《Wizardry System》 Chapter 1 - Transported? It was nighttime and Chris was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before sleeping. "Ahh, no matter how many times I read the final battle, it always sends chills down my spine!" Chris was a Potterhead and he was reading the series for the fifteenth time. Harry Potter character figurines? Got it. Harry Potter posters? Got it. Wizard outfit, fake wand, textbooks, and literally anything else you could find in a Harry Potter book? Got it. He even bought an orange cat and named it Crookshanks. Crookshanks was on his bed right now sleeping next to him. 10 minutes later, Chris finally finished the series for the 15th time. He put the book back in his bookcase that only had Harry Potter content. 3 of the shelves were dedicated to just the original series with the only difference being the book covers. "I''ll get back to you in 2 months," Chris said as he stroked one of the books. Suddenly, the bookshelf started to shine. Following suit every other Harry Potter related items were glowing. "What''s going on?!" Chris screamed as he felt like a strong force was tugging him away. He could not resist and he felt like he was falling. Chris closed his eyes. When Chris opened his eyes, all he saw was white except for the black hole below him. "Oh no! I vowed to read the Harry Potter series a 100 times during my entire lifetime. I saved up money to go to every Harry Potter attraction. I never got to go to King''s Cross!" Chris started to scream out all of his regrets as he continued to fall. Just when he felt like he was going to fall forever, he saw a blinding light where the dark hole was supposed to be? "Am I free?" Chris asked. When he went through the hole, he landed right on top of a bed with his outfit changing into pajamas that seemed to be way too childish for a 20 year old man. "Hey hey, what is this?" Chris asked. However, he started to notice his body. "Hey what is this? I''m as small as an eleven year old!" Chris shouted. He then started to notice his surrounding. "What is this grand room? Am I a king or something. This bed is big enough to fit 30 Crookshanks! The room itself is twice as big as mine!" He looked around with curiosity. "I think I''ve heard of this before in those Chinese light novels I read before. Transmigration if I remember correctly. But where am I? I thought memories were supposed to flood in," Chris thought. However, before he could ponder anymore, he heard loud voices from outside his door. He pressed his ears to hear what was going on. "He''s a Squib! A dang Squib! The Evergreen Family''s heir is a Squib. We can''t have another kid. You having Chris alone was a miracle with your condition. We can''t adopt a kid. We''ll be a bigger laughingstock. An unknown child takes rein of the Evergreen Family. That will be the news for the next decade," A middle-aged man that looked like a medieval noble said angrily. "Dear, I''m sure it was a mistake. Even the most magical items have their-" A woman that looked to be around her mid-30''s replied. "Mistake? No, there was no mistake. You know it as well. Our son has never shown any signs of magic. Never in the 11 years he''s been alive has he done any accidental magic!" The man screamed. Chris stood up properly. His eyes suddenly gleamed. "Squib... There''s only one story with that word... Harry Potter! I''ve transmigrated into the Harry Potter world. Haha! I''ll meet the trio. I''ll master magic-" Suddenly Chris'' excitement was gone. "That man outside said I was a Squib... I don''t have magical powers... There''s no way. There''s no way. There''s absolutely no way," Chris slumped. "Am I going to live in this magical world without magic?" Chris said as his eyes turned blank. Activating Wizardry System... Host: Chris Kim now Chris Evergreen Family: Evergreen Family Wand: N/A Affliation: N/A Learned spells: 0 Quests: 0 Money: 0 G 0 S 0 K Items: None Host Level: 1 EXP needed to level up Host: 15 Chris'' eyes turned wide. "What is this? System? Is this the legendary System in those Chinese novels?" "Alright then, can you tell me information about this body. I''m also sure that there wasn''t an Evergreen family in the Harry Potter universe either," You are correct Host. However, this is a parallel universe where the Evergreen Family does exist. Host''s new name is now Chris Evergreen, son of Bradley Evergreen and Lorraine Evergreen. The Evergreen is a powerful family with businesses spanning from pet selling, wand material supplying, to even having relatives in the Ministry of Magic. The family is extremely powerful and rich. You are the heir of the Evergreen Family and unlike most rich families, there was no opposition even deep within their hearts. However, the original body owner was supposed to be a Squib. Well it does not matter now that Host has taken over the body. "Wait does that mean I just stole someone''s body?" Chris asked with a horrified expression. While he did want to stay in the Harry Potter world, it was not to the extent that he basically would kill someone over it. Not exactly. The old owner''s soul was in shambles after realizing that the Hogwarts letter that he was looking so forward to was not coming. He knew what a Squib was and how devastating it would be for the family and for his future. He felt reluctant to move on with life and that was when Host came in and took over. As for the soul of the original body, it has taken over Host''s original body. Of course all records of Harry Potter has disappeared from that world entirely. "Hmmm... if that''s the case it''s a win-win. He doesn''t have to live in a world where he doesn''t want to live in while I''ll get to live in a world where I want to live in. Although switching parents is hard, since my parents are extremely warming, he''ll have a good time," Chris mumbled. Chapter 2 - Wizardry System Functions "So System, tell me what you can do," Chris said. [Host can view your status as long as you wish to do so. Not only is the status the information you saw before, there are also other statistics that Host can view if you d?s?r?. The second function that Host has is the Shop. The shop contains everything that Host will ever need. Potions material, pets, and basically everything you''ll ever need in this world will be sold. The last function is the Wizarding book. This is the learning function where Host can learn any spell that may exist in the book or completely created by the System. Just an addition Host, there will also be quests given to earn both EXP and money. EXP can also be learned by successfully brewing a potion, casting a spell, or other similar means.] "That''s quite the system," Chris realized just how overpowered the System was. Not only can he instantly buy materials and other necessities, he can even buy instantaneous spell use. Furthermore, money wasn''t that hard to make as well. [However, that''s not all the System can provide. When Host is at a higher level, Host can replace wands, create new spells, and more.] "Spell creation as well?" Chris was quite surprised. The fact that he can create spells with the System made this a whole lot better. [Yes, while the spells Host can make can be limiting sometimes, once Host''s level is high enough, there are limitless possibilities. Furthermore, you can also make money by creating new spells depending on its usefulness or raw power.] "Alright so now enough about the System, what shall I do about the accidental magic portion so I could get a letter?" Chris asked. [It''s quite simple. Host, please look at that vase on your desk.] Chris turned around to see a huge desk and on that desk was a sky blue vase that looked pretty ugly. Suddenly, the vase moved and it fell on the ground shattering it. "What happened?!" Suddenly, the man outside came in the room. "What happened son?" He asked. "Umm..." Chris pointed to the shattered vase. "Wait... Son did you touch that vase?" asked Bradley, Chris'' new father. Chris shook his head. "Lorraine! Lorraine come in here!" Bradley screamed in pure joy. Soon a woman came in. It turned out to be the woman that was being screamed at by Bradley. "What Bradley? You want to insult your son in front of him now?!" Lorraine asked. "If you utter one more word about his magical prowess, don''t blame me for-" "Stop! Look at that vase!" Bradley said. Lorraine turned to look at the broken vase nearby. "It''s a broken vase. What are you trying to tell me?" She asked angrily. "You must have heard the loud crash sound too. I came in as soon as I heard the sound and Chris was already at the position he was in now when I came in. There''s no way for him physically be that far, move that vase, and come back immediately. Are you getting what I''m saying?" Lorraine''s face changed from an angry face to a shocked one. "Are... Are you saying-?" She asked with uncertainty. "Yes Lorraine! Our son... Our son is a wizard. He''s going to Hogwarts!" He said with happiness. "Ahhhhh!" Lorraine screamed and she hugged Bradley. "Our son''s not a Squib!" "Yeah Lorraine, our son did it," Bradley said as he hugged Lorraine back. Chris just looked at his new parents and their interaction. "Riajuu explode," He thought as his new parents also came to hug him. After a while of talking and his parents praising him for being a wizard, Bradley and Lorraine went back outside leaving Chris alone. "Finally... I think I found parents who are more clingy than my parents," Chris said. He was tired from everything that happened so he went to sleep. The next morning, an owl came in and holding up the Hogwarts letter making even Chris extremely excited. Needless to say, his parents were much more excited than he was. "Ahh it''s already the end of July! We have to buy Chris supplies for school!" Lorraine screamed out in the afternoon. "Minkie, get me my purse!" A house elf suddenly appeared with a purse. "Here you go ma''am," Minkie said. "Thank you, Minkie," Lorraine said. "Alright Chris let''s go to Diagon Alley," Chris walked with Lorraine to find the fireplace and while he was walking around, he realized just how big the place was. "Wow, even 10 of my old apartment rooms won''t be a 10th of this place," Chris thought as he walked through the never-ending hallway. Soon him and Lorraine reached the room with the fireplace. Lorraine then took a miniature sized pot hanging next the fireplace. She then handed Chris some powder. Chris immediately recognized what this was. "Alright Chris, here''s the Floo powder. You know what to do," Lorraine said with a smile. Chris nodded and excitedly went inside the fireplace. "Diagon Alley!" Chris shouted and threw the powder. Green flame exploded and Chris quickly disappeared. It felt surreal. While it wasn''t as bad as when he first came to this world, Chris still felt a bit uncomfortable with the Floo Network transportation. However, the journey was quick this time and he arrived at Diagon Alley. Lorraine soon followed. They visited various shops to get supplies such as books and robes. As they owned a lot of the shops at Diagon Alley, most of their supplies were free. They soon arrived where Chris fantasized most about: Ollivander''s. When Chris went inside, Ollivander was sitting on his chair as if waiting for something. "Oh well hello there. You are quite the unexpected guest Mr. Evergreen. And hello there Mrs. Evergreen," "Hello Ollivander," Lorraine greeted amicably. "Yes, I remember your wand. 11 inch Ebony with Unicorn tail hair as the core. It was a duelist wand. As for Mr. Evergreen''s father, I remember his wand as well. It was the 13 inch Cypress wand with dragon heartstring. It was a wand for the nobility and chivalrous," Ollivander said. "It seems that your memory is as good as ever," Lorraine said. "Yes, now we''re here for the heir I suppose. Alright let''s get you measured," Soon the measuring tape moved on its own and started to measure Chris. When that was done, Ollivander got out a wand. "Well let''s try this one. 10 inch English Oak and Dragon Heartstring. Wave," Chris complied and waved. [Does Host want the English Oak and Dragon Heartstring wand? +5 Magical Power and 9/10 Wand Loyalty.] "System is this wand good?" Chris asked. [The only wands that will be featured here are beginner wands that will not have the best of stats. This is around the middle in terms of power, but loyalty is quite high.] "Hmm... I''m sure there are better ones. No, I don''t want this wand," Soon Ollivander took away the wand. "Here 12 inch Holly with Unicorn tail hair. Wave," Ollivander said. Chris once again waved. [Does Host want the Holly and Unicorn tail hair wand? +15 Magical Power and 7/10 Loyalty.] "Wow this quality increase is amazing... Well this is like a draw isn''t it? If +5 is considered middle then +15 must be extremely high. Loyalty is acceptable. Since the chances of me getting a wand like this is low. I''ll choose this one," Chris said to the system. [Wand has been accepted. Host''s status has changed. 15 EXP will be given as a reward. Host is now level 2.] Chapter 3 - Amazon of the Wizarding World Right after Chris accepted the wand, the wand glowed with a golden light. "Oh ho, there''s the wand for you," Ollivander said. "That wand is quite powerful and loyal. Care for it well," Chris forcefully smiled knowing that he was going to switch wands when he has more money. "System show me my status," Chris said as Lorraine paid Ollivander. [Name: Chris Evergreen Level: 2 Family: Evergreen Family Wand: 9 Inch Holly and Unicorn Tail Wand Affliation: N/A Magical Power: 16 Learned Spell: 0 Quests Completed/In Progress: 0/0 Money: 0 G 0 S 0 K Items: None "So how good is 16 magical power?" Chris asked while they were leaving. [As Host may know, how magic works in this world is not about how much magic they can store in their body, but about how much they can control. 16 magical power can use spells such as Tickling Charm or Lumos. The more spell Hosts practice, the higher the magical power will be which means the more spells you can learn. Learning new spells also increase magical power as well. Of course, you won''t gain magical power from casting Lumos once. Depending on the difficulty of the magic, Host gains a different amount of magical power. For example, if Host casts Lumos 5000 times, it may equate to around 1000 magical points at the most, but if Host casts Expecto Patronus 5,000 times, it will equate at least 100x the amount gained from Lumos.] "Alright so let''s do some comparison. What is Voldemort and Dumbledore''s magical power?" Chris asked. [Lord Voldemort has around 5,000,000 Magical Power at his peak before his meeting with Harry. Dumbledore has 6,500,000 Magical Power as of now. 1,000,000 of his magical power comes from the famous Elder Wand. Of course, these numbers may change such as if Lord Voldemort gets ahold of a better wand.] Chris was utterly shocked the numbers. "6,500,000 Magical Power... That''s a lot. Even if I practice the Patronus spell 10,000 times, it wouldn''t even break the 500,000 mark..." [There are a lot of more difficult things you can do that is more difficult than the Patronus spell such as using a wandless spell. If Host can do the Patronus spell wandlessly and produce a huge size, Host may receive 10x more points which means that after casting the Patronus spell wandlessly and of a certain size can give you a 1,000,000 magical power. Of course, casting 10,000 Patronus of such sizes without a wand will be quite difficult.] "It''s alright. I''m sure if I persevere I''ll be like Andros the Invincible," Chris thought. "Hmm... so this also balances it out since my family is a huge wealthy family, I can''t just buy everything so that I can be at Dumbledore''s level in 2 years. It sucks, but it''s understandable," Chris thought as he and Lorraine explored Diagon Alley a bit more before heading home. When Chris lied down on the bed, he felt extremely satisfied with everything. "It''s sad I didn''t get to meet Harry, but we''ll meet at school anyways so what''s the big deal," Chris thought as he slowly went to sleep. ... The next day, Chris took a look at both the shop and the Wizarding Book. The shop was like the Amazon of the Wizarding World. It had everything from Dittany to the famous Veritaserum to magical creatures. Even a dragon was up for sale. Of course, the price was ridiculously high for Chris: 10,000 Galleons. It also turned out that the amount of o utside money that can be used was only 1 Galleon. Luckily, a lot of the items in the store didn''t go past 10 Sickles so he wasn''t really too worried for now. However, what fascinated Chris the most was the wand section. Like the System said, the wands given by Ollivander were not very strong. He noticed that the Holly and Unicorn Hair that he bought was the twentieth wands signifying that it was part of the 20th weakest wand. It didn''t sound that bad until Chris found out that there were more than 100,000 wands in the shop. Chris checked out the strongest wand. It was made up of Thestral Hair core and wood that Chris has never heard of. The price was much more pricey than the dragon at 10,000,000 Galleons. [Dragonwood and Thestral Hair core Wand. +??? magical power and forever loyal to the owner and his descendants.] "System what''s with the ??? increase in magical power? Even the Elder Wand''s power increase was shown," Chris asked. [This wand is infinitely stronger than the Elder Wand and it will be a heirloom for generations to come. Comparing this wand to the Elder Wand is like comparing the most delicious food in the world to shit. Therefore, the price is at a 10,000,000 Galleons.] "The elder wand was considered the most powerful wand in the Wizarding World... If that''s complete dogshit compared to this wand then 10,000,000 might actually be worth it," Chris thought. After he finished briefly browsing through the shop, he went to the Wizarding Book. Chapter 4 - Not being able to use 99,999,998 Galleons When Chris opened the Wizarding Book, a holographic book appeared in front of him containing pages upon pages of spells. Each page had 4 boxes and each box represented an existing spell. [Host has opened the Wizarding Book so now the System will give you 15 Knuts. Please buy a spell with 15 Knuts.] Chris looked at the first 2 pages of the book and found out that only the Mending Charm was 15 Knuts. "Alright then. I''ll purchase the Mending Charm," Chris said. [Host has bought the Mending Charm. Now please close your eyes.] Chris closed his eyes and all the basic information about the Mending Charm has entered his mind. [Congratulations Host, you have bought your first spell. You have earned 10 EXP. You now need 10 more EXP to level up. 28 Knut has been awarded.] Mending Charm: Level 1 Number of times needed to be cast for lvl 2: 1,000 "I have to cast this spell a 1,000 times to get level 2?!" Chris asked with a shocked expression. [The Mending Charm is not a difficult spell. Even Hermione Granger before ever attending class was able to use it. Depending on the difficulty of the spell, it might take more or less than the average amount. When Host gets to spells such as the the Fiendfyre curse, the amount of times needed to cast it in order to level it up will be far lower than the Wand-Lighting Charm. Also, if Host levels up your spell, your magical power will increase and EXP will be given. Furthermore, casting spells will give you EXP. While casting spells like Reparo for the 2000th time will give you little to no EXP, it will still give EXP.] "I guess that''s reasonable," Chris said, but still had a bitter face. No matter what the System said, casting a spell a 1000 times is still a bit overkill. [You have also unlocked a new reward: The Practice Room. While you may be able to use magic in Hogwarts, it still is quite difficult to continuously practice. It is also impossible to practice outside of Hogwarts. So in the practice room, time is stopped. At this level, you may stay in there for 1 hour a day. When you level up to certain levels, the time you can spend in there will increase. Of course, that hour does not have to be spent at once.] "What, a time stopping room? That''s perfect!" Chris thought enthusiastically as he realized just how much he can do. "Even the free hour given right now is a lot," [Quest is now given. Please use the Practice Room for the first time. In order to enter the Practice Room, all Host has to do is say or think ''Practice Room''.] Quest: Practice Room User (1) Use Practice Room: 0/1 "Practice Room," Chris thought and before he could even think, he noticed that the surroundings changed. It was a completely white room where there seemed to be no walls. "Wow... Isn''t this quite excessive for just practice spells?" [Nothing is ever excessive Host. In the practice room, you can practice whatever you want from practicing spells to creating potion. In here, the System will give you fake ingredients to make potions so that while you are able to create potions, it just won''t be possible to take it outside. Think of it as a practice trial. As for spells, choose any spell you want to practice and then the System will create an environment suitable for the spell. For example, if you want to practice the Patronus spell, a fake Dementor will be created.] "Hmm... alright. Well since I can only practice the Mending Charm, I''ll choose that," Chris said. [Making environment for the Mending Charm. While in practice Host just has to say stop to cancel the practice and the environment will return. To return back to the real world, please click your heels and say, ''There''s no place like home,''] "Wait just a goddamned minute here System, are you serious?" Chris asked. What was he, Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. [It was only a joke Host. All Host has to do is say or think ''Back'' and the System will send you back to the real world.] Suddenly, in front of Chris were thousands upon thousands of broken glasses. His eyes twitched. "That must be at least a million dollars worth of glasses," Chris said. Chris'' eyes twitched once more. However, he didn''t say anything and started to repair the glasses ... Soon it was September 1, and Chris was already a pretty decent first-year wizard. When he arrived at Hogwarts Express, he looked at his status one more time. [Name: Chris Kim Level: 5 Family: Evergreen Family Affiliation: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Wand: 9 Inch Holly and Unicorn Tail Wand Magical Power: 581 Quests Completed: 2 Quests in Progress: 0 Money: 3 G (2 outside), 15 S, 18K Items: Hogwarts Clothing Set EXP needed to level up: 261 Looking at his Lumos stats, Chris started to tear up. "After a full month of continuously practicing, I finally got Reparo to level two and got some other spells as well," Just remembering how many times he has seen the same broken glasses made him feel disgusted. Of course, once he turned level 5, he instantly bought new skills which allowed him to stop repairing glasses. During that same month, he also figured out a way to look at other people''s entire statistics as well. It was astounding. His mother had 3,600,000 magical power while his father had 4,000,000 magical power making him only a 1,000,000 magical power shy of Voldemort. However, what surprised him the most was not the magical power of his father. While the System would only show the name and how much magical power a person has, if Chris wanted to find out a bit more, the System would tell him. So when Chris asked the System about how much money his father had, it was simply shocking when he saw it. 100,000,000 G 15 S 1K! Chris asked and that was simply just the money in the vault! If the value of all the companies and real estate were added, Chris, realized that it would take 2 Jeff Bezos at his peak to match his father. However, the richer his family, the more disappointed he was because the higher the amount of money, the more money he''s unable to use. Since he now had a 2 galleon outside money limit, he would be unable to use 99,999,998 Galleons which made him so depressed the day he saw it that he practiced Reparo for an hour straight to get it off his mind. After Chris finished looking at his stats, he looked at Hogwarts Express with excitement. "Hogwarts here I come!" Chris said as he bid his mother and father farewell and boarded the train. Chapter 5 - Meeting an Unexpected Person Chris got on the train and immediately found an empty compartment. He put his stuff away and quietly sat down. Surprisingly, he realized that his parents who were so doting on him for the past month were not waiting in front of the train like a lot of the parents did. "I mean it''s fine, but I''m surprised that clingy mother of mine would not wait," Chris thought. After a couple of minutes, the compartment door opened and he saw someone who he did not expect to see. It was a young girl that was quite familiar to Chris. "Hello there," The young girl greeted. "Hello," Chris greeted back. "My name is Hermione. Hermione Granger," She said as she put her stuff away and sat down. "My name is Chris Evergreen. It''s a p???sur? to meet you Hermione," Chris said. He was quite surprised as there was only at best a 5% chance that he would end up in the same compartment as her. There was an awkward silence before Hermione quickly broke it. "Isn''t it great that underneath the Muggle world, there''s the fascinating world of magic? I mean when I went to Diagon Alley, I was completely shocked," "Yeah it is really nice," Chris said. He quickly checked Hermione''s status. Magical Power: 100 "Hmm... she has quite the magical power for her age. I mean I suppose she did practice a lot so that she can use spells like Reparo," Hermione continued to talk to him until another person opened the compartment door. It was Neville Longbottom. "Hello there. Is it alright to sit here?" He asked timidly. "Hello there. Of course, it''s alright," Hermione said with a smile. Chris nodded and Neville quickly put away his luggage and sat down next to Chris. "Name''s Neville Longbottom," Neville said. "Hermione Granger," "Chris Evergreen," "Woah you''re the heir to the Evergreen Family," He asked with an astounded face. "Oh no," Chris thought before he answered him. "Yes I''m from the Evergreen Family," Chris said with a smile. "Oh my goodness, your father is my hero. Valiantly fought against You-Know-Who''s army of Death Eater and he''s as much of a hero as Barty Crouch. However, not only is he strong, he has a huge company worth millions of Galleons!" Chris was actually quite surprised that the timid Neville was actually speaking so loudly. It seemed that his father can even change the most timid of person. Hermione''s eyes lit up. "Ahh, I knew you were familiar. Your father was in the contemporary history book that I read. So you''re the son of Bradley Evergreen. Truth be told, you really do look like him," Hermione said as she started to inspect him. "Yeah I do get that a lot," Chris said. The train started to leave. The three of them started conversing and there was the occasional laugh from Hermione when Chris would tell a joke. Suddenly Neville started to scream. "Ahhh! Trevor''s gone!" Neville shouted. "Calm down Neville. Who''s Trevor?" Hermione asked. "My pet frog. He was a gift from my uncle. I''ve always been scolded and punished for not showing magical power and when I did, it was the first time that they were so proud of me that they would gift me something. He''s really precious," Neville said. "How do you lose something that''s so precious to you?" Hermione asked bewildered. "If I had something that precious, I would always keep a good eye on it," "I honestly don''t have very good memory and I''m not really too observant so I lose things very well. There are way too many things that I''ve lost over the years," Neville said as tears started showing. "Alright we''ll help you find Trevor. Chris will you help us?" Hermione asked. Chris was about to agree before he heard a message from the System. [Quest has been given. Find Neville''s Frog. Although the frog will be found eventually, isn''t it better if the crying Neville is soothed?"] Quest: Find Neville''s Frog Neville''s Frog: 0/1 Reward: 2 Sickles and 80 EXP "Hmm... compared to the Use Practice Room (2) which required me to use the practice room 10 times, the reward is quite good," Chris thought. "Oh yes, I remember that there was a spell perfect for this," Chris thought as he went to the Wizarding Book. It was a spell not shown in the book or the movie, but he found it while browsing through the Wizarding Book. He didn''t buy it at the time because it was too expensive, but as soon as he got the money, he forgot about the spell. Finding Charm (Inveniet): Is able to search anything within a short radius. Price: 1 Sickle "It seems that the System does not want to reward me too much money. In essence, I''m only getting 1 Sickle. Well I get both EXP and magical power by getting this spell so it''s not too bad," Chris thought as he quickly bought it. The details of the spell entered his mind and after a couple of seconds passed, Chris finally learned the Finding Charm. [Host has learned the Finding Charm. 