Chapter 55: Engraving Tool, and Duelling Club
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Quinn stood in his workshop, working on a new piece of equipment. He had worked hard to get this piece of equipment and had kind-off risked his life while obtaining it.
In front of him sat a thin black rectangular case on a table in his workshop. He gazed at the black case, and it unlocked with a click. The case's lid rose up and moved aside, revealing behind a thin golden cylinder with a four millimeter (4 mm) diameter and a length of twelve centimeters (12 cm).
The thin golden cylinder was the same cylinder that super chilled using the cold energy from Absolute Zero. Quinn didn't touch the box or the gold cylinder because they were intensely cold.
He glanced at the spot on the table beyond the black case, and there sat a hexagonal metal cylinder with a conical tip on one end; in simpler words, it was in the shape of a pencil.
The metallic pencil rose from the table and flew into Quinn's hand. The metallic pencil was made from vanadium and steel alloy. He moved the metallic pencil closer to his face and saw the faint runic markings all over the pencil's surface.
He turned it to the non-conical side to reveal a cylindrical hole in the pencil. This was the place where the chilled gold cylinder was going to fit. The metallic pencil was a runic tool that used a super chilled magic conductor as its core to channel magic into the runes etched into the metal.
The metallic pencil floated in his hand, and his other hand veered his hand towards the gold cylinder and used his magic to lift it off the case. Quinn could feel his magic react to the cold, and it was slightly more difficult to control, but to Quinn, it was nothing as he had operated his magic on a super-chilled block of ice for months.
The hexagonal metallic pencil and the gold cylindrical core lined with each other, and with a move of magic, the gold cylindrical core slipped inside the metallic pencil. The opening immediately closed when the gold cylinder was fully inserted into the metal.
Quinn gently channeled magic into the metallic pencil, and immediately, all the runic markings on the surface glowed with white, and the tip of the metallic pencil also turned white.
"Excellent," grinned Quinn.
The back of his nape shone in violet color. Quinn felt extremely proud of the magical tool floating over his hands. He genuinely thought that this was the best thing that came out of this room in the entire thousand-year history of Hogwarts.
"Alright, let's go and test this out," Quinn spoke and cleared out the black case from the table and bought out a thin circular metal disc of the size of a coaster.
Placing the thin metallic disc on the table, Quinn stuck it to the table with a sticking charm.
"Okay, testing the new concentrated magic engraving tool for shallow rune engraving," commented Quinn while he put on his leather apron, leather gloves, and safety goggles.
Quinn's metallic pencil engraving tool floated above the metal disc, and with a thrum of Quinn's magic, the rune marking light up in white, and the tip shone brighter than any rune on the metal.
The metal engraver lowered down to the metal disc, and the white tip contacted the metal. There was a trill as Quinn used magic to draw runes on the metal disc, carefully sliding the glowing tip over the disc to mark runes over the metal.
The glow on the runes and tip changed as Quinn dynamically altered the flow of magic as per the requirement. It took a few minutes before the entire surface of the metal disc was marked with very shallow runes.
The runes on the engraver dimmed as Quinn stopped supplying magic to the gold core inside the metal body.
Quinn vanished the fumes created because of the engraving before pulling the engraver closer to him. He released the gold core from the body and observed its condition after a session of rune engraving.
"Hmm, at this rate, it will last for another... maybe ten sessions before I need to recharge the cold energy from Absolute Zero," noted Quinn as he attentively examined the thin gold cylindrical core.
The core floated to the side and took its place back inside the black case as Quinn moved towards the engraved metal disc.
Shallow engravings of less than a millimeter (<=0.9 mm) depth covered the entire metal surface.
"Oh yeah, now this is precision art," Quinn admired the runic marking engraved by the rune engraver. The results were as stunning as Quinn expected.
Runes were all about the material used and the shape of the runes that were drawn. The more accurate the constructs, the better the runes would perform their tasks.
Before today, Quinn had been using transmutation to engrave runes on solid surfaces like wood and metals, but there was a slight problem with that method, and it was precision. Quinn could successfully mark runes into the solids, but they were not the best engravings as Quinn struggled with dimensions.
He couldn't make engravings that had a depth of less than two to three millimeters (2 - 3 mm) with transmutation because that level of precision was out of his current mastery level. Some runes needed to be of depths less than that amount, and unless Quinn could improve his mastery, those runes would work, but not as effectively as Quinn wanted them to. But, with the rune engraver, Quinn could overcome the problem until he could improve his mastery over transmutation.
He picked up the metal disc into a wooden frame and fitted a glass dome over the wooden frame to cover the metal disc. Quinn set everything in their place with sticking charms.
Quinn looked up at the ceiling chandelier, and all the candles extinguished with a gust of wind.
The room went dark with no light source.
Light from the table bathed the room with white as Quinn's newly engraved metallic disc performed its function. It was a rune cluster that produced an orb of light above the metal disc, providing light like a standard light bulb.
