8 Chapter 8: Misconceptions
Chapter 8
(Hermione)
"Sorry. I haven't seen him today," a Ravenclaw said in an apologetic tone before walking away.
Hermione gave a sigh of disappointment at once again being unable to find her friend.
A week had gone past since the Halloween incident, a night that would forever be engraved into her head.
More than once she had woken up in the middle of the night covered in sweat, her heart racing as she looked around for the giant troll that haunted her nightmares. The scene of the 12-foot troll raising its giant wooden club high into the air threatening to crush her was one that she would not soon forget. The fear she had felt had been enough to paralyze her on the spot and if it hadn't been for Charles pushing her out of the way, she likely wouldn't even be alive.
Charles Bell, someone that had constantly been on her mind.
After she had been let out of the bathroom by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, the two had apologized for their behavior. Soon after a group of teachers lead by her House Head had questioned her briefly before going in the direction of the troll. In an impulsive decision Hermione had decided to follow them, joined by the other two.
What they had stumbled upon was the decapitated corpse of the troll, as Charles unmoving body was being carried in the air by Professor McGonagall.
At the time they had thought the worst, and Hermione had felt her heart stop.
Thankfully the transfiguration mistress had explained that he had merely collapsed.
Hermione had wanted nothing more than to go to the Hospital Wing, but she like the other two boys had been strictly ordered to return to their dormitory.
On the way, they had passed many cheering portraits, all of whom seemed excited to retell the events of the fight. By morning everyone knew of what had happened.
The next day Charles had appeared at breakfast as his usual aloof self, as if nothing had happened.
However as someone that was close to him, Hermione knew that wasn't true. The night had left it's share of scars on him as well.
While he continued to act as his usual friendly self, she could spot the dark circles under his eyes that he desperately tried to hide. There was time when he would sometimes jerk at the smallest of sounds. The fact he always had knife within arms reach of him whenever he was eating didn't escape her.
What really worried her however was the way that he generally carried himself, as if he was always on guard.
She could only imagine the trauma that he must be feeling at the moment.
(Zombie Dungeon)
Is this real life?
(Charles laying down on the roof of a house with his eyes closed.)
Is this just fantasy?
(Taking out his wand he sends a red flare into the sky.)
Caught in a landslide
(Pan out to see the house surrounded by a horde of zombies)
No escape from reality
*Boom* (Countless explosions rock the dungeon)
Open your eyes
(Close up of Charles opening his eyes, reaching a hand to the ceiling)
Look up to the skies and see
(He stands up sees a sea of burning zombies with a smile)
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go
A little high, little low
(He unsheathes his rapier and wand and jumps into the horde)
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me.
(He spins in a circle decapitating several lesser undead)
(Using sprint he mows down the zombies hordes until there is only one left.)
(Trading his wand for his crossbow he slowly walks to the walking corpse.)
Mama, just killed a man
(The zombie takes a swipe with Charles ducking and places his weapon under its jaw.
Put a gun against his head
*Twing*
Pulled the trigger, now he's dead
(The zombie explodes into black smoke.)
Mama, life has just begun
(Close up view of Charles taking out a hand painted portrait of his parents.)
But now I've thrown it all away
(Without looking he shoots an explosive bolt to his side.)
Mama, oh oh
Didn't mean to make you cry
(He tucks the picture away)
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
(The zombie wizard comes out covered in alchemic fire shooting cutting curses.
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters.
(Charles dodges the curses with upmost grace, twirling around like a ballerina, slowly closing the distance.)
(Using his rapier, he cuts of its hands before kicking it in the head.)
(The wizard goes flying into a pile of burning rubble weakly trying to get up, only to be skewered by a rapier in the heart)
(Hermione)
Someway, somehow, Harry and Ron had become her friends during the week and while she was glad for the company, she noticed it wasn't the same as Charles.
She had tried to be there for him during their usual library meetings, but he refused to admit that anything was wrong.
