Chapter 49: Arrival

Kaiser's POV:

One thing I noticed about Wizards' games. They did not have a single non magical game. Every game had to involve magic, or their wands, in one way or another. They liked to draw a distinct line between themselves and the muggles, for whatever reason.

I was playing Exploding snap with everyone in the compartment, but I must admit: having cards explode is both amusing and ingenious on their part (the manufacturer). Why? Because the cards became a consumable, obviously. And that means, each time you use a deck of exploding snap, you had to buy another one. Which was why people bought several decks instead of a single one, and given the popularity of the game, I have no doubt the inventor is filthy rich by now, which he actually was (I asked).

But after a few rounds, I eventually got tired of it, and Daphne was too, if her constant sighing is any indication.

"Want to play some chess, Daph?" She nodded too eagerly for my taste. Did she hate the game that much? Though Ron's ears twitched at the words 'chess', and immediately wanted to join, but he stopped himself before he said anything. I guess he remembered that chess can only be played two at a time. And to be honest with you, I'm glad he did.

I do not fancy the idea of playing chess with Ron. And, it's not because he wiped the floor with me in the last game we played. None whatsoever!

Daphne was quite good at the game. There was no clear superior when it came to our skills, as she had her fair share of wins while I had mine from both lives. And more importantly, neither of us is that competitive when it came to it. We play the game for fun, unlike a certain redhead.

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After the blonde pounce left, no one disturbed our peace. I honestly don't know what to think of him. I put myself in his place every time I want to take action against him. I mean, imagine if you were told from birth that you were superior to everyone. Muggles were nothing but dirt beneath your shoes, while their spawn, aka muggle-born wizards, were unworthy of magic. And it came from your parents, people you had no reason to distrust. Even worse, it came from the person you idealized, aka Lucius Malfoy, blonde pounce extraordinaire. He is slowly becoming a mini-Lucius.

Can you imagine? Two of that abomination walking the earth? Urgh, the idea sickens me. You should see how he looks at everyone who isn't as rich as him or not as 'pure'.

What I'm trying to say is, it only makes sense for Draco to be the way he is, and it isn't necessarily his fault. At least, for now.

To him, it's probably the same as dealing with animals. We hardly consider if they have feelings, family or any thoughts whatsoever before we gut them either for sports or to fill our bellies. Except the vegan angels out there, but I'm not becoming one any time soon. The stuff is delicious.

And to be fair, except verbal abuse and the occasional bullying, which is met by violent responses from my part whenever I catch him in the act without the older years to defend him. What? I'm not a Gryffindor. I wouldn't stand a chance against them, so I don't bother putting myself in a disadvantageous situation. Though I have the decency of calling for professors every time.

I have limitations, and to be frank with you, in the grand scheme of things, I am ridiculously weak. Certainly, if you compare me to my year-mates, I am definitely more powerful. But experienced or older wizards? Nope, and definitely not when they have the advantage of numbers.

An example would be Cedric Diggory. He placed twelfth in the European Dueling Tournament, against wizards whose ages vary from twelve to seventeen, being sixteen himself. And believe me, they are nothing to be scoffed at. They've invested a significant portion of their time honing their dueling skills, and while I myself did the same, I focus a lot more on enchanting because my situation. I'm fairly certain I'd lose in a duel against him, where lethal spells are forbidden.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Draco Malfoy the school bully. He never did anything excessive, as I have been telling you. He knows there are consequences to his actions, that's why I'm still wearing the kids' gloves when it comes to dealing with him. But should he ever decide to start using unforgivable curses (not that he could anyway), or inflict permanent damage? I'm definitely using my self-defense rights!

Speaking of which, wizards can be a bit dumb at times for using harmless spells against their assailants. They were by no means ignorant about how dangerous magic can be, and I'm speaking about offensive magic. That's why there are laws in place that gives you the right to use any means necessary to defend yourself, giving you access to a wide arsenal of spells depending on the situation, even unforgivable ones. That's why I could fire AKs at Death Eaters and not be a roommate to dementors.

"You're cheating!" a sudden shout interrupted my musing. Turning to the offending voice, it obviously was Ron.

I have nothing against him, to be honest with you. He is an idiot, but that's expected of him. He's a kid, and he hasn't faced situation that forced him to mature. Except that one where lunatics were trying to kill us, but somehow, he was the least shaken out of all of us.

