Capítulo 41: Absolute Zero, Booming Business, and Professors Visiting
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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The time was last week of May, and the Icy corridor was still as miserable as ever, at least for Quinn.
He had thick winter clothing, safety goggles, plus Quinn had eaten foods that heated the body for dinner. Blood magic was keeping him alive in the killing cold.
He had gotten better at using Blood magic and could now remain in the Icy vault for thirty (30) minutes, and out of that time, he was perfectly comfortable for twenty (20) minutes.
Quinn stood in front of the snowflake icicle, using magic that he had been using for the past months. He had used it so many times that at this point, he could absentmindedly perform Ice Transmutation and Transfiguration on the snowflake icicle.
Hands raised, channeling magic, Quinn changed the ice into vapor and tried to change the water vapor into magnesium but failed time and time again. Over time, he had gotten loads better at the Transmutation part of the process and could change the entire snowflake into vapor.
The problem was Transfiguring the water vapor into magnesium; Quinn was just missing a single step; the moment the water vapor was in the state of flux, but at that moment, the mechanism would wrest away the control from him and change the water vapor back into ice.
Today was no different as Quinn failed time and time again, and Quinn's time was ending as his magic reserves were depleting and his bedtime was approaching.
With his mind completely empty, Quinn began the process. The ice turned to water vapor and covert the water vapor into magnesium. He expected his magic to be disrupted, but the disruption never came, and the magic completed its execution.
"Eh? Huh? What?" The focus slowly returned to Quinn's eyes, and he turned away from the snowflake icicle's original position. There he saw a massive, oddly formed lump of pure silvery magnesium.
The light returned fully to Quinn's eyes as he turned back to his front and saw the icy-blue gate unobstructed by the snowflake icicle barrier.
"I did it?" asked Quinn, not believing that he had defeated the snowflake icicle.
He looked back and forth from the lump of magnesium and gate and yelled, "I did it!"
He walked to the lump of magnesium and pointed at it, "Haha! Suck it, you giant piece of Transfigured ice. I defeated you; nothing can stop me! I am never going to die!"
After his narcissistic celebration, Quinn calmed down to an ordinary excitement level and bombarded the ice gate with tones of detection and diagnostic charms that he learned and researched for this very moment.
It took a couple of minutes before Quinn wasn't sure that touching or opening the gate would freeze him or cause him mortal harm.
"Cool, let's do it," said Quinn and was about to open the icy gate but suddenly leaned back and stepped away from the frozen gate.
He waved his hand, and the lump of magnesium metal moved away from the direction of the vault gate. He also stepped to the side and used magic to push open the vault's icy gate.
The second the gate opened halfway, a ton of ice spikes shot from the inside and stabbed everything in their way, which in the case were the floor and walls.
"Aeeii~. Nice," smiled Quinn as he nodded in admiration of the hidden trap.
He carefully tip-toed in front of the fully open gate and peered inside to see if there was anything else.
Inside he saw a faint blue light in the center of the room, but it wasn't visible from the spot Quinn was standing, so Quinn shot multiple bright light orbs into the vault to light it up.
Quinn didn't move and just stared at the now lit up the vault, looking if there were more traps or something, but saw nothing more than a surprisingly small room with a high ceiling.
He carefully stepped into the room, his magic primed to react with at a moment's notice. His eyes were on the walls, observing the room to see if there were any deadly traps, but after a couple of minutes, Quinn found no traps in the vault.
"Good," sighed Quinn. He noticed the vault room wasn't cold; it wasn't even at the level of the beginning of the icy corridor.
While exhaling, Quinn released the Blood magic, keeping him alive in the freezing climate. He also removed a couple of layers of clothing and finally paid attention to the source of blue light in the center of the room.
It was floating in mid-air, eleven (11) feet above the floor, glowing in a cold yet soft blue light. When Quinn looked closely, he saw signs of a liquified semi-fluid contracting and expanding every second. [A/N: Like Aether from the MCU, but in blue.]
"Now, what is this?..." said Quinn as he shot another wave of detection, diagnostic, and indicative charms and spell to see if there were any clues that he could find and got a ton of responses and feedbacks.
