NOVEL NEXT CHAPTER 49 – Before everything started (Part 1)
With the incident with the Secret Vaults finally over, Hogwarts returned to normal, or at least to as normal as it could be for a Wizarding School. Nothing much happened in terms of attacks to the school, even then, Logan continued training the kids, though, as time passed, the number of quests and, in consequence, points he got were getting lower and lower.
Finally, as time passed, the school soon reached its end as uneventful as he thought it would be. As Fate would have it, it’s really true that all the strange things that happen in Hogwarts have a single person in the middle of it all. Harry Potter.
The not-so-secret organization Protectors of Hogwarts still stuck together, as most of the members of said organization were from Sixth Year and below, and while they never found out about ‘R’, they did forge strong bonds between them.
Logan, who helped them get accustomed to duels, real-life duels, couldn’t be happier when they celebrated his birthday on January 18th. While he didn’t say so in a loud voice, this was something he never had the pleasure to do before.
Sure, Isabella and even Madam Lily celebrated with him, but it was quite far from what he got in Hogwarts. People congratulated him, and some of them even gave him gifts like candies and all kinds of treats.
He couldn’t help but think that maybe life isn’t that bad, and was quite excited to see what the future got for him and his friends.
The House Cup was finally won by Ravenclaw. While Slytherin was quite close to winning said cup, it was thanks to Logan’s mastery over the spells that he could get a lot of points for his house. He even got points for helping people in the Infirmary, while not as necessary once the curse was lifted, it was still normal for students to get injured in a Wizarding School. He also learned other methods of healing with the help of Madam Pomfrey.
Thanks to this, while his potion mastery wasn’t perfect, it was at least good enough for him not to lose points, which was already something for him seeing as Snape liked to take points in every opportunity he got.
Time went by, and what was an unbelievable and amazing year for him, soon came to an end, along with his first year.
Goodbyes came and went between him and his friends, not without the promise of meeting next year, which would come sooner rather than later, taking into account the fact that the vacations were only for a scarce two months.
During that time though, it wasn’t as if they didn’t speak between themselves, after all, they did write letters to each other, and Jake even invited Logan to his house a couple of times, to the surprise of the latter and the rest of the kids of the orphanage.
Isabella took him there and then went back for him both times. Still, she couldn’t stay with him as she had to go back and take care of things back at the orphanage. It was actually better this way, and Logan made sure to clarify to Jake's parents, Rose and Ryan Evans, that his caretaker didn’t know about magic or the magical world like Madam McGonagall wanted.
But as if making fun of him, McGonagall once again presented herself at the doors of the orphanage, this time though, to thoroughly explain Miss Isabella the existence of magic. In her words, it would not be possible for her to accompany Logan to buy their yearly school materials. She actually took it better than Logan thought she would, and with the newfound support from her, he didn’t feel that lonely anymore inside the orphanage. Though most of his loneliness there was because of his own choices from when he was a small child.
Logan tried to explain that he was old enough for him to make the trip, but McGonagall quickly retorted that it was on Dumbledore’s orders that Miss Isabella was informed and asked to accompany him during those trips. The Ministry of Magic also approved his decision.
Logan himself couldn’t help but think that the old geezer decided it just so he didn’t move around without any supervision.
{Isn’t that what the tracker on the wand is for? Well, I did show some wandless magic back at the School.} Thought Logan at the moment, only to laugh immediately after. After all, if he wanted to, no one could actually track his use of magic or even his location. With the wand saved in the inventory and the invisibility spell, Logan could move as he pleased.
And actually, that’s what he did. With all his free time, Logan took the chance to move at night, though only to travel through London, and see all those places he couldn’t see before he reincarnated in this world. He even went to look for Harry, finding the house in Privet Drive. Though he still didn’t get close to him, as for what he remembered, Harry was being watched.
{Damn… The movies couldn’t really describe this kid’s condition at all…} Logan thought when he got a glimpse of Harry from away, as he went with the Dursleys to who-knows-where.
The rest before the new year soon came to an end, and Logan, accompanied by Miss Isabella, went towards King Cross Station. As usual, he carried his luggage, with Muninn perched on his shoulder, which gathered the attention of some of the muggles around.
During the rest, Muninn wasn’t always with him. For some reason, the raven loved to move around a lot and was mostly at night that he could see the bird in his room at the orphanage. It still helped him with the letters, delivering them to his friends, so he wasn’t that angry at the absent creature. At this point, he was already accustomed to this bird’s antics. Sometimes he even wondered what the hell did the bird do all day out.
Back at King Cross, after saying his goodbyes to Miss Isabella, he ran towards the pillar between platforms 9 and 10, leaving a dumbstruck Isabella behind. She had already seen Diagon Alley, but it was still a shock for her to see someone suddenly going through a solid wall as if nothing.
As soon as he got on the train, the first thing he did was look for his friends, and see who else was already in there.
Looking through the second-year compartments, Logan greeted those students he knew, either because of the not-so-secret organization, or those he met during the year. After walking through some of the compartments, he finally found someone he knew. Lisandra. She was actually sitting alone while reading a book, and as he haven’t seen anyone else, he decided to go inside.
“Do you mind if I sit here with you?” He asked as he opened the door.
Looking up from her book to him, she simply shook her head. “Of course not, you can come in.”
During the last half of the first year, his friendship with Lisandra actually got better and better. They sometimes shared classes or even sat together in the library to do their homework. Lisandra even helped Jake once with potions, as she was quite good in that class.
