- Location
- United States
He should have just faked it and lied about his ancestry test.
Mason Aves: The Wizard(Kinda Complete.. again)
- Thread starter HelloDarkness07
- Start date
He should have just faked it and lied about his ancestry test.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Yup, he's Cypher. But, neither Mason, nor the other mutant, are that good. They can understand written and spoken languages only. You'll find out more later, I think.
Nah, not an ancestor. Just a common gift. And copying mutations is something Xavier CAN do, but he doesn't do it. And I won't have MC copying every mutation, so it'll be limited to the solely brain based mutations or something.
Last edited:
- Location
- kentucky
no to mention runes are a language to so it should work there to even proto runic languages and if he lives long enough computer languages fall into the ability's reach
13. A New Surprise
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07
---
Second year was looking to be just as boring as the first year. Whatever they had to teach me for this year, I already knew, both theoretically and practically.
Every 2nd year spell, I had already mastered with the wand at least; some, I was in the middle of mastering wandlessly. Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against Dark Arts, hell I'd even learned all the potions that I was required to learn this year in the first month itself. There were some transfiguration spells that I haven't mastered though, thanks to the lack of the source material.
Plus, Transfiguration spells are way harder to cast without a wand.
Helena had shown me a room that was left abandoned, originally meant for teaching Rituals. Rituals was a subject that hasn't been legally taught for at least 200 years. I say legally, because every Wizard worth his salt knows at least how to conduct the few basic rituals.
Unfortunately, the room was completely cleaned out, so there were no mysterious Ritual books that had been left alone for centuries or anything like it. The room just had a few desks thrown to the side, a table for the teacher, and a giant table in the corner meant for brewing potions. Because, you know, rituals might require Potions.
I had claimed the room for myself, and cast the few Warding Enchantments that I know, thanks to Cassiopeia's generous donation of her memories. The wards won't stop a determined 7th year student, let alone a teacher, but it was a start in learning Warding.
I hadn't begun learning the theory behind it though, because I didn't have the sufficient knowledge of Runes, Arithmancy, or Charms yet. Meh, I still have time to do all that.
For now, however I was learning languages. Lots and lots of languages. In the 3 months that I've been to Hogwarts, I have managed to master reading 7 languages, and 3 spoken ones, not counting the three I already knew from before I was reborn.
The reading languages part was easy. I just had to borrow a book in that language from the library, focus on trying to understand it, and within a few minutes, 15 at most, I would gain a complete understanding of the languages written word. Every character, word, phrase, rules, and literally everything regarding that language would somehow take hold of my mind.
I'd noticed that whenever I mastered another language, a new book was added to my Mind palace, titled 'Complete Mastery of the Language' followed by the language name. Obviously, I was keeping the memories from James's mind alone for now.
I had already seen those memories once, but that was before I had somehow copied the Mutation.
Anyway, back to school. Merrythought had noticed me being somewhat distracted in classes, and had taken to glaring at me. But, since I actually produced what was needed, she didn't say anything.
Transfiguration had moved from inanimate-inanimate transformation, to animate-inanimate transformation. First, we began by learning to transfigure a beetle to a button, and then a rabbit to a slipper. The first one was easy, and barely took me 10 minutes to figure out, and then master.
The second one was a tough spell to master, and I had to practice for an hour before I could get it.
As for Charms, Professor Rowle was as beautiful as ever, and even if I knew everything, I made sure to pay attention in that class. Damn hormones.
Other than going to classes, I was also regularly roaming everywhere inside the castle, and sometimes outside, to see if I find anything interesting. And boy, are there some interesting places.
Like the secret path that leads to the village of Hogsmead, right beneath Honeyduke's Chocolate shop. Or the stairway hidden behind the illusion of a portrait, that goes upwards, but drops you from the 7th floor, to the ground floor. Of course, I had also seen the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, and the wall in front of it, but hadn't proceeded further yet.
There hasn't been a need to go there yet. I'm still a noob relatively, so I can't even look for advanced topics yet. Maybe next year I'll be ready, but not yet.
Right now, I was standing in the dungeons, very close to the Hufflepuff Dorms. So close, in fact, that I could actually see the barrels that make up the entrance of the Common Room. If it wasn't for the disillusionment charm currently hiding my presence, I would have been caught by the 17 students that passed by here.
Looking at the painting in front of me, a Still Life painting of various fruits, I raise my hand, and tickle the pear.
"Heehee." The painting giggles, which makes me jump even if I knew it was going to happen, and the painting turns into a door, with the pear shifting to form the door knob.
Very slowly, I touch the handle, and when nothing happens, I turn the knob, and push the door in. Without a single sound, the door opens, and then there's a cacophony of noise.
Clinking of plates, spoons, and the cooking utensils, yells in squeaky voices, and a lot of banging. The voices belonged to tiny creatures, barely 3 foot tall, with pointy ears and nose, and big round eyes.
House Elves of Hogwarts.
I smile sadly at the sight, feeling bad for them. An entire race of beings, enslaved by the people that think they're the superior race. Nothing good ever came to those who thought like that, and nothing will.
But sometimes, even the enslaved race doesn't get their peace back, even if they stop being enslaved as evidenced by the current situation of those of African descent. Which just makes me pity them even more. Can't ignore that so many countries are currently under the rule of England, my current country, including India, my former country.
I shake my head, since I can't even do anything yet.
One of the House Elves, a being with a tattered Pillow case around its body, and green eyes finally sees me standing at the door, looking at them all, and freezes.
It then drops the bowl it was transferring somewhere, and yells in squeaky voice, "Yous shouldn't be here!"
I raise my hands, and say, "I'm not here to cause any trouble, I just.. heard about the kitchen and wanted to see it myself. Sorry, I'll let myself out."
As I take a step back, still facing them, I see the one that I just spoke to still once more, and widen its eyes. It speaks in a distinctly female voice, as it asks, "Yous say sorry to Dippy? To House Elves?" And then, the elf begins to cry, loudly. This gathers the attention of the other House elves, who look at me weirdly.
Well.. fuck. I'm going to try and free them, aren't I? If just a sorry can cause them this many emotions, then the situation can't be good.
Patting Dippy the House Elf on her head, I grimace when she flinches, and say, "Uh.. yeah. Dippy, right?" As she nods, sniffling, I continue, "I just wanted to meet the ones who do everything for us. I read about the House elves in my books, you know."
"Yous did?" Dippy asks, wide eyed. And now, even the other elves had stopped what they were doing, prefering to watch us talk.
Nodding, I look all around, and say, "Yeah. Many books wrote about you, about House Elves. I wanted to thank you, for everything you do around here. Cleaning, cooking, repairing stuff, and even Processor Binns's homework. I think people appreciate you a lot less than they should."
I also think that they shouldn't be enslaved in this day and age, and freed immediately. But I'm not going to say that before knowing more about how they came to be enslaved in the first place.
Dippy smiles widely now, her eyes once again tearful, and says, "Young sir is too kind to Dippy! What can Dippy be calling you, young sir?"
Damn, this language will take some getting used to. And I don't think my language mutation will help here.
Smiling at Dippy, I offer her my hand, and say, "My name is Mason, Dippy. You can call me that, if you wish."
Dippy looks at the hand with fascination clear on her face, and whispers, "Dippy can shake Mr Mason Sir's hand? Like an equal?"
Considering that she's better at Wandless magic than me, her calling me an equal is an insult to her. But, baby steps.
I nod, and say, "This is how people introduce themselves, isn't it?"
As Dippy shakes my hand, I smile at the exhilaration emitted from her, and the shock shown on the faces of other elves. Yup, I'm rescuing them, even if it takes me literally years to do so.
Enslaving is bad, and it's way past time Wizards also know that.
---
"Where did you get so much cake?" Darla asks me as soon as I bring the box full of cake out of my expanded bag.
I take one out, hand the box to Tom, and while winking at Darla, I say, "A secret."
Anastasia hands the box back after all 4 of us have one piece each, and says, "As long as you don't harm any of the books here, bring as much cake as you want."
Darla snorts, and says, "He loves books more than you do. There's no way he's harming a single book here even by mistake."
I chuckle, realising that it's true. We were currently in the library, working on our homework. Darla was the sole Gryffindor amongst us Ravenclaws at this table. She wasn't studious, nope, but she liked us as friends, and this was one of the very few hours we get for ourselves.
Sometimes, her friends from Gryffindor would join us, Mary Prewett and Bernadette Jones. Jones is a muggleborn like Darla, so they had bonded over being on the same boat. Prewett was just too friendly and they couldn't resist her charm for too long.
But, I was also her first friend, and the one she spent the least amount of time with, which is why at least thrice a week, we got together. Sometimes, Tom and Ana would be with us, when we were focusing on Homework. Other times, it would be just the two of us, and we would roam around or just relax.
A few days later, when Helena makes her weekly visit with a book on Charms, I ask her, "What do you know about House Elves? Do you know how they were enslaved?"
Helena hums, floating down to sit on my chair, and says, "I'm afraid not. House Elves have existed for as long as I can remember. Even when I was alive, they had existed for hundreds of years. Why do you ask?"
I look at the cover of the book she gave me, the title reading 'Basics of enchantment' in Anglo Saxon, and say, "I was just curious. I met them today, and the little people made an impression on me."
I think.. it's just better to keep my goals to myself for now. At least, until I'm able to defend myself properly. And Helena, no matter how much she might help me, is still a Witch, and a Ghost. She might find it offensive to her culture, if I don't explain it all properly.
Helena chuckles, and says, "Yes, the Elves of Hogwarts have always been an amazing breed. Aunty Helga made sure to buy any and all elves she could, to bring them here, and also frequently asked the freed elves if they wanted to work here. They get a lot of work, good quality food, and we get to rest from all the work."
I just frown, the casual talk of buying Elves baffling me. Shaking my head, I drop the subject, Knowing that this is not an argument I'll win right now. Plus, it's not like I don't have any time to complete all my goals. There's literally years, even with the summer's revelation about the Universe.
Mutations, honestly. Well, at least I won't be without any advantage in this Universe. A minor talent with languages? Yup, I'm mastering Runes. ASAP.
-
The next couple years pass by before I even know it. My second year passed just like my first, with no problems whatsoever from Cassiopeia, beyond the glares she sent in the beginning.
I'd thought that she would try something or the other after I didn't listen to her, but she didn't. She just stopped bothering me altogether, but she did try and sweet talk me a few times a month.
Well, thankfully, even if my hormones might disagree, I was too young to do any of it. And then, she passed out of Hogwarts last year, so there was that.
However, Dorea did somehow make her way into our group, to the open chagrin of her cousin Charis, who was also my classmate. According to her, the fact that I managed to not fall prey to Cassiopeia's flirting was an impressive feat and that prompted her to befriend me.
She was trying to be manipulative, with a lot of the students, but unfortunately for her, she's just too damn bad at it. She scares other students, just like Cassiopeia, but she hasn't gotten the trick to asking them to do stuff for you.
In my third year, our classes had a sudden jump in difficulty. Charms had gotten more fun too. We learned the Skurge Spell which cleaned up the ectoplasm that ghosts create, if they stay in one place for a long time, and the freezing spell(Glacia).
Transfiguration had us move on to inanimate to animate transformation, which was way more difficult than the animate to inanimate transformation. Making a dead thing mimic life has to be one of the most astonishing things I've managed in transfiguration class.
Same with every other subject, we were doing more written work, and our work had gotten harder. Except for History, but that was a feee period, as far as the students were concerned.
As for electives, I selected Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Sure, I could have selected Care of Magical Creatures too, but I didn't think that the subject is entirely necessary for me. I can just read the books later, if I need the subject.
Runes was the most disappointing subject in the entire curriculum. The first term literally had us learning the history of one Runic language, the Elder Futhrak. The second term at least included using Runes to create magic.
You can carve them on objects to enchant it, or you can use them on paper to carry on different effects. But we weren't allowed to carve runes yet. Our third year ended with us learning how to write Runes on parchment to create the Lumos charm. So, yeah, disappointing.
Unfortunately for me, my Language mutation did not work on Runes, no matter which type they were. Nordic, Futhrak, the Lost Greek Runes, and even the Runes of Atlantis. My mutation either doesn't recognise them as languages at all, or it has limits. Could be either, but the result was still the same.
But, I had other avenues, like actually studying them, which I was using. It's not like I had a shortage of time. I slept 6 hours a day, did my homework within an hour, and had classes for 4 hours. Even with all the goofing off I did with my group, I was still able to have a few hours for independent studies.