50 EXP will be awarded. 211 EXP needed to level up. Money remaining: 3 G 14 S 18K.] "That''s quite generous," Chris thought. He quickly took out his wand and cast the Finding Charm. "Inveniet Trevor," He chanted. Soon information about the whereabouts of Trevor entered Chris'' mind. "It''s in a compartment in my direction," Chris thought. He quickly went to the compartment to retrieve Trevor who was just sitting there like nothing happened. The people in the compartment were nice and helped him retrieve Trevor. To Chris, it was the easiest Sickle he has ever earned. Chapter 6 - Hogwarts! Chris went back to his compartment with Trevor in his hands and after a couple minutes later, Hermione and Neville came back as well. Neville saw Trevor in Chris'' hands. "Trevor!" Neville shouted joyously as Chris handed Trevor back to him. "Thank you Chris!" "It''s not much," Chris said. [Quest Complete: Reward of 2 Sickles and 80 EXP will be given. 131 EXP needed to level up. Money remaining: 3 G 16 S 18K.] After everything was settled, Hermione started talking about her experience. "You know I saw Harry Potter in one of the compartment. He''s the Boy Who Lived. He was with this guy named Ron Weasley who had this strange chant for magic. He tried to change the color of his frog and his chant sounded like something a child made up," "Oh, well I''m sure he tried hard," Chris said trying not to laugh as he suddenly remembered the chant that he saw in the movie. Like Hermione said, it was quite ridiculous. The three started talking some more until the train finally stopped and they arrived at Hogwarts. When they left the train, the three of them were shivering. "Why didn''t I learn a spell to create heat?!" Chris thought as he heard a loud familiar voice calling out for them. "Firs'' year! Firs'' years over here!" It was Hagrid and Chris also saw Harry and Ron. "It''s him. That''s Harry Potter and Ron Weasley," Hermione pointed out. Hagrid talked to Harry for a minute and turned to the rest of the group. "Alright is that everyone? If so, let''s get to the boats. When we get there, no more''n 4 per boat!" Hagrid led everyone down a steep narrow path until they ended up in front of a beautiful lake that shined due to the moonlight. On the other side of the beautiful lake was Hogwarts. The huge ancient castle was alluring in its own way and with the shining lake, it seemed like a masterpiece better than any art Chris has ever seen. "That''s Hogwarts. Well, let''s stop admirin'' it and get on the boats. No more''n 4," Hagrid said. Chris, Hermione, and Neville got into a boat with another girl that Chris has never seen before. She had large blue eyes with long straight yellow hair in a ponytail. She was also a bit taller than Hermione and her face was as white as snow without any blemishes. "Impossible! I should know every single people here. Even if I''m not completely sure about their appearance, I shouldn''t be completely clueless," Chris thought. "System what''s going on?" [Does Host remember when I mentioned about this world being a Harry Potter world with the Evergreen family in it? This is one of the consequences of having the Evergreen Family. Of course, not too much has changed and she and one other person are the only additions of the first year making it 42 people. Even in all 7 years, there are b?r?ly any changes to the amount of students merely 1-3 people extra.] "Hmm... that makes sense. There is the bu??erfly effect," Chris thought as he nodded. Suddenly, Hermione clapped her hands in front of Chris'' face. "Hey Chris did you hear Kristine?" "Huh who''s Kristine?" Chris was not hearing anything from the others so he instinctively asked even though now he guessed who Kristine was. "She''s Kristine," Hermione said pointing to Kristine. "Kristine Alder," She said with a smile. "Chris Evergreen," Chris quickly greeted. "You know Chris, Kristine is exactly like me! She''s Muggle-born and she also studied hard before coming here. She knows how to cast 5 spells already," Hermione said. "Heads down!" Hagrid suddenly screamed as the boat went through a curtain of ivy. They went inside an underground harbor. Everyone left the boats and Hagrid led them up a flight of stone steps. Eventually, they stopped in front of a huge oak door. Hagrid knocked on the door and out came a tall black-haired woman in green robes. It was Professor Minerva McGonagall. "This is Professor Minerva McGonagall," Hagrid said. "Thank you Hagrid. I''ll take them," Professor McGonagall said as she took them through the beautiful entrance hall that had pictures all over the wall and had an old looking stone floor. Soon they stopped in front of 2 huge doors leading to the dining hall and Chris heard hundreds of voices from inside. Hermione, Neville, and even Kristine looked nervous while Chris was standing there excited. "Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGongall said. "The banquet will begin shortly, but before you can take your seat, there will be a house sorting where you will be sorted into your house. The Sorting will decide the people you will work and live with for the next 7 years so it is extremely important. In Hogwarts, there are 4 schools: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. In Hogwarts, we have a competition where the House with the most amount of points will be awarded the House Cup, a great honor to your House. I hope that each and every one of you will be an important ?sset to your House," She then looked at Neville''s cloak which was fastened onto his left ear, Ron''s smudged nose, and various other people who seemed to be a bit unprepared. "Well, we do have some time. I would suggest that everyone take this time to be fully prepared," She said as she left the chamber. "Chris, I only know Reparo and some other really minor spells. What if the school rejects me right now?!" Hermione asked as she started panicking and started to recite the spells she knew. "Hermione, if you get kicked out, we''re all getting kicked out," Kristine said. "Yeah, I would be expelled for showing fluke power," Neville said. "Yeah you''re right. I need to relax," Hermione said as she took long breaths. Suddenly, there were gasps coming from the other students and Chris looked up to see what was going on. It was ghosts and they were flying around observing all the kids. One ghost, the fat friar, started asking some questions. "Oh new kids, going to be sorted," He asked. A few kids nodded at his questions "Well then, hope to see you at Hufflepuff. It''s my house," He said as a loud voice from inside the dining hall. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start!" Chapter 7 - Not put in Gryffindor?! The students entered the dining hall. There were 4 extremely long tables with numerous students. There were floating candles which Hermione talked about their entire walk up the dining hall. In front of them were the teachers and an old hat. Everyone walked until they were right in front of the ledge that led to the Sorting Hat. After a few seconds of silence, the Sorting Hat started to sing. "Oh, you may not think I''m pretty, But don''t judge on what you see, I''ll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall, For I''m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all. There''s nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can''t see, So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be. You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Set Gryffindors apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you''ve a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You''ll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends. So put me on! Don''t be afraid! And don''t get in a flap! You''re in safe hands (though I have none) For I''m a Thinking Cap!" Everyone clapped and the Sorting Hat stayed still once more. "When I call you, put on the hat and sit on the stool. Abbot, Hannah!" Professor McGonagall said. She started to call up names one by one. Some students were sorted immediately while others took a little more time. Kristine Alder was put in Ravenclaw and she waved at Hermione, Chris, and Neville and quickly went to the Ravenclaw table. ''Well it seems that the amount of times we''re going to meet are low,'' Chris thought. "Evergreen, Chris!" Professor McGonagall called. There was whispering from all 4 tables. The Slytherins were the most active. They believed that Chris belonged with them as he came from a wealthy Pure-Blood Family. Chris simply ignored them and went up to the stool and put on the hat. "Hmmm... you are quite the tricky one. You''re willing to take on the strongest of enemy, but you''re also extremely intelligent. Quite kind indeed, but willing to do anything to destroy the enemy. Which house do you want to be sorted in?" The hat asked. ''Gryffindor,'' Chris said. "Hahaha, I knew that you wanted to be sorted there. However, I do not think you''re the perfect match for that house. Therefore,I shall put you in RAVENCLAW!" The Sorting House said loudly. There was loud cheering from the Ravenclaw table to the point where it seemed like they were shaking the entire room. The Slytherins looked devastated as if they lost the best prey that they have ever seen their entire life. ''Oi, oi, oi, Sorting Hat. I said Gryffindor,'' Chris thought. However, he had no choice, but to go to the Ravenclaw table. The people in the Ravenclaw table warmly welcomed him and many asked to shake his hand. After the welcome, he sat next to Kristine who noticed his face. "You don''t seem quite satisfied," Kristine said. "No, it might actually be my blessing to be put here," Chris said. Although he thought it was quite unfortunate that he won''t be able to see Hermione, he wasn''t too affected by it. Soon it was her turn. "Granger Hermione!" Professor McGonagall called. Hermione quickly sat on the stool with the Sorting Hat on. ''Well this should immediately be Gryffindor,'' Chris thought as he started thinking about how to get more money. However, the Sorting Hat didn''t speak for an extremely long time and looked to be struggling. ''What''s going on?'' Chris asked himself. "Ravenclaw!" The Sorting Hat cried surprising Chris nearly to the point of almost questioning the Sorting Hat''s decision. ''What?! Hermione is in Ravenclaw?!'' Chris thought. ''Wait if Ron and Harry don''t have Hermione as their brain, how are they going to fight against Voldemort? I mean I was going to help them, but still, I can''t blatantly go and ?ssist them whenever. They''re going to make so many mistakes!'' The Ravenclaw table all clapped and Hermione came to the Ravenclaw table to sit next to Chris. "Isn''t it great that we''re all together. Now if only Neville can be sorted here," Hermione said. However, she was disappointed. Neville was sent to Gryffindor which did upset Hermione quite a bit. "I really did like his character," Hermione said. Soon the last person that Chris didn''t recognize was called. "Sung, Se-yeon!" Professor McGonagall called with a bit of a struggle. Se-yeon came out. She was a Korean girl with glasses and was extremely small even among her age group. Se-yeon went up to the stool in a calm manner and put the hat on. She was immediately placed in Gryffindor. ''Well whoever this Se-yeon is, I''m hoping that she would help Harry and Ron. She''s their only hope,'' Chris thought. Soon everyone was finally sorted and the long time without any food Chris'' stomach grumble. However, he knew he couldn''t eat yet. There was still the speech. Dumbledore stood up and he opened his arm up wide to show that he was happy that all his students were there. "Welcome to Hogwarts. Before we begin our feast, I would like to say a couple of words. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" "Thank you!" The students said and Dumbledore sat back down. Chris saw that the dishes that were once empty were now filled to the brim with food and everyone started to eat. Chris took whatever he can and ate it as polite as he could. After filling his stomach a bit, he would talk to Hermione and Kristine and answer some of the occasional questions the other students had for him. Well, the questions were mostly about his hero father. The Grey Lady, their ghost, did not speak much and b?r?ly introduced herself before staying quiet once more. Soon the feast was over and Dumbledore stood up to say the remainder of his announcements. "I just have a few more things to say. Firstly, the Dark Forest is off-limits to all pupils. Secondly, Mr. Filch has told me to say that there should be no magic used in the corridors between classes. Thirdly, Quidditch tryouts will be held in the second week. Lastly, the third floor corridor on the right side will be forbidden to everyone who does not wish to die a painful death," Everyone nodded and after a few seconds later, Dumbledore started the Hogwarts song. After Fred and George Weasley finally finished the song, Dumbledore clapped. "Ahh, music, a magic beyond every other magic we do here. And now bedtime. Off you go!" He said and everyone started to leave with their prefects. Chapter 8 - First Day of Class Chris and the rest of the first year Ravenclaw students followed Penelope Clearwater, their Prefect. They went through the maze that was Hogwarts and even if Chris was a bit sleepy, he was still extremely excited to see the insides of Hogwarts. It was truly different from the movies. While the movies'' special effects were really good, compared to real life magic, it did not hold a candle. Soon they reached the fifth floor of Ravenclaw Tower where the entrance to the dormitories were. It was a door without a doorknob, but only an eagle-shaped knocker. "So this is the entrance to the dormitories," Penelope said. "To get inside, you must answer the riddle that the knocker has for you once you knock on the door. If you cannot get in, you have to wait for someone to answer the question for you so I would suggest that you would take out everything you need just in case," After the brief explanation, she knocked on the door. "Where does an object go when it''s vanished?" The eagle knocker asked. "Into non-being," Penelope answered. "Not the best answer, but also correct," The door-knocker said as the door now opened. Everyone started entering the Common Room and it was one of the most beautiful room, Chris has ever seen with a blue carpet that had stars on it which was reflected on the ceiling. There were chairs, tables, and bookcases all over the Common Room making it seem like a small library. Next to the doors leading up to the dormitories was the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of marble. It was marvelously made and everything from her to the diadem seemed extremely realistic as if it was a photo made up of stone. ''I know I saw it in the movie, but this is far better!'' Chris thought. "Well it is getting late," Penelope said while yawning. "Do you know what the smartest thing to do is? It is to sleep. There''s no thinking without sleeping. The boys'' dormitory is on the left while the girls'' is on the right. There''s one more rule. A guys is able to go to the girls'' dorm and the girls to the guys'' as long as the intent is pure. If there is any evil intent, they will not be allowed to go in. That is all. Good night," Penelope said as she left to go to the girls'' dormitory. ''Well this wasn''t in the movie, but I suppose it''s a good change. It makes things a lot simpler,'' Chris thought Kristine and Hermione bid Chris good night and also went up to the girls'' dorm. After a bit of looking around, Chris went up to the boys'' dorm. His room only had 4 people including himself in it so the big room had only 4 beds. It had blue sheets and blue bed curtains as well. The other three were already sleeping from their exhausting trip so Chris was the only one awake. ''Well, it''ll take a bit till I get completely sleepy. I haven''t used my hour and a half yet so let''s do that,'' Chris thought. He went inside the Practice Room and immediately started practicing all his spells. When his half hour was up, he achieved quite a bit, using the new Finding Spell 100 out of the 800 times, he needed to level it up. Of course, he practiced his other spells as well. Now he was truly exhausted and fell asleep without a hitch. ... It was the next morning and the Ravenclaws after eating breakfast all went to their first class: Transfiguration. They were taking it with the Hufflepuff students. Hermione and Kristine were visibly excited for going to their first class. In the classroom which looked at least a century old was Professor McGonagall who was waiting for everyone to be seated and quiet. Once everyone was quiet, she started the lesson. "Hello students. In case you have forgotten me, my name is Professor McGonagall. I will be your Transfiguration professor throughout your entire time at Hogwarts. Transfiguration is quite complex and even dangerous. In this class, there will be practical lessons, but there will also be a lot of note-taking and homework so know that this will not be an easy class. However, if you truly do learn Transfiguration, you can learn something like this," Professor McGonagall said as she turned a desk into a pig. "OOOO," Everyone looked at Professor McGonagall enthralled. "You will know how to do this later, but for now, we will work on this," She said taking out a match. "You will turn this match into a needle. However, we are not going to do this now, but instead take some valuable notes. Get out your parchment and quills and get writing," Professor McGonagall said as she started the lecture while everyone is frantically trying to write everything down. After around 40 minutes, she finally stopped her lecture. "The rest of the period will be spent on trying to apply the spell now," She said while handing everyone in the room a match. As Chris didn''t learn this from the Wizarding Book, learning this spell was quite difficult. However, gradually after many tries, he started getting the feel of it. "Acus Verto," He chanted as the match slowly started turning into a needle. The new "needle" was still quite thick and blunt, but the change made Chris extremely happy. Hermione and Kristine were both also starting to get the hang of it as well as they were at the same progress level as Chris. The remaining 20 minutes were up and Chris now created a perfect needle. Professor McGonagall praised him for his good work. She even awarded him 5 points for Ravenclaw for the good work. Even the System rewarded him. [You have learned Acus Verto and have earned 50 EXP. You now have 51 EXP needed to level up. Acus Verto need to be cashed a 1000 times to level it up. You have earned 1 Sickles. You now have 4 G 0 S and 18 K.] Chapter 9 - Ending the First Day on a Good Note The students left class and Hermione and Kristine were excitedly talking. "I know the spell since I read the book, but I can''t believe just how fascinating magic is!" Hermione exclaimed. "I know! It''s a whole new world for me. I''m glad that we don''t need to go through the boring Muggle educational system anymore," Kristine said excitedly. "Yeah, the Muggle system is alright, but after a while, it gets too repetitive. Here, I feel like I''m taking in completely new things everyday," Hermione said. ''Damn, they already found the educational system boring. Well, I''m glad they didn''t go to high school,'' Chris thought. "Well, that first transfiguration class was nice. What do we have next again?" He asked. "Charms with Flitwick," Kristine answered. "He''s the head of Ravenclaw. I hope he gives us some special treatment," Chris said. They arrived at Flitwick''s class. They were with the Gryffindor and he saw Harry, Ron, and the new girl Se-yeon. Unlike the movie where Ron and Harry both hated Hermione for the first couple weeks, they immediately hit it off with Se-yeon and they both were happily talking to her. ''Seeing this actually makes me feel kinda bad for Hermione,'' Chris thought. While Hermione''s "know-it-all" side did not emerge due to Chris and Kristine being equally as smart as her, he didn''t really mind it when he first saw her in the movies and in the books which he argued a lot with his past friends over as a lot of them really disliked Hermione. ''Well it doesn''t matter. She doesn''t have to go through the BS the other two put her,'' Chris thought as Flitwick started the lesson. "Hello class, my name is Professor Flitwick and I will be your Charms teacher. Charms are a very useful tool for dueling and work as well. You can use charms like... Flipendo!" Professor Flitwick chanted. A box that was on the ground was pushed across the room. "This is the Knockback Jinx, a spell you will learn this year. This can be used for both dueling and for manual work. All in all, you will not regret learning Charms," "That was a good spell wasn''t it?" Hermione asked Chris. "Yeah it''s nice and quick," Chris said. "Well that''s it for introductions. For today, we''ll learn an extremely useful charm, the Mending Charm also known as Reparo," Professor Flitwick said. He then lectured them about the Mending Charm for the next 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, he finally started the practicing. "Alright students, now will be the time to practice the Mending Charm. Soon in front of you, I''ll put down a broken block of wood. I''ll demonstrate the charm and you''ll practice for the rest of the lesson," Professor Flitwick then used a spell to place a broken block of wood for every student. "Alright look at me very closely. Reparo!" Professor Flitwick chanted. Soon the broken block of wood mended back together making it whole once more. Everyone clapped. "Alright students, you have the rest of the class to put this wood back together," Kristine, Hermione, and Chris all looked at each other. Chris, especially, was glad that he didn''t have to fix any glasses this time because if he had to, he would have just put his head down for the class. "Alright guys, we''re going to do this together," Hermione said and the other two nodded. "On the count of 3. 1. 2. 3. Reparo!" Professor Flitwick saw this and was quite excited. "Wow, Miss Granger, Miss Alder, and Mr. Evergreen. I''ve seen classes with one or two kids being able to do it individually after some practice, but not three friends at the same time without any practice. I''m sure all of you have worked hard to learn this spell. Ravenclaw will be awarded 15 points. 5 points for each person!" He said while smiling like a child who received a present for Christmas. Surprisingly, when Chris looked over at Ron at the Gryffindor side, Ron was rolling his eyes. "Well since you three have clearly learned how to do the Mending Charm, can I ask you to help your fellow peers to cast the spell?" The three nodded and for the rest of the class, they helped other Ravenclaw students learn the spell which all the other Ravenclaw students greatly appreciated. Without even knowing, the class was over. "Wow that was fast," Hermione said. "Yeah time flies when you''re having a lot of fun," Kristine added. Chris nodded and the three of them went to the dining hall to eat lunch. They ate as fast as they can due to Hermione wanting to go to the library to read books for Defense against the Dark Arts. After a good 40 minutes of reading, the three of them bolted for Defense against the Dark Arts which Chris found to be not as fun due to Quirrell always struggling to talk and overall makes the class fun. The same went for History of Magic as Professor Binns'' monotone voice almost made Chris sleep. If it wasn''t for the fact Chris found the past somewhat interesting, he would''ve spent money to just buy all the information from the System. After the day was over, the three of them went back to the Ravenclaw Common Room where they finished their homework. Chris then went to the Practice Room for an hour and when he came back, he and the two girls started reading the textbooks. Chris found every piece of information quite interesting and having people like Hermione and Kristine to discuss it with made everything so much better. ''If I was with Harry and Ron, I wouldn''t have been able to do this. The Sorting Hat was right in giving me Ravenclaw,'' Chris thought as he continued to discuss the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 with Hermione and Kristine. Chris and Hermione even got to an argument when they disagreed on whether the strike should''ve even happened with Chris saying that gargoyles aren''t even full sentient beings while Hermione said that even though they can''t function as well as a human, they shouldn''t be worked to death. In the end, Chris gave up. ''Her Samaritan side is already starting grow it seems,'' Chris thought as Hermione was was smiling from ear to ear due to her victory. Chapter 10 - Potions Book It was the next day and Ravenclaw''s first class was Potions with Hufflepuff. Chris, Hermione, and Kristine went down the dungeon that was quite creepy. Inside the room was the depressing Professor Snape who looked like he hated his job. When everyone sat down, he started class. "As it is mandatory, I shall introduce myself. I am Professor Snape, your Potions Professor. You are here to learn the art of potion making and the science behind it. There is little wand waving here so I''m expecting that many of you will think this class is not useful. I also don''t expect you to love this subject either. However, I will teach all of you to brew well as long as you guys aren''t the dunderheads that I have to teach most of the time," Professor Snape said and the class was extremely quiet. "Mr. Evergreen. What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snape asked Chris. "It will make an extremely powerful sleeping potion called the Draught of Living Death," Chris answered. "It seems that you are not one of the dunderheads Mr. Evergreen. Well, I''ll ask another question. Miss Bones, where would you find a bezoar?" Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff girl, stayed silent for a few seconds and truthfully answered Snape. "I do not know Professor," Susan said. "Well it seems that you are one of the dunderheads Miss Bones. You should''ve at least skimmed the book before coming here," Snape said and Susan did not say anything and looked down. Hermione raised her hand. "Hmph, Miss Alder what is your answer," Snape asked ignoring Hermione. "Bezoar comes from the stomach of a goat," Kristine said. After she answered Chris quickly warned Hermione. "You shouldn''t keep on raising your hand. Other teachers love it, but I heard that Snape hated it," He whispered quickly so Snape wouldn''t notice. Hermione nodded "Well it looks like I don''t have to teach too many blockheads this year. What a pleasant surprise," Snape commented before moving on. "Mr. Hopkins, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Wayne Hopkins, another Hufflepuff student, was also unable to answer the question. "Just as I said what I said earlier," Snape said. "Miss Granger, what is the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood?" "They''re the same plant and can also be called aconite," Hermione said. "Correct. I''m glad that I don''t have to waste my time explaining easy questions such as those. We''re going to move on. I''m going to teach you how to brew Cure for Boils. Take notes while I talk," Snape said. The lecture was for around 20 minutes while the rest of the class time was spent on making the potion. Chris was paired up with Hermione while Kristine was paired up with Padma Patil. For the period, nothing too significant happened. Hermione, Chris, and Kristine''s potions were all relatively well made while the rest were all criticized one way or another by Snape. Chris even got EXP for creating the potion. [Host has learned how to brew Cure for Boils. 80 EXP and 11 Knuts has been given. 520 more EXP is needed to level up. Congratulations! You have unlocked the Potions Book. This Book will keep track of the potions Host can brew. The more of the same potion you brew, the better you''ll be. Futhermore, EXP and money will be given. However, unlike the Wizards Book, every potion regardless of difficulty has to be brewed 1000 times to be considered mastered. After mastering the potion, you''ll be able to create a better version of the potion being able to put in extra effects, elongate the effect of the potion, or just overall strengthen the potion. Furthermore, Host can now practice brewing the potion in the Practice Room with virtual ingredients so money will not be gained and you cannot take the potion outside of the Practice Room.] Chris was pleasantly surprised by the new function of the System. ''I can''t use the Practice Room to practice making Potions for now, but later when I have more time, I''ll be able to brew potions. And it looks like I''ll benefit a lot since I can create a better version of the potion,'' Chris thought. When Potions was over and the three left the class pretty happy. "You know I heard Snape was a terrible and mean teacher, but I think he''s alright," Hermione said. "Yeah as long as you don''t show off too much, but answer all his questions, he''s quite calm," Chris said. "Well, I hope this can continue. I don''t want a mean teacher," Kristine said. The day continued with the three of them excelling in all of their classes. Herbology wasn''t too difficult as it was mostly memorizing the herbs in the textbook and the other two classes for the day which was Charms and Transfiguration also weren''t that difficult as both were review from the previous day. The rest of the day was spent in the Practice Room and in the library with Hermione and Kristine reading about new spells and pieces of history. Chris even learned a new spell, the Softening Charm which earned him a good amount of EXP. Over the next 2 days, Chris, Hermione, and Kristine were favorites of a lot of the teachers in their classes especially Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall. The contents Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick went over for 2 days were basic review for the three of them and so they won a lot of points for Ravenclaw. Even Snape who Chris thought would at most be neutral towards them was actually quite kind in his own way, guiding the three of them whenever they made a mistake rather than harshly criticizing them for their errors. It was now Friday, the end of the week and the day for flying lessons. Ravenclaw was with Hufflepuff in the morning so during breakfast, Hermione nervously started reading Quidditch Through the Ages to get tips on flying. Kristine also seemed quite nervous as Chris noticed that she was sweating a little and started asking more questions to Chris than she asked the entire week they were in Hogwarts. At first, Chris wasn''t nervous, but when he got to the grounds where the Flying Class took place, he also got quite nervous not because he wasn''t confident that he would fall, but because he got a quest. [Quest has been given. Host must do as well as Harry Potter and get in the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team.] Quest: Get into Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Getting into the team: 0/1 Reward: 5 Sickles and 150 EXP ''Damn, the rewards are much higher than any other missions,'' Chris thought. ''Even though I just leveled up to level 6, after practicing for 4 days in the Practice Room, with the 150 EXP, I should level up to level 7,'' Chapter 11 - Flying Lesson Dangers Madam Hooch arrived and floating next to her were 20 broomsticks that looked new unlike the ones in the book. Everyone started whispering as soon as they saw that. "I heard that the brooms used here were really bad. Those are Comet 260s," A Hufflepuff student whispered to his friend. "Yeah, my older brother who went here years ago told me that they used Shooting Star brooms. While the Comet isn''t the best broom, it''s a 1000x better than the Shooting Star," The other Hufflepuff student said. "Before we start, I would like everyone here to thank the Evergreen Family for donating 40 Comet 260s for the school to use," Madam Hooch said as she laid down the Comet 260s in front of every student. "Mr. Evergreen stated that he wanted every student at Hogwarts to have a safe and fun first flying experience. ," ''What?! When did father donate this?'' Chris thought as he did not receive any owls from his parents about this. Most likely, it was Bradley making it easier for him to make friends. Everyone started clapping excitedly and the Ravenclaw students all went up to Chris and threw him up into the air. "Guys, guys no... Let''s not do..." Regardless of what Chris said, the Ravenclaw kids continued throwing him up into the air. After a while of doing this, Madam Hooch stopped the Ravenclaw kids and Chris was finally able to make it down. He went back to his spot next to Hermione and Kristine. "Well at least now the brooms are a lot safer so you don''t have to worry about hurting yourself as much," Chris said to Hermione groggily. "Yeah," Hermione said with a smile. Madam Hooch started the first flying lesson. "Hello students, my name is Madam Hooch and I shall be your flying instructor for this year. Today''s lesson will be on the most basic of flying. Firstly, you must be able to summon the broom up to your hand. Please stick out your right hand and say ''UP!''" "Up!" Everyone in the field shouted as they stuck out their right hand. Chris'' broom went straight up to his hand while everyone else struggled to get their brooms into their hand as the brooms simply rolled. Another kid in the Hufflepuff House was able to get his broom up. Madam Hooch then explained the correct mounting form of the broom. Hermione, Kristine, and Chris were all able to get the proper form very quickly. Madam Hooch went around to check if everyone had the proper form. She scolded some kids along the way and after checking everyone, she proceeded to the next step. "Now it is time to fly. Kick off the ground and rise a few feet. To come down, lean to the front of the broom a little. When I blow my whistle go up. One -- Two-- Three!" Madam Hooch blew her whistle and everyone rose a couple of feet. Chris felt amazing. It felt so surreal that Chris wanted to fly around everywhere. However, he resisted as he knew he would get into needless trouble. After a couple of seconds, everyone safely came down. "Alright this is going much smoother than before with better brooms," Madam Hooch said. "Alright we''re going to try again," 45 minutes passed and now the students were now able to go up 5 meters high. Hermione shook a little during one of the take-offs, but was quickly able to get back. "Alright students, this is going to be the final one. This time, instead of being still, we''re going to move around. First, take it slowly and increase your speed little by little. Also, try going up to 8 meters. It''s just for practice so remember not to take it too fast or else you will get seriously injured. Anyone who purposefully goes too fast to show off will go to the Headmaster''s office for potential expulsion. Do you understand?" Madam Hooch asked seriously. "Yes ma''am," Everyone shouted. They all slowly rose up and once they got to 8 meters, they slowly started to move around. Some went a little fast, but it wasn''t to the point where Madam Hooch said anything. Chris also took it easy. Although there was a mission, there really wasn''t an opportunity to show off as he could get expelled for it. ''Am I going to fail this mission?'' Chris thought. ''I mean I''m fine with it, but it''d be sad to just fail without doing anything at all,'' Suddenly Chris heard a scream from behind him. He looked behind and it was Hermione whose broom suddenly went out of control. She flew erratically and to Chris'' horror high as well. 10 meters... 15 meters... At around 20 meters high, she fell off her broom and her broom flew to the Forbidden Forest. ''Shit!'' Chris thought and without thinking twice, he swiftly flew to where she fell. ''Come on! Make it! Make it!'' Chris thought. He felt that Hermione''s falling speed was getting faster. He leaned forward even more increasing his speed. He b?r?ly got underneath Hermione and just as they were about to hit the ground, Chris caught her and leaned back so that they were straight again. However, due to the sudden weight, he also fell off his broom with Hermione. Luckily, since they were only a few feet off the ground, they were unhurt. Madam Hooch quickly ran to where the two of them were. "Miss Granger, are you alright?" Madam Hooch asked. "Yes ma''am," Hermione said, but she was a bit shaken from the fall. "Mr. Evergreen, that was excellent flying," "Huh?" Chris ???ked his head and was utterly shocked and confused by what she said. "I would like to give my apologies Miss Granger for not being able to properly give aid. If you are hurt, please go to Madam Pomfrey to get it healed up. Everyone please come down! Class is dismissed," Madam Hooch said as she checked if everyone was down before walking away with the remaining broomsticks. Fortunately, there were only 30 being used in the class so there were 10 spare Comet 260s so her lost broomstick could be replaced. Chapter 12 - Joining the Quidditch Team Even after the class left, Hermione was unable to stand. "Hermione are you alright?" Kristine asked. "Yeah, I''m doing alright," Hermione said. "Just a little shaken that''s all," "You must have been. You flew up at least 20 meters high," Kristine said. "Yeah, I don''t know how my broom went out of control. I''m sure that I-" "Hermione don''t think about it anymore. It was an accident. Everyone has one of those. I''m sure that there were plenty before you who accidentally went out of control before," "You''re right. Thanks Chris for both saving and comforting me," Hermione said. "Hey what are friends for?" Argus asked. However even thought she said that Chris was correct, Hermione truly wasn''t convinced. Even after she was alright even to stand up, she still kept on thinking about the accident. However, she soon forgot about it as they had to go to their next class. During lunch, Chris was eating with Hermione and Kristine and talking about their Transfiguration homework until Professor Flitwick came up to Chris. "Hello there Professor Flitwick," Chris greeted. "Hello there Mr. Evergreen. Can you please come to my office for a bit?" He asked in a serious tone. "Sir, am I in trouble?" Chris asked. "No, Mr. Evergreen, I just wish to have a little chat with you," Professor Flitwick said. "Alright then," As Chris had no choice, he said goodbye to Hermione and Kristine before following Professor Flitwick. Professor Flitwick led Chris inside his class and closed the doors. "Sir, I don''t think I did anything wrong to grant a private conversation," Chris said. "Like I said, Mr. Evergreen, you are not in trouble. I was outside for a bit and happened to see you catch Miss. Granger when she fell. Firstly, I would like to award you 10 points for your bravery," "Thank you Professor," Chris said. "Anyways, beyond that, let''s get to the point shall we? So Mr. Evergreen, what do you think about Quidditch?" Professor Flitwick asked. "I think it''s quite interesting Professor," Chris said. "Well, then I''m happy to inform you that I would like you to play as the Seeker for the Ravenclaw team," Professor Flitwick said. "Sir, I''m but a first year and first years are not allowed to have brooms," Chris said. "I can get past that rule. As long as the entire team isn''t made up of first years it''ll be a piece of cake," Professor Flitwick said. "Well then I would love to be part of the Quidditch team," Chris said. "Excellent. I''ll take you to our captain right now. Follow me," Professor Flitwick said as he left the room. He went inside a classroom that Chris was unfamiliar with and he quickly took out a boy that looked around 16. "Chris, I would like for you to meet Brian Milton. He''s the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and also the Chaser. Mr. Milton, this is Chris Evergreen, a first year student that I wanted you to train to become Seeker within 2 weeks," "Professor, this... I don''t know if a first year can do it," Brian said. "Don''t worry about it. As long as you can give him some basic training, he''ll be up and running in no time since he caught a girl dropping 20 meters high from her broom," "Sir, a dropping girl and a Snitch are completely different. It''d be much easier to catch the girl as the girl is much bigger than the Snitch," "Oh, I wouldn''t know about that. While size and speed would be different, I think that Mr. Evergreen''s skills are there. Who knows he might be the next Andre Egwu*," (Andre Egwu is the Ravenclaw Keeper that went to Hogwarts with Charlie Weasley in 1984. He was considered the best Quidditch player in his time at Hogwarts by some while he thinks that Charlie was better. However, he was still extremely talented at Quidditch.) "Alright Professor, I''ll train him for the game in November," Brian said. "Alright then. Welcome to the team Mr. Evergreen. You can go back to class now, Mr. Milton. I don''t want you to miss more of your class time," Professor Flitwick said. "Alright Professor. Well then Evergreen, I''ll see you tomorrow for practice," Brian said. "Yes, Captain," Chris said. Professor Flitwick dismissed Chris and he went back to the Dining Hall where Hermione and Kristine were waiting for him. "So what happened? Did you get in trouble? If you did, I''ll talk to Professor Flitwick that you only flew fast to save me. He''ll surely forgive you," Hermione said worriedly. "Yeah, it''s not fair that you have to get in trouble," Kristine said. "I thought I would get in trouble too, but Professor Flitwick didn''t chastise me," He then moved in to whisper to Hermione and Kristine so that nobody could hear him. "He invited me to the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and he awarded me 10 points," Hermione and Kristine both looked at him shocked. It was only a couple of months since they knew of the Wizarding World, but they learned a lot along the way. They knew that Chris was the youngest person to be in the House Quidditch team since a 100 years although he''ll have to share that achievement with Harry later. "Wow congratulations Chris!" Hermione exclaimed. "Yeah we''re going to be number 1 this year," Kristine said. "Guys quiet down a little," Chris said as he noticed that people were staring at them. "Oh right sorry," Hermione said. "So what are we going to do to celebrate?" Kristine asked. "Well, it''s only getting into the team. We''ll celebrate when we win the Quidditch Cup," Chris said. "When that happens, during vacation, I''m going to ask my father to take us all somewhere nice," "Alright then," Kristine said. "We''re depending on you to win the House Cup for our vacation," "Yeah, I want to visit a lot of places," Hermione said. Chapter 13 - First Day of Quidditch Practice It was the following Monday and also Chris'' first day of practice. In the morning while eating breakfast with Kristine and Hermione, 6 owls came and gave Chris a thin parcel and letter. A minute later, 6 more owls came and went to where Harry Potter was sitting to give a parcel that looked the same. Everybody in the hall was whispering to figure out what the content of the parcels were. "What is it?" Hermione asked. "It''s from my father," Chris said. "It looks something along the lines of a-" "Stop there Kristine. I don''t think I want others to know what this is," Chris interrupted her. Kristine nodded as she realized how troublesome it might be to say what the content of the parcel is out loud. Seeing just how thin it was, Chris knew what it was. He read the letter attached to the parcel first. "Hello Chris, it''s your father. You haven''t owled me about such an important news about you getting on the Quidditch team. Well Flitwick owled me to tell me the news. I heard that there''s another boy that''s the same as you. Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He''s part of the Gryffindor Team and I''m sure that dreaded McGonagall is going to give him a broom. Probably the Nimbus 2000. So I decided to send you a Nimbus 2000 as well and the entire Ravenclaw team Nimbus 2000s. Your mother might kill me for spending that much money in one go, but I think it''s a good expenditure. We have money to spend anyways. You better win or else, I''m not giving you any more money for the rest of your Hogwarts career unless it''s for school supplies. Your Father. ''Hmph, he might seem a bit emotionless sometimes, but he''s still a doting parent,'' Chris thought. After finishing their breakfast, Hermione, Kristine, and Chris left the Hall to go back to the Ravenclaw Common Room, but they saw 5 kids on their way. It was Harry and Ron staring off Draco Malfoy and his 2 lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle. Draco proceeded to snatch Harry''s broom away. "That''s a broom Potter. It''s not allowed. You''re getting into a lot of trouble for this," Draco said. There was clearly jealousy written all over his face. While Chris knew why Draco was always such a bully to Harry such as his family background and how he was raised, Draco was always Top 3 most disliked character. Of course a lot of his female friends always argued with him as a lot of them liked Draco or more specifically Tom Felton. He went up to Draco and took the broom from his hand. "You don''t deserve to touch this Draco Malfoy," Chris said. Draco looked at him surprised. "Who do you-" Draco said as he paused for a second. "Chris Evergreen," "Yes that''s me," Chris said. "Don''t you think it''s a bit inappropriate to touch other people''s property?" "Not if he''s breaking the rule. He has a broom," Draco said. "Well look at what I have," Chris said. "Try snatching it from me," Draco then looked at Chris'' other hand to see an identical parcel. "You have a broom too?" He asked. "You two are going to get in so much trouble. I-" "Not arguing I hope boys?" Everyone turned to see Professor Flitwick. "Professor both Evergreen and Potter were sent a broom," Draco said. Chris quickly gave back Harry''s broom. "Yes Professor McGonagall acquired it for Mr. Potter''s while I approved Mr. Evergreen''s. Oh yes Mr. Evergreen, I thank you for the gift your family gave to the Ravenclaw house. I won''t give points for it thought. That''d be bribery," Professor Flitwick said. "I just want to contribute to the team sir," Chris said. "Ahh yes, Mr. Potter, what model did you get?" Professor Flitwick asked. "Nimbus 2000 sir," Harry said. "And it''s thanks to Malfoy that I got it," Draco was ready to burst out, but he knew he couldn''t so he held it in. He quickly left and Crabbe and Goyle quickly followed. "Well, Mr. Evergreen I''ll see you in class later," Professor Flitwick said as he left. "Thank you for your help," Harry said. "Malfoy said your name was Chris Evergreen?" "Yes, that is my name. I hear your name a lot. You must be Harry Potter," Chris said. "Yes that is my name," Harry seemed a bit disturbed by the way Chris worded it, but he didn''t let it show too much. "And you must be Ron Weasley. I also heard about you. Your family is actually quite well-known for having a lot of talented individuals. Honestly, I already know the kind of things the dreaded Malfoy heir would say. Don''t mind him. I''m sure you''re quite talented as well," Chris said. "Thank you," Ron said not really sure what to say back. "Oh yes, let me introduce you to my friends. I''m sure you met her, Hermione Granger," Chris said. Hermione waved her hand. Harry and Ron did the same not really as hostile towards her as the beginning of school. "This is Kristine Alder," Kristine shook both of their hands. ''It seems that the Se-yeon girl isn''t with them,'' Chris thought. ''Oh well, I have plenty of time to meet her,'' The two groups had some small talk before leaving. Back in the Common Room, the three of them were quite impressed with the Nimbus 2000. Even though Chris saw the Nimbus 2000 multiple times through the movie, in the end it''s only a movie and seeing it personally is a lot different than seeing it in the movie. "Wow, that''s some nice designing," Kristine said as she started touching the broom. "Yeah, it''s really beautiful," Hermione commented. Chris didn''t say anything, but his looks said everything. It was 4:00 and the time of Chris'' first practice. He walked to fields after saying goodbye to the girls and getting his new broom. The System who didn''t give his reward finally gave it when he got to the field. [Congratulations, you have completed the Quest: Get into the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Reward of 150 EXP and 5 Sickles has been given. Congratulations, you are now level 7. 650 EXP is needed to level up. Money: 4 G 6 S 0K] ''Thought the System was scamming me for not giving me my rewards,'' Chris thought as Brian came to him holding a box. Since he forgot to check his new captain''s status before, but he decided to check it now. Brian Milton: Ravenclaw House 7th year Magical Power: 250,000 (I decided to now add some more basic information when looking at other people''s status.) ''I mean it''s nothing compared to Dumbledore, but I guess it''s still a lot. If he trains some more, he can fight off some of Voldemort''s cronies,'' Chris thought. "Hey Evergreen. So since Flitwick said you were good, just show me what you got," Brian said. "Alright," Chris said. He mounted his new Nimbus 2000 and started flying around the Quidditch field. It was extremely smooth, much smoother than the Comet he had to use previously. Brian looked at how naturally Chris was flying. ''Is he going to give us the Cup this year?'' Brian thought as he motioned Chris to come down. "Wow, that was really nice Chris," Brian said. "So do you know the basic rules of Quidditch," "More or less," Chris answered. "Excellent, so we''ll skip the rules. We have the fields until 7:00," He said as he opened the box. "I''m going to release the Golden Snitch. It''s just for practice so you can touch it all you want. Try catching it at least 10 times before practice ends today," Brian said. [Quest has been given. Catch the Practice Golden Snitch 20 times. Go above and beyond.] Quest: Catch Practice Snitch 20 times Golden Snitch: 0/20 Author''s Note: This is the remainder of the Author''s Note so read that first. Also learned that they are allowed to post your content on any medium royalty-free so if you''re actually posting a complete original with no fanfiction-like content, they can post it anywhere else no problem. Luckily, none of this concerns me since I''m writing fanfiction content that''ll probably waste their time if they post it elsewhere. Also, once I get past the problem of writing 3 novels at the same time, I''m planning on another novel. This time, it''s a complete original with no fanfiction. Not going to post it here since I might get fu?k?d over in the ?ss really hard by Qidian, but yeah just announcing that. It''s going to be like 50 Shades of Grey in that it''s going to be a complete original with inspirations from a well-known novel. But yeah look forward to that. Coming out in a year or two. Honestly, probably also going to get fu?k?d over by some twat reposting here on Qidian if it somehow gets popular, but I''m getting ahead of myself. Chapter 14 - Reductor Curse Chris was lying down on the floor exhausted. Quest: Catch the Practice Golden Snitch 20 times. Golden Snitch: 10/20 Reward: 250 EXP, 10 Sickles, and Reductor Curse. "Alright Chris, let''s just end practice for today. Good job catching the Snitch 10 times," Brian said. "No, I would like to practice a bit more please," Chris said. "Well it is only 6 so we still have an hour left. Alright, let''s practice a bit more. Catch the Snitch 10 more times," Brian said after contemplating for a bit. Brian then let go of the Golden Snitch once more so that Chris can catch it. Chris quickly flew up high to see where the Snitch was. When he spotted the Snitch which was only a couple of feet away, he quickly dove down to catch it as fast as he can, but the Snitch immediately flew away from him. As it was still in his vision, he quickly chased after it. After 30 seconds of chasing it, Chris b?r?ly grabbed the Snitch. He gave it to Brian to let go once more and Chris quickly rose up to find the Golden Snitch. For the next hour, Chris kept on catching the Snitch, give it back to Brian for him to release it once more. Sometimes he was lucky to find it right away while at other times, he wasn''t as lucky as he wasn''t able to find it until 10 minutes after Brian released it. When it was 7, Chris finally caught the Golden Snitch the 20th time. [Quest Complete. You have completed the quest: Catch the Practice Golden Snitch 20 times. Reward of 250 EXP, 10 Sickles, and the Reductor Curse has been given. 