Kapitel 45: C045 - Charms Exam

The day of our first exams, the written and practical ones for Charms, I found myself pondering the third floor and the secrets it should have held this school year.

I overheard the Weasley twins talking about how they found nothing exciting there after the Christmas break after one of the previously barricaded doors was mysteriously left open... which led me to believe the Philosopher's Stone was long gone.

The only thing missing from the news was the death of the Flamel couple... but that might come at a later date. Or Dumbledore actually gave it back to Nicolas Flamel after his plan was ripped apart by Quirrell's early death.

Harry wasn't led on a wild goose chase with not-so-subtle remarks from Hagrid either once our DADA professor very publically died on Halloween. But he had been given special attention by the headmaster regardless.

According to the boy-who-lived, Dumbledore did try his very best to impress on Harry that he was responsible for killing the Quirrell. But my roommate shouldn't feel bad about it, however, because he had such capacity for goodness in him.

Dumbledore was laying it on incredibly thick. Especially how Harry should strive to become a selfless saint, just like Dumbledore himself was. Though that came through the subtext that was written on Dumbledore's face as plain as day.

Nevermind the fact that Dumbledore hadn't published any of his research in decades and allegedly stole money from orphans, as well as cornering the alchemy market by more or less refusing to teach it at his school through bad lesson plans and an abysmal Potions professor while making it so an Outstanding was needed in the Potion O.W.L.s to even be considered to be taught Alchemy at Hogwarts.

Sadly, I had no idea how a man of such scheming and cunning was blind to the fact that his approach was merely weirding out his perfect little pawn. Harry must be one hell of an actor to pull that off in front of the hundred year old asshole.

"Sirius Black is truly innocent? The Wizengamot must be mad! How come they voted to free him unanimously? They never once voted unanimously before!" A Ravenclaw pureblood whispered from down the table with his Daily Prophet in hand as I started my breakfast.

"Well, in all fairness; almost half of the members abstained the vote. Clearly, they weren't comfortable absolving him. So he might still be a traitor and a murderer. Just, the former Lord Black finally had enough and wanted to free his grandson. I heard from my nan once that Lord Black's sister Cassiopeia Black had a ledger with blackmail material on every single pureblood family there is. Who's to say they didn't use that to finally get Sirius out?" His neighbor argued with a disdainful look on his face.

A third student chimed in, saying, "That's not impossible given how mad that whole family is, but you gotta think about the timeline. Makes no sense that they let him stew in Azkaban for over a decade, mate. They need a strong new Lord Black, not one that's even more loony than his ancestors after spending such a long time with dementors."

"My dad says Arcturus Black just didn't care before and stayed in France after his son Orion Black stole his Lordship from him. Someone in his department at the ministry said so. I wonder what changed," the first student pondered out loud.

"Maybe Lord Black heard that his grandnephew set to inherit the Black family is a mouth breather who earned himself more detention than any other Slytherin first year before him. How many house points did he lose them again? It was triple digits, right?" Another student chimed in with a derisive scoff while sneering in the general direction of the Slytherin table.

"My friend in Slytherin told me it was 107 points so far. Absolutely bonkers how he kept insulting the muggleborn in front of Flitwick. Snape must have used him as a test subject for his potions or something. There's no way he can be so dense otherwise. Everyone in the house of snakes except for Snape is frothing at the mouth at his behavior."

"Snape must have used him as a test subject to give him house points. Despite losing over a hundred through a single student, Slytherin is still almost equal in points to us. And that one first year pretty much earned us hundreds by tutoring the other students all year."

"Yeah. Macnair, right? I heard a Hufflepuff sixth year say that Sprout gave him more points than all the Hufflepuff firsties together this year. They didn't take that very well."

"Macnair's a beast. I heard Hilliard say the kid turned down a Quidditch sponsorship and an early contract for one of the teams in the league because Flitwick got him into an International Dueling tournament this summer."

"Dude, imagine not playing Quidditch during World Cup year. Bloody idiot, I say. Did you hear what team reached out?"

