37 Chapter-37: Next Steps

Before you guys go off and enjoy this delicious chapter, i have a proposition for you all... 

I have a book, called Birth of Demonic Mage. You can read it by going to my profile. I have 21 chapters in, and it is going strong. I am writing that book for WSA 2024. So, i need some support. 

Please go and check it out, and put the book in your library. If I can get more than 100 collections in the book by the end of the week, I will upload one extra chapter on Saturday. If I am able to cross 250 collections by the end of the week, I might extend my offer to 3 extra chapters. 

My offer is till the end of the week. 

Enjoy

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Ronan made his way towards the Slytherin Common Room when his friends caught up behind him. It was Blaise who spoke first, "Mate! That was spectacular."

Draco who came next to him said, "You should have seen everyone's faces. They all looked stunned for a second, unable to comprehend what had happened. Especially that Lockhart, that smiling Buffon looked pissed that you just walked away from the class."

Ronan sighed, "I shouldn't have done that. Lockhart might be an idiot, but he is a professor. I shouldn't have disrespected him like that,"

It was then Daphne who was walking behind them asked, "So why did you? I used to think that you were a very calm and collected man. Then how come you acted that way?"

Ronan just shrugged it off in front of his friends, but Daphne raised a very valid question. Why did he act in such a way?

When he got to his room, he sat down in the quietness of his room and thought about what had happened back then. Was he angry that Lockhart was acting like an idiot? He thought about it and realized that was not it, he knew that Lockhart was an idiot, so his acting that way should not have been a surprise to him.

Was he angry because he realized that they would not be able to learn anything from Lockhart's tenure in the school? He thought about it and realized that was not it either. He had been studying and taking care of him all this time. Which meant that it didnt matter whether there even was a teacher of DADA in the school. He would learn everything on his own.

Ronan closed his eyes and started thinking more deeply. It is only after a few minutes he opened his eyes. He finally understood why he was so angry at Lockhart. And that was because that idiot had everything that he wanted. That idiot is famous, has money and people know him for the magical prowess that he has shown in the books. He was jealous because Lockhart had everything that he ever wanted, even though he was a fraud. And seemingly, no one seems to notice how idiotic that man is.

In no way shape or form, does Ronan want to be known as the man with the most charming smile, or have thousands of girls fawn all over him. He wants to be known for the magic that he would command, and wants to be known as a force to be reckoned with. He was jealous because he had to work hard for his dreams, unlike someone else.

Pushing his anger aside, Ronan sat down and started planning his this year strategy. In the previous year, he had to do nothing, everything just happened on its own. And this year might be the same as well, but what he needs from this year is the tooth of the dead snake. The tooth from the snake was able to destroy the diary and one other soul particle in the last movie. This means that it was very essential for him to get his hands on those teeth of the creature.

This brings him to the question, of how should he interfere in the events this year, so that Longbottom and his gang would include him in their excursion to the snake's lair. Speaking of which, Ronan also had no idea where the snake's lair was. But he remembers the story very well, Hermione would be kidnapped and would be taken to the snake's lair. The diary possesses her or something. Then Harry would save her.

As there was not a lot that he could do at the moment, Ronan figured that he should get his hands on every piece of information about the gigantic snake. The information might help him in the future. With that he got up and started heading his way to the library, there were a lot of things that he needed to do. A lot of things that he needed to manage…

***

It had been 5 weeks since Ronan had come back to Hogwarts. And this time, he had made some tremendous strides in his magical abilities. Firstly, he was able to make a second layer of Occlumency shield around his brain, which was a big accomplishment. Normal wizards take around 3-4 years to complete the second layer, but with his talent, he was able to do it in less than a year.

To make the second layer of the Occlumeny layer, one needs to strengthen the mind even before one can attempt to make the second layer. With his natural talent, and meditation sessions over time, he was able to reach the stage. Now he only needs to make a third layer, and he will achieve mastery over Occlumency. Most wizards and witches can't even make one layer of protection, let alone reach the third layer. That is why this was a very significant achievement for him.

The second and one of the most important discoveries that Ronan made in these weeks was in Runes. Originally he picked up the subject because he would take it as an elective in the 3rd year. But ever since he had read the uses of the language, he realized something crucial.

