast escape route you had planned.

No.

You still could get away. You didn't need to talk to people. Just ignore them like you always did.

"Hey, Basques. Wait up", the female voice said again, before you heard fast steps of someone approaching you. "Hey!" she said when she had reached you, grabbing your arm to come closer and accommodate to your fast pace without slowing you down.

You turned your head to look at the face of your would-be attacker to see the green eyes of someone who usually wasn't so abrasive and forward in nature. Megan Jones clung herself tight into your arm, pulling herself closer and pushing you forward with her at the same time.

"What are you doing?" you asked her.

"Just keep on walking", she said. "You don't want the others to catch you, do you?" There was amusement in her voice, as if she was hinting at something that laid beyond what her words meant.

"I don't know what you're talking about," you said.

"Sure", she said, smiling at you. "You're not trying to escape everyone. That's why you're always walking while reading something nowadays and why you were the first one to leave the Great Hall after… what happened."

"Do you even know that Professor McGonagall gave Ravenclaw 50 points for what you did?", she asked you, still not making any sign of wanting to leave your company.

You sighed visibly as you reached the corner. Then you directed your steps to the left to get into another corridor, before pushing you and her – ignoring her gasp – through the thick curtains and into a hidden floor. Only when you were inside did you take your arm out of her tight grip, before moving further down into the floor.

"Wow", you heard her say, standing at the entrance for a few seconds before you heard her fast steps following you again. "Quite a way to make yourself even more mysterious", she said. "Do you kidnap all the girls you talk to, Marques?" she asked you with a weird tone in her voice that you couldn't quite place.

"No, I'm not stupid", you said. It wasn't that you were bad with people per se, it was simply that you were quite easily agitated by them. You didn't like that exact feeling that was building up inside you right now.

"Look, Basques", Megan Jones tried again, after a few moments of silence in which she was only following you down the hidden floor. "I…" she tried.

"I don't know how to do this. I'm not usually one to talk to people I don't know."

Only when you reached trapdoor at the end of the impasse, did you take time to stop and look at the Hufflepuff girl. Until your shared hours in Runes Club you had never exchanged a single word with her. Where was this sudden change coming from?

"What do you want?" you asked, a little bit more aggressive than you would liked, but it was hard keeping the irritation out of your words when so many people kept bothering you. You were not the type for this.

Instead of giving her time to respond, you leaned down to grab the handle to the trapdoor below. The handle needed to be pushed down for the door to fall open, revealing an old step of stairs.

"I just wanted to thank you."

Her words made you stop in your tracks and look up again. Megan had abandoned the aggressive facade she had been showing you just a minute prior. Her eyes were focused on the wall behind you instead, as if she didn't know where to look at instead.

"I wanted to say thank you, because before this I've felt empty at times", she said. "Alone and as if I didn't belong… and I never knew why that was. It was as if something was missing… as if I had forgotten something."

You let your eyes focus on the stairs below. There was no reason for you to watch as tears were building up in her eyes.

"But now I remember why that is. I finally remember my first few months at the Castle. I…" she said, before raising her hands to her face to rub her eyes. "I had forgotten about my friend and you brought the memories back. That's why I wanted to thank you."

You didn't know how to answer that. You knew that there was more to her words than just what she had said. There was more to her hurt than just having forgotten something. But you didn't ask. Because in the end, you knew that this was the way she'd wanted to deal with.

"Jacob", you said, as you stood up to offer her to go down the stairs first.

"What?", she asked, looking at you with red puffy eyes.

"It's Jacob. Not Basques."

What do you want to focus on this month?

You have 10 Normal Actions and 5 Personal Actions.
2 Normal Actions can be exchanged for 1 Personal Action.

Social

[ ] Case 2: I am afraid of dying – Your first case has given you a new perspective onto things. When someone dies, how are they turned into ghosts? Are they fully here or is it only an afterimage, stuck in between both worlds. Professor Binns often calls students by the wrong names and gives the wrong houses points… but does he? There is system to the madness. (Costs 2 actions)

[ ] Quidditch Round 1, Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor – It's time for the first game of the year and while you have a lot of things that you'd like to focus on, most of the school will be present here. Go and watch the Quidditch Game. It could be interesting and if it is not, well you will be high enough up to watch the clouds instead. Win-Win.

