章 10: Artifact Pains

The next lesson was Defence Against The Dark Arts or DADA. This classroom looked entirely different from the other classrooms before it. The main difference being: there were no chairs aside from the one behind the desk the teacher would be in.

They made their way inside and roamed around the classroom when they saw there was no teacher.

"Well this is odd, I didn't know we were getting a free period," said Crow, furrowing his eyebrows in discontent.

Hadrian stood still and tried to feel the classroom. He had done this before when he was a child but never thought of it as a crucial skill.

He felt the magical signatures of all the students in the room, 'Quite weak', he remarked.

That was until he felt a large magical signature, well - larger than his peers and him.

He opened his eyes and swiveled his head to the front of the class. Seconds later, a dark-skinned, long-haired teacher emerged from out of thin air!

The teacher looked at Hadrian curiously, both eyebrows raised, before looking towards the class and firing a loud 'BANG!' from his wand.

"Welcome, to your first defense class. I must say, I am very disappointed.", he drawled out, eyeing the class and shaking his head in dissatisfaction.

"In defense class, you must always remain vigilant. If I was an enemy, you would all be dead before you knew it.", he continued as he saw the faces of his students slowly morph into shame.

"Your parents paid for you to come to this school, by the time you leave - you will have learned to defend yourselves. Or it will mean failure to the school, failure to your family and failure to yourselves.", he said, maintaining his chastising tone.

He flashed out his wand and pointed it towards the board behind him. Words began to write themselves on the blackboard, spelling out his name.

'Professor Dakota', it read in neat, cursive handwriting.

"What I used to hide just then was the 'disillusionment charm'. I do not expect you to ever be capable of performing this spell during your time here at Auriton." He said, now with a deadpan voice.

"What you will learn today will be the Wand Lighting Charm. The incantation is 'Lumos', the wand movement is an upwards flick. The counter-spell is 'Nox' and a downwards flick. Get to it.", he finished, while he sat down and flicked through the papers on his desk.

No one had any difficulty with the spell, this was the easiest spell in the 'Book Of Spells, Grade 1'!

Professor Dakota went through why learning the spell was useful and necessary and how it could be used to defend yourself.

Hadrian listened attentively, he was keen on learning the other variation of the wand lighting charm. Namely, the 'Lumos Solem' variation.

Professor Dakota finished his explanation and explained the next task he expected them to do.

"The next spell we are going to learn is the Knockback Jinx 'Flipendo'. You will all line up and attempt the spell one after the other on this dummy here after I show you the incantation and wand

movement." He said as he flicked his wand and a large test dummy rose from the floor of the classroom.

He demonstrated how to perform the jinx three times, he explained how to perform every part of the spell in detail and let us line up to perform the spell.

Crow was at the front of the line so he was the first one to attempt the spell.

"Flipendo!", he shouted.

Nothing happened.

Crow groaned and went to the back of the line. The other students who saw this became a little bit discouraged and wary about messing up in front of the class.

Multiple students performed the spell until it was Sammie Primrose up next. She glared at the dummy before shouting, "Flipendo!". The test dummy wobbled very lightly as the spell hit it.

She smirked and stuck her nose up in the air in a snooty manner. She strutted to the back of the class, sticking her tongue out at Hadrian as she passed him.

Hadrian saw her and kept his eyes at the front as she did so, this made her annoyed - evident by the snarl that she released when he ignored her.

Hadrian chuckled internally, 'looks like I now know how to annoy her when she bothers me', he thought.

In front of Hadrian was Daphne, It was her turn now. She breathed out momentarily and shouted, "Flipendo!!". This time, the dummy swayed back and forth, not quite moving but certainly better than Primrose's attempt.

Hadrian smiled at her as she quickly hurried to the end of the line, satisfied.

It was now Hadrian's turn. He brandished his wand and instantly said, "Flipendo!". The dummy was pushed back 30 cm as the yellow light hit it.

Theo shouted, "WOW! Hadrian, you have to teach me it later!", eyes wide open in shock.

Hadrian looked towards Professor Dakota who just stared back with his unchanging, stoic expression.

Hadrian looked away and joined the back of the queue. As he passed Sammie, he stuck out his tongue. The girl spluttered in annoyance and once she regained her bearings, resorted to glaring menacingly at Hadrian.

Hadrian desperately tried not to laugh but that only resulted in snorts of laughter to come out. This infuriated Sammie more so she turned away, her fists tightening so hard - the whites of her knuckles could be seen.

Suddenly, Hadrian felt the stabs of pain return. He felt the stinging sensation in his arms once more and could see the runes on his arms were flaring, becoming brighter every pulse.

Hadrian rushed to Professor Dakota, "Sir, I don't feel very well. May I be excused? I think I need to go to the toilet." He said, trying to illustrate urgency into his voice.

Professor Dakota looked at Hadrian for a second before nodding.

Hadrian ran out of the class, the pain was becoming unbearable. He reached the hallways next to his dorm before he collapsed onto his knees.The pain was worse than before! He felt his heart rate slow once more and the runes on his forearms began to burn.

He tried as hard as he could to stand up, but the pain was too much. Hadrian heard footsteps running towards him. He looked up and saw a body of red hair crouch down beside him, asking him questions loudly.

Hadrian couldn't understand what she was saying, after a few seconds - Hadrian passed out.

