>>6107189

You are still reeling from the revelation as you two cross the anti-apparition enchantments surrounding Voldemort’s “prison” and Hermione apparates both of you back to St. Mungo’s. You feel like there is a knot in your throat, a block of ice in your stomach.

“Is… Is there no other way?” You ask as you finally manage to sit down in the isolated room you appeared in. “Does he really need to-”

“Suffer like no one else? As long as there are Horcruxes out there, yes. Harry hated it, insisted there had to be a better way, kept on searching all these years even after all of us stopped looking for another solution. He never found one.” She sighs. “It is not quite Omelas, but it is still not a pleasant thought.”

You nod, understanding the reference. An old muggle story about an utopia called Omelas, whose existence, beauty and perfection depended on the utter misery and torture of a single innocent child. Voldemort wasn’t innocent. He was the furthest thing away from innocence in the wizarding world.

And even he didn’t deserve that. Potter of all people had known that. Maybe someone more powerful, someone more clever, someone with more time would have found another way. A kinder way.

Just another thing on the list of horrors of the world, which already included things like bone cancer on muggle children and dark arts on the innocent.

You can only hope your own journey won’t end up with you adding to that list.

It takes you a while to feel sane enough to go back to Linda’s room with Granger.

“Hey, you look like you’ve seen a dementor,” Helga quips as you enter.

“Well,” you say, forcing a smile.“It’s nothing. Just got some answers that were rougher than I was expecting, that’s all.”

“And I expect that you have some more questions,” Granger adds.

“Yeah… I think the obvious is, we need a new battle teacher.”

“Hogwarts needs a new Defense teacher.”

“And I need a private tutor that can teach me like Crouch did.”

“Harry himself placed your education in Crouch’s hands. I’d be hard pressed to find someone even close to the same level as either of them. If he put you against Crouch, I suspect anyone I find will present minimal challenges, not as much because they aren’t better than you, but because I’m not friends with too many sociopaths who would be willing to put you to the sort of training you’d need to really improve.”

[Cont.]

>>6107191

“Minister-”

“I’ve seen your battles, Elliot,” she says, raising her hand against your protests. “I’ve heard Potter talking about you. With your level of skill, you could easily beat most non-auror adults. You’re close to the point where either you learn through life and death experiences or you go into the long grind, where you study and train for months to improve just the tiniest bit at a time. I could provide you with a tutor, but I suspect you wouldn’t see the improvements you’ve seen with Crouch or Harry.”

“Still, better than nothing. And besides, my friends could use the training.”

She shrugs. “If you wish. I’ll see if I can find someone.”

“Occlumency too. Potter used to pay a tutor for us.”

“I’m aware. I know Constance, she’s trustworthy. I’ll contact her.”

You keep going through the list of things you want to know. You ask for some of the rock-candy Crouch had so you can study it, and she tells you the Unspeakables have better equipment and knowledge to discover what it is. You ask for new portkey toerings, and she says she’ll have them made by morning. You ask about new prophecies and she just shakes her head.

“How about the real Robards?” You ask, finally. “He shouldn’t be dead, right? You need fresh matter from a living body for polyjuice to work.”

“For normal polyjuice, yes. Whatever it was he was taking, however… It is difficult to know. We have people looking for him, but he isn’t answering to patronuses. He could be in a permanent coma, or somewhere the patronus can’t reach.”

“And as to how Crouch escaped? He mentioned my Dark Mark caused a commotion-”

“That’s an understatement. I almost initiated the old war protocols.”

“And that lots of Death Eaters went wild,” you say, ignoring her and straining your brain to try to remember. “And that he found an ally in the confusion. The ally got him something that he used to escape.”

“I’ll mention it to my men.” She pulls the necklace of random objects from her clothes and touches one of them with the tip of her wand, transfiguring it. She is done after a few seconds. “They’ll look into it.”

“Good. And speaking about looking into things… Anything on why Potter had a safehouse blocks away from my house? Or any news on Potter at all?”

[Cont.]

>>6107192

“For the safehouse, it was just an old safehouse for our auror troops to fall back if things went wrong in missions. We used it decades ago, but decommissioned it for a bigger one. Harry purchased it from the ministry, saved himself the trouble of setting up most of the protections. He has a few of those throughout the country because he’s, well, he’s Harry. But I remember him mentioning it wasn’t worth the trouble some… ten? Fifteen years ago? Best I can guess he reactivated it once he realized how close it was to your house. More than that… I don’t know what else to tell you. I would say coincidence, if not for the fact that it would be nothing but a cop-out for the fact I don’t have any other plausible explanation.“

“As for Harry himself… Vanished. My patronus can’t reach him. James and Albus can’t either. He knows our aurors’ protocols, Merlin, he wrote most of them. Tracking them down would be-” She stops, frowns, then pulls out the necklace again, looking at a different bauble than all other times, one that seems to be in the act of changing. Once it stabilizes, her look turns grim and she stands up, preparing to leave. “Ah. Or perhaps not. Just got a message from an old friend. Turns out that at some point in the last few weeks my good friend and his wife went for a romantic trip to France. Either that or the Goblet of Fire has up and walked from its vault in Beauxbatons.”

Ah motherfu-

--

“So, how are you?” You ask once the healers leave with a nod.

“It was just a botched mind-alteration,” she says from her bed, nonchalantly. But she looks strained. Her hands are shaking just a bit. “You know. Not a big deal. Don’t even know why I was worrying about it.”

“Right. So, how are you?”

“It’s fine, Elliot. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Bullshit and its brother, bullcrap. Don’t make me get you drunk so you can sob on my shoulder.”

“Really. It.. It was just a-”

There is a loud clattering noise and Linda jolts upwards, snatching her wand from the nightstand a nurse had left it on and blasting a red bolt towards the noise. Helga dodges to the side, but looks unamused, still holding the meal the healers had left for Linda. The fork and knife were on the floor, dropped on purpose.

“I fought in wars, Linda,” Helga says, placing the plate back down. “And I have taught many students. That is not a student’s reaction to a loud noise. That is a soldier’s, one who’s returned from war. And I notice you still haven’t stopped pointing the wand at me.”

Slowly, Linda puts down her wand.

“I was… I was just startled. That’s all.”

[Cont.]

>>6107193
“I’m sure you are.” Helga’s voice is quiet and soft. She takes Linda’s hand between hers. “You are also having nightmares. And because I was inside Elliot’s head back then, I know you know a lot about wars. I also know that you’re clever. So you know what’s happening. You know what you're feeling, I have no doubt you've read about it before. I can tell from experience that it is not fun. And I can also tell you bottling it up and never talking about it is the worst thing you can do.”

Linda looks away, so Helga climbs onto the bed and straddles her so she has no choice but to look at her.

“Call Rowena. I think the three of us need to have a talk.”

Linda’s eyes go black, and the two of them simply stare at each other for a while, having a private conversation to which you’re not invited.

“Elliot,” Helga asks without breaking eye contact. “Can you ask the healers for a dreamless sleep potion?”

You nod and go fetch someone. When you return a few minutes later, you find Linda bawling into Helga’s robes, so you just put the potion by the door and leave them be.

You’d once thought about getting Arty psychology books. Well, perhaps you could get them for Helga. Or perhaps she knows everything they have to say from just living and being wise and kind. But it wouldn’t hurt to try, you think.

In the meantime, you are in the middle of London. Is there anything quick you’d like to do in the city or in St. Mungo’s itself?

> Check in on Brighton’s grandparents
> Check in on Lockhart
> Try to check in on the entrance to Avalon
> Run to a nearby store and buy something muggle (What?)
> Other (Write in)

>>6107196
> Check in on Lockhart
Our BOY
The GOLDEN boy
He's totally sane even now isn't he?
Also welcome back HeadQM

>>6107196
> Check in on Brighton’s grandparents
> Check in on Lockhart
> Try to check in on the entrance to Avalon
Might as well while we're here. I do like our visits with Lockhart, he's not so bad once you get to know him.

>>6107196
>Try to check in on the entrance to Avalon
this is a priority for me, this place has to either be gone from existance or under the greatest vigilance that the magical world can provide
>Check in on Brighton’s grandparents
>Check in on Lockhart
brighton´s Gparents first, lokchart second
and hey, maybe getting a starting book on muggle psycology would be a nice gift to Helga, im sure she would find it interesting given its such an advanced field for muggles compared to wizards

>>6107196
> Check in on Lockhart
> Try to check in on the entrance to Avalon
Welcome back, HeadQM!

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>>6107204
>He's totally sane even now isn't he?

I speculated in a theory that he was sane the whole time, or at least for a while. And last time we saw him... he did give a hint to realize where Avalon was.

Lets see. Other than a bunch of dudes who are probably dead down there, nothing left for us in Avalon, unless Excalibur could do something I suppose.

We can grab something, a book for Helga to maybe figure out how to help Linda; something we could check out too. She clearly has PTSD, shell shock, soldier's sickness, ect.. How about just a novel for her that she could focus on, take her mind off the fact she has seen her lover die, her other best friend almost ripped to shreds by a monster, injured a number of times following said friend, splashed with prophesy blood, had her darkest memory relived, and now was brain fucked. Could stay with her tonight too, try and just be there for her too. Go bring some muggle slop for her if she wants for breakfast, stay there for the night. Definatly keep an eye on her when she gets out.

Give me a few minutes to come up with stuff.

And yes, welcome back QM. I had a weird feeling when I woke up today that it was going to be a good day.

>>6107196
> Check in on Lockhart

>Grab some ice cream to bring back to Linda and Helga if she is still there

> Run to a nearby store and buy something muggle (What?)
> if there is a bookstore,
some silly novel for Linda, a couple of books on daeling with PTSD and/ or helping those with it for you and Helga

>See if we can stay there tonight on a pull out sofa or recliner. Go and get Linda some muggle food if she is hungry in the morning. Be there for her. Hold her hand if she needs it, talk to her. Tell Linda we are so sorry she has been pulled into our whirlwind of bullshit and how thankful for her.

>Resolve to spend a bit more time with her after she gets out. Invite her over to spend a few days with us for Easter.

>>6107240
+1 to everything but staying there, unless Linda specifically wants us there. Sometimes some space is needed between the love-bombing, to avoid codependency developing.

>>6107262
True enough. I mean, I think Elliot would always ask even if we didn't specifically tell him to. He is a very considerate person normally, even though as players we have pushed him some like when we had our fight with Arty because she was pushing herself too hard, was walking into an early grave. We really are the worst Slytherin, but I suppose that is why we ended up with Helga in our brain.

I work in medicine seen how people deal with being isolated when they are admitted, how they are desperate for some social contact and besides that have had to spend a decent time in the hospital myself. It sucks. Tv and painkillers helped but even a couple of days there, let alone the 5 days I spent once? Especially dealing with stuff? You get into your head without stuff to distract you. I had a phone and people coming to check on me, friends coming or grabbing some fast food for us to share, ect. Had cute and good nurses who I was able to flirt with some, got social media contacts from and would walk with me around the ICU at night when I couldn't sleep since even though I was pretty alright at the end, they couldn't let me do it alone. Long story short, being trapped in a hospital sucks and Linda can't even get her mom and little sis to come by due to being muggles or under age in BauBau's case I assume, doesn't have a phone or TV; just the trauma of what she has gone through.

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Alright... so I thought of something. Our parents are Squibs. Squibs are, per the official cannon of the HP world, the children of wizards who never ended up being able to use magic.

https://www.wizardingworld.com/fact-file/magical-miscellany/squibs

There hasn't been a single mention of our grandparents on either side; wizards live around twice as long as muggles. Unless they died like in the war, why have we never heard anything about them. Why didn't they come by for Christmas? All 4 of our grandparents being dead given how young our parents seem to be is... unlikely.

Could our parents be as far back as what ever created Elliot out of nothing to perform a role and host Helga go back, unable to create anything further than that? Same reason we don't have a sibling, even though mom and dad supposedly wanted one?

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Also, a couple of notes from the character sheet:

Arty should probably have her height as 1 inch greater than Helga since that is what she asked for. One of Helga's birthdays should read as 2025, not 2005 if we are talking about when she got Arty's old body. Arty can now cast a patronus charm as well.

Not complaining, but might as well let QM know for if he cares to adjust it in the future.

Also Helga growing her hair out is both cute and hot since I like braids.

Once more, just a few things I noticed because I have a touch of the 'tism in all likelihood.

>>6107517
> Arty should probably have her height as 1 inch greater than Helga since that is what she asked for. One of Helga's birthdays should read as 2025, not 2005 if we are talking about when she got Arty's old body. Arty can now cast a patronus charm as well.
Mistypes and copy-paste errors, all corrected now. Thanks for the headsup!

Also, I will give that feedback to both you and Kektus, but it was both a busy week and Satisfactory came out, so I spent time I should be reading and writing building reinforced iron plate factories

>>6107196
> Check in on Brighton’s grandparents

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>>6107572
Thank you very much, dude. I appreciate you bothering to check it out all.

I have really enjoyed giving this a shot even if my writing or QM skills are bad. Getting like 11 votes on one of the choices made my entire night. Got some good IRL news this morning, have today and the weekend completely off, your quest is back... very nice.

So, as always, thank you. Quite glad I found this thing last year. Also, happy belated quest anniversary!

>>6107592
> I have been doing this for over a year and didn't even realize it

Fucking Merlin, time fucking flies. And when I started it I thought it would be one, maybe two threads.

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>>6107597
>I thought it would be one, maybe two threads

Heh.

>>6107506
I think you're confusing this quest's family with caretaker's family.

>>6107632
Our mom and dad were explicitly said to be Squibs in the Christmas part of the quest when we and the twins were dropped off in Diagon Alley.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/5877357/

>Muggles couldn’t see the Leaky Cauldron, but Squibs like your parents were simply “heavily disincentivised”.

>>6107572
Like Ilvermorny said, we appreciate you bothering to check out stuff, you are a great inspiration!
no hurry tho, take your time and enjoy whatever you are doing.

>>6107189
Fuck

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>>6107674
Yes I would like to fuck Arty and or HelgArty.

>>6107748
We know.

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>>6107755
What gave it away.

A Raven is fine too.

Will now quite shitting up the thread because I am happy about stuff, work on my own thing-y.

>>6107506

Well, in this case being a Squib doesn't necessarily means that your parents were wizards (which I suppose I should have mentioned). I'm going from the logic that the magic gene is recessive-ish, so it can go inactive for generations. Being a Squib is just someone who has enough magical genes to trigger magic a little bit, but not fully.

That leaves two options. A) There is only one Magical Gene. If you have none, you are a muggle, if you have one you are a Squb, and if you have two you are a wizard. Or B) There are many Magical Genes. If you have too few you're a Muggle, if you have something in the middle you're a Squib, and if you have a lot you're a Wizard.

If A is true, then every single Muggleborn is actually a Squibborn, and the parents simply never knew they were squibs. This also mean every Squib coming from Wizard parents out there didn't actually come from two wizards, but from mom banging the muggle milkman. This would also mean a Wizard-Muggle couple could never produce a wizard, only Wizard-Squib couple could.

But option A is boring, because it limits the sorts of couples you can have. B, however, allows for a muggle couple to simply luck out and have a wizard child by sheer chance because the right genes just happened to combine. At the same time, I don't really like option B because it can sort of imply that your power as a wizard comes from your genes, which is not something I want. In this world, the only thing that defines how great of a wizard you are is your grit and capacity to sit down and study (Apollo and Arty not withstanding, of course), or your willingness to perform dark rituals.

So the answer is... Something in the middle which I am not well versed enough in genetics to find an explanation for.

In this case specifically, Elliot's grandparents weren't wizards, just Squibs/Muggles who happened to carry enough magic gene that their children were squibs (and who probably bonded over the fact they seemed to notice things no one else did), and Elliot ended up as a full-fledged wizard.

>>6107770
Perks of being a Squib instead of Muggle would include being able to see and mildly interact with magical things, such as places Hidden from muggles, and even using potions (And interacting with magical artifacts, possibly)

i actually think that option B is an actual canon thing, im pretty sure there are records of muggle families of several generations randomly spawning wizards. so it is entirely possible thats the canon option

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>>6107778
From what I recall muggle born wizards can come from families that have never had a recorded witch or wizard, but that might just be that maybe there was one 300 years ago and most people don't keep records of shit that long ago. Could be a couple of people had recessive gene that just happened to meet. Shit like that happens on occasion IRL like non-Ashkenazi parents ending up with Tay-Sachs kids or dark skinned people ending up with light eyes. People also have epigenetic factors which can affect gene expression or even completely mute certain ones. If you go back far enough? Every single land dwelling mammal has a bit of normally non-expressive ancient proto-herpes virus in their DNA now due to a mass spread of it a long, long time ago. Marsupials apparently got out of that deal, but the ancient retro virus which was around is now in all our DNA. Can pop up in certain ways.

But I don't really want to think too hard about magic genes... I am just going to go with the idea that magic is something that can just pop up in anyone, though people who are already magic pass a very strong affinity for it to turn up in their kids or something. That is a force unto itself.

>>6107770
Magic could by polygenic, relying on certain gene COMBINATIONS to emerge. We only inherit SOME of each parent's genome (half from one parent half from another, so in that case two wizards could produce a squib with an unlucky roll of the dice ("oops, all nomag and low-magic-recessive genes!"), while different combinations of mutations in normal human/nomag/muggle genetics could lead to magic-receptiveness and, with proper training, the ability to cast.

Genes can also have recessive and dominant alleles, and epigenetcis can play a role: genes might not always express dominant for magic, depending on development or environmental factors.

Of course, if you want to tie it all back to a single (or a smattering of) ancient mage-civilizations like Atlantis, Lemuria, Hyperborea, etcetera... Well, then you either need to introduce 'emergent' witches and wizards from the baseline muggle population or accept that bloodlines does indeed play a role in who gets to be special.

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>>6107813
>Shit like that happens on occasion IRL like non-Ashkenazi parents ending up with Tay-Sachs kids or dark skinned people ending up with light eyes.
Gene expressions are weird. Ask Lucy and Maria Aylmer.

>>6107816
>>6107817

Genetics gave me a headache in college, almost as much as endocrinology.

But yay! Another guy who had to learn this shit! Based!