There was also the matter with the Slytherin girl that would sometimes follow him around, Daphne Greengrass, she remembered. During those times, she found it almost impossible to approach him. That was just another difference that the two shared. While Slytherin could hardly stand the sight of her, Charles seemed to be left mostly alone thanks to his friendship with the Slytherin 'Princess'.
That however wouldn't stop her from being his friend and rival.
She had woken up early today, despite it being a Saturday, to invite Charles to watch the First Quidditch Game of the season, even if she didn't particularly care for the game.
Yet as the time grew closer, she had failed to see neither hide nor hair of him. In fact, no one had.
"Where could he possibly be?" the bushy haired witch said with a pout.
(Zombie Dungeon)
I leaped through the air using double jump repeatedly to zig-zag between the barrage of elemental attacks. At level 13 [Double Jump] allowed me to perform a maximum of 6 consecutive jumps before my feet needed to touch a surface, and with all of the floating piece of earth in the air, there were plenty of those.
I threw a smoke potion at it and followed it up with a Mana Bolt.
Opening my inventory, I took out a piece of meat and scarfed it down to regain some of my lost health.
The rapier in my hand was exchanged for a double handed halbert before I entered the cloud of smoke.
Dodging the blades of air and blast of fire, I spun my weapon in a circle blocking the shard of broken stone and icicles before pointing my hand in the direction of the elemental zombie wizard and whispered the name of my skill.
"Life Drain."
Immediately I could feel my health slowly return as I robbed it from my opponent.
It took a little less than seven minutes of me just continually blocking attack before the undead was finally depleted of its last health point and it disappeared into a wisp of smoke.
I used [Fly] to control my fall as the levitating platforms plummeted below.
This was the first time I had managed to beat the elemental undead.
[Gained 19,763 experience.]
The amount of experience for me to level up barely raised by 5% this time.
Still that wasn't what I was interested in as I walked over to the drops that had magically appeared a few feet away.
[You obtained 60 Galleons.]
[You obtained the item Lowest Grade Recovery Potion X5.]
[You obtained Blueprint.]
[You obtained the item Low-Intermediate Soul Stone.]
Taking a closer look at the orange sized purple gem I was still unsure what they could be used for.
Low-Intermediate Soul Stone- Rank: Rare
A crystal created by integrating quite a lot of souls. Useful for many things.
The blueprint proved to be the second piece of the Magical Artifact Facility.
After placing everything in my inventory I decided to check my stats.
Charles Bell
Class: The Gamer
Title: Overlord
Level: LV 20 Next Level: 13.47%
HP: 8722/500
MP: 44/390
STR: 23
DEX: 24
VIT: 25
INT: 34
WIS: 52
LUK: 17
Points: 40
Money: 5,889 G/ 16 S/ 8 K
Inventory: 261/1,500
Thanks to the Life Nectar I had appropriated from the gnomes I had gained an extra 200 points to my health. The extra health I had gotten from Drain Life usually disappear after a few minutes.
Beside a couple of points here and there, my stats had remained relatively the same, just above human peak.
Unfortunately, my level was taking longer to raise as the normal mobs were giving me smaller and smaller amounts of exp as I leveled up. I would have to find a new dungeon with higher level monster later, but it wasn't if I was in a hurry to raise my level. I had plenty of time, six years in fact.
Taking a glance at the 40 points just sitting there, I decided to allocate 13 to LUK bring it up to 30. I also decided to buy 500 more inventory slots.
Charles Bell
Class: The Gamer
Title: Overlord
Level: LV 20 Next Level: 13.47%
HP: 8230/500
MP: 44/390
STR: 23
DEX: 24
VIT: 25
INT: 34
WIS: 52
LUK: 30
Points: 27
Money: 5,389 G/ 16 S/ 8 K
Inventory: 263/2,000
"Hmm," Looking at my watch, I noticed that it would soon be time for the quidditch match.
Taking out makeup kit that I stole from one of the older Ravenclaw girls I used my newest skill [Disguise] to give myself dark circles and a pale complexion.
