Chapter 146: Body Magic, Lapel Badges
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[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]
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Quinn stood inside the Room of Requirements dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. The room had transformed according to his wishes and was now a simple, spacious room with no furniture. The only thing that was present was a heavy bag that hung from a stand.
He looked down on the floor. He lightly skipped on his feet. The floor had a little spring. He had given it a rubber surface.
"Softening charm- check," said Quinn, continuing to jump on his feet.
"The trifecta," said Quinn to himself. "The mind: the physical entity that deals with thinking, reasoning, our ability to make choices, and partially deals with emotions, beliefs, and attitude."
While continuing to jump, he closed his eyes and dove into his mindscape. He then saw Hogwarts on one side and the West manor on the other side. He looked up in his mental image, at the simulated blue sky, and looked beyond to see a faint hexagonal layer barely visible. Quinn raised his hand and waved it in front of him to feel the invisible radioactive matter omnipresent inside his mindscape.
"Soul: the immaterial part of a being, the part considered to be its essence. Deeply connected to the magical core, along with emotions, self, consciousness, and connectedness."
Quinn placed his hand on his chest. He couldn't feel his soul. It was out of his reach, with no way to gain access to it. His brow twitched when his memories sent him back to his third year. The year in which he had been under the influence of the Sin curse. The curse had affected his soul and then it had gained control over his emotions, affecting his personality and attitude. To this day, Quinn hadn't touched anything related to the soul.
"Body: the physical entity which houses both the mind and the soul. It comprises eleven systems that come together to form one complete system. A complex machine that is designed to support life by aligning the mind and soul to create a balance. It's the most fragile one of the three... one snap and the body can become useless, and lead to its death."
He stopped jumping and took a standard Muay Thai fighting stance. Exhaling a heavy breath, and started shadow boxing: punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee blows. He went through a continuous series that felt comfortable to him.
A minute, two minutes, five minutes... ten minutes and then some more time passed. The continuous movements had Quinn sweating all over. His breathing was laboured, but Quinn didn't stop; he kept going. When he felt that he couldn't keep up, he would switch to an easier series, but he didn't stop.
"An average person can only access 40-50% of their muscular mass when performing any physical task or exertion," he said. He chuckled. "What terrible efficiency, it makes one wonder about the limitations... But when doing continuous exercise with an increasing load, the body starts to warm up, muscles begin to open up, and a normal person can climb up to access 60% of their physical capabilities."
Quinn took in a deep breath and suddenly stepped forward to get in reach of the brown, heavy bag. He upped his speed and power and started to attack the bag with rigour combined with practiced skill.
"Top p-professional athletes with merciless, relentless, and continuous training can gain access to 80% of their muscular mass. Combining that 80% with the fact that their bodies have transcended the average by several degrees, they reach a level of not being superhuman, but they can definitely be called super humans. But not all professional athletes can reach that level; genetics with excellent physical properties is what allows the select few to reach that level."
Quinn's body began shaking as the continuous exertion was affecting his body, but he continued to push himself despite that.
"The body doesn't allow us to go beyond the limit in the fear that the person would hurt himself... but some conditions allow us to break those limits. Extreme emotions can cause a person to access the ending 20% by pumping excessively, potentially dangerous amounts of adrenaline into their bodies."
He smiled as his elbow smashed into the leather of the bag.
"B-But... that is for normal people. People without access to the supernatural force that reside in rare individuals."
Quinn pulled his fist back and regained the standard stance. With a swift movement, Quinn twisted his body to generate force that would travel from his legs and would be exerted through his fist via punch into the heavy bed.
Once again, Quinn regained a standard stance, but now, he had a grin on his face. His body moved as if to punch just like the last time; but this time, Quinn used his feet to generate force, which added more physical power to his punch. Quinn's grin widened when he felt force travel up his body. He snapped his arm forward to punch the heavy bag.
Fwip!
With the speed of a whip, Quinn's arm punched forward. Quinn watched as his fist got buried into the leather with a force that even surprised him, as the stand holding the bag got knocked over.
With heavy, laboured breathing, a rising and lowering chest, Quinn stared at the fallen bag. Slowly, a smile replaced his surprised face. Quinn raised his hand to look at his fists.
"Magic... physical, body magic," he mutters. Quinn flexed his hands and observed his first use of the new body magic. "I was able to get up to 70% of my best while being dead tired... I guess that is to be expected."
Quinn had always been active since his pre-teen days, but after his third year, Quinn had been working out twice a day. An outdoor workout in the morning and an entire Muay Thai session inside the Room of Requirements in the evening. That had not only made him fit but also had built up some skill when he boxed. Reaching 70% at an activity that he was familiar with was a satisfactory result.
"Next is 80%... the regular limit of the human limit," smiled Quinn, aiming to accomplish something that would take years of constant training within a short time, "After that, I will go beyond."
The magic of the body was just getting started.
