Prismatic Education 47
‘MISTYSHIRE MUGGLES MYSTIFIED!’
That was the headline of the Daily Prophet the next day, when Benjy came back bearing the newspaper. A moving photograph showed several wizards milling around a torn-up field with bubbles around their heads.
The scene was still in the midst of being investigated by the Ministry, who had cordoned off the place, but according to the article, many of the Muggles in the nearby town had noticed something was wrong when a horrible smell came blowing from that area. For the time being, the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee had provided the explanation as some illegal chemical dumping, and the wizards handling the matter were special investigators.
It’s interesting how they deal with covering up such things… I mused to myself as I read the paper. Even went so far as to alliterate the headline.
There were also articles related to the other incidents elsewhere in Britain last night; the appearances of werewolves reported near several wizarding communities, though fortunately they were repelled without having bitten anyone. A number of wizards suddenly saying that they were under the Imperius Curse, which was apparently some kind of extremely illegal mind control spell, and confessing to several things they did under its effect.
Other than that, the newspaper carried a variety of other things. Advertisements as expected, also there were an editorial column, an advice section, and smaller articles reporting about anything sensational. That last part solidified my suspicions about this paper.
I raised an eyebrow. My fellow students who were a part of the Strixhaven Star would probably screech about this newspaper. It’s like they’re trying to sell things based on what sounds exciting.
My Silverquill experience also taught me to read deeper into the writing in those articles, and I could tell that there was a political slant to some of them. Bartemius Crouch calling for harsher measures in response to the werewolf threat, expressed opinions that the Ministry would eventually succeed in bringing down the Dark Lord and his supporters, and so on.
There was a knock on the door, and my sharp hearing heard Benjy open the viewing slot from where I sat.
“Patronus.” He challenged.
“Expected.” The correct passphrase was given.
The door opened to admit the Order members, a few of them bearing mild injuries from their previous night’s activities.
“Welcome back,” I greeted them, “You all look like you had some trouble.”
“We were lucky none of us were bitten,” Fabian answered tiredly, “And the werewolves we faced have all been apprehended and caged by the Ministry.”
“Except for Greyback. He managed to escape again.” Another wizard added.
“Sit down and let me take a look at you,” Nicole the mediwitch said briskly, summoning a chair over in front of her.
Gideon approached me as the wounded lined up to get treated. “Are you okay? I heard you faced attacking giants.”
“I’m fine. I conjured some allies to help me handle the fighting.” I gestured with my wand, sending a green light to heal the cuts I could see on his body.
“Thanks.” The redhead said gratefully, collapsing into a chair next to me. “By the way, Dumbledore finally sent a message asking to meet you.”
“About time. When and where?”
“This weekend, when the students visit Hogsmeade.” Seeing the lack of understanding on my face, Gideon proceeded to elaborate.
With the book ‘Hogwarts, A History’ to fill out my memories, I knew quite a bit about the castle. However, it didn’t mention the nearby village of Hogsmeade, which was the sole wizarding-only community in this country. On certain weekends, students above a certain age would be given permission to visit the village, which had a lot of shops and other things to interest students who were otherwise stuck in a castle for most of the year.
“Did he say anything about me to you?” I asked.
Gideon shook his head. “No. Just that he was interested in meeting you, and thanking you for saving our lives.”
And so, after a few days with no apparent Death Eater attack, I set out together with the redheaded brothers, the three of us off to see the wizard.
Since the castle was apparently warded against Apparition, we instead traveled by Floo from the Leaky Cauldron to the Three Broomsticks Inn in Hogsmeade. That was another fascinating piece of magic that I could see being adopted by people in other worlds; a glittering powder, made from some magical plant and other ingredients, that caused any fire it was cast into to turn into harmless emerald green flames, capable of transporting people to another fire’s location.
As expected, such a convenience made the use of Floo powder very widespread, with just about every wizarding household relying on it. Despite that, the recipe for the powder remained a closely-guarded secret. Apparently, Floo-Pow, the company that produced Floo powder, was headquartered in Diagon Alley, but no one ever answered its front door, nor were there ever shortages of the Floo powder.