You suspect Linda and Helga will take a while to work out… well, whatever it is they are working out, so you take a walk through the hospital. Some of the healers do frown at you when they see you dragging a sword around, but their objections fade away as soon as they notice who you are.

Apparently, the Boy Who Holds Excalibur is a household name now.

You climb up the stairs and walk into the Janus Thickey Ward, and a nurse takes you a little further until you see them. An old couple. They are sitting together by the window, watching the life outside pass them by, hand in hand. You watch them for a while, and she pulls a Droobles Blowing Gum from her pocket, and unwraps it with the help of her husband. She eats it, then folds the wrapping and puts it in her pocket.

You can’t help but fight the tears.

They are fine. Alive. Still broken. Broken enough that not even Godric and Rowena could help them, nor the best medical minds in the world.

But Godric had said there was still some light inside them, and for that you are thankful.

“Ah, Elliot! How great to see you again!” Says an excited voice, waving at you from where he stands behind a painting he is working on. “I’ve been hearing a lot about you in the newspaper, you know!?”

“Ah, Lockhart, sir!” You say, pushing away the sorrow for now. It wouldn’t do too good to make this man’s only visitor in forever to be crying for someone else’s fate. “Good too see you! You receive the Daily Prophet here?”

“Well, no, but sometimes people bring theirs in and forget them around. And I can read, you know? Took me a while to get the hang of it, but boy can I do it! That’s how I learned your name!” He flashes a smile at you, still painting. “And I heard some incredible stuff about you! Something about something called Excalibur, whatever that is, and some dark wizards. Seemed quite exciting!”

“Well, turns out you’re not the only one to get in adventures, sir. This is Excalibur,” you say, pointing to your hip. “She is pleased to meet you.”

“Why the pleasure is mine! Now, say, what are you here for?” Then he sounds worried. “Have you run out of autographs? I can make more, you know!”

“Ah, no sir! You gave me plenty last time,” you say, not telling him the autographs and the painting are all still in your trunk. “Just… a friend of mine got injured and needed to spend a day here.”

“Nothing too serious, I hope!”

“Just an… inconvenience. She’ll be back up in no time. How about you, sir? What new painting are you working on?”

“Me? Oh, it is nothing new, just something that came to mind a while ago. I got inspired to paint new things by my last visitor.”

“Oh, who was it? I thought only Potter came to see you, sir.”

“It usually is,” the nurse accompanying you says. “But an old fan came by a few days ago. Really liked his paintings, too. Which one did you give him, Lokey?”

[Cont.]

>>6108768

“Oh, he didn’t really like any of the ones I had here to take with him, so I offered to make a new one! It turned out great! A great cup shattering and fire and a woman spilling from it! Really, I don’t know where I get these ideas.

You feel a chill go up your spine.

“Wait, what?”

“Yes, quite! You see, inspiration can strike-”

“No, what did you say the painting was?”

“Well, there was this great wooden cup and there was a stunning blond man by it, really handsome lad. But the cup was cracked, and this wonderful blue fire came out of it, and a girl, well, woman, really, sliding down the river of flame as if it was water! One of my most striking pieces, I think. I’ve really been improving recently-”

“What was the color of her hair?” You ask, interrupting him.

“I’m sorry?”

“The girl, woman, whatever. The lady in the fire. What was the color of her hair?”

“Well, it couldn’t have been blonde because it would clash with the man’s hair, and brown and black just didn’t work with the color, so I settled on a nice red to really contrast against the blue. Huh, funny. I don’t usually paint more than one person, have you noticed that?”

There is a sudden sense of vertigo, and you need to lean against the bed so you don’t fall.

A painting of a Goblet filled with Fire broken being painted days before Harry Potter breaks into the Beauxbatons. A stranger who had never come before, not only comes but sits and waits for him to make a new painting. If that stranger hadn’t been Potter under Polyjuice you’d eat your cauldron.

“Are you alright, Elliot?” Lockhart asks, looking worried.

“Nurse,” you ask, throat dry. “Did Lockhart ever… Say anything? In a weird way? With a weird voice?”

“No, not that I can recall. Why?”

“Nothing, nothing. And just out of curiosity… Did Potter ever take any of your paintings,sir?”

“Oh yes! Every so often he’d find one he liked!”

A seer? No, impossible. No prophecies were being made and at least in humans they only came as words. But whatever he was, it was enough that Potter risked coming to see him, and it had led him directly to the Goblet. What in Merlin’s name…

“You… You wouldn’t happen to have made any new paintings since then, have you, sir?”

“Only this one. They take time, you know?”

“May I take a look at it?”

“Well, they say an artist shouldn’t let people see what they’re working on until it is done but… why not?”

And you step to look at his painting. It is still unfinished, but the main elements are clear. A blond wizard with a scarred arm and a sword made of light in hand, fighting a creature of darkness. In the background, towers of gold and marble and platinum, guarded by silver dragons.

--

[Cont.]

>>6108769

You stumble out of there in a daze after reassuring the nurse you’re fine. In your mind there is a whirlwind of questions, most of them being simply “Why?” and “How?”

You find no answers in any of your knowledge, and your expert in prophecies is currently occupied. You reach for the coin Hermione gave you, but you stop. Lockhart, whatever he is… Is innocent. He is just someone with some strange power, who is trying to heal his mind. And if you were to tell the Minister what just happened… Well, that is the same Minister whose best friend was certain would be willing to unleash the Unspeakables on you, the same minister who put tracking bugs on you and your friends, the same Minister who keeps Voldemort’s soul in a cage of dementors.

What would she do to Gilderoy, if she thought he knew where Potter was? Potter, the one Helga Hufflepuff had said would cause calamity if he knew the things he now knows? What would she do to him if she thought Gilderoy had a seer-like power when all prophecies had dried up?

And at the same time… You all could really use a few prophecies to help light the way.

> Call the Minister, tell her you may have a working Seer
> Let it be. Whatever Lockhart is, he doesn’t deserve to be set upon by the Unspeakables
> Other (Write in)

>>6108772
> Call the Minister, tell her you may have a working Seer
She's given us a lot of reasons to trust her lately. Let's give her a chance to confirm hat trust is well-placed. And if it's not... Well, we'll adjust accordingly moving forward.

>>6108772
>>6108772
> Let it be. Whatever Lockhart is, he doesn’t deserve to be set upon by the Unspeakables
My man Gil needs his rest. I refuse to sell him out

>>6108772
>Call the Minister, tell her you may have a working Seer
if anything, he needs protection from Potter and she knows he is fucked in the head right now, she will help us

>>6108772
>> Let it be. Whatever Lockhart is, he doesn’t deserve to be set upon by the Unspeakables

>>6108772
>> Call the Minister, tell her you may have a working Seer
She hasn't dissapointed us yet, but if she does I'll call for monumental revenge.

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>>6108772
Hahaha. Knew Lockhart would be important. Giggled at thinking he was so good with Obliviate that he went full circle from being a hack to being some kind of rule breaking BS prophet or something. Also, fuck Harry even more for using a dude with magic brain damage to predict shit like that for him. Hell Harry might be part of why Lockhart stays in St. Mungo's, advised him to not asked to be discharged so he would be in a sterile environment to produce his paintings. Or maybe it is the fact that this place is right above Avalon, Merlin's hidy hole and somewhere he used the stage of Rubedo to look forward that has some effect on Gilderoy? The fact this place is just naturally resistant to outside magical influence... like prophesies no longer being able to be formed. Like if he left here he would no longer be able to make these paintings.

>Ask if he doesn't mind us looking through his collection. See if there is anything useful there, something that might give a clue to where Potter is. Take another look at the painting he gave you when you return to the school.

> Call the Minister, tell her you may have a working Seer. Make sure she knows it may only be working due to where he is and his brain being in the condition it is in. No legilimency, no Veritiserum. Maybe a few new "fans" coming to visit however. If Potter has been using him like this... others could as well and he might be a target to keep him from helping to find Harry. Might need a couple of discrete guards. Even we were able to break in here after all.

>>6108901
supporting these too

>>6108772
>> Let it be. Whatever Lockhart is, he doesn’t deserve to be set upon by the Unspeakables
Lockhart's a bro. He's happy where he is, we shouldn't ruin that.

>>6109013
>Lockhart's a bro. He's happy where he is, we shouldn't ruin that.

Fair enough, but the guy also loves attention. Was super stoked when we came to visit. A few more "fans" maybe even the Minister herself coming by and asking for a painting would probably make his month. Also, kinda forgot this, what ever we do, we should head upstairs and get everyone some ice cream. I'm sure Helga wants chocolate, we can get strawberry, and what ever Linda and Gil wants.

Was also thinking, the only ones who can host a mind spirits are children or people who have had their minds destroyed. We have all the founders accounted for, but who is to say Lockhart didn't end up with a shard of Merlin in him when he was still retarded? One that could create paintings like this? He is living right above Avalon and such.

>>6109024
>A few more "fans" maybe even the Minister herself coming by and asking for a painting would probably make his month.
It might, and if it was just that then I'd be fine with it. But if the unspeakables are set upon him, which I feel like they will as soon as the Ministry knows someone is still making prophecies, I get the feeling it won't be happy visits asking for autographs and paintings.

Put it this way: If Linda or Arty or someone else we were close to suddenly got this ability would we be comfortable trusting the Ministry with that information?

>>6109024
>who is to say Lockhart didn't end up with a shard of Merlin in him when he was still retarded?
maybe we could test that? perhaps Helga could stare into his eyes and if she feels anything, that would be a clear indication

>>6109033
>would we be comfortable trusting the Ministry with that information?

Kind of a toss up. The ministry has given us issues. Ron distracted us while his Aurors planted tracking bugs on us. Several of Hermione's rouge Aruors were trying to abduct and torture us. We, IC, know Crouch had help to escape and possibly be able to impersonate Robard. At the same time, Hermione trusted us with the knowledge of what really happened to the Dementors and Voldemort; the dementor thing was explicitly stated to be beyond top secret, and I am sure that the Voldy one is even higher. Has promised us battle training and to pay for Occulemency lessons. Had a strike team, 4 technically, take down Crouch who is about the second-strongest person we faced, even with a fucked up wand.

We only have so many resources as a 16-year-old boy. We know Potter is fucking with things he should not be, even if I have no clue how he will mess with the Cup of Promises when four of the greatest wizards of all time which could use Ancient Magic were not able to destroy or neutralize it. We just saw, if we believe, Lockhart is some weird variation of a seer and that we will be going to Atlantis to fight the strongest wizard alive and need to deal with the Merlin-Beast. Think we need all the options we can get, all the info. And I did make it clear that Lockhart shouldn't be abducted in my idea. That him being here and in this state of mind is likely important.

>>6109042
I think it only works with the spirits of the Founders but she could try when she is done with Raven; she is our expert on prophesy crap.

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I wonder if when we head back to Hogwarts, regardless of how this choice pans out if we should go try to have a chat with McGonagall. She was extremely regretful that we had to deal with all this BS that lead to Avalon, was implied to be so distraught she let the poly juiced Crouch into her school to the point Hermione though she might resign. We haven't had terribly many interactions with her, but she did help take down Salazar's men, protected us. Let her know she is doing a good job with a crisis which makes Voldemort look cute. She will be a powerful ally in the coming fight and is one of the most skilled witches around, lived through 3 different wars. Recommend instituting battle class once more to help with what is coming. She might not want children to have to fight but I don't think we will have a choice.

OP?

>>6110367
You filled my heart with joy at the little icon on 4ChanX turning robin's egg blue than ripped it away when it wasn't a new update.

>>6110367
It’s only been two days. He’s probably fine, give him time.

>>6110385
You should have suspected when there was only one post, anon, as I am chronically unable to write short posts. We could probably count the number of single-post updates in this quest in a single hand.

>>6110406
What? Shit, I could swear it was one and a half days ago, not two. Time is fucking bulshit.


--

You breathe deeply and pull out the coin Granger gifted you, tapping it with your wand. You don’t like doing it, but you can’t simply not follow up with the possibility of a seer on a sea of blind prophets.

“No rush. Entrance to Janus Thickey Ward. I may have a working seer.”

It takes one and a half minutes by the clock on the wall for the Minister’s husband to appear climbing up the stairs.

“You know our agenda for the day is already full, right?” Ron asks.

“Seers deal with important moments in time. This is a pretty important moment and this is an important place. I wouldn’t say this is exactly unexpected.”

“Every day and place is important to someone, kid.”

“Yeah, but not everyone is holding Excalibur.”

“Fair enough. So, who is it?”

“A patient from this ward. One that shouldn’t be disturbed, or taken to the Unspeakables to have his brain prodded.”

“I don’t think this is your decision to make, Elliot. The situation you’ve told us is dire, if he can-”

“He’s a man that needs his rest. That needs to be cared for the way a healer cares for their patients, not the way a government cares for its people.” You look at him disapprovingly. “I know you once placed tracking bugs on me. I have not forgotten that.”

“One of the most Ancient and fundamental pieces of our magical system had come to a sudden halt, and we believed you were at the center of it. Can you blame us?”

“Yes, I can. You did it For the Greater Good, after all. Your brother attacked me and my friends for the same reason.”

Ronald Weasley examines you from head to toe looking impressed, even if offended.

“Harry taught you well.”

“Mom and dad, actually. History and Law churn out one hell of a combination.”

He sighs. “Look, I can’t tell you what Mione is going to do. I don’t know what her plans are, or what she’ll find necessary to do.”

“Then tell her that his powers, if that’s what they really are, only work because he is where he is. Above Avalon, in a place of quiet and peace. You break that, you break into his mind, he can lose that power. A few new visitors, at most, and a few extra guards.”

“Is that true?”

“I told you it is.”

He shakes his head, but he is smiling.

“Very well.”

You pull Excalibur off its sheath and hold it with the hilt turned towards him.

“Swear it. On Excalibur.”

“Is this one of those cursed artifacts where if I’m lying it will chop off my head?”

“Are you someone for whom the answer would make a difference?”

The grin turns into a smile.

[Cont.]

>>6110463

“That part was definitely Harry.”

“Nope, sorry. Still mom and dad.”

He holds onto the hilt of Excalibur.

“I promise to do my best that your seer is not hurt.”

You put the sword back where it belongs.

“It will remember that.”

“And so will I. Now, who is it?”

You start walking and he follows.

“Your old teacher.”

He stops.

“What!?”

--

You look through the paintings and they all have an obvious subject. The central piece is always Lockhart, with small differences, doing many different things, clearly as the stand-in for whomever was the actual subject of the painting. There are two main groups of paintings, that you can see. Some are of strange adventures that you remember reading had actually involved him, back when he was still healthy. Others where from normal scenes from the hospital, people watching the roads below, people at the cafe, people mourning patients.

Only one catches your attention.

A blond man and someone else, opening a door into a great emerald flame, the date scribbled in the back not too long before you had first discovered the entrance to Avalon.

Ron awkwardly chats with him, and once you’re certain he won’t kidnap him or something, you ask Lockhart if he could please make a picture for you much like he’d done for his other fan, to which he eagerly agrees, then leave them be. When you return to Linda’s room, you find her peacefully sleeping in her bed.

“Hey,” Helga says, adjusting her glasses as she stands up from where she was sitting. “You look strange. Any news?”

“Uh… You could say that.”

It is a few minutes later and you’re once again saying goodbye to Lockhart.

“No, I couldn’t feel anything on him. And paintings… that doesn’t seem very seer-like.”

“Neither was what you did.”

“But I had the power of Merlin.”

“He has the power of Art.”

She squints at you.

“Fine,” you say, surrendering. “If not a seer, then what?”

“I don’t know. You know who he reminded me of? That blond woman from Slughorn’s party.”

“Ms. Lovegood? They look nothing alike.”

“No, not that. Just… Something about them.”

“Well, they do say her nickname in school was Looney.”

“Now that’s just rude.”

--

You and Helga sleep at St. Mungo’s on a side bed, and when you wake up early you pass by Lockhart to see he is still where he belongs, though now there are at least two new patients and two nurses you hadn’t seen before, all who carefully watch you as you walk by. Satisfied he was both there and safe with the Ministry’s new guards, you make your way out the front door, then run to the nearest market.

You are there before Linda wakes up.

“Hey,” she says, stretching. You notice she doesn’t have bags under her eyes for the first time in a while. “How long was I out?”

[Cont.]

>>6110468

“Twelve hours or so. Breakfast?”

“That is a tub of ice cream.”

“Incorrect. That is a tub of muggle ice cream, filled with awfully unhealthy and tasty things magic never managed to replicate.” You nod towards Helga, who is collapsed on a couch, mouth covered in chocolate, asleep and hugging a half-eaten tub of her own. “She got a headstart on us while still half-asleep, can you believe that?”

“I don’t blame her.” She takes the 1 liter pot of ice cream and shoves an enormous spoonful in her mouth. “-ank -ou.”

“You’re welcome. Treat this as my apology for putting you into the shittiest situations known to man. And I am sorry, Linda. I should have been a better friend.”

Finishes chewing on her ice cream and swallows, then looks into the distance.

“You could have.”

You raise an eyebrow.

“I mean, I agree and you are within your right to say it, but I admit I wasn’t expecting you to do so."

She laughs. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, you could have been a better friend but… That would have taken you reading my mind, which seems inappropriate.”

“I should have seen-”

“Bulshit. And you know it. I didn’t say anything.”

“You shouldn’t have to. I wasn’t there for you as much as you were for me. I have Arty to keep me company and…”

And you have me. That’s what you think, but don’t say. The flow of friendship of her with Arty, Apollo, Helga, even Brighton, goes through you. Even the Raiders, it was through you. When you weren’t there for her, she and the others didn’t exactly bond. When Taylor was alive you three were there for each other, and that was enough. Now…

“And I can get lost in my own bullshit.”

“You are trying to save the world.”

“That’s a nice excuse for me to use with someone I don’t care about as much as I care about you. But I can’t say that. You were fraying and I didn’t notice, and even after Avalon I got too excited about owning Excalibur to do something about it. When you asked us to do something, I made a party about me being king.”

“Yeah, that was a little insensitive,” she agrees, shoveling more ice cream on her mouth.

“So I promise I’ll be a better friend. And when Helga wakes up I’ll give her permission to hex me if I’m not.”

“Ohh, can I choose the hex?”

“As long as we learned it before fifth year, yes.”

“Ahhhh, but those are the most fun ones!”

