Chapter 11: Another day

It's about time. All of Hogwarts is asleep, the real me is in my room practicing [blood manipulation] while my clone waits on the seventh floor.

"It's time to act" I told myself as I tried to form a perfect sphere of blood in the air, although it was very difficult.

My clone starts moving, searching my map for a secret entrance symbol. After a while he found himself standing in front of a painting where he met a wizard who wanted to teach some trolls to dance ballet.

"Here you are, Barnabas..."

Finding the right spot, I went to the empty wall and walked in front of it three times.

"A place to hide things..."

"A place to hide things..."

"A place to hide things..."

And there it was, an ancient door appearing in front of me, I could see the entrance to the room of all requirements. Yes, I came here for two reasons, the most important was to find the Ravenclaw Crown. I know that it was already turned into a Horcrux and I couldn't use it, but I wanted to have it with me for any eventuality, lest someone move it from the place, and we cannot find it in the future.

I walked through the door and was met by a mountain, well, mountains. Who would have thought that there could be so much garbage in one place. It was a huge and very high room that was full of various things that could easily fill a football field, it is amazing how many things are lost in the school.

Here's my precious... the second thing I came for is this crap, although for me, they are treasures. Now that I have the clone things are much easier, I knew that finding the crown would be impossible without enough time, and I could even walk over it without realizing it, but what I planned would take care of that and bring me benefits.

My goal is to sell all these lost objects to the merchant. With my clone and my inventory I would be able to transport the things from here and make a fortune, and in the meantime I will search for the crown.

To put my plan into action, I have to try something first and that is to see if I can get one of us to sleep. I used my [Sleep] skill and set it to 5 minutes just in case.

My real body fell into a deep sleep. I could feel myself falling asleep, but I realized that my consciousness persisted. Now all my mind is focused mainly on the body of the clone, but that does not make me recover my original mental faculties, moreover, I can feel how my whole body and my mind feel numb, I almost feel that I am drugged with something.

I walked around a bit and did stretches to get used to this feeling, as I've arguably gotten super clumsy at controlling my body. After I was able to make sure I walked without falling, I started with my plan.

When my real body woke up, I took out all the stuff from my inventory in my room, then set [Sleep] until tomorrow morning. Once that was done, My clone began to put the things he found into his inventory one by one, using 'repair' on the things that were slightly damaged. After it was full I looked at my map and realized the position of the merchant, with the camouflage spell I headed towards the outside of the castle.

The merchant seems to have appeared in the first areas of the Forbidden Forest, it's not too far away, so it's pretty safe. I also have to mention that he has started to come every other day and probably in the future I will be able to find him every day. I should ask him why through Luna.

I can get out of the castle with no problem, my skill with spells like cloaking is pretty good, and I can use my aura to avoid Filch's cat.

I was able to sell everything I carried in my inventory, it wasn't necessarily a lot of money, but with the amount of stuff in that place I probably wouldn't worry about not having any money in the future.

My clone did the same thing all night, but it felt like filling a lake drop by drop. Seriously, there are a lot of things and even though my inventory has grown over time it's still not big enough to carry in large quantities or moving very large objects.

The night passed and the day came. It was already morning and I woke up, maybe because my conscience was still awake controlling my clone I didn't feel as rested as the night before, but the effects of [Sleep] and [Rest] were still noticeable.

It was early, again I got up at 5 am. I did the same as the previous morning, starting to read some of the books I have, meanwhile my clone was waiting at the library door even with the camouflage spell so that he wouldn't cause trouble if seen.

Six o'clock came, and I went out of my room to the patio to exercise, this time I could see that more Slytherin boys got up early. On the other hand, my clone waited for Madam Pince to open the library to be able to enter. I could clearly see her eyes running over my body when she saw me, I guess when she saw two of me yesterday she was also curious.

With my clone speed reading and my real self working out, I'd say I made the most of my time.

I could also see how Hagrid came out of his hut and greeted him from a distance. He answered gruffly, but I don't think it was intentional.

It was time for breakfast and I went to the great dining room. I sat at the Slytherin table because I hadn't seen Hermione at the Gryffindor table yet.

There were already some students at the table, but Draco hadn't arrived yet, so I ate quietly. There could have been some comments from the older students who arrived here, but it was easy to ignore them, it seems that they weren't very happy about this, but for the moment they ignored me. I don't know if we will have any conflicts in the future.