[Disguise] (Passive) LV 5 EXP: 0.00%
Description: It becomes easier to look like someone you not. At higher levels people will be unable to see through your disguise.
Effect: You can place yourself in a self-induced hypnosis to act and behave a certain way when in disguise.
With this I had been able to pull of the traumatized child act perfectly. The only ones who weren't completely sold on it was Professor Snape, since it was his job to be paranoid, and Daphne. The small Slytherin was perhaps the only one who had glimpsed at my true personality so that was to be expected.
Casting a quick cleaning spell on my body, I switched out of my dirty clothes and into the Hogwarts' winter uniform. Apparently [Gamer's Body] did nothing to protect me from the cold. Next, I took out the silk top hat I had gotten for my birthday and placed it on my head to finish the look. I'd like to think I cut a dashing figure… well as much as a twelve-year-old could.
Taking out my Spirit Stone I decided it to feed it some of my excess life force. It now resembled a piece of coal the size of a fist with glowing red veins, a stark contrast to the smooth pearl white appearance it had in the beginning.
It greedily sucked up my health, the lines pulsing with red light as if it were a beating heart.
Contrary to it's sinister look, [Observe] told a different tale.
Spirit Stone- Rank: Very Special
Houses a dormant Spirit. Can be used to ward a small area from others. Spirits can be bound to someone once hatched. The type of spirit depends on the sacrifices used to feed it while in its dormant state.
Feels: Happy. Grateful. Loyal.
Time to Hatch: 210 Days
I couldn't wait to see just what sort of being I was making.
(Quidditch Field)
As I watched the two teams battle it up in the sky, I was analyzing the moves of each individual player, trying to see a pattern that I could use to predict their next move. The Room of Requirements could help me recreate them later but only so long as I had accurate information.
I took notice of how the Slytherin Seeker scanned the area looking for the snitch.
Of course, I had already found it a while ago.
The crowed above me winced as a bludger knocked one of the Gryffindor players off their broom. Thankfully the ground was enchanted to reduce the force of the fall otherwise we would be seeing a human sized pancake right about now.
Unlike the rest of my housemates I chose to watch the game under the stands, mostly to be alone.
"I thought I might find you here," a voice said behind me.
I turned around and gave the blonde Slytherin a smile, "Well hello Daphne, I see Tracy isn't with you today."
The heiress raised an eyebrow and followed it with a response dripping with sarcasm, "Very good Charles, that's very observant of you. I was beginning to think those eyes were just for show."
"Awe you like my eyes," I responded fluttering my eyelashes at her.
She gave a dismissal snort, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, and walked over to my position.
Leaning against the wooden railing she turned to my direction, "What do you think? This should be your first time watching an official game, shouldn't it?"
"It's not bad. A lot less violent than I thought actually," I admitted out loud. Taking a bag of popcorn from my top hat I offered her some, "Do you wants some?"
I always took delight in people's confused expression when I started taking out random things from my hat. Most would always assume that it had a space expansion charm added to it or something similar only to be left befuddled when I handed them the hat and it had nothing. Additionally, I was now able to use my inventory in public thanks to the hat.
Taking a single piece of popcorn and looking at my hat with suspicion, "Then care to place a wager?"
"Hmm, I don't know, I'm still recovering from the Nimbus 2000."
Throwing the treat in her mouth she placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to raise an eyebrow at the out of place behavior. However, that brief moment of distraction was all she needed as she snatched the bag from my hand.
"Hey," I exclaimed in fake protested but she had already retreated to a safer distance, "I didn't mean all." Though that was also to be expected as despite her rather elegant and slime figure Daphne loved junk food, something she could rarely eat when at home or surrounded by others.
She took a kernel and flicked it in my direction.
I caught it in my mouth.
"Good boy," the blonde said as she started to eat the popcorn, using her dainty fingers to pick one piece at a time, a stark contrast to most children her age that chose to eat it by the handfuls. Continuing were she left off, "No money, rather a favor."
Now this was interesting.
"I'm listening."
