CHAPTER 20 – Another petrified student
The next day, I had all the morning to myself, so I could actually train from the moment I woke up until the moment I left towards lunch. Thankfully, I still have some food from yesterday’s lunch, so I didn’t have a need to go to the breakfast area. While in there, I just practice as much magic as I could trying to actually master the Wingardium Leviosa until I could do it almost without thinking, something that for the moments, hadn’t paid off.
I also bought a few blank-runes, even if I’m kind of saving points to buy my second vocation, I chose to buy 10 more blank runes, just so I can have a few more cards to use in case something happens.
I created two Explosion runes, that were basically like grenades with six uses each other, the area of effects was approximately 2 meters radius, so it was good as a surprise attack, even if it’s stopped, the expansive wave of the explosion would damage the target.
I also made four Great Fireball runes, each one with four uses. I tried it once, and… Oh boy, it was like looking at an enormous explosion of fire, it was more of an explosion than the explosion rune, which was quite funny for me.
I also added two Magic Wall runes to my inventory, each with three uses and the ability to create a wall made of condensed magic that could stop any incoming attack or even light, of course, It can’t be trespassed by any creature either, so it’s a great defensive rune.
Finally, the last two runes were used to create Heavy Magic Missile runes, a rune that creates a targeted missile made of energy and that makes great damage, which actually increases depending on my Magic Level. What’s best is the fact that each rune has ten uses, so it is quite effective and economical, as I have ten powerful strikes at the cost of one Blank Rune.
So, all in all, it was a great use to the 100pts I expended in the store, and I even increased my ML to 35 with all the rune-making thing.
With that last thought, I made my way towards the Great Hall to have lunch before my classes start, and also to restock the food in my inventory, as I’m almost empty of it.
“Dude, where the hell have you been?”-William asked me once I sat down.
“Yeah, it’s almost as if you completely disappear every free moment you have.”-Jake continued.
“I was around the castle, why? Something happened?”-I ask them while grabbing some food.
“No, nothing happened yet, but you know, you disappearing all the time is kind of weird…”-Roger said while frowning.
“Yes, and not to say dangerous with all that’s been happening here.”-Jake added.
“Mm? About the curses you say?”-I ask while lifting my eyebrows. “Besides, I’m almost always in my room reading and practicing some spells from classes, you know, sometimes I go to the library, and sometimes just to take a look at the castle’s surroundings, this place screams ‘Magic’ all around.”-I shrugged.
“Still… You should be careful. And it’s like the only moments we can actually see you is during lunch or classes, and sometimes in the common room.”-Roger said.
“Don’t worry. I’m just too fascinated by all the new things I’m experiencing.”-I said.
{This is getting weird… I don’t know what to do so I can practice without alerting anyone. Why the hell can’t I clone myself!? *sigh…*}-I thought to myself while eating.
After that, we were talking a little bit about our classes, quidditch, as it was a sport that truly interested Jake, and about the incredible places that the guys have discovered around the castle.
We then went to classes, today we had DADA, Potions, and Herbology, all of them shared with the first-years of Hufflepuff.
“Hey… It’s not like I’m jealous or anything… But have you guys seen that?”-Roger suddenly asked us while entering the classroom of DADA and pointing towards a particular seat.
“Mm? Yeah, it’s what happens when friends talk before classes, people just hang out in one seat, why?”-Jake asked him.
“*sigh…* It’s not that, it’s that guy, his name is Cedric Diggory, and all the girls are crazy for him for some reason…”-Roger answered.
“Mm? Why?”-William asks.
“People say he’s cool or something, and everyone just adores him, even upperclassmen.”-Roger continued.
“You know, Roger, you do sound kind of jealous of him.”-I comment while lifting my eyebrow.
“I-I’m not! It’s just that I don’t believe it. What’s so special about that kid?”-He crossed his arms while looking away.
“Relax, man, he’s not going to hurt you. You’re safe.”-I told him, to which he just clicked his tongue.
“Let’s go sit, class will start soon.”-William told and we all took our seats.