As for Arithmancy, it has quickly become one of my favourite lessons in Hogwarts, right behind Charms and Potions. Arithmancy is the study of Numbers, and how they relate to the world.
With the right variables, one is able to predict the future itself, so yeah, pretty damn interesting. There are complicated number charts, formulae, and even theorems, in Arithmancy. Obviously, just like every other subject, I was studying ahead in this too. It was too interesting not to!
I had also memorised the COMC book, and would read it in my mind, during lessons. And so, another year had ended, with me learning a few more secrets of the castle.
I was currently at Hogwarts, in the Room of Requirements, while Sly was showing me a new gift he awakened. I'd "discovered" the room at the start of my fourth year, when I was just roaming around. Pure coincidence, I tell you, that I just happened to walk across the same patch of wall three times.
I'd spent the last few months getting intimate with the room, checking its limits and all. The Room of Requirements can become anything the user wishes, that is true, but it also has limits.
The Dimensions of the Room are not limited, I can literally create a beach within the Room and it'll go on and on. But, at some point, I find myself back on the original position, but I don't even know it when it happens.
Then, once I'm inside the room I created, I cannot change it completely. I can change minor things about it, but nothing major. To do that, I'll have to walk out of the room and repeat the process again. I also can't summon anything from the Room of Hidden Things to any other Room. I also can't change the Room of Hidden Things in any way, not even to organise it.
Lastly, the room cannot bypass the Laws of Magic. So no food, living beings, or potion ingredients can be summoned to the Room. I still have to see if there are more limits, but I have time.
Seeing Sly excitedly hiss, I bring my attention back to him, and ask, ~~So, what is this new Magic you've awakened?~~
Sly looks pleased with himself as he says, ~~I learned yesterday that I can also do this. Which you can't.~~
With that, he closes his eyes, and suddenly, a pitch black horn forms over his head, pointed at the tip. Thinking that was it, I open my mouth to congratulate him, but then suddenly stop. Sly was floating in the air, swimming as if the air was water.
~~How the fuck is this possible?~~ I whisper in shock, looking at the flying snake in front of me.
He has no wings, but he was literally defying gravity. Wait a minute.
~~You're a Horned Serpent! Like Horny!~~ I exclaim, finally realizing what his second parent was.
~~As if! I'm far better than Horny!~~ Sly says, flying forward and coming to a stop in front of my face. The way he flies looks like he's swimming, using his tail to move himself forward.
Amazing!
I hold my hand forward, and as he climbs down on my arm, I say, ~~True. He can't turn invisible like you can. You two must be of different types or something.~~
Horned Serpent, I really should have realized when he first became invisible. Very few snakes can do that, but when Horny didn't show that power, I dismissed that talent as really rare.
But now, after seeing him fly, and form the horn on top of his head, I'm sure. Sly is a Horned Serpent. Damn, he's going to get hella big, isn't he?
~~I know. I'm awesome. Bow to me, human.~~ Sly says, straightening up in pride.
I snort at him, and silently, and wandlessly cast the levitation charm on my clothes. As I float above him, I say, ~~See, I can do it too. You're not that special.~~
Sly hisses in annoyance, and floats back down. Amused, I remove the spell on my clothes, and fall down, thankfully landing on my legs.
The Levitation charm can be cast on clothes you're wearing, however it can't be cast on the person. And even if it looked like I was flying, I was fixed to just one spot, without moving either forward or backwards. The Levitation charm just levitates, and doesn't allow me to actually fly. Not even using other spells like Depulso will push me forward.
That was still a work in progress. "Tempus." I whisper, summoning the misty clock above my right hand. Damn, it's almost 7. I should go before anyone tries looking for me.
~~You're coming? Dinner's about to start.~~ I ask, looking at Sly enjoying flying.
Sly ignores me completely, so I leave him to his fun, and leave for dinner.
Unfortunately, I don't get to spend as much time as I want to in the Room of Requirements, as I don't want to seem suspicious. I've noticed that teachers were observing me a lot, for some reason.
Well, I know the reason. I'm suspicious as fuck. I have literally 3 friends, Darla, Dorea, and Anastasia, since Tom had just.. drifted off, I top my exams with barely a token if effort, and I disappear off the face of Hogwarts for hours at a time. And Grindelwald was still at large, so I could be a spy for him, you know.
I had also felt someone scrying for me whenever I wasn't in public, which is really annoying. Scrying for people without their prior permission, or unless they're declared missing, is illegal. Really annoying.
Thankfully, the Room of Requirements cannot be seen by Scrying, I think.
And wasn't that a surprise, that I could actually feel someone scrying for me. It was like an annoying poke at the back of my head, continuously, until they stop doing it. Inside Hogwarts castle, I could allow my Telepathy to show myself to the spell. Whenever I was doing something secret, however, I use my Telepathy to hide myself. Telepathy rocks, I'll say.
Sitting in front of Anastasia, I ask, "Why're you looking at me like that?"
She was looking at me as if I'm a puzzle to be solved.
Ana says, "Professor Dumbledore was asking about you today. He wanted to know where you disappear off to."
Of course he does, bloody bastard. He's not evil, as far as I know, but he has a very annoying tendency to assume that everyone else is dumber than him.
I shrug, and say, "He can bloody well ask me himself, but even he knows that what I do outside of classes is not any of his business."
I hear a snort behind me, as Dorea comes to sit on the empty seat beside me. She says, "I thought you'd be singing his praises, Mason. He does favor the muggleborn over the rest of us."
I point out, "He's still a condescending wanker, though."
I just know, even without using my telepathy, that he's trying to make sure I don't get too powerful. The Librarian asking hundred questions before allowing me into the Restricted section, even after I showed her the pass, clued me into that.
But well, not my problem now. I can just go to the Room of Requirements and conjure a room fit to learn any subject I want.
That night, after reading a book on Runes that I'd gotten from the Restricted section, I go to sleep. The dream I have is a weird one.
I was floating around Hogwarts, moving through walls and doors as if they didn't exist, invisible to all, while feeling drunk as hell. Well, all but one. The dream Helena saw me, and just froze. My dream self giggled, (GIGGLED!), and did a back flip, and fell head first into the ground.
It became even weirder then, when I kept falling underground, non stop, and only stopped hours later, when I appeared in an underground cavern. The cavern had a pool of water, and the flowers on the cavern walls, glowed a yellow light, giving me enough illumination to see everything.
As I flew towards the pool, and impulsively jumped in it, I woke up.
Huh. That dream was trippy.
"How did you do that?" I hear as soon as I am done showering, and as I am about to put on my clothes.
"JESUS CHRIST, HELENA!" I yell, putting my towel back on in a panic.
Helena sees the condition I'm in, and just turns away after rolling her eyes. She repeats, "How did you do that?"
As I wear my clothes, I grumble, "How am I supposed to answer that question if I don't even know what I did?"
Helena turns back, thankfully after I'm done, and says, "You were flying, as a spirit. But you're alive. People who are alive aren't supposed to become spirts and return to their bodies!"
I lift my hand and raise it in front of me. Looks solid. Just as an experiment, I put the hand on the desk near my bed. Definitely solid.
"I don't know how to break this to you, Helena. But I'm not a spirit.. yet." Can't discount me dying today itself, can I?
Helena scoffs, and says, "Now you aren't. Just.. allow me."
With that, Helena takes a floating step towards me. I let her, and close my eyes as she puts her two fingers of both hands on the two sides of my forehead.
And then, I see it. I see me, drunker than Slughorn during the Slug Club meeting, floating around, transparent as hell, giggling every few seconds and just.. flying around.
Helena had followed me a little while, and somehow, no one could see me. Not the paintings, not the squib caretaker, not Peeves the Poltergeist, and definitely not the teachers. Hell, even the other ghosts couldn't see me, at all. Except Helena, but she was different, a mutant like me.
"How?" I mumble, recognizing the state I was in at the time, but still not able to believe it.
Helena shrugs, still worried, and says, "Whatever happened isn't supposed to happen. Wizards cannot just separate our Spiritual forms from our body to go on a journey, and even if they do, they don't just return as you did."
Hearing the slowly clearing thoughts of my roommates, who hadn't awoken when I fucking yelled, I say, "We'll discuss it later, they're waking up."
Helena nods, and says, "Be careful. And don't experiment without me there. You were behaving like a drunkard in that state, and I don't know if it'll be safe to do it again."
I nod, as she leaves the room, allowing me the time to think.
Astral Projection. Honest to God, Astral Projection. How the fuck is this even possible without the literal years of learning Sorcery?
Another Mutation hax? Could be, Xavier could do it, couldn't he? Well, whatever it is, I'll have to look it up, properly.
---
A/N: So, he awakened Astral Projection. This is a power that comes with telepathy, since their minds are so strong or something like that.
Sly is a horned serpent, but he looks like a normal serpent. His invisibility doesn't change his body, but when he wants to fly, he'll go through a temporary metamorphosis.
Tata!
---
Second year was looking to be just as boring as the first year. Whatever they had to teach me for this year, I already knew, both theoretically and practically.
Every 2nd year spell, I had already mastered with the wand at least; some, I was in the middle of mastering wandlessly. Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against Dark Arts, hell I'd even learned all the potions that I was required to learn this year in the first month itself. There were some transfiguration spells that I haven't mastered though, thanks to the lack of the source material.
Plus, Transfiguration spells are way harder to cast without a wand.
Helena had shown me a room that was left abandoned, originally meant for teaching Rituals. Rituals was a subject that hasn't been legally taught for at least 200 years. I say legally, because every Wizard worth his salt knows at least how to conduct the few basic rituals.
Unfortunately, the room was completely cleaned out, so there were no mysterious Ritual books that had been left alone for centuries or anything like it. The room just had a few desks thrown to the side, a table for the teacher, and a giant table in the corner meant for brewing potions. Because, you know, rituals might require Potions.
I had claimed the room for myself, and cast the few Warding Enchantments that I know, thanks to Cassiopeia's generous donation of her memories. The wards won't stop a determined 7th year student, let alone a teacher, but it was a start in learning Warding.
I hadn't begun learning the theory behind it though, because I didn't have the sufficient knowledge of Runes, Arithmancy, or Charms yet. Meh, I still have time to do all that.
For now, however I was learning languages. Lots and lots of languages. In the 3 months that I've been to Hogwarts, I have managed to master reading 7 languages, and 3 spoken ones, not counting the three I already knew from before I was reborn.
The reading languages part was easy. I just had to borrow a book in that language from the library, focus on trying to understand it, and within a few minutes, 15 at most, I would gain a complete understanding of the languages written word. Every character, word, phrase, rules, and literally everything regarding that language would somehow take hold of my mind.
I'd noticed that whenever I mastered another language, a new book was added to my Mind palace, titled 'Complete Mastery of the Language' followed by the language name. Obviously, I was keeping the memories from James's mind alone for now.
I had already seen those memories once, but that was before I had somehow copied the Mutation.
Anyway, back to school. Merrythought had noticed me being somewhat distracted in classes, and had taken to glaring at me. But, since I actually produced what was needed, she didn't say anything.
Transfiguration had moved from inanimate-inanimate transformation, to animate-inanimate transformation. First, we began by learning to transfigure a beetle to a button, and then a rabbit to a slipper. The first one was easy, and barely took me 10 minutes to figure out, and then master.
The second one was a tough spell to master, and I had to practice for an hour before I could get it.
As for Charms, Professor Rowle was as beautiful as ever, and even if I knew everything, I made sure to pay attention in that class. Damn hormones.
Other than going to classes, I was also regularly roaming everywhere inside the castle, and sometimes outside, to see if I find anything interesting. And boy, are there some interesting places.
Like the secret path that leads to the village of Hogsmead, right beneath Honeyduke's Chocolate shop. Or the stairway hidden behind the illusion of a portrait, that goes upwards, but drops you from the 7th floor, to the ground floor. Of course, I had also seen the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, and the wall in front of it, but hadn't proceeded further yet.
There hasn't been a need to go there yet. I'm still a noob relatively, so I can't even look for advanced topics yet. Maybe next year I'll be ready, but not yet.
Right now, I was standing in the dungeons, very close to the Hufflepuff Dorms. So close, in fact, that I could actually see the barrels that make up the entrance of the Common Room. If it wasn't for the disillusionment charm currently hiding my presence, I would have been caught by the 17 students that passed by here.
