Chapter 9: 9
The next few weeks nothing exciting happened. I spent virtually all my time either training in the room of requirement or reading books in the library. The only exception were my occasional chats with Hermoine or Hannah and Susan. I also found out that my magic growth had increased, I didn't know whether it was because of my 11th birthday or because of the castle and its abundance of magic. Additionally I slowly got used to casting with just imagination and raw magical power, meaning I should be able to cast a spell immediately with as little magic as possible. The new problem that emerged with that was that sometimes I used so little magic that no spell at all came out, but overall I was satisfied with my solution.
I also met Holly. Hermoine decided to drag her along one day. And as I was already in the library when they showed up Hermoine introduced us.
"Lucas!" Hermoine whispered loudly when she saw me, "Holly, this is my friend from the muggle school I told you about."
Holly looked at me closely "Nice meeting you, it is good to know that Hermoine has another friend apart from me."
"Yeah, she tends to come off rather strong, but deep down she only means the best. Lucas Foster by the way, a pleasure meeting you." Now this was rather scary. She was a variable I did not plan for, but now seemed as got a time as any to learn more about what is up with the Potters.
"What brings you here on this fine day?" I asked to get a conversation going.
"Oh, Holly told me about this amazing book I should check out, it is ...."
So I tried to sense Holly's emotions, but there was nothing.
'Fascinating'
She was the strongest Occlumens I had checked out so far, apart from the obvious. So I increased the intensity a little, slowly and as I used more magic I got something.
Discomfort.
And something even deeper that made my skin crawl, something that felt dangerous.
And at the same time she locked eyes with me and Hermoine stopped her monologue that had gone on for a while "Is something the matter?"
I instantly cut off my magic and focused back on the book in Hermoine's hands. 'Shit, shit, shit. Please don't'. I tried to say as calmly and nonchalantly as possible.
Luckily Holly only seemed to be uncomfortable around me and maybe, who am I kidding, most likely suspicious of me. "No nothing, maybe my imagination." She said after staring at me for an uncomfortable amount of time.
With an internal sigh of relief I promised to never use Legilimency on her, at least before I knew more about mind-magic.
She wasn't the only one, who exhibited signs of Occlumency, but by far the strongest. Draco, Susan, Hannah, Harry, Ron, Daphne Greengrass amd Neville Longbottom being heirs to old magic familys showed those signs as well. Some others, who were friends with them did too.
They all could supress their emotions, which means they were adept at using the mind arts. I thought it was Occlumency rather than Legilimency, because none of them tried to invade my mind, which every teenager most likely would do.
My incident with Holly showed me that I needed to learn more about Legilimency itself, but where could I find someone who could teach me.
I couldn't just ask someone 'hey, I am a natural legilimens and I know that you can use Occlumency, do you mind me snooping around in your head to practice?'
No one would voluntarily say yes to that. 'Maybe Hermione? Na, let's not go down that road.'
Unfortunately I couldn't just test different things on Occlumens', it would be too suspicious. The only thing I managed to do up to now was manipulate their emotions a bit and lead them in a particular direction. But I was far from actual mind manipulation.
The muggle-born wizards on the other hand most likely never heard of mind magic, that's why none had any protection. They normally had the house they grew up in as their mindscape. Some had locks some had none and some special cases had no door at all.
And so I spent my days either in the room of requirement or reading books in the library. Apart from usefull spells I also looked for any information about Legilimency and because the library was so large I would need a long time to get through everything.
.....
Hermione pov
'I have to ask Lucas about this.'
It was the day after Harry, Holly, Ron and I encountered the cerberus on the third floor.
"He should be in the library around now." I said to Holly, who was accompanying me.
"I still don't think it is a good idea to tell him." Holly replied sceptically. "Something about him rubs me the wrong way."
"Don't worry, I know him since elementary school." I fully trusted him.
We reached the library and found Lucas in his usual spot.
"Lucas, I have to tell you something." I eagerly said.
"Well if it aren't my two favourite Gryffindors. What can I do for you today?"
A comfortable warmth spread throughout my body at his greeting. It felt nice, like coming home after a long and exhausting day.
With even more excitement I began to retell yesterday's discovery.
"..."
"Dumbledore did warn us at the beginning of the year not to go there and I believe he has a reason for doing what he does, so I wouldn't go back there." Lucas as always gave me a reasonable reply.
"But what about the trap door."
"I have no clue. Maybe Dumbledore is experimenting with something and has the cerberus guard the entrance or he has a dangerous magical artefact that could hurt us if it got out. Honestly, my guess is as good as any."
"But why did.."
I wanted to voice my doubts and worries a bit more about it, but Lucas interrupted me.
"Hermione, Dumbledore is the strongest wizard alive. He knows what he is doing."
'That's right, how could I forget.'
"But if you really really really want to know my guess. I heard Dumbledore visited one of his friends in France during the summer, a man named Nicolas Flamel. Perhaps that has something to do with it."
With a bright smile I thanked him and left the library with Holly. We still had some work to do.
…
Lucas pov
The days kept passing by, I helped a few people with their homework and once consoled Hermione after Ron called her names.
It was easy. Sadness down, happiness up and she was just like new. Forgotten were his stupid remarks, replaced by renewed vigour.
Eventually Halloween came.
We were gathered in the Great Hall, having a feast, when professor Quirrel stormed in, stuttering about a troll attack. Panic ensued.
Dumbeldore stood up and similar to during the sorting ceremony silenced everyone. He then ordered the prefects to lead the students to their common rooms.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Harry, Holly and Ron sneaking of. I covertly followed them until we were out of the Great Hall. I then made myself known by asking where Hermoine was, startling the three Gryffindors in the process."Who are you and what are you doing here?" Ron asked.
