Study of ancient runes was taught by Professor Bathsheda Babbling. She was a relatively young witch and had a good repute amongst students. I was amongst the first to enter the class and watched as the rest of the class filed in. There were fewer students since this was an elective class.

The professor walked in carrying a couple of books and turned to face us.

'Good afternoon students! I am pleased to welcome you to the study of ancient runes class and will be your teacher for the next three years. The study of ancient runes is a complex and esoteric subject and I expect your complete focus when I am teaching. The subject is a theoretical study and we will be doing runic translations and studying manuscripts. While we will be doing theory, who can tell me a possible practical application of the subject.'

Seeing no one had any clue, I raised my hand and spoke up.

'Rune overlay is the practical application of ancient runes.'

'That's correct, Mr Icarus. Take 5 points for Gryffindor. Rune overlay is a rare art. Though it is known to many people, there are very few who have any significant level of proficiency in it. It also doesn't help that the art is highly subjective to the respective caster's intent and may yield different results to other people. But enough of that, let's get down to studying the history of these fascinating runes.'

After that she told us about runic history and old manuscripts that were still in translation. But my mind was mainly fixed on the words just spoken by Professor Bathsheda. Runes were also subjective to the caster's intent, was a concept not explained in my book and this had opened up new pathways for me. While this may be the toughest step of true rune overlaying for others, if I could harmonize it with intent casting properly, it wouldn't just make it easy for me, it would also make my works much better than others.

While we didn't learn anything more in any detail, we were given an overview of various topics. Rune clusters, layered fixing, connector runes and rune circuitry were the topics that particularly stood out. If I was able to learn these topics well enough, I would definitely be able to synthesize objects like mobile phones and other appliances. I could make stuff which haven't even been made by muggles yet and are only theoretical as off now, like smartphones.

We finished the class and headed down to the great hall for our dinner. It had been a very interesting day and I had a lot of ideas I needed to work on. Having an invisibility cloak would help a lot. I could spend the nights at the room of equirement. A mere disillusionment charm is not enough. It is good for long distances but might  be seen through at closer distances. But I have a workaround. I made a batch of invisibility potion when I was in mom's shop and have several vials of the stuff. Though it is not very long lasting, I can use it at critical moments. So, I can sneak around the castle with a disillusionment charm and take a potion if I am in danger of being caught.

I carried out my plans over the next few days and it went off without a hitch. I didn't even have to use a potion. I did have to use 'muffliato' and hide in a corner when Peeves went by rattling armour suits but otherwise, it was fine. I had two main foci now. One was creating the magical version of muggle products and the other was using the principles of rune overlay to store spells in objects. While runes are convenient for activating various effects, using them to store spells is not a possibility. What I can do, is use an object capable of holding magic and start the preparatory phase to inlay runes and then cast the spell and fortify it with 'fianto duri'. The spell would settle in the object and held in place with 'fianto duri', a few rune circuits and you can key it with an activation sequence and use it as a single-use item. The draw backs were that the maker of the spellstone would have to know the spell themselves and the magic in it would eventually weaken after a long duration but it was good item for when you are in a pinch as it will allow you to cast even complicated spells immediately. A little more research was needed to put the theory into practice but I should be capable of producing them en masse by the end of the year.

I used the next several classes to strike up a conversation with Professor Bathsheda and she was happy to help me with any queries I had. My work progressed speedily and I couldn't be happier. The room of requirement was truly a blessing. I could practice on endless objects and had all the required materials in large quantities.

At lunch, I met the twins and they let me know about Harry's inclusion into the Gryffindor quidditch team and asked me to come by for the next practice to have a look over for the team. I was rather happy about this, not because of Harry getting in the team but because events were still happening in the same manner as the original timeline. My presence in the world could easily change many events but that would lead to losing my advantage of knowing future events. I wanted to maintain the timeline as much as possible for now.

