Chapter 75: Dementors, Patronus, and Chocolate West
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis...
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[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]
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The black-haired, round-faced with baby fat mini-version of Daphne Greengrass stepped forward and introduced herself.
"My name is Astoria Greengrass. Nice to meet you."
The little Greengrass raised her hand, presenting it to Quinn.
Quinn took it because of his etiquette education, kissed her knuckles, and introduced himself.
"Quinn West. Pleased to meet you, too."
Tracy, who was on the side, chimed in with a bright tone,
"My name is Tracy Davis."
Luna thought that everyone was introducing themselves and took part in joining the foray.
"I'm Luna Lovegood."
Tracy giggled and looked at Daphne. The blonde Greengrass looked back at her best friend and looked in confusion.
"You are the only one who hasn't said your name," explained Tracy with a beaming grin on her face.
Daphne rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to participate in the childishness. But then she noted that everyone in the compartment was staring at her.
"Fine," she sighed exasperatedly and returned, "My name is Daphne Greengrass. Happy?"
Everybody repeatedly nodded in unison.
After everyone was introduced to each other and their luggage was in place, they took a seat. Quinn sat near the window, Luna sat beside him. On the other side, Astoria sat across Quinn, Daphne sat beside her sister, and Tracy sat next to Daphne.
"So you are that Quinn West. I've heard about you," said Astoria as soon as everyone got settled. "I have heard a lot about you."
"You have?" Quinn inquired. "From whom?" He gave a quick glance to the side.
"From my sister, of course. And some from Tracy. But mostly from Daphne," disclosed Astoria.
"Tori!" Daphne hissed at her sister.
Quinn moved his eyes on Astoria while moving his head towards Tracy before looking at her. He commented: "This one, this one talks."
"She does. It can get quite fun," admitted Tracy. "Yeah~, really fun."
Quinn gave an excited grin as he turned back to Astoria and met Daphne's as he did.
"So, Astoria, tell me, which house do you want to join? Are you going to follow in your sister's footsteps? And what does Daphne say about me?"
Astoria hummed in thought and responded, "Well, I want to be in Slytherin, but not because Daphne is in there. I want to join Slytherin because daddy was in Slytherin. And Daphne told me that you are smart, intelligent, and funny, but she says that you joke a little too much. She also said that she felt hurt- oomph!"
Daphne clamped her sister's mouth with her hand to stop her from talking. Astoria was starting to talk about things she didn't want anyone to know, especially not Quinn.
"- mah! So, I was saying- ouch!" Astoria freed herself from Daphne's grasp and tried to continue, but she was again interrupted when Daphne pinched and twisted her waist.
"Not a single word," Daphne Greengrass glared at her sister.
Quinn pulled out an A.I.D card from his robes and presented it to Astoria. "Please, visit me when you have free time. I believe we'll get along splendidly."
Daphne tried to take the card, but Astoria got to it first and examined it with interest, "I've heard of this, too. Mum really liked the idea when Daphne told us about it."
Quinn shifted in his seat and asked, "Really, Mrs. Greengrass said that? Tell me more." He earned a glare from Daphne and a giggle from Tracy.
The Hogwarts Express moved steadily to the North, and the scenery outside the window became wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickened. People were running backward and forward past the door of their compartment.
Time passed as the group continued to talk. Quinn was having a lot of fun talking to the younger Greengrass and her stories about the usually unflappable Daphne.
The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. The train rattled, the rain hammered, and the wind roared.
"We must be nearly there," said Tracy, leaning forward to look past
Daphne and Astoria at the now completely black window.
"We can't be there yet," said Daphne, checking her watch.
The words had hardly left her when the train started to slow down.
"Why are we stopping?"
The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons died away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows.
Quinn looked at the dark outside, and his pupils shrunk and his eyes narrowed. He remembered what was about to happen and knew the reason behind the train's unusual stop.
The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that some other people's luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out, which plunged the train into total darkness.
"What's going on?" asked Luna's from beside Quinn. She tugged on his clothes to ascertain his position in the dark.
Quinn turned his face towards Luna's position and assured her, "Don't worry. It'll be fine."
"Do you think we've broken down?" said Astoria as she tried to peer out what was going on from the compartment door, but there was barely any light for anything to be visible.
"I don't know," whispered Tracy, pulling her cat into her lap.
There was a squeaking sound, and Quinn saw the dim black outline of Astoria, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out.
There's something moving out there," Astoria said. "I think people are coming aboard... does this happen every year?"