"Well I did not see Hermoine at the feast in the Great Hall and wanted to ask her best friend where she was" I answered while pointing at Holly.
"I have not seen her either" was her answer. Turning back to the boys, who were whispering to each other, Harry said "She might be in the girls bathroom."
Before I could do anything else, Holly said "You called her names again, didn't you?" Harry just avoided the subject by urging us to hurry.
Arriving at the girls bathroom, I could see the smashed entrance and broken bits and pieces inside, as well as a troll swinging his club. Hermoine screamed and dodged his swings desperately.
Holly yelled "Hermoine get out!"
The two boys immediatly began throwing some rubble at the troll to get his attention.
After getting hit in the head repeatedly the troll finally looked over to us four.
Ron quickly cast an Incendio and Harry a Diffindo. The small fireball bounced off of its skin and the severing charm only managed to leave a shallow cut. The magic resistant troll-skin was no joke.
Meanwhile, I as soon as he looked towards us invaded his mind. There was not a single thought only a feeling of hunger. Trolls were rather simple creatures after all. As the two spells hit it another feeling emerged, one of anger.
Holly in the meantime contemplated the best course of action. After thinking things through she cast a Lumos at the trolls eyes, effectively blinding it.
Now another emotion joined the mix annoyance.
"Hermoine run, now!" Holly screamed. She dashed out of the bathroom as fast as she could. Leaving the troll as the only one remaining in the bathroom.
Miraculously Ron was the one, who came up with the idea to hit the troll with its own club, but he alone was unable to get the club out of its grasp. Only after Ron, Holly and Harry cast the levitation charm simultaneously, did they manage to levitate the club above its head.
They dropped it on its head, but unlike in the movies it merely stunned it momentarily. Once the troll got its composure back it started to move towards us. Holly cast another Lumos, blinding it again, but the troll did not stop this time.
Instead it began to wildly flail around. Seeing their attempts not workin I reluctantly interfered. Originally I tagged along merely to help in case something out of the ordinary happened, like a second troll, but if it actually managed to hit someone only a mush of meat and bones would remain. I don't think the nurse would be able to heal that.
Taking out my wand I pushed the troll back inside the bathroom with a blast of magic, while saying "Depulso" for the Gryffindor students to hear. At the same time I erased every emotion the troll currently felt and replaced it with an irresistible feeling of sleep.
The troll fell on its back and both Harry and Holly cast "Somnus", the sleeping charm simultaneously.
'They have to had some combat training already.' I thought seeing their indecisive action.
Ron being as hotheaded as he was disregarded any form of caution and ran up to the troll from the opposite side of me with his wand pointing at it. Once he heard it snoring he visibly relaxed and put his wand back into his pocket.
Coincidentally I was still using Legilimency, so I accidentally invaded his mind. He seemed to not have noticed it that's why I stayed a little longer out of curiosity. There was nothing except for a barrier in the form of a dome in the distance. I could not look inside through the barrier and I somehow knew that if I touched it he would immediatly know.
I teleported to the dome and inspected it. There were cracks in his shield that I didn't notice from afar. Looking closer they were not a rarity, no they were everywhere. Some smaller some bigger. Looking through a rather big crack I could see the weirdly constructed house of the Weasleys.
'He seems to have taken his Occlumency training halfheartedly.'
Leaving his mind soon after finishing my inspection I turned towards Hermione and asked her, whether she was alright. I also forcefully calmed her down, a crying and overwhelmed little girl wouldn't be of any help, would she?
After getting a yes I said "Sorry, I froze the moment I saw the troll. I wasn't helpful at all."
"I am just glad you came." she replied.
"Don't worry about it if I couldn't defeat a measly troll then I wouldn't be the boy-who-lived." Harry said proudly, posing with his wand in hand.
Holly shook her head disappointingly at that "Don't beat yourself up, the thought alone that you tried to help is something you should be proud of."
"Thanks Holly, for the kind words, but I really did nothing."
"What now?" Ron asked poking the sleeping troll with his wand.
"Well I should probably leave. I don't feel comfortable having a large crowd around me and if rumours spread that I "helped" defeat a troll I wouldn't have a single peaceful day for the rest of the year." I said using air quotes at the word helped.
"Yeah being famous isn't for everyone." Harry had to but in.
"So if anyone asks, I was not here. Can you promise me that?"
The three nodded.
And thus I had accomplished everything I wanted here. Firstly, saving Hermione from any unforeseen circumstances. Secondly, get an understanding of the combat abilities of the main characters and lastly stay hidden from the professors. At least for now. I probably can't fly under the radar for seven years, but at least the first few should be doable.
Before anyone could ask me any further questions I sprinted away in the opposite direction of the Great Hall. The last thing I saw before turning a corner was Holly thoroughly examining Hermoine for any injuries.
——
A few minutes later the professors found the quartett and the troll.
"Oh dear me?" McGonagall exclaimed upon seeing the sleeping troll "You four owe me an explanation!"
"It was my fault." Hermoine interjected.
"Miss Granger" siad McGonagall totally flabbergasted.
"I read so much about trolls that I thought I would manage, but if it werent for Holly, Harry and Ron, I would not be alive anymore."
"As it may be I am speechless at your foolishness Miss Granger. I expected more from you. I am disappointed. 10 points will be deducted from Gryffindor for your poor judgment. As for you 3, I hope you know how lucky you were. Not many 1st year students can take on a mountain troll and live to tell the tale. For your heroic deed I award each of you 10 points, for sheer dumb luck." said McGonagall before leaving with Snape. Harry did notice the wound on his leg.
"You best be going as well." reckoned Quirrel, chuckling awkwardly "We don't want it to wake up, now do we?"
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