Taking out two chairs and a table from my hat, taking note of the calculating gaze she gave the furniture. I had finally taken to repairing some of the broken items in the Room of Requirements and stored some of the better pieces for my own use.
Taking her seat in a graceful manner Daphne went on, "It's easy enough. We bet on the game; winner gets a favor from the loser. The favor has to be within reason of course."
Drumming my fingers, I ignored the cheering of the crowd looking pensive before grinning widely, "What the heck, sure. You have yourself a deal."
"Then I shall pick Sly-"
"Slytherin. I chose Slytherin," I cut her off.
Closing her mouth with a snap she gained a suspicious look, "Any particular reason?"
Giving her another smile, I chose to elaborate, "Well if they manage to win, I get a favor from you correct? On the other hand, if they lose that just means my house team gets a better chance at winning the Quidditch Cup. Sounds like a win-win to me. Besides it's not like I'm overly attached to Gryffindor to begin with."
"Very well, I pick Gryffindor," she said in a monotone voice. I had to give her props for not sounding completely disgusted by the words she had uttered. She must really want that favor.
After we shook on it, we turned to the game just in time to watch Harry's broom start to get out of control.
I felt her gaze momentarily land on me probably wondering if I had something to do with it, smart.
Though apparently not smart enough to bet someone you consider an opponent into a game for favors. That's a rookie mistake, one that could cost you dearly. Chances were that they could learn more about you by the type of favor you asked this way and eventually use it to find your weaknesses.
From the corner of my eye I could see her biting her lip in worry as she saw the small Gryffindor dangle from his broom.
Curiosity blossomed in my head, as I wondered if any of my previous actions had had any effect to change this event. From my understanding the Trio should not be as closely knit as it had been in the original story. By all accounts Hermione should not have the same amount of loyalty towards them so as to set a professor on fire. This would be a good test.
As the minutes ticked on, Daphne was beginning to grow visibly panicked as she had forgotten her manners entirely and started scooping handful of popcorn into her mouth.
Looks like there was no need for worry however as Harry quickly regained control of his broom again. Daphne let out a breath of relief before catching herself and adopting a mask of indifference.
I made a mental note to see if Hermione had actually done it, or if it was something else.
The match soon ended after that with Potter performing a perfect faceplant and catching the snitch in his mouth just like in the story.
It wasn't until they announced Gryffindor the winner that the blonde next to me finally relaxed into her chair, "Looks like I win."
"A pity, but a deal is a deal. Ask away," I told her, curious to see what she wanted.
With an exhausted tone she replied, "I think I'll hang on to it for later." Flashing me a smile before standing up and leaving.
"Suit yourself!" I called out to her.
(Plant Dungeon)
Today I was exploring the Northern part of the dungeon, a snowy mountain range, a stark contrast to the humid jungle terrain that the gnomes lived in.
Setting down the herbology book, I kneeled down on the snow covered ground where a cluster of bells like flowers were growing.
"Frost Bell. To think this place even has plants that should be extinct," I muttered as I took out my dragon hide gloves, gardening shovel, and a large ceramic pot. With extreme care I repotted the extremely valuable plant before placing it in my inventory for safe keeping.
"If I remember correctly then it should give off a nectar that's similar to liquid nitrogen, which can be used to prolong the expiration of potions."
Shaking my gloves to get rid of the frost that had grown on them, I moved on to the next cluster determined to get as much as I could.
Once I had managed to get them all I continued my journey, pulling by sweater tighter to fight off the cold.
Every once in a white I would stumble upon a monster, usually snow hares with icicle horns on their head or snow wolves, but a good hit was usually enough to get rid of them.
Snow Wolf Pelt X 3
Snow Wolf Fang X 2
Icicle horn X 4
Rabbit meat X 2
All the drops I got were placed into my inventory, where I would look at them later.
After an hour of climbing, the snow finally got too much for me, and I had to take refuge in a nearby cave. There was a family of polar bears already sleeping inside but a quick power strike with my rapier was able to solve that.