"No, it doesn't. The train doesn't stop at all during the journey," answered Daphne's voice.
Quinn knew who was coming aboard and silently pulled out his fake wand. There was a soft hum before three orbs manifested on the compartment's ceiling, lighting the room in soft yet illuminating light.
All four girls looked up at the three orbs of light at the ceiling before looking at each other.
"Stay where you are," instructed Quinn as he sat in attention. He slightly cracked the window so his hand could go outside. He got up and moved towards the door.
And just as he was expecting, the door to the compartment opened up.
Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the light orbs on the ceiling, was a cloaked figure that reached up to the roof. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Quinn's eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract slightly. There was a hand protruding from the cloak, and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.
But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Quinn's gaze, it suddenly withdrew the hand into the folds of its black shroud. And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all, causing all to shiver. Quinn also felt the cold. He found it as equally bone-chilling as in the Icy vault. The current cold had a soul-numbing chill.
Quinn opened his mouth and spoke up in a clear voice, "Back off at once. Leave, or you will regret it."
The hooded figure looked down at the room's occupants and sensed deep fear and the promise of positive feelings that it could feed off of. The hooded figure gave into temptation and moved forward.
"Bad move," whispered Quinn in the cold.
A blinding silver light blasted the hooded figure at a point-blank range.
There was no noise, no shrieking from the hooded figure of darkness. The figure just suddenly retreated from the light and crashed into the opposing compartment's door, before flying away in what seemed fear and loathing.
The blinding silver light didn't stop and immediately darted across the train.
Quinn, too, didn't stop and immediately turned back and cracked the window of his compartment open, letting in a chilly breeze. He looked around the train's roof and saw more of those hooded figures floating above the train. Quinn pointed out his fake wand holding hand and shot out another burst of silver light that had the shape of an avian animal.
The silvery avian zoomed forward, letting out waves of silver energy. The swarm of hooded figures felt the silver energy hit them and immediately scattered away from the train as the silvery guardian cruised around the train, dutifully providing protection against the creatures of darkness.
An avian guardian stood above the train, emitting massive waves of positive silver energy, and repelling every foul creature in the vicinity.
And as the hooded figures escaped and moved away from the train, a spot opened up between the clouds in the dark sky, allowing light to fall over the silver guardian.
It was as if the vast sky itself was supporting the spirit guardian.
The caster of the silver entity ducked his head back inside the train. From his robes, he took out chocolate spheres, magically unwrapping the silver wrapping, and made them hover in front of his companions, who were all shivering and shaking.
"Eat the chocolates," he spoke in a calming voice, smiling as they looked at him. "It will help."
The girls grabbed the floating chocolates that were in front of them and popped them into their mouths, and actually felt the shivering decrease as the chocolate's taste covered their palates.
"Good. Do you guys feel better?" asked Quinn, shooting diagnostic looks at each of the four girls and getting affirmative nods in return.
"Excellent, sit tight. I'll be back," answered Quinn and, as he was turning back, he felt a tug on his clothes. When he looked back, Tracy was holding his robe.
"Where are you going?" questioned Tracy, her voice filled with worry.
Quinn grinned in reply.
"I've always wondered, what is the reason for my birth? And today, after this happened, I finally know it."
The girls watched as Quinn took his hands out of his pockets. Between all his fingers, Quinn held the same type of chocolate spheres they had just eaten.
"I'm going on a chocolate route. I was born for this," Quinn was grinning so hard that his face was almost split in half. "I'll see you four in a while."
He exited the compartment and moved towards the front of the train. He then opened every single door with magic and shot out chocolate spheres inside the compartments, and made them hover in front of the passengers while shouting.
"Eat chocolate! It will make you feel better. I'm raining chocolate today."
Pumping his fists into the air, Quinn declared.
"Chocolate West is back!"
Quinn's cavalier attitude didn't match the dark vibe in the train. But something about his shouting and shooting chocolate while making pew-pew noises brought people out of dark thoughts. The floating chocolate — and Quinn, who celebrated his return, almost made people forget the dread-inducing hooded figures of grim and bleakness.
Some Chocolate West skidded in front of another compartment, and this one's door was already open.
"Indulge in the sweet-," but Quinn stopped talking after he found that the compartment he was standing in was occupied by the golden squad.
Inside the compartment, Harry Potter, the golden boy, or better known as the boy-who-lived, was unconscious in his seat while the other three of the group were around him.
Ivy Potter, the Potter twin, was shaking her brother, trying to get him to wake up.
Quinn sighed and entered the compartment and spoke, "Get away from him. You are overwhelming him. Let the bloke breathe."