“No one’s ever managed to figure out Floo-Pow’s recipe for making the powder in centuries, and they sell it very cheaply,” Fabian shared with me, “Only two Sickles a scoop, and you only need a pinch each time.”
Given the breadth of information control spells in this plane, I wonder if one of them was involved in hiding the recipe. Patent protection at its strictest. “Well, I’d like to buy some to examine later.”
“Alright.” He agreed as we made our way through the crowd at our arrival point.
The Three Broomsticks Inn was filled with many black-clad teenagers, very obviously students from Hogwarts. They could also be seen all over the village, looking quite excited at some of the things on display.
“Much more lively than Diagon Alley.” I couldn’t help but comment.
“It’s because of Dumbledore,” Fabian explained quietly, “Even with all the destruction You-Know-Who caused, he never tried to attack Hogwarts. The students here know it, so that’s why they aren’t as scared.”
“That’s why people said that the only one the Dark Lord fears is Dumbledore himself.” His brother added.
A subtle Haste spell helped cut down the walking time, and we soon passed through the gates, following a path around a large lake, until we finally arrived in front of a large castle, which had its front doors wide open. Being the weekend, I could spot a number of students in uniforms or casual clothes relaxing on the grounds.
In the noon light, the castle’s dark walls looked surprisingly welcoming. The same characteristic could be observed on the magical side of things too; the wards over the entire place spoke of protection and care, for the wards under its charge and the teachers within as well. I could perceive the sleeping ones beneath those, to be awoken when things got truly dire, and the castle needed to withstand a siege like it was built to.
Albus Dumbledore himself was waiting in the entrance hall of the castle, looking like he knew we would arrive at that time. The man’s appearance definitely fit the profile of an eccentric old wizard; long silver hair and beard that went past his waist, a sky blue robe with shimmering rainbows on it, sparkling eyes behind a pair of half-moon spectacles, perched on top of a crooked nose.
“Fabian, Gideon, good to see you again.” He greeted my companions first.
“Same here, Professor.” They said in tandem.
Dumbledore chuckled. “I told you two already, you’re free to call me by my first name. And this must be the person I’ve heard about.”
“Roy Staff,” I shook the slender-fingered hand he offered me, “Nice to meet you.”
That moment of contact told me a lot. He had a great amount of inner light inside of him, more than anyone else I had seen in this plane. It was like a nearly tangible force of goodwill. If Dumbledore had been in Silverquill, he would unmistakably be a Professor of Radiance, like Dean Shaile Talonrook.
He peered at my clothes, which was the same three-five-seven outfit I had used for the Magister’s Masquerade in Strixhaven. I had changed its appearance in response to seeing Dumbledore’s outfit, putting on a similar rainbow-themed style.
“I was inspired by your own clothing sense,” I explained shamelessly, noticing his attention.
“It’s nice to see others share my taste in fashion,” The old wizard chuckled. “Very interesting set of robes. Might I inquire as to who the tailor is?”
“Unfortunately, I bought it as an anonymous student’s art project, and I have no idea where the creator is now.” I admitted.
“What a pity. Pleased to meet you as well. Shall we talk in my office?”
I gestured my agreement. “Lead the way.”
The castle itself was quite interesting and chaotic, possibly due to centuries of unregulated magic performed by the students within its walls. Unlike Strixhaven, the stairways here didn’t shift in response to accommodate the ones using them, but did so on their own. According to Dumbledore, there were rooms known to move around on their own, along with walls that sometimes pretended to be doors. Just like the photos I saw, the portraits were moving as well, the subjects eyeing us with curiosity.
A bit too random for my tastes, but I can’t deny that it has character, I thought as I watched a pair of ghosts fencing across the corridor, passing through the walls as they did. I’m sensing just about every color of mana here, even a touch of Black from the dungeons.