Looking at the painting in front of me, a Still Life painting of various fruits, I raise my hand, and tickle the pear.
"Heehee." The painting giggles, which makes me jump even if I knew it was going to happen, and the painting turns into a door, with the pear shifting to form the door knob.
Very slowly, I touch the handle, and when nothing happens, I turn the knob, and push the door in. Without a single sound, the door opens, and then there's a cacophony of noise.
Clinking of plates, spoons, and the cooking utensils, yells in squeaky voices, and a lot of banging. The voices belonged to tiny creatures, barely 3 foot tall, with pointy ears and nose, and big round eyes.
House Elves of Hogwarts.
I smile sadly at the sight, feeling bad for them. An entire race of beings, enslaved by the people that think they're the superior race. Nothing good ever came to those who thought like that, and nothing will.
But sometimes, even the enslaved race doesn't get their peace back, even if they stop being enslaved as evidenced by the current situation of those of African descent. Which just makes me pity them even more. Can't ignore that so many countries are currently under the rule of England, my current country, including India, my former country.
I shake my head, since I can't even do anything yet.
One of the House Elves, a being with a tattered Pillow case around its body, and green eyes finally sees me standing at the door, looking at them all, and freezes.
It then drops the bowl it was transferring somewhere, and yells in squeaky voice, "Yous shouldn't be here!"
I raise my hands, and say, "I'm not here to cause any trouble, I just.. heard about the kitchen and wanted to see it myself. Sorry, I'll let myself out."
As I take a step back, still facing them, I see the one that I just spoke to still once more, and widen its eyes. It speaks in a distinctly female voice, as it asks, "Yous say sorry to Dippy? To House Elves?" And then, the elf begins to cry, loudly. This gathers the attention of the other House elves, who look at me weirdly.
Well.. fuck. I'm going to try and free them, aren't I? If just a sorry can cause them this many emotions, then the situation can't be good.
Patting Dippy the House Elf on her head, I grimace when she flinches, and say, "Uh.. yeah. Dippy, right?" As she nods, sniffling, I continue, "I just wanted to meet the ones who do everything for us. I read about the House elves in my books, you know."
"Yous did?" Dippy asks, wide eyed. And now, even the other elves had stopped what they were doing, prefering to watch us talk.
Nodding, I look all around, and say, "Yeah. Many books wrote about you, about House Elves. I wanted to thank you, for everything you do around here. Cleaning, cooking, repairing stuff, and even Processor Binns's homework. I think people appreciate you a lot less than they should."
I also think that they shouldn't be enslaved in this day and age, and freed immediately. But I'm not going to say that before knowing more about how they came to be enslaved in the first place.
Dippy smiles widely now, her eyes once again tearful, and says, "Young sir is too kind to Dippy! What can Dippy be calling you, young sir?"
Damn, this language will take some getting used to. And I don't think my language mutation will help here.
Smiling at Dippy, I offer her my hand, and say, "My name is Mason, Dippy. You can call me that, if you wish."
Dippy looks at the hand with fascination clear on her face, and whispers, "Dippy can shake Mr Mason Sir's hand? Like an equal?"
Considering that she's better at Wandless magic than me, her calling me an equal is an insult to her. But, baby steps.
I nod, and say, "This is how people introduce themselves, isn't it?"
As Dippy shakes my hand, I smile at the exhilaration emitted from her, and the shock shown on the faces of other elves. Yup, I'm rescuing them, even if it takes me literally years to do so.
Enslaving is bad, and it's way past time Wizards also know that.
---
"Where did you get so much cake?" Darla asks me as soon as I bring the box full of cake out of my expanded bag.
I take one out, hand the box to Tom, and while winking at Darla, I say, "A secret."
Anastasia hands the box back after all 4 of us have one piece each, and says, "As long as you don't harm any of the books here, bring as much cake as you want."
Darla snorts, and says, "He loves books more than you do. There's no way he's harming a single book here even by mistake."
I chuckle, realising that it's true. We were currently in the library, working on our homework. Darla was the sole Gryffindor amongst us Ravenclaws at this table. She wasn't studious, nope, but she liked us as friends, and this was one of the very few hours we get for ourselves.
Sometimes, her friends from Gryffindor would join us, Mary Prewett and Bernadette Jones. Jones is a muggleborn like Darla, so they had bonded over being on the same boat. Prewett was just too friendly and they couldn't resist her charm for too long.
But, I was also her first friend, and the one she spent the least amount of time with, which is why at least thrice a week, we got together. Sometimes, Tom and Ana would be with us, when we were focusing on Homework. Other times, it would be just the two of us, and we would roam around or just relax.
A few days later, when Helena makes her weekly visit with a book on Charms, I ask her, "What do you know about House Elves? Do you know how they were enslaved?"
Helena hums, floating down to sit on my chair, and says, "I'm afraid not. House Elves have existed for as long as I can remember. Even when I was alive, they had existed for hundreds of years. Why do you ask?"
I look at the cover of the book she gave me, the title reading 'Basics of enchantment' in Anglo Saxon, and say, "I was just curious. I met them today, and the little people made an impression on me."
I think.. it's just better to keep my goals to myself for now. At least, until I'm able to defend myself properly. And Helena, no matter how much she might help me, is still a Witch, and a Ghost. She might find it offensive to her culture, if I don't explain it all properly.
Helena chuckles, and says, "Yes, the Elves of Hogwarts have always been an amazing breed. Aunty Helga made sure to buy any and all elves she could, to bring them here, and also frequently asked the freed elves if they wanted to work here. They get a lot of work, good quality food, and we get to rest from all the work."
I just frown, the casual talk of buying Elves baffling me. Shaking my head, I drop the subject, Knowing that this is not an argument I'll win right now. Plus, it's not like I don't have any time to complete all my goals. There's literally years, even with the summer's revelation about the Universe.
Mutations, honestly. Well, at least I won't be without any advantage in this Universe. A minor talent with languages? Yup, I'm mastering Runes. ASAP.
-
The next couple years pass by before I even know it. My second year passed just like my first, with no problems whatsoever from Cassiopeia, beyond the glares she sent in the beginning.
I'd thought that she would try something or the other after I didn't listen to her, but she didn't. She just stopped bothering me altogether, but she did try and sweet talk me a few times a month.
Well, thankfully, even if my hormones might disagree, I was too young to do any of it. And then, she passed out of Hogwarts last year, so there was that.
However, Dorea did somehow make her way into our group, to the open chagrin of her cousin Charis, who was also my classmate. According to her, the fact that I managed to not fall prey to Cassiopeia's flirting was an impressive feat and that prompted her to befriend me.
She was trying to be manipulative, with a lot of the students, but unfortunately for her, she's just too damn bad at it. She scares other students, just like Cassiopeia, but she hasn't gotten the trick to asking them to do stuff for you.
In my third year, our classes had a sudden jump in difficulty. Charms had gotten more fun too. We learned the Skurge Spell which cleaned up the ectoplasm that ghosts create, if they stay in one place for a long time, and the freezing spell(Glacia).
Transfiguration had us move on to inanimate to animate transformation, which was way more difficult than the animate to inanimate transformation. Making a dead thing mimic life has to be one of the most astonishing things I've managed in transfiguration class.
Same with every other subject, we were doing more written work, and our work had gotten harder. Except for History, but that was a feee period, as far as the students were concerned.
As for electives, I selected Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Sure, I could have selected Care of Magical Creatures too, but I didn't think that the subject is entirely necessary for me. I can just read the books later, if I need the subject.
Runes was the most disappointing subject in the entire curriculum. The first term literally had us learning the history of one Runic language, the Elder Futhrak. The second term at least included using Runes to create magic.
You can carve them on objects to enchant it, or you can use them on paper to carry on different effects. But we weren't allowed to carve runes yet. Our third year ended with us learning how to write Runes on parchment to create the Lumos charm. So, yeah, disappointing.
Unfortunately for me, my Language mutation did not work on Runes, no matter which type they were. Nordic, Futhrak, the Lost Greek Runes, and even the Runes of Atlantis. My mutation either doesn't recognise them as languages at all, or it has limits. Could be either, but the result was still the same.
But, I had other avenues, like actually studying them, which I was using. It's not like I had a shortage of time. I slept 6 hours a day, did my homework within an hour, and had classes for 4 hours. Even with all the goofing off I did with my group, I was still able to have a few hours for independent studies.
As for Arithmancy, it has quickly become one of my favourite lessons in Hogwarts, right behind Charms and Potions. Arithmancy is the study of Numbers, and how they relate to the world.
With the right variables, one is able to predict the future itself, so yeah, pretty damn interesting. There are complicated number charts, formulae, and even theorems, in Arithmancy. Obviously, just like every other subject, I was studying ahead in this too. It was too interesting not to!
I had also memorised the COMC book, and would read it in my mind, during lessons. And so, another year had ended, with me learning a few more secrets of the castle.
I was currently at Hogwarts, in the Room of Requirements, while Sly was showing me a new gift he awakened. I'd "discovered" the room at the start of my fourth year, when I was just roaming around. Pure coincidence, I tell you, that I just happened to walk across the same patch of wall three times.
I'd spent the last few months getting intimate with the room, checking its limits and all. The Room of Requirements can become anything the user wishes, that is true, but it also has limits.
The Dimensions of the Room are not limited, I can literally create a beach within the Room and it'll go on and on. But, at some point, I find myself back on the original position, but I don't even know it when it happens.
Then, once I'm inside the room I created, I cannot change it completely. I can change minor things about it, but nothing major. To do that, I'll have to walk out of the room and repeat the process again. I also can't summon anything from the Room of Hidden Things to any other Room. I also can't change the Room of Hidden Things in any way, not even to organise it.
Lastly, the room cannot bypass the Laws of Magic. So no food, living beings, or potion ingredients can be summoned to the Room. I still have to see if there are more limits, but I have time.
Seeing Sly excitedly hiss, I bring my attention back to him, and ask, ~~So, what is this new Magic you've awakened?~~
Sly looks pleased with himself as he says, ~~I learned yesterday that I can also do this. Which you can't.~~
With that, he closes his eyes, and suddenly, a pitch black horn forms over his head, pointed at the tip. Thinking that was it, I open my mouth to congratulate him, but then suddenly stop. Sly was floating in the air, swimming as if the air was water.
~~How the fuck is this possible?~~ I whisper in shock, looking at the flying snake in front of me.
He has no wings, but he was literally defying gravity. Wait a minute.
~~You're a Horned Serpent! Like Horny!~~ I exclaim, finally realizing what his second parent was.
~~As if! I'm far better than Horny!~~ Sly says, flying forward and coming to a stop in front of my face. The way he flies looks like he's swimming, using his tail to move himself forward.
Amazing!
I hold my hand forward, and as he climbs down on my arm, I say, ~~True. He can't turn invisible like you can. You two must be of different types or something.~~
Horned Serpent, I really should have realized when he first became invisible. Very few snakes can do that, but when Horny didn't show that power, I dismissed that talent as really rare.
But now, after seeing him fly, and form the horn on top of his head, I'm sure. Sly is a Horned Serpent. Damn, he's going to get hella big, isn't he?
~~I know. I'm awesome. Bow to me, human.~~ Sly says, straightening up in pride.
I snort at him, and silently, and wandlessly cast the levitation charm on my clothes. As I float above him, I say, ~~See, I can do it too. You're not that special.~~
Sly hisses in annoyance, and floats back down. Amused, I remove the spell on my clothes, and fall down, thankfully landing on my legs.
The Levitation charm can be cast on clothes you're wearing, however it can't be cast on the person. And even if it looked like I was flying, I was fixed to just one spot, without moving either forward or backwards. The Levitation charm just levitates, and doesn't allow me to actually fly. Not even using other spells like Depulso will push me forward.
That was still a work in progress. "Tempus." I whisper, summoning the misty clock above my right hand. Damn, it's almost 7. I should go before anyone tries looking for me.
~~You're coming? Dinner's about to start.~~ I ask, looking at Sly enjoying flying.
Sly ignores me completely, so I leave him to his fun, and leave for dinner.
Unfortunately, I don't get to spend as much time as I want to in the Room of Requirements, as I don't want to seem suspicious. I've noticed that teachers were observing me a lot, for some reason.
Well, I know the reason. I'm suspicious as fuck. I have literally 3 friends, Darla, Dorea, and Anastasia, since Tom had just.. drifted off, I top my exams with barely a token if effort, and I disappear off the face of Hogwarts for hours at a time. And Grindelwald was still at large, so I could be a spy for him, you know.