400 EXP is needed to level up. Money: 4 G, 16 S, 0 K.] Chris looked at the Reductor Curse that was seen quite a few times in the movies. Reductor Curse (Reducto): Able to destroy solid objects. Original Price: 10 Sickles ''Well, well, it looks like I earned 20 Sickles this time,'' Chris thought. "Alright, Chris, we have to leave now. The Gryffindors have the field now," Brian said as he and Chris left. Surprisingly, they did not see Harry or Wood when they left. When they were back in the Common Room, Brian stopped to talk to Chris. "Well good job today Chris. Tomorrow, we have our Quidditch tryouts and once we pick our members, Professor Flitwick says that he has a surprised for all of us. So look forward to it," Brian said as he left to go to his room. ''I''m sure that the surprise are the brooms. It seems that Professor Flitwick hasn''t told them about it yet. Well since it''s better to tell them when all the official members are picked, I''m sure it''s fine,'' Chris went to his room where he saw the other first year Ravenclaw boys hanging out. One of them, Terry Boot came up to Chris. "Hey Chris, wanna hang out and talk for a bit. We haven''t really talked to you since you''re always with Hermione and Kristine," Chris had a bit of time before he goes back to his regular practice in the Practice Room. "Sure," Chris said. He went to sit near the rest of the boys. "So Chris who is it?" A boy with golden hair asked. Chris remembered that he was Anthony Goldstein. "What do you mean?" Chris asked. "Which one of those girls do you like?" Anthony asked. ''Wait 11 year olds talk about love story now. I thought that was when kids were 13-14,'' Chris thought. "No one, they''re both my friends," Chris said while shaking his head. "Stop lying to us. I know you like one of them," A pretty boy with black hair said jokingly. Chris recognized him. He was Michael Corner, Ginny''s boyfriend in the fifth movie. "I''m just trying to focus on school now," Chris said. He didn''t want to reveal much to these boys who he didn''t really hang out with. Even though they were in the same House, he didn''t really consider them as good friends. At best, they were acquaintances. "Alright then," Terry Boot. "Enough of that. Let''s talk about some other stuff," The boys started talking about everything from academics to Quidditch. When Chris said he didn''t really watch too much Quidditch, the boys looked at him like he was a sinner. Then they started to talk about their favorite teams. "You know the Appleby Arrows are the best. They defeated the Vratsa Vultures after playing them for 16 days. After that day, I fell in love," Terry Boot said. "You should start watching them. They''re great," "Arrows are not that good. The Wasps are better," Anthony Goldstein said. "Have you seen Bagman? He''s won so many games for us that your Arrows don''t stand a chance. By the way, I believe that one of your seeker was forced to retire when one of our beater hit a wasp nest at him," ''They''re all good guys,'' Chris thought as he went to the Practice Room. When Chris went inside, before he started practicing, he looked at his status. Chris Evergreen Level: 7 Family: Evergreen Family Affliation: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry/Ravenclaw House Wand: 9 Inch Holly and Unicorn Tail Wnad Magical Power: 1,125 Learned Spells: Reparo LVL 2 (1400/2000), Lumos LVL 2 (1055/2000), Nox LVL 2 (1055/2000), Diffindo LVL 2 (850/1500), Wingardium Leviosa LVL 1 (700/750), Reducto LVL 1 (0/500), Inveniet LVL 1 (20/1000), Acus Verto LVL 1 (1/1000) (I decided to add learned potions now since Potions Book has been unlocked.) ''My spell collection is coming along very nicely. Well since we just started on potions, I could just add more later. For now let''s just work on spells. Since I just got the Reductor Curse, let''s work on that,'' Chris thought. The white space around Chris changed into a room full of dummies. [500 dummies have been created. Please destroy all of them.] "Well this isn''t so bad. At least I''m releasing some stress," Chris said as he got ready to destroy the dummies in front of him. "Reducto!" "Reducto!" "Reducto!" "Reducto!" [Congratulations, Host is now Level 9. Congratulations, Reducto is now level 2.] ''Damn Reducto gives so much EXP. Well I suppose since you''re supposed to learn it at Year 4, it''s technically advanced,'' Chris thought. He looked at his status once more and was pleasantly surprised. Chris Evergreen Level: 9 Family: Evergreen Family Affliation: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry/Ravenclaw House Wand: 9 Inch Holly and Unicorn Tail Wnad Magical Power: 1,325 Learned Spells: Reparo LVL 2 (1400/2000), Lumos LVL 2 (1055/2000), Nox LVL 2 (1055/2000), Diffindo LVL 2 (850/1500), Wingardium Leviosa LVL 1 (700/750), Reducto LVL 2 (0/750), Inveniet LVL 1 (20/1000), Acus Verto LVL 1 (1/1000) [Time Limit is up. Host is now going to be removed from the Practice Room.] Chris was ejected from the Practice Room and when he came back, he heard the arguing of Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein. Chapter 15 - Ravenclaw Team Quidditch Tryouts It was the next day and the day of the Quidditch tryouts. As the members of the 1991-1992 Ravenclaw Quidditch team was not shown, Chris had no idea how good any of the players were. All he knew was that this year was the year that Ravenclaw gave Gryffindor the biggest beating the Gryffindors received in 300 years thus showing that the team was pretty good. Chris knew that with him as Seeker, they would have a high chance of winning the Quidditch Cup. After attending all his classes, Chris went to the fields with Hermione and Kristine as they both wanted to watch the tryouts. Since Chris knew that all they do is study anyways, he saw no point in saying no. When they arrived at the fields, Brian was there standing next to Professor Flitwick who was standing on top of a box. Next to box were 14 colored vests and in front of Brian were at least 20 people all with different broomsticks. "Hello everyone, you guys most likely know me already. My name is Brian Milton and I am the captain of the Quidditch team. Currently, we have a Seeker and myself as a Chaser," He looked behind him and saw Chris entering. "Ah, here he is. This is our Seeker, Chris Evergreen. He was scouted by Professor Flitwick and when I saw his potential, I had to take him in. However, if you are better than him, he will be replaced immediately. Are there any questions?" No one raised their hands. "Good now let''s get started," Brian said as he took out a parchment. "So there will be two tests: one for the Seeker and one for the rest of the team. The first test that will happen is for the rest of the team. This test will just be a scrimmage where you''ll be put into the blue or red team for the positions you signed up for. This scrimmage will last 15 minutes long which is enough time for Professor Flitwick and myself to judge whether you are good enough for the team. Remember that even if you were in the Quidditch team last year, it does not guarantee a spot," Brian then sorted the students randomly and gave them a colored vest that he took out. However, there were some people leftover not able to make a full team. "The remainder students will have to wait. Some people playing now will have to play again, but this will not affect your score if you play terribly in the new game. However, if there is obvious signs of slacking, you will be rejected immediately. But this is also a second chance since if you played not so well in this match then the second match will help improve my opinion of you," Brian said. "Alright everyone who was chosen please get ready," 14 people went up into the air. They looked at each other with a bit of nervousness. Professor Flitwick then got off the box and Brian then unlocked the box. Immediately, two iron balls flew out of the box. The Golden Snitch, however, did not leave the box. Brian then took out another ball, the Quaffle, and threw it up the air. The match started and Chris was quite interested. The skills that most of these students had were mediocre at best, but there were some that were clearly better. For example, a beater on the red team was able to accurately hit the Bludger to a blue team member most of the time and there was a blue team member that was always there to block it. Seeing this, Chris already knew who the Beaters were on the team unless there were someone that was not playing right now that was better. As for the Chasers, there was only one that stood out. It was a girl in the red team that looked to be about 17 years old and in Chris'' mind, she was only a bit worse than Ginny Weasley. She continuously was able to get the Quaffle inside the goal post. In the end, she was the one that led the red team to victory. "Alright guys settle down," Brian said. "Now it''s time for the second match," Brian then organized the team again. Chris noticed that the people he thought were good were all left out. ''I suppose the decisions are already made,'' Chris thought. The teams were made again and Brian started the match once more. Chris saw that the match was much more even this time. With the seventh year girl and the two good beaters out, no one was really able to do anything. Chris honestly was b?r?ly able to tell who was better than the other. When the match was over, it was the blue team''s victory. Professor Flitwick and Brian talked for a minute "Alright we have made our decision. However, I will announce the team after the Seeker''s test. Now for the Seekers, the test is simple. I will let go of the Snitch and you have to catch it. This is not time based at all so do not worry about that. Alright Chris will go first," Brian said. Chris rose up and he heard Hermione and Kristine cheer for him. "GO CHRIS!" Hermione shouted. "YOU CAN DO IT!" Kristine exclaimed as she stood up and waved. Chris noticed that all the boys including Brian were looking at him strangely. ''Well I have to be glad there''s someone to cheer for me right?'' Chris thought as he got ready for the Snitch. "Alright Chris, I''m releasing the Snitch," Brian said as he let go of the Golden Snitch. The Snitch flew around in sight for a few seconds before completely disappearing. Chris looked in every direction. He moved around slowly to make sure that every inch was covered. Suddenly, he saw the Snitch only a couple feet off the ground. He immediately dove to get the Snitch. The Snitch started flying away, but once it was in Chris'' sight, it wasn''t able to escape him. The Snitch suddenly flew upwards which prompted Chris to lean as far back as he can to move up. He caught up with the Snitch and caught it. Chris heard Hermione and Kristine cheer for him and he waved back at them before coming down. When Chris came down, he gave Brian the Snitch. "Here you go Captain," Chris said. "Well done Chris. Excellent reaction time," Brian said with a smile. Suddenly two boys that looked to be around 13 came up to Brian. "Captain, we would like to withdraw from the tryouts," One of the boys said while the other nodded. "Oh, but you haven''t even shown your skills yet," Brian said. "Yes, but we don''t think we can beat that reaction time," The other boy said. Suddenly most of the people signing up to be the Seeker withdrew their application. Brian shrugged as he knew that even if they did tryout, they most likely wouldn''t be able to top Chris. However, there were some that did try their luck, but most missed their first time seeing the Snitch. The ones that had caught it the first time were a bit worse than Chris. Chapter 16 - Quidditch Tryouts Over Tryouts were over and Brian gathered everyone who tried out. "So, here are the people that made it. The Seeker is Chris Evergreen. The 3 Chasers are myself, Roger Davies, and Aletha Mulberry. The 2 Beaters are Duncan Inglebee and Jason Samuels. Finally, the Keeper is Grant Page," Brian said. "Thank you everybody for trying out. Everyone who made it please stay while the rest is dismissed," Some were disgruntled while others were accepting. Regardless of their feeling, everyone except for the 6 people left. After everybody left, Brian started his speech. "So congratulations everybody for getting in the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. I''m extremely confident that we''re going to win. Not only because of the superb players, but also because of a little surprise Professor Flitwick has for us. Professor," Brian said. "Thank you Brian. Well, like Brian has previously said, congratulations. Your skills will definitely lead our House to victory. Now as you know, the Evergreen family has donated us 40 Comet 360s to the school for Flying Lessons," Professor Flitwick said. Everybody nodded. They kind of knew where this was going, but they were still unsure. "I know what all of you kids are thinking. Mr. Evergreen has donated us more Comet 360s. However, you are incorrect. Indeed, he has donated us some brooms, but it''s not the Comet 360s, but the Nimbus 2000s!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. Everyone was silent. "Professor, I apologize, but I think my hearing has gone a little bad today because of a Potions experiment. Did I hear Nimbus 2000 correctly?" "Yes, you have heard me correctly, Nimbus 2000s. Fresh out of the parcel. 7 brooms so that you can all play with your full potential," Professor Flitwick said. Everyone except Chris took a bit of time digesting this new information. Even Brian was completely still. After around 30 seconds of pondering, they all started cheering loudly. "We''re going to win!" Roger Davies, one of the Chaser shouted. "Not only do we have the best team, we have the best brooms!" Aletha exclaimed. "We have to win! If we don''t we''ll be disappointing the Evergreen family," Brian said with a smile. "Yes you''ll be disappointing me Captain. If we don''t win, I won''t get allowance for the next 7 years!" Chris said jokingly. "Alright for Chris and the Evergreen Family, we have to win!" Duncan Inglebee said. Everybody cheered a little more before Brian started announcing other news such as practice time and game days. After 5 minutes of announcement, Brian dismissed everybody. Chris said his goodbyes and went to Hermione and Kristine. "Hey Chris, you did great there!" Hermione said. "Yeah, compared to you, those other kids who tried out were complete amateurs!" Kristine said as she extended her hand to high five Chris. Chris high fived her back. "It''s nothing much. After practicing yesterday, catching the Snitch with no interruption is not that hard," Chris said. "Alright," Hermione said. "Then you have to win the Quidditch Cup or else you''ll get a punishment," "Oh what''s the punishment?" Chris asked. "Oh, I don''t know," Hermione said as she looked at Kristine. "Maybe 5 minutes of Rictumsempra," Kristine said with a mischievous smile. "I have to win now," Chris said seriously. "I''m going to die if I laugh for 5 minutes straight!" "Well then, give Ravenclaw the honor of the Quidditch Cup," Hermione said while chuckling. Chris laughed and the three went to the library to study some more. ... Time passed quickly and it was now almost 2 months since Chris has started attending Hogwarts and a lot has happened for Chris. Firstly, during the past 2 months, he practiced and leveled up to level 25 allowing him to now use the Practice Room for 3 hours a day. Leveling up also helped unlock new spells and potion recipes from his Wizarding Book and Potion Book although he hasn''t bought any yet aside from the Finding Charm from when he wanted to find Trevor. However, the one he received from the Quest intrigued Chris quite a bit. It was called the Sensory Deprivation Hex. At first, Chris thought he could permanently cripple his enemies, but that wasn''t the case. For a second, the target would not be able to use any senses, including what some would call the 6th sense. However, the catch was that this spell can only be used on the same target every 5 minutes. While a second does not seem to be a lot, Chris knew just how overpowered it was. The 5 minute rule can just be ignored altogether as it doesn''t really make a difference. If Voldemort got ahold of this hex, he could cast it and then immediately use Avada Kedavra to instantly kill his foes. It was the ultimate combo spell. When Chris realized just how much this spell can do, he was extremely pleased with it as the Quest was simply creating a Potion in Snape''s class. As for his new Quidditch schedule, practice was a lot more time and energy consuming than Chris originally thought. Before he was able to have a lot of hang-out time after class, but now, he b?r?ly has enough time to study. Of course by the time, he was done practicing in the Practice Room, he was completely worn out. Luckily, today was not a day where there was practice as it was Halloween. Author''s Note: Guys, I DID IT! Now let me fully explain to you guys why my update stability was so garbage from the start. If you are a reader of my first novel, you know that I just graduated recently. So after vacation started, I had some stuff to do such as driving lessons and etc. However, one of the main reasons why I haven''t uploaded as much is League Of Legends. You guys probably know this game so I won''t explain it, but the thing was that I''ve been playing this game for almost 8 years now and I was hardstuck Bronze 5 for the past 6 years breaking the Bronze status last season with Silver 4. I swore to myself that I will hit Gold this season and I''ve been grinding. Silver is fu?k?n? garbage and it was hard carrying myself out as I won then lost won then lost and the cycle went on until today, I have finally hit Gold. I know that for some of you, Gold is trash, but it was my goal since Season 3 and I have finally hit it. I think with that I''ll update more since I won''t spend hours on League anymore. Chapter 17 - Halloween Surprise It was time for Halloween dinner and Chris and Kristine were in the dining room eating. "Where Hermione?" Chris asked before taking a huge bite out of a roasted chicken. "She went to the restroom earlier. She hasn''t come out yet," Kristine said as she was putting more food on her plate. "Wait a minute here," Chris said. "Hermione is at the bathroom? Which one?" Kristine looked at him with a weird look, but she still answered. "The first floor bathroom," Kristine said. ... Chris was silent for a couple of seconds. "What''s wrong?" Kristine asked. "Cat''s got your tongue?" ''The first floor girl''s bathroom is where the troll was in the book. Even without Ron to make her cry, she''s still there?!'' Chris thought. ''I guess it''s her fate to be attacked by that troll,'' As Chris was about to leave the dining hall, Professor Quirrell came in distressed. "Troll in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know!" Quirrell said as he fainted. "We have to tell Hermione NOW!" Chris said as he quickly left the hall while everyone was panicking. From outside he heard Dumbledore shouting to calm the students down. Kristine was right behind him. As they were going to the bathroom where Hermione was, they smelled the awful smell. It smelled like someone defecated right in front of them and they were forced to smell in up close. Soon Chris and Kristine saw the troll walking inside the bathroom where Hermione was. They heard her scream and immediately went inside. Hermione was running away from the troll swinging its club. "Reducto!" Chris chanted as he took out his wand. The spell hit the troll''s club immediately breaking it into pieces. The troll seeing its weapon destroyed was enraged. Even without its club, it was extremely strong and so it started swinging its arm randomly to try to hit Chris. Chris tried out different spells, but most were pretty useless. The Knockback Jinx only pushed it back a little bit. The Sensory Deprivation Hex was not at all useful as it was really only good against wizards. Hermione and Kristine tried to help out as well, but like Chris, their spells were only good enough to distract the troll for a little bit before turning its attention back onto Chris. "I didn''t want to make this bloody," Chris mumbled as he was running around dodging the troll''s swing. "Reducto," Chris waved his wand and suddenly, the troll''s left arm disappeared only leaving dust behind. "Reducto! Reducto! REDUCTO!" Chris chanted 3 times. The troll''s right arm and its two legs then disappeared once again leaving only dust behind. The troll screamed out in pain and fainted. While it was down, there was blood that was starting to spill. Hermione and Kristine quickly looked away from the troll. Chris lied down more tired than ever. ''It seems that going into life or death battles and casting a spell 3 times is more tiring than casting the same spells 10 times in the Practice Room,'' Chris thought. Hermione and Kristine approached Chris who was catching his breath, "Are you alright there Chris?" Kristine asked. "As fit as a fiddle," Chris answered with his thumbs up. "Thank you guys for saving me. If it wasn''t for you guys, I might have been crushed by that smelly troll," Hermione said. While Hermione was thanking Chris and Kristine, Chris noticed something inside the broken wall. He stood up and put his hands inside the wall. It was a bit of a struggle, but he was able to take out the book. "What is it?" Hermione asked. "Well, it''s a small book. A journal perhaps?" Kristine guessed. Chris put it in a pocket as soon as he heard footsteps. When the footsteps stopped, Chris saw Professor McGonagall with Snape at the doorstep. (Author''s Note: Purposefully did not put Quirrell there. I didn''t forget him.) "What''s going o-" When Professor McGonagall saw the bloody dismembered troll, she was horrified. She once again looked at the trio. "Did you- Did you three do this?" Professor McGonagall asked. "I''m sorry Professor. I was trying to fight the troll as I read about it, but if it wasn''t for Chris and Kristine who found me, I would''ve been troll food," Hermione said. "10 points from Ravenclaw Miss Granger. Go back to your Common Room immediately," Professor Snape said with a cold tone. "Yes Professor," Hermione said. "Miss Alder," Professor McGonagall said. "Although it was dangerous, since it was to save your fellow student, I''ll give you 5 points. Now please leave and continue your feast in your Common Room," "Yes Professor," Kristine said happily as she left the bathroom. "Mr. Evergreen..." Professor McGonagall said. "From the looks of it, I suppose you used the Reductor Curse," "Yes Professor," Chris said. "The Reductor Curse as a first year. Severus, what do you think about this?" Professor McGonagall asked. ... Snape didn''t say anything. "Well I''m pretty speechless myself about this myself, but Mr. Evergreen, there are 2 things I have to say. Firstly, excellent job defeating the troll. You have earned your house 10 points for not only saving your friend, but also being able to use a spell that''s taught in the 5th year. However, as you have most likely noticed, this spell is extremely dangerous and from the fact that you can use this spell, you can most likely learn other similar spells. I would like to advise you to not abuse this power. It may satisfy you for that one moment, but your life as a wizard will forever be over. I know it may be hard given how young you are, but please do not throw away your future to satisfy yourself for that one moment," Professor McGonagall said. "Well then, go to your Common Room to finish your Feast," Professor McGonagall said. Chris left the girl''s bathroom. Professor McGonagall then looked at Snape. "Severus, I know you have things to say. What do you think?" "He''s as talented as the Dark Lord, no maybe even better," Snape said. "Do you think he''s just as corrupted?" Professor McGonagall asked. "No, from what I know, the Dark Lord had signs of being a corrupted individual ever since he was a child. Evergreen doesn''t have any signs of being the second Dark Lord. Unless something drastic happens, he''ll probably be the successor of Dumbledore," Snape said. "I didn''t think you thought so highly of him," Professor McGonagall said with a surprised tone. "He''s not from my House, but I acknowledge that the talent he has is the best I''ve seen in years. Perhaps, he''ll end the war," "Unfortunately, that job is not for him. It''s for Potter," Professor McGonagall said. "Hmph, leaving the future of the Wizarding World to the son of that dunderhead is possibly the worst decision we have ever made," Snape said coldly. "But that is our only choice. However, with the addition of Mr. Evergreen, perhaps the end of the era is near," Professor McGonagall said. "We''ll see," Snape said. ... Chapter 18 - Mysterious Book When Chris left the bathroom, he saw Hermione and Kristine who were waiting for him. "So how many points did McGonagall award you?" Kristine asked. "10," Chris answered. "What? Only 10? You used the Reductor Curse, an extremely complicated curse and she only awarded you as much as she took away from Hermione? I would have just let Ravenclaw win the House Cup if I was Professor McGonagall," Kristine said. "Well unfortunately, I wasn''t able to win us the House Cup," Chris said jokingly. Then he took out the book that he found in the bathroom. "What''s written inside?" Hermione asked. "Well there''s only one way to find out," Chris said as he opened the book. On the first page was only a riddle. -I am something that''s yours, but only others normally use it. What am I?- (Gonna use - to show that it''s writing inside a book.) "A riddle," Kristine said. "It doesn''t look that hard," Hermione said. However, the more they looked at the riddle, the harder it became. "It seems so simple. The answer is right there, but I can''t grasp it," Kristine said. ''System can I buy the answer to this riddle?'' Chris asked. [The answer to this riddle is not purchasable.] Chris was a bit surprised by the answer. ''I thought that level 25 was high enough for something as simple as an answer to a riddle. What level do I have to be to buy the answer?'' Chris asked. [Host has a new mission: Figure out the Riddle. Stop asking the System for the answer.] Quest: Find the answer to the riddle Reward: 1 Galleon, 300 EXP, and 1 Wand Picking Ticket ''Holy! The reward is 1 Galleon?'' Chris thought. His opinion of the mysterious book rose. ''This book must be important if the reward is a Galleon for just solving a riddle in it,'' "So what do you think Chris?" Kristine suddenly asked. "What?" Chris asked. "What do you think is the answer?" Kristine asked. "This..." Chris was also stuck. He couldn''t come up with an answer and it felt as if there was food right in front of him, but he was only centimeters off from reaching it. "If it''s something that everyone else uses then it must be something very simple. Otherwise there''s no way that everyone else can use it," Hermione said. "Furthermore, it''s something that you don''t use all that often either. Or else it would''ve specified that we use it as well," Chris added. "Then it can''t be an object since we would use it if we let others use it," Kristine said. "If it isn''t an object that what can it be?" Hermione asked. "I mean that''s really the only thing that we let others use that''s in our possession," ... Chris suddenly had an inspiration. "No, objects aren''t the only thing that can fit this. We can fit one more thing into this category," Chris said. The girls looked confused and were looking at Chris anticipating the answer. "Names! We have a name, but normally only other people use it to get our attention," Chris said. Hermione and Kristine both widened their eyes. "Agh! How can I forget about names?" Hermione questioned herself. "It was such a simple answer," "Well, I was right in thinking that the answer was quite simple," Kristine said. Chris opened the book to the first page once more. "The answer is a name," Chris said. As soon as Chris answered the riddle, the riddle on the page disappeared. New sentences came to replace the riddle. -You are correct. Although slow, the riddle has been solved.- Chris was a bit irked at what the book said, but he didn''t really pay too much attention to it. The provocative sentence quickly disappeared adding new information. -The secrets are now passed down to you. Will you find it?- Chris tilted his head in confusion. ''What?'' Chris flipped through the pages and on the next page, Chris found something. -On the land of the free lies the foreign lady. She holds life itself and on top lies a piece of hope.