Long-Term Waiting

In one of the abandoned classrooms in the third floor of the castle, Ymir sat on a desk with a resigned expression.

With him were Pansy, Daphne, Anthony, Blaise, Draco, Theodore, Ayato, the Patil twins, and Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff. He had no idea how Daphne managed to gather them all. In front of them, standing on a stool, was Professor Flitwick, who was excitedly drilling them on the rules.

And, yes, they somehow got the approval to create a Newspaper club in Hogwarts.

Ymir really had no time for this.

"So, has everyone picked the chief editor for the newspaper?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"Schreiber!" They all chorused.

Ymir wanted to burn them all.

❄️❄️❄️

The scale the Universe uses to judge all beings is fair.

The more energy one uses up to create, the more energy is needed to be consumed to supplement it.

A fast way to take in energy is to steal from the stars, the celestial bodies, and other lifeforms.

But, the fastest, is simply to devour the source of energy itself.

❄️❄️❄️

Imagine just taking a nap... and waking up with hundreds of bones under your pillow.

Well, that was Ymir's situation right now.

After another dream which he couldn't remember no matter how he tried, he got up, hoping to be able to peacefully do his homework, only to be greeted by a strange taste on his tongue and tiny bones under his pillow.

If he didn't know any better, he'd think he'd been sleep-eating.

But, those bones were far too clean, and looked too archaic for that.

So, he did the most sensible thing to do in that situation and started carving little dice pieces made from the bones.

Forgive him. His brain was still too sleepy to process anything at the moment.

After he carved more than twenty bone dice, he then proceeded to submerge them into his vials of blood and threw the rest into his drawer.

With that done, he eyed his sleeping roommate and began to happily do his homework, which would go on until nearly 2 in the morning, to which he would go back to sleep until the sun rose.

❄️❄️❄️

He was dreaming.

He didn't how he was aware enough to make that connection, but he just knew that he was dreaming.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Towards his left, he recognized the voice of his father. "Our little daughter."

The air felt chilly on his skin and his body felt sluggish. Somehow, all his eyes could see were blurry outlines of two giant people standing over him, peering curiously.

Unable to sit up on his own, feeling as though he lost control of his limbs, he futilely raised his arms upwards, and the smaller of the two blurry figures gently too hold of his hand, the fingers grasping his feeling many times bigger than his own.

"May you grow up happily." A woman's calm voice spoke with care. "My little Ymir."

❄️❄️❄️

"There's a lesson section, for keeping students updated on which classes have upcoming quizzes and tests." At the head of the long table, formed by lining up the desks together, Pansy read through her list as the rest of the club listened attentively. "The Patil twins are in charge of that, but they might be a bit too held up to do anything else since they have to ask each professor everyday if there's anything new."

Upon having their names called, the Patil twins nodded gravely.

"Then, there's a general section for sharing news from outside the school which could potentially affect Hogwarts." She continued. "Might have to consult the Daily Prophet on that one, but that's not actually as troublesome as the others."

Everyone in the room looked towards Ymir, the only member who was subscribed to the Daily Prophet.

Ymir sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"There'll also be an announcement section, where students and professors are free to use in case they need something to be spread out. Like if someone's missing their book, they could have it announced there."

"Oh, that one's actually quite helpful." Parvati Patil mumbled. "Neville could surely do with that. Especially since he still can't find his pet toad, Trevor."

At that, Blaise, Draco, and Pansy glanced towards Ymir quite meaningfully, who just averted his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Now, all that's left are the gossip section, the Quidditch section, trivia and fun facts, and the headline news." Pansy skimmed through the bottom of her list. "And, I assume everyone already knows what that's for, yes?"

Everyone nodded, each marking down which parts they were in charge of.

"Fortunately, we'll only have to produce a newspaper per week." Daphne sighed in relief. "If we have to do this daily, we'd probably have no time to do anything else."

When they decided to form the Newspaper club, they probably didn't think about how much work they'd actually have to put in it.

The corner of Ymir's eye twitched. He couldn't help but notice that one of the Hufflepuff girls was staring at him very intently. Is there something she wanted from him?

"Right, then..." Setting down her list, Pansy clapped her hands. "Any questions?"

Immediately, Padma Patil raised her hand.

"Yes, Padma?" Pansy acknowledged the Ravenclaw girl.

"This week's newspaper-" Padma started without hesitation. "What do we write for our Headline?"

Ymir thought of several things that might be worthy of attention, but it seems, Anthony had something better in mind.