[ ] Write a Letter (Free Action) – Specify to whom it is that you want to write and what you want to talk about

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

School & Work

[ ] Business School of Hogsmeade (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – This is the first year, in which you can go to Hogsmeade. Good that you've been planning for this since first year: Buy Books, Ingredients, Joke Shop Articles, Instruments and other things. Go and look, if you can make some money by buying things for first and second years. Roll for how many are interested and then for how much they want to spend. Take 10% of their spending as a fee.

[ ] Stage II, A Shadow behind the Paintings (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Most pupils go through their life at Hogwarts without ever looking beyond what they can see. You have already taken a first step in getting a better understanding of the structures surrounding you. Now you only need to dig deeper. (Find passages going out of Hogwarts.) Multiple DC thresholds to see how many you find, from low to very high.

[ ] Stage I, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – The book your father gave you is one without adornment as decoration, nor is there any title to find on the old leather binding. There is not one word written on the pages of the old tomb and your father gave you nothing but one clue: It has something to do with memory magic. What is this riddle about?

[ ] 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.

Personal Actions

[ ] Train, Learn, Achieve – Specify what you want to train or study

[ ] Do your research – Learn a Spell, a Potion or something different that is available to you at the moment

Potions (Potions needed for class are free of ingredients costs for training)

Antidote to Uncommon Poisons (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - A potion that cures minor magical or uncommon poisons such as doxy bites. The ingredients required are fire seed, graphorn horn, billywig stings and chizpurfle carapaces. ~~Cost for ingredients: 2 Galleons~~. (Requires Transformation skill of at least D), DC: 100

Shrinking Solution (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - Also known as a Shrinking Potion, is a potion that causes the drinker to shrink to a smaller form. It is bright green when brewed correctly and, if prepared incorrectly, it can apparently be poisonous. One practical use of this potion is in the transportation of livestock — it allows for a wizard to carry an entire herd of pigs in the pocket. Could be used to lay a trap. ~~Cost for ingredients: 2 Galleons~~, DC: 50

Wideye Potion (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - Also known as the Awakening Potion, is a potion which prevents the drinker from falling asleep and could also be used to awaken someone from drugging or concussion. Gives you one extra action if taken. May come with side effects. It acts as an antidote for the Draught of Living Death. ~~Cost for ingredients: 3 Galleons~~. (Requires Potion skill of at least D+), DC: 150

Alchemy
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Avifors (Needed for exams at the end of the year) – Transfiguration. A transforming spell that could be used to change the target into a bird, flock of birds or occasionally a flock of bats with a vivid flash of blue light. Transforms the targeted object into a bird, which can then be used to carry a small object or message to someone. (Requires Transfiguration skill of at least D), DC: 50

Diffindo – DADA. The Severing Charm is a charm used to precisely and accurately cut something. It is taught in second year charms classes, and if used inappropriately can cause death or injury. DC 50.

Draconifors (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - Transfiguration. The Draconifors Spell is a Transfiguration spell used to transform small objects into Dragons, which can then be controlled by the caster. The dragons produced from this spell are much smaller and less powerful than true dragons, and their size depends on your skills and the object from which they are transfigured - i.e. a smaller object will produce a smaller dragon, and a larger object will produce a larger dragon. (Requires Transformation skill of at least D+), DC 75.

