Chapter 23
We were now on the train heading towards Hogwarts. The cabin was kinda full what with me, Iris, Draco, Greengrass, Neville sitting together. Turns out our association with him did him some good. He's not the wimpy cowardly lion from canon and he already has his own wand and everything.
" You know, Malfoy I still don't understand how you and Potter managed to receive five NEWT's each before even setting foot in Hogwarts." Greengrass opened up the conversation once we left the station.
"It's simple in all honesty, history and astronomy don't even count, it's all theory. Anyone with sufficient control over their occlumency gain near eidetic memories so they were easy to ace. The difficult ones were runes, arithmancy and Potions. The two of us have trained in potions for nearly five years and Iris here is a prodigy when it comes to it."
"Alex and I spent nearly four years studying and practising with Runes and Arithmancy problems. It wasn't easy but well aunt cissa and grandpa taught us the basics and we just went ahead with it. I mean those courses take seven years for potions and only five each for arithmancy and runes so we took nearly as much time as we would in Hogwarts anyway. We just started sooner." Iris pipes in.
"True but I don't think I would even have started studying at seven, most children wouldn't be able to," Greengrass replies.
"We aren't most children are we, and there's the fact that we want to become professional duelists that will take up significant amounts of time during our Hogwarts years, so we took out the theory-based classes early so that we had more free time for things like duelling and our own research and studies in potions, runes and alchemy."
" I had heard you were studying alchemy, but isn't it very hard to study and actually practice?" Neville interrupted.
"It is, but that's mostly because the rules in alchemy are different from those in nearly all other branches of magic. Especially since it's a weird complicated combination of runes transfiguration, charms, rituals, potions, and arithmancy."
"How do you mean the rules are different?" He asks
"Well, take for example in transfiguration, there is a simple principle you cannot conjure food, and even if you can transfigure something into it, it will revert and cause problems if you actually eat it, with transmutation in alchemy you can actually permanently transfigure something into food so it does, in essence, become food."
"In simplest of terms alchemy is the permanent versions of transfiguration, conjuration, potions, even charms." Iris jumps in to explain.
The train ride goes by with this explanation and on the topics of runes, enchantments and the like. Halfway through the ride, we decided that sitting in a compartment was idiotic and invited them all into my trunks living room which had a cooler case with drinks and the like including Muggle varietals. It somehow wasn't as nerve grating as I would assume being in the company of elven-year-olds would be.
We reached Hogwarts after what felt like days of travelling. My trunk is absolutely amazing, not as amazing as my long term project one will be of course but still. It was all kept at a frosty twenty-degree centigrade temperature. We got out, went on the boats, Hagrid was there, we got McGonagall's house is family speech, usual canon stuff.
Surprise surprise, Me Iris and Draco get sorted into Slytherin. There was some cheer at that, especially given that we were all introduced as Black-Malfoy and Potter-Black respectively. The blacks had risen in prominence recently after all. What with Arcturus working full time in the Wizengamot, the hat's words were to be precise, not even twelve and already have plans to receive two masteries before you have Hogwarts, that is indeed ambitious, there's only one place for you.
The feast was good if not a bit fattening, after dinner we were escorted to the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons. Unlike what you would assume, we didn't receive the Slytherin sticks together with a speech that I had half expected, mostly because Slytherin didn't give a crap.
The Slytherin dorms did indeed have separate rooms for all students, it wasn't very big mind you, just big enough to fit a twin bed, a desk and a small closet. Good enough for most I assume, but I had my magic trunk, which had to be the first on any harry potter fans wishlist. I immediately set up my trunk against the wall opposite the door. Using one of three charms I can do well enough, I stick the trunk against the wall and go sleep in the bedroom inside the trunk which is a hell of a lot more comfortable not to mention big.
I once again woke up to iris on my bed saying, "Alex we have our first magic classes at nine. And if you don't wake up immediately I will push you out of bed." Which knowing her wasn't an empty threat. Yes yes, I'm up, now wait for me in the living room, I'll be there after I clean up and get dressed."
I was up and out soon, the Slytherin first years were then escorted by the fifth year perfects to the great hall to breakfast and then to the Transfiguration Classroom with the first-year Gryffindors.