From the feedback of the spells, Quinn found responses that runes and charms laid into the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room. And while Quinn still had no idea about the origin of the blue semi-fluid in mid-air, he perfectly recognized the runes and the property of the charms spelled into the vault.
He sat down on the floor and began fitting in all the runes and charms into places so that he could piece together a bigger picture and find out how the mechanism outside worked and what was the blue semi-liquid.
Quinn forgot he needed to sleep and go back to his common room, and for the first time in a very long time, he pulled an all-nighter going through every inch of magical structure, and finally, just before sunrise, not that Quinn knew about it, the bigger picture clicked in.
His head snapped towards the semi-liquid, eyes widened like saucers, and his jaw, hanging like a buffoon. Quinn hurriedly got to his feet, but his feet were asleep, so he fell down to his knees. He crawled towards the blue semi-liquid and finally stuttered the identity of the unknown material,
"A-Absolute Zero... It is Absolute Zero. I can't believe it." Quinn's voice raised as he exclaimed, "I. Friggin. Can. Not. Believe. It!"
Absolute Zero was an Alchemic material, a magical material that had a temperature of zero (0) Kelvin, - 273.15 Celsius, or -459.7 Fahrenheit.
Or in simple words, a temperature of Absolute Zero, the lowest temperature possible on the thermodynamic temperature scale.
And most importantly, it was a Paradoxical material because reaching absolute zero was impossible. You could reach temperatures close to absolute zero, but getting absolute zero was impossible because that would signify there was no existence of any type of energy present, and that was impossible.
And yet, Absolute Zero material existed.
It wasn't as catchy as the Philosopher's stone and didn't grant eternal life, turned anything into gold, or produced Panacea that could cure any disease in the world. But Absolute Zero was an Alchemic achievement that would provide an alchemist with eternal glory and cement their position in the annals of time.
Different materials would demonstrate astonishing properties if provided the cold energy from Absolute Zero. It was theorized that gold, the best conductor of magic if cooled down to absolute zero, would become the perfect magic conductor. It would allow a flow of magic unprecedented by anything possible.
Currently, there weren't any known existences of Absolute Zero material in the entire magical world.
"A magical marvel made possible with Alchemy," murmured Quinn as he stared at the blue semi-liquid floating in the air.
Quinn was just a novice Alchemist and couldn't even imagine the process of creation of Absolute Zero, but he understood what it signified. He could appreciate the wondrous existence in front of him.
He turned his eyes to the outside, finally understanding the mechanism that created the icy hell outside. The ice outside resulted from leaking some of the cold from the Absolute Zero to construct a defensive mechanism.
The freezing hell that could kill people instantly was just a small leakage from the Absolute Zero. And the primary purpose of leaking cold energy to the outside was to keep the Absolute Zero stable, and the defensive mechanism was just an added benefit.
Quinn looked at the Absolute Zero for a while before putting on the layers of clothes. He needed to exit the vault and go back to his common room.
He gave the Absolute Zero a final look before sighing. Quinn understood the reason behind the runes and charms in the vault. They were keeping Absolute Zero contained in this vault because Absolute Zero was extremely dangerous.
If Quinn released it from the bindings, the result would be far worse than the icy region outside. If kept uncontained Absolute Zero would turn entire Hogwarts into a freezing hell far worse than the defensive mechanism keeping it in check.
The temperatures would drop so low that even Quinn, with his Blood magic, would die instantly. The defensive mechanism would seem like a paradise compared to the unchecked power of Absolute Zero. It would be the sure death of every living being in the vicinity. Quinn wasn't even sure that the ghosts would survive; their souls might die in the intense cold.
Heck, it could possibly cool down the earth's core before collapsing because of the intense heat.
While Quinn understood the runes and charms, he couldn't replicate them to make a portable version for himself, and leaving Absolute Zero here was his own choice.