On the third floor, we paused in front of a gargoyle, which moved aside to reveal a circular stone staircase that moved when we stepped on it. At the top was a large round office, with many windows and portraits of past Hogwarts Headmasters.
Dumbledore settled down in the chair behind the desk. “Firstly, allow me to thank you for saving the lives of many members of the Order. The fight against Voldemort’s forces has seen many lives lost so far, and I fear that number will increase. To lessen that, even by a little, means a lot.”
I noticed that the brothers flinched heavily when Dumbledore said the Dark Lord’s name, but otherwise I didn’t react.
“You’re welcome. To be honest, I just happened to be passing by when I got caught up in the fight.”
“Yet you still helped, and you continued to help when you could have left.” Dumbledore smiled. “Is there anything I can do in order to repay you for that?”
“Well…” Like there’s anything else I’d ask for, right? “Can I make use of Hogwarts’s library resources?”
The wizard blinked, then chuckled again. “That’s a middling request. Normally we restrict the use of the library to students and teachers, but I suppose I can bend the rules a little for you.”
“Thanks!”
Gideon slapped me on the shoulder. “Good for you, eh, Roy?”
“Now…” The atmosphere shifted, and Dumbledore leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desk. “I fear we must discuss more serious matters.”
“The Death Eaters.” I guessed.
“Yes, and Voldemort (the brothers flinched again) who is behind them.”
“Are you sure you’re willing to trust me? I’m just a foreigner who arrived in this land recently.”
“I believe you’re someone deserving of trust, based on your deeds,” Dumbledore responded just as fast.
I leaned back in my chair and considered things. Oddly, my inner light wasn’t pushing me to interfere as much now; the response was like a shrug and saying ‘do what you want’, which wasn’t very helpful.
Wonder why? Unless… “I’ll be on standby in case there’s another big attack. Is that okay?” I asked.
Dumbledore nodded. “That is sufficient. With his most recent attacks thwarted, I doubt he will attack again anytime soon.”
As it turned out, Dumbledore was right about that. The next few weeks passed without much incident, apart from articles in the newspaper about Aurors managing to track down and capture a few more Death Eaters, with some choosing to die instead.
Then, on the thirty-first of October, they struck back.
…
The Hogwarts library was the second-largest library I had ever seen, and it at least had a better sorting system than the Biblioplex. Then again, making such a system for a library with access to a multiverse of resources would be a nearly impossible task. In any case, it was easier to find books in this one, with sections for more obscure subjects like laws, alchemy, dragons, even one for poetry.
I’m sure Silverquill students would be mildly interested in some of these… although some of them aren’t really that good. I skimmed through the collected sonnets of a witch from a century ago. Also, only a few are actually magical. No battle poetry. Pity.
Closing it and placing it back on the shelf, I went over to the invisibility section, where there was a scroll seemingly floating in midair on a shelf. I reached out and pulled one of the invisible books out, opening it up while channeling a spell through my eyes to view the text.
With the pervasiveness of magic in this world, I wasn’t surprised to find that in-depth writing about a certain magical subject could impart qualities of that magic to the text. However, it seemed like very few people tried to research that aspect of magic, possibly due to their cultural outlook seeing it as something ordinary.
Hearing approaching footsteps, I held my left hand against my chest with the index finger extended upward, while my right raised above my head with the palm inward. Bringing the right hand down in front of my face in the signed gesture for ‘invisible’, my entire body vanished from view, just as the librarian came stalking around the corner.
If there was one thing to criticize about the Hogwarts Library, it would be that the librarian, Irma Pince, was not very helpful to those wanting to research further. The stern woman was very particular about how the books were handled, almost a match for Alfia’s hangup about noise. Perhaps it was because the students here were younger and more prone to mischief, but I preferred to avoid her rather than have her keep watching me out of paranoia.
She peered around thearea, her suspicious gaze passing over me for a moment, before she turned and left.