Engorgio - Transfiguration. The Engorgement Charm, also known as Growing Charm is a charm that causes the target to swell immensely. If the caster attempts to engorge the target beyond a certain point it will violently explode. Although this spell is safe to use on animals, it is not recommended until the counter-charm (Reducio) has been perfected.
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Reducio - Transfiguration. The Shrinking Charm is a charm that enables a witch or wizard to decrease the apparent physical size of the target, both internally and externally. It also can act as the counter-spell for the Engorgement Charm, causing the Engorged object to return to its original size. There are several variations of this charm. DC: 100

Expelliarmus (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - DADA. The Disarming Charm, is a defensive charm which forces the victim to release whatever they were holding at the time. It is common to see this spell used in duels, to make an opponent release their wand. (Requires Charm and DADA skill of at least D+), DC 100

Glacius (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - Charm. The Freezing Spell is a freezing charm that causes air in front of the tip of the wand, to reach cold temperatures in the extreme, which in turn can extinguish fires and create ice blocks from water. The spell is capable of freezing several inches of water solid within seconds, making it durable enough to walk across without falling through or injuring themselves. (Requires Charm skill of at least D), DC 75

Protego (Basic) – DADA. Weakest version of the Shield Charm. Protego is a term applied to several varieties of charms. They create a magical barrier to deflect physical entities and spells, in order to protect a certain person or area. Conjurations may sometimes rebound directly off it back towards the caster or in other cases, may ricochet off in other directions or dissipate as soon as they hit the shield. Gives a +5 to defending rolls. DC: 100

Reparo (Needed for exams at the end of the year) – Charm. The Mending Charm, also known as the Repairing Charm, is a charm that can be used to seamlessly repair a broken object and works on most materials. This useful charm was invented by Orabella Nuttley, in or before 1754. DC 50 20.

Cheering Charm (Needed for exams at the end of the year) - Charm. A spell which makes a person happy. When the spell is overdone, it can cause the victim to be overcome with fits of hysterical laughter. DC 50.

Tabula Rasa · Feb 8, 2019

[x] Plan Case Work, Family History, and Learning New Things
-[x] Case 2: I am afraid of dying – Your first case has given you a new perspective onto things. When someone dies, how are they turned into ghosts? Are they fully here or is it only an afterimage, stuck in between both worlds. Professor Binns often calls students by the wrong names and gives the wrong houses points… but does he? There is system to the madness. (Costs 2 actions)
-[x] Stage I, Dreams of old (Takes 2 Actions) – The book your father gave you is one without adornment as decoration, nor is there any title to find on the old leather binding. There is not one word written on the pages of the old tomb and your father gave you nothing but one clue: It has something to do with memory magic. What is this riddle about?
-[x]Business School of Hogsmeade (Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – This is the first year, in which you can go to Hogsmeade. Good that you've been planning for this since first year: Buy Books, Ingredients, Joke Shop Articles, Instruments and other things. Go and look, if you can make some money by buying things for first and second years. Roll for how many are interested and then for how much they want to spend. Take 10% of their spending as a fee. X3
-[x]Stage II, A Shadow behind the Paintings(Multiple Actions on this count as multiple rolls stacking) – Most pupils go through their life at Hogwarts without ever looking beyond what they can see. You have already taken a first step in getting a better understanding of the structures surrounding you. Now you only need to dig deeper. (Find passages going out of Hogwarts.) Multiple DC thresholds to see how many you find, from low to very high. X3
-[x] Train, Learn, Achieve – Defence Against the Dark Arts
-[x] Train, Learn, Achieve – Transfiguration
-[x] Train, Learn, Achieve – Charms
-[x] Do your research – Reparo (Needed for exams at the end of the year)
-[x] Do your research – Avifors (Needed for exams at the end of the year)

Present Date: 5th October 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

Runes Club, something interesting or crap? → 1D100+2 → 27(25 + 2) → Crap again.

You were the last one left in the spacious room that the Runes Club had officially reserved for their activities. While the club members had been a lot less inquisitive to ask you questions as to what had happened a week prior, you still felt the need to savor the tranquil silence that was Solitudes most loyal companion.

Megan and you had been quietly studying and reading next to each other for the last few hours, only to be disturbed by another finding one of the guys had made. While he had been sure to have found a magic item of most importance and high rarity, someone had identified the object as an old and used joke article…

Their track record for finding interesting things had been abysmal since you had joined their ranks.

The Hufflepuff girl who had been silently working next to you had eventually left you, heading down for dinner. But that had been a few hours ago as well. By now the shadows of the outside-world had engulfed Hogwarts and its surrounding lands in darkness as the night had arrived. There was half an hour to curfew when you finally stood up, packing your things into your bag before heading out into the empty corridor.