Linda is released in the afternoon, and you return through the Floo. McGonagall meets you in her room, and apologizes for allowing it to happen under her care.

[Cont.]

>>6110470

“I've offered to release my seat, but the Minister insisted we couldn’t afford to have an untested Headmaster at times like this,” she says bitterly. “So, against my wishes, I shall remain.”

“Headmistress, I will have you know that those were my charms he bypassed,” Helga says, and for a moment, somehow, you can swear Helga is the tallest of the two. “I have failed far more and far more profusely than you, when I was far more powerful. I have watched you lead this school. To be the Head of Hogwarts is to be in the highest position of failure. It is inevitable. You shall fail again and again, because evil dislikes the good we do here, and it is as clever and inventive as we are. But you, Minerva McGonagal, above all else and all others, have fixed the rot that plagued Slytherin since my friend created it, a house that produced someone that saved the world twice instead of putting it in danger. You are doing a fine job.”

And when you leave her office, the Headmistress holds her head just a tiny bit higher.

--

As soon as you arrive in the dungeons, Arty is there to greet you.

“Finally! Don’t you know it’s impolite to make a girl wait?” She asks with mock annoyance. “Come on!”

She pulls you three throughout the castle, refusing to explain what is going on until you reach Charms.

“Excuse me, professor. Can I have Brighton and the Notts, please? The Headmistress requested it.”

Brighton leaves the class looking annoyed.

“You know, you don’t need me for this.”

“Shush, you’re part of this now.”

Another stop at History of Magic to pick up Apollo, then another by the Gryffindor Common Room to pick up Riley, for some reason. Then she drags the small entourage of people all the way to Hogsmead, then to the Hog’s Head Inn, through the fireplace, until finally-

“Here we are! Diagon Alley!” She says, cheery.

“And what are we doing here again?” Winter Nott asks, clearly confused from being here with this particular group of people.

“We are having a girls’ day.”

“And, uh, what’s girl’s day?” Asks Summer.

“Muggle tradition! It’s when we go out shopping for clothes and they carry the bags behind us while we go on to buy more things. Elliot’s mom told me all about it when I spent Christmas at his house!”

“Elliot has his Pouch, we don’t need to carry things,” Apollo offers.

“Not the point! Elliot can pay for me and Helga and Linda, Brighton can pay for Winter and Summer and you,” she tosses Apollo a bag of coins. “Can pay for Riley!”

“That sounds wonderful!” Riley says, ecstatic for being included and as Apollo’s… girlfriend? Girl friend? Payee? She clearly isn’t really sure what she is, but given the involvement of the Hog’s Head floo powder, it is clear she was involved in organizing this.

“Good! Then let’s go!”

[Cont.]

>>6110471

You eventually manage to pull Arty aside.

“Are you trying to burn through my allowance? And also, I thought you didn’t like me paying for your stuff!”

“Well, I don’t, but it does make me feel loved, so I figured it would be good for Linda too. And for Helga, because she only has normal school robes to wear unless I lend her some things. And I think it would make them uncomfortable if I didn’t buy anything with them. Besides, if you’re that worried about money, you coul take a part-time job! I hear there is this great place in Hogsmeade that might hire someone to be the subordinate of their part-time waitress.”

“You’re terrible, did you know that?”

“Does that mean you’re not paying for our stuff?” She asks, with the biggest puppy eyes you’ve seen.

You can’t help but groan as your galleons hurt.

“Fine. But I’ll remember this, and one day, when we become rich from the royalties of our adventures, I’ll spend your half of the fortune.”

“Deal!” And she turns to the two girls looking at her without knowing how to proceed, and to Helga who is hiding a snicker from knowing you brought this upon yourself, and Linda who is just plain amused, and shouts “Now, as I was saying... Let’s go!”

And so, you spend the rest of your afternoon, carrying bags upon bags of stuff.

You probably don’t have anything you’ll be able to actively buy with the cost of three girls upon your allowance, but is there anything you want to do while you’re at the Diagon Alley?

> Try to hear what people say about the Boy Who Holds Excalibur
> Check if the news of Crouch’s death has arrived, and how the Daily Prophet has spun it
> Window-shop something in specific for you (What?)
> Try to get some specific item for Arty, Helga or Linda (What?)

>>6110472
>Check if the news of Crouch’s death has arrived, and how the Daily Prophet has spun it.
As much as i want to buy the girls something, hearing what the government and media says about crouch feels like a priority to me, im like 95% sure he IS dead, but i want that 100...

>>6110472
> Check if the news of Crouch’s death has arrived, and how the Daily Prophet has spun it

>>6110472
>> Window-shop something in specific for you (Shield Hat from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes)
Gotta prepare for that hex from Helga

>>6110472
> Check if the news of Crouch’s death has arrived, and how the Daily Prophet has spun it

>>6110482
She had 3 strike teams of magic special forces hit him all at once. Only way I could see that him being alive is via Horcrux or the 91 we got sill not being enough and alive is being apparated by Winky and leaving a double, but after he died he should have reverted to his true form. He might have recruited some people, old Death Eaters or Neilla, however.

>>6110472
How many can we do. I mean window shopping is kind of passive, feels like it should almost be a free action.

Will decide after.

A protego hat that looks like Indian Jones would be based as fuck...

I do want to help get stuff for Helga, maybe a small hair clip for Arty, something cheap but nice for Linda.

Will think.

Also, it was stated Helga wants to grow her hair out. Aren't there specific spells or potions that would let her just do that instantlt.

If we split up, we also need a code word to ensure no one was polyjuiced or something while not around us. "Cailiburn" or something.

>>6110472
>Check if the news of Crouch’s death has arrived, and how the Daily Prophet has spun it.
also backing >>6110510

>>6110509
>I mean window shopping is kind of passive, feels like it should almost be a free action.
I think it's less about how many actions it takes and more about where QM focuses his writing.

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>>6110472
> Window-shop something in specific for you (What?)

Leather hat, Indiana Jones style with a Protego Charm on it.

>>6110920
Or I guess felt, W/E

hey, HeadQM, i was working on my next update for my own quest when i noticed something, i saw what you did when you described the Slug Club a few threads back, you cheeky, sneaky boy.

>>6111089
Please spoil it.

>>6111098
no spoilers, if you notice it, you´ll know

>>6111089

Thanks for noticing! Unless you're talking about how I took the description of the party's location directly from the book, I have no idea what you mean since it has been, like, an age since I wrote that and a lot of this is written at 3am in a haze. I forget a LOT of stuff from what I write, believe it or not, which is why rereading some of my old posts often amuses me.

--

It is strange seeing the six girls mingle like that. You can see both Helga and Arty are going their best to include all the others, pulling them into conversations and laughing at their jokes. Some of them switched clothes a few times, preferring to leave their school robes in the bags to enjoy the walk better. More than once you catch yourself just watching your girlfriend talk and comment on the clothes they’re looking at, and wondering how lucky you had been to find her.

And in the times she catches you looking at her, she no longer blushes like you’re sure she’d have done a few months ago. Instead she gives you the sweetest of smiles before getting back into her conversation.

“So, what is her to you?” Brighton asks as the girls go into the fifth store in a row, but he isn’t asking you.

“Huh?” Apollo asks, surprised.

“I mean, your sister, her clone and Linda are Hallaster’s girlfriend, bodyguard and friend, respectively and the seasons are my friends. I get how we were suckered into paying for their crap. What does Riley got on you?”

Apollo is suddenly extremely uncomfortable.

“Uh… uh- nothing.”

“And this was who everyone was scared of in the battles.” Brighton shakes his head, putting down one of the many bags he’s carrying. “Come on, you’ve been staring at her ass ever since she got out of robes and into pants and the only reason she didn’t notice it is because your sister is a saint and kept on distracting her.”

You don’t think you have ever seen Apollo blush before, but now you realize it is disturbingly similar to Arty.

“I- I didn’t- I wasn’t-” He tries speaking, but it is like he’s trying to say four things at the same time and none of them quite manage to come out.

“Relax, I’m not going to tell on you,” Brighton scoffs. “Looking only hurts if you’re a basilisk. You won’t be the first or last sixth year to ogle their friend, girlfriend, friends-with-benefits, whatever she is. And it isn’t as if she isn’t into you, every soldier in our armies who isn’t an idiot, and so by that I mean me and at most five other people in a count that obviously doesn’t include Hallaster, could see she’d be in your lap if you gave her even a hint of a chance.”

Apollo’s blush deepens to unhealthy shades of red, so you decide to intervene.

“Come on, Brighton. Knock it off.”

“What? It’s true. Are you going to tell me that in the last six years not once you looked at Raven’s breasts?”

“Linda,” you correct him.

[Cont.]

>>6111743

“Not in years one through five she wasn’t. And it doesn’t answer the question.”

“Well… Not too often?”

“That’s because you’re an ass man, which is why we’ll be forever enemies.” He speaks without a hit of humor in his voice, “And school robes suck for looking at ladies from the back. If they didn’t, you’d have done it all the time.”

You wish you could deny anything Brighton has just said, but if you did, you’d be lying. You are a teenager after all. Fortunately, you’re spared from having to answer by the girls exiting the store and dumping some more stuff in your arms. You walk without speaking until they find another store and enter.

To your surprise, it is Apollo who breaks the silence.

“It was… the legs.”

“What?”

“I was looking at… her legs.”

You look at Apollo with something akin to shock.

“Ha! Told you, Hallaster! I knew you weren't dead inside. Now you just have to stop being an idiot and go tell her that she has nice legs."

"That... That's not how it works."

"Why, have you done it before?" Brighton asks and Apollo shakes his head. "Then all you have to do is wait until today is over, offer to take her to her common room, and during the walk you ask her if she doesn’t want to go for a walk by the lake tomorrow or some other stupid shit."

Apollo seems to struggle to find an answer. “But if I ask to take her to her common room… Everyone will know why.”

Brighton makes a point of putting down his bags just so he can bury his face in his hands. “Bloody hell, you’re hopeless. Hallaster, don’t you have some Slytherin duty to help your brother-in-law or something?”

“I believe in letting people go at their own rhythm, Brighton.”

“His rhythm is slower than a bloody tectonic plate!” he says, exasperated.“Look, if you don’t want to ask her out, then toss a piece of paper in one of the bags asking her out. No need to do it face to face, just pretend you’re twelve or something.”

“But what if she doesn't see the paper-”

“Hallaster, you better hold me back or I’m going to slap him.”

--

[Cont.]

>>6111745

Once Brighton tires himself of trying to play wingman to Apollo and the girls are all shopped-out, the nine of you go for an early dinner at the Leaky Cauldron, where you finally manage to get your hands on a copy of the Daily Prophet. There, in big, bold letters, is the headline: “Kim and the Vamps Split Up!” And then several paragraphs about the apparently famous band breaking up.

Uh, right. The Ministry was competent.

You finally find what you’re looking for on page three, where a piece is talking about how Peeves had caused a small section of Hogwarts to be cordoned off for the afternoon after he covered it in ectoplasm in response to the new Defense teacher trying to shoo him away. The ectoplasm had confounded the paintings and made them go off telling all sorts of wild stories, along with causing many other phantasmagorical effects. The article goes on to mention the varied responses to it, from people shrugging it off to people saying how Peeves was a menace and listing all the horrible things he’d done, from tormenting members of the staff, students, defying orders, disrupting classes and even causing a caretaker to lose his foot once.

There is no mention of Crouch, and even Robards is only mentioned in passing.

It seems the Ministry is going to pretend Crouch has been dead since, well, since he’s supposed to be dead, over twenty years ago. As for Robards… Either they find him or they'll need to come with a very good excuse as to why he vanished.

When you put the newspaper down, you are surprised to see Linda laughing. Not the cold laugh of Raven, nor the controlled laugh of when she gives far too much information of what she has on her second suitcase. No, it is a true, table-pounding, belly-clutching, tear-jerking guffaw.

Arty is fuming, so you have no doubt the joke is on her.

“Alright, what did I miss?”

“Your- You- She’s a fucking-” Linda tries, but the laugh takes her again and she can’t continue.

“She’s being dumb! It’s not that funny, and it isn’t even true!”

“Well,” Helga says, cleaning her glasses. “It is a bit funny.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Well, there was a dwarf here just now, the magical kind not the muggle kind, and we started talking about them, and then Linda started talking about muggle dwarves, and then she recalled the muggle legal definition of a dwarf which is anyone below four foot ten…” Helga starts, then trails off, sounding a little embarrassed.

Arty was, as far as you know, and you know it pretty well because you had literally recreated her body, 4 feet and 8 inches tall. Which means…

“You’re dating a fucking dwarf!” Linda shouts before losing herself in laughter again. “I’m- I’m going to- to buy her a fucking-” she tries speaking, but the work “pickaxe” is barely audible through her laugh and ragged breathing, as are her calls of “diggy-diggy hole”.

Well, at least she is laughing again.

--

[Cont.]

>>6111746

Through the weekend and over the next few days, you see your friend get better. You had been helped by Arty, Helga and the others, and now they’re also helping her. It feels right. You receive toe-ring portkeys from Hermione, but there is still no mention of Robards or a new Defense or Battle teacher. Robards classes are canceled “for personal reasons”, and that is all the school is told.

But you still have other classes, and some free time (Pick 2):

> Study your Potion books (+2 to Potions)
> Study with Linda, Arty, Apollo, Brighton or Helga (pick one, +2 to chosen person’s expertise)
> Study another subject (+1 to another subject)
> Research other ancient magical cities
> Research a new topic (What?)
> Talk to the Pertingers about their childhood (How?)
> Other (Write in)

>>6111746
>causing a caretaker to lose his foot once

Heh.

Great update. I love it. Brighton being a prat but a fun one is great. I must now write a non canon sequel, Apollo and Riley exchanging Valentines.

>>6111748
> Other (Write in)

>Establish your own Battle/Dueling class and or club. Maybe with Flitwick's help

> Study with Linda, Arty, Apollo, Brighton or Helga (pick one, +2 to chosen person’s expertise)

>Linda

>>6111743
>spoiler
yeah, i was talking about how you took Slughorn´s description of the club´s straight from the book, dont feel bad tho, i did the exact same thing before i decided to take a look to that previous post and notice we did the exact same thing.

>>6111746
>Caretaker reference
HOLY SHIT! you have made my night HeadQM! thanks!
also, voting to buy Arty a lawn gnome outfit for Halloween

>>6111748
>supporting >>6111772 idea of battle clases
and
>Other (Write in): A combination of Linda´s expertise and Ancient cities, perhaps there is mention of another magical city that muggles managed to get their hands on, if they did, then its probably easier to access than magical (most likely) forbiden tomes about such ancient places

>>6111776
>also, voting to buy Arty a lawn gnome outfit for Halloween

NO! We must get her a "sexy muggle witch" one. I will accept no less.

>Brighton is a Tits man
Ravenclaw truly is for intellectuals.

>>6111772
supporting

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>>6111784
Ass is class my may man. Brighton is basic as fuck.

Good to hear 2020s kids still know their bangers

>>6111772
Supportan

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>>6111794
>Ass is class

>>6111745
>“It was… the legs.”
>“What?”
>“I was looking at… her legs.”
MY MAN

>>6111772
+1

>>6111781
Agreed

>>6111794
>“And school robes suck for looking at ladies from the back. If they didn’t, you’d have done it all the time.”
Are you saying he's wrong? Because he's right

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>>6112133
Brighton can be a cunt, but he is, deep down, a man of class and taste. Butt and legs are kino, great, the best. When we gave Arty another inch, I can only hope that is where it went.

>>6111794
This was a joke, really. A nice ass beats nice boobs any day of the week.

>>6112138
I appreciate a nice ass, but tits... something about them gets me GOIN.

>>6111748
>Study with Apollo
Also help him with his girl troubles.
> Study your Potion books (+2 to Potions)
Are we up to speed with our pre-braindrained self yet? Got to get back to that level, at least.

>>6112185
Sure, but someone with a ton of other things and no ass?

The blackboard is filled with notes and explanations that make you feel stupid. It is not a pleasant feeling to see just how much you don’t actually know about the things you thought you knew. You know the general idea, of course, but the actual equations are something else entirely.

“So then the radio picks up radio waves,” Helga says. She’d been the one who had asked for a class on muggles, and you decided to accompany her.

“Yes,” Linda agrees, your teacher for the day.

“Yeah, that’s one thing I never understood,” Arty says. “Why can’t we hear it?”

“[i]What?[/i]”

“I mean, the waves are already arriving at the radio, so why do we need the radio to hear them?”

“No, sound waves are different from radio waves.”

“But we can hear them.”

“No, the [i]radio [/i]can receive the radio waves, and then transform them into sound waves.”

“And what are the radio waves, then?”

“Light. Light that we can’t see.”

“Didn’t you say that that causes diseases?”

“Well, depends on the [i]frequency[/i] and [i]wavelength[/i]” she underlines two particular terms in an equation that you already forgot the meaning of, “of the light. Depends of how much energy it is carrying.”

“Does that mean we could just… create a radio channel with [i]Lumos[/i]?”

“No, Lumos only produces visible light, and I don’t think any wizard got to both know enough about light and that was good enough with spells to make one. At least I don’t think anyone did. Having a Give Cancer spell would be terrifying. Also, you’d need to change the signal fast enough and in the right way for the radio to understand, otherwise you’d only get static.”

“Well, we could try transfiguring something into light to-”

“[i]No![/i]” You shout immediately, and loud enough that all three stop and look at you. “I… uh, I can’t [i]begin [/i]to explain why that would be a terrible, horrible and potentially world ending idea, if you somehow managed to do it. Just don’t transfigure anything into light, or anything else that Linda tells you about. Like, ever.”

Linda scratches her head. “What would happen if I transfigured something into a piece of radioactive uranium?”

“Don’t. Don’t go there. Don’t talk about that. Don’t ever mention that to anyone, ever. McGonagall would kick you out of Hogwarts for even thinking about it.”

“Why?” Arty asks. “What’s so bad about it?”

That launches Linda into another series of explanations about atomic cores and radiation.

“So the core of the atom breaks and sends out one of these small particles off, at high speeds and frequencies,” she explains.

“And [i]that’s [/i]what causes disease!” Helga says.

“Yeah. Imagine that each of these is a little rock. One little rock is fine. A hundred million billion rocks hitting you per second, getting lodged in you. And then each of those is actually a part of something transfigured, which will then untransfigure…”

“Oh. So, bad?”