The second Quinn stepped inside the compartment, the lanterns came back to life, and the Hogwarts Express resumed its way with a jolt.
Ivy, who was worried about her brother, followed the instructions on instinct, but when she looked at the person who gave the instructions, her eyes contracted.
"You, what are you doing here?"
Quinn internally groaned but decided to ignore Ivy and Hermione's suspicious looks and asked, "Did he come into contact with a Dementor?"
"Dementor? Do you mean that foul, hooded creature?" asked Ron. He didn't notice the suspicious and cautious looks his two friends were giving the black-haired boy.
"Oh, so you guys had a chance to get acquainted with the Dementors," Quinn conversed as he checked on Harry Potter. "Bad luck, I guess."
'Alright, he is breathing, so a Dementor's kiss is out of the question,' diagnosed Quinn. He moved Harry's face around to check him out and silently funneled some magic to check the status of the boy-who-lived. 'He doesn't seem that pale, and I'm not getting any serious hits.'
Quinn stood straight and announced, "He is alright. This sudden close contact with the Dementor knocked him out."
"How do you know that?" questioned Ivy, she was still giving a cautious look, but Quinn could see her gaze shifting to Harry, worry flashing in her eyes every time she did so.
Quinn sighed, turned to the unconscious Harry Potter, and gave him a tight slap.
*Ppah!*
The sound of slap reverberated in the compartment as Harry Potter woke up with an abrupt and deep inhale of breath and looked around wildly.
"W-what?!"
Harry opened his eyes to see West, or whatever was his name, standing over him. The lanterns above him were back on, the floor was shaking — the Hogwarts Express was moving again. Harry felt very sick; when he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, he felt cold sweat on his face.
And his left cheek was stinging.
"Dip or pour?" asked West. He still couldn't recall the guy's first name.
"P-Pour," he answered on instinct. Harry could feel his heart racing.
Quinn clicked his tongue, looked at Ivy, and shrugged with his arms up. "I take it back. There is something definitely wrong with him. I mean, who pours instead of dipping."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Quinn's eccentricity. Even Ivy wasn't sure what to do, so she just stared at Quinn.
Quinn, on the other hand, was unwrapping a chocolate sphere. He leaned down towards Harry. "Here, eat the chocolate. It will make you feel better."
"What was that thing?" asked Hermione.
"A Dementor," answered Quinn, who was now giving chocolate to the other three. "One of the Dementors from Azkaban, I presume."
"What is a Dementor?" Hermione asked, bewildered. The hooded creature was something out of a horror story.
"Dementors are one nasty piece of work. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair; they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the surrounding air. Get too near a Dementor, and every good feeling, every happy memory, will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soulless and corrupt. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."
Quinn looked at the golden squad, who didn't look too well. He also noticed that none of them had eaten the chocolate.
"Eat the damn chocolates. It'll help."
He turned to Hermione and offered her something that would satisfy her. "Chocolate is one of the remedies to Dementor exposure. You can read it in one of the Dark Against Dark Arts remedy books. Just go to the Dark creatures section of the library and pick the book on Dementors."
Hermoine looked back and forth between the chocolate and Quinn before taking the risk and popping the chocolate into her mouth. Immediately, to her great surprise, she felt a warmth spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and toes.
Quinn caught the look on Hermione's face and knew that his work was done here, so he just turned and walked out of their compartment.
"I need to cover more area, so I'll excuse myself."
With that, he was gone, leaving the golden squad alone.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Ivy, looking at Harry anxiously.
"I don't understand... What happened?" groaned Harry. He was sweating, and his left cheek was still hurting.
"Well, that thing - the Dementor, stood there and looked around," said Ivy. She then mumbled, "I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face," she shook her head and said clearly this time, "and you, you -"
"I thought you went into shock or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You became sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching -"
"Then suddenly a bright silver light appeared and slammed into the Dementor," continued Hermione. She could recall the feeling of relief she felt when the Dementor ran away from the silver light. "I couldn't see it clearly, but it was some sort of bird. I definitely saw wings."
"It was horrible," said Ron, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"
"I felt weird," commented Hermione, shifting her shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I would never be happy again..."
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They were already near Hogwarts when Quinn returned, and the girls had already changed into their uniforms. They stepped out to give Quinn room to change.
They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. And Quinn didn't force them to speak up and talk. The Dementor was a dreadful creature; even Quinn felt some despair when it came near. He had been reminded of the days when he had lost his magic and didn't know what to do.