Your eyes skimmed over the notes you had been working on today, using your old schoolbooks and something that you had gotten from the library to filter out everything you knew about spirits.

A ghost is the disembodied spirit of a once-living wizard or witch, and as such, a type of spirit.
Only magical beings can become ghosts.
Many ghosts take up residence within Hogwarts' castle. These fleshless spirits are either afraid of death or have some extraordinarily strong connection to the locations they haunt.

Is there more to their motivation?

In their paranormal state, ghosts are unable to have much physical influence. They are visible and appear as a greyish-silver apparition of their former (living) selves.
They pass through solid objects without damaging themselves or the material, but create disturbances in water, fire and air.
The temperature drops in the immediate vicinity of a ghost. Their appearance can also turn flames blue.

Observing Professor Binns provided new insights. Do ghosts see the same world we do? Do they experience lay-overs from their past life or is there more to it?

The literature you had available couldn't provide you with answers going deeper than the most superficial. It was as if people dismissed ghosts as some sort of afterimage. Just a painting to remember someone who had once been.

It could very well be true, but there was room for more, wasn't there?

Muggles cannot see ghosts clearly, nor can they come back as ghosts. It is those with 'unfinished business', whether in the form of fear, guilt, regrets or overt attachment to the material world who refuse to move on to the next dimension, but the element most needed is Magic.

Only Sally-Anne's magic was able to keep so much of her alive.

And with all of that came the most interesting question. Something that reminded you of someone back home; a very old man that was wise and witty, who had taught you some of the principles of the world and who had showed you how to stay alive way past ones prime.

You pushed the door behind you shut with a flick of your wand and a whispered: "Colloportus."

Can magic lengthen life forever? Replace life… a body?

These were questions way beyond your possibilities. You had no way of tackling them, but they were fascinating.

Magic has rules, but are there even actual limitations? If Sally-Anne's untrained magic was able to hold her in this world, what would her matured magic have been capable of?

When you crossed into another corridor, something bright moved to your left, bringing you to look up at the spirit.

Just for a moment you thought that she had come back. That Sally-Anne's stubborn magic had found a way around her will and simply brought her back into existence. It didn't take you long to recognize the ghost in the long, meticulously sewed dress.

It was your house ghost. Someone you had always liked, because she was just as quiet and observant as you were.

"Good evening, Grey Lady", you said.

Even in her silvery spirit form you could see that she had once been beautiful. She was tall, well dressed and in her eyes, hidden behind what others called timidity, you could see knowledge and wisdom.

She was as excellent a choice for your house as one could have hoped for. You could still vividly imagine the first time you had seen her. It was as if it had been but moments ago.

It was the first of September. You were eleven years old and were standing amid almost forty nervous children. It had been the first time in your life that you had seen so many people near your age. The sorting would soon begin, even if you didn't know yet how you would be sorted into the different houses.

You remembered how fascinated you had been by the Great Hall and its students. The scent of burning candles reached your nose as you looked around, facing those that were seating at the tables, whispering about your group.

A tall silvery thing came through the ceiling, soon to be followed by other spirits, floating through the Great Hall to circle around you and your group. Some were smiling, some seemed mad – they were playing their respective roles.

You remembered when you had first seen the Grey Lady. She was floating somewhat behind the others, taking time to focus on the group of soon to be sorted children. She arrived accompanied by the ghost of the Cavalier and another ghost following close to them; a horrible ghost, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. The bloody Baron.

Only after you had been sorted the Grey Lady had spoken to you. "Welcome to my house", she had said, a forced smile on her face. Even back than you had seen that the smile had never reached her eyes.

She had looked sad to you.

"Good evening, Jacob", she said, a small smile on her lips. "You should get going. The curfew has almost arrived."

You nodded, still taking the time to fold your notes together carefully and put them back into your notebook before letting it fall into your bag altogether.

"Would you mind accompanying me?" you asked her as you shouldered your bag again. "I feel like we never get to talk at all."