[Cont.]

>>6113122

“[i]Bad[/i]. Like transfiguring things into wood, burning it and smelling the smoke, but much, [i]much[/i] worse.” Linda puts down the chalk. “Huh. Now I can see how stopping the end of the world could be a problem. I mean, you had said so back in Avalon but…”

“Yep,” you agree casually. “Take a boulder, transfigure it into several pieces of uranium, then spread those pieces by Diagon Alley and by the time your transfiguration runs out, you’ll have exterminated most of the British magical population. And yourself, of course. Which sometimes I think might be for the best, given how often wizards have almost destroyed the world.”

“Elliot, you can’t mean that!” Helga says.

“Well, no,” you admit. “Magic is fun. But it needs safety regulations so a first year can’t accidentally implode Britain.”

“Well, then let’s make that your first task for today,” Linda says. “Come up with as many ways of destroying the world as you can, not worrying if you survive. Bonus points if it doesn’t use transfiguration.”

“That is [i]awful![/i]”

“Your teacher is a Slytherin, deal with it.”

She leaves the two Pertingers to write their list of Doom and comes sit by you.

“I suck as a teacher.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You were dozing off when I was explaining the formulas.”

“I… had a rough night?”

She simply glares at you.

“Alright, fine, I was. But it was [i]maths[/i]! My dad’s a history teacher, my mom is a lawyer and I’m a potion-maker! The most math any of us do is cross multiplication to know how much of an ingredient to add to the cauldron when trying to poison seven people instead of the usual five!”

“Fine, I’m going to pretend I buy it.” She says, but she’s smiling. You sit in silence for a while before she speaks again. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?”

“Girl’s day. I know that wasn’t cheap.”

“You should thank Arty. She’s the one who came up with it.”

“And you told her to.”

“Maybe. Figured you needed something to cheer you up after everything. Did it help?”

“It did. It really did.” She grins. “I’m not the girliest of girls, but it is good to be pampered once in a while. Remind me to do that to you, some day.”

“How about this Easter? You could spend it back home.”

“Nah. I should be with mom and Baubau.”

“You know you won’t be able to call her that anymore once she gets in, right? Unless you want everyone to mock her.”

“I’ll hex them if they do.”

“Only for her first year. Next year is our last, remember?”

“And by then I’ll have taught her how to hex other people.”

“Or you could just start calling her Beatrice.”

“Nope. And you don’t get to tell me how to treat my sister, Mr. Single Child.”

You raise your hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. But are you sure? If you need to spend free time with people that you can talk to, my house is open.”

[Cont.]

>>6113124

“I don’t think you have enough spare beds for everyone.”

“You could sleep on the couch.”

“[i]You[/i] could sleep on the couch, and you know very well that’s what Helen would make you do.”

“That she would.”

“So I’m saving you a couple of weeks of your back hurting. You’re welcome.”

You wrap your arms around her into a hug.

“What is this for?”

“For getting hexed because of me.”

“Alright, I won’t complain.” Then, after a moment of silence, “You know I’m still not paying you back the money you spent on clothes for me, right?”

“Never crossed my mind.”

--

You approach Flitwick once more at the end of his class.

“So, ah, Professor. About my idea from last week…”

Flitwick takes a deep, exhausted sigh. There is no official new Deputy Headmaster yet, but you’ve heard that he’s pretty much the de facto owner of that position now, and to announce him would just be a formality.

“I suppose that idea of aligning it with Robards is no longer on the table now, huh?” He asks, with a small, awkward laughter that soon fades. “Right. As you no doubt suspect, young Elliot, the teachers are fairly occupied right now, working double time to ensure our students are not harmed by, well, the current crisis.”

“Is there anything else going on, Professor?”

“You mean besides our old Deputy Headmaster vanishing and…” He trails off as he realizes he’s getting on to subjects you might not know.

“And stealing the Goblet of Fire.”

“Ah, you were informed. Yes, that. We’ve been collaborating with Ministry and the French to try and find him without letting the world know what is going on, which is causing strain between the governments. It is… problematic, and a lot of us have been working fairly hard to ensure it doesn't escalate, most of us without knowing the full story, I might add.”

“The Bulgarians noticed something was off, because of course they did,” he continues, “and are trying to poke around to understand what exactly is happening. Not only that but other governments around the world are finally stopping to pay attention to what is going on here, since they are all trying to find out why their Seers are no longer seeing anything. Since magical schools happen to be political bodies of some import with usually level-headed minds, we are spending considerable time negotiating with our fellow international teachers to try to convince them to keep their governments calm. I have been sending owls to Castelobruxo and Mahoutokoro for several days now. However, eyes are turning towards us, young Elliot.”

“I… I see, Professor. I didn’t know the situation had escalated to that.”

“You will find that things can develop rather quickly when rulers believe themselves threatened. I was hoping Robards would be able to alleviate this need, with his time in the government. I no longer know if that will be possible.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

[Cont.]

>>6113127

But there is a renewed sparkle in his eyes.

“Ah, but I did not say that it wouldn’t happen, young Elliot. However, it might be slightly more work than planned. Or, more work for you, I should say.”

“Professor?”

“Well, everyone starts teaching somewhere. Harry Potter started teaching right here, in this school, and he was just a year younger than you.”

“Wait, are you suggesting… That I take care of the Duelling Club?”

“Why not? You are young, clever, and have shown yourself to be capable in front of your peers. Having Excalibur at your hip also helps, I believe. Not every effort needs to be a school-wide event that every student will attend. You can start small, grow as you find more interested parties. I have no doubt it will eat into your free time but I am sure that you can manage. Besides, you’ll have just two more weeks before Easter vacations, then just a month before the end of the school year. If you don’t like it, you can simply not restart it next year.”

“Are you sure about this, professor?”

“Plenty sure. I can help you with finding a room, talking to the house-elves to set you up and spreading the news. The only thing that I ask, if you decide to do this, is that you do it well. Do it to the end, and do not leave your colleagues waiting for new classes that will not happen. It is a big responsibility, and I expect you to treat it as such, if you choose to go through with it. So, what do you say?”

> Yes, start your own Battle Class (Lose one action every school week)
> No, you have other things to do and research. Keep your free time.

>>6113128
oh man...this is a tough one...
but i think increasing our battle rolls have never NOT been a bad thing, we´ve been using it a lot in the last big event anyway
>Yes, start your own Battle Class (Lose one action every school week)

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>>6113128
> Yes, start your own Battle Class (Lose one action every school week)

Fuck it, we ball. Arty and ourselves are likely the best students in the school at battle magic now. Need to ask her if she will help teach.

>>6113128
> Yes, start your own Battle Class (Lose one action every school week)
LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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So if the yea's take the vote which I predict they will, how are we going to do this thing? Formal dueling? Try and recreate Potter's organized wizard street fights? Crouch style boot camp?

The last would probably get the best result but we might have a bunch of people drop out and it would be kinda fucked to put the younger students through training like that.

>>6113200
I propose a divided system, with people signing up for whichever tier they wish.
Division 1 - Formal Dueling. Exactly as Flitwick taught. Bowing, preparing, fighting on the mark.
Division 2 - Obscured Dueling. The participants are dropped into their duels in a dungeon arena, with no clue as to who their opponent is or where they currently are within the arena. They still know they're there for a duel, and when it will happen.
Division 3 - Sudden Dueling. The participants agree to be either knocked out or temporarily obliviated prior to their duel, and are placed in the arena. This will happen at some point outside of classes, but they have no idea when.
Division 4 - Asymmetrical Dueling. The participants agree to unfair terms, giving either themselves or their opponent an advantage over the other. They do not know what this advantage is - one could be wandless, one could have a fresh supply of potions, one could be obliviated but the other not, one could have manacles locked to their wrists, one could have backup in the form of another duelist, etcetera.
Division 5 - Unarmed Dueling. Otherwise known as the Muggle Bracket. No party has any equipment other than their robes. Wandless magic is permitted, but you must otherwise get creative.

You can sign up for all of the brackets if you're hungry for duels, or just one if you have a specific style of duel you prefer. Obviously, signing up for all of them would mean you'd get selected a lot more often since you're in every pool for matchups. Since it's a choose-your-own-poison kind of deal, dropouts are unlikely compared to just switching to a different division.

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>>6113240
Some of those seem like decent ideas to expand people's skills. No obliviation though. We aren't good at it and Elliot specifically hates magic which alters the mind per his description in the King of /qst/ tourney. Also the shit with him getting zapped by Lily, mind raped by Potter, his best friend being mind raped by Crouch, seeing what happened to Lockhart, ect.

I would recommend kind of a "boot camp" for students who want to learn but weren't part of the armies. Basic aiming, teaching useful efficient spells to younger students, how to break a grapple and toss a punch. Could have Arty teach that part, since she is very skilled and knows how to work with less; might help younger, weaker students. She was the one who accidentally brought a dozen Hufflepuffs to train with us and Lily.

Then have an advanced course that us and maybe Linda or Brighton teach. Teach some of the survivability tricks we learned from Crouch, dirty fighting, using stuff like potions or plants, Linda teaching small unit tactics. Have just formal dueling too for people who just enjoy that. Do the stuff with unfair odds, or suddenly having to defend, ect. Maybe work on practicing some sword fighting along with using a wand, mage knight style.

We are doing this to buff ourselves, Arty, our allies but also to pick up where Potter left off; build armies since he is on the loose and ArthurZar/ the Beast will be coming back. We need to make soldiers because whether Hermione likes it or not, this is probably going to end up being an all hands on deck situation. Salazar probably will want "his" school back after all.

Took entirely too long to write that due to my stupid fucking scaphoid fracture. Fucking cows.

>>6113274
I think it's fine to use Obliviate if it's with explicit permission to do so. You'd be hard-pressed to find a way to better prepare someone for sudden, unexpected battles.
Besides, I mean, if he's fine with his occlumency trainer obliviating herself every time they meet, it really should be fine. There's a BIG difference between "Some asshole randomly obliviated me" and "I signed up to be obliviated". As a bonus, it might actually help some students recover quicker from or resist obliviation over time.

>>6113288
IDK, seems like it would be kinda out of character and we have been specifically told we are not good with that spell, not enough to target specific memories or such. I guess if people are willing to risk forgetting how to tie their shoes from a bad obliviate, W/E.

If we really want to put our soldiers that is what they are in bad situations we can use the confudus charm, a befuddling potion and have them fight while loopy. Have the ones who know non-verbal spell casting fight after getting hit with a langlock. Use impedimenta on the wand arm and have them face younger, weaker students. I mean, we have options on training them to overcome bad odds. At the very least we should also make sure everyone we teach can make a decent erumpent, girding, wiggenweld, and alchemist's flashbang as well. Teach our secret sauce version of the erumpent, perhaps.

>>6113128
> Yes, start your own Battle Class (Lose one action every school week)

Also, could we maybe at some point talk with Flitwick about his experience as half human and half long-lived super-magical demihuman? Goblins aren't exactly Atlanteans, but maybe he can give us some insight into Merlin's mindset...

>>6113288
I'd say obliviation of any kind against students, even if consenting, would be against school rules. It is fine for experienced adults who are specialists at mind magic and know what they're doing, but there is no way McGonagall would allow that.

Also, RIP Maggie Smith, one badass old lady.

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>>6113328

RIP

Press F to pay respect.

I think the guy who played the second Dumble died last fall as well.

Mad respect for Maggie, filmed the last or second to last movie while dealing with breast cancer as I recall.

https://youtu.be/2Tpb1XyqGOQ?si=9URmlmSVnTOWWsSR

>>6113128
> Yes, start your own Battle Class (Lose one action every school week)
Hell yeah.

Kind of had another idea we could try to teach: casting with another person's wand. We were just in that situation after all and Crouch used his ability to do so to great effect. We could also see if there are any of the gimped wands we could have, so the stronger people, us and our allies can practice with weaker students at their level. Could also help us just get better. Arty is so strong now in part because she had to learn to work with limited power after all.

By the end of the week you have everything set up. Flitwick helps you with the details, setting up the room and the areas you ask of him, and soon you have everything ready. You won’t be able to recreate the insanities that were Potter’s classes, most of all without a time-turner to ensure everyone’s safety, but it is a good start.

“You’re crazy if you think you’re roping me into this one, Hallaster,” Brighton says once you mention the dueling club as you catch him between classes. He doesn’t stop walking to whatever class he has, forcing you to chase him.

“Come on, Brighton. It isn’t something I can do alone. I managed to convince Linda and Arty to help, and Apollo is thinking about it. With Godric in your head, you’d be a great teacher.”

“Godric taught Herbology, not Defense.”

“And he was the most skilled fighter of all four Founders. I’m sure he could teach us a lesson or two.”

“Go ask a Seventh Year, I’m sure they could teach much better than me.”

“Yeah, and they have their N.E.W.T.s coming. They’re all studying like hell, they don’t have time to teach us! And besides, school year is almost ending. We have, what, seven weeks left? Try it, if you don’t like it you can drop next year.”

He stops and turns to face you.

“Fine. But I want to tell the Seasons.”

“What?”

“The Notts. I want to tell them everything. They’ve been asking about what is going on, and I can’t keep lying to them.”

“Brighton, they’re not Occlumens. If someone-”

“And all your friends are perfect occlumens? Bullshit. If the situation was the other way around, you’d have already told Cobris and the others. I want to tell them. You want my help with making soldiers, that’s the price.”

You hesitate.

“I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

“You do that. And think about getting Riley into this, too. Once Apollo tells her how nice her legs are, you’re going to have to do it anyway. Best to get ahead of the curve.”

And he runs off to his next class, leaving you thinking about what to do.

--

Friday is a full day, with a double dose of apparition classes for you, Brighton and Linda to give back what you had lost while under arrest for your stunt at Avalon. By the end of the class you are pretty consistently managing to apparate to the circle, though you do leave your pinky-toe behind once.

Still, you’re almost there. Soon, travelling times will be a mere suggestion, at least for places you’ve already been in. You’ll be able to go to classes and be back home in time for dinner, if you want. Theoretically, of course. Apparition does require a license to be performed legally, and you can only get those once you are seventeen. You have no idea how in Merlin’s name they enforce it, but, still. The law exists.

[Cont.]

>>6114335

“Attention students. I regret to inform you all that Professor Robards will not be returning.” McGonagall announces during dinner. “His health had been deteriorating in the past months, and he agreed to join us until the end of the year as a favor. However, it seems his situation has taken a significant downturn and as such he will remain under healer care for the foreseeable future. We are working with the ministry to find an adequate replacement as soon as possible. For Seventh and Fifth years, special classes shall be given so that no harm comes to your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. For all other years, the curriculum and required reading has been posted to your common room’s boards.”

“It does not escape my attention, however, that Potter’s Battle Class has left many students eager for a more practical approach to Defense. As such, we decided to reopen the Duelling Club as a student-led initiative. Elliot Hallaster from Slytherin shall be leading the Duelling Club, which you may participate by signing up on the sheets also in your common room boards. The first meeting of the club will be on Monday.”

There is an immediate explosion of questions from everyone in Slytherin, which you coolly ignore and avoid with a skill mastered when you first showed up with Excalibur on your hip. When Talon, Amalia and Elend corner you after the meal, however, it is difficult to hide anything.

“You know, commander,” Talon says, “When you said you were giving up command of the Raiders for another opportunity, I really didn’t think it would end up with you getting Excalibur and teaching us battle class.”

“You know, Talon… Neither did I,” you agree. “That opportunity I mentioned ended up being quite different from what I expected. But I figure it taught me some new tricks I can share.”

“No doubt about that.”

“I’m not one to question your skill, commander,” Elend says. “But I think you might have bitten more than you can chew. I suspect the entirety of Gryffindor is planning on attending a dueling club led by the Boy Who Holds Excalibur, be him Slytherin or not.”

“I’m sure most of them are just talk, and those who aren’t-”

“Should we prepare, commander?” Amalia interrupts you. She sounds… worried.

“What do you mean?”

She glances around to make sure no one is listening.

“My question is… Why are you doing this? First Potter, now you. It feels… odd.”

Damn ravenclaws.

“It’s just fun, Amalia. We had a good time with the armies, I figured I could make something like it.”

She watches you, as if searching for any signs of a lie. “Really? That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“So, if it is just for fun… You don’t think it would be bad for us, in any way, if we decided to not go to your dueling club?”

You hesitate, for just a split second.

“Well, you’d be less competent in battle.”

[Cont.]

>>6114336

“And do you think there’d be any reason in particular that we should be more competent in battle?”

You sigh. She has already made up her mind. You had forgotten, after all. She was very good in divination, or at least she used to be before it stopped working entirely. If there was anyone who would spot the signs of a fate-altering event in the horizon, it would be her.

“I certainly hope not, Amalia. But there is no way to be sure, is there?”

She nods, her face hard. “No, I don’t think there is. Not anymore. Very well, commander. I shall see you on Monday, then.”

--

“So she knows something’s up?” Arty asks, passing her fingers through your hair as lie on her lap, watching the clouds go by, the Great Lake gently waving nearby.

“She suspects it. I think she finally started noticing divination became even more bullcrap than it already was. I suppose it isn’t as easy to notice when you don’t have the literal Words of Fate coming out of your mouth.”

“Or a Founder in your head?”

“That too.”

You sit in silence and close your eyes as she plays with your hair. You’d done it to her, but never had it done to you. It is surprisingly pleasant and relaxing, and the fact that you have the world’s best pillows also helps.

“So, Riley and Apollo,” you ask.

“What about them?”

“They do look like they want to, you know, become a thing. If not for the fact that…”

“That my brother is utterly inept and she has the initiative of a sack of potatoes?”

“Pretty much.”

“I don’t know. She looks like she’s a good girl, but I can’t really do anything about it, can I?”

“You could go tell her that she has your blessing or something like that. Could help.”

Arty doesn’t answer, so you open your eyes to see her looking at something open-mouthed.

“I… don’t think she needs any help.”

Across the lake, distant from most other students and couples enjoying the sunny day, you see a tall, blond boy walking by the lake’s shore, accompanied by a brown-haired girl with a streak of blonde.

“Well, would you look at that? Brighton was right after all.”

Arty’s eyes narrow.

“I don’t like it.”