Quinn looked around and finally saw how everything in his workshop looked like in white light instead of the yellow light of the candles.
"Yeah, white light is better than yellow light. Much better," Quinn picked up the magical light bulb and moved around the room to shine a light on everything. "Three more for the workshop and two for the office would be enough."
He stared at the magical light bulb with a proud smile on his face. The violet on his nape bloomed and thrummed with activity.
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- (Scene Break) -
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Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying in the Hospital wing as though dead. Such news had spread through the entire school. The air was suddenly thick with rumor and suspicion. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.
Before, Mrs. Norris was petrified, so no one really cared about the event as the victim was a cat, but this time the victim was a student, and with the rumor mill, the teenage minds believed whatever was fed to them.
And, amongst all this tension, the school announced an event that excited all students in Hogwarts.
Quinn, Eddie, and Marcus stood in front of the notice board in front of the entrance hall. A small knot of people stood with them, who were similarly reading a piece of parchment pinned on the board.
"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Marcus. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days..."
"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" joked Eddie, but he, too, read the sign with interest.
"Could be useful," Quinn said to Eddie and Marcus as they walked to the Great Hall for dinner. "At the very least, it would be fun. Let's drop by tonight."
Eddie and Marcus were all for it. So, at nine o'clock that evening, three pals hurried back to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished, and a circular stage had in the middle of the hall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more, and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.
It surprised Quinn to see a circular stage instead of the long straight one like in the series.
"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Marcus as they edged into the chattering crowd.
"It will be Flitwick, of course. He was a dueling champion, who better than him," replied Eddie.
Quinn grinned as he nudged them to look at the stage. "At least one of you is right," Quinn spoke, but it surprised him as well because Filius Flitwick accompanied Gilderoy Lockhart instead of Snape in the canon Snape and Lockhart pairing.
Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"
"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions — for full details, see my published works."
"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Flitwick," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you, youngsters, to worry — you'll still have your Charms master when I'm through with him, never fear!"
Flitwick's lip was curled into an almost feral smile in response.
Quinn cackled and repeatedly slapped Eddie on his shoulder, "Lockhart is an idiot!"
Eddie and Marcus actually felt second-hand embarrassment because of Lockhart.
Lockhart and Flitwick turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Flitwick simply nodded. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.
"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will aim to kill, of course."
"One - two - three -"
Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Flitwick cried, "Stupefy!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light, and the next second, Lockhart crumpled into a heap on the floor.
Quinn could see Malfoy and his gang of Slytherin cheered. Many girls gasped and squealed their fingers.
Flitwick turned to look at the crowd of students and spoke, "Looks like professor Lockhart would be out of commission for a while, so I will be taking over this lesson." Flitwick swung his wand, and Lockhart's clothes tugged upward and dragged him off the stage to a corner of the Great Hall.
"The charm I used was a Stunning charm - as you saw, it stunned professor Lockhart unconscious. Now, I think you saw sufficient demonstration. Does anyone like to volunteer?"
Flitwick turned around to look at the entire crowd and didn't see any hands rising. Maybe it was because they just saw Flitwick stun Lockhart or because no one wanted to go first.
Quinn also looked around to see if anyone would volunteer when he felt his shoulders being grabbed. He looked to his sides to see Eddie and Marcus smiling, and then they pushed him forward.
"Whoa! You gormless little pieces of naffers," cursed Quinn as he stumbled to the front of the crowd.
Flitwick's eyes shined as he excitedly clapped in bony hands, "Looks like Mr. West wants to take part, excellent, ten points to Ravenclaw. Come on up."
Quinn sighed before shaking his head with a smile. He removed his robes and turned back to throw them at Eddie, "You two better not come up there because I will make your lives miserable." Glaring at his two friends as they stuck out their tongues at him.
The crowd cheered when Quinn removed his robes and climbed up onto the stage while loosening his necktie. He raised his hand to the crowd with a chill smile on his face.
"Now, who will be the other one," Flitwick twirled around his spot. "Students, don't be shy, and please step up."
Quinn was absentmindedly playing with his fake wand when he heard the Slytherin cheer up. He turned in their direction to find a Slytherin student climb upstairs to the stage.
'Miles Bletchley, fourth-year,' Quinn tilted his head as he identified the Slytherin student.'Slytherin Quidditch team, a mean-spirited individual who lacked good sportsmanship. He takes enjoyment in mocking others and likes to play rough. Hmm, did he come up because he thinks he can win this fight?'
The red light took root on his nape as Quinn felt disrespected. He could see the slight smirk on Miles Bletchley's face, which made Quinn feel angry.
Flitwick grinned in delight as he motioned his two participants to face each other.
"Face your partners!" called Flitwick, back on the platform. "And bow!"
Neither of the two duelers bowed to each other and just stared at the other. Bletchley smirked at Quinn, while Quinn didn't smile or anything and just stared back.