It was after Quinn conjured his Patronus that the effects disappeared. He actively concentrated on his happy thoughts. Quinn dispelled his Patronus when they were within sight of Hogsmeade.
At long last the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; some owls hooted, some other cats meowed. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was falling down as an icy sheet.
"I swear it rains every time," grumbled Quinn as he walked on the slippery platform. However, the ice beneath his steps melted away, leaving not a single trace of unsafe ice or water.
Quinn got on the moldy carriages with Luna, Tracy, and Daphne after wishing good luck and saying goodbye to Astoria, who went to the boats with her would-be classmates.
After entering the castle, Quinn and Luna got separated from Tracy and Daphne and joined the crowd that was swarming up the steps. They then went through the giant oak front doors and set their feet into the cavernous entrance hall that was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.
The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Quinn followed the crowd toward it and had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Mr. West, I want to see you in my office!"
Quinn turned his head to see Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress, calling out to him. She was a stern-looking witch who wore her hair in a tight bun; her sharp eyes were framed with square spectacles.
Quinn sighed and shouted back, "Professor, can't we do this after the feast? I don't want to miss dinner."
"It won't take much time. I just want a brief word in my office," assured the Scottish witch. "You shall have plenty of time to eat at the feast."
Quinn sighed once more before following his professor to her office.
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Quinn West - MC - Chocolate West... At your service.
Astoria Greengrass - Talkative Greengrass sister - Has heard of Quinn.
Harry Potter - Boy-who-fainted - Damn it! My cheek still hurts!
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Chapter 76: Quinn's Trust In Magic
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
[ https://www.patreón.com/fictiononlyreader ]
The link is also in the synopsis.
.
[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]
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Quinn sat in the deputy headmistress' office, waiting for McGonagall to return. The transfiguration professor had told him to stay inside her office while she was out.
He took out his pocket watch, watched the time, and grumbled, "One more minute and I'm leaving." Quinn snapped shut his pocket watch and got up from his chair.
The office hadn't changed since the last time he had been here. It was still the same small study with a big fireplace and a window that overlooked the quidditch field.
Walking up to McGonagall's desk, Quinn raised his head to look at what was above her desk. This was the same place where McGonagall had conjured the giant chunk of ice and showed him sublimation, which had been a paradigm-shifting moment for his exploration of the Icy vault.
Quinn blinked at the place above McGonagall's desk, and a knob of ice manifested. The tiny ice knob started to rotate as more and more ice appeared around the initial knob, increasing the size of the ice above the desk.
Within seconds, Quinn had created a hunk of ice comparable to the one McGonagall did two years ago.
'She was definitely showing off at that time,' thought Quinn as he swept his eyes over the ice.
The sound of the door opening alerted Quinn as he brought his hands in front of him, and his fake wand was shot out of the holster into his right hand. His robes hid his wand coming out of its holster, and the ice was eye-catching enough that no one noticed Quinn moving his hand to his front.
"Mr. West, what are you doing?" McGonagall announced herself in her office. She eyed the ice floating above her desk.
Quinn turned towards McGonagall, "I was remembering the good old days, professor." He smiled and waved his wand at the ice. Instantly, the ice poofed into vapor. He also contained it so it wouldn't leak around the room.
Recognition flashed in McGonagall's eyes, "Oh, the self-recovering ice that we discussed in your second year. Yes, I remember that." A ghost of a smile appeared on her face as she noted the ice. "You have grasped the concept quite well, Mr. West."
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, who stood behind McGonagall, stared at the contained mist of vapor hanging in the air. Their head of the house had pulled them away from the crowd, and now they were standing in her office watching Quinn West and McGonagall talking about something.
"Why did you call me, professor?" asked Quinn as he dispelled the vapor and returned to his chair. He glanced at Harry and Granger and guessed, "This is about what happened on the train, isn't it?"
Professor McGonagall motioned Harry and Hermione to sit down. She settled herself behind her desk and abruptly said, "The train driver sent an owl ahead to say that you were feeling a bit under the weather on the train, Mr. Potter."
Before Harry could reply, there was a soft knock on the door and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, bustled in.
Harry felt a blush coming to his face. It was bad enough that he had passed out, or whatever he had done, without everyone making all this fuss.
"I'm fine," he said, "I don't need anything -"
"Oh, it's you, isn't it?" scoffed Madam Pomfrey, ignoring this and bending down to stare closely at him. "I suppose you've been doing something dangerous again?"
"It was a dementor, Poppy," said Professor McGonagall.