The other students arrived at the table, so I decided to leave to avoid a confrontation and was about to head to the Gryffindor table, but I haven't seen Hermione yet although Lavender and Parvati were there, so I was a bit curious.

I walked over to her table and tapped on Parvati's shoulder, making her jump a little startled at the sight of me. The other guys at the table glared at me for that, especially Ron, who seemed like he didn't want to see me at his table.

"Hello Parvati, do you know anything about Hermione, it's weird that she doesn't come to breakfast when you guys are already here, is everything okay?"

"Your girlfriend isn't here so get the hell out of here" Ron yelled at me.

"Hello Ron, as sweet as ever isn't he?" I replied.

"I can finally get away from you, so don't come to our table to ruin my peace. You come back with the snakes"

"Hey Ron, again fought with Red" Fred and George appeared.

"Do they always fight like this?" Harry asked my brothers. Clearly, he was displeased with my presence although not as much as Ron, Malfoy had left a very bad impression on him and I clearly didn't look like a good person, but I hadn't done anything awful.

"Yes, for quite some time" (Fred)

"Although Ron has never won once" (George)

"And Red hasn't even participated once"(Fred)

"So let's say Ron has been losing a battle with no enemies" (George)

Ron got really mad when they said that. iIt's true that Ron never beat me, mainly because I never played along with them.

"It's true Ron, it's time to leave that behind, now they are in different houses, so they don't have to see each other much. Take advantage of your time apart to think and settle your differences" said Percy who approached us with a book in his hand and puffing the chest clearly showing the Prefect insignia.

"Yes Ron, you also have to be careful what you say" (Fred)

"Yes, if you go around saying that Red has a girlfriend, you could cause problems with Luna" (George)

"It is not good to mess with the love of others, you could ruin your future together" (Fred)

The twins nodded while I averted my gaze from where Percy was because I had affected my brother's love life and I felt a little guilty, it may be working out now, but I did cause some setbacks.

"Okay, let's put that aside. The Hermione thing?" I asked the girls again.

Although nervous, they still answered me.

"She stayed up very late reading last night and when we got up she was still asleep," said Parvati.

"It's possible that she's still asleep" Lavender completed.

"Thank you" I told the girls before I left, without Hermione I had no reason to be here.

I wandered around the castle some more until it was time for the transformation class. When I got to the classroom, I found several students sitting at their desks while a tabby cat was lying on the desk.

When I walked past the cat, I could see how she tensed up for a slight moment. It seems that McGonagall is more affected by my [Predator Presence] when she's in animagus form, that's something to keep in mind.

Hermione showed up a few minutes before class started, she seemed agitated, so I'll assume she came running. I motioned for her to come to my side, and when she did, I could see that as she sat down she heaved a sigh.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing... Hasn't the teacher come yet?" She asked me as she looked sideways.

"If she already came"

"Eh... Where?" she asks while looking for the teacher.

"Do you remember that I told you that I give off a certain intimidating aura that usually causes me problems to interact with others, since it is stronger in animals... what do you think of the cat on the desk in front of you? That is still there without showing the slightest annoyance"

"You will not say that the cat..."

"Yes, animagus" was the only thing I said because I knew she would understand.

She just nodded slightly as she continued to stare at the cat in awe. It was time for class and as the teacher was still in the form of a cat I began to copy the formulas that were written on the blackboard on the parchment, Hermione knowing the truth also did the same.

Most of the others also started the class or didn't cause any trouble, perhaps out of knowledge or fear that the teacher would come at any moment.

After a while you could hear how the door was opened fiercely, it was Harry and Ron who were late again. They must have a terrible sense of direction, I mean, I may have my map and be an exception, but what about everyone else? Even Hermione who overslept was on time.

"... We got it..." Harry said.

"...yeah, can you imagine what McGonagall would do to us if she found out?"

Hearing that, I wanted to yell 'idiots' at both of them. It doesn't matter if they don't know the teacher is in the classroom, don't say it out loud.

The cat on the table jumped and quickly turned into our teacher, several were surprised, and others like Hermione and I were amazed. I think everyone here wishes they could do something similar.

"That was great," Ron said.