“You just said you thought she was a good girl.”

“That was before I caught her with my brother!”

“They’re just having a walk.”

“They’re holding hands!”

“Oh wow, I really hope she remembered to take an anti-pregnancy potion, then.”

“You shut your mouth, Mr. Hallaster!”

You lean up, pull her down and kiss her. It makes both of you quiet for a while, at least until the awkward position forces you to lie back down.

“Don’t think that made me forget about them.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

--

[Cont.]

>>6114337

With your date done and Arty still mumbling something about Riley, you head towards Hogsmeade for your Occlumency classes. But you should probably decide what you’re going to do about Brighton…

> You want Brighton’s help on the Dueling Club. He’s warming up to you (maybe) but still has friends outside your circle. He deserves to be able to tell them, even if that increases the chance of news leaking. The Notts can know the truth.
> You don’t need Brighton’s help that badly. Bringing in two people you barely know into the circle of those who know the truth is too big a risk. Don’t let the Notts know.
> Other (Write in)

And also probably Riley.

> She’s a clever witch and looking to date Apollo. Much like you had Arty know the stakes beforehand, she deserves to know it too. Tell her the truth.
> Apollo is the one who is connected to her, he’s the one who should decide what to do. If he chooses to tell her or not, you’ll agree with him.
> Their relationship is literally one hand-holding old. It is far too early to assume it will go anywhere. Don’t tell her.
> Other (Write in)

>>6114338
Brighton
>she can tell them but they are under his responsability, if anything comes out from them, he will have to "take care" of them, maybe even threaten him with an unbreakable vow

Riley
> Apollo is the one who is connected to her, he’s the one who should decide what to do. If he chooses to tell her or not, you’ll agree with him.

>>6114338
> Other (Write in)

Compromise. They can know most, a lot. Stuff that can't be used against us. Some things are still too sensitive, but an abridged version is okay, if he trusts them that much. The general situation, the specifics to give it context. Talk with Brighton concerning some of the stuff we think has to be off limits. If that is acceptable, well we do trust him to a good degree now. Have him swear them to secrecy.

> She’s a clever witch and looking to date Apollo. Much like you had Arty know the stakes beforehand, she deserves to know it too. Tell her the truth.


Should we tell our lieutenants an abridged version? If the Seasons end up learning about it, seemes kind of messed up to not let our own guys know an abridged version of what is going on. Amalia already has an idea that something is up which means she probably told Elend too.

>>6114356
One other thing, if we decide any of them can know? We need to make sure Helga is okay with them knowing who she really is. Make sure Linda is okay with people knowing she has a head mate and that she got mind raped, if we choose to reveal absolutely every thing. Her using AK should be 100% off limits however.

>>6114358
supporting this, before we do anything and regardless of the winning choice, this has to be done first

>>6114358
>>6114356
+1
...eventually the entire school will know the truth

>>6114356
+1

>>6114338
>Compromise. The Seasons can know most, a lot. An abridged form. Nothing that will put them or us in grave danger.

>Same for Riley, IF the relationship continues to develop.

>And we're giving this same redacted account to our top brass like Amalia.

>>6114338
>Compromise. The Seasons can know most, a lot. An abridged form. Nothing that will put them or us in grave danger.
Keep theunravelling of time and Atlantis stuff out at least. Merlin and the founders should be fine.

> Apollo is the one who is connected to her, he’s the one who should decide what to do. If he choos

>>6114647
Supporting redacted version for our lieutenants.

Let it be known I'm taking far too long between updates, but that when I do update I post ridiculously long ones.

--

Arty goes in first for her class with Constance before rushing off to the Three Broomsticks. Then Helga goes in and leaves not too long after.

“It seems I became a Perfect Occlumens on a technicality,” she says once the Obliviator enters the room to wipe your teacher’s memories. “Since I’m more possessing this body rather than inhabiting it, Legillimens can’t quite reach me.”

“Really? So what, she just sees empty?”

“As if she had cast it on someone in a coma. I'm completely impervious to it, which disturbed her a great deal.”

“I’m sure she’d happily tell you that she won't be disturbed for long.”

You enter the room once she calls you, and once more begin the strange mental gymnastics that is Occlumency. However this time… there is something different.

“You did manage to hold your mental image fairly well,” she says. “But perhaps something a little simpler, or closer to home next time? You may have Excalibur, but that does not make you King Arthur.”

“I… I wasn’t trying to pretend I was Arthur,” you say, confused. “I was just trying to be a rock.”

“Ah. Ahhh. Then how about you do try to pretend to be King Arthur this time?”

You follow her advice and it goes surprisingly well. You manage to involve yourself in the image, to recreate his mind and thoughts in your head, almost as if something was gently pulling you in the right direction.

“Very well, Elliot,” she says, sounding remarkably strained. “That took considerably more effort. I still managed to pierce it, but you made me work for it!”

You gently tap the sword on your hip. “I guess having a magical sword does have some benefits after all.” Then, thinking to yourself, and at Excalibur, “But you didn’t do me any good when Potter tried to attack me.”

To which you receive a mildly offended feeling that quickly lets you know Excalibur doesn’t just work the minds of people it just met, which you find fair. You figure you’d also prefer to bond with someone before cozying up with their mind.

“And before you go… I’m not sure if I told her that but, when you do meet her, please tell the Founder it is an honor to help her, and that I hope I can remember her some day.”

> +30 to Occlumency rolls when wielding Excalibur!

--

[Cont.]

>>6116316

It is the first time you tell your story to so many people at once. Well, at least so many people that you can see. By your side are Brighton, Linda, Apollo and Helga. In front of you are Summer and Winter Nott, Riley, Elend, Amalia and Talon, all who have either a mix of confusion or eagerness for having been invited to the Room of Requirement.

“There are few people who know what I’m about to tell you. Me and these folk. Harry Potter. The Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger. And the Unspeakables that work under her. There were others, but they are all dead. That includes Taylor Cycad.” you say, and the eager faces disappear. “If you are not comfortable with knowing something the Ministry wouldn’t like you to know, you should leave now. If you are not comfortable with lying to anyone who asks about it, you should leave now. If you’re not comfortable hearing about broken things and broken people, about more hurt than you could think, about pain and loss, if you are not ready to be afraid for the future… You should leave now. No one will judge you for doing so. I know I would rather not know. It would be easier. It would be simpler.”

None of them stand up.

You have told this story a few times by now, every time with something new. This time, however, is the first time you tell it with Helga by your side.

“I am not Helga Pertinger. In fact, Helga Pertinger did not exist until a few weeks ago. I am… something without a proper name. A spirit. Something lesser, something greater. And I was in a place of great darkness,” she says. “A place without time, a place without light. I didn’t have much memory of who I was when I left that place. I was lost, thrown into this world, and grasped for anything I could hold on to. And in my panic, I found the soul of a young boy from Slytherin. There, I took my refuge.”

The Notts look at Brighton, as if expecting him to confirm it is a joke. He simply nods instead.

“I remembered only Hogwarts, of all things. I remembered this school, its halls and wonders. But I was weak. Frail. I needed to grow stronger. And as I recovered, I opened my eyes and saw the Future. I could hear countless paths forward, more than any Seer ever recorded. My knowledge was not clear, but in one thing it was certain: in all but a handful of them, the world ended in less than four months.”

Amalia is the only one who covers her mouth in horror. She is probably the only one who believes it.

[Cont.]

>>6116318

“Yet there were those few lines where it went on, on and into a crux through which I could not see, where fate became so tangled that nothing passed through but the faintest of echoes. But through it there were echoes, there were voices. Through it there was life. There was just one issue, one thing I saw all the paths through which there were voices shared: In them, Harry Potter did not know of my existence. He did not know of the threat. If he knew, if he got even a hint of what I knew would come… That guaranteed the world's end, every single time.”

“Harry James Potter had a daughter,” you say. “Her name was Lily. She was in her seventh year, she had the flaming red hair of the Weasleys, she was strong and fierce and kind. She was the Head Girl, and the leader of Gryffindor’s army. I thought she wanted to date me.”

You tell them of Lily. Helga tells them how she reached into your dreams and warned you of the danger, of Merlin’s Last Light. Some things you omit, of course. You mention simply that Salazar had tortured her and taken control, you don’t go into details. You don’t go into detail about Raven and Taylor’s relationship. You tell them Raven had managed to hit Lily with a diffindo, and that you had been the one to finish the job. Linda had asked you to do as much when telling them, and you agreed.

You tell them about the Beast, and the Repository. About your arm. Reality being rewritten.

Amalia looks like she’s going to cry once you tell how no more prophecies are being made anywhere. Elend looks shocked when he hears Potter took you to the Chamber of Secrets, even though you never tell him the true nature of the Secrets there.

When you tell them about your victory at the final Battle, you don’t tell them what you saw in the mirror. You do tell them what Helga saw in the mirror inside your head, however. You can see when the Notts figure it out.

“Brighton, they’re saying she’s-” Winter starts, but he interrupts them.

“She is.”

“What!? That’s crazy!”

“And also true. Don’t spoil it for the others. Hallaster does babble on enough that he’s learned how to do it well.”

“And so I figured, well… Faith remembered Merlin, so if she was a person beforehand she needed to be someone from his time. Faith could control Ancient Magic, so it was possible whoever it was she used to be also could. And there were only a few people that I knew could do it. One of them was Godric Gryffindor. Another was Salazar Slytherin. Another was Rowena Ravenclaw.”

“And another one was Helga Hufflepuff,” Helga says, taking a short bow. “Pleased to meet you.”

You swear Talon’s eyes are going to pop out of its sockets, though Elend…

“I’m sorry, Commander, but that’s just nonsense.”

“Oh, don’t worry Elend, you’ll have plenty more to be skeptical about. Let me just tell you who the bastard in Lily’s head was…”

[Cont.]

>>6116320

You tell them how Merlin had sacrificed himself and the others to create the Interdict, how Potter had found you a Death Eater teacher, which gets many disapproving looks, and you mostly skip over Christmas break and you certainly skip over the gift-giving and the Prophecy about you ending the world. You tell them of Scorpius, of Avalon, of the men threatening you. When you tell them of your trip to St. Mungo’s and of who you met there, Brighton’s face becomes hard. He tells them how you approached him, how he went there to meet his grandparents to be sure.

“So now I have Godric Gryffindor inside my head, which means I can do this.” He opens up the nearest closet and pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from it. “Is that enough proof for you, Buckling?”

Elend stays quiet after that.

The story takes you through Avalon, though you never mention Mr. Red, nor Karkaroff. You don’t mention the true story of who Merlin’s father was or how many times he’s stopped the world from ending, simply mentioning trials where you meet a shade of Arthur and where Salazar ambushes you.

“Hey, you skipped the best part!”

“The part where you build a bridge out of a horse?”

“And two lions!”

Finally, you reach the end, where you use the last of Avalon’s power to create a body for Arty and, with just a final push, place Helga within it.

“Well, any idiot could see that lost twin thing was nonsense,” Summer says.

“I never heard you say anything about it,” Winter says, and her sister punches her in the shoulder.

Finally, you tell of your arrest and how Potter reacted poorly to your story.

“So I assume it is safe to say we’re not getting our Battle Classes back, then,” Elend notes, though his voice sounds haunted. “Pity.”

“Maybe Robards gets better and he can do something like it,” Talon says.

You don’t say anything. Best to leave the Ministry looking as best as it can, if only to repay all the favors Granger is doing you.

“I’d say it is a faint hope, which means… that the Duelling Club isn’t going to be so optional after all,” Elend says. “You think Salazar is coming back, don’t you?”

“I do. Either him or the Beast. Either way, I’m not standing around doing nothing.” You pull Excalibur off its sheath and hold it upwards. “I don’t think Excalibur would have stuck with me if this was over.”

“Right. And you know what is the most unbelievable part of all of this? That turns out your speeches about breaking into Avalon weren’t bullshit.”

“I figured you’d have learned to trust me, Talon.”

“Oh, I do, Commander. Just not when you’re talking like a posh idiot.”

“Then never?” Brighton asks.

“And, uh, now that we know all that… How should we call you, ma’am?”

[Cont.]

>>6116322

“You are joking!?” Amalia says, sounding angry and scared. For someone who even in battles always looked proper, she is completely disheveled. “You’ve just told us the world nearly ended and that it could still end, and you're joking!?”

“But it didn’t,” Linda says. “And we’re still here to fight for it.”

“We’re facing Salazar! We’re facing Merlin! We- we don’t have a chance!”

“We beat him before,” you say. “We can do it again. And now we have allies. Now we have the Ministry with us.”

“You- you- that’s insane!” She stands up, pacing around. “You can’t expect us to fight him!”

“I don’t. But I suspect someone will have to. Maybe it will be me. Maybe it will be Helga, or Linda or Brighton. Maybe it will be someone who was just born, in thirty years. But whoever they are, I’d like to give them a better fighting chance, and I think teaching people how to fight is the best way to do that.”

“You’re crazy. You’re all crazy!” She takes a step back in the direction of the door. “You should be out there telling people to prepare, not training kids!”

“If we told everyone, they’d be terrified. Just like you are.”

“Terrified? I’m not terrified, I’m going mental! No amount of battle classes is going to save us! We should all be packing up food and digging a shelter, not playing pretend auror!”

“A shelter won’t save you from him.” Helga’s tone is serious and grave. “When I said the world would end, I was very much being literal. That darkness will consume everything. We can’t escape it, Amalia. We can only fight it. And it will be difficult to fight it if there are people panicking.”

“You already knew something was wrong, right?” You ask. “When you spoke to me after they announced the club. You were happier not knowing anything. Then you started to suspect there was something going awry. And now you know the truth. It is not a fun truth, but it’s what Ravenclaws seek, is it not?”

She takes another step back, then another.

Then she runs away.

“Amalia!” Elend shouts, before racing after her. You make to go too, but Arty stops you.

“I don’t think we can do anything for now. I think she needs some time to think.”

You all stand in silence for a while, not knowing what to do.

“It’s a common mistake to think everyone in Ravenclaw seeks knowledge,” Linda says. “Or that curiosity is the most important thing in one's quest for it. Curiosity is important. But sometimes, you need to work hard on a problem. Sometimes you need a clever plan to find out. And sometimes… Sometimes you need the courage to face the answer.”

“Rowena?”

“Just her words. She says that…” Her breath hitches for a moment. “She says that sometimes the truth hurts. But not acknowledging it hurts more, and for longer. Sometimes for years. She says she learned that lesson the hard way.”

You nod, understanding.

[Cont.]

>>6116323

“How about you four? How are you holding up? How about you, Riley? You haven’t said a thing since we started speaking.”

“I’m terrified. And I want to run to my mom and tell her to start packing. But like you said, there’s nowhere to run to.” Her expression turns to something akin to steel. “So I’m fighting with you. And telling my dumb lazy sister to join your club too!”

--

When Monday comes, it turns out Elend was right: you did bite more than you can chew. The classroom Flitwick had arranged for you is utterly packed with eager first and second years and a lot of red-trimmed robes. There are also plenty from other years, too. You can see every commander from fifth year and below, and most of their generals, which already accounts for over fifty people alone. Then there is your own army and whoever Brighton, Apollo and Riley managed to bring from theirs.

All in all, there are probably over ten dozen people eagerly waiting for you to start talking.

“Uh… Uhhhhh… Helga, any advice?”

“I’d watch your back if I was you. Some teachers might get jealous that you stole so many students from them.”

“You are useless now that you’re no longer in my head, did you know that?”

“You do it and you learn it, Elliot. Like riding a broom. Just imagine they’re your soldiers, though I would advise to keep the poshness to a minimum.”

Right, imagine they are your soldiers. Just like in battle, you need to control them and maneuver them to the right positions, to do the right things. It’s just that in this case the thing you want them to do is learn, not stun the opponent. That can’t be too hard, right?

> Roll a d100+35 (for your army rolls). Bo3

Rolled 12 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>6116324

Rolled 82 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>6116324
don't fuck it up Hallaster

Rolled 91 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>6116324
Excalibuddy, you know a lot about battles, right? Any advice?

>>6116339
Nice work.

File: FLdpnpXVgAcOs61.jpg (258 KB, 822x1200)

258 KB JPG

Rolled 91 + 35 (1d100 + 35)

>>6116339
Answer is apparently yes. Nice roll.

>>6116324

Time to get these lily-livered flowers into shape! We will make men and women out of you yet! Now every one drop and give me 20! You will be addressing me King Ar ... Big Boss. We will together create our Heaven... our Outer Heaven. You will refer to your instructors in their preferred terms, the names they have chosen to fight with, like Solid Puffskein for Brighton.

Now form up into groups! Those who have never fought on the right! Those who trust their skills in the middle! Those from the Armies far left! Welcome to Hell! We shall turn you lily-livered sorcerers and sorceresses into something worth of the name!


Dice for fun.

damn, late to the rolls but it seems like we have nothing to worry about

>>6116352
now i want to see elliot and brighton as big boss and snake lmao

File: ksi1pvrxskk41.jpg (67 KB, 440x663)

67 KB JPG

>>6116516
We did discuss nicknames/ code names a while back for the team, like Apocalypse Machine: Hallaster for Elliot.

And we are kinda Punished Hallaster. We have the nifty scars that Potter thought might mean we are evil after all. That makes a bit more sense now that we know Voldemort has like 1024 Horcruxes, why he would be freaked out by our countless scars.

Revolver Wolpertinger for Arty? She can be our MGS 4 era Ocelot.

Or if we are doing the solid/liquid/solidus thing... Apollo for Solid Pertinger since he got super magic genes, Liquid Pertinger for Arty since she got the shit end of the stick, Solidus Pertinger for Helga just because.

That would be fun since we are making our own paramilitary army of wizards who will be loyal to us alone. Outer Atlantis.

>>6116536
feel like Helga would be more fit to be The Boss

Also, one last thing.

I hope Excalibur isn't like Flammel's Stone and is trying to mold us into "Arthur". It is influencing our Occulemency Barriers, was about to rebel when we had to put on the Dark Lord Hallaster persona, and during the party we called for more food and drink because that is what Arthur would have done. We also can't just toss it in a lake like you could if you felt the false Philosopher's stone start to fuck with you. Just some paranoia.