I had also felt someone scrying for me whenever I wasn't in public, which is really annoying. Scrying for people without their prior permission, or unless they're declared missing, is illegal. Really annoying.
Thankfully, the Room of Requirements cannot be seen by Scrying, I think.
And wasn't that a surprise, that I could actually feel someone scrying for me. It was like an annoying poke at the back of my head, continuously, until they stop doing it. Inside Hogwarts castle, I could allow my Telepathy to show myself to the spell. Whenever I was doing something secret, however, I use my Telepathy to hide myself. Telepathy rocks, I'll say.
Sitting in front of Anastasia, I ask, "Why're you looking at me like that?"
She was looking at me as if I'm a puzzle to be solved.
Ana says, "Professor Dumbledore was asking about you today. He wanted to know where you disappear off to."
Of course he does, bloody bastard. He's not evil, as far as I know, but he has a very annoying tendency to assume that everyone else is dumber than him.
I shrug, and say, "He can bloody well ask me himself, but even he knows that what I do outside of classes is not any of his business."
I hear a snort behind me, as Dorea comes to sit on the empty seat beside me. She says, "I thought you'd be singing his praises, Mason. He does favor the muggleborn over the rest of us."
I point out, "He's still a condescending wanker, though."
I just know, even without using my telepathy, that he's trying to make sure I don't get too powerful. The Librarian asking hundred questions before allowing me into the Restricted section, even after I showed her the pass, clued me into that.
But well, not my problem now. I can just go to the Room of Requirements and conjure a room fit to learn any subject I want.
That night, after reading a book on Runes that I'd gotten from the Restricted section, I go to sleep. The dream I have is a weird one.
I was floating around Hogwarts, moving through walls and doors as if they didn't exist, invisible to all, while feeling drunk as hell. Well, all but one. The dream Helena saw me, and just froze. My dream self giggled, (GIGGLED!), and did a back flip, and fell head first into the ground.
It became even weirder then, when I kept falling underground, non stop, and only stopped hours later, when I appeared in an underground cavern. The cavern had a pool of water, and the flowers on the cavern walls, glowed a yellow light, giving me enough illumination to see everything.
As I flew towards the pool, and impulsively jumped in it, I woke up.
Huh. That dream was trippy.
"How did you do that?" I hear as soon as I am done showering, and as I am about to put on my clothes.
"JESUS CHRIST, HELENA!" I yell, putting my towel back on in a panic.
Helena sees the condition I'm in, and just turns away after rolling her eyes. She repeats, "How did you do that?"
As I wear my clothes, I grumble, "How am I supposed to answer that question if I don't even know what I did?"
Helena turns back, thankfully after I'm done, and says, "You were flying, as a spirit. But you're alive. People who are alive aren't supposed to become spirts and return to their bodies!"
I lift my hand and raise it in front of me. Looks solid. Just as an experiment, I put the hand on the desk near my bed. Definitely solid.
"I don't know how to break this to you, Helena. But I'm not a spirit.. yet." Can't discount me dying today itself, can I?
Helena scoffs, and says, "Now you aren't. Just.. allow me."
With that, Helena takes a floating step towards me. I let her, and close my eyes as she puts her two fingers of both hands on the two sides of my forehead.
And then, I see it. I see me, drunker than Slughorn during the Slug Club meeting, floating around, transparent as hell, giggling every few seconds and just.. flying around.
Helena had followed me a little while, and somehow, no one could see me. Not the paintings, not the squib caretaker, not Peeves the Poltergeist, and definitely not the teachers. Hell, even the other ghosts couldn't see me, at all. Except Helena, but she was different, a mutant like me.
"How?" I mumble, recognizing the state I was in at the time, but still not able to believe it.
Helena shrugs, still worried, and says, "Whatever happened isn't supposed to happen. Wizards cannot just separate our Spiritual forms from our body to go on a journey, and even if they do, they don't just return as you did."
Hearing the slowly clearing thoughts of my roommates, who hadn't awoken when I fucking yelled, I say, "We'll discuss it later, they're waking up."
Helena nods, and says, "Be careful. And don't experiment without me there. You were behaving like a drunkard in that state, and I don't know if it'll be safe to do it again."
I nod, as she leaves the room, allowing me the time to think.
Astral Projection. Honest to God, Astral Projection. How the fuck is this even possible without the literal years of learning Sorcery?
Another Mutation hax? Could be, Xavier could do it, couldn't he? Well, whatever it is, I'll have to look it up, properly.
---
A/N: So, he awakened Astral Projection. This is a power that comes with telepathy, since their minds are so strong or something like that.
Sly is a horned serpent, but he looks like a normal serpent. His invisibility doesn't change his body, but when he wants to fly, he'll go through a temporary metamorphosis.
Tata!
A part of me thinks he's going to change his name TO Charles Xavier.
- Location
- England
That's ominous.
So if this was real, what's with the creepy underground cavern?
- Location
- USA
Shit! It doesn't work on Runes. Well, that sucks!
Shhhhhhhh, it's a secret!
Shhhhhhhh, it's a secret!
Last edited:
- Location
- America
Small spelling mistake, otherwise good job, Looking forward to more.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Nothing. It was weird, but not foreshadowing. Definitely not.That's ominous.
So if this was real, what's with the creepy underground cavern?
Hopefully he does his research before stumbling into something like the fanon, 'House Elves need magic/magical areas/magic users to live healthily' or something. It would be funny if he gained a dreaded reputation among the elves for trying to free them when they don't want to.
Might be a clue, perhaps it only works on human languages or there must be a certain concentration of fluent speakers/readers that the mutation can poll in order to work. What I'd like to see him try out is Professor Wolverine's Lesson, 'Violence is a form of interpersonal communication, the martial arts are regional dialects.'
Personally, I like the Brownie explanation where House Elves used to tend to natural areas where magic and magical beings were plentiful in a form of symbiosis. Over time those areas were lost to development by muggles leaving only a few uninhabited areas or places protected by Wizards and wizard homes. That explanation would have what Helga was doing be more of a rescue.
Grim Derpishly, I remember a fanfic where House Elves were actually low-level demons or the creations of some cabal of Dark Wizards. Their current form being an improvement intended to keep people safe but even then their method of reproduction involved two elves sacrificing themselves to get four new ones.
Interesting story! Love how he works to improve his telepathy. I'm curious what, if anything, comes of the increased interest in him by adults. Is he gonna gain any male friends? It's kinda weird (and a bit creepy imo) that his only friends are young girls, especially since this is the 1930s and that was not at all common then (especially given that the WW tends to be more conservative/traditional than the non-magical world).
14. Runes
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
A/N: HelloDarkness07
A small announcement. I have managed to contract Covid, and am currently in recovery.
Don't worry, I'm alright, mostly, but these meds are really fucking strong. They keep me awake, but just sleepy enough that I cannot write anything. Plus, the WiFi here is shitty, which is the reason I hadn't posted in a while.
I'm hoping to be fully recovered in about 10 days, so see you guys then! Until then, good luck, and take care.
Don't forget to take precautions just because you're vaccinated. I had my first dose for 10 days before my RT-PCR came back positive. Take your bloody precautions!
Anyway, good luck! Read on!
---
I had noticed something about my Astral form. Like the Doctor Strange movies, my Spirit had a soft golden glow to it, as opposed to the silver glow that the ghosts have, and the white shine that Helena boasts.
Our running theory was that it is because I'm actually alive. This way, I can at least distinguish which ghosts are living, and which aren't. Helena definitely isn't, even if she's more solid than the other ghosts.
A few weeks after finding out that I can separate my Spirit, or my Astral form, from my physical self, I was practicing doing it voluntarily.
In the first week, I could only enter the Astral Plane when I sleep. Meaning, I had to sleep while meditating, and only then would I become a Spirit. And I also used to feel drunk most of the time, so there was that. 3 weeks after that, I could enter the Astral Plane while actually awake, and then a week after that, I stopped feeling drunk.
It was a slow progress, but progress all the same. By now, I'd at least managed to go to the Astral Plane and back, if only for an hour or two at a time. I can't do much for a couple hours now, can I? By the rate I was going, I could probably stay in the Astral form for the entire night by the next week, or the week after.
As I was reading a book on rituals that I got from the Room of Requirements, while in my Astral form, Helena floats in through the door.
She sees my body sleeping peacefully, and says, "Good to know you're not slacking off."
Snorting, I say, "I never slack off." Mostly because I know that slacking off will mean my death, or worse. Not expulsion, but complete destruction. At least Death can mean rebirth, or entering the Afterlife, whatever the hell it might be.
Helena smiles, and says, "I know. How long do you have till you have to go back to your body? And it still sounds weird whenever I say it."
I look at the time on the pocket watch I found in the RoR, and say, "About an hour and 15 minutes. Why?"
I expected it, but it was still disappointing to find out that I cannot use Magic while in the Astral Form. Not even a simple Lumos charm works, let alone a relatively complex Tempus charm.
Helena smiles, a little bit sadly, but a bit proudly, and says, "Come with me. I want to show you something."
Curious, I float up into the air, and fly after her, through the wall. Thank God Gravity doesn't work here. Flying in the Astral plane didn't take much effort. You just push yourself once, and then move to adjust the path.
Helena takes me flying through walls, portraits, and even a few suits of armour. And then, she stops in front of a blank stretch of wall. Since I wasn't actually used to flying this much, I'm a bit out of breath.
I ask, "Why are you showing me this? I already know about the Room of Requirements, you know."
Helena chuckles, and says, "What you've seen, although an impressive piece of magic, is just the tip of the iceberg. Wait, and see."
As I absorb what she just said, and the Come and Go Room is just the tip? Damn, what more secrets could the room be hiding?
Helena floats towards the wall that usually shows the Room, and stops in front of it instead of pacing. She then places her left palm on a seemingly random part of the wall, fingers close together.
Pausing a second to allow me to watch, she taps her right hand's index finger on the patch of wall right above her left middle finger. Then, one by one, Helena taps the wall in 16 more spots, seeming random to me.
She then slowly whispers to the wall, "Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena." And then, the wall shimmers the way it always does, and shows a plain wooden door.
Helena turns towards me, and says, "I really hope you remembered what spots I tapped, because you will have to do the same."
I snort, thankful for my perfect recall of memories. Helena takes the reaction with a smile, and says, "Now, after I go through, put your hand on the handle, and whisper your name, and your relation to my mother. After that, you'll be able to enter the Room."
And then, Helena holds the doorknob, twists it, and then floats through the open door. As soon as she's through, the door snaps shut, and the wall reappears.
Now, I would have tried going through in my spirit form itself, but I know from experience, that the Room doesn't work like that. Those on the outside cannot enter inside through any means save the door. I can exit the room in my Astral form, but I cannot enter the room, since it needs me to tell it which room I actually want.
'The one Helena just went to' won't cut it.
Placing my hand in the exact same spot Helena had her left hand just a few seconds ago, I tap the required 17 spots with my other hand, once again thanking my perfect recall, and then whisper, "Mason Aves, descendant of Rowena."
I feel wind blow in my face, as the door emits magic towards me, and then the door appears. Twisting the handle, I enter the pitch black room, and then gasp, suddenly able to see everything.
Books. As far as I could see, books, books, and more books. There were shelves as tall as the room, mountains of scrolls, and even a few boxes full of pieces of parchment all around. And the best part, there was no end to the room in sight. It went on as far as I could see.
"What the hell is this place?" I whisper, looking around to have my fill of all this knowledge, in one spot. This is like.. paradise! Did I die in my sleep or something?
Helena looks at the books with fascination in her eyes, and says, "This is my mother's legacy. Her Library."
I turn to look at her, and see her staring at a book with sadness clear om her face. I let her have her time, and browse the books closest to me.
Greek, Latin, Anglo Saxon, Norse, Egyptian, there were books in many different languages, but they were sorted. The ones on my left related to household spells, while the right one contained memoirs of different Wizards.
All of these books were probably one of a kind, or really, really rare. I think a few must be even banned outside the room. But the weirdest part was, I recognized some books. Some of them were as new as 50 years old, while some looked to be literally a thousand years old. How the hell did Rowena manage to add the 50 year old book to this library, if she's been dead for 900 years?
Helena comes out of her sadness, and then explains, "My mother was a complex person, with as many good things about her, as there are bad. One of her quirks, is something that is good or bad, depending on your own morals."