That probably has to do with how he twisted his ankle before it all began. He spent most of the time moaning while we were dragging him with us. He never displayed any signs of disloyalty so far, and that's the only thing I could hold against him. The fact that he can't keep his mouth shut is just a side effect of him being an idiot.

"Seriously Ron, you think Hermione of all the people would 'cheat'?" Harry joked, but it only earned him a glare from Hermione. Touché. He was right, she'd never cheat at anything.

"Besides, it's only a game. No need to get all worked up mate." Michael said with a grin. He was enjoying seeing him frustrated, that's probably why he was teaming up against him each time they played. Ginny and Tracy were giggling, having probably noticed the same thing.

Daphne did not pay attention to her surroundings, eyes fixated on the board. Her face showed no emotion, a cold façade that ruined her otherwise extremely beautiful features. If only she smiled more often, but she rarely did. It was a habit she picked up.

You see, Occlumency can not only help you defend your mind by clearing your thoughts, but also keep your emotions in check, and control them to a certain degree. Daphne has been practicing the art since a very young age, her father always taught her that rationality should always trump emotions. And it served her right in various situation.

But the side effect is that she became too reliant on it, and always unconsciously blocked her emotions, which eventually earned her the title of the Ice Queen. I hated it, and I confronted her about it several times. She promised she'd do her best to tweak it, but there is no progress so far. And honestly, I can't blame her. The way she's pushing herself for her sister, I admit I admire her for it. For someone who rarely show any emotions, she becomes an open book whenever Astoria is around. Her relationship with her sister always reminds me of Hitachi. Except that Astoria in turn adored her, and Daphne would never kill her family. I think?

"Whatcha thinking about, blondie?" I asked with a grin, but she merely rolled her eyes at me, and I could notice a smile creep into her face.

"Blondie? Really? You want to go down that road?" she raised an eyebrow at me, though now she was smiling. She was absolutely stunning when she smiled, it's a good thing I am an Occlumens myself, or I'd be a stuttering fool now.

"Touché." As you know, my peculiar features earned me my fair share of nicknames. What do you expect from eleven-year-old kids?

"Is it true you can make your eyes and hair glow?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped at her.

"What? I don't mean it in a bad way, I'm genuinely curious." She defended herself.

"Yup he can!" Tracey was too happy to answer for me. Traitor. "Though it's not a pretty sight. He's really scary when he does it."

"It's not like I do it on purpose." I huffed. Though I secretly liked it. The look on my victims' face when it happens is priceless. I always scare them shitless. I still can't do it on purpose. It only happens when I'm angry or hold any negative emotions. Now that I've been practicing dark magic, I can just channel my emotions and it happens. Which is both a good and bad thing. In some situations, it's a giveaway to what I'm about to do. Though, to be fair, there is no dark magic that can't be predicted. Experienced wizards can detect the subtle change in your aura to know your emotional state, or the kind of dark spell you're about to cast. For example, if you're channeling killing intent, they immediately realize you're about to AK them.

"oh, shut up. It's totally badass. You shouldn't be complaining." Michael added. "Besides, I have it on good hands you like it." I was about to deny it in outrage. "Don't deny it, I know you do."

"Fine. Maybe a little bit."

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We changed just before we arrived, being in school uniform is mandatory. Though we had to expend some effort to wake Ron up. I pity his mother; he must drive the poor woman crazy.

"Firs' years ove' 'ere." Hagrid was calling out enthusiastically. For someone who has been doing this his entire life, his excitement has never diminished. I kind of like the giant. He's so simple minded, and finds joy in the simplest things, like having someone to speak to. He doesn't seem to have any ambition of his own, his greatest wish is having a collection of the most dangerously misunderstood creatures. At least I think so.

Before we made our way towards the carriage, a ball of positive energy latched into my arm.

"Hello!" Susan beamed at me; her sapphire blue eyes glowed with positivity.

"Hello Sue, how are doing?" I asked her with a smile of my own. I'd be a fool if I didn't notice her feelings for me, and I'd be an even bigger one if I denied having such feelings for her myself. As for why… it's complicated. But I know it's not possible between us. I just hope she finds someone who can make her happy, and forget about this crush she seems to have on me.

The others didn't find her behavior weird at all, they've probably grown used to it by now. Ron, on the other hand, was giving me a jealous look.