They exchanged a dark look, and Madam Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly.
"Setting dementors around a school," she muttered, pushing back Harry's hair to touch his forehead. "He won't be the last one who collapses. Yes, he is all clammy. Terrible things, dementors, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate -"
"I'm not delicate!" sputtered Harry crossly.
"Of course, of course," said Madam Pomfrey absentmindedly, now taking his pulse.
"What does he need?" asked Professor McGonagall crisply. "Bedrest? Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"
"I'm fine!" ranted Harry, jumping up. The thought of what Draco Malfoy would say if he had to go to the hospital wing was torture.
"Well, he should have some chocolate, at the very least," said Madam Pomfrey, who was now examining Harry's eyes.
"I've already had some," said Harry. He pointed at Quinn and said. "He- I mean, West, gave me some. He gave chocolate to everyone on the train."
Pomfrey turned her head towards Quinn, who waved at her with a beaming smile. "Hello, Madam Pomfrey. May I say you look absolutely glowing today?"
"Good work, West," praised Madam Pomfrey approvingly. "Excellent response by distributing chocolate."
Quinn smiled before looking at McGonagall and notified, "I'll be sending you a bill for reimbursement, as I went through a couple of months' worth of chocolate."
McGonagall sighed and nodded before looking at Harry and asked, "Are you sure you feel all right, Mr. Potter?"
"Yes," Harry insisted, stubbornly.
"Very well," she accepted and turned to Quinn. "Now, Mr. West, was the Patronus in the train your doing? The driver said that he saw some kind of bird-shaped Patronus."
"Yes, professor," Quinn raised his wand and whispered for show. "Expecto Patronum." Intense waves of silver energy filled with positivity escaped his wand tip and hovered like mist before him.
Harry, Hermione, and Pomfrey stared at the silver waves coming out of Quinn's wand with wide eyes.
Quinn didn't expel a corporeal Patronus because he wasn't feeling like showing his Patronus form. Anyone who could properly witness his Patronus knew it was some kind of bird, and he decided to keep it like that.
"I see," McGonagall nodded and smiled in gratitude. "Between the Patronus and the chocolate, you did a great service to our school, Mr. West. I sincerely thank you on behalf of Hogwarts."
"It was the least I could do, professor," said Quinn humbly before campaigning. "That's part of the full service commitment you can expect if you do business with me, so if you want a problem solved, A.I.D will-"
"Thank you, Mr. West," McGonagall cut off Quinn's attempt at self-advertisement and said, "Please wait outside while I have a quick word with Ms. Granger about her course schedule, we shall go down to the feast together then."
Quinn raised a finger before veering it down and nodding.
Harry and Quinn went back to the corridor with Madam Pomfrey, who left for the hospital wing, muttering some indecipherable words to herself.
Just as Quinn and Harry came out of McGonagall's office they saw Lily Potter running towards them and the second she reached Harry, the worried mother hugged her son.
"Oh, Harry! Are you alright?! Oh, my dear boy."
She had come running to see if her son making sure that her daughter was not injured by the vile Dementors. And while Ivy had assured that Harry was fine, she needed to see it on her own. Only after seeing that both her children were okay would a mother's heart would calm down.
Quinn, on the other hand, stepped away from the mother-son pair and stood as still as possible to reduce his physical presence to the point he was invisible. He didn't want to disturb them and give them some space.
'Let's just hope that I can leave here as soon as possible,' he thought eyeing McGonagall's office door, hoping the transfiguration professor would come out with Hermione Granger and he could goto the feast.
He had to wait only a few minutes, and it seemed like Lily didn't notice him and Harry had seemingly forgotten that he was here. Then, followed by Professor McGonagall, Hermione emerged looking thrilled about something and the three of them made their way back down the marble staircase to the Great Hall.
There was a sea of pointy black hats; each of the long House tables was lined with students, their faces glimmering by the light of thousands of candles which hovered above the tables in the air. Professor Flitwick was carrying an ancient-looking hat and a four-legged stool out of the hall.
"Oh," said Hermione softly, "We've missed the Sorting!"
"That we did," remarked Quinn, looking at the Slytherin table. There he saw Astoria sitting in her new green trims with Daphne and Tracy. "The hat sorted her in Slytherin, huh."
Professor McGonagall and Lily Potter strode off towards her empty seat at the staff table, and Harry and Hermione set off in the other direction, as quietly as possible, toward the Gryffindor table.
Quinn cast a surveying glance to Hermione and thought, 'She got the permission to use the Time-Turner, didn't she? Hmm...'