Polar Bear Coat X 3
I started a fire in the center of the cave and wrapped myself in their fur.
Looking around, I saw some blue veins on the cave walls.
"Observe."
[No name.]
[Would you like to name it?] [Y/N]
A holographic keyboard appeared in front of me and I wrote the first name that came to my mind.
['Mithril' is already taken. Please choose another.]
Well I'll be damned mithril was real? I'd have to confirm this later.
['Orichalcum' is already taken. Please choose another.]
Screw it.
['Angel Dust' has been accepted.]
Angel Dust Ore- Rank: Magical
Description: A mineral deposit on the side of a cave wall. Angel Dust is a natural occurring magical metal capable of withstanding extreme temperature. It has a high magical conductivity making it an ideal material for magical objects.
[A stroke of luck increases LUK by 2.]
Huh, it almost makes me wish I had taken a few extra seconds to think of a better name.
Walking toward one of the walls I thought of getting a sample to study later.
Opening my inventory, I took out a pickaxe and swung it with all my strength only for it bounce off. It seems that I had underestimated the strength of the frozen rock. I was sure that if I used [Power Strike] repeatedly I'd be able to get a small amount in half in hour, but not only would that be a waste of mana but also effort.
I went over my options in my head. Seeing as the metal was able to take extreme heat, then I could simply melt the stone around it. The only problem was that I didn't have a fire spell strong enough to do that. My current transfiguration level also wasn't enough to simply transfigure a piece off the wall. That only left one option.
Reaching into my inventory, I retrieved a potion bottle labeled [Failed Potion #G].
Uncorking the top, I placed as far away from my body as possible and splashed the walls around me. Immediately the rock began to sizzle and bubble as it melted. Once again [Potions Making] proved how useful it was.
[Potions Making] (Passive) LV9 EXP: 0.22%
Description: The noble art of potion making is now open to you.
Effect: Potions you make are 27% more powerful.
Effect: You have a better understanding of potions and how to make them.
It took roughly 20 minutes for the stone to fully melt of the wall, leaving behind root like blue veins coming out of the wall.
Wise decision making causes your WIS to go up by 1.
I snapped some of these iron roots and placed them into my inventory. Seeing as I couldn't use fire to simply melt them into ingots, then that meant I would need to work on my transfiguration if I hoped to use them.
Taking a thin 5-inch piece, I thought back to what it said about magical conductivity and channeled my magic as if were a wand.
"Lumos."
Amazingly enough a light came out of the other end just as bright, if not brighter, than when I used my wand.
Oh? It would see that I had stumbled into an amazing discover.
(Scene Change)
"It isn't going to be easy to get all these books on this list," the Slytherin Princess muttered as she looked at the parchment filled with different book titles written on it. "Why do you want a beginner's guides to wand crafting? You do realize that those are the most guarded secrets in our world right, they rarely if ever leave the maker's own family. A single book would fetch 500 Gallons at the very least."
We were currently in the library, working on our potions essay, when I had handed her a new order of books I wanted.
"I'm well aware, but I'm sure someone with your family's connections could find one a lot easier than me. Plus, it's not like they are illegal to own right?" I told her with a smile.
"That didn't answer my question?" she asked simply without taking her eyes off the page.
Leaning on the table, I said in the most innocent tone I could mutter, "Call it simple curiosity. You know us Ravenclaws, we just want to know everything."
"Some might say some knowledge is not meant to be known."
"Yes, but those are just the loser too weak to handle that knowledge."
"And you think you're strong enough?" the blonde witch raised an eyebrow.
I gave a smirk of my own, "Well, only one way to find out."
We entered a staring contest for a few seconds before she ultimately back downed. FYI, during one of my earlier testing of [Gamer's Body] I found out that I didn't need to blink. This made it vertical impossible for me to ever lose a staring match.
"…Fine. I'll see what I can do," she finally said.
"And the rest?"
"The rest shouldn't be a problem. Though I am curious why you are interested so much in ley lines and magical items all of a sudden."