"Great now that I get to see my friends again!" her eyes never left mine, a smile plastered on her face. Her eyes communicating just how much she missed her 'friends'. She probably wanted to hug me, and I wouldn't say no to that. Her hugs felt amazing, making me melt inside every time, and it has nothing to do with her chest!

"We need to say hello to our fellow Gryffindors, we'll see you guys later." Hermione tactfully said, realizing that a chariot couldn't hold all of us, now that Susan and Hannah were added to the equation, and Susan didn't look like releasing me any time soon. She dragged Harry and Ron with her, and Ginny naturally followed them.

"We haven't met since the tournament! It feels like an eternity, doesn't it?" Susan asked cheerfully.

"Yes, it does- "As I was answering her, Tracey chimed in. "What tournament?"

Right, I guess Daphne didn't tell her? She wasn't there with me, so she had no reason to do so, and while I did keep contact with them during the summer, I didn't tell them every little detail of my life.

"The annual Chinese youth tournament." I answered, though now she was glaring at me? Did I say something wrong?

"Why didn't you tell me? I was there too, we could've met!" Tracey asked, rather hurt for some reason. Probably because I never mentioned it in any of the letters, I sent her. Did she think I didn't consider her a friend?

"I didn't go there for fun." I said rather coldly, albeit it was unintentional. It brought back some bad memories. Tracey's eyes widened at my words, and she seemed even more hurt now. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way." Damn, me and my stupid mouth. I never lashed out at any of my friends, and even Tracey with her endless teasing, I never admonished her for it once. I rather enjoyed her personality, honestly. It must have come as shock to her, hearing me say such words.

"I-it's alright. I understand." She replied with a soft voice, uncharacteristic of her. Daphne wanted to say something comforting, but Tracey stopped in shock at the sight that greeted her eyes. "W-w-what the hell are those?"

Following her line of sight, I noticed the beasts that drew her attention: The thestrals.

"So those are the thestrals?" Susan asked out loud. Since when can she see them? Oh right, I forgot there were a few deaths during the tournament, that explains it.

"Wait, those are real?" Tracey asked incredulously.

"Well yeah. We did kind of tell you about them, didn't we?" Daphne asked, puzzled by her friend's reaction.

"I thought you were making fun of me!" We facepalmed. Really, what's so difficult to believe about skeletal creatures that can only be seen by those who have seen death? You'd think after witnessing the things magic can do, it would influence her tolerance.

"Well, they are very real I assure you." Michael reassured. "Though I can't see them, unfortunately."

"Fortunately." I corrected. Being able to see them implied having seen death before, and that's not something I'd wish for him to experience any time soon.

"Right."

"Can we pet them?" Susan asked, almost jumping from excitement.

"I suppose. They are harmless unless attacked." I offered. We all approached the beasts, who were now eyeing us curiously. They resembled a horse very much, except their skin hugged their bones so much it was almost visible. Their wings could hardly be noticed when folded. Even the sounds they made resembled a horse neigh, albeit lower pitched.

Susan immediately went ahead, slowly petting a thestral's neck, before hugging it. "So cute!" the thestral in question was obviously a young one, judging by its size compared to the others. It also seemed to be female? I'm not entirely sure, magical creatures were never my thing.

She then took Hannah's hands, guiding it through the beast's neck. Tracey joined them too, soon followed by Michael. Daphne and I stayed behind, watching them fussing over them sitting comfortably in the carriage. Once they were done, they joined before it started moving.

"We should definitely do this again some time. Maybe we can could feed them!" Hannah said happily, while Susan was nodding crazily. The others shared the sentiment apparently.

"By the way, are you finally going to tell us what your big secret for this year?" Michael asked with a raised eyebrow. The big secret he was referring to was my plan for this year to counter the death eaters. It was a long term one, but it would lay a solid base, especially since we won't be able to destroy all the horcruxes soon.

Now I know what you'd say: I've already handled all the horcruxes, except the Cup, Nagini and Harry himself, but no. It's not as simple as that. My knowledge from the books and the movies isn't infallible, and this is the real world where anything can happen. And did I mention that the Gaunt ring has already been taken care of? No? Well, now you know. I didn't even have to do anything to get it, it was child's play, especially since no one was guarding the place. All one needed was enough time and resources to break in, which we had more than enough.

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Regrettably, we didn't get anything else of value from the house. Definitely no books. Wizards guard their knowledge fiercely, and as soon as someone tries to enter or tamper with the wards around their library, it immediately destroys all books, which is why no one even tries. But I'm sure there is a copy of the library at Gringotts, but that's not saying much, since they'd be guarded even more, with more wards on top of them.