He walked to the empty spot between Marcus and Luna, and took his place between his two friends.
"So where were you?" asked Marcus, who was sitting across from them.
Quinn started to explain what happened in a whisper. But at that moment, the Headmaster stood up to speak, so he was cut off.
Dumbledore, despite being well over a century old, always gave an impression of great energy. He had long white hair and a beard that was at least two feet long; he wore half-moon glasses and had a slightly crooked nose.
Quinn looked around and saw the eyes of all the students focused on the headmaster. He had to admit that Dumbledore had cemented his position in the hearts of the general student populace. The kind of reputation that was on the verge of being unshakable.
"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say. And as one of them is quite serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before we become befuddled by our excellent feast..."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you may be aware, our school is presently hosting some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here under the order of the Ministry of Magic."
Quinn noticed a barely visible look of displeasure passing in Dumbledore's eyes. Hogwarts was Dumbledore's territory; he didn't like the Ministry intruding on it, much less with Dementors.
"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave the school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I, therefore, warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," he said.
"On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year."
"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the vacancy there was in Defense Against the Dark Arts." There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. No one was expecting this fellow to last more than a year, and the recent record of the teachers didn't inspire confidence that he would be any better than the previous two professors.
Quinn observed Remus John Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Marauder afflicted with Lycanthropy and cursed to turn into a werewolf at every full moon. He noticed that this version of Lupin was dressed appropriately and not shabby at all. In the books, Lupin was always in financial trouble. The werewolf wasn't able to get a stable job because of his condition.
'Must be because of his friends,' hypothesized Quinn. 'This Lupin didn't lose all of his friends in a single night. They must have helped him get a stable job or something.'
Quinn caught another thing at the staff table that made him chuckle.
Severus Snape, the Potions master, was staring along the staff table at Lupin. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. It didn't help his mood that the job he coveted went to a 'Marauder,' one of his school bullies. The expression on Snape's face was beyond anger; there was pure and unfiltered loathing.
"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs -."
Quinn made an 'ooh~!' expression and vocalized, "Burn~!"
"- However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching post in addition to his gamekeeping duties."
The student body clapped for the promoted gamekeeper. The Gryffindor table's applause was tumultuous in particular.
"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"
The golden plates and goblets before them were filled suddenly with food and drink. Quinn, who was already ravenous, helped himself to some food and began eating. It was a delicious feast, and the hall echoed with talk, laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks.
"I didn't see you on the train," said Quinn, taking a bite from his bowl of Cranachan. "And I traveled through the train distributing chocolate. Where the hell were you two?"
"You did pass by our compartment," answered Eddie from Quinn's side. "Our compartment door snapped open, and chocolate flew in as you walked away while shouting at everybody to eat chocolate."
"... Damn it," cursed Quinn. Once again, he wasn't able to find his two roommates on the Hogwarts Express. "This makes it four years in a row. Next year, we will board the train together."
"What do you think about the new professor?" asked Marcus, turning his head to look at Lupin. "Do you think he will be any good?"
"I don't think so. I think this one will also be a bust," guessed Eddie, showing little confidence in Remus Lupin.
Quinn put his chin on his palm and hummed, "I don't know. He might be bad or unexpectedly good. Let's hope for something more reasonable and say that he will be decent. How about that?"
Luna decided to chime in, "Daddy says the middle is boring. I say that he will be good."
"I see. That makes it three people and three different opinions," Marcus compiled the results and chuckled, "It seems professor Lupin is already doing fairly well on the opinion poll."
"Meh, we will know when he actually teaches," Quinn said and continued with an example. "Lockhart had an overwhelmingly positive reception. Look how he turned out."
'He ended up in the hospital without memories,' he added in his head as some things were better unspoken.
Quinn looked around the Great Hall and noticed Friar floating above the Hufflepuff table, chatting with the new Hufflepuff inductees.
'Yeah,' thought Quinn.
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- (Scene Break) -
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It was the night after Quinn had come back to Hogwarts, and now he was making his way to the Astronomy tower. As he climbed the stairs to the tower, Quinn thought about the upcoming conversation with the ghost he had most contact with.
He didn't blame Friar for the things that had happened to him in the last few months. Oh, no, the Hufflepuff ghost couldn't be blamed at all. Friar had warned him about the vaults and the danger that was within them.
Sure, Quinn had cursed Friar a lot while he was suffering from his ailment, but after thinking about it a lot and accepting the situation, he realized that Friar had given him plenty of warnings.