'So cold that even death might die...,' thought Quinn, feeling a little fear at the possible ramification, but his eyes showed a determination shine,
'One day... I will reach this level... one day,' thought Quinn. Planning to thoroughly research the Absolute Zero to gain another level of insight into Alchemy.
Just before leaving, Quinn undid the Transfiguration on the water vapor, and the moment the magic lifted, the gas instantly rushed to the gate and froze into the snowflake icicle.
He once again focused on the snowflake icicle and turned it into water vapor, Transfigured it into magnesium, and this time it went without a hitch.
"Phew... glad that wasn't a fluke," chuckled Quinn, not wanting to imagine how pissed he would be if he unlocked the Icy vault at a fluke.
Lifting the magic one last time, Quinn reset the defensive mechanism and finally walked away with a hop in his step, even though he was tired from pulling an all-nighter.
.
- (Scene Break) -
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Next week was the end-of-year examinations, and that kept Quinn a little busy, but when Quinn looked at the buyer's sheet table, a smile parted his face.
In the last two to three weeks, Quinn had a boatload of business. Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and a part of Slytherin house students came in like a flood to buy Quinn's notes. The sudden realization that the examinations were near and the accompanying panic was a major boost to Quinn's business.
The students came flooding in for copies of exam notes, and Quinn sold them like hotcakes. He even had to send for a reprint order so that he could keep up with the demand.
Quinn was sure that in a year or two, he could fill up a tub with sickles.
'Laying down in a tub of money. Oh yeah, that would be cool, alright,' had thought Quinn when he checked the total gains from the sales.
Almost all of the students had jumped on the fifty percent discount and agreed to owe Quinn a favor. There were a few people who paid in full and didn't take the deduction.
Like students from wealthy families didn't bother with the discount and bought the set in full. A few didn't want to owe Quinn a favor, so they either pooled money to buy an entire set or bought selected subjects.
Quinn remembered chuckling when Crabbe and Goyle came into the A.I.D office and bought three sets for themselves and Draco. He had read their minds, and it made a glorious memory for Quinn.
The result was that in a few weeks, Quinn had amassed more influence than he had been able to in the past several months.
And, as Quinn predicted, a few professors had visited him at the A.I.D office. It was the last week of April when a trio comprising Lily Potter, Filius Flitwick, and Minerva McGonagall came knocking.
Quinn was sitting behind his office desk doing some work when the door chime rang, and instinctively Quinn spoke.
"Welcome to A.I.D. How may I help..." but when he raised his, Quinn saw the three professors and trailed off at the end.
"Professors, what an unexpected surprise," said Quinn, standing up from his chair, "What brings you three here?"
The three visitors didn't reply for a moment, taking in the ambiance of the A.I.D office. In the past few months, Quinn had actively changed the decor and feel of the office. The glass wall no longer looked ugly and was now the best feature of the room.
There were a lot of random paintings hanging from the walls that Quinn liked to look at. A few plants, giving the room some green color, and some trinkets that Quinn placed because they looked cool.
The office now looked a lot more put together and homogenous. The decor and vibe fit together and completed the look.
Flitwick was the first one to speak up, "It is the first time I have come to this classroom, but you have changed it quite a bit, Mr. West."
Quinn smiled in reply, "Had to make some changes, professor."
McGonagall, who was touching the glass partition wall and noticed, "This is transmutation. Now that I recall, you do know about transmutation, don't you, Mr. West?" McGonagall remembered the conversation she had with Quinn a month ago.
"You are correct, professor. I transmuted many panes of glass to create a big glass wall," answered Quinn as he put down an additional stool in front of his desk, increasing the number to three.
He didn't want the professors to enter his workshop because there was a lot of stuff in there that, even though it won't get Quinn in trouble, would reveal that Quinn was exceedingly advanced for his age.
"Please take a seat," gestured Quinn as he went to his chair. He wanted to control the direction of the conversation.
"So, what brings you here, professors? I hope I am not in trouble," asked Quinn as the three professors sat down.
"Oh, nothing like that, Mr. West. We came here to discuss the exam notes that you have been selling," responded Lily Potter.
Quinn slightly tilted his head and asked, "I see... what about them?"