Her first reaction was a more genuine smile that you had ever seen on her face. She looked flattered and just for a short moment you could see the person that she had been before her death. But then something happened to her, sadness overcame her as she fell back into her usual sad smile, not even looking at you anymore, instead directing her eyes at the painting of an empty room.

"Another time, surely", she said.

"Another time", you repeated after her, standing in the dark floor and observing the ghost that you knew nothing about. She was always helpful to those of your house, like a mother looking after her children. She showed students the way when they were lost or helped them track their things.

But you had never realized that you knew nothing about her.

"Take care of yourself", you said, trying to sound genuine. She didn't look at you again.

Present Date: 7th October 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

You watched attentively following the movements of his wand, when he spoke the next word: "Proligno", he said pointing at the ground between him and his opponent. The large table that Professor Flitwick had transformed into a massive wooden stage was what the Dueling Club used for the duels after each week's practice.

The partners were rotating, but the Professor was seemingly always trying to do good matchups and keep the skill level in a fair range.

Watching the pairs had given you a good estimation as to where you stood. What you had learned; the boy that you were watching right now could mob the floor with you at any time.

His spell brightened the room until it hit the stage between him and his opponent. The ground protested for a short moment, only for a thick wooden wall to erupt out of it so fast that it was still able to catch the blue spell the other boy had casted.

Quidditch captain, Seeker and Prefect were some of the titles Cedric Diggory had earned in his school years before. This year it seemed as if he wanted to add the title of Dueling Champion to his curriculum.

"Immobulus", Cedric shouted.

And his opponent fell.

The room stayed silent for a few moments. You didn't need to look around to know how attentively even those older than Cedric were watching. While there were still one or two upper-years that were better than him in skill, no one could simply discard his rapid growth. He was the only fifth year contending on eye-level with those that were about to graduate.

"Winner, Cedric Diggory! Fantastic fight, the both of you", Professor Flitwick finally said with his cheery voice.

The both of you had not talked about what had happened in the office and you knew it was simply because he knew how the entire situation was bothering you. He had kept his focus on everything else but you for the entire week. That was why you were almost surprised when he turned around and addressed you directly.

"Mr. Basques, Miss Davis, you are the next ones", he said, making you turn your head to the blonde menace that had slithered her way into being your unofficial rival in this club. "You are up next."

You took your time in standing up and closing the notebook that you had been writing into. You had noted down the spells that you had heard the others use for a later point in the school year, when you had finally tackled some of your current projects.

Passing by Diggory, you congratulated him with a nod and made your way up to the stage yourself. On the other side of the long stage the blonde Slytherin was already waiting. Her face was one of glee and anticipation.

"Do we want to start-…", you tried to ask, when Tracey had already raised her wand for the first strike.

Tracey Attack → 1D100+11 → 30(19 + 11)

Jacob Defense → 1D100+14 → 58(44 + 14)

"Incendio!" she shouted, moving her hand as fast through the required movements as possible. Her casting was fast, but hasty and rushed. Instead of throwing something between the both of you and defend yourself like you had done last time, you simply stepped aside this time around, letting the hot flame fly past you and hitting the wall on the other side of the room.

"Firy one!" you heard a female voice shout in support from the sitting arrangement close to the stage. "Go get him!"

Well, it wasn't as if you had expected much support anyway.

Jacob Attack → 1D100+14 → 40(26 + 14)

Tracey Defense → 1D100+16 → 33(17 + 16)

"Tarantallegra", you said, pulling your wand up to aim at her legs. Tracey Davis jumped over the invisible spell with an ease as if she had been expecting it. The jump was superb, that you had to say. The landing sucked though. Her ankle gave in and made her trip, giving you enough time to repeat your spell.

"Flipendo", you said, aiming at her falling body and trying to end the fight. The Slytherin was partially hit by the spell, being rocketed back as if she had been hit by a punch to her side but keeping herself on her two feet still.

When she looked up at you, you realized that you were in a perilous situation. There was fire in her eyes and her jaw was set in determination. She was about to take this very seriously.