Quinn sighed as he finally reached the top of the Astronomy Tower, and there stood the ghost of the religious monk, looking at the stars like he did every so often.
After taking a deep breath, Quinn alerted the ghost of his presence.
"Friar."
The translucent ghost turned around mid-hover and greeted Quinn on seeing his favorite Ravenclaw.
"Quinn, it's nice to you after this time." Friar hovered near Quinn and smiled. "How have you been?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking, Friar," Quinn walked towards the edge of the tower and looked at the waning moon shining in the sky. "I'm better now than I was a few months ago."
"A few months ago?" Friar asked as he floated close to Quinn. "Did something happen?"
"Yes. Something happened, Friar," Quinn clenched his fists behind his back. "I underestimated the second vault and lost my magic."
"Y-You lost your magic?!" Friar wasn't expecting to hear this piece of information.
"I'm fine, Friar." Deep patterns suddenly etched on the floor of the tower, glowing with a fiery light. Showing Friar that his magic was fine, Quinn calmed the ghost down. "My magic is fine now. I have it under control."
"What did the vault do to you? What was in there?" Friar asked with curiosity.
"I can't be sure, Friar," replied Quinn truthfully.
He turned to face the ghost and continued, "I asked someone who knows about all this better than me." Quinn was talking about Alan. The two had discussed the true nature of the vault. The conclusion that we came up with was that the vault was an experiment to see if it was possible to artificially increase the magic of a human by tapping into the emotional connection and strengthening it to gain more magic."
"B-But, why would something like that be Hogwarts?" asked Friar, confused in disbelief.
"That is the thing, Friar," Quinn looked at the ghost and spread his hand to point at Hogwarts. "What better place to set up an experiment like this than a school full of adolescent children."
"Do you know why Hogwarts has become such a mystical place?" Quinn asked Friar a question about the nature of Hogwarts.
The ghost shook his head. He always assumed that Hogwarts was great because the founders built it, but he felt that wasn't the answer Quinn was looking for.
"The magic grows at an accelerated rate between the ages eleven to eighteen; the seven years of magical development that comes once in a lifetime. Children go through this change and development of magic, and it might not be the correct way to explain it, but the magic during this age is unstable."
Quinn held his chin and thought for a second.
"If I were to give a better word, then it would be in flux. And that state of flux is in children who experience extreme emotions, both positive and negative. Magic behaves abnormally when mixed with extreme emotion."
He looked at the Hogwarts castle and continued.
"The magic influx combined with extreme emotions is the reason Hogwarts is so mystical and magical. A millennium of hundreds of adolescent children staying in the castle for most of the year would change even the most normal places into a magical place. Hogwarts, even when it was newly built, was anything but normal."
Friar listened to Quinn, who continued to speak.
"Children with 'unstable' magic were the best test subjects for an experiment that targeted emotion. Maybe it was one of the Headmasters that dabbled in the art of emotions and didn't mind using the children as test subjects."
Quinn pointed at Friar and revealed.
"The reason that ghost disappeared was maybe that the magic inside the vault has a soul aspect. The magic in the vault wasn't meant for ghosts, and it caused the ghost to cease to exist. Ghosts have strong emotional ties to the place they haunt. So when you go near the vault, your emotions are affected. Your ghostly instincts tell you that if you go near the vault, you will cease to exist."
A twisted smile of self-derision appeared on Friars as he completed what Quinn was speaking. "... And ghosts don't want to pass on. Even though we know it is wrong to remain in the mortal world, we continue to exist. The vault is a threat to our existence, and thus we feel dread and fear from it."
"Yes, that is the conclusion I have come up with. It is up to you if you want to accept it," Quinn told his understanding of the second vault.
There were a few minutes of silence in the Astronomy Tower before Friar spoke up, "Will you go inside the second vault?"
"No," came Quinn's response. It was so quick and firm that Friar was taken aback. "I'm not going back there. The only way I go in there is if my life depends on it."
It was unusual to see such a serious expression in Quinn's eyes and voice. Even though Quinn had regained his magic and had a better understanding of what emotions were, this didn't mean he wasn't afraid of the second vault. The second vault exploration had become a frightful experience for him, and nothing about it would change that opinion. One visit and he was under the influence of magic for months.
There was once again a period of silence before Friar broke it, "Do you want to continue exploring the third vault?" Friar wasn't sure if Quinn would want to continue after what had happened to him.
Quinn focused on the ghost, "I had a lot of time to think in the absence of magic, Friar. At that time, I thought about the possibility of what would happen if I didn't get my magic. I thought of what would I do if I didn't regain the control of my magic and somehow could lock it away to live a magic-less life. What would be my future? What route would my life go?"