Another significant event was Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville walking near the trophy room near midnight. If I am not mistaken, they were going to the trophy room for the fake challenge initiated by Draco Malfoy. Then they would be chased by Filch into the third-floor corridor where Fluffy was kept. Further evidence that time was moving in the same manner.

Harry also got the Nimbus 2000 the next morning at breakfast. Harry and Ron had a minor altercation with Malfoy before leaving the hall. I was headed up to the dorm anyway and ran into them having an argument with Hermione. The poor girl always drew the short stick with having to deal with the naïve Harry and irritating Ron. I caught up to her before she flounced off.

'Hey Hermione! Let's go to the library. We'll get to talk a little.'

'Darius!! Thanks for the offer, but I want to be by myself for a while. You don't have to trouble yourself.'

'Nonsense! Do you think you are the only one who likes the library. Anyways, I heard what Ron said and you don't need to take it to heart. I spent the latter part of the summer over at his house to work with his twin brothers and I know he is a prat. Now, come on. Maybe, I can help you out with your studies.'

After that we spent a couple of hours in the library. She was a quick learner and I helped her get ahead of the curve in a few subjects. I also spoke to her about trying to be better friends with Harry and learning to take it easy. She was the first person close to my age that could be a mental match for me and we had a great time. Not that I held any romantic feelings for her yet but it was nice to have someone to talk to like this. She seemed in a better mood by end when it was time for us to go for our classes. I also offered to sit a couple of times a week to further help out with her studies. If she has the brains and the skill, she should put it to good use to improve.

Time quickly flew by with the busy schedule and it was soon Halloween. Hermione and I had struck up a good rapport and she was on good terms with Harry too. Though she and Ron were like ice and fire. Flitwick was very excited about the duelling club which would start in about 2 weeks.

We even had a Hogsmeade trip on Halloween. I was technically a third year despite being a year younger than others and since I easily got permission from my mother by owl, I was allowed to go. The twins, Lee and I had a lot of fun and spent a good amount of time in Zonllo's, discussing how we could come up with better products.

Even my mother showed up halfway through and after apologising to my friends for leaving halfway through, I spent the rest of the day with her. It was nice to see her mid-session and we made full use of that. We had a couple of butterbeers at the three broomsticks before walking around Hogsmeade, reminiscing about the village. It soon started getting dark and my mother had to leave. I also rushed back to the castle. I didn't know if Quirrell would release a troll like before and I wanted to be there, just I case. Hermione shouldn't have any reason to be in a washroom today but I didn't want to take the risk of her being stuck with a troll.

On the note of Quirrell, I thought long and hard about what route to take but finally decided to guide everything as per canon and let time take its own route. Exposing him would be very tough to explain away and would also set a target on my back for Voldemort.

The meal had barely started when Quirrell rushed in with a pale face and collapse after informing us about trolls. I almost applauded the guy for his masterful acting. Had it not been for my foreknowledge, I would have easily fallen for the acting and believed him to be completely innocent.

Thankfully, Hermione was sitting at the table and having her dinner. I snuck away from the prefects while they were leading us to our dorms and headed towards the girls washroom on the floor. Soon enough, I smelled a rotten stench that could only be the troll and headed towards it, after first disillusioning myself and also casting a bubble-headed charm to keep the smell out. The troll was lumbering along the corridor and I took my position

Using the 'glisseo' spell, I made the floor frictionless and caused it to slip and fall with an almighty crash. Then, as per canon, a hovering charm to take the dropped club and dropped it on the troll's head from a height, knocking it out. Nothing fancy, but it got the job done. I then high-tailed it out of there and to the Gryffindor dorms.

There was a simple reason for doing what I did. I couldn't allow the troll to rampage any further or harm someone else and cause changes in the timeline. But, I also didn't want the title of a hero or to bring myself to the attention of Dumbledore. So, I resolved the issue quickly and with nobody the wiser for it. All in a day's work.