"How about..." And, just as he thought, Anthony dropped the bomb on them. "Harry Potter becomes the youngest Quidditch Seeker in a century?"

Several people were taken by surprise, having not heard of the news yet.

"He what?!" Draco, particularly, was more shocked than the others. "That can't possibly-"

"It's true! I heard it myself when Potter and Weasley were talking to each other in the Griffindor common room!" Parvati immediately jumped to the topic, relaying all that she heard, on the other hand, her twin sister just rolled her eyes, having heard this story multiple times already. "And, Malfoy! Remember when you and Potter were caught by Professor McGonagall for flying while Professor Hooch was away?"

"Yes?" Draco scrunched his face, not liking how the Griffindor was referring to him so familiarly, but the topic intrigued him enough to reply.

"Well, that's when Potter was made Seeker!" Parvati chattered on with an excited grin. Now Ymir could see why she got along with Anthony so well. "Professor McGonagall took him straight to Oliver Wood after that to test him!"

The members of the club looked towards each other, each having different reactions to the news. While some were only surprised and confused, others were more indignant.

"But, that-" Draco sputtered, looking as though he himself didn't know what he was supposed to say to this. "He can't-!"

Anthony sneered. "Against the rules, right?"

"Well, yes-" Draco looked at his hands, hesitant. "I just-"

Ayato suddenly sighed, speaking for Draco. "Did the headmaster approve of this?"

"How else do you think he managed to join despite being a first year?" Anthony scoffed with a raised eyebrow.

"..." Draco pursed his lips and looked thoughtful. "My father will hear about this."

"He said it!" Blaise burst out laughing, startling the rest of the club members. "He finally said it! 'My father will hear about this!' Pfft! Classic!"

Instantly, Draco's face reddened. "Shut up, Blaise!"

Although it came with the embarrassment of Draco, the sudden distraction actually made several people sigh in relief when the tension in the air disappeared.

At this, they gave Blaise an appreciative glance, who winked back at them.

"Anyways, so that confirms our headlines?" Daphne asked, clearing her throat. "Harry Potter becomes the youngest Quidditch Seeker in a century!"

And, quickly, before either Anthony or Parvati could speak, Pansy immediately took control of the topic.

"No, no. Positive news will never get many views. Let's make it..." She said with a mischievous grin. "Scandalous."

Immediately, that got everyone's attention.

"Ooh, how about focusing more on the other side of things, like-" Daphne's smile as she spoke was devious, already envisioning the reaction of the school to the news. "Dumbledore's obvious special treatment towards Griffindors, allowing a student who broke the rules to play for the Quidditch team!"

"Perfect!"

Ymir shook his head. If Hogwarts turns into chaos because of them, he'll have to be the one to clean up their messes, wouldn't he?

And, that Hufflepuff girl is still staring at him.

❄️❄️❄️

"Blaze the Frost manages to distract the harpies away from the entrance through his flirting skills, giving time for Draconius and Casimir to sneak in."

With the Newspaper club meeting concluded, Ymir once again found himself in the midst of his too active friends, playing Dungeons and Dragons, though this time, Daphne and Theodore had joined in.

"Thesius and Delaphid team up to take on the Guardian Magma Giant. Delaphid Raindrop hits the Giant with an acid shot, doing absolutely nothing!" Pansy giggled at Daphne's affronted expression.

"Thesius Nottingham rolls away from the Magma Giant's attack, jumps up, and beheads it, but wait!" Pansy played with the dice in her hand. "It's head grows back! What do you do?"

Watching them having fun, Ymir glanced at the dice on the table thoughtfully. If someone accidentally left a dice here, it probably wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicion.

Hmm...

In his pocket was one of the dice he carved the night before, and consequently, after he had fallen asleep, he had a somewhat lucid dream. He planned to test it secretly on Anthony tonight to see if it was the cause.

As of now, it still isn't proven that it was indeed the dice that caused him to have lucid dreams or of it was merely coincidence. But, if it were, he might have a plan on how to get people into a joint lucid dream in Gaia.

In order to accomplish that, games which use dice need to be widespread enough so the students wouldn't immediately make the connection to him once they see the dice.

Though, on the chance that it was indeed a coincidence that he had that lucid dream, he'd still carry on with the spreading of the game, since he really wouldn't be losing anything.

With that thought, he turned towards the other members of the club who were watching the game in interest. "Would you like to join in?"

Immediately, Padma, who was more familiar with him than her sister, replied. "Oh, we would, but I don't think we'd be able to since there's already so many people playing."