"I was planning on telling you guys tomorrow." I informed them, turning my attention to Hannah and Susan. "Can you guys ask Cedric to meet us tomorrow after classes? I'll ask the twins, along with Harry, Ron and Hermione to join us too."

"Definitely, count on us." They both nodded, making me smile.

"Come on, don't act all mysterious now. Tell us, what is it?" His inner Ravenclaw is getting the better of him as he couldn't hold his curiosity. Especially Tracey, but for her case, it was more her excessive curiosity than just her Ravenclaw side. She even gave me the puppy eyes, voicing: "Pwetty pwease?" Which would've worked, if not for my Occlumency.

"Sorry, it wouldn't be fair to the others. It's just one more day." I shook my head with a sigh, she wouldn't drop this any time soon, would she?

"Come on, Susan, convince him. Use your charms, it's his weakness!" She said with a smirk. A little vein made itself known in my forehead, while Susan face was slowly gaining a red hue. Of course, Tracey of all the people wouldn't drop it, should've known.

"Err…. I don't think we should pressure him to- "Susan didn't get the chance to finish her sentence when she was interrupted by Tracey.

"You know, don't you?!" Tracey's eyes widened in realization. "Of course, he'd tell you before everyone else. I should've known." She scoffed. Again, another vein could be seen on my forehead. What the hell is she implying? I told her out of necessity, not for any other reason.

The carriage slowly pulled over, signaling arrival to the castle. We were the last group to arrive, so there was no one in sight. Every is most likely at the Great Hall by now, eagerly awaiting the sorting and the feast. The feast the most actually, famished people hardly pay any attention.

We made our way through the empty corridors, and I found myself wondering if Hogwarts would ever need a makeover. The building was more than two thousand years old, and everything about it was already out of date, except its security.

The only thing Hogwarts lacked in terms of security was ears and eyes, which I very much intend to give her in the next two years. If she did, no one could get away with any excessive bullying or more severe crime like that rape a couple years ago. Remembering that incident brought a somber look to my face. I already feel like I failed Hogwarts by not noticing it earlier. I had the map on my person after all. I should've paid more attention. Though now that I have access to Slytherin and Rowena's library, I was able to make my own version of it. I even added alarms for when two people were in close proximity after curfew, which would alert me immediately, or professor Flitwick, who now has a similar map. I could probably do even better, but it would take too much time, something I don't have at the moment.

"Kai? Are you alright?" Susan, who has apparently been paying attention to my expression noticed the difference, her eyes filled with worry.

"I'm fine. I just remembered something unpleasant. Don't worry about it." I waved off her concern, but she didn't look convinced. She frowned for a second, before nodding weakly. Thankfully the others were engrossed in their conversation and didn't notice.

Once we reached the Great Hall, we bid goodbyes, and made our way to our respective houses. I could spot Fred and George waving at us with exaggerated gestures from Gryffindor's table, and winking while a few of their friends snickered for some reason. I just shook my head, and quietly made my way to my place.

I made small talk with my year-mates, since I'd need their cooperation for my plans. Though they were already friends with Michael, so I didn't really need to, but it never hurt to have more friends. I never bothered earning more "friends", and I'm not speaking about acquaintances. Those I had a lot of. I meant genuine friends whom I could count on. For the simple reason it would require a lot of time to build our relationship, time I already give to my current friends. Time I'd rather spend furthering my skills and preparing for the coming war.

The first years soon entered, guided by professor McGonagall. They were all nervous wrecks, which was understandable. The Great Hall is amazing, and a bit overwhelming. The surreal night sky, along with the floating candles lighting the room, aided by the moon light was an amazing sight to behold, especially for the first time. And honestly, it is something I would never get tired of admiring.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see…" The sorting song began, and I found myself grinning widely. It never ceased to amuse me, watching A HAT singing, how its top would crinkle to form its mouth and eyes, and even facial expressions. Even its voice was a perfect match. If someone ever made me listen to this voice, even if I didn't know Hogwarts was real, I'd definitely say it's a hat's voice, you know what I mean? Meh, probably not. It's weird, I know, but it's real.

The song ended, with a clap from both old and new students. I for my part clapped as hard as I can like a little child, which earned me an elbow from Daphne, and her signature loud eyeroll. I just shrugged.