"Thank you for the compliment Mr. Weasley" replied McGonagall "Perhaps I should turn one of you into a watch, perhaps then one of you could arrive on time"

"...we got lost..." Harry excused himself.

"So you wanted a map, so they could find their places?"

The teacher let them go. Harry and Ron embarrassedly went to their seats to the laughter of Malfoy and his entourage. Once everyone was seated, the teacher approached her desk and took out her wand.

"Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts" and I transform her desk into a pig "Anyone who wants to waste time in my class or do something stupid can walk out that door and never come back" She warned us to later return the pig to its normal state.

After that demonstration that left everyone impressed and eager to learn, she officially started the class. We gave a lot of theory both magical and scientific, this subject required more than magical talent, it also required a great deal of knowledge to be used properly.

Certainly, this is one of the few branches of magic that I don't practice on my own, as well as black magic. Like when Hermione cast the spell on me to grow my teeth and explained the danger to her, I was just as careful with my practice. I wanted to be able to be in a place with experts like Hogwarts to be able to solve any eventuality. Now I have my clone and can bypass all those precautions, but before that I don't dare to try this magic myself.

Near the end of the class, after much theoretical work, the teacher levitated a match to each of us, placing them on our tables.

"Now you will try to turn this match into a needle" said Professor McGonagall "You have until the end of the class"

This time I used magic without holding back, having an expert by my side I could do it without worrying about the consequences. By having the clone activated, both my magic and my control over it were reduced, which is bad for things like these where precision is given great importance.

I pointed my wand at the match and tried to transfigure it, I clearly remembered the entire class due to my ability to learn, so the theory was in place. On the other hand, the control didn't go too well for me, I practiced spells yesterday but nothing as thorough as this, if I wanted to fully engage in some transmogrification I should undo the clone just to be safe.

I saw how the match was changing slowly, I had to pay close attention not to lose control and go wrong. First one of the sides narrowed to a point and from there the shape changed little by little. When a kind of rough wooden needle finished forming, the color and texture began to change, although they did not change uniformly, you could see how parts of the needle had gray spots while other parts were silver.

The end result would say that it couldn't be said that it wasn't a needle, but that's about it. But compared to the others I was far ahead, only Hermione could be seen making noticeable changes to her match even though it wasn't quite a needle yet.

Another fun fact is that Seamus Finnegan managed to set his match on fire, I don't know how he did it, but it's kind of impressive.

I called Professor McGonagall.

"Well done Mr. Weasley, but I suggest you try to improve your work, the control is very poor and causes the body of the needle to be uneven" Professor McGonagall congratulated me "5 points to Slytherin"

Several people looked at me. McGonagall approvingly, Malfoy and Ron jealously, and Hermione dissatisfied. I could see how the girl hurried her spell to get some result, but I knew that would make her end up like me, with a job that could not be considered well done.

Under the table I touched her leg and used my blood magic to calm her down, she could feel it and looked at me, I just shook my head and seemed to understand that just by hurrying up she wouldn't get what she wanted. I now turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Excuse me teacher, I wanted to ask you a couple of things"

"What could it be, Mr. Weasley?"

"That's about that, you see here we are two Weasleys in the room. I understand the courtesy and respect, but I would like you to refer to me as Red to avoid confusion, I think it's more appropriate. I guess something similar happened with my brothers Fred and George, but unlike them, we are... 'more different'" I said as I looked at Ron.

The teacher focused her gaze on my brother and his match, she could see that we were very different both in personality and behavior, perhaps because of her unpunctuality or attitude she had more preference for me despite the sensations I transmit.

"If it's okay with you, I don't have any problem with it" She said accepting my request, I guess it would also be easier for her to avoid confusion, maybe she already had bad experiences with my brothers. I know them and I know they would have taken advantage of it.

"Thank you teacher... and about the other thing, could you return my needle to the original match? I would like to try again during the rest of the class"

"Of course Mr. Red" she said nodding with an approving smile "but I remind you that you have to be careful with magic, not only with transfiguration, you always have to be careful with any magic he performs" she looked at me seriously, it seems that already she must have found out that there are two Reds in the school.