Runic Language is like the Calculus of the Muggle world. Every kid with some high level of Maths at the school level has used Calculus, but they just dont know how to apply it in real life. The same is the case with Runes as well, students just learn to think of it as a chore, rather than finding a career that involves the language. And he couldnt blame them, it was a very boring subject. But for someone like Ronan, the subject felt like an opportunity.

In ancient times, wizards and witches used to draw magic circles with Runes etched on them, and then pour magic into the circles to activate the magic. But since then magic has come a long way. Now as long as the wizard has intent, they could say a phrase and they would be able to perform magic. But what was interesting about Runes was how they worked. After he finished the basics of Runes, he realized that Runes were like a programming language. A very crude and difficult programming language.

This programming language if used properly, then it could be utilized in ways that one could not even dream. The best example of Runic Programming was the Wireless Radio of Magic World. Apparently, Magical World also has a radio, and people use it very often. He had enquired his friends about the thing and they told him that it is a pretty normal thing to have in the houses.

He had to do some research about it, but if he is correct about its application, then only he could imagine the kind of heights he would reach. With Runic Engineering he could introduce more muggle things in the magic world. As magic, on the whole, corrodes the circuits of muggle inventions, only crude things like the radio and trains have been introduced into the world. But with his knowledge of the muggle world, he could do something more. Something that would truly put his mark on this world.

But before that, he needs to do some experimenting…

Ronan was patiently sitting at the entrance of the castle at 8 o'clock in the morning. He knew that today Gryffindor had booked the field for practice. Ever since Draco had become the new seeker for the Slytherin team, they had not given the Gryffindor team a single chance to practice. Seeing this, Ronan might have nudged their star seeker off the stairs, breaking his arm. This brought their whole 'We need to train our new seeker' plan to a flop, hence giving them a chance at the Gryffindor to practice.

And sure enough, soon boys wearing red and yellow team clothes started pouring in the school. They were all covered in mud and were marching happily when they spotted him standing in their way.

"Good morning everyone," he greeted them, and without wasting any time, he spoke, "Can I talk to George and Fred Weasley please."

"What do you want?" the boy leading them asked with aggression.

"Are you George or Fred?" he asked menacingly. It was then Harry Potter came into the castle and saw them all. As the boy came forward, Ronan greeted, "Hey Harry."

"What do you want with the twins, snake?" said Angelina, a chaser of the Gryffindor

It is then one of the twins came up, "We will handle it from here Wood," then the other one said, "You should go ahead."

As the Gryffindor's teams went away, except for the twins and Harry. Ronan turned towards them, "Let me say this right now.. Gryffindors definitely need an attitude check. I just greeted him with respect and your captain looked at me as if he would jump on me if I just winked at him."

"You cannot blame him. Slytherins had become just unbearable recently." Harry added,

Ronan shrugged, "Dont care about it. I was not being rude for him to act that way…" He then took a deep breath, "Anyway, I had some business to discuss with the twins." He gestured towards the twins, and Harry took the cue and said bye and went in.

After he had left, "What do you want mate" asked one of the twins.

So he decided to be straight about it, "I want a particular thing smuggled to the school. And I have heard your reputation among my peers, so I was wondering whether you guys could smuggle it in for me?"

"What is it?" one of them asked, "Is it something dangerous?" the other one asked, "It will cost a pretty coin you know, hiring us," the first one said.

"I am not lacking money. But the thing that I am asking to smuggle is a very delicate thing. It is called Runic Pen, it is used in constructing mana circuits. If you are willing to help me, I will pay 5% commission of the cost of the pen."

"How much would that be?" both asked at once,

"It would be around 10 galleons. I think that would be more than enough for your services." He said.

"What kind of pen cost 200 galleons?" one of them asked.

"If you are curious as to what the pen does, research about it in the Library… So, are you in, or are you out?"

"When do you need it?" the other one asked,

"In two days."

"Two days?" both of them said simultaneously. "That is not enough," the first one said, "Not enough time at all,"

"That is why I am here. I heard you know all the secret passages out of the castle, to Hogsmeade,"

The other asked, "If you need it so urgently, why not order it?"

"Because I need to keep it a secret. Or at least keep the people that know about the pen to a minimum. And it is considered a dangerous thing to have, and I dont professor would agree to have a kid like have that sort of an artifact."

The twins looked at each other and had their silent conversation, then one of them spoke, "We will need to think about it,"

He nodded, "Very well. If you decide to help, tell me by lunch please." With that Ronan went away, with a sly smile on his face.