- Chris, Hermione, and Kristine were now even more confused. "Close that book," Kristine said. "It''s making my head hurt," Chris hurriedly closed the book and they all went back to the Ravenclaw Common Room where everyone started questioning where they were. "Where were you guys?" Padma Parvati asked. "Oh the professors called us out for something," Kristine quickly said. "It was related to school work," "Why would they talk to you guys about that right now when there''s a troll waiting to eat students?" Padma asked. "I don''t know. They seem to be confident that they can put down the troll," Hermione said. "Alright then," Padma said even though she still had a bit of suspicion. "Alright let''s eat, I''m still starving," Chris said as his meal was cut off a bit short by the troll. He and the the two girls went to the place where the food was at and saw that there was b?r?ly enough food for the 3 of them. They quickly ate and went back to their dorms. ... On his bed, Chris got his rewards. ''Alright, it''s time to choose my next wand,'' Chris thought as he activated the Wand Picking Ticket. [Wand Picking Ticket activated. Host will now be given the choice of 10 random wands.] ''Alright lord, please give me a good one,'' Chris thought as the 10 wands were being shown. Chapter 19 - New Wand Received The 10 wands were being shown and Chris was crossing his fingers. 1: Apple Wood with Basilisk Horn: +1750 Magical Power, 5/10 loyalty, and increase ability in status ailment spells. 2: Cypress wood with Water Elemental Heart: +1500 Magical Power, 6/10 loyalty, and increased power of water-based spells. 3: Pine wood with Dragon Heartstring: 1900 Magical Power, 6/10 loyalty, increased creativity in spell-making, and more efficiency in non-verbal spells. 4: Walnut wand with Fire Elemental Heart: +1600 Magical Power, 5/10 loyalty, and increased power of fire-based spell 5: Yew Wand with Dark Elemental Heart: +1450 Magical Power, 8/10 Loyalty, and dramatic increase in power in the Dark Arts. 6: Thunder Wood with Dragon Heartstring: +2000 Magical Power, 4/10 Loyalty, and increase in power for thunder spells and body strengthening spells. 7: Elemental Wood with Unicorn Tail Hair: +1500 Magical Power, 9/10 Loyalty, and slight increase in power for all elemental spells. 8: Hornbeam Wood with Cerberus Fur: +1800 Magical Power, 10/10 Loyalty, and increased efficiency in one targeted skill (unchangeable until next wand change). 9: Holly and Thunderbird Tail Feather: +1950 Magical Power, 7/10 Loyalty, increased power of thunder spells, and +10% extra income from quests. 10: Laughing Wood and Laughing Bat Heart: +1600 Magical Power, 7/10 Loyalty, when spells hit, 10% chance that the opponent will burst into laughter for 10 seconds. ''System I don''t know 80% of the material used here. I''m also realizing that the amount of magical power that these wands give are far more than the first wands,'' Chris said. ''Hmm.. I thought you''d be scamming me with garbage wands, but you did the opposite. They''re all so good that I don''t even know what to pick,'' Chris said. -Please choose your wand within 10 minutes or else the ticket will expire.- Chris continued to stare at the wands. ''Well I''m left with 3. The Dark Arts One, the money increasing one, and the increased creativity one. They''re all superbly good and I''m going to be stuck with this wand for a while so I need to choose well,'' -You now have 5 more minutes to choose your wand.- After a quick rundown of his current situation and the abilities of the 3 wands, Chris found his answer. ''The Thunderbird Tail Feather wand seems to be good enough. I get extra money from quests and all i need to do is to learn thunder-based skills which I''m guessing will be excellent for dueling,'' Chris thought. ''System give me the Holly and Thunderbird Tail Feather Wand,'' -Congratulations, you have gained a new wand. Your old wand has been destroyed and now everyone will now believe that the Holly and Thunderbird Tail Feather Wand was always your wand. Please extend your hand.- Chris extended his hand and received his new wand. It was a light brown wand with a lightning sign on the handle just like Harry Potter''s scar. Chris now looked at his new stats. Level: 25 Family: Evergreen Family Affliations: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Ravenclaw House Wand: 10 inch Holly and Thunderbird Tail Feather Wand Magical Power: 4050 (+1950 from wand) Magical Power Learned Spells (Top 5 Spells): Reducto LVL 3: 950/1000, Lumos LVL 5 (Able to cast non-verbally with a lot of effort) 11,423/15000, Nox LVL 5 (Able to cast non-verbally with a lot of effort) 11,423/15000, Privatio Sensoria LVL 3 760/800, Diffindo LVL 4 8000/10000 Learned Potions: Cure for Boils (95% success), Forgetfulness Potion (70% success), and Wiggenweld Potion (50% success) ''Well my magical power is rising slowly, but surely. Even though I''m extremely far away from the 6.5 million. Even that journal. If even Dumbledore didn''t know about this then I''m sure that the power of whatever is hidden in the book much more than 6.5 million,''javascript:; Chapter 20 - Mysterious Secret When Chris woke up the next day, he first reread the mysterious book that he found. ''It doesn''t make sense. A foreign lady holding hope? What kind of foreign lady holds hope?'' Chris thought. After eating breakfast with the girls, the three of them went to Transfiguration class. "Today we''ll continue to review the spell we learned yesterday," Professor McGonagall said. ... The hour passed by quickly with Chris practicing the spell and occasionally helping out other students who were struggling. Right before class ended, Professor McGonagall went to where Chris, Hermione, and Kristine were. "I would like to talk to you three after class ends. I''ll write a note to your next teacher so do not worry about that," Professor McGonagall said to them and walked away. "Is this about yesterday?" Hermione asked. "Didn''t I already get in trouble for that?" "You think she''s going to revoke the points she awarded us and take away more points from Hermione?" Kristine asked. "I don''t know," Chris said completely clueless as the book didn''t have anything like this. "Well whatever it is, we have no choice, but to take whatever she hands out," When class was over, the three nervously went to Professor McGonagall. "Professor is there anything you need from us?" Hermione asked with a frightened tone. "Now no need to be so nervous Miss Granger. I have already taken off points from you yesterday and said everything I needed to say," Professor McGonagall said with a smile. "However, before talking about this matter, I would like to ask you three to sign this parchment. If this cannot be done, then leave the classroom," She then proceeded to give them a parchment. ''The students signing this parchment will not tell any of contents said regardless of agreement or disagreement. If the student breaks this rule, they will give the Professors legal rights to modify the memory of the contents said,'' The three looked at each other seriously. "If this is what is needed to be signed, then this must be serious. Let''s sign it. It''s only a confidentiality paper," Kristine said. "But hypothetically, what if we''re tortured. Let''s say someone used the Cruciatus Curse on us?" Chris asked. "We will have measures against that," Professor McGonagall said. "However, before I continue please sign this parchment," The three signed the parchment and Professor McGonagall smiled. "What you''re here for is something else. After seeing your talents yesterday Mr. Evergreen, I have fully realized what is needed to be done. A few professors such as Professor Snape, Flitwick, and I have decided to create a club. It''s specifically for dueling so spells such as your Reductor curse will be taught although it will not be used like you did Mr. Evergreen. We will invite 3 students per year from each house. Each student will be the most talented within their year and house. For the Ravenclaw first year, Professor Flitwick decided to choose you three. Will you three join?" Hermione, Kristine, and Chris all looked at each other and nodded. "Yes, this is such a great opportunity for us to learn new things!" Hermione said happily. "We''d love to join," "But Professor, what''s this dueling club for anyways? I''m sure it''s not only because of Chris'' action last night. Also, why do we need to be so secretive about this. Can''t we just make a simple dueling club?," Kristine asked. "Well there''s no need to worry about that Miss Alder," Professor McGonagall said. "It''s an extremely complicated explanation so I will not get into it. As for your second question, it is also an extremely complicated question. All I can say is that Professor Dumbledore will not have the best time if others knew that this club was being made," "Professor, what about the Slytherins?" Chris asked. "While there may have been some people that have gone evil in other Houses, Slytherins have a history of falling into the dark side. I would say at least 90% of Death Eaters who came from Hogwarts were Slytherin students," "Of course, every student will be monitored and screened carefully so that there would not be any of that. Professor Severus Snape will personally make sure of it. In my opinion, he''s the best at differentiating who''s good and who''s bad," Professor McGonagall said. Chris nodded. As Snape was a Death Eater himself, it wouldn''t be too difficult to notice anything strange with any of the students. "Alright is that all your questions? If so, Professor Flitwick will give you the timetable later after we have decided on all our students. I''ll write you guys a note to your next class so hurry on!" Professor McGonagall said as she started writing. "Oh yes," Professor McGonagall said suddenly. "Please sign this parchment as well," She gave them a parchment that had the following. ''The students signing this parchment will not be allowed to talk about the dueling club to anyone. If a student breaks this rule, the student will be forced to leave the club and gives legal rights for the Professors to use Legilimency and the Memory Charm to modify the memories of the Dueling Club. Professors will completely make sure that each and every student is completely safe and if there is an accident, there will be compensation for the student and the school will try every means to properly heal the student. If a student purposefully gets hurt to receive compensation, the school will immediately expel the student and the student gives legal rights for the Professors to use Legilimency and the Memory Charm to modify the memories of the Dueling Club and no compensation will be given. There will also be no help from the school to help heal the student in this case. If there is foul play, the student committing foul play will immediately be expelled and the student gives legal rights for the Professors to use Legilimency and the Memory Charm to modify the memories of the Dueling Club,'' "This is quite the parchment we have to sign Professor," Chris said. "Well, this is to protect the club. Oh yes, if you''re wondering if the teachers have to sign anything, we have another contract made for us," Professor McGonagall said. The three signed the parchment and Professor McGonagall gave them the note. After she gave them a slip of paper, the three left the classroom. ''Why did they do this? Dumbledore knew that Voldemort was still alive even now and he still didn''t create any clubs. Why would they create this now?'' Chris thought as he went to the next class. However, he couldn''t really find an answer as he arrived to his next class with his note. Chapter 21 - Dueling Club When class was over, Chris went to Quidditch practice where he saw Professor Flitiwick on the field. "Hello, Mr. Evergreen, would you mind talking to me for a second?" Professor Flitwick asked. "No I wouldn''t mind," Chris said. "Excellent. Come with me for a second," Professor Flitwick said. When Chris went with Professor Flitwick outside the field, he gave Chris 3 paper. "This is the schedule for the dueling club. Please give this to Miss Alder and Miss Granger as well," Professor Flitwick said. "I''ll give it to them after Quidditch Practice," Chris said. "Good, well then I''ll see you in class tomorrow," Professor Flitwick said. After practice was over, Chris went to the Common Room and saw Kristine and Hermione. "Here you go," Chris said. "What is it?" Kristine asked. "It''s the schedule for the dueling club. It seems that it starts next week," Chris said. "Alright," Hermione said. "Well the schedule isn''t too bad. We have to go to Professor McGonagall''s classroom by 8:00 P.M so we all have plenty of time to study and rest. 1st years are paired with 2nd years on Mondays, 3rd with 4th on Tuesdays, and 5th, 6th, and 7th are together on Wednesday. On Thursday it''s the first 3 years and on Friday it''s the other 4 years. It''s like a regular class size, but I''m sure that with 3-5 teachers teaching only dueling spells, it should be much more productive," "Before we get to that," Kristine said. "What do you think the reason for this whole dueling club is. There''s really no point in making this whole secret club even with seeing Chris'' talent," "Here is a theory," Chris said. "You-Know-Who is alive. The professors know this and rather than having unprepared students, they have some elite students learn spells that can help defend Hogwarts. The reason why it''s a secret is because The Ministry is trying to make the public unaware by denying it. Professor McGonagall said that Dumbledore would get in trouble so it means that if the current Minister of Magic is aware of this dueling club, he''ll think that Dumbledore is building up an army to go against the Minister of Magic which will cause a war between Hogwarts and the Ministry," ... "Chris that sounds like a fairy tale. There''s no way that the Ministry would do that," Hermione said. "Because that would make it just how You-Know-Who wants it to-" "Get it now Hermione? You-Know-Who is not showing up because of two reasons. The first is because Harry Potter has defeated him. Secondly, while he can call his loyal followers to do his evil bidding, that would mean that he would have to expose himself. He''s lying in wait for him to recover and take over the Wizarding World once more," Chris said. "Still it''s extremely far-fetched. While it''s not implausible that You-Know-Who is still alive and the Ministry is trying to cover that up, but to wage war on Dumbledore because of this is absolutely absurd. Wouldn''t it be better to have young elites go into the Ministry''s army just in case?" Kristine asked. "The fact that the Professors want to keep it a secret shows that the current Minister is not capable of thinking ahead. I know what people like Minister Fudge is like. Originally, Dumbledore was supposed to be the Minister, but he didn''t want to so by default Fudge was Minister. People who get into power like him know that they can be kicked out at any moment. They don''t care about the people, but only about how they can stay in power the longest. If it was up to me, I would put in another Minister that could help us prepare for You-Know-Who," Chris said. "Careful Chris," Hermione said while looking around. "You could get in serious trouble for saying something like that," "What is the Minister going to do? Punish my family?" Chris asked. "They wouldn''t dare touch them just like how they don''t dare touch the Malfoy family. The Ministry is mostly just a group of frightened politicians. Of course, there are a few that are not like this such as the Aurors, Barty Crouch, and people like Arthur Weasley. Without people like them, the Ministry would have lost to You-Know-Who a long time ago," "Alright let''s not talk about this anymore," Kristine said. "I''m going to bed. Today''s transfiguration homework was a bit difficult," She yawned and left the Common Room. Hermione soon followed leaving Chris alone in the Common Room. ''Well at the very least, they have some idea of what''s going on,'' Chris thought. ''Even if they don''t believe it right now, if they even have the slightest acceptance towards my "theory" then spending tonight to talk about this is not wasted,'' It was now the following Monday. After practice, Chris rested for around half an hour before going to Professor McGonagall''s classroom with Hermione and Kristine. There were 24 small chairs on left side of the room creating a huge space in the middle and the right side of the room.. Inside was only Professor McGonagall and 3 other students who were extremely familiar to Chris. "Hello Harry," Chris greeted. "Hello Chris, it''s nice to meet again," Harry said. "Hey don''t tell me you forgot me already," Ron suddenly said. "Of course, hello Ron and Se-yeon as well," Chris said. "Hello," Se-yeon said timidly. ''Guess she''s not too good with people,'' Chris thought. "Hello there Mr. Evergreen, Miss Granger, and Miss Alder," Professor McGonagall said. "Well you are also quite early. Please have a seat anywhere. Since this is a joint class, there''ll be no separation between houses and years. In fact, I encourage you to sit next to other house members and if you''re comfortable enough with other year members as well," "So do you think Professor Snape is going to be here?" Se-yeon asked. "I don''t think he likes us three," "The chances are high. Regardless of what you think, he''s one of the most talented wizards in the school," Chris said. Harry and Ron ?r??n?d at that. "What if he''s sick or... just something happened to him?" Ron asked. "He''s a potions master. Even if he got bitten by the most poisonous animal in the world, I''m sure he would come," Hermione said trying to defend Snape a little. As Snape was not that cruel to the three, they were not as hostile as Harry and Ron. "Well we''ll have to find out," Kristine said a bit annoyed with Ron''s whiny attitude. Soon it was 8 and there were kids streaming in filling up the empty chairs. Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout also came in the room around the same time. After she saw that everyone was seated and quiet, Professor McGonagall went to the middle of the classroom. "Hello 1st and 2nd year students. You have been chosen by your extreme talents. This will be the first year of the Dueling Club, a secret club where you will learn how to use spells that will help you defeat even the strongest of enemies. There is a lot to cover, but I am sure that we''ll be able to do it. Think of it as your advanced night time class. By being here today, you have signed the parchment so I am sure you know the rules. However, to reiterate, you will not say anything about the club to anyone. All your parents have been informed and they know not to ask questions about the dueling club to you. No purposeful injuries and no foul play. Those are three rules that will be implemented for now. More can be added later on although they will not be added to the parchment," Professor McGonagall said. "While I teach mostly dunderheads, most of you are the smarter ones out of the dunderheads so I hope that you all absorb what we teach you here," Snape said with his usual cold tone. Snape left the middle and Professor Flitwick then went to middle. "Well, the first thing we have to do is to find a captain. For today we''ll be dueling and the winner of their respective year will become the leader of their year," Suddenly the room turned tense. With everyone being somewhat competitive, they were all determined to be at the top and if they can impress the professors. ''Well this is getting interesting,'' Chris thought. Chapter 22 - Duel Tournament Starts "Alright," Professor Flitwick said as he pushed a chalkboard that was at the side of the room. "There is a lot of space in this room so there will be 12 matches at a time which means that everyone will be dueling. I have an enchanted chalkboard here that has everyone''s name on it. When you win, you will be receiving a point so 11 in total if you win everybody. Whoever has the most amount of points in their respective year will be the captain. I will explain what the role of the captain is at the end of the duels," Professor Flitwick stepped back and Professor McGonagall once again stepped forward. "Here are the rules of the duels. You cannot use seriously injure someone. If it was an accident, you will be let off. However, a majority of the teachers have to say that it was an accident. If you taunt anybody and get injured, the votes will most likely go against you and be deemed an accident. You may not physically attack someone. If the other person surrenders, you must not attack them or else, you will be forced to leave the club. There are also other obvious rules to keep like not interfering with anyone else''s duel. Finally, this isn''t a rule, but is important to remember," Professor McGonagall said. "As people who have none to limited dueling experience, use this opportunity to get the feeling of dueling. Even though it isn''t the same as actual dueling, it''s quite similar so getting experience here is beneficial. Are there any questions?" Chris raised his hand. "Yes Mr. Evergreen?" Professor McGonagall asked. "How do we start the match? Are we starting at the same time or is there some other mechanism?" "I will see that everyone is ready. Once they are, I will start the matches. Are there any more questions?" She asked. No one raised their hand. "Alright the chalkboard here is enchanted to not only keep track of your score, but to also choose who goes against who," Professor McGonagall said. As soon as she finished her sentence, the chalkboard that was once empty was now filled with names with 12 rows and 2 names side by side every row. Chris was about to see the chalk board, but the System quickly interrupted him. [You have a new Quest. You must defeat everyone and become the captain of the Dueling Club] Captain Role: 0/1 Reward: 1 Galleon and 1 random offensive spell ''Hmm.. the system was never this general with the spells given. Well then, I suppose it should be good,'' Chris thought. He looked at the board and saw his name in the middle. Chris Evergreen (Ravenclaw) - Se-yeon Sung (Gryffindor) Chris saw Se-yeon already on the other side of the room. He walked to where she was and stood 2 meters away from her. "Let''s have a good duel," Se-yeon said as she took out her wand. "I have always wondered how strong you were. Yes, let''s have a good duel," Chris said as he took out his wand. When Professor McGonagall saw that every student was ready, she raised her wand up high. "Students start!" She said as she let out a red light from her wand. "Flipendo!" Se-yeon immediately chanted. "Flipendo!" Chris chanted at the same time. Even though they used the same spell, the effects were quite different. Chris merely tripped while Se-yeon was pushed 3 feet away and couldn''t breathe as if someone punched all the air out of her lungs. "Rictumsempra!" Chris chanted and a white bolt came out of his wand and hit Se-yeon. Chris learned this in the Grade 2 Standard Book of Spells in the library and while he didn''t really practice it a lot, he was decent at it. So when Se-yeon felt like she could breathe again, she again couldn''t breathe because she started to laugh crazily. "ST- HAHA STOP! I- HAHA- FORFEIT!" Se-yeon''s loud laughter surprised the surrounding kids. "Alright, I guess the duel''s over," Chris said. The effect of the Tickling Charm soon ran out and Se-yeon was on the floor catching her breath. ''The spell wasn''t a duel-ending spell, but if I didn''t surrender, he would''ve hit me with another spell. I thoroughly lost...'' Se-yeon thought as she stood up after catching her breath. ''Can''t believe that I don''t have any spells to use...'' Chris thought. ''I mean the Sense Deprivation Hex can''t be used right now. The Professors will question me about it and I can''t really answer it. Well then, I suppose, I''ll have to make the opponents bleed a little,'' Soon everyone''s duel was over and Chris saw his next opponent. ''Oh, what a perfect person to harm a bit,'' Chris thought. Chris walked away to an empty spot and Draco soon followed. He stood around 2 meters away from Chris. "So we meet again Malfoy," Chris said. "You know, I didn''t bother researching you before since you never got in my way," Draco said. "However, after that day of teaming up against Potter, I started getting some information. I heard that you''re with those 2 mudblood girls. You know if you want to hang out with people, at least hang out with people of your status. Even the Weasleys, who can''t even buy a robe without selling their house would be a better choice," Chris, hearing the insults, felt like his veins were starting to pop. "Honestly, Malfoy, you could say whatever you wand about me. I honestly do not care, but you called my two friends that word? I think that counts as a taunt and while I can''t seriously injure you, I can at the very least hurt you quite a bit. Alright let''s get this duel started," Chris said as he readied his wand. Chapter 23 - Chris VS Draco As soon as Chris finished his statement, Professor McGonagall started the match. Before Draco could cast a spell, Chris quickly casted his. "Privatio Sensoria," Chris chanted. Draco now having none of the 6 senses, dropped his wand. "Diffindo! Diffindo!" Chris chanted with an angry tone. As Draco soon got his senses back, he realized that there were now 2 somewhat deep cuts on his ?h?st. "Ahhhhh!" He screamed as he got on the floor and started rolling in pain. ''I didn''t want to use the Sense Deprivation Hex, but for you who called Hermione and Kristine mudbloods, I think I''ll take the risk,'' Chris thought as he smiled seeing Draco suffering. "What happened here?!" Professor McGonagall asked loudly as she ran to Draco. She took a look at Draco and a look at Chris. "Mr. Evergreen, you used the Severing Charm to inflict quite a nasty injury on Mr. Malfoy. Can you explain yourself," Everyone in the room stopped dueling and looked at Chris and Draco who was still lying down groaning in pain. "Professor McGonagall, perhaps I can explain," Professor Flitwick said. "From what I heard, before the duel started, Mr. Malfoy has insulted Miss Granger and Miss Alder. Before, I could go to them, the match has already started and it lasted so quickly. I did not hear the exact words Mr. Malfoy used so Mr. Evergreen, would you please elaborate," "Yes Professor Flitwick," Chris said. "I was planning on having a good duel with Malfoy. While we did not have the best first impression, I still believe that deep down, he''s a decent person. However, I do not know where he has heard this word, but he has called my two closest friends mud-. I''d rather not say the word," Everyone gasped at what Chris said. In the surroundings, you could hear faint whispers. "That word? People still use that word?