At that she waves her wand and my misshapen needle turned back into a matchstick and then more appeared next to it. I didn't proceed directly, I spoke to Hermione first, tried to avoid being obstructed by her competitiveness. Used the argument of the state of my previous needle to show her that she shouldn't rush and should act carefully. Seeing my failure she seemed to understand and perked up, now she is trying to put her best effort into her work to show that she can do better.

It's not the best result, but it's better than killing herself trying to beat me, at least now she'll be looking for quality at speed. Professor McGonagall also nodded approvingly.

Going back to my needle, this time I tried something that has been in my head for a long time. This time, instead of using my mage magic like everyone else, I'll try to use my blood magic to see if it works as a replacement.

I moved the magical energies within my body pertaining to blood magic and followed the same steps, and what I got was...nothing.

Not the slightest change, it seems that blood magic is only good for itself and can't supplant other magic, although I must say that I have tried to create new blood magic skills on my own, but still haven't got any substantial results.

Then another idea came to me, and this time I tried to use both magic at the same time. This time there was a change, a slight red light appeared on the match that started at one end and spread from one end to the other, it could be seen with the naked eye how the match was changing faster than the previous time and with much more precision.

In almost half the time as before, I got a better result, but my blood magic was spent more than my normal magic did. This is pretty cool, I have a way of boosting my transfigurations and possibly my other spells, I don't know why I didn't try it before.

I quickly hid my result so that Hermione wouldn't see it, and it would affect her self-esteem.

I practiced again, only this time in the traditional way so as not to attract attention. Albeit slightly, I was able to get an upgrade and Hermione almost did as well, so she had a big smile on her face.

The bells ring and the teacher gave us the task of transfiguring the match and a short report. When we left, I stayed next to Hermione because I wanted to talk to her about her current habits, so we walked together.

When I was just about to start talking, we heard "Grrrrhh" like a slight roar. I looked and saw that the girl next to me had turned red, it was the sound of her stomach.

"Hungry? Looks like someone missed breakfast" I laughed at her.

"I wasn't hungry, so I skipped it." She averted her eyes.

"Seriously, it wasn't that you fell asleep and that's why you came running to the living room... or maybe my eyes lied to me when I saw an agitated and sweaty girl sitting next to me"

"I didn't... I had a hard time falling asleep last night, so I stayed up late"

"I can't believe it, my friend is lying to me, how can it be?" I put my hand on my head, being dramatic.

"I didn't lie to you. I couldn't sleep." Hermione said nervously.

"Like this? And because your roommates told me that you stayed up late reading. Perhaps you had trouble sleeping because you read too much?"

"I... it was a very interesting book, so I couldn't put it down" she said, not believing herself.

"Hermione, we are friends, and you have only told me lies. It is not necessary for us to continue like this, tell me the truth" I stopped her with my hand on her shoulder and stared at her.

"It's..." She looked away and somewhat resentfully said with a trembling voice "it's that now you can read while you're in class or doing other things, the only thing I can do is try harder if I want to catch up with you"

I could see her eyes get a little wet, I thought I had solved Hermione's problem by explaining that the other children were after her, but I didn't realize that I was putting pressure on her myself. I guess for someone who traded her social life for books, having a friend makes her want to be on the same level.

"Hermione I already told you that you don't need to try to equal me in anything, you have to do everything for your own desire to learn and not for wanting to surpass others "I put my other hand on her other shoulder" Do you want me to stop reading so you can beat me?"

"No, of course not, that would be very selfish" she said quickly.

"I would do it if necessary, you're my friend and I don't want you to suffer for it. I don't mind if you read later than usual, but I don't want that to harm your body, understood?"

"Yes…" she nodded with her head down, it seems that she understood that she was wrong, but I don't know if she will actually listen to me.

"I'm glad... but I warn you, it's no problem if you went to bed a little late, but if I find you one morning with big bags under your eyes, so tired that you don't react properly or anything else that tells me you've overdone it... then... I'll make sure you can't go back to the library"

"You couldn't do that…" She widened her eyes when she heard me and refuted me.

I completely released my [Dominant Presence] as she looked at her with a smile.

"Of course I could, and you know very well that I will if you force me, so thread carefully Miss Granger"

After that, I took my hands off her shoulders and deactivating my ability, walked away with a slight smile on my face. She bit her lip with resistance and concern for a slight moment, then sped up, trying to catch up with me.