"According to Goldstein, Puddlemere United and the Wimbourne Wasps," a fourth year Ravenclaw student who had been listening to the whole conversation same as me commented from his seat.

"No way! He turned down Puddlemere? After the year they had? There's no way!"

"Yeah. Macnair's a moron. He was just lucky getting that Firebolt early. Once the other players at Hogwarts get access to the broom next school year, there's no way he can repeat his performance. No team will want him then."

"Well... becoming a dueling pro sounds just as exciting as playing Quidditch, in my opinion..."

"Name one current dueling champion," one of the three students that started the conversation pointed out before gaining a smug grin. "That's right. Now name the reserve keeper for the Holyhead Harpies."

"Ester Harlowe," the student he asked answered immediately and turned thoughtful at his own quick reaction and answer.

"See?"

"Dude, that's not really fair. Ester is freaking hot. I still can't believe that Playwitch photoshoot," the third of the group argued with a roll of his eyes.

I closed my eyes, ready to ignore the horny windowlickers when one of them rather loudly whispered, "Dude. Is that Amelia Bones?"

Looking to the entrance like most students by now did, I saw Amelia nod to her niece in greeting before looking at me briefly, though she did nothing but walk to the headtable.

"Headmaster Dumbledore. Since you ignored my urgent summons and my floo call, I saw no other option. Please follow me and my aurors to a suitable location away from prying eyes," the head of the DMLE ordered with a tight frown before turning back to our table. "I shall also need Mister Potter to follow me."

Harry, who sat next to me, perked up and gave me a questioning look that I answered by pointing at the headline of today's Daily Prophet lying on the table between us.

'Sirius Black innocent? Wizengamot in uproar'

This must be regarding Sirius and his status as Harry's godfather. Someone with braincells must have figured out that James and Sirius very likely used the actual, magical godparent oath that would make it impossible for the man to harm Harry unless he wanted to forfeit his magic... and very much entitled the man to be seen as the perfect fit for the boy-who-lived's guardian.

'Or maybe someone finally checked if the Potters had a will? That's a common trope for alternatives to Harry's story. From what I actually know about Lily Potter in this world, the woman would have rather eaten a broomstick over giving Harry to her sister. The paper said nothing about Lord Black using that during the trial. The Potter will would have made front page news for sure... maybe Amelia did it after I mocked her for doing so little despite her position during the floo call before the lunch? It would explain the cold shoulder much better than it being a consequence of the lunch with Lord Black.'

"Will Harry be okay?" Lisa whispered to me once the aurors and their targets for the summons were out of the Great Hall.

I looked up from the waffles I was enjoying to see most of the girls from the first year look at me in question.

"Harry has broken no laws as far as I am aware. But his godfather was just pronounced innocent after not having had a trial for over a decade. If anything, Madam Bones must be here for that," I pondered out loud and pointed at the Daily Prophet in front of me.

And my line of thinking seemed to reassure most girls outright. Only Isobel turned thoughtful. Could she be thinking further ahead about a possible will? Or was there something about the resurgence of a new Lord Black on her mind?

"I hope Harry isn't too distracted for his exams later. An innocent man going free is great, but for a Hogwarts student, the timing is kind of bad," Hermione lightly complained with a small pout.

"I'm sure Harry will be fine. Even if his grades won't be perfect, he's clearly a decent and capable wizard. Some As instead of Os in his first school year won't harm the boy savior," Mandy idly commented and earned herself an almost offended look from Lisa, Hermione, and Padma - our star students who did a little extra on every assignment.

"Yeah. I'll be a great wizard even if Snape inevitably gives me a Troll grade in potions and fails me at my potion O.W.L.s. You tell 'em Mandy," I encouraged with a sly grin.

"A great wizard, maybe. But you'll never be an accomplished potioneer, that's for certain," Isobel commented with a mocking drawl, seemingly trying to copy Snape's habitual sneer.