You climb up the small elevated podium in front of your “class”. You see most of the people you expected, except for Amalia and Elend, unfortunately. But Talon and the Notts are there, and so is Riley with her sister, who looks very much like she doesn’t want to be there.

You are.. Well, apprehensive would be a good word. You run through the things you wanted to say, the things you planned to say, but they all seem dumb in the face of over a hundred people. You fidget with Excalibur for a moment, searching for words, but they don’t come.

Something is wrong.

This… This isn’t you.

You turn away from your audience.

“Elliot?” Arty asks. “You alright?”

Then you turn back to face her, and it is not the face she is used to seeing.

Well, at least not entirely how she’s used to seeing it.

“Ah, what a charming assembly of fresh minds we have before us today, huh?” You say, stroking your newly transfigured mustache and monocle. Brighton can’t bury his face far enough into his hands, while Arty is beaming. “All brimming with anticipation to master the noble art of combat, taught by none other than those who dared storm the gates of Avalon itself! Indeed, your presence here speaks to your wisdom, for peril lurks in the shadowy depths of the earth and in those Lost and Forbidden realms we shall soon seek! And so, to ensure that we emerge from our forthcoming ventures with all limbs firmly intact, it is time for a lesson!”

Yes, now this feels right. After all, they had come to see Elliot Hallaster, hadn’t they? So you’d give them Elliot Hallaster, with all its unabashed weirdness. You make a mental note to ask Flitwick to find you a bigger room and to ask the house elves to redecorate to something more appropriate.

You had been trying to be a respectable teacher, but you didn’t get where you are by being respectable. You won Potter’s Battle Class and defeated Salazar Slytherin by being silly to the extreme, and you’re certainly not going to stop now.

“However, I am sure there are plenty of you who may be doubtful of the skills of your humble teacher.” You wave your wand and conjure a tophat, something you’ve become particularly adept at doing, placing it on your head. “I mean, sure, I may have gotten the sword of the Once And Future King, and I may have survived the attack of Dark Wizards to get it, but those may be nothing but luck! How can you know I am, indeed, skilled enough to teach such a vibrant group? Well, then how about a demonstration, huh? Now, it wouldn’t be fair for me to face any of you when I hold such a powerful weapon, but how about someone who was with me in my adventures, huh? Come on, anyone would like to face the Hufflepuff Fury?” You glance at Arty and grin in her direction, knowing full well she’s better than you at dueling right now, and also knowing your class doesn’t need to know that right now.

[Cont.]

>>6118301

A few hands shoot up. You grin when you see a particular hand, a blond girl, the same who had once climbed up to face Potter at his very first battle class. Yes, she would do nicely.

“Miss Falgere, please, climb up. Let’s see if history repeats itself, no?” You ask, prompting laughter from the sixth years.

She climbs up the platform and you step back as Arty stands in to face her. You didn’t quite catch when she transfigured a tophat and mustache for herself, but you aren’t complaining.

“Are we… Are we all going to have to wear those?”

“Only if you want to be as good as me,” Arty says. “Now, whenever you want, miss.”

She stands there for a moment, pointing her wand at Arty. At least the months of Battle Class have taught her how to think before acting. You can see her thinking, looking at Arty’s posture trying to read what she’s going to do before shouting “Bombar-eep!”

Arty cuts her off with a fast “Somnius!”, forcing her to duck and scramble for a “Protego!”, to which Arty responds with a “Stupefy!” so strong it shatters the girl’s shield and sends her stumbling back. Arty doesn’t give her a second of respite, sending another stunner for her to barely block, before stopping, grinning and shouting “Accio carpet!”

There is an instant of confusion on Falgere’s face before the rug she’d stumbled on top of is pulled from under her feet and she falls on her back with a loud twack!

“And Expelliarmus!”

The girl’s wand flies away from her hand as she’s trying to stand up, and she just lets herself collapse in defeat.

The class claps as Arty helps the girl back up before skipping back to your side.

“Thank you, Miss Falgere! I hope that has sussed out any doubts anyone might have had. Now, it appears my arrangements for today have been inappropriate! Worry not, we shall have it fixed by next meeting! In the meantime, let us start simple shall we?” You quickly give out orders to split up people by year, putting some groups in the back, some in the front of the room and some out into the corridor. “Now, onwards to learning!”

[Cont.]

>>6118303

You had spoken with your friends beforehand, when you still didn’t know how many people were actually going to show up. You left Helga to take care of the first years who would need a more experienced teacher and Linda with the second years who could use some better tactics in battle. For the year who had utterly failed at teamwork you had left Apollo, who was never going to be a great teacher but who was someone who could only be defeated if all of them worked together. You’d have switched Fourth and Fifth, but you are aware enough to know Brighton would never have allowed himself to be teaching a group of people less powerful than the ones Arty was teaching, but since both your groups would have to spill out into the corridor it would give you the chance to keep an eye to see how good of a teacher he was.

Finally, you took the later years, who had enough people you could trust that you could eventually leave them in charge while you walked around by the other groups.

You restrict spells to non-destructive ones only, as without Potter’s time-turner you can’t guarantee no one will get their faces accidentally exploded. Once you’re sure the other groups are all set up, you go to yours.

“You will see the other groups casting spells,” you say, putting down your hat. “We shall be doing things slightly differently. A powerful wizard once told me that if you want to be a good magical fighter, you need to learn how to be a good fighter, period. You won’t always have your wand with you. If you’ll die the moment you lose your wand, you’ll die with it, too.”

Crouch’s words echo in your mind, sounding particularly sane after what you went through in Avalon.

“You have already learned how to fight with your wands. Now you will learn how to fight without them. And we shall start by training the skill Miss Falgere so kindly demonstrated in her fight against Miss Artemis.”

“Psh, getting my arse handed to me?” She asks from the crowd.

“No, Miss Falgere.” You stand up, stretch your arms and drop backwards. You fall into a roll over your shoulders, using the impulse of the fall to get back to your feet. “How to fall. The first half hour of our class shall be spent learning this incredibly useful skill. During the second half you shall all be employing Depulso on each other, so I suggest you learn well.”

You teach them the basics of how to fall, then get them in pairs pushing each other down before asking Talong and Riley to watch them and strolling through the other groups.

[Cont.]

>>6118304

All the others are doing surprisingly well, with Helga immediately having become the mom of the entirety of the first year group. Linda has hers in small squads firing at each other in different formations, while Apollo is standing still, Protego in front of him, while a bunch of third-years uncoordinatedly attack him. Arty has her group split up in pairs and fight each other, while she jumps from pair to pair, forcing them to stop fighting between themselves and fight her instead, and she’s looking like she’s having a whale of a time.

Brighton is having his group fire spell after spell, in a tight and coordinated series of movements that reminded you of Lily’s trainings, though he is also doing a fair bit of shouting.

You pass by each group making sure they’re all doing well, giving tips and helping with any stragglers you can see. Almost everyone has something, except for Helga, of course. Whenever you stop by a group of students, it is strange to see now they seem to listen to you and take it to heart.

You wonder if this is how Potter felt, when he was fifteen and teaching Dumbledore’s Army. History said that it was after one of those classes he’d kissed a classmate for the first time, which you can very much understand. More than once you catch a girl watching you, only to see them glance at Arty utterly destroying two people at the same time before going back to what they were doing.

Finally, you return to your sixth and seventh years.

“Talon, if you would.”

“Ah man, why did you pick me?”

“I need someone I can trust to demonstrate the next part.”

“I can betray you, if you want.”

“No, thank you. But don’t worry, you’ll be the one doing the casting. Whenever you’re ready.”

“You sure?” He asks, and you nod. “Alright. Depulso!”

You get thrown backwards, spinning, but as you reach the floor you use the momentum to push yourself up into a twirl, and as you raise up you bring a silent Protego with you, completely blocking any other spells he could throw your way, already in positing to fight again.

You flick your wand and let the shield down.

“Not the only way of getting out of that. I could have tried a Carpe Retractum to pull myself up, or depulsoing the floor to send me flying in another direction. But this one has more style, I think.” You grin. Merlin be damned, Crouch’s classes had worked. Potter had been right, you think again and again. You wave your wand and spread out mattresses the house-elves had acquired for you. “Now, split up in pairs and take turns dropping each other. And, every few turns, if you notice the person beside you is slacking, feel free to depulso them too just to see if they can react properly when they’re not expecting to be hit.”

> Gained: +2 to Battle Rolls. New total: +47!

--

[Cont.]

>>6118305

When the class ends, you distribute a batch of Wiggenweld to your poor students. It wasn’t anything like Crouch put you through, but you’re sure they’ll feel it in the morning. And you think you made good progress today. The quidditch players in the group had been particularly adept at learning how to think and react while spinning in the air out of control, which shouldn’t have been a surprise in retrospect.

You’re just sad Elend and Amalia weren't there.

Once you’ve dismissed everyone, you put everything back where it belongs and thank your friends for helping. They all leave, except for Arty.

“That was fun!” She says, wrapping her arms around yours.

“I noticed you enjoyed it. Just remember to leave a few fourth years alive next time.”

“It wasn’t that bad, I was taking it easy on them!”

“I think you’ll find your ‘taking it easy’ is most people's ‘utter exhaustion’.”

“Well, it’s their fault for not spending years with barely enough power to get by.”

You two walk in silence for a while, just enjoying each other.

“We probably won’t have much time when we get back from Easter break. With exams, and your O.W.L.s, and this… We won’t have time for anything.”

“It’s fine. After that we’ll have a proper vacation. And speaking about proper vacations…” She seems slightly nervous, biting her lower lip. “Do you remember the Scamanders?”

“Oh Merlin, please tell me the plan of going looking for an extinct dragon isn’t actually going to happen.”

“Yeah, they reached out to make sure I still wanted to do it. Would… Would you like to come along? Just you and me?”

“Arty, of course I would. Do I think it is insane and dangerous? Yes. But you did go through Avalon for me, so what sort of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t follow you into your insanity?”

She squeals and claps excitedly. “Yes! I’ll let them know! And we’ll have to get travel visas! And probably some fire-retardant clothes too! And some equipment! Do you think they’ll have their own they can lend us or will we have to buy our own? I don’t know if my savings cover that and…”

She goes on beaming about the trip, and you grimace just a bit. The thought of going after a dragon is terrifying, but at the same time, the thought of spending a month away from everyone in Spain with Arty is more than worth the fear.

--

It is your second to last week and with the Dueling Club you have little time for much else. But you still have time for something (Pick ONE):

> Study your Potion books (+2 to Potions)
> Study with Linda, Arty, Apollo, Brighton or Helga (pick one, +2 to chosen person’s expertise)
> Study another subject (+1 to another subject)
> Research other ancient magical cities
> Research a new topic (What?)
> Talk to the Pertingers about their childhood (How?)
> Other (Write in)

>>6118306
> Research other ancient magical cities
Erum of the Pillars

>>6118306
>Study your Potion books (+2 to Potions)
this until we go back to our previous number

>>6118318
You are already at the level you used to be, you got there last time you studied

>>6118306
> Research other ancient magical cities
maybe look into any related stories around Iberia? Atlantis was sometimes held to be in or near the Mediterranean, and even if it's not nearby, there might be SOMETHING...

>>6118335
ooh, did we? guess i forgor, in that case, i would like to change my vote to
>Research other ancient magical cities
maybe we could do crossreferences until we find anything that could help us find anything related to the beast´s next target

>>6118306
> Research other ancient magical cities
MUH LORE

The week goes on as it always does, but now your time outside the Slytherin room is filled with students nodding at you, or stopping to ask questions about the next session of the club. You see Amalia a few times, who usually looks the other direction and quickly strolls away, only for Elend, who is always by her side, to look in your direction, give a shrug as if saying “Women, right?” and then dash after her.

When there are too many people coming to talk to you, you take refuge in the Room of Requirement. It is peaceful and quiet, and the fact that your friends know where to find you makes it so you’re never alone for too long.

The fact that Arty knows where you are, and that you are alone for some periods of time, makes it so you two almost get caught doing something embarrassing more than once.

When you aren’t doing something that would get you detention, however, you are helping her with potions. She is… slow to learn would be an understatement. Still, at the speed of a glacier, you teach her. It isn’t that she isn’t smart, of course. She just wants to do everything all at once to speed things up, and ends up skipping a step or nine. When you try going behind her and holding her hands with yours so you can guide her into slowly and precisely chopping a root, it leads to more detentionable things, so you only do it as often as you can get away with.

It all means you don’t make nearly as much progress as you should, which is probably one of the reasons she’s taking so long to learn. Still, you’re confident she knows enough to get at least an Acceptable, and you’re sure you can take her to at least an Exceeds Expectations before her O.W.L.s.

“You know we can all tell when you two have been doing stuff, right?” Linda says, entering the room about two minutes after you’d finished becoming presentable once more and unlocked the door.

“Now, now, Linda,” Helga says, quick in tow. “Don’t be like that. If they wish to desecrate the halls that I’ve worked so hard to build and which generations of teachers worked so hard to maintain, well, it isn’t their fault they are awful people.”

“But you see, it isn’t the fact that they make me wonder if they have or haven’t shagged in this particular piece of furniture that irritates me. It’s the dumb smile that I want to slap off their faces that does it.”

“I know a spell or five that can help.”

“How about you two clowns stop commenting on my dating life and come study? You may be the founder, but you still need to pass your O.W.L.s, and there is a millennia of History of Magic you missed.”

“Sorry, I was too busy being dead.”

“I’m just surprised you’re skipping classes,” Arty says. “I didn’t see you in Transfiguration today, Helga.”

[Cont.]

>>6119487

“It isn’t lack of Transfiguration knowledge that stops me from transfiguring in this body, which you know very well. Your Headmistress perhaps could teach me something, but the current teacher does not reach her level. Besides, I had something more important to do.”

“Really? And what is that?”

“You’ll see.”

“Well,” Arty says, grinning. “I certainly hope you and I use that expression in vastly different contexts.”

“What do you- oh! No! That is not what I meant!”

“Oh, and look at that! Elliot was right, I do look cute when I blush!”

--

Even though you told Riley, the Notts and your commanders some of the truth, there is still much they don’t know. The existence and location of Headmistress Niamh’s library, for example, is one of the many things you hid from them. Brighton had accepted it, for now, and so when you decide it is once again time to delve into the books hidden there, it is only the Avalon crew that accompanies you.

“They know it’s not the whole story, but they’re ok with it for now,” Brighton says. “They don’t like it, but they accept it. And they think me helping save the world is cool, though they’re still freaked out by Godric being inside my head.”

“Come on, it’s not that creepy.”

His eyes go a deep, unsettling black, staring deep into your soul.

“That is because you’ve never really seen it from the outside, Hallaster, you bag of dicks.”

“... Alright, you’ve made your point. Also, excellent use of your daily boost of power. And, uh, how is your dad dealing with it? With the… whole Avalon, four founders thing?”

“Still pissed at Potter. Proud of me. Sad about my grandparents. Sort of hates you for dragging me into this but won’t admit it. Told me that he only helped defeat one dark lord, so that if I’m really going to go down the path of the rogue auror he expects me to defeat at least two.”

“Right. And how are you dealing with having Godric in your head?”

He stops and stares in the distance for a moment.

“It’s… fine. He’s a strange man.”

“How so?”

“He’s different than I expected. Different from the stories. He’s… real.”

[Cont.]

>>6119488

“Well, it isn’t as if Helga is like I expected either,” you say, pointing at her and Arty playing with an ancient bookwheel almost as if it was a seesaw. “People probably made them seem much grander than they really were. That and they went through an eternity of… who knows what, back in that Darkness. It’s bound to make them weirder. Make the eccentricities come out. I spoke to Helga about Salazar once. He hated muggleborns, sure, and was a whole deal dark, but he wasn’t evil.”

“So you think that’s why he’s trying to convince me to check out if the descendants of an old dragon he knew are still around and to try taming one of them?”

You laugh out loud. “No, I think that’s just Gryffindor being Gryffindor. But, uh, maybe don’t mention that to Arty?”

“Too late!” She shouts for afar. “Already heard it!”

So you spread out throughout the library, observing its many strange artifacts and objects and wandering through its many books. Apollo still staring at the globe he’s toyed with last time, Arty and Helga using the bookwheel and Linda toying with a telescope pointing at a illusory window that shows a fake sky.

> Roll a d100+25 (+5 for each person helping you). Bo3

Rolled 72 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

>>6119490

Rolled 8 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

>>6119490
well, I'd like having a dragon

>>6119488
Also
>“Oh, and look at that! Elliot was right, I do look cute when I blush!”
This scene was cute.

Rolled 14 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

>>6119490

>>6119505
>>6119498
yikes, shitty rolls are shitty, glad >>6119497 came through early

File: kamadeva.png (112 KB, 307x323)

112 KB PNG

>>6119506

Hey everyone, I'll be taking a trip Friday and probably won't be able to update until next Friday. Updates in the meantime are... unlikely, so don't hold your breath. Hopefully I can still get an update tomorrow, but I'm letting you all know so you don't think I died. If I do spend that long without updating I'll ping the QTG when I return.

I didn't expect the week would be so packed and that I'd only update a couple of times, so that is unfortunate. Still, I hope after this I can pick the pace back up again!

--

You go through book after book, searching for ancient cities, and you do find them, as usual. The only problem, of course, is that they’re all about as well documented as Atlantis. Tripura was meant to be a group of three flying cities struck down by gods, and all you have about it is myths and the fact that it is important to wizards in hindu regions. Ubar, or Iram of the Pillars, also literally called “Atlantis of the Sands,” has been destroyed by god, too. Hy-Brasil was a phantom island west of Ireland that could only be seen once every seven years, which is probably just some retelling of Atlantis, but you can’t be sure of it.

All ancient places, all without a scrap of actual evidence. You’d say it was almost as if all of them had been erased from time, but you can’t believe every single one of them was stupid enough to make the same mistake.

You eventually drop the book you’re translating from some godforsaken language and go sit by Linda.

“Hey. Still fiddling with that thing?” You ask, pointing at the telescope looking out of a window that shouldn’t exist.

“Yeah. I think time warped the lenses, I can’t quite get it to focus.” She takes her eyes out of the telescope and looks at you. There is no sadness in her voice when she speaks again, just a statement of fact. “He’d have loved this.”

“Yeah, he would. I’m sure we could find a book about non-perennial stars here that isn’t cursed.”