Ymir did a quick count. Including him, there were five players and one Dungeon Master. Any more added and the game would probably become too messy.

"Mm... That is an issue, I suppose." He hummed in agreement. "Perhaps you can start your own game?"

Hannah Abbott asked hesitantly, her eyes flitting back and forth between Ymir and her friend, Susan Bones. "A separate game?"

"Yes. Since the rules are quite simple enough and all you actually need are just the character sheets and the dice." Ymir explained with a smile, hidden in his eyes was a calculative glint. "Anything else is optional and you can just transfigure it if you want."

They looked towards each other in intrigue.

"I recommend playing with your friends in your houses. After all, it's more enjoyable to play with people you're comfortable with."

❄️❄️❄️

The runes for stability is now finished. Next, come overlaying the runes to connect them to the Star Heart Crystal on top of the already existing runes without destabilizing them.

Then, he'd have to let the runes sink into the insides of the dice so they won't show up in the surface and make it obvious about what they are.

It would most likely be much harder since the dice are so small so he'd have to make the runes tiny as well.

"By the way, Bones has a crush on you." A bored voice said blandly from behind him, making Ymir pause from his hurried scribbling.

"Bones?" He turned towards his roommate, tone questioning.

Anthony looked at him in disbelief.

"You know... Hufflepuff girl? The one you saved from that rogue broom?" He listed on. "Ring any bells?"

"I remember her, but I don't seem to have spoken a single sentence to her." Ymir tilted his head, trying to recall their interactions. "And, what she feels is not attraction."

Anthony frowned at him.

"How can you be so sure about that?" He asked. "As you said, you've never spoken to her before."

Ymir closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why are humans such emotional creatures?

"She thinks that what she's feeling is an attraction." He tried to explain concisely. "But, really, that's just an effect brought upon by experiencing a life threatening event; The heart pumps wildly, and the brain will produce an excessive amount of dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphin, which the brain misinterprets as love."

Anthony's eyes went blank, not comprehending the meaning of several words in that sentence. All he knew was that it made sense.

Not caring about whether his roommate understood or not, Ymir concluded. "The muggles call it the Suspension Bridge Effect."

"..." Anthony looked at Ymir as though he were an alien. "Just once, I want you to not be logical towards everything."

Ymir shrugged nonchalantly. "One day, perhaps."

Anthony sighed in frustration. "Also, did you know that several ghosts have gone missing lately? Apparently, one of them happened to be Professor Binns. Which means-"

"History class is in need of a new Professor." Ymir continued his unfinished words, the corner of his lips gaining an unnoticeable upward tilt.

Hidden in a box underneath his closet were several wispy grey orbs.

❄️❄️❄️

In the middle of the night, all was silent and calm.

The waters of the Black Lake was still, and even the insects have stopped chirping.

Everything was at peace.

Yes, everything except Anthony Goldstein who kept tossing and turning in his bed, before, suddenly, he shot up, eyes wide open and looking around the room cautiously, in his hand was his wand which he grabbed from his bedside table.

"Lumos." He muttered, and the room was illuminated.

After finally realizing that he was in his bedroom at Hogwarts, he visibly slumped in relief.

"What's wrong." On the bed on the other side of the room, Ymir peeked through his drapes, seemingly woken up by the noise Anthony made.

"It's nothing..." He mumbled hesitantly. "Just a strange dream."

Figuring that Anthony might not be able to go back to sleep any time soon, Ymir sat up from his bed to face him. "I can listen if you want to talk about it."

"No, it's just..." Anthony drifted off, not knowing how to explain what he just experienced. "I dreamt that I spent five years alone in a world where only I exist... It felt so real..."

Ymir listened quietly as the boy spoke.

"It was scary..." Anthony clutched his pillow tightly to his chest. "I never thought being alone was so scary before."

"I see." Ymir nodded in understanding. "Would you like to sleep beside me for the rest of the night?"

"...Yeah." Anthony took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'd like that."

And, as he crawled into his roommate's bed, he stopped the spell on his wand and the room was dark once again.

Unnoticed by him, Ymir's eyes glimmered strangely in the darkness.

❄️❄️❄️

Finished.

Set upon a wooden stand atop Ymir's study desk was a red-speckled black egg covered with runes all over.

Surrounding this egg were several soul orbs slowly being broken down and turned into nutrients by the runes for the egg to absorb.

This absorption process, while a success, was slow.