"Eh. I'll just have to marry a potion mistress or two to make up for my shortcomings. Also, I blame the Cruciatus curse that had my hands shaking for the first half of the school year, the lacking teaching standards, and my overwhelming talent in other magical fields. I can't be amazing at everything," I idly commented and watched Isobel gain a calculating glint in her eyes, Hermione and Padma narrow their eyes at me, and Sue outright mocking me.

"Really, Talion? One or two? What? You're going to live like a king and marry a whole harem of women ready to serve your every need?" The muggleborn girl with Asian heritage asked with a derisive scoff.

"A man can dream. I'm still not convinced that covens aren't a real thing outside of hags," I countered with a shrug and continued eating casually.

"Heard my mum say there's covens in India, but not to serve as a harem either. It used to be for that until a group of witches castrated their husband for marrying their own daughters and killing the mothers on the wedding night with the daughters," Padma explained with a pondering expression.

"Ew," I sounded out with a scrunched up face before - since I was actually intrigued - I cautiously asked, "But what you're saying is, it's like a women's rights group over there?"

"Yeah, sounds like a fair description," Padma conceded with a small nod after thinking about it for a few moments.

"Cool. Let's make a coven then," Mandy suggested and earned herself an eager nod from Hermione and Sue.

With a cheeky grin, I quipped, "You won't be able to enlist me as the husband who will go for your daughters. But I'll reluctantly accept becoming everyone's trophy husband."

Mandy blushed, which was a very cute look on her with her many freckles, and Hermione grabbed a dinner roll to throw it at my head.

Lara walked over just then, inquired what the small food fight was about, and poked my head while rolling her eyes, as she commented, "Dream on, Macnair. Try making one girl happy first before you think you can do it for a whole group of them."

"Are you offering yourself up as a test subject?" I asked with yet another sly grin.

Lara poked my head again as she scoffed out, "Already told you that you're not my type."

"Maybe in another life," I conceded with a shrug that had Lara look at me with narrowed eyes before she sat down next to Hermione to talk about books and history. The two really found each other, though Hermione simply read everything and didn't just focus on history. She did, however, focus on it a little more because she really enjoyed having Lara as a friend.

After our banter, we went to the library for some more light-hearted studying for our future exams and we didn't see Harry until he sat down next to me in the Charms exam room half a minute before the theoretical test started.

Seeing his blank look, I decided to leave my questions for later and crushed the Charms exam first.

Flitwick did demand absolute excellence from me in exchange for his personalized tutoring and the favor of having my wand repaired with his personal goblin silver supply.

And, thankfully, my advanced Occlumency level - in addition to Flitwick's tutoring - meant that I was years ahead of my yearmates in all matters regarding charms specifically.

The only thing I didn't expect was Dumbledore sitting in on my practical examination as I was called first.

"Young Talion. Filius tells me that you are a truly gifted charm master in the making. Many of your professors tell me that you are quite talented, in fact. I feel like it would have been a disservice to you to not give you the opportunity to show off a little," Dumbledore suggested with a genial smile as he stroked his beard while sitting next to the diminutive Charms professor.

"I managed to convince our headmaster that you showcasing first year spells serves no purpose, so how about you show us a few of the spells you intend to use at the tournament in Italy in two weeks?" Professor Flitwick proposed with a grin. I got the feeling the professor was already plenty proud about how far I've come since he started teaching me.

I lifted my eyebrow in question but still took out a fist-sized rock from one of the shelves.

Deliberately lowering my proficiency, I casted all spells with fast but elaborate wand movements instead of the shortened versions I was able to use and cast all spells verbally instead of silently like I was able to do for most of the easier charms.

I started by throwing the rock into the air, slowing its fall with an Arresto Momentum that I had already showcased when I caught the girls at our first flying lesson that year. I then increased the rock's size with an Engorgement Charm and banished it into the wall, but not before casting Spongify on the rock so it wouldn't do lasting damage to the castle's interior.

With the correct intent, I turned the rock into an object with the 'bounciness' of a medicine ball instead of a rubber ball so that the rock didn't turn into a projectile of death. Instead, it bounced back to me at a reasonable speed as I shielded myself from damage with a well-timed Protego-Shield Charm.