“Oh no, don’t you dare take my starry eyes from me, Hallaster. Dating someone cursed like that is the closest thing I’ll ever get from banging a demon! I may have given up Raven, but her fetishes are still very much alive in me, thank you very much.”

“You do know you can turn your eyes black as night now, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I don’t want my eyes to look creepy, I want the eyes of the person I'm kissing to do it. Unfortunately, right now that would require me kissing a mirror or a prat, and I don’t intend to do any of those any time soon-”

“Pollo!” Arty’s voice rings out and you jolt up to see… nothing of note. Except Apollo with a book floating in front of him, looking guilty. “That’s the cursed book! Why are you reading it?”

“I’m not touching it,” he says, showing his hands. “Besides, it didn’t affect me last time.”

“It affected Elliot! That’s bad enough!”

[Cont.]

>>6119990

“It just looks interesting, see?” He waves his wand and conjures once again a series of metal lines in different directions encircling the ancient globe in the middle of the room. “The Wosi lines, Elliot called them.” He waves his wand and a series of cogs appears, along with a small city in a cloud by one of the lines. Slowly, he turns the cogs, and all the lines move around the globe in seemingly random fashion. “It could hop on one line and stay on it,” the lines move so that the city is taken along with the line it is on. “And when they crossed another line, it could change between them to go on another direction.” Another line passes by where the city stands, and the city moves from one line to the other, going along with the new line. “As long as they knew how the lines moved, they could go anywhere.”

He stops for a moment, blushing as he notices he just spoke more at that minute than in probably most of his weeks.

“I just… don’t know how the lines move. He’s talking arithmancy with ancient runes. I was trying to understand.”

“And if we knew its routes we could know where to look for a fallen city. That's clever, Pertinger. I take arithmancy, what does the book say?” Brighton says, looking genuinely impressed. Apollo waves his wand and the book flies in Brighton’s direction, who in turn waves his wand to send the book back to Apollo. “Oh no, I’m not reading the shit that fucked with Hallaster’s head. You want to know what it says, you tell me and we go from there, huh?”

“I’m not letting him read a cursed book!” Arty says.

“He is older than you,” Brighton says. “I don’t think you need to let him do anything.”

Arty opens her mouth in outrage, then snaps it back shut, glaring at Brighton. Then she looks at Apollo. Apollo, however, is already back to reading the book and reciting what it says to Brighton, so he doesn’t really notice when his sister stomps towards you and drops on the sofa by your side, arms crossed.

“I don’t know how, but I suspect that if he hadn’t been seeing that gryffindor girl this wouldn’t have happened,” she says, sounding mad. “I bet this is all her fault.”

“You know, it’s ok to be jealous when someone starts dating someone you’re fond of,” you say. “But you have to let him live his life.”

“Reading a cursed book isn’t letting him live his life! It’s stupid! And also, you’re one to talk. Didn’t Taylor go off reading the cursed book on his own because he knew you two wouldn’t let him do it?”

[Cont.]

>>6119992

“We’re all around him if anything happens, and we can take him to Madam Pomfrey if you want us to. And it wasn’t that bad when it happened to me, either. Maybe it just did it to me because I have less magic than him, or a mild confundus charm. Or maybe because I am the one who’s had a ghost living inside their head. Who knows? If I thought there was serious danger I’d have stopped it by now. He’s talking, he doesn’t sound confused, and he has Helga listening to every word he says for any strangeness.” You nod in the direction of the founder, who is peering at Apollo and Brighton from her book, having strategically positioned herself closeby. “He’ll be fine. But I was talking about Riley and you know it.”

“What about her?”

“Arty, come on. You were ok with the idea until last week.”

“Well, last week they weren’t walking around holding hands. What if she, I don’t know, tries to take advantage of him?”

“What if I take advantage of you?”

“Well I’d say you’re already taking advantage-” Linda starts with a grin, but stops when you kick her in the shin.

“I can see when people are trying to manipulate me. Or, well, I can see as well as most people,” she says, in a low voice only you and Linda can hear. “Apollo is…”

“The single strongest teenager in the entirety of Britain, probably.”

“No! I mean… You know how he is. I love him to death but I know my brother. He can be naive, sometimes.”

You scratch the back of your head. The brother who thinks he is responsible for the sister’s handicap and the sister who thinks she is responsible for said brother because he is, well, because he is Apollo. You really do know how to pick them, huh?

> "You need to learn to let him live and make mistakes. You won’t be around him forever."
> "We can watch Riley closely, but you have to give her the chance to show she’s for real."
> "We could question Riley, ask what her intentions are. Make sure she knows who Apollo has watching his back."
> Other (Write in)

>>6119993
>> "We can watch Riley closely, but you have to give her the chance to show she’s for real."
might as well get to know her since she's got an in on our plot

>>6119993
>Other (Write in)
>You are doing the same thing you did when we had our..."fight". You are trying too hard to take control, you wont be there forever to "guide" him, and even if you were, you will not let him live his own life, he´ll just be walking a path you wont let him wonder, sometimes, if you want change to happen, you gotta let things change by themselves

>>6119993
>You can't be around him forever. Shouldn't. Well... I know you pretty well, and you are going to be there forever... Forever is going to be a long time. But that just means more time to play with your neices and nephews. Have him come by to hangout with our boys and girls. Apollo... he might not know what he is doing. I did't. Pretty sure mom and dad were clueless. And I think Riley is a good person. We can keep an eye out, but? I don't think we will need to. She just found out Apollo's life is filled with enough danger to fill a bucket and still wants to be with him.

> "You need to learn to let him live and make mistakes. You won’t be around him forever."

>>6119993
> "You need to learn to let him live and make mistakes."
I'd stop short of something as ominous as "You won’t be around him forever." While I like >>6120031, I'd shy away from openly discussing our future children so casually in front of all our friends in case that's a convo Arty's rather have privately first.

>>6119990
>Hy-Brasil was a phantom island west of Ireland that could only be seen once every seven years, which is probably just some retelling of Atlantis, but you can’t be sure of it.
I remember reading that it was meant to be Camelot but sunk beneath the ocean. Ocean topography allegedly detected a landmass down there. Legends also say that at times when the tides are low enough, the tops of old towers and hills can be almost visible between the waves...

>>6120021
+1

>>6120020
+1 getting to know Riley too
Why shouldn't Arty get to know her future sister-in-law?

>>6119993
> "We can watch Riley closely, but you have to give her the chance to show she’s for real."
Hope you have a nice trip, QM!

“Look… If you’re worried, we can keep an eye out for Riley, but you have to give her the chance to show that she’s for real. You won’t always be there to ’guide’ him. He’ll be an adult by next year, he needs to make his own decisions.”

“But he’s…” She tries finding a word, but wizards don’t really have one. “Him. You know?”

“And you were the weakest witch in Hogwarts. He still ’let you’ go to work at the Three Broomsticks. He just went to take you there and back. But he didn’t stop you, even when there were crazy assassins hunting you down. You need to give him the same courtesy.”

She pouts.

“You know, you are meant to back me up when I’m doing something stupid.”

“And I will, most of the time. But years living with a lawyer taught me to see both sides of an argument.”

She scoots by you and lies down with her head on your lap.

“Fine. I won’t meddle in their… thing. Whatever it is. I’ll just keep watch.”

“Just don’t keep watching too much,” Linda says, not taking her eye out of the telescope’s lens. “Because if the relationship goes forward you might end up seeing bits of your brother you don’t really want to- ow! Stop kicking me!”

--

You all eventually leave the Library, with the great blackboard in there being a mess of scrawlings and calculations by Brighton which are left to be finished another day. Apollo seems normal, and just to be sure you pass by the infirmary, where you suspect Madam Pomfrey has been given orders to not really question problems coming from you and your friends because she just warily sighs before chanting detection spells.

With Apollo cleared of any curses, you all head to dinner, and you see Helga is looking particularly pleased with herself.

“What’s with that smile?”

“You’ll s-” she starts, then catches herself. “Just wait and see.”

You split up, each group going to their own table as you arrived early enough that the plates are still empty. And right on time…

Rows of cheeseburgers with bacon, mountains of french fries, piles of burritos of all sorts, onion rings and hot dogs surrounded by fried breaded fish sticks. Fast food upon fast food, all perfectly made by the careful hands of the house elves, under the supervision of their new head cook.

The muggleborns have a look of utter shock on their faces, probably comparable to the ones they had the first time they’d seen their headmistress turn into a cat. Even the professors seem stunned, gently prodding the salted golden sticks with their wand, briefly wondering how exactly was the correct way of eating the thing.

“This is your fault, Elliot,” Linda says, deadpan. “I would like you to know this is all your fault, and I will never forgive you.”

“Oh, come on. It’s just a treat for the muggleborns.”

[Cont.]

>>6120592

“I didn’t survive a crazy death eater messing with my mind to eat fish and chips at Hogwarts!”

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” you say, taking some of the fish, dipping it in some sauce and taking a bite. “Merlin, she bloody nailed it.”

You take a glance at Helga, and she is grinning with such pride that you can’t help but smile too. And, even if it is made by magic and elf labor, it still tastes just like home.

--

Feasts at Hogwarts are always an eat-until-you-burst sort of thing for the first few days after people come back from vacations, before going back to normal. The “First-Week Pounds” are a known effect which takes at least a month to correct, and it is always funny to watch people wobble their way to their common room on the very first day, holding their bellies as if they were going to explode.

It is not usual to see the same scene happen a month before the end of the year.

“You are going to make everyone fat, that’s what’s going to happen,” Linda says, but you know she ate just as much as you, and you feel like you couldn’t shove a single mint down your throat. Not that there had been any mints offered, of course. No, it had been all lava cakes and sundaes and fried apple pies and so on and on.

“Fat and happy,” Helga says, cheerfully.

“Hey, it’s my body you’re making fat!” Arty says. “I didn’t spend fifteen years watching what I ate so you could ruin it! You better start exercising, miss!”

“Well, I loved it!” Riley says, walking by Apollo at a distance no one except Arty would ever dare. “I’d never eaten anything like it! Can you teach me so I can teach my mom? I think it would be a hit with my mom’s customers!”

Helga looks delighted.

“Of course I can! I’d love to!”

“And now you’re working for the competition!?” Arty asks, shocked.

“The wizarding world has been stuck without french fries for too long! I can’t just stay here and let this error go uncorrected! Many revolutions began at Hogwarts and in pubs, there is no reason this one can’t do the same!”

“It’s not a revolution, it’s just food!”

“Tell that to the Irish,” Linda mutters under her breath, so only you can hear.

And so, between Arty being outraged at Helga and the occasional burp, you all waddle your way back to your common rooms, with more than one Slytherin untrained in the art of greasy fast food asking you to brew them a potion to help with the heartburn.

--

[Cont.]

>>6120594

“And now the wizarding world learns why you shouldn’t eat a ton of fast-food before going to sleep,” Linda says, displeased, on the following day as you head out before lunch time. Around you, far too many people looking like their stomachs had danced tango inside their chest throughout the night. “May it kill the ‘revolution’ here and now.”

“You can’t stop the future, Linda. From now on, it’s all shitty fast food.”

“I hope to Merlin you’re wrong, otherwise I will Abracadabra you.”

You gasp your way to your apparition classes, and though you don’t exactly feel a hundred percent, you do manage to apparate your whole self every single time, and though Linda stumbles a couple of times at first, by the end she’s doing it consistently.

“Congratulations, you two,” your tutor says. “Just don’t forget you need to be seventeen to take your apparition license.”

“Oh, come on!”

“I don’t make the rules, unfortunately. And I would advise, if you are foolish enough to Apparate without a license, that you do it unaccompanied. At least for the first few weeks, until you are more comfortable with apparating alone.”

He gives you a wink, then apparates away.

“At least we’re not the only ones who think it’s bullshit,” Linda says, looking impressed at the space where your tutor was moments ago. “Good to know.”

“You think we could pull out the crap Lily did?”

“You mean apparating mid-fight? Ha! You wish. It takes me being fully focused on it for me to remember the three Ds and you’re thinking about doing it while spells are flying at you?”

“So what you’re saying is we’d have been screwed if Lily could apparate around in our fight?”

“No, I’d still have killed her, but it would have been far more impressive.”

You walk through Hogsmeade, just chatting the two of you, and you’re happy to see her joking again, even about Lily. After their trip, you’ve seen her bonding more and more with Arty, Helga, Riley and even the Notts during the classes you have with the Ravenclaws, and it does look like it is having a good effect on her.

You’re passing by the Hog’s Head Inn when you hear-

“Stupefy!”

“Protego! Protego! Stop it you crazy bitch!”

You two race into the pub to see a… curious scene. The tables are spread out of the center of the pub, creating a small fighting space. Snyde Senior is wearing what appears to be an old, male-fitting auror armor and is pointing her wand at a creepy looking old man who seems to be cowering into a corner.

“Come on you old fart! If you can’t fight a barkeep how are you going to fight if things get bad again, huh? Are you going to cower like you did last time when the Death Eaters passed by?”

In a plaque behind the bar it is written: “Weekend Special - Any patron who defeats the owner in battle pays half, any who lose pay double.”

[Cont.]

>>6120596

You and Linda just stay staring at the scene in front of you, without quite knowing what to say.

“Fish and chips, coming through!” Falaere passes by you with an enormous portion of perfectly fried potatoes and fish on a tray to deliver to a nearby table. Once she’s done, she looks at you, surprised. “Welcome, you two! What can I get you?”

“Falere… what is going on here?”

“Well, I’m not quite sure. Riley told mom she was in the dueling club and said maybe it would be a good idea to do something like it for Hogsmeade, and mom said that was dumb, and then Riley said something I didn’t catch and then my mom agreed and… This is what mom came up with.”

“Uh, right. And the french fries?”

“Oh, that’s just Helga helping out with trying to replicate yesterday’s feast. And I think she nailed it!”

“Wait, Helga is here?”

An auburn haired head with glasses peeks out a door on the back of the pub and waves.

“Oh, hi Elliot! I thought I’d heard your voice!”

“Riiiight,” Linda says, looking at you. “Yeah, this mess is all your fault, so I’m going to go and let you deal with it. Cool? Cool.”

> Search for Riley, demand an explanation
> Get Helga out of there before someone thinks Arty is double-crossing the Three Broomsticks
> You’re just going to turn around, leave and not think about it.
> Other (Write in)

File: Beyond Merula at rock concert.jpg (166 KB, 850x742)

166 KB JPG

>>6120597
>Other (Write in)
>You have enough in your pockets for discounted chips. test our skills against "The strongest witch at Hogwarts"
Merula, my beloved! its nice to see you again

>>6120615
aah, just what I wanted to read
+1

>>6120615
+1

>>6120615
+1

>>6120597
Being responsible is overrated. Time for dumb teenage fun and brazen bravado.

File: GFfepP5XEAAIGEm.jpg (65 KB, 600x738)

65 KB JPG

>>6120615
Lets fucking go!

+1

i was wondering what was taking HeadQM so long and was thinking that we broke him with our choice, but then i remembered he was taking a trip and it would take longer than usual.
still excited for the netx update tho.
Hope you are having fun in your trip HeadQM!

Rolled 1, 49, 15 + 25 = 90 (3d100 + 25)

HeadQM here, getting ready to fly back home and possibly write on the way there. You fuckers have no idea how much I missed writing this.

Roll a d100+47-5 (I think that's your battle bonus, I'll adjust it if I got it wrong, minus other circumstances I'll write about). Beat 2 out of 3 against Merula's roll

>>6125353
Welp, about as good as game Merula. I strive to be lore accurate, after all

Rolled 27 + 42 (1d100 + 42)

>>6125353
Lol
Lmao

Rolled 65 + 42 (1d100 + 42)

>>6125353
Welcome back, QM!

Rolled 100 + 42 (1d100 + 42)

>>6125353
oh boy, here we go!
and welcome back!

File: (bullying stops).jpg (255 KB, 495x524)

255 KB JPG

>>6125363
>100
o-oh...im so sorry Merula!

>>6125363
>>6125353
This is legitimately hilarious.

You are aware that you should be very worried about the multitude of things that are going on right now that seem to be slipping out of your control, such as Riley telling her mom to prepare for battle, or Helga giving no shits about the separation between Muggles and Wizards. However, you decide to ignore all that. It isn’t every day you get a chance to show off, after all.

“Alright,” you say, nodding. “I could go for some discounted chips.”

“What!?” Falere says, eyes going wide. “No, no, no! There’s no way I’m letting you fight my mom, you arse!”

“Falere? Who is that?” Merula shouts from where she stands after having sent the old man running.

“Just a hungry client looking for a discount, ma’am!” You shout over Falere’s “No one!”

“Ha! The boy with the sword!” She shouts, blowing away the tuft of blond hair away from her face. “My daughter speaks a lot about you and your friends, it seems you’re leading them to become half-decent fighters. My husband would have liked you!” She taps the auror armor she’s wearing, proudly. ”Rules number one: You can only use Expelliarmus, Protego and other spells that don’t hurt people! And no stunners! I don’t want a misaimed spell to put a customer to sleep! Rule number two: you damage it, you pay for it! Same goes if you send someone’s dish flying, so watch your aim!”

“Mom, you can’t be serious!”

“I’m pretty sure I just heard you cast stupefy before I came in,” you say, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course! This is my bar. I can do whatever I want. Why, you don’t like it?”

“Oh no, sounds extremely fair.” You take Excalibur and put it tip first on the floor, where it stays straight up, unmoving, simply reflecting the surrounding room in its silver blade. “Seems a little cramped for a battle arena.”

“My patrons prefer it this way. It’s cozier.” She takes a battle stance, wand at the ready. “Now, are you going to be the one who shows them how to properly battle?”

“Mom, you’re making a mistake!”

“Fish and chips, passing through! Oh, hi Elliot!” Riley comes out of the back, carrying another tray of food. “Whoop his ass, mom! And Falere, don’t slack! There are some dishes back there for you to clean!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just trying to stop our mom from fighting someone a third of her age!”

“Stupefy!”

“Protego! Expelliarmus!” You shout, blocking her first spell easily and then sending another one in her general direction. You don’t bother aiming too much, just being mindful to not hit anyone’s fork off their hands. You pace around the small space, not exactly comfortable to duel in, but you’ve fought in worse. “Rictusempra!”