"What?" I ask, coming to stand beside Helena to look at the book she was staring at. 'My Life- Rowena Ravenclaw.' Written in Latin was the title of the book.
Well, no wonder this book makes her sad. Her own mother's life story, written by herself. It also shows why she's reluctant to show this place to anyone, this is dangerous knowledge.
Helena turns away from the book, looks at me, and says, "My mother, like you, was hungry for knowledge. She wanted to know everything, about everything. Gods, Demons, mortals, didn't matter to her who you were, if you had some knowledge of Magic she didn't know of, she would try her hardest to get it. But, she didn't show it publicly. She gained the knowledge through the Mind Arts, or by stealing it."
"But, after mother and her friends built this school, she had to show restraint." Helena chuckles, remembering something, and then adds, "It was really amusing, seeing her act the all-knowing woman everyone now knows of, when you've known her as a knowledge-hungry Witch for 5 years of your life."
Heh, who'd have thought? Rowena Ravenclaw was a thief! Well, I understand her theft of only knowledge though. I have also used Telepathy to gain some advantages, and didn't care about the morality much. James the language mutant comes to mind.
Helena continues speaking after a short break, and says, "Well, despite the fact that she had to keep a benevolent, strict but kind face on, her hunger for knowledge stayed the same. So, she created this room."
Smiling wide, Helena spins around herself, her arms spread apart. She says, "This.. is the original Room of Requirements. The Room of Knowledge. Everything that has written word upon it, that has passed through the Wards of Hogwarts, is here. Every book, scroll, Grimoire, Tome that any visitor to the castle has ever brought with them, is copied and added to this room."
Holy. Shit. This.. is way more that what I expected! No wonder there are newer books as well as older ones.
"How the fuck did she manage that?" I whisper, looking at the already impressive collection in new light.
Helena chuckles, and says, "Do not underestimate the hunger for knowledge, Mason. If mother wanted something, she got it." She then gets a bit sad, and says, "Her stubbornness had even forced my sister to run away, but mother still didn't stop going for her goals."
Her sister, that's the first I'm hearing of her. My ancestor perhaps, because I know Helena died childless. She's mentioned that part a few times now.
Shaking her head, Helena says, "To be honest, even after all these years of trying to study this Room, I haven't found a single secret regarding to it. I don't know how the room works, I don't know how it stays hidden from those not of our direct bloodline, and I don't know how the room does this."
Before I can ask, Helena closes her eyes, and I find myself somewhere else. The room I find myself in is smaller than the one before, and was more a Study than a Library. There were two shelves, standing side by side, a pair of comfortable looking chairs, and a burning fireplace that warmed the room.
Helena just gestures me towards the two shelves, smiling and standing back.
Curious, I walk towards the shelves, and pick out a hardcover book in random. Opening it up, I see that it's written in Greek in a flowing handwriting. Reading the first page, I freeze, and look up.
"You wrote this book?" I ask, surprised at Helena. The title of the book, written on the first page, in Greek, said, 'Mind Enhancement Rituals- An Overview.'
Helena nods, looking at the shelf fondly, and says, "These are all the books that either I, or my sister authored. That one was written when I was 7. You can just see how young I was from my writing."
I keep the Ritual book back, and take the one she pointed out. It was a small book, barely 50 pages long, and looked more like a notebook than an authored textbook. Chuckles sound out as I see the magical drawing that portrayed a log catching fire and burning. It was a moving drawing, so it was just funnier.
I smile at the title reading, 'Fire Conjuring charm', and ask, "Your sister.. you have mentioned her a grand total of 3 times, and two of them were today. Was she my ancestor?"
Helena sighs, and says, "I knew I would have to explain this sooner or later. But, you have a right to know. Please, sit down."
I sit on one of the chairs, while Helena takes the other one. She says, "Morgan was my older sister by five years. She was just as smart as me, and just as knowledge hungry as our mother. Alas, even she could not handle staying in our mother's shadow. And mother's own behaviour did not help matters."
Smiling morosely, she says, "We were both always known as Rowena Ravenclaw's daughters, not Morgan and Helena Ravenclaw. Our accomplishments were never our own to celebrate. 'Of course she can apparate at 13. She's Rowena's daughter, after all.' They would all say. And mother.. well, she had us practice writing Grimoire's since the age of 6, so you can judge how much she loved us."
Shaking her head, Helena says, "Morgan had enough of being compared to our mother, even by the ones we called friends, and ran away when she was 17. I was 12 at the time, and Hogwarts was still in its 7th year, so still new. I didn't know at first, where she went off to, but then, when a girl named Melanie Aves came to Hogwarts, almost 50 years after my own death, that I knew. My sister had created a family for herself, married, most likely, and took on the name Aves. So, yes. Morgan was your ancestor."
All through the tale, I sit in silence, just listening. Rowena sounds like a real piece of work, but it could be the fact that Helena herself told me this, that's colouring my opinion.
Did the fact that her daughters didn't inherit her Psionic talents, cause Rowena to push them harder? Could be, those days weren't exactly as calm as they are now, let alone in the future.
Women were branded Witches by the Church left and right, and the need for protection was really high. Rowena could have been trying to help the girls protect themselves or something, I wouldn't know.
I change the subject, and ask, "So, what can the Room of Knowledge do?"
Helena gives me a look, having caught the topic change, but says, "Well, there are different parts in the bigger library. Depending on what subject you want to learn, you can switch rooms. Whatever subject you can think of, chances are, there is at least one book here related to it, probably more."
"So if I wanted to study Apparition?" I say, and just before I even finish the word, we find ourselves in another room, still sitting on the chairs. The room had a single shelf, but was almost twice as large as the previous room.
On two sides, there were two circles drawn on the ground, probably for target practice. I haven't tried Apparition yet, so I don't know if the Anti Apparition ward that surrounds the Castle grounds will work in here or not. Probably not, since the room was made by Rowena herself.
Helena explains, "Whatever subject you want to learn, you will get almost all the stuff you'll need. Of course, for Potions, Rituals, and Alchemy, you'll have to bring your own ingredients. Same for Herbology. My mother wasn't able to break the Laws of Magic, you know."
I nod, amazed at the capabilities of the Room of Knowledge. The Room of Requirements could do it, but I don't think it could circumvent the Wards of Hogwarts, or call the books from the RoK.
"Helena.." I say, making her look at me, and when she does, I say, "I know it's not my birthday, but this makes up for each and every birthday I'll ever live through. And Christmases. But, I have to ask. Why did you show this room to me? I don't think you showed this into every one of my ancestors."
It's not that I don't appreciate the room, heck, this room will give me everything I'll ever need to survive in this wild world, and I'll still have a lot left. But, this is literally her private space, her mother's Room. I wouldn't show this to me!
If I was the only person to know about this room, then I would never even mention it to anyone, let alone invite someone there.
Helena smiles at me, strangely looking at me, yet not, at the same time. She says, "You might not believe this, Mason, but you're a lot like my mother."
Gee, way to insult a guy, Helena. You could have directly called me a bitch too, you know.
Seeing me scowl, Helena laughs a little, and says, "You're not as bad as her, yet, don't worry. But you are a lot like her. You have a hunger for knowledge, you don't mind using less than moral means to get it, and you also won't allow any harm to come to your friends. My mother was like that. Even if a little distant, she didn't think twice before helping me deal with something hard, or protect me from the occasional kidnapping attempts."
Wow, that was spoken way too casually.
I nod, slowly, and say, "Thank you.. I guess?"
I know why I have a hunger for knowledge. Before, I wanted to make a life for myself, be actually successful in life. Fighting in the war would have made me a better person, more disciplined, and given me some amount of public respect.
Fighting Grindelwald and Voldemort, meanwhile, would have ensured the same in the Wizarding world.
But then, I found out that fucking Marvel is also mixed in, and my goals became one of survival. Could I survive as a simple Wizard at the level of say.. Severus Snape?
Hell, no. I'd die by the hands of the wannabe Sorcerers themselves.
So, the hunger for survival, for knowledge, was so I can better myself. Train better, improve my body, and just get to relax later in life, without fear.
Helena then asks, "Do you think you can finish reading the entire Room of Knowledge within these 3.5 years you have left?"
Snorting, I say, "Not a chance. But I'll figure something out. Now, I'll have to leave to my body now, but I'll be back soon."
My Astral Projection just took over everything else as the first priority. Spending entire nights here? Yeah, I'm doing it.
I still have three years anyway.
---
The next few months, I spend almost all of my nights in the Room of Knowledge, in the Astral Form, studying Runes.
You see, I had to do the unlocking thing on the wall just once, while in the physical form, and I could just enter it after just placing my hand upon the wall the next times. But, when I go there in my Astral form, I have to do the entire tapping sequence each and every time. Thankfully, it barely took a minute, so I wasn't wasting too much of my time.
So, yeah, Runes. They're not easy, that much was apparent even in the beginning, but I underestimated just how complex it was! And my Mutation doesn't even allow me to master them within minutes! How unfair.
I'd memorized most of the different Runes, and their meanings that I'd found in the Introduction books in the Room of Knowledge. But using them was a lot harder than just writing what you want to happen and hope for the best.
There are three main varieties of runic script: Early, or Common, Germanic (Teutonic), used in northern Europe before about 800 AD; Anglo-Saxon, or Anglian, used in Britain from the 5th or 6th century to about the 12th century AD; and Nordic, or Scandinavian, used from the 8th to about the 12th or 13th century AD in Scandinavia and Iceland.
But, there are other varieties that are variants of the main three. Like, Nordic Runes evolved into the Hälsinge Runes, Manx Runes, and the Stungnar Runes. They are somewhat similar, but have different meanings.
All in all, I had memorized about 5000 Runic letters, and their meanings, and was just beginning to use them in casting magic.
Runes are the letters of the old languages that have been used for so long, that magic has seeped in them. Any Wizard, or Sorcerer, with a good enough concentration and knowledge of Runes, can use Runes instead of Spells to create magic.
A group of Runes creates a Runic array, and a group of Runic arrays creates a Rune Cluster. Rune clusters are what makes Magic possible using Runes. If I had waited to go the normal school speed, I would have passed out of Hogwarts with learning just the first year spells in Runic format.
But now that I'm studying individually, and with the help of this Room, I can hopefully master Runes completely before 7th Year.
Alas, it's really hard to get the right results. The parchment that I wrote my Runes on to experiment can have spectacular effects ranging from burns, to electric shock. And those are just the mild ones. Hopefully I won't have to experience the more severe ones.
"Stop." Helena says, as I was writing another Runic array on another parchment, my 32nd of the day.
It was Sunday today, and I had spent the entire day in the Room. My friends are definitely wondering where I am, but they've gotten used to me going missing for a while.
I stop immediately, since Helena is a Master at using Runes that makes the current smartest Masters look like thumb sucking morons.
She says, "Look at Perth, you wrote the stroke from the opposite direction. Make it a clean stroke, without lifting your hand, and keep your focus on what you want to happen. Don't just write, feel what you're writing, so that you don't make mistakes."
Sighing, I crumple the parchment and throw it in the fireplace behind me. Until I actually activate the Rune cluster, they're completely harmless, so burning them doesn't make the parchment explode or anything like that.
Trying once again, I begin writing with a Quill, thankful that I'm now used to using a quill as well as a pen. Once done, this time without any mistakes, I check the cluster over, allow it to dry, and hand the parchment to Helena.
She does the same, checking it over, and then hands it to me. She won't tell me if its wrong, though. Can't learn Runes without getting hurt a few hundred times, she'd say.
The next step is crucial. Placing the Parchment on the ground, I kneel down near it, leaning my head back just in case, and focus on the intent of the spell that I'd written down.
Touching a finger to the Rune that will charge the entire thing, Sowilo, I inject my magic into it like I'd do with a wand. For a second, the Runes written on the parchment glow in a white light, and then there is heat.
The entire room had gotten hotter, just as I'd wanted, and there was no explosion! Now excited, I lean forward and try to pull the parchment off the ground.
Nope, it was stuck!
"I succeeded!" I yell, excited to finally create the Warming Enchantment using Runes.
Helena chuckles, bringing my attention to herself, and says, "There's still a few steps until you can say you've succeeded, Mason. Don't forget, the Rune Cluster is only successfully used if you can control everything you've designed it to do."
Nodding, I focus on my magic, and snap my fingers. Immediately, the Enchantment drops, making the room as cool as it was before. Snapping my fingers again turns the Enchantment on again, without me touching it.