{Mm… I didn’t know he was that popular, in the movie he just appears in the fourth movie, and well, he dies at the end. It did seem like people really liked him, though, with everyone supporting him and all during the tournament.}-I thought to myself while looking at the kid with yellowish-brown hair that looked a lot like that actor Robert Pattinson. {Looking at him like this… I can’t help but imagine him suddenly shining under the sun like some kind of fairy…}
The rest of the classes were pretty boring, I did win some points during herbology and DADA, but as usual, it was impossible in potion classes with Snape.
{I swear that guy just has a thing about bullying kids.}-I thought about the guy.
He was way worse than in the movie. In the movie he looked like a good guy in comparison, it was a weird sight for me at least.
Thinking about what the guys told me this morning, I chose to go with them to the library, where we got a few books about charms and curses and started reading through them, laughing at a few weird ones like Rictusempra that tickles your opponent, there were other charms and curses that I quietly remembered so I could practice them tomorrow in the RoR.
After that was dinner, we just chatted away, with Roger still grumping about Cedric for some reason. I didn’t take the guy to be of the jealous kind.
“Hey, guys, go ahead, I have something to do!”-Jake suddenly said after dinner, when we were all supposed to go back to the common room to keep looking through charms and curses.
“Mm? At this hour? What is it?”-William asked.
“What? Are you going to do a full Logan here at us?”-Roger said.
“Hey! I don’t disappear like that.”-I tried to defend myself, only to be looked at with blank stares. “Fine. I do disappear like that. But I just usually go to my room!”
Everyone just laughed at my failed try.
“Haha. Relax, I’ll go fast, I just forgot to ask something to Professor Sprout!”-He said while running who knows where.
“Hey, does he know where the professor is at this hour?”-I ask the other guys.
“You know, it’s far easier finding the professors than finding you.”-William.
“Hahahahaha that’s true!”-Roger continued.
“*snort* So funny…”-I just kept walking towards the common room, leaving the laughing idiots behind.
***
“Hey, are you going to do it?”-Roger suddenly asked me while we were in the common room chatting.
“Mm?”-I lifted my eyebrow. “Do what?”
“Duel with Tulip Karasu! She did say that, if you won, she would tell you more, right?”-He said.
“Why would I? Didn’t we said it was just having some information to actually avoid the thing about the curses?”-I ask him.
“Oh, come on! Aren’t you actually curious to see who are the ones that stopped the curses before!? I sure am!”-He said.
“Then why don’t you go and challenge her instead?”-William asked.
“Because! She told Logan, and not me.”-He said.
“Are you sure you aren’t just afraid?”-I ask him.
“Of course not! I’m not afraid at all. It’s just that it would be rude to her to start going one for one. So! You just have to go and find out more about it. After all, you already asked her once. Just go, duel with her, and who knows, maybe she will tell you something even after losing, right?”-He said with a smug face.
“I won’t duel her. I don’t even have anything to do with these curses at all, just let me go through my year quietly, man.”-I turned my eyes.
“Ow, come on!”-He insisted.
“Logan is right, man. We better just focus on our classes, let that to the experts, I’m sure the professors would take care of everything.”-William said.
“*tch.* Fine.”-Roger just clicked his tongue and we changed the topic towards our useless professor of DADA, well, I at least told them that, while Roger supported me saying how what they learned wasn’t any good at all.
Right when just five minutes remained until we had to go to sleep, we all noticed something.
“Hey… Isn’t it time for Jake to be back…?”-William started.
“Yeah… It’s almost ten.”-Roger also started talking.
“He did say he’ll be going quickly… I don’t know. Maybe he’s still talking with Professor Sprout?”-I intervene.
“I don’t know man… It’s weird for a teacher, and a House Head at that to let a freshman be out of his common room so late…”-Roger shook his head in denial.
“That’s true… Hey… What if… Something actually happened to him?”-William said with a fearful look.
“Don’t jinx him so early!”-Roger said.
“Do you guys know where Professor Sprout’s office is? I may be able to go look for her to ask about Jake.”-I suddenly said.