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- (Scene Break) -
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Tick, tick, tick. The wall clock in the A.I.D. office ticked away, as Quinn sat at his desk, writing away on a sheet of paper. From the year Quinn had gotten his first set of magic-related books from Lia, he had compiled his own collection of records on every branch and topic of magic he ever learned. Throughout the years, his ever-growing library continued to get more books; in fact, he mainly joined Hogwarts to gain access to the school library along with the collections of books inside Room of Requirements. With those resources at his fingertips, Quinn's magic records grew both in quantity and quality.
Compiling improved potion recipes, examining myriads of materials for transfiguration, researching thousands of herbs for their magical properties, extensively studying the essence and theory behind every spell or charm, observing planets and luminaries movements over the years, and so on... Quinn had tried to study everything in detail and genuinely understand why magic performed as it did.
There was a section filled with Quinn's research material in his personal library, a treasure trove that even the most learned magicals would salivate at because of its cross-cultured nature. No one except Quinn knew the extent of the knowledge he had amassed.
Though not all of it was unknown to the outside world. Over the years, some of it had been released to the outside world. The A.I.D. notes which optimized the Hogwarts material to the limit were available to every student of the magical school. His A.I.D. personal collection, which stood a level above the notes, was primarily used by Luna Lovegood for her guided and accelerated studies.
Quinn West's compendium of herbs and magical creatures in the hands of Elliot was updated every year when he returned home, which allowed the potion enthusiast to continue learning whenever he had the time. His book of charms and spells for daily use had become one of Ms. Rosey's favorite reads because of the sheer brutal practical nature of the included charms. While his personal tips on occlumency were nowhere near Alan D. Baddeley's masterpiece of guides, George still cherished the writings that Quinn sent him from time to time. Lia's little diary, which updated itself with tidbits from various branches of magic, allowed her to hold conversations with people from many walks of magic, earning her the reputation of being a well-versed, knowledgeable person all over the globe.
Currently, he was jotting down one of the many theories of Arithmancy that Quinn had recently researched upon. As he penned the last sentence of the document, Quinn heard a familiar chime. Quinn looked up to see a face that surprised him. The person in front of him wasn't one he expected to visit his office.
"Mr. Malfoy," he said, identifying his guest, "what a surprise for you to visit my office. How may I help you?"
Draco Malfoy was a slender boy with sleek white-blond hair, cold grey eyes, a pale complexion, and rather sharp, pointed, aristocratic features. The fourth-year Slytherin, like many others, gazed at his office in wonderment and curiosity. It was only after the Malfoy heir was satisfied with his observations that he looked at Quinn.
Stone-grey eyes met Cold-grey ones, as Quinn smiled at his junior. "Please, sit, Mr. Malfoy. I must say I wasn't expecting you to visit me anytime soon. Seeing you here makes me as curious, as it makes me happy."
Draco sat down on the chair and stared at Quinn for a while. The Malfoy heir had been educated about the West family. As such, before talking, Draco was cautious about his words.
"I have something I want to commission," started Draco, getting to the point. Draco reckoned that if he got down to brass tacks, the chances of offending Quinn would be the lowest.
"A commission, you say," said Quinn. He set aside his documents as someone like Draco deserved his full attention. "Go ahead. What do you want me to make for you?" From time to time, Quinn would take in some jobs of creating trivial things for students.
Draco took out a parchment from his robes and handed them to Quinn, who opened it to look at neat and blocky handwriting.
'Ah,' sighed Quinn internally as he read the contents.
On the parchment, Draco had written two simple quotes:
The first,
「Support CEDRIC DIGGORY - The REAL Hogwarts Champion 」
The second,
「POTTER STINKS」
Below those quotes was a surprisingly neat drawing of the upper part of a Hogwarts robe, and a badge on the lapel area was a badge that read 'Potter Stinks'.
"A badge that switches between these two quotes, huh," sighed Quinn as he placed the parchment on the desk.
"Er, yeah," replied Draco, surprised that Quinn had understood without the need of an explanation.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but I have to refuse this job."
"Huh, why?!" said Draco exclaiming at the direct refusal. "Is it because of Potter? You don't want to offend the golden boy. Are you afraid of his mudblood mother?" Draco looked at Quinn with a look of disgust.
Quinn stared at his client and didn't take any offense on comment or the derogatory term. Instead, he looked at Draco as if he was a child throwing a tantrum. He waited for a moment before speaking.
"It isn't that I don't want to offend Harry Potter or Professor Potter. Well, I would prefer it if I don't offend anyone, but that's not the reason I'm refusing the job."
"Then why?" asked Draco, feeling suspicious.
"Mr. Malfoy... the aim behind the Triwizard tournament is to promote international relations and unfortunately, Mr. Potter is a Hogwarts champion," he leaned forward, "What do you think would happen when the foreign delegation sees around half of the school sporting these badges... The reputation of our school would be dragged through the mud in front of the outsiders."