While sitting in the same compartment of the train, both of them talked about what they did during their rest. Different from what Logan thought, she and her family had quite a normal vacation. They went aboard and even visited some muggle places. From Lisandra’s tales, their parents weren’t that crazy.
Her father wasn’t one of those crazy purists of the blood. She says it’s been years since the Duponts stopped caring about blood purity. Her great-great-grandfather's words were actually that if they kept it like that, they would reach a day where they would be forced to marry their direct cousins. And that’s when they were still in France.
Soon enough, others made it to their compartment. One of them was actually Amelia, Lisandra’s friend, who actually didn’t say something rude to Logan.
{Taking down some upperclassmen sure made things easier.} He thought when Amelia didn’t act like a snobbish rich kid to him, or in other words, like a Slytherin kid. Roger came soon after her and sat beside Logan while talking with Lisandra while receiving some glares and snorts from Amelia every time he tried to talk to her. The compartment soon filled with Jake and Julie, just in time for the travel to Hogwarts to start.
Nothing impressive happened during their travel, and soon enough they reached the school. Getting out of the train was as complicated as ever, with all the students rushing to the doors.
“Firs’ yea’ ove’ her’! Firs’ yea ove’ her’!” As Logan the rest exited the train, he saw Hagrid calling for the new first years.
“I feel it was just yesterday that we went with Hagrid…” Lyra said while following Logan’s sight. She received a nod back from him.
{That guy looks as big as ever.} Logan thought with a chuckle as we went towards the carriages. As a second-year student, he now had to use the carriages that normally take students towards the castle, instead of the boats.
“Name?” As they reached a tall gate, Flitwick was actually standing there with a list of Hogwarts students’ names.
“Logan Taylor, Professor Flitwick.” Logan said as he stood in front of the small professor.
“Oh, welcome Mr. Taylor!” Flitwick said with a smile as he glanced at Logan, while also marking Logan’s name from the list on his hands. Flitwick then went to check from the list the others, and all of them went into the place where the carriages were waiting.
“Mm?” Before actually entering one of the carriages with Jake, Roger, and Lyra, Logan actually stopped. {Right… These guys were here.} He thought for a moment before walking to the front of the carriage.
“Mm? What are you doing Logan?” Lyra asked, while the others just looked at him.
“I’m just…” He stopped in front of one of the thestrals that pulled the carriage. It turned to look at him with its skeletal eyes staring at his own. {You really look like my Patronus… Just less silvery…} He thought with a chuckle before moving his hand to caress it.
“Logan?” Lyra, who walked close to Logan, turned to look at him. In her eyes, he was just seemingly caressing empty air. “What are you doing?”
“Caressing it…” Logan said as he kept caressing the creature.
“Caressing what? The air?” Roger asked with a tilted head.
“No.” Logan shook his head before turning towards them. “None of you can’t see it?”
“See what?” They asked with confusion in their voice. “There’s nothing there, Logan.” Lyra said with a worried voice.
“Right…” Logan nodded. {I guess none of them have been in the presence of death… Though, neither have I, I guess… At least, not the death from this world.} He thought for a moment before chuckling, moving his hand to caress the neck of the calm thestral who simply closed its eyes to enjoy the attention.
“Not many young people are actually able to see them, Mr. Taylor.” Suddenly a voice grabbed their attention. “It’s actually a surprise for someone as young as you to actually do it.”
“Professor McGonagall.” They all greeted the transfiguration professor.
“What do you mean, professor?” Lyra asked.
“The carriages are pulled by thestrals, Miss Grant.” McGonagall nodded at the young witch before turning to look at the thestral being caressed by Logan. “Strange creatures that we still don’t understand. They may only be seen by those who have seen death.”
“…” At the declaration, they all opened their eyes wide and turned to look at Logan.
“They’re usually feared by their undead aspect, and thought to bring horrible misfortune to those who happen to see them.” Logan said while turning to McGonagall. “Right, professor?”
“It seems you know about them, Mr. Taylor.” She raised one eyebrow. “Indeed. Many wizards and witches think that thestrals are bringers of misfortune. Simple superstitions.”
“Right.” Logan nodded.
“Well, I think you four have already lost too much time. Go to your carriages, time’s ticking.”
“Yes, professor.” They nodded and went into the carriage, not before Logan patted one last time the nuzzle of the thestral.
The ride on the carriage was really silent. Logan was still thinking deeply about his encounter with the thestral, and the apparent connection he had with these creatures. {Not only is my wand made with a core of thestral’s tail hair, but even my Patronus is one… It has to be because of my reincarnation…} He thought about what this could imply to his future.
Meanwhile, the others took his silent thinking as if he was thinking of whatever happened in his past.
“They may only be seen by those who have seen death.” McGonagall’s words still lingered in their heads, and they couldn’t help but think who died in front of Logan, and when. Was it during their previous year in Hogwarts? Or even before that?
Lyra couldn’t help but stare at her friend, contemplating if that would be a question she could really make. Both Jake and Roger were thinking the same. But finally, they decided to evade doing that question. If Logan decided to talk about it, they would listen, but they will surely not initiate that conversation. Soon, the carriages got closer to Hogwarts, and a new thought invaded everyone’s minds. “What would this new year hold for us? Surely it won’t be something as outrageous as last year's curse, right?”