Tracey Attack → 1D100+11 → 101(90 + 11)

Jacob Defense → 1D100+14 → 103(89 + 14)

This time there was no hastiness to her. Her movements were swift and her casting flawless. "Incendio", she said again, doubling down on what was becoming her key offensive spell. The fireball that erupted out of her wand was not one expected of a third-year, nor was it anything that she could repeat too easily. It was just that for this one spell her magic had bent to her will.

She was still in the middle of her casting when you had moved to defend again. The Flipendo left your lips just before Tracey had finished her spell. You saw the fireball of death that came into existence were there should usually be nothing more than a spark of fire.

Her spell headed straight for you, while your charm targeted a specific wall that had been created in the fight before yours. The moment your spell hit the part connecting the wooden wall to the ground you casted your second spell.

If this didn't work, you might well spend the night with Madam Pomfrey.

"Wingardium Leviosa", you said, ripping the thin but sturdy wall out of its place to levitate it a bit higher into the air. It intervened just in the right moment to be engulfed in flames that had been aimed at you.

Jacob Attack → 1D100+14 → 103(89 + 14)

Tracey Defense → 1D100+16 → 55(39 + 16)

Tracey had cast the more powerful spell, taking time to do it right. In that that short frame you had pulled two spells together to try and defend yourself. It had not been the most ingenious tactic, but it had been one of the few things that had been possible to you considering your poor spell variance.

You knew that you would have a disadvantage in any real duel with an opponent that knew more than a handful of offensive and defensive spells.

"Spongify", you said, aiming at Tracey.

She raised her wand in defense again, before shouting: "Protego!"

Oh. Had she really learned that spell already?

A weak shield of magic came into life just in front of her, only wide enough to protect her slim body. You couldn't help but smile. The Slytherin girl had shown tremendous growth in just as much as a month, even going so far as to learn the shielding spell that Professor Flitwick had shown you. You had not misjudged her by thinking of her as the driven and hard-working type.

Sadly, simple hard-work was not always enough.

Your spell flew right past her shield and her, only coming to a halt when it impacted on the ground a few meters behind the stage. Her shield wavered the moment you saw confusion hit her face. She was not sure if you had simply missed or if there was more to your attack.

"I wanted to give you a soft landing", you explained, raising your wand for the last spell: "Flipendo!"

It was just as fast as the first one had been, but this time it was actually meant as an offensive move. The spell travelled past the remnants of the burning wooden wall and hit Tracey's wavering shield dead center… and just as you had thought, it broke right through it and let her shield collapse. Your magic knocked Tracey back into the air, letting her fall on the spot that you had softened just a moment earlier.

"Winner is Mr. Basques", you heard Professor Flitwick say at the same time as you heard the blonde Slytherin shout at you in rage.

You were starting to really like this club.

→ +11 Exp doubled to +22 Exp through consecutive high rolls of both duelists

How many duels fought this month? → 1D3 → 1(1)
Exp on average → 1D20+2 → 5(3 + 2)

→ Exp = 22 + 1*5 = 27 → +27 Experience Points total

Dueling classes are over and there is still much on your mind. What do you want to do? If there is something specific you want to include into a conversation, please include it in the vote.

[ ] Wands up – It seems as if for the first time in your life there is someone that sees you as their rival in something other than academic prowess. Tracey Davis is working hard to keep up with your dueling progress, you can tell. Go and talk to her.

[ ] Hello Professor – Stay for another few minutes and try to talk to Professor Flitwick. You have not had the chance to talk to your Head of House since both of you had been thrown against his office walls like ragdolls.

[ ] Look behind your shoulders – While he is steadily looking upwards, trying to catch up to those that are finishing their education in a desperate bit to surpass them before they leave the school, you have your eyes on his back. Cedric Diggory might be the most talented and hard-working member of the club… but that was only until you had joined the class. Go and talk to him.

[ ] Detached from this world – Both Tracey Davis and Cedric Diggory are only part of your world inside the club room. There it is the circumstances that make them interesting. Outside of it, they don't matter to you and Professor Flitwick knows to respect your silence. Go, take a shower and and head out to explore the castle again.

A Harry Potter Quest: He who was not

A Harry Potter Quest: He who was not ()

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