Draco wanted to retort with a snippy comment, but Quinn cut him off as he wasn't finished.
"I have a few very good friends in Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy."
The sudden statement made Draco confused as he couldn't see how it was relevant.
"From them, I know how Slytherin operates. No matter what happens between the members of the house, it doesn't get out. Outside of the walls of the house, no matter what the relation, the house remains united. Strength through unity."
Draco blinked in astonishment at Quinn's sudden knowledge of his house. He, of course, knew about the rules inside Slytherin. It didn't matter if two Slytherin students hated each other from the bottom of their hearts; they would have each other's back outside the walls of the common room. The rule was one of the rules that no Slytherin broke, and on some level, it was more prevalent than the pureblood dogma.
"It's because of that practice that the Slytherin house doesn't get overwhelmed by the three other houses, who think you're slimy snakes... Right now, Hogwarts needs that. To Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, we aren't Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff; to them, we're just Hogwarts. Any negative action from one house will reflect on all of us. Any positive action from one house will benefit us all. Right now, we need to see ourselves as Hogwarts students, not house students, and that's why I'm not going to accept this request of yours."
Draco, who sat in front of him, stared at the parchment he had brought. He hadn't thought the conversation would go this way; he expected Quinn to either accept his request or outright reject it because of their strained relationship.
He wasn't expecting Quinn to spring out Slytherin house ideology to refuse the request… and even though his request had been denied, Draco felt proud because of how Quinn described Slytherin's house standing against the other three houses.
"I won't stop you from pursuing your plan if you take it to someone else. It's your prerogative to do whatever you want, but I'll not be taking any part in it."
"... So you're saying that I need to be all chummy to Potter," asked Draco, not enthusiastic about it.
"Of course not. Just like in Slytherin, you just need to act like you have no problems with Mr. Potter... Forget that; you two don't run in the same circles, so you simply need to move on with your life."
Since Quinn had ever met Draco, he had never disliked him. Quinn saw him as the child he was, a child raised by parents who looked down on anyone but purebloods, and grew up in a circle that held the same beliefs. Hogwarts should've been where Draco got acquainted with different ideologies, but the system put him into Slytherin, and thus the cycle continued.
'The system that should've promoted growth is now hindering it. A system flawed to its core,' thought Quinn.
"I, I —." Draco didn't know how to reply. He felt embarrassed because of his motives.
"If I may suggest something, Mr. Malfoy," said Quinn, a plan forming in his head.
"Huh?" uttered Draco in confusion, but that only made Quinn smile more.
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- (Scene Break) -
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Two days later, Harry, Ivy, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. Since Harry had become the fourth champion, the golden squad hadn't been having a good time. Ron had left them. The Hufflepuffs gave Harry glaring looks whenever he passed them by. Slytherins snickered at them. Ravenclaw also looked at Harry with judgmental eyes.
They thought that today would be no different, and outside Gryffindor, Harry, and through association, Ivy and Hermione would have to face the pointed looks and whispers for another day.
Harry clicked his tongue when he saw someone walk towards him with a big smirk on his face.
"I'm not in the mood, Malfoy," growled Harry.
Draco, along with a couple of Slytherins, were walking towards them. When Draco and others were close enough, they noticed something, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of their robes. They saw that they all bore the same message, in luminous yellow letters that burnt brightly on a black background:
「Support CEDRIC DIGGORY - Hogwarts Champion 」
The message vanished to be replaced by another one, which glowed white on a light blue background.
「Support FLEUR DELACOUR - Beauxbatons Champion 」
Once again, the message turned, now it glowed gold on a brown background.
「Support VICTOR KRUM - Durmstrang Champion 」
Harry felt irritated as he knew that given Draco, he wasn't going to be on the badge, or if he was, then it was going to be something insulting, and his eyes twitched when the badge once again changed.
「Support HARRY POTTER - Hogwarts Champion 」
Ivy, Hermione, and Harry's eyes widened when they saw the latest red on gold. They waited to see if something would happen, but nothing did, as the batch continued to cycle between four.
Draco stepped close to Harry and smirked.
"Potter, you have to realize that I'm better than you. I'm up here," he said, putting his right hand near their head level, "and you are here down below." His left hand went as down as it could go.
"We're on entirely different levels. It's a pity that we have to tolerate you as our representative," he patted Harry's shoulder before scoffing, "You better not embarrass us, Potter."
With that, Draco placed three badges in Harry's hand, which the Boy-Who-Lived grabbed because of the suddenness of all of this. Harry could only watch in stunned silence as Draco and his Slytherin buddies walked away, leaving him very confused.
". . .What the hell."
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Quinn West - MC - This year's theme is international relations, huh.
Draco Malfoy - Slytherin - Pretending to have raised above conflict.
Harry Potter - Fourth Champion - Things aren't going his way.
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