I must say, McGonagall was an excellent teacher and her threats to students misbehaving were amusing to say the least and downright horrifying when you realized that as a transfiguration mistress she could and possibly would carry out her threats.
The best had to be the in canon line about turning Weasley into a pocket watch or a map, she did, of course, accentuate the point by turning her desk into a pig, then a pocket watch and then back to the desk consecutively and without any incantations or motions. I want to be her when I grew up, I mean she threatened the entire class without doing anything overtly threatening and proved any threats made by her were well within her power to make good on. Her with her quiet threats and Severus with his soft-spoken but spine chilling anger I would make the perfect threat dealer so to speak.
All of us were given the standard matchstick into a needle task for the class, we were also told that we would all be expected to make some progress towards it by the next transfiguration class if we didn't get it done within this hour. There were only six students of the near two dozen in the class that managed to completely change the matchstick into a needle and they were, in order Iris, Draco, Me, Neville, Daphne and a certain Ms.Granger.
I hadn't noticed it last night, but some in canon stuff did happen last night. Not that I ever really paid attention to stupid things like preserving timelines. Quirrel glared at the Iris, Hermione Granger got into Gryffindor etc, etc. Hell event the speech dumbledore gave was the one from Canon. I have also figured out what nitwit, blubber, oddment and tweak meant. They were the house-elves that worked in the kitchen. Whom dumbledore called to start serving dinner at the feast.
Leaving the classroom with my brother and friends, "I must say, no matter the number of theoretical subjects I studied to this point, pointing a wand at something and have it be changed into something else feels more magical than even enchanting things and the like feels," I told no one in particular.
"Very true, even if we've both done a lot that non-magical's would consider miracles using runes and potions, something about using and actual wand to break all known laws of physics as an eleven-year-old is incredibly satisfying, " Iris says to the nods of the rest of the group.
"I must say I enjoyed McGonagall's lecture, while she is as good at transfiguration as Severus is with potions, she has the patience to deal with absolute novices that Severus lacks," Draco added in. We all nod at that, Severus had at some point or another called all three of us dunderheads whilst brewing potions.
"But in his defence, potions come to him like he was born for them, for a master like that teaching a first-year with absolutely no patience must be hard, I'd blow up within a week if I had to do that," I added feeling the need to defend my godfather.
While speaking we had already reached our next class being charms. Filius Flitwick was indeed a cheery short man, a permanent grin etched onto his face. After taking up the roll call be says, " you will be expected by the end of this year to perform over thirty simple charms, perfectly. This also means that you will learn and practise the seventeen basic wand movements over and over till they are etched into your bodies. Permanently. Generally, we are asked to start by explaining the wand motions and asking you to practice it I myself prefer that you use simple motionless spells first. The spell goes hence point your wand at whatever you need illuminated and say Lumos, it is the most basic light casting spell."
Surprisingly, most of the class was able to do the spell before the lecture ended. In between our tries the professor also told us that if we imagined and visualized what kind of light came out if the wand, the spell would ensure that the same light shone. The colour, the intensity of light we're all variable based on visualisation.
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Status
Name - Alexander Corvus black-Malfoy
Alias - Alexander Charles black, Abraxus Arcturus Malfoy
Rank - 7
Job - Transfiguration Novice, LVL 15
Job history -Master Rune carver, Master Arithmancer, Master HP Historian, Master Potioneer, Master Rune reader, Master Occlumens, Master Dagger User, Master sword User, Noble charmer, Master French User, Master German User, Master Italian User, Master Latin User, Master Japanese User, Master Ancient Greek User.
Number of jobs completed:- 71
Skills-
Rune Scripting 10
Charisma 10
Dagger mastery 10
Sword mastery 10
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Iris's status
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Status
Name - Iris Dorea Potter-Black
Rank - 7
Job - Charms Novice LVL15
Job history -Master Rune carver, Master Arithmancer, Master HP Historian, Master Potioneer, Master Rune reader, Master Occlumens, Master Dagger User, Master sword User, Noble charmer, Master French User, Master German User, Master Italian User, Master Latin User, Master Japanese user, Master Ancient Greek User.
Number of jobs completed:- 71
Skills-
Rune Scripting 10
Charisma 10
Dagger mastery 10
Sword mastery 10
Serpent Speech 10 (innate talent)
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