I released the spell, letting the book free from where it was pinned against my chest. Overall, it was a little useful, but nothing unique. I placed it perfectly back in the gap between the others.
I suppose overall, my interest in the magic of this plane would lie in the utility of spells, and the potential of the magical flora and fauna… I thought to myself as I left the library, since it was nearing closing time.
My path crossed with Dumbledore as I was descending the stairs.
“Good evening, Roy.” He said to me, dressed in a dark purple robe with a tall pointed hat on his head.
“Evening, Albus,” I returned the greeting, “Headed out?”
The wizard fell into step next to me. “Yes, I’m afraid I have business at the Ministry tonight. Did you enjoy the Halloween feast?”
“I did. The food was quite delicious.” I rubbed my belly, which was feeling quite full.
“Glad to hear that.”
We talked as we walked off the grounds of the castle, and before he Disapparated past the gates, Dumbledore left me a warning not to let down my guard, since he guessed that the Death Eaters would attack again soon.
Definitely heeding that one, because my inner light has been saying the same. I’m pretty sure that something’s going to happen-
A fiery explosion blew up in the distance, in the vicinity of Hogsmeade.
Tonight.
I performed a Message spell to alert the members of the Order, before taking flight on my staff to head for the scene. With my speed, I arrived quickly, catching sight of the culprits.
About ten spellcasters were moving through the village, shooting flames and other destructive spells at the buildings around them. The residents were trying to flee, but not all of them succeeded, either getting Stunned into unconsciousness or tied up with conjured ropes.
Are they planning to torture them later or something? I thought as I descended from above. No time to think about that now. First, I have to subdue these guys!
In my meeting with Dumbledore, he knew that I was responsible for a lot of lost lives at Mistyshire, but rather than condemn me for it, he beseeched me to try and resort to nonlethal measures instead. While I still thought that the Death Eaters weren’t deserving of such treatment, his wholehearted plea (and the possibility of losing access to the library) touched me, and I agreed to try my best to do so.
I landed in their midst, the ground cracking slightly from the impact. Before any of them could react, I vocalized a snoring sound, stabbing my staff into the air to release the spell around me.
Several of the skull-masked people collapsed as sleep overtook them, while the others staggered.
Something’s wrong. I frowned, before making a jerking gesture that tore the skull masks off their faces. They look expressionless. Don’t tell me-!
“Now!” Someone yelled.
Shield! I reflexively raised a glowing dome around me, just in time as several curses exploded against it.
It was instantly clear to me what had happened; the attackers weren’t really Death Eaters. Rather, they were civilians under the Imperius Curse, meant as decoys to draw out the defenders for the real ones to strike at. Sure enough, once the smoke cleared, I could see at least half a dozen black-robed figures surrounding me.
“It’s him! He’s the one the Dark Lord warned us about!” A shrill female voice called out.
“You…” Another one spoke, this one an emotionless-sounding male. “You killed my brother.”
I stared back at the one who had spoken. Despite his tone, I could sense his desire to kill me.
“Let’s kill him already! Avada Kedavra!”
The bright green curse struck the rock pillar that sprung up in its path, causing the thing to shatter explosively. As if it was a signal, everyone began firing off curses of their own. However, I moved even faster.
Several of the sleeping patsies went flying as I used Banishing Charms to get them out of the way. One of the Death Eaters had their feet knocked out from under them by a body, but the others dodged, retaliating with more spells.
I whirled out of the way of two sickly-looking curses, slamming my staff into the ground while making clicking noises with my mouth. Another wizard went down with a scream when several fiery spears sprouting from the ground pierced his limbs, while a trio of red curses dissipated against the swirling ink I summoned around me.
As I took out a few more in other ways, the others fought even harder, displaying impressive spellcasting skill to go with their viciousness.
“Crucio!” The woman’s voice screamed.
I whipped one of them in front of me as a shield, and they let out a horrible-sounding scream as they jerked around in agony.
Definitely not a spell I want to be hit by. A tap of my staff against the back of his head with a red flash put the unfortunate person into unconsciousness. Next one!