{I can go undetected, it won’t be any problem at all.}-I thought to myself.
“What? Are you crazy?”-Roger said. “You can’t be seen outside of the common room so late.”
“Relax, you guys know me. No one can find me when I propose it haha.”-I joked with them.
“It’s not the same, dude… Going around the castle at this hour isn’t good, professors or prefects might find you…”-William tried to convince me.
“Relax, I’ll be fine. I’ll go and look for him really quickly and be back before anyone can even catch a glimpse of me.”
-I said to them with a smile.“*sigh…* Fine! But if you’re caught. I know nothing!”-Roger said.
“Don’t be an idiot, Roger. And… Thanks for that man. It sure is great seeing that you’re willing to take some risk for a friend. I hope you can find Jake and bring him here quickly.”-William said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it.”-I said before standing up. But just as I was about to run towards the exit of the common room, something curious appeared in front of me.
[A new quest has been generated! Access your quest interface!]
{Now, this is amazing.}-I thought for a moment.
“Is something the matter?”-William asked.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared?”-While Roger just taunted me.
“Nah, it’s just that I was thinking about something quickly.”-I smirked before giving a slight push to Roger.
“Hey!”-He shouted.
“See you!”-I just ran towards the exit.
Thankfully, almost everyone was already in their room, so the common room was fairly empty at this moment.
{This will be a good test.}-I thought to myself once outside the common room.
After looking around and seeing that there wasn’t anyone close, I incanted a spell.
“Utana Vid”-I said, and immediately, I noticed that my arms, with clothes and all, started to turn invisible.
Utana Vid is a spell that turns you invisible. It’s a mix of the magic syllables ‘Ut’ that’s mostly for self-support spells, ‘Ana’ that can be translated to ‘Cancel’ or ‘Remove’, and ‘Vid’ that translates to ‘Visibility’. So, it was like ‘Removing your visibility’ or turning you invisible in other words.
{Fuck the invisibility cape!}-I thought, as I actually didn’t need it.
Of course, the only bad point is the fact that if I talked, people could hear me, and animals could detect me with their enhanced smell. But all in all, with a little care, I could perfectly go around without being detected.
{Now, let’s check this new quest.}-I opened the quest interface.
[Quests
New quests!
- Look for your friend Jake! William and Roger are worried about your friend's sudden disappearance, make use of your abilities and find him! (Reward depend on your performance) NEW!
-…]
{So other students can actually give me quests? Or maybe this is because of something else? Mm… Well, whatever. Let’s move on.}-I thought before thinking about the next spell.
{Utani Gran Hur}-I incanted the great haste spell to increase my speed further. Thankfully, this kind of basic support spells could be incanted without saying them out loud.
And lastly. The final touch.
{Exiva Jake Evans}-I incanted the search person spell, and a little wisp appeared in front of me, guiding me towards the direction of Jake.
For the record. While we were in the library, I made a show of “testing” the Lumos charm while actually incanting this one. The reason being that if I use my wand while incanting the spell, at first it would look a lot like a low-powered Lumos.
Doing this, I find out that others couldn’t actually see the little wisp that appeared to guide me, making it perfect for me. Of course, I “failed” casting the spell. But it isn’t that bad at all.
So, now, with the help of the little whisp, I was currently running through Hogwarts with great speed, towards where Jake was, evading any kind of student on his way to their dorms or prefects and professors patrolling around.
I had to take the moving stairs, but as I didn’t have the time to wait for them to move as I needed them to, I just jumped while using the levitation spell to move towards the direction the whisp told me to, which was the first floor.
{The hell was he doing on the first floor? The greenhouse isn’t around here…}-I thought while canceling the levitation spell and running behind the guiding wisp.
After just a few moments of leaving the common room, I was now in front of the infirmary, which was weirdly opened.
{Don’t tell me…}-I thought while following the whisp, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Inside the infirmary, there was a petrified student on one of the beds, and on another bed, surrounded by Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, and Snape, was another petrified student.
“Fuck…”-I whispered unconsciously.
The student was Jake. He was petrified by the curse.