"What can I say? We all have hobbies, right?" I replied with a shrug.
She gave me a deadpan look. "Most 12-year-old boys don't have hobbies that costs hundreds of galleons every month."
I said nothing.
"Besides, what happened to all of those books you already bought? There must have been at least forty, you couldn't possibly have finished them all."
I had actually. Now that I had stopped sleeping entirely, I was left with a surplus of time which I used to read my books. While most of them couldn't be absorbed since I didn't have the required INT yet, that didn't mean I couldn't read them and familiarize myself with it beforehand. Plus, it wasn't that hard, since thanks to my high WIS, I was able to understand it all after reading it only once.
Still I kept silent as Daphne continued to rant about my odd behavior.
(Professor Flitwick)
The Head of Ravenclaw was awoken from his slumber as the alarm he placed around Ravenclaw Tower went off, informing him that someone had left the common room after dark.
With groggy steps the small man retrieved a night robe and shuffled out of his room in his fuzzy slippers.
He could already guess as to the identity of the rulebreaker from similar experiences this last week.
Walking down the flights of steps he made his way to the opposite side of the castle. He spotted the familiar form of his friend and fellow teacher, Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva," he greeted her before joining her to stare out off a window with a clear view of the lake. A black figure could be seen walking along the shore.
"Filius," she said without taking her eyes off the figure.
With a wave of his wand a pair of eyeglasses appeared in his hands, charmed with telescopic view. In seconds he zoomed into the scene of a certain Ravenclaw digging around in the sand and retrieving an old iron sword.
"He needs help Filius, you should talk to him," McGonagall told him as she watched Charles transfigure sand into large troll like sculptures. Despite the worry she felt, she couldn't help but be impressed at his progress in magic.
They watched as the young twelve-year-old swung the sword clumsily at the sand trolls.
"I wish I could Minerva, but I'm afraid that would do more harm than good," Filius commented even as the goblin and duelest side of him winced at the atrocious display of swordsmanship. "The troll might not have done him any physical damage, but it did leave a scar behind."
"He going to burn himself out at this rate."
"It is something he has to work out himself. Trauma from being so close to death is not something that one can easily be overcome, you know this as well Minerva," the charms master told her. They watching the young Ravenclaw overextend on a swing that sent him tumbling to the ground, only to pick themselves back up again. "But at least he is trying in his own way."
McGonagall stayed silent as her eyes gained a far-off look.
The quarter goblin wizard shook his head ruefully. "Charles is talented. Despite his struggling at the beginning of the year he has proven to be one of my best students. His understand of the material comes from his inability to take anything at face value, that is both his weakness and greatest strength. I've seen him in the library on occasions researching books about the lesson I just taught in order to prove what I said was true. While I'm unaware of his home life, his lack of trust for authority figures must stem from something. Our inability to stop the troll from getting in might have also painted us in a bad light, where he is unlikely to trust us," he said the last part with a small amount of guilt in his voice.
Minerva let out a sigh, "I agree that he has shown remarkable improvement since the start of the year, but I think you are giving him to much credit. He is just a boy; this is not something he can work out by himself."
"And I don't intend for him to," the small man looked up to her with a serious expression, "I'll have a talk with him. But for now, he has to try things his way before he is will to listen to me."
They were just in time to see Charles throw his sword to the side and charge at one of the sand trolls.
A/N: Hey all you people, hope you enjoyed reading this.
So yeah, Charles is still playing everyone. The different points of view are there to show how other people see him.
By the way I'd like to say now that some events won't play out the exact same way. This won't be a retelling of the books with a new character just added in.
On another note, don't expect Charles to be a typical brute that just handles everything with force. He is crafty and manipulative, instead preferring to take out his enemies from the inside out, crushing their spirit and stripping them of everything before dealing the finishing blow.
Oh, and if it wasn't clear, yes Charles was aware that he was being watched after the troll incident.
Also the dance/battle choreography won't be a regular thing, it was just a one time thing.
Well bye for now.