The sorting then began, and I hardly paid attention afterwards, until the feast began. I ate in silence, my attention drifting to my unfinished projects. Speaking of which, I developed two new spells. The first one was a result of my research on sensory magic. When I apply it to an object, I can clearly feel the atoms vibrating each to their own tune, which gave me a new perception of temperature altogether. It's as if I was blind my whole life, and suddenly I could see. But you know what the problem with a spell like that is? Yeah, you guessed it.

If you didn't, here is a hint: even the tiniest object in the macroscopic scale, is made of millions and millions of atoms. Which means that I'm getting the feedback from every single atom, which quickly overloads my senses, and makes me dizzy. I had to stop the spell several times, otherwise I would've fainted. But the spell has limitations, and interesting ones at that. The most important one, which actually is a good thing, is: it doesn't work on conjured or transfigured objects. And not transfigured objects that only had their shape changed, not I'm talking about objects that had their "nature" changed.

You'd ask what that would be interesting? Well, you need to think of the implications. That means that my set of theories and perception of "temperature" when it comes to transfigured objects is wrong. I couldn't even feel a single atom, which means there were none. Because, if there were any atoms, it would've given me a feedback since it had a temperature by definition, since it only refers to its vibration in time, which was what I set as a basis for the spell. Meaning that transfigured objects are something new entirely.

As for my second spell, it was my objective all along. I was able to convert "temperature" to Kinetic energy. I won't bore you with the detail, but the results are impressive so far. The spell still needs a lot of work before it can be used either in enchanting or for offense.

As for my Runic Processing Unit, it was already finished by now. A problem remained though: its size. As it is right now, we can't use it in a device you should be able to fit in your pocket. But it was still useful nevertheless. I need to hook it up with the Ravenclaw Artificial Spell Casting Unit, and program it to make copies of itself, albeit in a much smaller variant.

You see, theoretically speaking, runes had a size they occupy in whatever it is you applied them to. You can imagine them as a way to change the universe's code for said object. But it's not exclusive to objects either, you can bind them to liquids (a Pensieve would be a good example), air, space (Wards), or even time (though this one was purely in theory, only a single example exists and that would be the time turners, but to this day, nobody knows how it actually works. Not that they'd ever make it known if they did.)

Also, the runes you can apply to a cubic meter of matter, you could apply the very same ones to a single atom. But in order to pull it off, you'd need to be precise to a ridiculous degree, something that wizards are incapable of. They can still apply runes to small objects, but the time necessary to do so is so absurd it's not worth it. To oversimplify things, we need to replace wizards in the carving process (note that carving here is metaphorical. Runes aren't physical symbols as many would think.).

Right now, my team is familiarizing themselves with the artificial spell caster's blueprints, before we start making it. I will have to drop school for a month, since this was too important to fail. But I've still got some time.

My musings were interrupted by the headmaster's booming voice.

"'Now that we are all fed and watered…" he began his annual speech, warning us about all the items that have been blacklisted for the year by the caretaker, then emphasizing just how forbidden the FORBIDDEN forest is, as if the name was not enough. Actually, it totally wasn't. If anything, it encouraged a few idiots from Gryffindor to do just what the headmaster is warning them against, which generally ended badly for them. '… May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody.'

As soon as he said that, I discreetly took out my map, and checked his name. if everything went the same as in the original story, he shouldn't be the real Alastor Moody, but Barty Crouch Junior under Polyjuice. I looked for the part of the map that showed the Great Hall, then for Dumbledore's name as a reference. Once I checked the names of everyone surrounding him, my face drained of all colors. 'No, no, no, no… This is not supposed to happen.' To say that I was panicking would be an understatement.

The name read "Alastor Moody". Meaning that it was in fact the real Alastor. It was impossible to trick the castle about your name, as it used Silent Contract on anyone who wished to enter the premises. If you refused it somehow, it would attack you immediately, and trust me, there was no man on earth that could survive an attack from Hogwarts. Why? It's because the location it was built on was special. Mana was concentrated at this specific location, underground the castle, to insane levels, if the founders were to be believed. Which gives her a near limitless supply of Mana.

Barty was not here at Hogwarts, which could mean a lot of things, and I did not appreciate any of the possibilities. The most direct consequence of this is that none of my knowledge of the future is useful any longer. I was now on my own. I was not sure which of the events would still happen, or how the Triwizard tournament would progress.