"We wanted to check and make sure that there aren't any mistakes in the notes. The entirety of the Ravenclaw first and second-year populous is using your notes, and we wanted to just check the accuracy of the notes," said Flitwick, chiming in.
Quinn lightly shrugged, "I have no problems with that," said Quinn, taking out a set of both year's notes and pushing them towards the professors.
"Actually, if you guys give the notes your approval, I could add that straight to the cover for advertisement," said Quinn, thinking about treating this as quality certification from a higher authority.
Flitwick and Lily chuckled while McGonagall put on her glasses, pulling out the Transfiguration notes. Flitwick pulled out the charms notes while Lily targeted the potion notes.
Quinn sat back and didn't disturb the professors. He eventually returned to his work. The room fell silent as the three professors continued to read the notes while Quinn continued to do his homework.
When Flitwick was done with Charms, he picked up Defense Against Dark Arts, while Lily and McGonagall picked up Herbology and History of Magic, respectively.
When Lily was done, she left Astronomy to the other two teachers and observed Quinn.
Ivy told her all about the A.I.D service that was being run by a student, and when Lily asked for a name, she was surprised to hear the name Quinn West.
And, when she asked around, it surprised her that Quinn had Flitwicks permission to permanently occupy an empty classroom for personal use.
When Flitwick revealed that all Ravenclaw first and second-years were using Quinn's notes, McGonagall had decided to assess the accuracy of the notes, and thus they were here.
"Mr. West, what other services do you provide here?" asked Lily.
Quinn looked up from his work and answered, "I work to fulfill any request that is asked of me. Bring me broken stuff, and I will fix it. Have a problem with homework, and I will help you with it."
He looked at McGonagall, who looked up from the notes and assured her, "I don't do it for them, and neither do I let them copy from mine. I just tell them where to look for it."
He returned to Lily and continued, "You need information about a topic, and I will research it for you. I also charm objects on request. My most popular requests for charm work are date items that guys ask me for Hogsmeade weekends," smiled Quinn.
Quinn took out three cards from his desk and passed one to each of the professors.
"Please do think of me when you have a problem that needs to be solved," said Quinn as he gave them the A.I.D cards.
Lily looked at the card and then asked, "Can I have a first-year set? I would like to buy one for my son."
Quinn smiled, "Of course, professor. That would be two galleons and one sickle," said Quinn, retrieving a fresh set for her. He didn't offer her a discount as he didn't want to raise suspicion.
Lily smiled and pulled out the asked amount, and gave it to Quinn.
"Please fill your name, subjects, and amount paid in sickles in this table," said Quinn, giving the buyer's list to Lily.
Lily looked at the sheet of paper and was surprised to see so many names on the sheet. She followed the example of the person above her and filled all the slots.
Finally, McGonagall closed the final notebook and declared, "There weren't any mistakes in your notes, Mr. West. These notebooks have been well thought of; they will be of great help. I will recommend these to students."
Quinn's face lit up, and he grinned, "Thank you, professor."
She nodded, but then she looked at the glass wall and asked, "Mr. West, what is on the other side of the glass wall?"
Quinn looked at the glass wall and casually answered, "Oh, I practice my magic on the other side."
McGonagall nodded, looking away from the glass wall, and focused her attention on the office itself.
After talking for a few minutes, the three teachers left the office, and Quinn leaned into his chair, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Never thought I would give the professors my card," spoke Quinn.
He paused before smiling, "Business is doing wonders... grandfather would be proud."
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[
A/N:
Absolute Zero might not seem something great but wait. I have plans for it... kind of, at least it will appear in the next volume. I am researching ways that cold can be beneficial, so it might take time to get some use out of it.
If you have some uses for cold, then do tell me. I will try to spin something out of it.
]
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Quinn West - MC - Absolute Zero! Absolute Zero!
Filius Flitwick - Charms Professor - Likes the charm of the cards.
Minerva McGonagall - Transfiguration Professor - Intrigued by the glass wall in Quinn's office.
Lily Potter - First staff client - Impressed by the A.I.D consultation service.
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