An hour had passed when Hadrian finally woke up. He looked around and surveyed the unfamiliar room he was now in.

''Where am I?", he mumbled, asking no one in particular.

"You are in the Headmistress' Office, Mr. Black.", came the response from behind him. "What happened out there? I was making my way to the Charms classroom when I saw you convulsing on the floor," said Headmistress Rosewood, concern visible on her face.

" I...do not know but I have a hunch...about what could be causing me these...problems," said Hadrian, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

" Young man, as Headmistress of this school, I am responsible for the well-being of all my students!", she said, clearly miffed that a student was denying her the opportunity to help, '' Tell me so I can help you!".

Hadrian looked conflicted for a moment before he said, "Can I contact my Grandparents first? It is very private information that I might be sharing and I think I need to discuss it with my guardians before divulging any sensitive knowledge", he finished boring into her eyes, pleading her to accept his request.

Rosewood nodded, " I assume a floo call will be needed?".

Hadrian shook his head, "They gave me a two-way mirror so I could contact them in emergencies", he said, " It's in the first year Dragon dorm.".

"Loopy!", she shouted.

"Yes, Mistress Woody, Loopy is ready to do whatever you ask!", said a big-eared House-elf that apparated as soon as she was called.

" Go retrieve a two-way mirror from the first year House Dragon dormitories.", she ordered.

The house-elf nodded and with a determined face - apparated away. It returned a minute later with the mirror.

Hadrian tapped the bottom of the mirror with his wand and said, "Grandfather."

A face appeared twenty seconds later, the face of Charlus Potter.

"Hadrian! How are you doing?" asked Charlus.

" I'm doing fine, Grandfather. Something has been happening and my arms are hurting", he said - hoping his Grandfather would understand what he was hinting at.

"Oh." was the intelligent response from Charlus.

Hadrian rolled his eyes, "The problem is, Headmistress Rosewood thinks she might be able to help. Do you think I should tell her?".

Charlus pondered on the situation for a minute before nodding and saying, "Yes, but only if she performs a magical vow."

Hadrian looked at Rosewood for an answer, she seemed to be deep in thought as well. She nodded in agreement.

"She said she'll do it. I think we might need to ask Mr. Ollivander about why this is happening - maybe he'll know what this is," said Hadrian.

"Mhm. I will send a floo call tomorrow morning when I get his response," said Charlus.

Hadrian and Charlus then said their goodbyes and ended the call.

"Headmistress Rosewood, the oath?", he said as he saw the expectant look she shot at Hadrian.

She smiled sheepishly before saying, " I, Ivy Evangelia Rosewood hereby swear on my magic that I will keep the secrets that Hadrian Charlus Potter-Black shares with me. I also swear not to disclose said secrets to others without his express permission. So mote it be."

Her wand flared a bright orange and glowered around her and Hadrian's body.

Hadrian smiled and began telling her about how his wand was an Ancient Artifact and the familiar pains he's been experiencing. As he did so he saw a look of realization appear on her face.

"Can I see your wand?", she asked.

Hadrian didn't respond and instead rolled up his sleeves and willed the wand to appear on his hand. Rosewood watched as a set of runes appeared on Hadrian's forearms and pulsed as a wand appeared on Hadrian's hand.

Hadrian passed the wand over to Rosewood and she looked at the inscriptions keenly.

"Hadrian, I am a rune-master and I have never seen these inscriptions before." She said with curiosity laden in her voice.

" I think I know why you are experiencing these random pains." she said, " But before I explain why, have a look at this."

Headmistress took off a necklace that was buried in her chest, "This is a Magic Artifact, It isn't even as close as to your Ancient Artifact in rarity."

She began her explanation as Hadrian studied the necklace, "The reason you have been feeling these random bouts of pain is due to you being close to another Ancient Artifact. I assume that your wand," she said as she pointed at it, "-is one of many Artifacts created by the same person who made your wand."

Hadrian's eyes opened in shock, "There's more than one Artifact!? I thought it was rare..!"

"Oh yes, they are rare. Priceless even. I would be tempted to take it for myself if I could, but I suspect that only someone who has assimilated with an Ancient Artifact, can locate and assimilate with other Artifacts." she responded wistfully.

Hadrian was shocked by the information he was just given.

" I expect you will be feeling this pain periodically until you find and assimilate with this Artifact. And if the pain is indeed worse than what you felt this morning, then I suspect it will only begin to get worse," she spoke softly.

Hadrian nodded. There was nothing he could do but to find it.

"Hadrian, I think it will be best if you come with me on the submarine in two days to find this Artifact," she said, both concerned and overjoyed with the prospect of finding an Ancient Artifact.

Hadrian noted that her grey eyes were twinkling very brightly and her face was the perfect depiction of mirth personified.

He smiled wryly and asked to be excused. Rosewood told him that it would be fine if he missed lessons for today and tomorrow and if he felt any of the pain he felt earlier, it would be best to come over to her office.

Hadrian walked back to his dorm and threw himself on his bed, he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried. He didn't want to leave Aunriton when he had just started! He'd made so many friends too...

Hadrian shook himself out of the foul mood that overcame him. He had nothing better to do so he might as well practice the spells he had learned today. Hadrian began practicing the knockback jinx as well as the levitation charm. He knocked the beds back and forth before restoring them to their positions with the levitation charm.

He performed this for an hour until he got too tired and decided to take a nap.