In the original story, Voldemort had Barty infiltrate Hogwarts without anyone's knowledge, but the idea was not even funny. (Such feat was just impossible, unless you had the Harry's invisibility cloak. As a Deathly Hollow, it provided more perks than just making you invisible to the eye. It hid your presence completely from the world. At least, the castle can't sense him when he's using it.)

Then, Barty would play professor disguised as Alastor Moody, the most paranoid man on earth and a close friend of Dumbledore without being detected, for a whole year. And then, under everyone's noses, make a portkey to take the winner back to the starting point. I can't begin to understand why a Hogwarts' professor would be the one to make the portkey. As far as I understand, that's the tournament's committee's job, and they were made of British, French and Bulgarian wizards. Why would they ask a Hogwarts' professor to make a simple portkey for them?

As for the reason why Voldemort wanted to lure Harry Potter to the graveyard, where the portkey would take him, it's to use him in a ritual that requires the blood of an enemy. And at the same time, kill him in front of all of his followers to prove that the boy never vanquished him, and that he is still the superior wizard. I'm not going to comment on the battle that ensued because it's just ridiculous and unrealistic. If Harry ever had the misfortune of facing Voldemort in a 1v1 situation, he'd be a hundred and twenty percent dead. No "Power of Love" would save him, not that such a thing existed in the first place. You should've seen the look on Salazar's face when I asked him. I never imagined I'd see him of all the people laughing hysterically.

"… As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the TriWizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year…" Dumbledore gave a brief history of the Triwizard tournament, what it is, why it was reinstated, and how it would proceed. "…The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Hallowe'en. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the TriWizard Cup, the glory of their school and a thousand Galleons personal prize money…" He then told us that only those of age would be able to participate in the tournament, which earned him boos from the students, especially Fred and George who were very vocal in their discontent. "… Now off to bed, Chop Chop!"

Unsurprisingly, Quidditch was not cancelled this year. Not that it could ever happen, the one thing you can never take away from young wizards and witches is Quidditch. As the only sport available to them, it actually became more of a religion than a sport. If Dumbledore as much as insinuated that Quidditch would be cancelled, everyone would draw their wands on him, including the professors. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but it's somewhat true.

As we made our way out of the Great Hall, I turned to my friends: "Go on without me guys, I've got something to do first." They all nodded except Daphne, who quickly added: "I'll go with you."

I raised an eyebrow at her, as if saying 'What are you doing?', but she just shrugged: "I have the same thing." I just shook my head, as we both made our way slowly towards the stairs. Luckily, there were no professors in our way when we checked the map. I really wasn't in the mood to sneak around. We walked by countless couples who couldn't wait and claimed a few broom closets or empty classrooms to themselves. A shame professor Flitwick would deal with all of them shortly, I could already see him making his way there.

We arrived to the seventh floor after a few minutes of climbing the stairs, I was irritated and just flew with Daphne up there, since no one could see us. We slowly walked through the empty dimly lit corridors, that gave an ominous feeling to anyone walking them in this hour. Ironic, that the safest place on the planet could project such feeling.

The outcome of tonight was unexpected for me, I wasn't naïve enough to believe my existence wouldn't change much the story, but I had no plans for it happening now, and this soon.

It was time that I seriously prepare myself.

I didn't need to walk three times in front of the entrance, as it immediately opened upon my arrival. 'The perks of being Hogwarts' master' I chuckled silently.

"So, why are you here?" I finally turned to my blonde friend. "I hope you're not thinking of reading books at this time of the day." Because that's not going to happen while I'm nearby.

"No." She shook her head. "I'm just here to practice before I get some sleep. I still haven't adjusted to all the changes in my body." I nodded in understanding, as I was suffering from the same thing.

"You brought your workout clothes with you? Or should I ask the room to conjure some for you?"

"I didn't bring anything with me." She shook her head.

I gave her temporary access to the room. We avoid keeping two people in control in case the room gets confused over which one to obey if we ask different things.

She asked the room for a booth to change in, while I did the same. I changed into my workout shirt and pants, along with some very comfortable featherweight trainers. I had them with me in my expanded pouch.

My mind stopped working for a second as I look at her new outfit. While the pants were somewhat baggy, it still hugged her waist, displaying her fit body's curves. My eyes slowly rose to her developing chest, before noticing she was crossing her arms, then I met her eyes and noticed the risen eyebrow.