Friar stared Quinn with slightly wide eyes as a twisted and contorted smile marred Quinn's face.
"Do you know what I found? I realized I didn't want a life without magic. I had devoted years of this life and being to this one thing, and if you took it away, I would be left with nothing, nothing at all... Quinn West is nothing without magic."
Quinn broke into laughter for a stretch before proclaiming.
"Oh, Friar. I don't love magic. Oh, no, love isn't the correct emotion that I feel for magic. No, the correct emotion would be..."
The twisted smile split Quinn's face as he revealed,
"... Obsession."
Quinn's glimmered at the stars as he went on.
"The cursed vaults are a way for me to learn about magic. I only have a few more years in this castle, and after that, I will be gone. Before that happens, I want to go into all the vaults and find the secrets. So my answer is yes, Friar, I want to continue."
Quinn turned his eyes back to Friar and said,
"There is just one teeny-tiny problem that I need to take care of before I continue on the quest of the cursed vaults and my life in general."
Quinn slowly walked backward while facing Friar.
"The thing is, I have this small irrational fear that has taken root inside of me. I lost control of my magic, and I fear that it would happen again." Quinn no longer had that contorted smile on his face, but instead, a sad smile took its place. "Gosh, it is an irrational fear. I can feel my magic under my firm control, but you see, I can't just get rid of the thought that one day it will once again rampage."
Friar frowned when he saw that Quinn was inching towards the edge of the tower roof. "Quinn, what are you doing?"
"I thought about it, and the only way for me to get rid of this fear is if I can completely trust my magic once more."
Quinn finally reached the edge of the Astronomy Tower and held onto the railing with his back to the tower's railings.
"My magic must not betray me at the one moment I need it," Quinn smiled and stated. "And that moment is when my life is in danger. I need to confirm the bottom line. I need to make sure my magic won't leave me when I am about to die."
He turned his head to see the distance between him and the ground below before turning back to Friar, who was staring at Quinn with a worried gaze.
"My meeting with you here at the Astronomy Tower started all this, and if things are going to end, then I want it to end here and with you present." Quinn chuckled and added, "It is fitting in a way."
"Q-Quinn, what are you doing," Friar hovered closer and quavered. "Please step away from the railing and walk my way."
"Your words won't have the effect you are hoping, Friar," Quinn sighed as he looked at the ghost. "And you, a ghost, can't interact with material things, so you can't stop me."
He looked at the bright half-moon and smiled, "It is a clear night today. Suitable if I am to die."
He turned to face Friar and spoke, "See you in a bit, Friar."
Friar's ghostly eyes widened in horror as he saw Quinn shifting his weight over the railings and falling off Hogwarts' tallest tower.
Quinn, who was off the roof's floor and in this air, shifted himself while falling to face the ground below.
There were no unnecessary thoughts in Quinn's mind as he fell. No revolving lantern, showing him his life flashing by. No thoughts about his family or friends.
Quinn's mind was focusing on his magic. Every fiber of his being was calling on his magic as he rushed closer to the ground.
In this life-threatening moment, Quinn felt the wind flapping against his face and body, his beating heart, the pulsating magic inside his body, and the Friar's faint shouts from above him.
He locked his eyes on the approaching ground, and even though he never did it, Quinn felt that the moment was appropriate, and so he closed his eyes and whispered.
"Arresto Momentum."
A bright blue flashed just moments before Quinn was about to hit the ground and turned into a bloody mess.
There was no collision with the ground, no breaking of bones, no splatter of blood, no exploding skulls, or gore of any kind.
Quinn opened his and saw that he was floating above the ground.
He grinned and released the magic and fell to the ground with his elbows and knees supporting his body on the ground.
The boy pushed himself off the ground so that he was on his knees. He looked up at the sky and roared in laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!"
His magic hadn't betrayed him. It was there with him at the moment he was about to die.
The irrational fear in Quinn's heart vanished as magic amplified his laughter, carrying it all over the castle.
Every single resident of Hogwarts heard a roaring, joyful laughter that night.
No one ever found where the laughter came from or who was laughing, but in the years to come, it would be talked about it.
Only one person knew the meaning of the laughter.
And it was...
Quinn West was finally and truly back.
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-*-*-*-*-*-
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Quinn West - MC - Reboot Complete
Friar - Hufflepuff Ghost - Scared out of his ghostly existence.
FictionOnlyReader - No Author's note - I will answer comments.
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