If his predictions were accurate, the egg won't finish absorbing all the nutrients until Samhain night. Or, as the muggles call it, Halloween.

Still, it marked the completion of one of his personal projects, and frankly, if it wasn't for Professor Quirrell's private lessons, he probably wouldn't be able to achieve such quick success.

It was imperative to give him something to show his appreciation.

And, right on time, the Soul Stabilizer Potion that he ordered just arrived.

❄️❄️❄️

"Ooh... My brain hurts, but-" Clutching his head, Anthony stumbled towards Ymir at his table in the Ravenclaw common room. "Something interesting is going to happen today!"

After that night when Anthony had that strange dream, he was a bit subdued for a few days, but fortunately, it didn't take long for him to revert to his lively self once again.

Children are surprisingly adaptable. Perhaps because their world views aren't quite solid yet.

As Anthony grabbed his arm and began pulling him outside, Ymir sighed helplessly as Ayato waved him goodbye in amusement. "My notes are not finished yet-"

"Forget your notes for a moment!" Anthony huffed at him. "There's a good show to be seen at the Potions corridor today and I refuse to miss it!"

The corners of Ymir's lips twitched. When Anthony was at this state, all he could do was just let himself be dragged to wherever it was the boy was going to.

"You think everyone is dumb, don't you, Potter?" Upon arriving at the junction that lead to the Potions corridor, Ymir and Anthony heard voices coming from within it. "But I saw what you did."

"Can't see anything if we've never done it." Peeking into the corridor from the corner, they saw a second year Slytherin confronted none other than Harry Potter himself.

Immediately, Anthony had a wide grin on his face as he watched with relish.

"No, no! I saw you and Weasley, snooping around Professor Snape's Potion ingredients." The Slytherin spoke with a malicious sneer. "Ooh, just wait till he hears who stole his salamander tails!"

Seemingly having had enough of this repetitive topic, Harry Potter snapped at him. "And, I keep telling you! It wasn't us! If your eyes worked properly, you'd see that. But, I guess, between the two of us, you'd need the glasses more."

Ymir raised an eyebrow, the corner of his lips tilted upwards in amusement.

"Oh, really? Then what if I-" The Slytherin raised his hand towards Potter's glasses, but, before he could do anything, something else happened.

"Diffindo."

Drip.

A single drop of blood fell to the floor and the Slytherin belatedly took notice of the new cut on his arm.

"Fancy seeing you here-" On the other side of the corridor, a certain platinum haired boy strutted in, followed by his two friends. "Hollen."

Instantly, the second year Slytherin stumbled back, clutching his wounded arm. "M-Malfoy!"

"You predicted this would happen?" Ymir asked with a raised eyebrow, mentally making the connection.

On the scene, Pansy and Blaise who accompanied Draco slowly walked towards them, trying not to attract any attention as they gave Draco enough space to do his little drama.

"Yeah! I've been having little bouts of future seeing on and off since the day I read the Book of the Missing Spirits, but this one has been the clearest so far." Anthony whispered to Ymir, eyes glued to the scene.

"It's foresight... And the book of Lost Souls." Ymir corrected.

"Shush! It's starting!" Anthony silenced him as Pansy and Blaise eagerly arrived beside them.

"Having fun playing with Potter, are you?" Draco casually strode towards the second year with his wand playfully spinning around his fingers, each step closer bringing pressure that fell on the wounded boy. "It's fun, right?.. The feeling of holding power over the savior."

Stopping right in front of the older Slytherin, Draco brought his wand to the boy's throat and leaned close, voice low and barely above a whisper. "I know... I understand it."

"But, that there?" Seemingly on purpose, his blue grey eyes locked onto Potter's bespectacled wide green ones. "That's my prey."

"So, I suggest you-" Draco then turned his attention back to the frightened second year. "-to set your eyes elsewhere before I decide to... pluck them off."

Beside Ymir, Blaise and Pansy wheezed.

❄️❄️❄️

After Draco left the second year and Potter in the corridor with one last sneer, he headed straight for the corner where Ymir and the others were watching from.

Then, he immediately screeched into Ymir's back, the sound being muffled by the cloth, as Blaise patted his shoulder with a teasing grin.

Somewhere to the side, Anthony was dying from laughing too much.

When Draco raised his head, his face was a blushing mess. So, to sooth him, Ymir gently fixed his slightly ruffled hair.

"Congratulations, Draco." Pansy said with a meaningful grin. "According to Potter's facial expression, you have just graduated from being someone he hates to being someone he feels complicated about."