"Ahem… Errr sorry, hormones…" I turned awkwardly, before she burst into muffled laughter, which annoyed the hell out of me. Did she do it on purpose?

'I am a rocc…' I slowly channeled my Occlumency as it started taking effect, bringing me back in control.

"Ahem, let's get started then…" The scenery changed, displaying a road sandwiched by trees and greenery on the sides. The scent also adapted to the scene, filling us with energy. Lamps illuminated the road, as we started jogging. I made a conscious effort not to look her way in my vulnerable teenager self.

We ran for about ten minutes, followed by stretches and warmup movements. I then started practicing sets of moves, while she took out her wand to practice her control. Watching the tournament did give me a lot of ideas, one of which would be to surprise my enemies with Close quarter combat once they were in range, it would give me a trump card they didn't have, especially once you add magic to the mix. So, I started practicing Karate after finding an interesting dojo in London. I also needed the physical exercises to get used to what felt like a new body to me after the rituals I went through. They didn't give short term benefits, but increased my overall body potential, and that included all the aspects of it. I did have access to the Black and Greengrass libraries too, after all. You can imagine the deadly combination all four major families provided. (Slytherin and Ravenclaw too.)

Soon I began with Wandless magic, working on my telekinesis. My skills in magic were still there, that means my control didn't just disappear overnight. I just need to get it back, by practicing some more until I adjusted to the changes. We predicted that by the start of the first task, I would already have perfected my control. My physical strength and body coordination also increased, but it wasn't noticeable yet.

I asked for a wooden cube, and started working on levitation. The objective was to levitate it slowly, while controlling every movement. So, I need to first give it just enough force to cancel gravity's effect, then slowly increase the force to give it upwards acceleration.

I focused my magic, which used to feel like a warm fluid all over my body in and out. However, now it felt like a lava in a volcano, ready to erupt at a moment's notice. Once I began the spell, the cube immediately shot upward, so I cancelled it, and asked the room to bring it back.

I deliberately chose an object with low weight to practice my control, and avoid killing Daphne or myself in the process.

I tried again, this time using as little Mana as possible, while closing my eyes and blocking all other thoughts to concentrate. This time it slowly started levitating. There was a way I could easily control the spell, and that's by limiting the force applied by modifying the spell structure itself, which would be a lot easier right now, but it wasn't the point of the exercise.

I slowly decreased the mana output, forcing my target to decelerate. Now I focused on maintaining the current output, while the object slowly fell to the ground. I exhaled a breath I had been holding, then began again. I did it over and over again, until I could hold it still. It was still shaking, a sign of lack of control on my part, but I'll take it as a win.

I didn't bother training with my wand, because I could still use all my spells, except that they'd all be overpowered. Wandless magic took precedence in my case, as it would train my Wanded skills at the same time. I moved on to the Protego charm, doing the same thing. I tried to decrease the shield's power, until it was at an optimal level, while tinkering with its size. A perfect shield only protected the vulnerable parts, and that mean where the spell would hit. Having a bigger Mana pool certainly increased my proficiency with Wandless magic, as it was the one thing I lacked.

Daphne was doing the same exercises as me, albeit more advanced and with a Wand. She was having more success than me, obviously.

"That was fun." After 2 hours of endless casting, we were both exhausted.

"Yeah…" she said, panting from exhaustion.

"Mmm…" I heard a soft moan, and I immediately turned toward the source, noticing Daphne stretching. It went for a minute, before she stopped finally noticing my presence there.

"I'm going to shower, see you in a bit." I had to turn before she could notice anything. I fucking hate puberty. I had to ask for cold water to calm my nerves.

"WHY IS THE WATER SO COLD?" a shrill voice interrupted my shower, I just realized I didn't specify cold water for mine only.

"Ehm, sorry about that." Dammit! Now she'll start getting ideas. Not that they'd be wrong, but still!

We quickly showered (separately), and made our way back to the dorm, bidding each other a good night. I opened my trunk, and went to my private apartment. I never sleep in my dorm's room; you never know when an old goat will ambush you. I quickly fell asleep, teenage dreams making the night a lot more enjoyable.

On a more serious note, though, I really need to find a solution to this distraction of mine. Occlumency isn't enough anymore, unless I become some kind of living robot by blocking all emotions. Maybe I should look into some potion to fix my horndog problem. At this point, I'm tempted to just cut it and be done with it. Just kidding.