To their credit, they adjusted tactics instead of trying to overpower me with quantity and power. Transfiguring my elemental attacks into animals or blades they sent against me, covering for each other with timing and protective spells, repositioning with smoke-based or other types of teleportation… Though to be honest, part of the reason they were doing so well was because I restricted myself to nonlethal methods, but their numbers continued to dwindle, even if they revived some of their fallen to return to the fight.
Eventually, one of the six remaining was able to tag me with a fast spell that the others corralled me into.
“Expelliarmus!” The desperately screamed spell caused my staff to fly from my hand as I stumbled back. “Now! Before he-”
The green ball slammed into his face, and I could see his features deform almost in slow motion before he went flying from the hit.
“What strength…”
“He must have drank Re’em blood! Don’t get close to him! Without his staff, he can’t-”
“I cast… FIST!” I boomed, expressing power through volume as I punched out.
The giant block of ink slammed the speaker into the wall at his back, leaving him embedded in a large crater.
The others, shocked by the display of magic, were unable to defend themselves from the ink arrows that stabbed into their body as I followed up.
Feel the despair you’ve caused! I hissed, sustaining the inkomancy spell.
Several of them moaned or screamed as the magic tore at their willpower, curling up or going to their knees. To my surprise, one of them began to laugh, a sadistic-sounding one that soared above the crackling flames around us.
“Kyahahaha…!” It was the female voice I heard earlier. “You dare to use Dark magic like that against us?!”
She tore the mask off her face, revealing a black-haired woman with darkly beautiful features, marred by the fury in her expression.
“You may be skilled, but you’re just a dabbler against those who have drunk deep from true power!” Her wand came up, and she repelled the ink off her body with a fierce gesture. “If you want to curse, you have to mean it!”
My nod seemed to surprise her, and she stared at me warily instead of moving to attack. It did take some intense negative emotions to use the Shadow side of ink magic, which I rarely felt. Light magic suited me better.
“I can sense the darkness in you being quite deep,” I said to her, “So how about some light instead?”
Two steps closed the distance before she could react, with one hand brushing her wand arm aside. Her shocked and furious gaze met mine, as my lips moved in an enunciation of a single meaningful word.
“Empathy.”
With a tap of my tongue against the back of my teeth to release the last consonant, I sent a golden arrow of light into her chest. May this spark light mercy into you.
She released a small gasp, her eyes dropping to the glowing length sticking out of her body. Then as golden light began to shine in her dark eyes, the witch started to release a moaning wail, a keening cry that echoed around the area. She curled up like the others, rocking back and forth.
“Bella!” The emotionless wizard didn’t sound so emotionless now. “Curse you! What did you do to her!?”
I tilted my head as I tried to think of an explanation, then I shrugged and beckoned off to the side. My staff came flying back into my hand, and I swung it into the ink-bound wizard’s temple, knocking him unconscious with a visible dent in his head.
“Hm. That was a pretty good fight.” I remarked to myself. “Now to handle the cleanup.”
That was how the Order members and several Aurors found me later, extinguishing fires and repairing some of the damage with the subdued Death Eaters restrained in the middle of the street.
Afterword: I had some trouble with the first part of this chapter for some reason, like my muse just struggled. I just couldn’t really picture how the interaction between Roy and Dumbledore should go, but I think I did a satisfactory job. The second part just flowed much better for some reason. Perhaps it was the fighting? Do let me know your thoughts on how both sections felt to read.
I expect some of my readers will have comments about how Roy was behaving, but he tends to be spontaneous like that. After dealing with vicious attackers in several incidents, his response will be similarly vicious, but given time to research peacefully with interactions with a person of goodwill, he’ll be more likely to resort to ‘peaceful’ methods.
I think I might have temporarily exhausted my interest in the Wizarding World, so the next chapter should see Roy travel to another plane again. Or maybe make returns to previous ones. We’ll see where my muse leads me.
Thanks for all the support!