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked Ernie Macmillan who he was dueling before everyone stopped. "Well, it''s not really used, but I heard that it''s used by a lot of the pure bloods," Ernie said. Everyone was whispering and Professor McGonagall''s face was contorted with anger. "Using that word here at Hogwarts?! We have long gone past the days of persecuting others for their ancestry! I say that this will be deemed an "accident" and Slytherin will lose 5 points for use of such a wretched word. A first year using that word so naturally? This is madness. What do you say professors?" Professor McGonagall said. "I think that both people should be punished," Snape said as he knew he couldn''t get Draco out of the punishment. "Even though Mr. Malfoy has taunted Mr. Evergreen, the injuries inflicted on Mr. Malfoy are a bit too much even for the use of that word," However, the rest of the teachers in the room agreed with Professor McGonagall. Snape humphed and turned around. "Professor Snape, please take Mr. Malfoy to Madam Pomfrey to get his injuries sorted out," Professor McGonagall said. Snape carried Draco and left the room. After Snape left the room, Professor McGonagall faced Chris. "Mr. Evergreen, while we understand your anger, this was a bit too much. Those cuts could have fatal if just a little stronger. While I will not take away points this time, this will be your first and final chance. Next time, you injure someone that badly after them taunting you, Ravenclaw will lost points. Am I understood?" Professor McGonagall asked. "Yes ma''am," Chris said. "Good," Professor McGonagall said. "For everyone else, continue your duels. We have limited time to finish this," The duels were passing by relatively quickly. So far, Chris has won all his matches. Hermione, Kristine, and Ron just forfeited. They all knew that they couldn''t beat Chris so they decided to save their energy. However, the students from Slytherin and Hufflepuff students fought him although the duels did not last long as like Se-yeon, the combination of the Knockback Jinx and the Tickling Charm was enough to defeat them. ''I really need to learn more spells,'' Chris thought. ''Winning the same way every time is extremely boring,'' It was now the final match. Chris Evergreen (Ravenclaw) - Harry Potter (Gryffindor) The professors were all secretly looking. "Do you think Mr. Potter has a chance of winning?" Professor Sprout asked Professor Flitwick. "Mr. Potter is a talented magician. However, I do not think he can defeat Mr. Evergreen currently. Perhaps if he practices more, he may catch up, but as of now, it''s highly improbable," Professor Flitwick said. Harry and Chris faced off. "Well let''s have a great duel," Harry said getting ready. "Yes, let''s have a great duel," Chris said. Right after finishing his sentence, Chris had a great idea and smiled. Professor McGonagall started the match and Chris immediately reacted. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Chris chanted. The spell hit Harry''s robe and Harry soon rose up dangling from his robe. Chris immediately started to make Harry fly around erratically. Even if it was only a couple of seconds, Chris started to sweat profusely as if he was in a hot sauna. Harry tried to get his robe off, but he couldn''t as he was continuously flying around. Soon he got dizzy and was almost ready to throw up. "I gi-give up!" Harry said with great effort and Chris let him down. Chris immediately lied down to rest. ''I didn''t think I would be this tired after lifting Harry up for 15 seconds,'' Chris thought as he tried to catch his breath. ''Well I suppose it''s like carrying him by his robe and running,'' Chapter 24 - Captains of the Dueling Club Everyone''s matches were now over. "Congratulations on finishing all your matches," Professor Flitwick said. "For the first year, the captain is Mr. Evergreen who has gotten 11 wins!" Everyone except for the Slytherins clapped. "As for the second years, the captain is Miss Bell with 8 wins and 3 losses. Congratulations!" Everyone including the Slytherin students clapped this time. "The captains will stay for a bit more afterwards to talk about your duties. Now, I will tell you more about the dueling club in general and what we aim to do in more detail," Professor Flitwick said. "The Dueling Club was decided to be made by all the Professors here. The only people that know the existence of it are student members, the teachers here, Madam Pomfrey, and the Headmaster. We-" Before Professor Flitwick could finish, an unexpected person came through the doors. "Headmaster, I thought you were out tonight," Professor McGonagall said with a surprised tone. "The meeting I had to go to was cancelled due to one of the important member having a case of Dragon Pox. He''ll be alive, but he needs a while to recover. So I decided to come here and finish what you were going to say," Dumbledore said. "Well thank you Headmaster for coming," Professor Flitwick said as he moved out of the way for Dumbledore. "Good evening students. I am seeing quite a few new faces. I am glad to see each and every one of you. To continue from where Professor Flitwick was, we have realized that the education given to some of you students were not adequate. While new spells or potion recipes may be learned, there are many cases where students from Hogwarts cannot duel very well. While for now it is not necessary to learn more dueling spells as it is peaceful times, we must always be ready. The staff members will help you to be the best you can be. Use this club to make new friends from other houses that you normally would not want to talk to. Use this club to hone yourself in the art of magic. There is a lot to be learned!" Professor Dumbledore said. Everyone clapped which cued him to smile and leave the room. "Well we haven''t thanked him, but he already left the room," Professor Flitwick said which made everyone chuckle. "There is only one thing I would like to add. That is to also help your fellow students that are not in the club. It does not have to be people you do not know of course, but try to help your friends as well. That is all. Except for the two captains, you are all dismissed. When Chris noticed everyone that was leaving, he noticed that one of the Ravenclaw student was Cho Chang. ''Didn''t think she was that talented. I knew she was a fairly talented, but top 3? Well I suppose since Ron is in he- Wait no Ron''s strategizing skills are top-notch so it''s not too far-fetched for him to be here? But this is the dueling club... Whatever, I suppose nurturing Ron and Cho aren''t the worst decisions,'' Chris thought. Soon everyone left the room leaving only Katie and Chris. "There aren''t much to do as a captain," Professor McGonagall said. "Your job here is mostly to learn, but there are still some responsibilities. For example, people with simple questions about spells will go to you two. While this may take up a bit of your time, I''m sure you''re fine with this. If not, we''ll appoint another person," "I''m fine with helping. It''s not much different to what I''ve been doing before," Chris said. "I''m fine with it too," Katie said. "Thank you. Well if the students are asking just to annoy you, please come to us and we''ll punish them accordingly. There is also another rule that we added. For anyone that wants to be the Captain, they could challenge you during the big meetups which is Thursday for 1st and 2nd years. Of course, that means that there will be incentives to being a Captain. You can ask for one favor every week as long as it is not too much. However, each "favor" will most likely have a set of rules added. You can even ask for money if you''d like. The school will pay 5 Sickles for each favor. These favors can stack up and if you are Captain for the remainder of the year, you can ask us for 28 favors which is around 8 Galleons.. However, the favors will not be counted in the following year so you have to use it within this year. This new reward system will be introduced on Thursday when we talk about the challenging rule. For now, that is it for the responsibilities of a captain. Just help others and maintain your position for as long as you can. Are there any questions?" Professor McGonagall asked. Chris and Katie shaked their heads. "If so, you two are dismissed. Have a good night," Professor McGonagall said. "Thank you Professor," Chris and Katie said together as they both left the room. When they left, Professor McGonagall looked at Snape. "Do you think this dueling club was the right decision?" "At the very least, those dunderheads will be less of a burden when the Dark Lord eventually comes back. The war is not over and we already have enough people relaxing," Snape said. "It''s unfortunate, but there''s no way Fudge or the Ministry would prepare since all Fudge wants is a peaceful reign," Professor McGonagall said. ... Chapter 25 - New Offensive Spell! When Chris arrived in his dorm room, he immediately sighed in relief. ''Luckily, the teachers didn''t notice that I used the Sensation Deprivation Hex. If they did, this would''ve been a nightmare,'' When he lied down on his bed, the System gave him his reward. [Congratulations, you have completed the quest. You have received 1 Galleon and 1 random offensive spell. With 10% additional income from the wand, Host has received an additional 1 Sickle and 8 Knuts. Host now has 8 G, 6 S, and 8 K. 1 offensive spell will now be given.] Fulgur Pila: An advanced spell that summons a ball of lightning and shoots it towards the enemy. You may make the ball smaller or bigger, but this requires experience. Making it bigger would make it slower and will not pierce as easily (more blunt) while making it smaller will make it faster and pierce much better. The power, speed, and how much bigger/smaller you can make the ball depend on Magical Power and experience. Original Price: 13 Galleons ''This is an extremely good spell! There''s no need to make it bigger unless I''m going against a being that''s large, but once I can get it small enough, I can create a lightning bullet! No wonder it''s so expensive,'' Chris thought. ''The problem is that even with this new spell, I can''t use it in the club,'' Chris realizing the flaw of having this spell sighed and thought for a bit. ''I should buy the Disarming Charm, Full-Body Petrification Curse, and Stunning Charm to use for the club. System if I want to buy all three of them, how much would it cost?'' [As Host''s level is not high enough yet, the Stunning Spell and the Disarming Charm cannot be purchased yet. Host must be at least level 95 to buy these two spells or they can be received as Quest rewards. However, the Full-Body Petrification can be bought currently for 12 Sickles. Will Host purchase this spell?] ''What?! I can''t buy the two spells?! Why?'' [Host all the higher leveled spells that you have received were from quest rewards. The only spell you''ve ever bought was the Finding Charm which is an extremely low level spell that anyone can use. The Disarming Charm and Stunning Spell are spells that are usually taught in the fifth year.] ''I suppose it makes sense. Well getting to level 95 will take at least months so I''ll have to get lucky or study it I guess. Well then, I suppose I''ll have to make to do with only the curse,'' Chris thought. ''Alright I''ll settle for the Full-Body Petrification Curse,'' [Thank you for your purchase, Host now has 7G 11 S 8 K.] Soon information about the Full-Body Petrification Curse entered Chris'' mind. After about 20 seconds passed, everything was passed on. ''Well it''s not that difficult of a spell. With my current Magical Power, I should most likely be able to cast this spell quite a bit as long as I don''t control the sizes. As for Fulgur Pila, as long as I don''t try to control the size of the ball, I should be able to cast it quite a bit. I really need to increase my Magical Power quickly...'' Chris thought. ... It was now Thursday and it was another meeting with the third years this time as well. The third years that Chris noticed were the Weasley twins, Angelina Johnson, Cedric Diggory, Roger Davies, who was extremely friendly with him due to both of them being on the Quidditch team, and a few others. Chris looked at Cedric with a bit of pity. ''Cedric Diggory really did die an unfortunate death even when he had such a bright future. When he died, a couple of my friends who were extreme fans started to cry. I won''t let him die like that this time,'' Chris thought. When all the teachers came in, everyone was seated and quiet. Professor McGonagall proceeded to speak. "Good evening students, I hope that you rested enough. This Monday, we decided on the captains. However, the captains are not going to be captains for the entire year. Every Thursday, there will be 15 minutes that will be spent on challenges. You might think that there''s no point in challenging a captain, but there is an incentive. We will be giving out "favors" every week to the captains that will stack up throughout the year. These favors can be asked and as long as it isn''t too excessive, we will immediately grant you the request. For some, there might be some conditions, but majority of the requests will be accepted. You can also exchange these favors for 8 Sickles each," Professor McGonagall said. Chris noticed that the atmosphere suddenly changed. He knew how good these favors can be. With homework exceptions, money, and even permission to see restricted books, they were all extremely convenient for students. "So we hope that everyone try their best to defeat the Captains of the Dueling Club," Professor McGonagall said. "So now, we will be spending 15 minutes to let anyone challenge their captain before moving on with the first lesson. I will explain a bit more on how lessons will be later on," As no lessons has occurred yet, no one challenged the captains except for one person. "I would like to challenge my captain!" Draco said. "Is there anyone else that would like to challenge their captain?" Professor McGonagall asked. No one spoke up. "Very well, the duel shall be between Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Evergreen. After this we shall start our first lesson!" Professor McGonagall said. "Please go to the center of the room and get ready," Draco and Chris went to the center of the room and got their wands out. "Are you sure you want to duel me so quickly without learning any new spells? I did injure you quite a bit last time," Chris said. "I underestimated you and was unprepared last time," Draco said. "You won''t be so lucky this time Evergreen!" "Alright then. Since I got in trouble last time for punishing you, I won''t be so cruel," Chris said. "You may now start the duel!" Professor McGonagall said. "Flipendo!" Draco chanted. Once again, Chris fell down. ''How boring,'' Chris thought. Before Draco could chant his next spell, Chris quickly stood up. "Petrificus Totalus!" Chris chanted. As he practiced the spell a bit during his three days of practicing in the Practice Room, he upgraded this spell to level 2. Draco immediately stiffened up and fell to the ground. "You don''t have enough practice on the Knockback Jinx," Chris said. "It didn''t even make me feel dizzy at all. Before you duel me, practice a bit more," Everyone clapped and Snape came up and cast Reparifors on Draco. "I will get you next time," Draco said and walked back to his seat. Chris shrugged and walked back to his seat. "Alright now that the duels are over, let''s start the first lesson," Professor McGonagall said. Chapter 26 - Protego "Lessons are going to be extremely simple," Professor McGonagall said. "There will be 3 sections. The first section will be my group. The second section will be Professor Flitwick''s group while the third section will be Professor Snape''s group. All three of us will be teaching different spells. If you pass a test that shows you mastered the spell, you''ll move on to the next section. After all the students pass the test from one section, that professor will move on to a new spell. In short, it will be a rotation and once you complete the round once, you''ll move on to completely new or enhanced versions of dueling spells. Does everybody understand?" Everyone nodded. "Excellent. Everyone please stand up and go to the center. Please spread out a bit," Professor McGonagall said. Everybody started moving and went to the center. Everybody was around 5 feet apart from each other. "Good. Now today''s first lesson is the spell Protego. It is also known as the Shield Charm and is one of the most important spells that anyone can learn for dueling. It creates an invisible shield that reflects spells and even physical objects. There are many variations to the Shield Charm and some are even powerful dark arts. We will be teaching some of the more advanced Shield Charms later on. Now do not think that this is an easy spell. There are many ?du?ts in the Ministry of Magic that cannot even make a functional Shield Charm. This shows just how difficult the Shield Charm may be. However, all four of us here determined that instead of offensive spells, defensive spells come first and Protego is the most fundamental. Now, there are going to be some here that are going to spend months just learning this spell. For those that do move on, I hope that you can help those that can''t. Especially the Captains. Even if you are still working on the spell, you must help your fellow students when they need the help," After her speech, Professor McGonagall started teaching the steps of the charm. It was quite simple as the hand movement was just a vertical line. After 5 minutes passed, she was done with explaining. "That is all for the Shield Charm. If you feel that you are ready, please come to any of us Professors as no one has officially moved to the next section yet," Professor McGonagall said. Chris started to practice. He felt that his incantations was perfect and his wand movement was good enough considering the requirement is only a vertical line, but the shield wouldn''t be formed properly. However, even after constant casting, the Shield Charm wouldn''t appear as a learned spell. ''No wonder there are so many people in the Ministry that can''t do this. This spell would be pretty difficult to cast if you had no practice on it. Since it''s still the peaceful times, there''s no way most members would continue to practice,'' Chris thought. Throughout the entire day, Chris tried to make a proper shield, but the System wouldn''t register it as a spell that he knows how to cast. ''Damn it! This spell is much harder than I thought it''d be,'' Chris thought. ''I thought even if I can''t make a shield within 30 minutes, it wouldn''t take more than an hour and even now I''m stills struggling!'' Professors McGonagall. Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout all walked around in the room looking for anything to fix. Soon an hour passed without anything happening. ''Well I guess I have to practice it in the Practice Room to complete it, but I probably won''t get EXP or Magical Power since it''s not even level 1 yet,'' Chris thought. "Alright students, that will be it for today," Professor McGonagall said. "Practice the spell whenever you can and when I see the first and second years on Monday and the third years on Tuesday, I expect some improvement. Captains stay after for a bit. Dismissed!" Chris, Katie, and the third year captain, Cedric stood at the same spot while everyone left. Once everyone left, Professor McGonagall called all three to her. "So now you three have one favor," Professor McGonagall said. "Would you like to use it now?" The three shook their head. "Alright then. If you have a favor you want to use, come to one of the Professors here," Professor McGonagall said. "Yes Professor," All three of them said at the same time. "Alright then you''re dismissed. Mr. Diggory, your Shield Charm was extremely close to being satisfactory. I hope to see a wonderful shield next Tuesday," Professor McGonagall said. "Miss Bell, your shield was about 60% there while Mr. Evergreen''s shield was about halfway from what I observed. On next Monday, I hope that you and Mr. Evergreen are at where Mr. Diggory is right now especially you Mr. Evergreen since you have the ability to learn Reducto," "Yes Professor," All three said at the same time once again. The three then left the room. Once Chris arrived at his dorm, Kristine and Hermione were waiting for him. "So did you get your favor?" Kristine asked. "Yeah, but I didn''t use it though. There''s nothing really that I want right now," Chris said. "Alright well, it''s your choice," Kristine said while shrugging. "Oh yeah, by the way, how well can you cast your Shield Charm?" "According to Professor McGonagall half way," Chris said. "Well that''s much better than mine. According to Professor McGonagall, my shield has b?r?ly passed 20% of the strength needed to pass the test," Hermione said. "Well, like the Professor said, the charm may be a fundamental defense spell, but it is still considered a pretty difficult spell since even many Ministry workers can''t cast it," Chris said. "Well I''m sure that since it''s you guys, it''ll work out fine," "We know we''ll be able to do it," Kristine said. "But we want to work on new spells as well. There''s so many new spells to learn and I don''t want to spend weeks working on just the Shield Charm," "Well once I pass my test, you can ask me about the spell however much you want," Chris said. "You are the captain after all," Kristine said. "You won''t get your favors if you don''t answer our questions," Chris smiled and shrugged. "Well I''m going to bed. Trying to cast the Shield Charm so many times is quite tiring," Kristine said. "Alright, I''ll follow you," Hermione said. "I''m pretty exhausted as well," "Alright then, I''ll go up as well," Chris said. The three separated and Chris went to the boys'' dorm room. In there all the boys were rowdily talking about Quidditch. Chris ignored them and went on his bed. He immediately went to the Practice Room where he started practicing the Shield Charm. "Protego!" "Protego!" "Protego!" Chris chanted the spell 10 times before he sat down to rest. "No matter how many times I try, the shield isn''t strong enough. At most, it can block a Knockback Jinx of a 2nd year student. I guess I still have to practice more," Chris muttered to himself while getting back up to start practicing once more. Chapter 27 - Hufflepuff VS Ravenclaw Chris continued to practice the spell for the remaining hours before finally getting the Shield Charm to level 1. "Even though I did expect it, it''s still quite surprising how long it took me to learn this spell," Chris said as he left the Practice Room. ... The first three weeks of November went by in a blink of an eye and it was soon Quidditch season. With Gryffindor''s victory against Slytherin on the first match, the Ravenclaw team was now hyped up for their match against Hufflepuff. "Hey Chris, Potter destroyed those Slytherin slimeballs last week. We have to do the same for those Hufflepuff kids too don''t we?" Grant Page said the day before the match. "Well that is the plan," Chris said. "Alright then the match is tomorrow so show them what you''ve got. Gryffindor may have had a secret weapon, but we have 2," Roger Davies said. ... The next morning, Chris was extremely energetic. When he went to the dining hall, all the Ravenclaw 1st year students were starting to cheer for him. "Hey Chris, you better catch that Golden Snitch!" Michael Corner said. "Eat a lot. You''re going to need it for the game," Anthony Goldstein said while putting his arms around Chris'' shoulders. "Good luck!" All the other kids said words of encouragement and Chris happily ate his breakfast. At 11:00, all the players were in the lockers changing into their blue Quidditch robes. Afterwards, they gathered in a circle. "Lady and Gentlemen, this is it. The big game. Let''s start the season with a Bam and end with a Bang!" Brian said. "We''ve always had a strong team, but I''d say that this year, we have a highest chance of winning the Quidditch Cup. Not only do we have the best broomsticks, but we also have the best players. Let''s do this!" Madam Hooch was the referee in the middle with a box next to her. "Now, I want a fair match. No funny business while playing," Madam Hooch said. She then opened the box letting out the Bludgers and the Golden Snitch which immediately flew out of sight. She then took out the Quaffle and threw it up into the air. Just like in the Gryffindor match, Lee Jordan was the announcer of this match as well. "Chaser Aletha Mulberry immediately catches the Quaffle! You know I said that Angelina Johnson was attractive, but Mulberry is right next to her," Lee Jordan said. "Jordan!" Professor McGonagall shouted. "Only a comment professor. She passes it to the Captain Brian Milton. He is a 7th year here at Hogwarts and he has shown to be quite the Chaser. He moves quickly to the Hufflepuff post and- SCORES! The Ravenclaw team quickly makes easy points with their new Nimbus 2000s. I know that the Gryffindor team had one for Potter, but the Ravenclaw team has 7. Rich families I guess," Lee Jordan said. During the match, Chris kept a close eye out for the Snitch. However, even though he wasn''t doing anything, there were still Bludgers that were hit directly at him and some almost hitting his face. ''These Beaters have got to relax,'' Chris thought. ''I haven''t even sighted the Snitch yet and my head''s about to be blown off!'' "Hufflepuff Chaser Brooke Bags, another beauty, has now gotten the Quaffle. She passes it to Dave Ash who passes to Howard Goldhorn who- OOOO - gets hit by a Bludger! What an excellent hit by Ravenclaw Beater Duncan Inglebee. The Quaffle is now in Ravenclaw''s hands once more and is quickly being passed left and right! The Hufflepuff team is b?r?ly able to respond and the Ravenclaw Beaters are constantly able to hit the Bludgers directly at the Hufflepuff team making it extremely hard to defend. Roger Davies now has the Quaffle and- does not score. Excellent defense by the Hufflepuff Keeper Fletcher Drake!" "What? Seeker Chris Evergreen has found something. Is it the Golden Snitch?!" The Hufflepuff Seeker quickly followed up behind him. When Chris got close enough, he confirmed it. It was the Golden Snitch. He increased his speed and right as he went to grab it, a Bludger was sent straight through him and Chris was forced to dodge. In the midst of this short interval, the Golden Snitch disappeared and Chris rose back up into the air. "Hufflepuff beater, Mason Copper, has successfully prevented Chris Evergreen from getting the Golden Snitch. What excellent defense. This is an extremely close game with both the offense and defense of both teams at the same level!" Lee Jordan said. Chapter 28 - Winner of the Match With one of the Hufflepuff beater distracting Chris with the Bludger, Chris went back high up into the air. ''Close,'' Chris thought as he continued to searching for the Golden Snitch. "With Chris Evergreen distracted from the Golden Snitch, let''s get back to the other part of the game. Hufflepuff in possession of the Quaffle. Brooke Bags zooming past the Ravenclaw defense and passes it to Dave Ash. Dave Ash looking to score and he- No! Excellent block by Keeper Grant Page," Chris continued to search for the Golden Snitch. ''This is a lot harder than I thought,'' Chris thought. However, as he turned to his left looking at the game for a bit, he noticed a flash of gold. ''Bingo,'' Chris had his eyes on the Snitch. He moved slowly towards the left continuing to keep his eyes on the Snitch. When he was far away enough from the Hufflepuff Seeker, he immediately dove to where the Golden Snitch was. "Ravenclaw is now in the possession of the Quaffle. Ro- Chris Evergreen just now dove at incredible speed. He has found the Golden Snitch!" The Hufflepuff Seeker immediately followed Chris. However, he was still quite a bit away from Chris. which prompted both Hufflepuff Beaters to target Chris with the Bludgers. However, this time, Chris was able to smoothly dodge the Bludgers while still having his eyes on the Golden Snitch. The Bludgers were still able to slow him down and the Hufflepuff Seeker was able to close the distance. The Golden Snitch was now only a couple feet off the ground and desperate to shake off both Seekers. Chris was forced to dive even lower and the Hufflepuff Seeker followed. However, once it got too low, the Hufflepuff Seeker leaned back, giving up the Snitch. Chris held up his hand to reveal the Golden Snitch. The Ravenclaw students cheered loudly. "Chris Evergreen has caught the Golden Snitch! The winner is Ravenclaw with the score of 190-40!" All the players came down from the broom and the Ravenclaw students all hugged Chris. "You did it!" Brian said. "You won us the game!" Chris laughed and was still overjoyed to see the golden ball in his hand. After the game, Chris met up with Hermione and Kristine, both of whom were still excited about the win. "Chris that was