Going towards the wall, I touch a stone with my index finger, and then drag the finger upwards. As my finger rises, so does the temperature, and when I drag my finger downwards, the temperature drops.
So, the on/off switch works, and so does the temperature control. Now, the final part.
"Can you try raising the temperature, Helena?" I ask, turning towards Helena.
Nodding, Helena floats towards another wall, and does the same as I did before. Her snaps do nothing, and neither does her finger dragging.
I sigh in relief, and drop down, exhausted. I whisper, "It worked! I created my first Ward!"
Well, recreated. The Temperature Control Ward already exists, but I did it using different arrays than the ones already used in the standard one. But still! My first actual Ward!
Looking at the parchment, still stuck on the ground, I raise my hands, and clap thrice. Immediately, the parchment burns in it's place, not even ash remaining in its place.
The Ward was designed so that only the one who provides the Magic can control it. Others cannot change the temperature, turn it off, or remove the Ward entirely.
Turning to Helena, I smile, and say, "It worked. See?"
Helena chuckles, and says, "Congratulations. 5 more years and you'll be a certified Master."
I drop my head and groan. Damn, I'll have to figure something out for returning here after Hogwarts. No way I'm losing a collection such as this one.
-
".. and that's all with today's agenda, from me. Anything else?" Headmaster Dippet asks, looking at the four Heads of Houses sitting in his office.
It was usual for the Heads of Houses to meet with the Headmaster, every Saturday, while the full Staff meeting was called every other Sunday. It gave them time to decide over management issues, and the progress reports on the students.
Professor Merrythought speaks first, "I would like to offer Mr Aves a chance to give his OWLs this year."
"Mr Aves is just a fourth year, Galatea, no matter how smart." Dumbledore says, before Dippet can even say anything.
Merrythought rolls her eyes at his condescending tone, and says, "Don't forget, Albus, that I was the one who taught you how to hold a wand. I know when one of MY students is smart enough to pass the OWLs, and Mr Aves, is smart enough to pass his NEWTs if I have him take them tomorrow!"
"Truly?" Dippet asks, to which Merrythought nods once. Dippet rubs his chin for a second, and says, "What do you all think of this? Should he be given this offer? Herbert?"
Professor Herbert Beery, the head of Hufflepuff house, straightens up, and says, "I'd say it's Tea's decision, Aves being her student, and none of our business." He pauses to glare at Dumbledore, who frowns, and Merrythought nods thankfully at him. Slughorn chuckles a bit uncomfortably, and loosens his bow tie.
Beery continues, "But, since I've been asked my opinion, I'd say what I've seen. Mr Aves is an exceptional student, and he's a genius in anything he studies. He has most definitely studied ahead, and already knows most of the 7th year material, and some of it even more than that. That said, he doesn't show any interest in Herbology beside the plants that might be used for Potions and Healing."
He pauses, again, and continues, "A thing to note, is that despite not having taken the Care of Magical Creatures elective, Silvanus mentioned seeing Mr Aves near the animals. He particularly enjoys spending time with Hippogriffs, Thestrals, and the Nifflers."
Dippet nods at the detailed explanation, and turns to Slughorn. He asks, "Horace?"
Slughorn gets excited, glances at Dumbledore, and starts rambling praises, "Genius! I'd say he could take the NEWTs in Potions, right now and still pass with distinction. He is simply an amazing student, and even helps others sometimes, if he notices anything wrong. But, like Herbert said, he does seem to favour Healing. Just last week, I caught him brewing a Wiggenweld Potion! And he made it perfect! I'd say let him!"
Dippet nods, and turns to Dumbledore. He says, "Your turn Albus, but be honest."
Albus nods, and sighs. He says, "Mr Aves reminds me of myself. I too, went through my studies, as fast as I could. And look at how I am now. Forced to stay here and not even say one word, while my former friend tries to take over Europe. I simply don't want Mr Aves to turn out to be like me. It's a no from me."
He slumps back into his chair, looking somber. Everyone is concerned for his feelings, knowing about the blood pact he'd stupidly made when younger.
Merrythought finally sighs, stands up, and says, "I understand your feelings, Albus. But he's getting bored in his classes. How long do you think before he turns to the Dark Arts, simply because we had nothing left to teach him, and he had nothing to learn while in school."
"I'm not saying he will go to the Dark Arts, but as his Head of House, I can't ignore the possibilities. So, it's better that we offer him the chance to give the exams, and maybe pass out of school. He can apprentice under some distinguished wizard, and even the Flamels would pay for a chance to take him under their wings." Merrythought says, and sits down, finished with her argument.
Dippet hums, pulls up a parchment, and starts writing on it. He says, "Very well. Galatea, you are permitted to make him that offer. I will write to the Department of Magical Education, and inform Griselda of an additional student appearing for this year's examination."
He finishes writing, and stamps it. Waving a hand, he summons and melts sealing wax, and seals up the letter with the signet of Hogwarts. He gives the letter to a elf that appears without being called, and turns to the four Heads of Houses.
He says, "While I would like it if Mr Aves studied at Hogwarts for 3 more years, he's as you say, a genius. He wants to be a healer, so lets do our best to make him one. Horace? Can you talk with your contacts at St Mungo's and get him an apprenticeship if Mr Aves agrees?"
Slughorn nods, getting excited. He says, "Oh yes, Mia owes me a favour anyway. If Mr Aves agrees, I'll send him right over to them."
Dippet nods at that, satisfied. He says, "Good. Galatea, talk to Mr Aves, I need an answer tomorrow. Dismissed."
The three Heads of Houses stand up, and immediately leave, with only Dumbledore staying. Dippet begins working on another letter, and says, "You've already been dismissed, Albus."
"But Armando- " Dumbledore begins to argue, keeping the same tone as before.
Dippet slams his hands on the table, pushing Dumbledore back into his chair with a wave of magic, and freezing him in place in the same instant.
He glares at Dumbledore, and says, "Do not presume to be superior to me, ALBUS! I've been a professor here for 250 YEARS, AND HEADMASTER FOR 25! IF GALATEA SAYS HER STUDENT IS READY, HE'S READY! Now, you've been dismissed! GET. OUT!"
Dumbledore finds himself loose and walking again, before he even realizes he's walking. He walks out, barely managing to nod at Dippet, and hiding his fear of the old Headmaster. He never would have guessed the old man still had it in him.
'He pushed me aside like I was a fly!' Dumbledore thinks, calming his heart.
This was the day, that Dumbledore learned the importance of being old, and looking frail, and kind. Everyone underestimates you. Always.
'Just like I did with him.' Dumbledore thinks, grimacing a bit. He makes a motion with his head, that says, "I get it now." And thinks, 'At least now I know why Herbert was so afraid of him during my first year of teaching. He must have made the same mistake I did.'
Finally calm, Dumbledore walks towards the kitchen, intent on having some soothing lemon tea. Maybe with a splash of whiskey. Preferably something stronger.
---
A/N: The last part is taken from the old fic, edited to look better. Not much was changed anyway. Whatever they say Mason did happened off screen. We all know he wants to be a doctor, so let's just assume he did try to read something about it.
Updates will be slow, since.. well, read the announcement. Just.. please understand if the updates are slow.
Okay, I might not pair him with Dorea either. But, if I do pair them, it'll be in the future. Probably after the war or something.
Anyway, tata!
A small announcement. I have managed to contract Covid, and am currently in recovery.
Don't worry, I'm alright, mostly, but these meds are really fucking strong. They keep me awake, but just sleepy enough that I cannot write anything. Plus, the WiFi here is shitty, which is the reason I hadn't posted in a while.
I'm hoping to be fully recovered in about 10 days, so see you guys then! Until then, good luck, and take care.
Don't forget to take precautions just because you're vaccinated. I had my first dose for 10 days before my RT-PCR came back positive. Take your bloody precautions!
Anyway, good luck! Read on!
---
I had noticed something about my Astral form. Like the Doctor Strange movies, my Spirit had a soft golden glow to it, as opposed to the silver glow that the ghosts have, and the white shine that Helena boasts.
Our running theory was that it is because I'm actually alive. This way, I can at least distinguish which ghosts are living, and which aren't. Helena definitely isn't, even if she's more solid than the other ghosts.
A few weeks after finding out that I can separate my Spirit, or my Astral form, from my physical self, I was practicing doing it voluntarily.
In the first week, I could only enter the Astral Plane when I sleep. Meaning, I had to sleep while meditating, and only then would I become a Spirit. And I also used to feel drunk most of the time, so there was that. 3 weeks after that, I could enter the Astral Plane while actually awake, and then a week after that, I stopped feeling drunk.
It was a slow progress, but progress all the same. By now, I'd at least managed to go to the Astral Plane and back, if only for an hour or two at a time. I can't do much for a couple hours now, can I? By the rate I was going, I could probably stay in the Astral form for the entire night by the next week, or the week after.
As I was reading a book on rituals that I got from the Room of Requirements, while in my Astral form, Helena floats in through the door.
She sees my body sleeping peacefully, and says, "Good to know you're not slacking off."
Snorting, I say, "I never slack off." Mostly because I know that slacking off will mean my death, or worse. Not expulsion, but complete destruction. At least Death can mean rebirth, or entering the Afterlife, whatever the hell it might be.
Helena smiles, and says, "I know. How long do you have till you have to go back to your body? And it still sounds weird whenever I say it."
I look at the time on the pocket watch I found in the RoR, and say, "About an hour and 15 minutes. Why?"
I expected it, but it was still disappointing to find out that I cannot use Magic while in the Astral Form. Not even a simple Lumos charm works, let alone a relatively complex Tempus charm.
Helena smiles, a little bit sadly, but a bit proudly, and says, "Come with me. I want to show you something."
Curious, I float up into the air, and fly after her, through the wall. Thank God Gravity doesn't work here. Flying in the Astral plane didn't take much effort. You just push yourself once, and then move to adjust the path.
Helena takes me flying through walls, portraits, and even a few suits of armour. And then, she stops in front of a blank stretch of wall. Since I wasn't actually used to flying this much, I'm a bit out of breath.
I ask, "Why are you showing me this? I already know about the Room of Requirements, you know."
Helena chuckles, and says, "What you've seen, although an impressive piece of magic, is just the tip of the iceberg. Wait, and see."
As I absorb what she just said, and the Come and Go Room is just the tip? Damn, what more secrets could the room be hiding?
Helena floats towards the wall that usually shows the Room, and stops in front of it instead of pacing. She then places her left palm on a seemingly random part of the wall, fingers close together.
Pausing a second to allow me to watch, she taps her right hand's index finger on the patch of wall right above her left middle finger. Then, one by one, Helena taps the wall in 16 more spots, seeming random to me.
She then slowly whispers to the wall, "Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena." And then, the wall shimmers the way it always does, and shows a plain wooden door.
Helena turns towards me, and says, "I really hope you remembered what spots I tapped, because you will have to do the same."
I snort, thankful for my perfect recall of memories. Helena takes the reaction with a smile, and says, "Now, after I go through, put your hand on the handle, and whisper your name, and your relation to my mother. After that, you'll be able to enter the Room."
And then, Helena holds the doorknob, twists it, and then floats through the open door. As soon as she's through, the door snaps shut, and the wall reappears.
Now, I would have tried going through in my spirit form itself, but I know from experience, that the Room doesn't work like that. Those on the outside cannot enter inside through any means save the door. I can exit the room in my Astral form, but I cannot enter the room, since it needs me to tell it which room I actually want.
'The one Helena just went to' won't cut it.
Placing my hand in the exact same spot Helena had her left hand just a few seconds ago, I tap the required 17 spots with my other hand, once again thanking my perfect recall, and then whisper, "Mason Aves, descendant of Rowena."
I feel wind blow in my face, as the door emits magic towards me, and then the door appears. Twisting the handle, I enter the pitch black room, and then gasp, suddenly able to see everything.
Books. As far as I could see, books, books, and more books. There were shelves as tall as the room, mountains of scrolls, and even a few boxes full of pieces of parchment all around. And the best part, there was no end to the room in sight. It went on as far as I could see.
"What the hell is this place?" I whisper, looking around to have my fill of all this knowledge, in one spot. This is like.. paradise! Did I die in my sleep or something?
Helena looks at the books with fascination in her eyes, and says, "This is my mother's legacy. Her Library."
I turn to look at her, and see her staring at a book with sadness clear om her face. I let her have her time, and browse the books closest to me.