"Wands at the ready!" shouted Flitwick. "When I count to three, cast your charms to Disarm your opponents — only to disarm them - we don't want any accidents - one... two... three, GO!"
Quinn didn't bother raising his wand high and just stared at Bletchley. On the other hand, Bletchley moved immediately and casted a curse, and it was not the Disarming charm.
"Furnunculus!"
The Furnunculus Curse caused the target to erupt in painful boils/pimples. If you had mastery over the curse, then the boils could be pretty painful and continuously ooze with puss.
A gold flash of spell light zapped toward Quinn, who simply side-stepped to avoid the curse.
Bletchley clicked his tongue and casted one more curse.
"Calvorio," A dark curse that removed all hair from the curses' victim.
Quinn ducked and let the spell pass him.
'Alright, if this is how he wants to play,' thought Quinn and walked towards Bletchley.
Bletchley frowned and cursed another charm.
"Locomotor Mortis!" A curse that is used to bind the legs of the victim together.
Quinn hopped to let the curse hit the floor.
Bletchley growled as he saw a mocking grin on Quinn's face.
"STUPEFY!" Bletchley roared in frustration. A jet of red coursed through the air aimed right at Quinn's face.
Quinn tilted his head with a smirk, and the red jet whistled past him.
Bletchley stood stunned at yet another dodge and was startled when he saw Quinn running towards him. He raised his wand and tried to cast a charm, but in his agitated state, he wasn't able to decide on a spell.
Quinn stopped right in front of Bletchley, winked at his opponent, and snatched Bletchley's wand straight from his hand and chucked it over his head into the crowd.
"Aww, nice try. Those were some serious nasty curses, you know? If one of those hit me, that would have been bad." Quinn tapped Bletchley's face with the back of his hand. "Better luck next time!"
The red glow on his nape turned violet as he turned his back to Bletchley and pumped his hand in the air.
"That's how you do it!"
The crowd, which was silent while watching the duel, erupted in cheers and applauses for Quinn. To watch a person dodging every spell and win without using magic in the manner Quinn did was exciting to see.
Quinn put his fake wand on the side of his neck, and it amplified his voice for all to hear, "Alright, who is next. Let's get this party started."
Flitwick, who was watching from the side, just beamed and walked off the stage. He was surprised that Quinn didn't cast a single spell, but he was amused by the effortless dodging. Looking at the crowd's mood, he decided it would be a waste to remove Quinn from the stage.
No time was wasted as one of the Weasley twins stepped on the stage and the Gryffindor students cheered for him,
"Take the birdbrain down!" "Gryffindor rules!"
Quinn spread his arms and smiled towards the Weasley twin, "Ah, before we start, which one are you?"
The Weasley laughed before speaking, "I am Fred, or maybe I am George. Or, maybe I am Forge or neither of them and am Gred."
Quinn nodded with a tilt and laughed, "True, true, what is in a name? Let's start, shall we?"
Both nodded and readied their wands. From below the stage, Flitwick counted them off,
"One - two - three, GO!"
This time Quinn moved first and swiftly took a step forward while kneeling down on one knee to shoot a conjured rope towards Fred/George's legs.
The sudden spell took the twin by surprise, and the rope wrapped around his legs, sealing any movement from his lower body and also messing up his balance.
Quinn grinned and waved his wand. Suddenly, The rope around Fred/George's legs rose up into the air with its captive in the tow.
"Woah!" shouted Fred/George as he found himself being lifted into the air, upside down at that.
Quinn let the Weasley hang in the air for a bit before levitating the rope so that Fred/George moved towards the Gryffindor crowd and lowered him close to the ground before releasing the rope spell, letting Weasley fall onto the floor.
Everyone, including a lot of Gryffindor students, cheered for Quinn at yet another win.
The victor raised both his hands and prompting the crowd to cheer more loudly.
Quinn laughed in delight as he bathed in the cheers. The violet on his nape deepened in color and turned vivid and dark. Inside his body, Quinn's magic sang with power and vibrated with activity; Quinn felt his magic's presence much clearer than ever before.
He closed his eyes and felt his connection with his magic deepen in real-time. The feeling was exhilarating, lifting his already good mood even better.
'This feels so good!'
The patch of violet on Quinn's nape had gained another level of depth as Quinn felt the change in his magic.
Not for a second did the thought of why his magic was reacting the way it did, cross Quinn's mind. His mind was too distracted by the stimulation his magic was providing right now.
Quinn's magic was changing.
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Blue - _ _ _ T _
Pink - ???
Red - _ _ _ _ H
Yellow - _ _ E _ _
Violet - _ _ I _ E
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Quinn West - MC - Having a good time...
Filius Flitwick - Duel Master - Scoot over it is my time.
Gilderoy Lockhart - "- Professor -" - Stunned unconscious.
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