a nice catch!" Hermione said. "Yeah, I honestly thought you were going to fall off your broom!" Kristine said. "First of all, thank you. Secondly, Kristine, I''m sad that you have no trust in me," Chris said jokingly. "Well we''re now 1 step closer on that vacation!" Hermione said. "Yeah Chris, you better win the rest of those matches or else, you know what''s going to happen" Kristine said while taking out her wand. "I know I know!" Chris said. "Don''t worry, we''ll get our vacation. Well I have to win the Cup or else, my father''s never going to ever spend money on brooms or anything of the sort ever again," "Oh yeah, Chris, you still have that diary we found at the girl''s bathroom?" Kristine asked. "Yeah I think I still do. Why? Did you figure anything out?" Chris asked. "Well, I think I do. Can we go get it?" Kristine asked. The three went back to the dorm and Chris took out the diary. He then gave it to Kristine who opened it up to the page of the riddle. "On the land of the free... I think that''s America," Kristine said. "Oh yes!" Chris exclaimed. "Now that I think about it, their land is called the land of the free," "Yeah and as for the second part, it''s talking about a foreign lady holding life. It can''t be talking about a person so it has to be something monumental," Kristine said. Chris suddenly had an inspiration. "What if life wasn''t really talking about life, but about something else. If I remember correctly, there''s the Statue of Liberty where a statue of a lady was built in France. Life can also represent fire so that fits as well. Finally, on top of the statue, the crown, there''s a piece of hope. That piece of hope is what the diary wants us to find!" Chris said. "Yes that makes sense," Hermione said. "But what''s that piece of hope and what do we need it for?" "I don''t know," Chris said. "However, since these pieces of this "hope" are scattered across the world like how this one is in America, I''m guessing that whatever is there is much more dangerous than You-Know-Who can ever be," Kristine and Hermione shuddered at the thought. "What could possibly be more dangerous than You-Know-Who? From what I know, only Grindelwald was bigger threat and even he was only a bit more dangerous," Kristine said. "Well let''s not think about it," Chris said. "The diary will give us clues. I''ll ask my father if we can all go to New York where the Statue of Liberty is," "I really wanted to go somewhere else, but I guess New York is alright. We have to be able to tour New York," Kristine said. "Of course," Chris said. "How much time can we really spend finding this "piece of hope". We''re going to spend at least 1-2 months in New York so we have plenty of time to have fun," "We better," Hermione said. "I don''t want to spend my vacation time only looking for this unknown ''piece of hope''," Chapter 29 - Holidays Now that the Quidditch match was over, Chris'' days went back to normal. The only thing that made it a bit louder was that Chris finally took the test for Protego. ''I didn''t want to wait almost a month for this, but it would look weird for me to take such a little time to be able to learn the spell,'' Chris thought as Professor McGonagall was in front of him administering the test. "I will shoot a simple Knockback Jinx at you. If you want to move on, you must block it," Professor McGonagall said. "Yes Professor," Chris said. "Protego!" Professor McGonagall seeing that he put up the Shield Charm swung her arm. There was a blue light that appeared in front of Chris. His shield was still intact. "Congratulations, Mr. Evergreen. You are not the first student, but you are the first first year to pass the test. Please go to Professor Snape to learn your next spell," Professor McGonagall said. "After he is done teaching your next spell, please do help the first year students that are still working on the charm," "Yes Professor," Chris said as he moved on to Professor Snape. "You dunderheads are taking so long with a such a basic charm. I worry for the future," Snape said with a sarcastic tone. "The spell I''m going to teach you is Impediment Jinx. It is normally used to hinder or completely stop movement, but you can use it to push away, or even make someone levitate," Snape proceeded to teach the ins and outs of the spell making sure that Chris got every single point down. "That will be all. Hurry up and practice," Snape said as he moved to the Slytherin students to help them. ''He may not be the nicest teacher, but he is one of the best in teaching,'' Chris thought as he started to practice. The Jinx wasn''t as difficult as the Shield Charm so he was sure that as long as he spent an hour or so practicing the spell, he would get it to level 1. He then went to where the rest of the first years were so that he could ?ssist them with the Shield Charm. ... "Hello Chris, it''s your father. Your mother and I have gotten to know your friends'' parents quite well. Mr and Mrs. Granger and Mr and Mrs. Alder are all great people. Thus, for your winter break, we have all decided to go to New York since one of your grandfather''s friend, Newt Scamander said that New York was amazing when he had visited in the past. You three can decide where in New York you want to go and send me an owl as soon as possible. I''m sure you want to spend more time with your friends while all of us parents can relax. I''ve also heard that you won your first match. Congratulations. Your Father" Chris showed Hermione and Kristine the letter his father sent him. "Wow, we can go to New York and get the ''piece of hope''. If you win the Quidditch Cup, we can go somewhere else for summer vacation," Hermione said. " "Yeah! There''s so many places that I want to go. Spain, Britain, Paris, and maybe even the Asian countries like China, Japan, and Korea!" Kristine said. "Alright then for now, I''ll tell my father that we want to go to New York Harbor," Chris said writing a letter as quickly as possible. When Chris was done writing and the two girls were finished eating, they went back to the Common Room to practice the Shield Charm. A few hours later, it was finally time for the kids going back home to take the Hogwarts Express. The three said their goodbyes and went in the train. They went inside an empty compartment and put all their luggage away. "So what are we going to do in New York after we''re done finding the ''piece of hope''?" Hermione asked. "Well we can eat all kinds of food, sight-see, and etc," Chris said. ''Without the internet, making specific plans is going to be a bit difficult especially since I don''t know the area that well,'' Chris thought. When they finally arrived at Platform 9 3/4, Chris saw his parents waiting for him. "Hello son, I missed you!" Lorraine said while proceeding to hug him. "How was Hogwarts? Did the professors treat you well? You know I was angry that your father bought your entire Quidditch team Nimbus 2000s, but after I heard that you guys won, I completely forgave him. I even told him that every time a better broom comes out, buy your entire Quidditch team one. I was so excited that my son could potentially be a professional Quidditch player. You could take over the family after you had your fun with that. Your father still has a good 50-60 years worth of energy in him so he can be the head while you''re playing," "Hello mother," Chris said a bit overwhelmed by her excitement. "Oh, you two must be Hermione and Kristine. Like my husband said in his letter, we''ve been talking to your parents a lot and I have to say that Hermione you look just like your mother while Kristine you look just like your father," Lorraine said. "Well, I''m sure that you''re tired of the train ride so we''ll take you to our home. Both of your parents are there right now and we are quite excited to have guests over," Kristine and Hermione couldn''t even get a word in before they were quickly taken to Chris'' home. Chapter 30 - Dinner at the Evergreen House (and apology) Author''s note since everything can''t fit and I wanted it to be the first thing you read: I completely fu?k?d the notifying thing up. I''ll keep that up for now to make sure everyone who commented on it reads what I wrote. I sincerely apologize for my lack of explanation. I just wanted to do more for my patrons since I can''t give them much. It was the perfect idea for the 3:00 AM me. I''m not leaving this site. As shady as the site itself is, you the audience are the best. I just wanted to have another way of notifying them aside from emails. I was so sure that this would work, but now I realize it wouldn''t because it wastes your time as well since Webnovel doesn''t put in titles for the next chapter. I won''t do that anymore and I know now a lot of people have a bad impression of me because of it, but please give me another chance. I know I''ve done some weird shit to try to earn money like the part chapters, but I swear to you, I''m just trying to give my patrons more because I just feel like shit sometimes taking without giving much. I''ll write an extra chapter today as my sign of apology. From now on, all I''ll do is plug at the end of the chapter. That''ll be it. No more weird shit. Once again, I sincerely apologize for my actions. When Hermione and Kristine arrived at Chris'' house they were shocked at how big it was. "Chris," Kristine whispered to him. "I knew your family was rich since you were able to buy 7 Nimbus 2000s at once, but I didn''t think your house would be this big," "Yeah this might as well be Buckingham Palace," Hermione said. "Our house is too big in my opinion," Chris said. "Aside from the house elves, there are only my parents and I living here. All my other relatives live elsewhere," The three walked in with Bradley and Lorraine and Hermione and Kristine continued to be shocked with the luxurious decor. Bradley and Lorraine led them to the living room where they saw Hermione and Kristine''s parents sitting on the couches drinking tea while talking to each other. The four turned to see who entered and smiled. "Hello Hermione! Oh and you two must be Kristine and Chris" Mr. Granger said happily. "I''m thankful that you two are good friends of my daughter. She can be a bit... too much for some people," "Hello, Mr. Granger. It''s great to meet you and Mrs. Granger," Chris said. Then he faced Kristine''s parents. "And it is also a p???sur? to meet you as well Mr and Mrs. Alder," "Yes, p???sur? to meet you too," Mr. Alder said and Mrs. Alder nodded. Seeing that everyone has introduced themselves, Mr. Granger has started to talk about the trip. "I heard that you guys decided on New York Harbor for our trip? That''s good! I''ve heard that we can visit the Statue of Liberty and tour many places there," "Yes," Mrs. Granger said. "And I have heard that the New York food was excellent. I''m excited to try all sorts of food and wine over there," "Yes and I have heard from my friend who has visited the harbor once said that the view from a cruise was excellent. Even during the winter, the cruise will be spectacular," Mr. Alder said. "Well before we get to that, we''ll have to get to the rules to our kids," Mr. Alder said. "Oh yes yes. That is very important," Mrs. Alder said. "What rules Father?" Chris asked. "It''s just a trip. We''ll just follow you around," "Yes, you''ll be following us around, but that''ll be for the final week," Bradley said. "Basically, for the first week that we''ll be staying in New York Harbor, all the fathers will be together in one place, all the mothers will be together in another place, and you kids can do whatever you want. Of course, this is as long as you three are back at the hotel we''ll be staying at by 10:00 P.M. During the time you are outside, you''ll be secretly watched and guarded by 3 people that I have hired. Well they shouldn''t come out unless something like a kidnapping occurs so your trip with your friends will not be disturbed," "Yes and on the final week, we''ll all be together having wonderful meals, riding a cruise, and etc. This first week is so that the men, women, and kids can bond separately. I''m sure that you wanted to go somewhere as well," Lorraine said. "I''m surprised that you got Hermione and Kristine''s parents to agree with this Father," Chris said. "Well, all of us were against it at first," Mr. Alder said. "However, after your father showed us the strength of the guards that will be protecting you three, we agreed. As long as all of your safety is taken care of, us men don''t mind having just a guy''s week out and I don''t think our wives mind either. Well in a sense, just think of it as putting you three in a daycare," The ?du?ts laughed at his comment. "Yes and all of us can bond as family during the final week of break," Mrs. Granger said. "That''ll be it for the rules. You have to come back to the hotel by 10:00 P.M. The hotel we''re going to is managed by one of my friends and I am sure that you don''t have an entire week worth of plans so he''ll give you a coin where you can contact him whenever you want to send you a guide. We''ll also be using a car as our mode of transportation during our stay," Bradley said. "Well I''m sure that all three of you are all hungry. Before we go to eat, would you two girls share a room together or get separate rooms? We just need to know which room to give you later," Hermione and Kristine discussed for a bit. "We would like to share rooms thank you," Hermione said. "Excellent. We do have a room with two beds in it. We''ll have the house elves make it extra clean. Coincidentally, it happens to be right next to Chris'' room as well," Bradley said. "Well now that we sorted that out let''s eat," The 3 families went to the dining room where they saw a feast laid out for them. ''This is a Christmas meal,'' Chris thought. "Alright please sit anywhere you want and eat as much as you want. For the ?du?ts, I''m going to open my Cheval Blanc 1947 St-Emilion. It''s one of the finest wine that I have in my wine shelf. I bought it from a wizard who absolutely loves Muggle wine. If it wasn''t for him being out of money at the time, he would''ve never sold me this. I bought it for around 28,000 Galleons," Bradley said. "28,000 Galleons?!" Lorraine screamed. "Bradley you never told me that you had such expensive alcohol!" "Of course not. When you were mad about my broomstick purchases, you almost smashed all the wine that I had. If I told you about this, you definitely would have smashed it," Bradley said while cradling the wine. The Granger and Alder family were shocked to hear the price as well, but in the end, they calmed down and laughed happily. "Well since you took it out, we have to be courteous and drink the whole bottle," Mr. Granger said. "Of course, if we run out of this one, we''ll have to make do with the Lafites I have," Bradley said. "For the kids, we have regular juices that you can choose from. There''s apple, grape, and strawberry. That strawberry juice was a bit hard to find though since not many places would even make those. So enjoy!" The dinner ended quite joyfully for everyone except for Bradley tearing up at the empty 28,000 Galleon wine bottle. "Well we have to go to the flight early tomorrow so go to sleep kids," Lorraine said. "Since it''s right next to Chris'' room, he''ll show you the way," The kids said their good nights to their parents and Chris led Hermione and Kristine to their room. "Well there should be a bathroom in there for bathing and what not so don''t worry about that. As for your luggage, it should be in the room by now. Well I''m going back to my room. Good night," Chris said. "Good night and don''t forget to pack the diary for tomorrow. Since we''re lucky enough to be alone for the an entire week, we can start looking for the piece of hope tomorrow," Hermione said. "Alright," Chris said as he walked to go to his own room. Chapter 31 - Going to New York (I have deleted the notification thing as I think a day is enough for everyone to see. It is unfortunate that some have decided to leave without hearing my side of the story, but I suppose that''s life. For the people that gave me the time to explain myself, I sincerely give my thanks and also an apology for my lack of explanation. Like I said before, I won''t do something like that again and I hope to regain your trust. Well I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It was the next morning and Chris was woken up by Kristine and Hermione. "Chris we have to get ready!" Hermione shouted waking Chris up from a wonderful dream. "What? It''s alright, I don''t have to get ready right now. It''s the holidays," Chris said groggily as he went right back to sleep. "Don''t go back to sleep! Get up!" Kristine shouted completely waking up Chris this time. "Goodness, I didn''t think that my first day of break would start with screaming," Chris said as he got out of bed. "Well you did almost go back to sleep so we had to go to our last resort," Hermione said. "You better hurry and dress up. Everyone is already done dressing and is getting ready to eat," Kristine said. "Alright," Chris said. The girls left the room leaving Chris alone. He quickly dressed up and went out to the dining room to eat. The meal was normal with only minor conversations. The 3 families quickly finished their food and when they went outside, Chris saw 3 cars with familiar logos in front of their house. ''That''s a Mercedes Benz. Judging by the year, it should be the Mercedes Benz 560 SEL. That should be one of the more luxurious cars in this era,'' Chris thought as he got in the backseat of the car at the front. When Chris went inside, he was quite surprised at how comfortable the seats were. ''For a car made in the 1990s, this is impressive,'' Chris thought as his mother sat next to him and his father sat in the passenger seat. When the driver saw that everyone had their belts on, he started driving. In the middle of trip, the quietness was interrupted with Bradley. "Chris, how are you doing back there?" Bradley asked. "I''m doing alright Father," Chris said. "When we go to New York, just try to have the best time of your life," Bradley said. "Spend as much time as you can with your friends. Don''t take it for granted," Chris didn''t say anything as he was unsure where Bradley was going with this. "Every moment with the people you cherish is important. I took my friends for granted and I''m regretting it till this very day. I can tell that those two girls really do care for you and is willing to help you any way possible. Treasure that care and reciprocate it. If they are in trouble help them," Bradley said in a sad tone. Chris simply nodded to what his father was saying and the car was silent once more. In around 30 minutes, they reached the airport. When the 3 cars were parked, they were met with 6 men wearing black suits. "Hello sir," The tallest man said. "We''ll be taking your luggage here," "Hello James. Thank you for the help," Bradley said. "It''s just a part of our job sir. We''ll be guiding you directly to the plane," James said. The 6 men took out all the luggage from the 3 cars and after they were done, the 3 Mercedes Benz drove off. "Please go in," James said. The 3 families went in the plane. "Well, Bradley, it must be great to have so many conveniences. If it was just our family trying to go in the plane, we would''ve had to do procedures that would''ve lasted at least half an hour," Mr. Alder said. "Well being friends with the owner of this airport has its perks. On the other hand, if you meet with him, all he''ll ever talk about is his daughter. I mean it''s not terrible since everyone wants to talk about their children, but if you talk about your daughter every time you meet for an hour straight, it''s a bit much.," Bradley said. "Yeah, that does sound a bit much," Mr. Granger said. "Oh don''t act like you don''t talk about Hermione to your friends for an hour straight," Mrs. Granger said. "You were bragging about how she''s such a smart girl each time you see your friends," Mr. Granger embarrassingly scratched his head while the rest of the ?du?ts laughed. When they went to the first class section, Chris was quite surprised about how spacious it was. ''I guess even in the 90s, the first class was always pretty good. I was thinking it would just be a bit more spacious than economic, but these places really do try their very best for the rich,'' Chris thought. The first class section didn''t have cabins, but it did have 3 columns of fully reclining seats with rows of 2 seats on the sides while a row of 3 seats in the middle. "Our seats are in the back. We also have 2 seats right in front of the left 2 back seats as well," Lorraine said. Chris, Hermione, and Kristine took the 3 seats in the middle row while the parents took the remaining seats. "You brought the diary right?" Kristine asked. "Of course," Chris said. "It''s our main reason for going to New York Harbor," "Good, so what do you think is this "piece of hope" anyways? The more I think about it, the more curious I get," Kristine said. "Aside from the fact that this diary''s ''piece of hope'' is on a global scale, the diary is able to talk to us which shows that the person who enchanted it is at an extremely high level. The person that''s capable of this is at the very least on the level of the Professors like Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick," Chris said. "However, I doubt that they''re that weak. The person has to be on You-Know-Who''s level. I''m even thinking that this person is even stronger," Hermione face turned a bit pale hearing this. "Chris if this is that dangerous, don''t you think we should call if off?" Hermione asked. "Sure I''m curious about what this whole thing is, but if we think about it logically, what are 3 11 year olds going to do?" "Don''t worry, I doubt that obtaining this ''piece of hope'' will be that dangerous. At best, there will be a test where we can get hurt, but our lives won''t be in danger. The only problem is what we''re going to do after we do obtain the item. If beings that far surpass You-Know-Who starts to appear, we''ll be in deep trouble," Chris said. "Then isn''t that more of a reason to not go for this? We should give the diary to the Professors, no the Headmaster. If this was a regular adventure, I would be happy to join, but it simply doesn''t make sense to risk our lives for something unknown," Hermione said. "The unknown dangers is the biggest giver of the greatest treasures. Like I said, obtaining the ''piece of hope'' shouldn''t be life-threatening. So even if things become dicey after that, we can always give the diary and whatever else we get to the Headmaster or the professors," Hermione reluctantly agreed and the three did not talk about the "piece of hope" anymore. Chapter 32 - Arriving at their Hotel The flight felt like forever to Chris. ''There''s only so much I can do in the plane without any T.V. or books. There''s nothing to do since I''m in 1991!'' Chris thought. This was the first time he was dissatisfied in being inside the Harry Potter world. Soon he resorted to sleeping and training in the Practice Room when he woke up so that he wasn''t just sitting down without doing anything. He noticed that both Hermione and Kristine resorted to sleeping as well, but unlike Chris who woke up every so often, the girls never did wake up. The plane landed which Chris was extremely happy with. He quickly woke Hermione and Kristine up from their sleep and the 3 families left the plane. When they entered the airport, they went to the baggage claiming area where 3 men wearing suits and sunglasses approached them. "Hello Mr and Mrs. Evergreen. We will be the ones taking your luggage and driving you to the hotel," One of the men said. He signaled the other two men and the two men quickly left to get the luggage. After around 2 minutes, the two men came with all the bags that the 3 families packed. The man that stayed with them took 2 bags and started walking forward followed by the other two men. The 3 families were right behind them and were all quite happy that they didn''t have to carry any of their bags. When they left the airport, the 3 men led the families to a SUV limousine. There was a Lincoln Town Car right behind them where 2 of the men went to put in the luggage. "Please get in," The man who stayed said as he opened the door to the limousine. Bradley and Lorraine first went in followed by the other parents. Chris motioned the girls to go in before he did. The man shut the door and went to the Lincoln. After he saw that everyone was seated, the driver started driving. They arrived in a huge hotel in around 20 minutes and everyone except for Bradley and Lorraine were visibly excited at the grandeur of the hotel. ''This is like the Bellagio in Las Vegas,'' Chris thought. The limo stopped in front of the hotel doors and the 3 families exited the car. As the families left the car, Chris heard a man shouting. "Bradley!" The man shouted. "Martin!" Bradley shouted. Martin looked to be around his 40s. He was wearing a suit and a top hat. He had a cane and was limping towards Bradley while Bradley was running towards him. They both hugged each other and the rest soon caught up. "Lorraine! I haven''t seen you in years! How have you been?" Martin asked. "The usual. Bradley has to work and I''m alone at home doing my own thing," Lorraine said as she went to hug Martin. "Oh yes, Martin let me introduce you. This is my son, Chris. Over there is Tom Granger and his wife Martha Granger. The other two are Noah Alder and Hannah Alder. The two girls are Hermione Granger and Kristine Alder. This is Martin Allen, a friend we''ve known for over 10 years. He''s the manager of the hotel," "Hello there, it''s a p???sur? to meet all of you," Martin said as he started shaking Mr and Mrs. Granger and Mr. and Mrs. Alder hands. He then went to shake Hermione and Kristine''s hands. Finally, he went to Chris and patted his head. (I''ve said their names, but I feel like it''d be more consistent if I just put them as Mr. Granger and Mrs. Granger and etc.) "You''ve grown so much Chris. The last time I saw you was when you were just a baby," Martin said. "Hello, Mr. Allen," Chris said. "Oh no need for the Mr. thing. Just call me Uncle. You know when your mother was giving birth, your father was so worried that something would go wrong, but look at you now. You''re a handsome young man without any problems. And I''m sure he''s a fantastic wizard Bradley?" "Oh yes he is. He''s even a good Quidditch player. His team recently just won the first match and he caught the Snitch," Bradley said. "Oh how wonderful. You know you father and I loved Quidditch back in the days. I ?ssume you must have inherited those traits from his," Martin said. "Oh let''s not stay out here for too long in the cold. Please come in," Martin guided everyone in and the 3 men that were holding their luggage followed. When the three men came in, Martin signaled them to leave and the 3 men got a luggage cart and left. "Well, welcome to Elysium Hotel where your stay will be a paradise like the Elysian Fields," Martin said. "There''s many restaurants here. You guys can dine here at the hotel, but there are places near here that are meant for only wizards and witches. There are also casinos and various other entertainments for you ?du?ts. For the kids, I will have a plan for them since I know that you''ll be on your own for a week. Well for now, just go to your suite and rest for a bit. I had the Presidential Suite readied up just for you Bradley," "You''re really treating us today. I remember back in the days, you were known as the Goblin of the organization. The only thing you cared about was money," Bradley said. "I am long past seeing money as the only important thing in my life. Well the