Greek, Latin, Anglo Saxon, Norse, Egyptian, there were books in many different languages, but they were sorted. The ones on my left related to household spells, while the right one contained memoirs of different Wizards.
All of these books were probably one of a kind, or really, really rare. I think a few must be even banned outside the room. But the weirdest part was, I recognized some books. Some of them were as new as 50 years old, while some looked to be literally a thousand years old. How the hell did Rowena manage to add the 50 year old book to this library, if she's been dead for 900 years?
Helena comes out of her sadness, and then explains, "My mother was a complex person, with as many good things about her, as there are bad. One of her quirks, is something that is good or bad, depending on your own morals."
"What?" I ask, coming to stand beside Helena to look at the book she was staring at. 'My Life- Rowena Ravenclaw.' Written in Latin was the title of the book.
Well, no wonder this book makes her sad. Her own mother's life story, written by herself. It also shows why she's reluctant to show this place to anyone, this is dangerous knowledge.
Helena turns away from the book, looks at me, and says, "My mother, like you, was hungry for knowledge. She wanted to know everything, about everything. Gods, Demons, mortals, didn't matter to her who you were, if you had some knowledge of Magic she didn't know of, she would try her hardest to get it. But, she didn't show it publicly. She gained the knowledge through the Mind Arts, or by stealing it."
"But, after mother and her friends built this school, she had to show restraint." Helena chuckles, remembering something, and then adds, "It was really amusing, seeing her act the all-knowing woman everyone now knows of, when you've known her as a knowledge-hungry Witch for 5 years of your life."
Heh, who'd have thought? Rowena Ravenclaw was a thief! Well, I understand her theft of only knowledge though. I have also used Telepathy to gain some advantages, and didn't care about the morality much. James the language mutant comes to mind.
Helena continues speaking after a short break, and says, "Well, despite the fact that she had to keep a benevolent, strict but kind face on, her hunger for knowledge stayed the same. So, she created this room."
Smiling wide, Helena spins around herself, her arms spread apart. She says, "This.. is the original Room of Requirements. The Room of Knowledge. Everything that has written word upon it, that has passed through the Wards of Hogwarts, is here. Every book, scroll, Grimoire, Tome that any visitor to the castle has ever brought with them, is copied and added to this room."
Holy. Shit. This.. is way more that what I expected! No wonder there are newer books as well as older ones.
"How the fuck did she manage that?" I whisper, looking at the already impressive collection in new light.
Helena chuckles, and says, "Do not underestimate the hunger for knowledge, Mason. If mother wanted something, she got it." She then gets a bit sad, and says, "Her stubbornness had even forced my sister to run away, but mother still didn't stop going for her goals."
Her sister, that's the first I'm hearing of her. My ancestor perhaps, because I know Helena died childless. She's mentioned that part a few times now.
Shaking her head, Helena says, "To be honest, even after all these years of trying to study this Room, I haven't found a single secret regarding to it. I don't know how the room works, I don't know how it stays hidden from those not of our direct bloodline, and I don't know how the room does this."
Before I can ask, Helena closes her eyes, and I find myself somewhere else. The room I find myself in is smaller than the one before, and was more a Study than a Library. There were two shelves, standing side by side, a pair of comfortable looking chairs, and a burning fireplace that warmed the room.
Helena just gestures me towards the two shelves, smiling and standing back.
Curious, I walk towards the shelves, and pick out a hardcover book in random. Opening it up, I see that it's written in Greek in a flowing handwriting. Reading the first page, I freeze, and look up.
"You wrote this book?" I ask, surprised at Helena. The title of the book, written on the first page, in Greek, said, 'Mind Enhancement Rituals- An Overview.'
Helena nods, looking at the shelf fondly, and says, "These are all the books that either I, or my sister authored. That one was written when I was 7. You can just see how young I was from my writing."
I keep the Ritual book back, and take the one she pointed out. It was a small book, barely 50 pages long, and looked more like a notebook than an authored textbook. Chuckles sound out as I see the magical drawing that portrayed a log catching fire and burning. It was a moving drawing, so it was just funnier.
I smile at the title reading, 'Fire Conjuring charm', and ask, "Your sister.. you have mentioned her a grand total of 3 times, and two of them were today. Was she my ancestor?"
Helena sighs, and says, "I knew I would have to explain this sooner or later. But, you have a right to know. Please, sit down."
I sit on one of the chairs, while Helena takes the other one. She says, "Morgan was my older sister by five years. She was just as smart as me, and just as knowledge hungry as our mother. Alas, even she could not handle staying in our mother's shadow. And mother's own behaviour did not help matters."
Smiling morosely, she says, "We were both always known as Rowena Ravenclaw's daughters, not Morgan and Helena Ravenclaw. Our accomplishments were never our own to celebrate. 'Of course she can apparate at 13. She's Rowena's daughter, after all.' They would all say. And mother.. well, she had us practice writing Grimoire's since the age of 6, so you can judge how much she loved us."
Shaking her head, Helena says, "Morgan had enough of being compared to our mother, even by the ones we called friends, and ran away when she was 17. I was 12 at the time, and Hogwarts was still in its 7th year, so still new. I didn't know at first, where she went off to, but then, when a girl named Melanie Aves came to Hogwarts, almost 50 years after my own death, that I knew. My sister had created a family for herself, married, most likely, and took on the name Aves. So, yes. Morgan was your ancestor."
All through the tale, I sit in silence, just listening. Rowena sounds like a real piece of work, but it could be the fact that Helena herself told me this, that's colouring my opinion.
Did the fact that her daughters didn't inherit her Psionic talents, cause Rowena to push them harder? Could be, those days weren't exactly as calm as they are now, let alone in the future.
Women were branded Witches by the Church left and right, and the need for protection was really high. Rowena could have been trying to help the girls protect themselves or something, I wouldn't know.
I change the subject, and ask, "So, what can the Room of Knowledge do?"
Helena gives me a look, having caught the topic change, but says, "Well, there are different parts in the bigger library. Depending on what subject you want to learn, you can switch rooms. Whatever subject you can think of, chances are, there is at least one book here related to it, probably more."
"So if I wanted to study Apparition?" I say, and just before I even finish the word, we find ourselves in another room, still sitting on the chairs. The room had a single shelf, but was almost twice as large as the previous room.
On two sides, there were two circles drawn on the ground, probably for target practice. I haven't tried Apparition yet, so I don't know if the Anti Apparition ward that surrounds the Castle grounds will work in here or not. Probably not, since the room was made by Rowena herself.
Helena explains, "Whatever subject you want to learn, you will get almost all the stuff you'll need. Of course, for Potions, Rituals, and Alchemy, you'll have to bring your own ingredients. Same for Herbology. My mother wasn't able to break the Laws of Magic, you know."
I nod, amazed at the capabilities of the Room of Knowledge. The Room of Requirements could do it, but I don't think it could circumvent the Wards of Hogwarts, or call the books from the RoK.
"Helena.." I say, making her look at me, and when she does, I say, "I know it's not my birthday, but this makes up for each and every birthday I'll ever live through. And Christmases. But, I have to ask. Why did you show this room to me? I don't think you showed this into every one of my ancestors."
It's not that I don't appreciate the room, heck, this room will give me everything I'll ever need to survive in this wild world, and I'll still have a lot left. But, this is literally her private space, her mother's Room. I wouldn't show this to me!
If I was the only person to know about this room, then I would never even mention it to anyone, let alone invite someone there.
Helena smiles at me, strangely looking at me, yet not, at the same time. She says, "You might not believe this, Mason, but you're a lot like my mother."
Gee, way to insult a guy, Helena. You could have directly called me a bitch too, you know.
Seeing me scowl, Helena laughs a little, and says, "You're not as bad as her, yet, don't worry. But you are a lot like her. You have a hunger for knowledge, you don't mind using less than moral means to get it, and you also won't allow any harm to come to your friends. My mother was like that. Even if a little distant, she didn't think twice before helping me deal with something hard, or protect me from the occasional kidnapping attempts."
Wow, that was spoken way too casually.
I nod, slowly, and say, "Thank you.. I guess?"
I know why I have a hunger for knowledge. Before, I wanted to make a life for myself, be actually successful in life. Fighting in the war would have made me a better person, more disciplined, and given me some amount of public respect.
Fighting Grindelwald and Voldemort, meanwhile, would have ensured the same in the Wizarding world.
But then, I found out that fucking Marvel is also mixed in, and my goals became one of survival. Could I survive as a simple Wizard at the level of say.. Severus Snape?
Hell, no. I'd die by the hands of the wannabe Sorcerers themselves.
So, the hunger for survival, for knowledge, was so I can better myself. Train better, improve my body, and just get to relax later in life, without fear.
Helena then asks, "Do you think you can finish reading the entire Room of Knowledge within these 3.5 years you have left?"
Snorting, I say, "Not a chance. But I'll figure something out. Now, I'll have to leave to my body now, but I'll be back soon."
My Astral Projection just took over everything else as the first priority. Spending entire nights here? Yeah, I'm doing it.
I still have three years anyway.
---
The next few months, I spend almost all of my nights in the Room of Knowledge, in the Astral Form, studying Runes.
You see, I had to do the unlocking thing on the wall just once, while in the physical form, and I could just enter it after just placing my hand upon the wall the next times. But, when I go there in my Astral form, I have to do the entire tapping sequence each and every time. Thankfully, it barely took a minute, so I wasn't wasting too much of my time.
So, yeah, Runes. They're not easy, that much was apparent even in the beginning, but I underestimated just how complex it was! And my Mutation doesn't even allow me to master them within minutes! How unfair.
I'd memorized most of the different Runes, and their meanings that I'd found in the Introduction books in the Room of Knowledge. But using them was a lot harder than just writing what you want to happen and hope for the best.
There are three main varieties of runic script: Early, or Common, Germanic (Teutonic), used in northern Europe before about 800 AD; Anglo-Saxon, or Anglian, used in Britain from the 5th or 6th century to about the 12th century AD; and Nordic, or Scandinavian, used from the 8th to about the 12th or 13th century AD in Scandinavia and Iceland.
But, there are other varieties that are variants of the main three. Like, Nordic Runes evolved into the Hälsinge Runes, Manx Runes, and the Stungnar Runes. They are somewhat similar, but have different meanings.
All in all, I had memorized about 5000 Runic letters, and their meanings, and was just beginning to use them in casting magic.
Runes are the letters of the old languages that have been used for so long, that magic has seeped in them. Any Wizard, or Sorcerer, with a good enough concentration and knowledge of Runes, can use Runes instead of Spells to create magic.
A group of Runes creates a Runic array, and a group of Runic arrays creates a Rune Cluster. Rune clusters are what makes Magic possible using Runes. If I had waited to go the normal school speed, I would have passed out of Hogwarts with learning just the first year spells in Runic format.
But now that I'm studying individually, and with the help of this Room, I can hopefully master Runes completely before 7th Year.
Alas, it's really hard to get the right results. The parchment that I wrote my Runes on to experiment can have spectacular effects ranging from burns, to electric shock. And those are just the mild ones. Hopefully I won't have to experience the more severe ones.
"Stop." Helena says, as I was writing another Runic array on another parchment, my 32nd of the day.
It was Sunday today, and I had spent the entire day in the Room. My friends are definitely wondering where I am, but they've gotten used to me going missing for a while.
I stop immediately, since Helena is a Master at using Runes that makes the current smartest Masters look like thumb sucking morons.
She says, "Look at Perth, you wrote the stroke from the opposite direction. Make it a clean stroke, without lifting your hand, and keep your focus on what you want to happen. Don't just write, feel what you're writing, so that you don't make mistakes."
Sighing, I crumple the parchment and throw it in the fireplace behind me. Until I actually activate the Rune cluster, they're completely harmless, so burning them doesn't make the parchment explode or anything like that.
Trying once again, I begin writing with a Quill, thankful that I'm now used to using a quill as well as a pen. Once done, this time without any mistakes, I check the cluster over, allow it to dry, and hand the parchment to Helena.
She does the same, checking it over, and then hands it to me. She won't tell me if its wrong, though. Can't learn Runes without getting hurt a few hundred times, she'd say.
The next step is crucial. Placing the Parchment on the ground, I kneel down near it, leaning my head back just in case, and focus on the intent of the spell that I'd written down.
Touching a finger to the Rune that will charge the entire thing, Sowilo, I inject my magic into it like I'd do with a wand. For a second, the Runes written on the parchment glow in a white light, and then there is heat.