I cast a few more offensive charms and curses on the enlarged rock before stopping entirely to look at a proudly nodding Flitwick and a weirdly proud Dumbledore.

"You'll reach far with that level of proficiency in your spellwork, my boy. I'm reassured to see that Filius did an excellent job preparing you for this tournament. Good luck with it," Dumbledore praised with a content smile that sent shivers down my spine. He continued, "Do send in young Harry on your way out."

Flitwick coughed into his hands before addressing me to say, "It goes without question that you have earned yourself an Outstanding with Distinction for your performance. I expect you to stay at this level for the coming years."

I bowed to my teacher out of respect and left the room with no further comments. I couldn't trust myself to sound well-mannered after Dumbledore seemingly pretended to be partly responsible for my advanced spell mastery.

My inherent dislike for the man was definitely beating my Occlumency mastery.

Once Harry was done too, we wished the girls good luck and walked to the common room as discussed with the girls.

Once the two of us were in the safety of our room to freshen up, Harry asked, "Was S the reason for your short temper?"

I scoffed as I dressed in my sporting gear to let off some steam on our magical no-resistance treadmill.

"Of course he was. But him being a proper cunt about my prowess is hardly something I care about. What I do care about is having to see him act all deserving of praise instead of rotting in Azkaban, shunned by our society," I explained my tense emotions. "I'm guessing, however, that your meeting him was much more aggrevating?"

"Madam Bones explained that Sirius was very eager to meet me. S had a hundred reasons why that was a bad idea," Harry explained with gritted teeth as he used our codename 'S' for our headmaster.

"Let me guess. Sirius isn't right in the head after prolonged dementor exposure. He needs to be given time to recuperate. The blood protection on your mother only works if you stay the summer at the Dursleys?"

"You're 3 for 3," Harry dryly commented and heard me laughing.

"He admitted that your mum used blood magic in front of the head of the DMLE? Did Madam Bones look horrified and order her aurors to check your aunt's home for blood wards and you for lasting spell damage?"

Harry looked at me with a frown before his eyes widened, "Wait. Why didn't she? You're right. It makes no sense that she didn't!"

"Wow. Either she's too shocked about the whole Sirius thing or she didn't want to expose your heroine of a mother as a dark witch... or Dumbledore managed to charm her mind? I somehow doubt it's the latter unless he had his wand out. Did he?"

Harry immediately denied and got to thinking.

After a few moments of silence, I deeply sighed.

"You'll need to meet Sirius as soon as you can and tell him in no uncertain terms that you wish to get away from your home. Don't rely on owl mail, S could have it screened. Use a house elf," I proposed and did a long sprinting exercise as Harry sat at his desk with a pen in hand.

"Do you think Professor Flitwick will allow me to tag along to Italy for your tournament?" Harry asked after I was done and got off the magical treadmill.

Panting, I shook my head and answered, "Nope. He offered Isobel to reach out for premium tickets to attend in the audience as far as I'm aware, but he was adamant that the two of us will be traveling alone."

"Too bad," Harry breathed out with a sigh.

"Even if you won't start the summer at your godfather's place, you have your elves. Have them prepare a trunk that you can use as an unseen base to live in comfort and away from your wardens. That'll allow you to live in luxury, even if you're somewhat isolated. Plus, your elves know how to put a glamor on someone. Just head to Diagon Alley at opportune times to hang out there once in a while to throw off S's scent. They usually lock you in the cabinet under the stairs, no? Just use that time to go on dates with Lisa," I reassured and offered Harry a plan that he more than likely had already thought off.

Too bad that Regent Longbottom got brow-beat by our headmaster and disallowed Harry from staying at Neville's place for the summer to meet his godmother Alice Longbottom. Kind of made me never have to meet the old matriarch.

His trust vault didn't hold any extravagant suitcases with biomes and laboratories inside, and buying them in Magical Britain was a monitored endeavor, but his elves could always buy them in secret anyway. Elves were the solution to almost anything.