She ducks below your spell, stepping forward, “Impedi-”

[Cont.]

>>6125956

She glares at you, blowing the tuft of hair away from her face again. “Not while I still have my wand! Impedimenta!” She casts from the floor and you dodge without effort, a patron behind you freezing in place. You give her time to stand up, though she clearly doesn’t like it.

“Somnius! Tarantella! Lugrara!” She shouts spell after spell, which you simply evade, watching for an opening. Though her aim isn’t the best, her form is good, always being quick to go back to a position where she can cast Protego instantly. You can see that in a battle having her taking care of barriers would be a great addition to any army, one that you’d have a fair bit of difficulty bypassing under normal conditions. However-

“Levicorpus!” You shout, the bolt going wide, missing her and her protections… Only to hit the silver blade of Excalibur and reflect directly at her back. Her feet are once again pulled from beneath her and she’s suspended upsidedown. Her wand slips from her hand and clatters to the floor.

You crouch by her, pick it up and grin. “Does that count as a victory, ma’am?”

“Heh. My husband would have liked you. You fight almost as well as him. Now put me down.” She says, nodding upwards to where gravity had brought the skirt over which she’d put the auror armor to the middle of her thighs.“My legs are the nicest in Hogsmeade, but I think these old bums have stared at them long enough.”

“Ah, sorry!” You say, stepping back, blushing as you undo the spell in a way that puts her down gently instead of crashing down. “I hadn’t realized.”

“Nevermind that, it’s only a problem when the wrong people look.” She takes her wand from your hand and then uses it to lift your chin up, her lavender eyes appraising you. “How old did you say you are?”

“Mom!” Both of the Snyder girls scowl at the same time. “Ew!”

“What? I didn’t do anything,” she says with a sly smile as you stand there awkwardly. It strangely reminds you of when Lily had you pinned against the wall, but somehow even more dangerous. As if Lily had been merely a hungry lion, while she is a great Hungarian Horntail that hasn’t had a scrap of food for days. “If you girls aren’t doing anything about it…”

“He has a girlfriend!” Helga shouts, peeking from the back.

“Ah, shame. Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“Hey, Snyde!” One of the patrons shouts, leering. “If you need some good dick-”

Three different red stunners hit the man and he collapses on the table.

“Now, now, fun’s over,” Merula says, looking at the man with disgust while she adjusts her skirt. “Girls, toss him outside and don’t forget to take the money from his tab. Then get this young man his discount chips!”

--

[Cont.]

>>6125958

To say that your meal is an awkward one would be an understatement. Falere and Riley both glare at you every time they pass by, and their mom makes a point of keeping your cup full of something you’re not quite sure what it is, but that you’re pretty certain is mildly alcoholic.

Eventually, Helga leaves the kitchen and joins you, stealing a few of your fries, chewing happily.

“What?” You ask as you notice her staring at you.

“Nooothing. Just wondering if I should tell Arty about all of this.”

“No you aren’t. If you had any doubts about it you’d never have said anything to me and go directly to her.”

“True. Are you going to tell her, though?”

“Eh,” you shrug. “Probably. I think she’ll find it funny.”

“Really?I am sure it does wonders for your ego, but would you find it funny if you swapped places and instead of a beautiful lady whose hair is just now beginning to gray it was a handsome gentleman with dashing silver head and a swagger you just can’t match? Because I don’t think Miss Snyde was joking as much as you think she was joking.”

You stay in silence for a while.

“No, I don’t think I would.” You scratch the back of your head, looking embarrassed. “I should have ended that sooner, huh?”

“You shouldn’t even have started it, or if you had to start it, you should have ended without fanfare. Otherwise you might get a jealous girlfriend. Arty might be understanding and caring, but even she can feel inadequate when compared to someone…” she nods at her own, Arty-esque body. “Fuller than this.”

You sigh. “You know, you don’t need to always put me down when I’m having fun.”

“Ha. I promise to only do it when I see you put in harm the beautiful thing you have with her. If Rowena was here she’d call you two sickeningly sweet, and I’d hate for that to turn sour.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But how about you? How would you describe us?”

“I’d also describe you two as sickeningly sweet, even if also entirely improper. But I do love sweets, so you two are good in my cookbook. As long as you stay away from certain serpents.”

You two share the ridiculously large portion of fries, for another while as you watch Merula stomp a patron who challenged her.

“How about you?” You ask. “Did you have someone you were sickeningly sweet with? If you remember it, that is.”

She stops chewing.

“I… No?”

“That means yes.”

“There was someone, but, well… He disappeared one day, and I never saw him again.”

“Really? Who?”

“Well, I can’t be sure, but with everything I know now…”

She simply stares at you with a frown, waiting for you to figure it out.

“No!”

[Cont.]

>>6125962

“Yep. I remembered in St. Mungos, when I was talking with Rowena and Linda. A while before Merlin appeared for the first time, I thought I’d found a sweet man, someone kind. Then he vanished one night. Figured he’d run away, scared of being with someone as famous as me. But now, looking back, I think I see similarities between him and the parts Rae loved about Lailoken. He didn't look like any of them, so I’d never have put things together back then. I can’t be sure of it, but… It seems the sort of thing he’d do, doesn’t it?”

“You think he was just… shopping around for personalities? Looking for a new person to be?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just seeing things and my beloved Edmund just slipped, fell and died somewhere no one ever found him. I was never sure. We didn’t have messaging patronuses back then. And I tried looking for any recor of him in the library and couldn't find anything relevant, so it could be either.”

“I’m sorry, Helga.”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine. It was an eternity ago. Just not sure I should tell my best friend I may or may not have been just another lady in her husband’s list of conquests. She never met Edmund, she just knew what I told her about him. But, then again, she might have thought about that already.”

“You’ll never know unless you ask.”

“Ah, yes, but you see, in order for me to have what will certainly be an extremely awkward conversation with my friend, I’ll also have to involve her host in it. And so I can use the fact that I don’t want to expose my friend’s intimacy to Linda as an excuse to not do it.”

“That sounds extremely mature of you.”

“Thank you.”

--

It is the final week before Easter, and probably the last week of the year you’ll have any reasonable amount of free time within Hogwarts before the rush of final tests swarms you (which I’m not still sure how I’ll handle, but may just be a time Skip depending on how fast I feel like progressing the story to EoY vacations with the Scammanders). Besides the PICK ONE, is there anything else you’d like to do?

> Study your Potion books (+2 to Potions)
> Study with Linda, Arty, Apollo, Brighton or Helga (pick one, +2 to chosen person’s expertise)
> Study another subject (+1 to another subject)
> Research other ancient magical cities
> Research a new topic (What?)
> Talk to the Pertingers about their childhood (How?)
> Other (Write in)

>>6125964
> Study with Linda, Arty, Apollo, Brighton or Helga (pick one, +2 to chosen person’s expertise)
Arty. We shou learn a bit about dragons before we go track them down.

Also, welcome back, HQM!

>>6125970
>Arty. We shou learn a bit about dragons before we go track them down.
+1
>>6125964
welcome back HeadQM, that was a fun update

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163 KB JPG

>>6125363
Okay... been busy, but this is like, what? Our second 100? Fuck, man, should do this for a living.

Picrel.

Also going to try to come up with something good as a write-in for your quest, just didn't have much inspiration before, will see if I have it tonight. Also, just IRL shit sapping my autistic energy, kek.

>>6125970
Support. We have more time before dragons, but we can go with this.

Maybe talk with Arty and Apollo over the break?


Also, glad that your plane didn't explode on your trip or stuff, QM.

>>6125970
+1

Thanks for the welcomes. It was a tiring trip, but I got back in one exhausted piece.


>>6116322
>>6116323

Goddamn it, I was rereading and just realized I missed a part between these two posts. So, uh, pretend this little snippet goes between them. The actual update will be in the next post.

--

“Me?” Helga asks, sounding delighted.“Oh gosh. You can call me Oh Great, Wise and Beautiful Founder from whom All Education Flows, Seer of All Things, Savior of the World and All Around Fantastic Cook.”

“You can call her Helga," you say, deadpan.

“That too.”

For your second dueling class, you have a much bigger room in which to practice, thanks to Flitwick and the house elves. You divide the room into sections for each year and set each of your friends to teach each group, as you and Helga watch over everyone, you from an elevated platform where the seventh-years are training and her from among the first years below.

Now that you can keep watch over her, however, you are awed at seeing just how good she is. She has a huge group of rowdy eleven year olds with enough energy to burst, a lot of them taller than her, and she still maneuvers them easily and with discipline, allowing them space to express themselves and spend their energy so she can teach them during the moments they were standing still. It is masterful to see.

Of the others, Linda is the one who struggles the most. Second years are almost as energetic as first years, but thrice as cocky. After all, they’ve already spent almost two whole years learning magic, and, therefore, must know pretty much everything about the subject already.

You sigh. Were you that dumb when you were twelve? Probably. You can only thank Merlin that there are no such thing as magical smartphones so your, and their, juvenile stupidity can stay firmly buried in the past once you grow. Not that you think you won’t find your current self stupid in a few years, obviously, but at least it will be a different kind of stupid.

“Glad to see you here,” you say, approaching the Gryffindor that hadn’t been in your previous class. “Amalia isn’t coming?”

“No,” says Elend. “She… She’s going through a rough patch, doesn’t really know how to deal with what you told us. To be honest, I’m not sure I know either. Not once I actually sat down and thought about it.”

“And? What made you come and not her?”

“Well, I came to the conclusion that even if I were to send an owl to my parents telling them to put every single pound they have into building a bunker for us, if things went south they’d still die. So I should probably learn how to fight to make sure they don’t. While Amalia… She’s probably going through her fortieth cup of tea of the day, trying to force it to properly tell the future.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I just figured… I figured you all deserved to know.”

“You don’t need to apologize, commander. You did the right thing. But someone was bound to react poorly to news that horrifying. Unfortunately, we can’t know until we tell them the news. I’d know.”

You frown at that. “Is… is that something you want to talk about?”

“Merlin, no. Besides, my family is made of public figures, I’m sure you could figure it out if you wanted. Just uncomfortable shit some people have in their family and that you don’t really talk about. Not, you know, trauma, just things you look at and think, wow, that fucking sucked.”

[Cont.]

>>6127209

“Alright, I won’t pry,” you say, raising your hands. “But if there’s anything I can do about Amalia, you just have to say the word. I wouldn’t have told you what I did if I didn’t consider you two good friends.”

“Will do, commander. But right now, I think trying to convince her that what she’s doing is useless won’t do anyone any good. Hopefully the Easter break will help soothe things over.”

“Good. Now, has anyone told you what I was teaching last class?”

“How to fall, right?”

“Precisely. Depulso!”

The boy is launched through the air, spinning, then falls into a stumbling roll until he finally stops in a superhero landing position. He looks pissed at first, then laughs.

“Alright, fair enough. But I will be quite pissed if I do manage to get Amalia to come and you don’t give her the same treatment.”

“Oh, don’t worry, my wand is a strong enforcer of gender equality.”

--

“Now, why is it that some spells go farther than others?”

“No one knows for certain,” you say, straining your brain to remember the answer. “Some say that there is a connection between caster and spell until it vanishes, and some incantations can hold that connection further than others. A more recent theory suggests that spells are like light, in that a beam of light only seems to be going straight, but is actually going in ever so slightly separate ways. In that theory, a spell would actually be subdivided into many sub-spell particles, which eventually split up far enough apart that the spell loses cohesion.”

“A third theory is that the spell loses energy in the form of light, and eventually doesn't have enough to keep itself stable. Fourth is that the limitation is actually in the caster’s vision, and that if one could create a strong enough pair of lenses they’d be able to cast spells arbitrarily far away, and that the only reason we can’t is because we can’t produce lenses of sufficient quality, and that even if we could the air warps the view too much for it to make a difference. Five is… Fuck, I forgot. What`s five?”

“Air.”

“Ah, yes. Five is that as the spell moves, it actually loses pieces of itself as it hits the air, until it eventually stops and disappears, but that is not seen as correct since there seems to be no correlation between the size of the bolt and the distance. Whatever the case, the only spell whose distance was never able to be measured is the Killing Curse, of which there are reports of it flying off into the distance until it vanished beyond the horizon, or going so high into the sky that it looked like a reverse shooting star. I think that's it.”

“Yep,” Linda says, closing the book in her hands. “Spot on. We should be good for Charms, at least. Now we just have to start studying Transfiguration, Defense, History of Magic, Astronomy, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Merlin, how I love finals.”

[Cont.]

>>6127210

“I mean, we still have the few weeks after the break to study. And besides, it could be worse. Arty is having her O.W.L.s.”

A long, exhausted, groan comes from behind the enormous pile of books hiding Arty.

“We saved the world, we shouldn’t have to prove we know this stuff!”

“Aren’t you the one who is refilled with energy because of a new and improved body?”

“For casting spells, not for dredging through pages and pages of magic theory! History of Magic is still boring!”

“Hey, Elliot, couldn’t we get your dad to read all this stuff for us and then teach them back?" Linda asks. "He’s the only history teacher that can make getting taught history not feel like hugging a dementor.”

“I’m sure he’d be delighted. I’m also sure that would break several laws when he inevitably learns something that gets him excited enough that he forgets the Statute of Secrecy and babbles on to his colleagues at the University, leading to many, many obliviations. Honestly, I'm surprised he still hasn't told anyone I have Excalibur.”

You study for another hour before deciding that that’s enough.

“Alright, why don’t we study something that doesn’t suck? Arty… How about you help us with Magical Creatures?”

She immediately perks up from behind the books.

“Really!? Uh, but that’s sixth year stuff, I’m not sure…”

“Arty, you befriended a Graphorn, you got this.”

“She did what?” Linda ask, but one look at Arty and both of you unanimously decide it would be funnier if you just ignored the question.

“So maybe we should talk about dragons,” you suggest. “Since we’re going after one this summer.”

“You two are going WHAT?”

Listening to Arty talk about dragons is like listening to someone talk about a particularly mischievous cat, if the cat weighed three tons of muscle and breathed fire. It is clear she has a very liberal notion of what constitutes danger, but that she respects creatures of any kind a great deal. It isn’t dumb luck that allowed her to befriend the Lord of the Shore, and even kind people get killed by wild beasts. No, you're sure it took knowledge and research to do it.

She talks about preferred foods, about how different races have different nests, how territorial they are and what they consider threats. Spell resistances and weaknesses, how some dragons can resist even ten stupefies at once while others can spit acid at a distance of over twenty meters.

You do lose some parts of her explanation by getting lost admiring her, but you get most of it.

> Gained: +2 to Magical Creatures. New total: +6!

--

[Cont.]

>>6127211

When the train arrives at the station you have a weird feeling. For the first time, you know you… don’t really need it. None of the seventh years need it. Yet still, no one apparates home. Like a ritual you all follow, a ritual you all love. It feels right to board the train to leave, as if it was a portal to another world, where you leave all your worries behind.

A sensation that is immediately shattered when a prefect tells you you and your friends have been requested at one of the cabins in the front.

“Ah… Minister,” you say as you enter, Linda, Arty, Apollo, Helga and Brighton close behind. “What disastrously bad news brings you here?”

“Before we begin… a test. Honey?”

Ron stands up from where he’s seated by her, then points his wand at you. “Legillimens!”

You instantly feel the attack on your mind, and hold on to Excalibur. It lasts a few seconds, but you resist the intrusion.

“Good, now the others.”

One by one, he casts the spell on your friends before sitting back down. “It’s acceptable.”

“Really?” You ask. “After all you told us, now you decide to check our occlumency barriers?”

“I have my reasons. Namely, we found Robards. Dead. We’ll announce it by monday.”

“Ah, I’m… I’m sorry. How?”

“Killing Curse, a day after he was announced as teacher in Hogwarts. Which leaves one obvious question, which is...”

“How did crouch get his Polyjuice to work if it needs to be taken recently, and with the person alive?”

“Precisely. And we, unfortunately, have the answer.” She throws you a small potion vial and you catch it. Inside it are… several somethings floating in green liquid. They look like hairs and nails, but they are constantly transforming, straightening and curling and changing colors.

“It’s almost like… Oh no.”

“What?” Arty asks. ”What is it?”

[Cont.]

>>6127212

“Metamorphmagus,” you say, the connection obvious in your mind, your knowledge of potions not being great enough to make the discovery yourself, but sufficient to see the answer as true when it was presented to you. “Usually, Polyjuice works poorly with them, makes you transform into a deformed mix of their original look and the person they are transformed in at the time the material was collected. But for their parts to have this forceful and quick of a change you’d need the metamorphmagus to be in … extreme emotional or physical distress.”

“Yes,” Granger says, making the vial fly back to her hand with a flick of her wand. “For that, the Cruciatus Curse is particularly well suited, though it needs to be used for several hours for the subject to be… pliable enough. Submerging them in simple Wiggenweld can be used to extend its usability, and when added to Polyjuice it produces that which you saw Crouch eating. Metamorphmagus Candy, we named it.”

“Of course. Everything else we know only threatens the lives of everyone,” Brighton says, grim. “While this threatens your government, which is why it requires utmost secrecy, is that right, godmother?”

“Don’t be that skeptical, Brighton. You can only wage war if you have a strong government behind you, which is why a handful of Death Eaters managed to almost take over Britain twice. If people knew of this brew, the damage they could cause is unimaginable, not only to this country, but to every single Metamorphmagi in the world who would all have to fear becoming the next Frank and Alice Longbottom.” She says, voice bitter but unflinching. “We suspect it was discovered closer to the end of the First Wizarding War, otherwise our government would have fallen far before Lily Potter’s sacrifice managed to save us all.”

> Write in

so...what the fuck? do we know any Metamorphmagy? the only one im aware of is Nymphadora Tonks, and she is dead.
do we now have to add literally everyone to the lit of possible suspects wanting us dead?

>>6127213
I'm not 100% sure what we're meant to be responding to here. Uh...
>"Sure, we'll keep your secret. I get it."
Or is there something I'm missing.

>>6127242
Just any questions, requests or comments that you might have when meeting her, since it is not every days you meet her, or that she reveals something that important to you.

>>6127239
> do we know any Metamorphmagy?
You don't think you do.

>>6127213
>You done any investigating on what Potter was up to before he lost all memory of us? Or even where he is.

>>6127278
I can back this, in light of >>6127260