The entire room had gotten hotter, just as I'd wanted, and there was no explosion! Now excited, I lean forward and try to pull the parchment off the ground.
Nope, it was stuck!
"I succeeded!" I yell, excited to finally create the Warming Enchantment using Runes.
Helena chuckles, bringing my attention to herself, and says, "There's still a few steps until you can say you've succeeded, Mason. Don't forget, the Rune Cluster is only successfully used if you can control everything you've designed it to do."
Nodding, I focus on my magic, and snap my fingers. Immediately, the Enchantment drops, making the room as cool as it was before. Snapping my fingers again turns the Enchantment on again, without me touching it.
Going towards the wall, I touch a stone with my index finger, and then drag the finger upwards. As my finger rises, so does the temperature, and when I drag my finger downwards, the temperature drops.
So, the on/off switch works, and so does the temperature control. Now, the final part.
"Can you try raising the temperature, Helena?" I ask, turning towards Helena.
Nodding, Helena floats towards another wall, and does the same as I did before. Her snaps do nothing, and neither does her finger dragging.
I sigh in relief, and drop down, exhausted. I whisper, "It worked! I created my first Ward!"
Well, recreated. The Temperature Control Ward already exists, but I did it using different arrays than the ones already used in the standard one. But still! My first actual Ward!
Looking at the parchment, still stuck on the ground, I raise my hands, and clap thrice. Immediately, the parchment burns in it's place, not even ash remaining in its place.
The Ward was designed so that only the one who provides the Magic can control it. Others cannot change the temperature, turn it off, or remove the Ward entirely.
Turning to Helena, I smile, and say, "It worked. See?"
Helena chuckles, and says, "Congratulations. 5 more years and you'll be a certified Master."
I drop my head and groan. Damn, I'll have to figure something out for returning here after Hogwarts. No way I'm losing a collection such as this one.
-
".. and that's all with today's agenda, from me. Anything else?" Headmaster Dippet asks, looking at the four Heads of Houses sitting in his office.
It was usual for the Heads of Houses to meet with the Headmaster, every Saturday, while the full Staff meeting was called every other Sunday. It gave them time to decide over management issues, and the progress reports on the students.
Professor Merrythought speaks first, "I would like to offer Mr Aves a chance to give his OWLs this year."
"Mr Aves is just a fourth year, Galatea, no matter how smart." Dumbledore says, before Dippet can even say anything.
Merrythought rolls her eyes at his condescending tone, and says, "Don't forget, Albus, that I was the one who taught you how to hold a wand. I know when one of MY students is smart enough to pass the OWLs, and Mr Aves, is smart enough to pass his NEWTs if I have him take them tomorrow!"
"Truly?" Dippet asks, to which Merrythought nods once. Dippet rubs his chin for a second, and says, "What do you all think of this? Should he be given this offer? Herbert?"
Professor Herbert Beery, the head of Hufflepuff house, straightens up, and says, "I'd say it's Tea's decision, Aves being her student, and none of our business." He pauses to glare at Dumbledore, who frowns, and Merrythought nods thankfully at him. Slughorn chuckles a bit uncomfortably, and loosens his bow tie.
Beery continues, "But, since I've been asked my opinion, I'd say what I've seen. Mr Aves is an exceptional student, and he's a genius in anything he studies. He has most definitely studied ahead, and already knows most of the 7th year material, and some of it even more than that. That said, he doesn't show any interest in Herbology beside the plants that might be used for Potions and Healing."
He pauses, again, and continues, "A thing to note, is that despite not having taken the Care of Magical Creatures elective, Silvanus mentioned seeing Mr Aves near the animals. He particularly enjoys spending time with Hippogriffs, Thestrals, and the Nifflers."
Dippet nods at the detailed explanation, and turns to Slughorn. He asks, "Horace?"
Slughorn gets excited, glances at Dumbledore, and starts rambling praises, "Genius! I'd say he could take the NEWTs in Potions, right now and still pass with distinction. He is simply an amazing student, and even helps others sometimes, if he notices anything wrong. But, like Herbert said, he does seem to favour Healing. Just last week, I caught him brewing a Wiggenweld Potion! And he made it perfect! I'd say let him!"
Dippet nods, and turns to Dumbledore. He says, "Your turn Albus, but be honest."
Albus nods, and sighs. He says, "Mr Aves reminds me of myself. I too, went through my studies, as fast as I could. And look at how I am now. Forced to stay here and not even say one word, while my former friend tries to take over Europe. I simply don't want Mr Aves to turn out to be like me. It's a no from me."
He slumps back into his chair, looking somber. Everyone is concerned for his feelings, knowing about the blood pact he'd stupidly made when younger.
Merrythought finally sighs, stands up, and says, "I understand your feelings, Albus. But he's getting bored in his classes. How long do you think before he turns to the Dark Arts, simply because we had nothing left to teach him, and he had nothing to learn while in school."
"I'm not saying he will go to the Dark Arts, but as his Head of House, I can't ignore the possibilities. So, it's better that we offer him the chance to give the exams, and maybe pass out of school. He can apprentice under some distinguished wizard, and even the Flamels would pay for a chance to take him under their wings." Merrythought says, and sits down, finished with her argument.
Dippet hums, pulls up a parchment, and starts writing on it. He says, "Very well. Galatea, you are permitted to make him that offer. I will write to the Department of Magical Education, and inform Griselda of an additional student appearing for this year's examination."
He finishes writing, and stamps it. Waving a hand, he summons and melts sealing wax, and seals up the letter with the signet of Hogwarts. He gives the letter to a elf that appears without being called, and turns to the four Heads of Houses.
He says, "While I would like it if Mr Aves studied at Hogwarts for 3 more years, he's as you say, a genius. He wants to be a healer, so lets do our best to make him one. Horace? Can you talk with your contacts at St Mungo's and get him an apprenticeship if Mr Aves agrees?"
Slughorn nods, getting excited. He says, "Oh yes, Mia owes me a favour anyway. If Mr Aves agrees, I'll send him right over to them."
Dippet nods at that, satisfied. He says, "Good. Galatea, talk to Mr Aves, I need an answer tomorrow. Dismissed."
The three Heads of Houses stand up, and immediately leave, with only Dumbledore staying. Dippet begins working on another letter, and says, "You've already been dismissed, Albus."
"But Armando- " Dumbledore begins to argue, keeping the same tone as before.
Dippet slams his hands on the table, pushing Dumbledore back into his chair with a wave of magic, and freezing him in place in the same instant.
He glares at Dumbledore, and says, "Do not presume to be superior to me, ALBUS! I've been a professor here for 250 YEARS, AND HEADMASTER FOR 25! IF GALATEA SAYS HER STUDENT IS READY, HE'S READY! Now, you've been dismissed! GET. OUT!"
Dumbledore finds himself loose and walking again, before he even realizes he's walking. He walks out, barely managing to nod at Dippet, and hiding his fear of the old Headmaster. He never would have guessed the old man still had it in him.
'He pushed me aside like I was a fly!' Dumbledore thinks, calming his heart.
This was the day, that Dumbledore learned the importance of being old, and looking frail, and kind. Everyone underestimates you. Always.
'Just like I did with him.' Dumbledore thinks, grimacing a bit. He makes a motion with his head, that says, "I get it now." And thinks, 'At least now I know why Herbert was so afraid of him during my first year of teaching. He must have made the same mistake I did.'
Finally calm, Dumbledore walks towards the kitchen, intent on having some soothing lemon tea. Maybe with a splash of whiskey. Preferably something stronger.
---
A/N: The last part is taken from the old fic, edited to look better. Not much was changed anyway. Whatever they say Mason did happened off screen. We all know he wants to be a doctor, so let's just assume he did try to read something about it.
Updates will be slow, since.. well, read the announcement. Just.. please understand if the updates are slow.
Okay, I might not pair him with Dorea either. But, if I do pair them, it'll be in the future. Probably after the war or something.
Anyway, tata!
Daonexus
Seeker of the true Dao of waifus
- Location
- Hyderabad, India
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Tbh I would like a completely OC character instead of an established cannon character unless she is like super duper hot enough that you have to change the story for her
- Location
- Planet Earth
Still hopeful the MC will learn the Mystic Arts... I feel like the Ancient One would not turn the MC away. Though maybe make sure that any promises you make to her are not just enslaving yourself for eternity. Like when she tries to ask someone to come to the aid of Earth if it is EVER in danger, regardless of how much time may pass or whatnot.
Hope the MC will use rituals/runes to enhance himself further. Re'em blood, basilisk venom, phoenix tears, maybe other beings with magical gifts, maybe even use ritual magic to enhance or gift himself more mutant abilities. Like capturing Mystique or En-Sabah Nur and using ritual magic to take/copy their mutation? That, or somehow get En-Sabah Nur's knowledge(of celestial technology) and use his tech to steal mutant abilities like he does. Maybe get Ego's seed when he leaves it...
As to the MC's romantic interests... maybe have him be a Bachelor until Black Widow? Or maybe have him fall for the Ancient One? Hela? Sif? If MC does wait until he is older to get into a relationship with someone maybe go for Jennifer Waters? not enough love for the She-Hulk...
Hope the MC will use rituals/runes to enhance himself further. Re'em blood, basilisk venom, phoenix tears, maybe other beings with magical gifts, maybe even use ritual magic to enhance or gift himself more mutant abilities. Like capturing Mystique or En-Sabah Nur and using ritual magic to take/copy their mutation? That, or somehow get En-Sabah Nur's knowledge(of celestial technology) and use his tech to steal mutant abilities like he does. Maybe get Ego's seed when he leaves it...
As to the MC's romantic interests... maybe have him be a Bachelor until Black Widow? Or maybe have him fall for the Ancient One? Hela? Sif? If MC does wait until he is older to get into a relationship with someone maybe go for Jennifer Waters? not enough love for the She-Hulk...
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Honestly the Mc seems like a bit of a dick. He "snarks" at everyone and is intentionally rude. I somehow doubt that would endear him to ... well anyone. Yes you want people to believe youre a child, but the Mc sounds like a spoilt little shit.
Also, he is hard on the Gary stue. Parseltounge, metamorph, natural occulems/legilimancy, wandless magic. I worry that he'll also be related to atleast 3 of the founders and have a Phoenix familiar.
Also, he is hard on the Gary stue. Parseltounge, metamorph, natural occulems/legilimancy, wandless magic. I worry that he'll also be related to atleast 3 of the founders and have a Phoenix familiar.
No idea why Aves would want to graduate so early.
Why would he want responsibilities that would take up his time and prevent him from having easy access to the Hogwarts Library and Room of Knowledge.
If he graduates early, he would have to sneak into Hogwarts to keep reading that stuff and an Apprenticeship would cut into a lot of his time that he could instead be using to study.
Why would he not take full advantage of a full 7 years of uninterrupted growth.
These Professors thought process is fucking weird.
But, I am only a muggle.
I can't really expect Common Sense from a Magical.
Common Sense seems to inhibit the Creative Imagination that Magic requires.
Why would he want responsibilities that would take up his time and prevent him from having easy access to the Hogwarts Library and Room of Knowledge.
If he graduates early, he would have to sneak into Hogwarts to keep reading that stuff and an Apprenticeship would cut into a lot of his time that he could instead be using to study.
Why would he not take full advantage of a full 7 years of uninterrupted growth.
These Professors thought process is fucking weird.
But, I am only a muggle.
I can't really expect Common Sense from a Magical.
Common Sense seems to inhibit the Creative Imagination that Magic requires.
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- Location
- Israel
You realize that he's not even aware they want to make him graduate early, right? As soon as he learns about it he's going to panic and find excuses to stay in school.
From here I am going to make predictions: In his panic to find excuse to stay in school he'll probably be misunderstood that he wants to stay in school because he likes being there rather than at the orphanage and maybe they'll connect the fact that he's muggleborn into it by making it so he won't be able to work and instead will be stuck in a muggle orphanage until he's of age in the muggle side before he can do what he wants.
When in reality he basically understood what they said as "We want you to do this and then you won't have access to ALL THE BOOKS anymore" so he desperately tries to convince him that he does want to take his NEWTs and OWLs but doesn't want to do them right now.
edit: OR he'll tell them he wants to be a teacher so he'll only do those early if he gets to be a teacher.
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Yes.
That is why I typed These Professors thought process is fucking weird.
I wasn't refering to Aves at all.
Though rereading my post, I can see how you got that idea.
I did seem to have worded it weirdly.