Presidential Suite wasn''t that hard to rent for you guys. Only around a hundred thousand Galleons worth of Muggle money. Compared to what you have given me over the years, that money is nothing," Martin said. "Well then, I would have to thank you for your gift," Bradley said. "Alright I won''t keep you guys here. The Presidential Suite is on the top floor of this hotel. It should be fairly easy to spot since it says Presidential Suite below the room number which is on this card," Martin said as he handed a golden card to Bradley. "Alright come out in about an hour to eat. We''ll decide where we''ll eat later. I do have some recommendations for you guys," "Alright shall we go to our suite?" Bradley asked. The rest nodded and they went to the elevator. (Author''s Note: So hey guys, I decided to make a Ko-fi as well. Well basically, I got it for the people who would like to support me, but don''t want to make monthly donations. If you just donate to me once, you can have forever access to one early chapter on Ko-Fi for any novel that I write from here on out (well for the novels I''m giving early access to which will most likely be all the future ones.). So if you just want to make a one time donation or donate a few more times afterwards if you''re feeling generous that day, now you have the choice to do so. Basically, a patron asked me a while ago to make a place to just purchasing an early access chapter so I''m also planning on making Ko-Fi a place to allow you guys to just straight up purchase early chapters. It''s $1 for each chapter. When my "stock" of chapters increases to 10, I''m going to make it $2 for every chapter after the 8th chapter. If I increase that number to like let''s say 20, I''ll make it so that every chapter after the 18th chapter will be $2 so the first 18 chapters will be $1. I''ll email you a PDF of the chapter that you paid for after you private message me your email when you''re donating. You''ll also have to message me the chapter # you paid for. Monthly donors will of course be 2 chapters ahead as always and like I said, I''m planning to write 5-10 chapters in advance, but I do plan on making it a bit more costly (did not fully figure it out, but I''m guaranteeing you guys that $1 will be enough to be ahead in 4-6 chapters depending on how many more extra chapters I write. The most I''ll increase the price to for the remaining chapter is $2 so $3 will be the highest tier.) So I think that''s it for now and I do have some additional details, but I''ll say it when I have more chapter "stocks". The Ko-Fi site is ko-fi.com/jeffdo.) Chapter 33 - Magical Burgers Attack When the 3 families reached the top floor, it didn''t take long for them to find the Presidential Suite. "It says Presidential Suite right there," Kristine said as she pointed to a sign that said Room 818 and underneath it "Presidential Suite". Bradley slid the card in the lock and opened the door. "Oh wow," Hermione said as she looked around the suite. "It''s beautiful!" The suite had beautiful white sofas and lounge chairs with chandeliers hanging on the ceiling. The black wooden dining table had seats for 10 and there was a bar next to the dining table. Beautiful paintings were hung on the walls giving the room a more elegant feeling. "Wow, the view here is amazing. We can see the harbor, the lit buildings, and just everything that makes this place so beautiful!" Mrs. Alder exclaimed as she rushed to the windows. Kristine continued to gawk at the suite without saying anything. Chris simply went to the couch and lied down. ''Goodness this is one extremely comfortable couch,'' Chris thought as he quickly grew a bit sleepy, but Bradley quickly snapped him out of it. "Alright, I suppose Martin really did treat us big time," Bradley said. "There should be 3 rooms in this room with each one having its own bathroom. We''ll choose 1 room each. Like Martin said, we''ll go down in about an hour so rest up a bit before we go," The 3 families quickly chose their rooms and put their luggage in their respective rooms. The Evergreen Family room consisted of two beds, two lounge chairs and a wonderful view through a glass window. Lorraine quickly organized their luggage before going on the bed. "We really did need this vacation Bradley. How long has it been since we''ve been on a trip?"Lorraine asked. "Well, you know that work has to be done," Bradley said as he started to change. "It''s been nearly 3 years since we''ve had a vacation as good as this together," Lorraine said. "Let''s make the most out of this one. Who knows when you''re going to be this free again?" "Hey hurry up, we''re done setting up a game of Monopoly!" Mr. Granger said. Chris immediately nodded and picked his character. "Monopoly what is that?" Bradley asked. "Why don''t we play chess? Everyone here should be familiar with that game," "Of course, we did think that, but it''s a 2 player game and we want to include everyone at once," Mr. Alder said. "Father, Monopoly is a popular Muggle game and I''ve heard about it from some people," Chris said. "It''s quite simple..." Chris started explaining how the game worked and Bradley and Lorraine were fascinated. "Well I suppose it''s time to show the skills I have from years of owning a business. Let''s play," Bradley said as he and Lorraine sat down on the dining table to pick their character. ... An hour passed and it was Bradley who was taking the lead. However, he saw that an hour passed and stopped the game. "Well we can continue this later," Bradley said. "We have to meet up with Martin now," Everyone started leaving the room one by one without cleaning up the dining table so that they could continue the game later. Chris hurriedly went to his room to get his wand that he packed in his bag. When they went downstairs, Martin was already there to meet them. "Hey Bradley, so how do you like your suite? It''s good right? I helped design a huge portion of it," Martin said proudly. "It''s great. The room is a masterpiece," Bradley said. "You really are treating me well old friend," "Like I said, it''s really nothing compared to what you gave me for the past few years. Well then shall we depart to eat?" Martin asked. Everyone nodded. "Alright then so here are our choices. There''s a Steakhouse near here that''s for Muggles, a burger restaurant near here for mainly wizards and witches. I''m sure you people in Europe don''t get burgers over there," Martin said. He pointed out 3 other restaurants that were nearby the hotel. "I think we should go to the burger restaurant," Hermione said. "It is something we have never tried before so let''s broaden our horizons," "Alright then Miss Granger, the burger restaurant it is," Martin said. He led the family outside and there was a limousine that was even bigger than the one yesterday waiting for them. A bell boy opened the car door. "Please get in," the bell boy said. Everyone got in one by one and Martin was the last one to get in. "To Magical Burgers please," Martin said. "Yes sir," The driver said and he started driving the car. "Oh is he Xander?" Bradley asked. "I haven''t seen him in a long time. "It''s a p???sur? to meet you Sir Bradley," Xander said. "Well I see that you still have his loyalty even after all these years," Bradley said. "I shall protect Sir Martin for the rest of my life. Without him, my entire family would have perished in the war," Xander said. "I owe my life to him," "So Martin, have you found a new beloved yet?" Bradley asked. "No, after Anna, I don''t think I''ll find someone else. Well, it''s fine. Being alone is relaxing for someone of my age," Martin said with melancholy. "Alright then," Bradley said. "I won''t talk about it anymore," The car now had a gloomy atmosphere and Kristine went up to Martin to try to cheer him up. "It''s alright Mr. Allen. I''m sure that you can find someone you love," Kristine said consolingly. Martin looked at Kristine''s face and laughed. "Don''t worry, Miss Alder. I''m perfectly fine," Martin said as he patted her head. "Well I''m just saying things I shouldn''t be saying right now. You''re on your trip and it should be full of happy times! Well who wants to play Game of Life. I happened to have board games stocked in here if there are kids. Muggles do come up with the most fascinating board games," The atmosphere instantly lit up and everyone joined after Martin explained the rules. The drive passed by quickly and they soon arrived at the Magical Burgers. It had a huge sign above the front entrance that read Magical Burgers and next to the words was a wand and a burger. "Oh it''s Sir Allen," A black-haired man wearing a light blue collared T-shirt and beige shorts said as he came up to them. "Hello, Mr. Humsi. It''s a p???sur? to see you again," Martin said. "Well do you have a private room for the 10 of us?" "Of course, we have the VIP room all cleaned up right now. Let me bring you there," Mr. Humsi said On their way there, people saw Martin and started cheering for him. "Martin Allen! Thank you for your service!" A man shouted. "Thank you for your service!" A woman nearby shouted as well. "It seems that you''re pretty popular Martin," Bradley said. "It''s a bit complicated. I''ll explain it to you a bit later," Martin said. They soon arrived in front of a red door and Mr. Humsi opened it. The room had a large wooden round table that had seats for 12 people. It had red walls and a fish tank next to the door. The room also had various paintings on the wall. "I''ll bring someone here a bit later after you decide what you want to eat," Mr. Humsi said. He closed the door leaving the 3 families and Martin to sit down. "Well before you look at the menu, let me briefly explain to you what a burger is. It''s basically like a sandwich, but with different ingredients. Usually, you''ll get that and french fries, which are deep-fried potatoes sticks. Well, as for the ingredients, it''ll be listed on the menu and you can see which one best fit your taste," Martin said as he picked up the menu. Everyone did the same and Chris found one that he was particularly interested in. ''Burger with bacon, onion rings, American Cheese, beef patty, and barbeque sauce. That sounds familiar. Well I''ll get this one,'' Chris thought. Soon a waiter came in to get their order. "May I get your orders now?" The waiter asked. "Is everyone ready?" Martin asked. Everyone nodded so he started ordering. "I would like a-" BOOM! There was a loud explosion outside surprising everyone inside the room. "What''s going on?" Bradley asked. "I don''t know," the waiter said. "We don''t have anything planned that would use an explosive sound," Martin and Bradley looked at each other with a serious glance. "Let''s check it out," Martin said. "Lorraine, is it alright if you can stay to protect everyone here?" Lorraine nodded as she took out her wand. Bradley and Martin both took out their wands and left the room. ... Chapter 34 - Servants of Chaotic Deities Chris looked at his mother with a confused look. "Mother do you have a hint of what''s going on?" Chris asked. "No," Lorraine said. "From what I know, America should be a relatively safe place right now in terms of the Wizarding World," Chris then looked at Hermione and Kristine. "Have you brought your wands?" Chris asked. "Of course," Kristine said as she took out her wand. "It''s our wand. We have to bring it everywhere we go even if we can''t use it normally," "We brought it just in case something like this happened," Hermione said. "Although I don''t know how useful we''ll be," "Right now, how proficient are you two at the Shield Charm?" Chris asked. "We''re both around 75% of what Professor McGonagall accepts," Hermione said. "We''ve been practicing really hard so that we can catch up to you," "Good that''ll most likely be enough," Chris said. "I''m sure that Mother can cover us all. We''ll just be there to ?ssist her," Hermione and Kristine nodded and everyone put their guards up. Chris heard explosions and a familiar rushing noise that surprised him. ''Avada Kedavra. The people out there are serious criminals,'' As he didn''t want anyone in the room to become panicked, Chris stayed silent. However, he noticed that Lorraine''s face grew more tense by the second. Soon the door opened. Lorraine, Chris, Hermione, and Kristine all got ready to attack. Then Martin and Bradley came in with dirty clothing and a bit of blood dripping from their heads. "What''s going on?" Lorraine asked. "People wearing black hoods attacked the building," Bradley said as he sat down trying to rest. "Fortunately, this is a restaurant for wizards and witches and the diners were able to help protect the place. However, the attackers were ready to kill. They didn''t hesitate to use the Killing Curse, but luckily no one died. We apprehended all the hooded men for now, but we''re going to have to stay a bit longer until we''re sure that it''s safe to go outside. Martin do you happen to know who those hooded men are?" Martin looked at Bradley and sighed. "Well I''ll be able to explain who they are alongside how I''m so ''popular''. They call themselves the Servant of the Chaotic Deities and they''ve been running rampant in America for a while now," Martin said. "When I came to America after the First Wizarding War, the Magical Congress was trying to deal with them and I decided to help them since I was going to live here. It was around 2 years ago that I b?r?ly defeated their leader after attacking their base with 30 other people. The remaining Servants went underground and I was deemed a hero by the people," "What are their goals?" Bradley asked. "Well, it''s mostly a religious motive. They believe that the Greek Gods and Goddesses that represent all the chaotic aspects of the world are giving them instructions. Their main deity is Nyx, one of the primordial goddesses. She is the goddess of the night and has many children that are gods and goddesses of suffering, fear, and all the bad aspects of human life. Well in the end, all they want to do is destroy and make this world an uncivilized free-for-all battle zone where murder, ****, and pillaging will be the norms," Martin said. "That''s horrible," Mrs. Granger said. "Well it gets even worse from there," Martin said. "As for Muggles, these Servants want to imprison them and force them become slaves for labor, breeding, and etc," Everyone in the room was horrified by what Martin said. "This is just as bad as You-Know-Who''s attack on Europe," Lorraine said. "Luckily, in the cult, there''s no one as strong as You-Know-Who. However, unlike You-Know-Who''s army that did not have an extremely strong bond, these Servants are all completely dedicated to their faith and are willing to even sacrifice every single life in the cult if needed," Martin said. "This dedication to their faith and their ruthlessness is what made them so hard to defeat. I defeated their leader, but judging by how they attacked the restaurant here today, it''s very likely that they''re back with a new leader," Chris suddenly had a horrible realization from the conversation. "Uncle Allen, is it possible that during the time they were underground, they were trying to spread their influence to other continents?" Chris asked. Martin''s expression changed. "2 years is not enough to spread their influence everywhere in the world, but it is enough to get back on their feet in America and new followers in Europe. Either way, it''s not a good sign," Martin said. ''If this cult is in Europe, Voldemort will most likely contact them or vice versa. I just have to hope that since their ideals are different, they won''t be strong allies,'' Chris thought. As some time passed, everyone in the room started to relax. "Should we go somewhere else?" Martin asked. "Alright," Bradley said. "Does anyone want to stay here a bit longer just in case?" No one nodded and everyone started to get out of their seat. ''Well I guess we won''t have burgers today,'' Chris thought as he started to stand up. However, as soon as Chris stood up, he heard a beep from the System. [Emergency Quest has been given. Assist Bradley, Lorraine, and Martin defend everyone in the room from the Servants. Lives are at stake. Attack starting in the left wall. There are also Servants outside prohibiting the 3 Evergreen guards, Xander, and other fellow wizards and witches from interfering for the next 10 minutes.] 6/6 (Will fail if someone other than Bradley, Lorraine, or Martin passes away. Killing allowed if needed.) Reward: Protego Diabolica (Restrictions added due to insufficient level on Protego.), Fianto Duri, 1500 EXP, and 10 Galleons. ... Chris was shocked at what he was seeing. ''Killing is allowed if necessary? And Protego Diabolica? One of the most powerful Protego spells?'' Chris thought. ''Let''s ignore the reward for now. If those ruthless Servants come here, then it''s going to be difficult to defend everyone here,'' Chris immediately took his wand out. "Protego!" Chris chanted towards the left wall. "Chris?" Hermione and Kristine said at the same time with confusion. "Chris what are you doing?!" Bradley shouted angrily. "You are an underage wizard! You should not be casting magic outside of school!" "Son, we''ll deal with the Ministry, but you will be in big trouble for this," Lorraine said with a serious tone. Chris didn''t say anything and was patiently waiting. Seeing how Chris was not answering his, Bradley got even angrier. "Are you ignoring me?! When we are back at the hotel, I-" BOOM! The left wall of the room was completely destroyed revealing 10 black hooded men coming inside the room. Luckily, due to Chris'' Shield Charm, all the rubble was b?r?ly blocked. "The Servants!" Bradley exclaimed as he, Martin, and Lorraine took out their wands. "Lorraine keep everyone safe. Us two will try to deal with this!" Bradley said as he and Martin rushed forward to engage in combat. "No Mother, help him. I should be enough to protect everyone here. If Father and Uncle Allen lets one pass, I''ll be able to at least hold on, but if Father and Uncle Allen falls, we''ll all perish!" Chris shouted. Lorraine stayed silent for a bit. "Alright. Son, you have to stay safe. Your Father, Uncle, and I will try our best to keep all those men back. Our 3 guards and Xander should also be coming in after hearing the commotion," Lorraine said as she went to Bradley and Martin to help him. As soon as she left, Chris started hearing the rushing noises again. He looked at the door and his face ''Avada Kedavra... The battle outside has started too. I don''t know how long they''ll take to defeat those Servants, but I''m hoping it''s not for more than 10 minutes,'' Chris thought. Chris then turned to the Servants and checked one of their stats with the System. Lower Servant of Akhos Age: 35 Magical Power: 30,000 Passive Skill: Lower Blessing of Akhos ''What is that passive skill?'' Chris asked the System. The System immediately gave him information. [Lower Blessing of Akhos: Able to fuse powers with 2 other Lower Servants of Akhos. Adds up all three magical power and amplifies it by 10. Able to fuse spells with the other 2 Lower Servants of Akhos to make the spell thrice as powerful (the three must cast the same spell to fuse spell).] Chapter 35 - Chris vs Servant (For the patrons, I did edit this chapter slightly so you might want to read it!) ''They can fuse and amplify their Magical Power by 10?!'' Chris thought. ''There''s 10 of them so that means that there will be 3 groups and each groups will have least a million Magical Power. With their spells being three times more powerful, the weakest group will only be a little bit weaker than Mother. I''m sure that Father and Uncle Allen can handle them for a while, but I''m not sure if Mother can hang on for a long period of time,'' Chris saw that when the Servants cast spells that emitted light beams, the three light beam would fuse and get thicker. ''If the Servants were able to make themselves more powerful, why didn''t they use it when Uncle Allen fought them. If Uncle Allen knew about this ability, he would''ve told Father. It makes no sense,'' Chris thought. After around a couple minutes of battle, one of the Servants fighting against Bradley faced the lone Servant. He pointed towards Chris and the rest. The lone hooded figure nodded and started to make his way to Chris and the others. "Oh no you don''t," Bradley said as he pointed his wand to the lone Servant. However, the Servant group that was fighting Bradley shot a fused spell. "Damn it!" Bradley shouted as he turned his wand back and blocked the spell. Meanwhile, the lone Servant made his way to Chris and the others. The Granger and Alder couples were frightened and Mrs. Alder even let out a tiny scream. Chris looked at his stats. Servant of the Cult Age: 25 Magical Power: 12,000 ''This one has no blessing?'' Chris thought. ''Right now, from all the training I did, I have around 7,500 Magical Power. I''m going to hedge my bets on the fact that the only thing he has over me is Magical Power,'' "Hermione! Kristine!" Chris shouted. "Try to help me from the back by shooting out spells when he''s caught off guard. I''ll try my best to protect everyone here," "Alright," Kristine and Hermione said at the same time. Chris stared at the Servant ready to strike at any moment. "Protego!" Chris chanted. The Servant then swung his wand downwards and a mark resembling a cut appeared in front of Chris for a second. ''Non-verbal magic. This person is strong,'' Chris thought. "Privatio Sensoria," Chris chanted. The Servant looked a bit shaken up, but he still held onto his wand. However, during this time, Chris quickly cast Fulgur Pila revealing a ball of lightning. Chris put his utmost concentration in making it as small as he can. In a second, the ball was the size of half his index finger and about 2 fingers thick. He quickly threw the tiny ball at the Servant and it was able to hit the Servant''s ?h?st who b?r?ly got his senses back. However, the ball wasn''t able to pierce through him and merely made a hole in his clothing revealing a small bloody circle. From the back, Hermione threw out Knockback Jinxes while Kristine used various spells such as the Leg-Locking Curse and Tripping Jinx. However, the Servant had already cast a Shield Charm blocking their spells. ''I can''t use the Sensory Deprivation Hex for the next 5 minutes. Even if I can, the Sensory Deprivation Hex won''t work as effectively anymore. He''ll be prepared next time I use it. This will be tough,'' Chris thought. Chris sent out the Full Body-Binding Curse which was blocked by the Servant. The Servant then immediately cast a spell which was b?r?ly blocked by Chris. Chris and the Servant continued their duel with Hermione and Kristine casting spells in the back. Chris sent out various spells such as the Full Body-Bind Curse, the Reductor Curse, and the Lightning Ball Spell. On the other hand, the Servant continued to send the same spell with the cutting-like wand movement. (Author''s note: Lightning Ball Spell is Fulgur Pila. I changed it because using Fulgur Pila while saying Reductor Curse or something similar seems off.) ''It''s like he''s wielding a sword. Come on, now''s the time for the people outside to finish up,'' Chris thought. Chris continued to fight and he was getting more and more tired by the second. ''Being in a fight that''s life-threatening is making this exponentially more tiring than any duels in the Dueling Club. I''m starting to lose concentration. My mouth is becoming dry from the chanting. It''s getting more difficult,'' Chris thought as he continued to block and cast spells. He was still hoping that Xander and his father''s 3 guards would come soon. However, even after 2 more minutes passed, no one came. Chris was starting to get light-headed. ''Why aren''t the people outside done with their battle yet?!'' Chris thought. His offense started to decrease and he was focusing more on his defense. ''As long as I have the Shield Charm up, I''ll be able to defend everyone behind me,'' Soon Chris b?r?ly used offensive spells towards the Servant and Hermione and Kristine''s spells were now the main source of damage, but even that was starting to decrease. As he was defending, Chris'' Shield Charm suddenly broke. ''Fuck!'' Chris thought as he quickly tried to think of a solution. However, he was too late as the Servant cast the cutting spell. Without any protection, there was now a huge gash on Chris'' upper body spraying blood all over the room. "Chris!" Bradley and Lorraine shouted at the same time as they saw the scene. Both desperately wanted to go back, but with the Servant groups fighting them, it was impossible to turn their back on them without getting seriously hurt. Chris felt a burning sensation on his ?h?st. ''It feels like someone just cut me with one of those 1000 degree knives,'' Chris thought. Hermione and Kristine both tried to go to Chris, but he stopped them. "Stand back," Chris said weakly. "If you two come up, it''ll just be meaningless sacrifices. I still have a bit of fight left in me," The Servant just stood there as if waiting for Chris to stand back up. ''Luckily, this guy is just enjoying the fact that I''m hurt and isn''t attacking me. He''s not even seeing me as a threat right now. I can use his arrogance to help myself a bit,'' Chris thought. ''Please, let me break his shield,'' Chris thought. However, the Servant was able to block the Curse. The Servant then cast the cutting spell once more and it hit Chris creating another gash on his upper body. Chris felt his consciousness leave his body from the pain. ''No! If I faint right now, even if Xander and the 3 guards come in, at least one person behind me will die,'' Chris thought. He stopped himself from fainting, but he was only b?r?ly able to stand up. Chapter 36 - In the Hospital Chris felt like he was going to faint at any moment. ''This is not good,'' Chris thought. Blood was continuing to gush out of his body and while he did want to fix it, unfortunately, he didn''t know any healing spells. The Servant came up to Chris. He took off his hood to reveal his face. Chris was now wide awake and completely shocked. The Servant''s face was full of huge scars from cut wounds. One of his eye was sewn shut and one of his ear was gone as well. However, he was grinning ear to ear. "You know as a Servant, I''m not allowed to show my face or talk, but since I''m going to die anyways, I might as well right?" The Servant said with a grin. The Servant started laughing maniacally. "You''re crazy," Chris said while gasping for air. "Crazy? Perhaps I am, but compared to those maniacs over there, I''m nothing," The Servant said pointing at the cult members fighting his parents and Martin. Chris saw that Bradley and Lorraine were desperately trying to defeat their cult group. "After a Cult member kidnapped me, I was forced to be trained and look at my face. This is what they did as punishment for not meeting their standards. There was no escape. I couldn''t leave nor could I die. I was stopped every time I tried to commit suicide and they would punish me heavily after finding me. Can you stand that? Can you stay sane after being tortured everyday having your ears chopped off or having your eyes gouged out then sewn shut? Well you''re just a child, what can you really understand other than the fact that I look disgusting. I see that your two lady friends are shivering over there," "I know! After I kill you, I''ll kill those two. Surely that''d make my short life mean something!" The Servant said as he lifted his wand. ''I can''t concentrate to create a shield. Well it''s quite surprising that my body actually lasted this long,'' Chris thought as he lost his consciousness. The last thing he heard was Hermione and Kristine call his name as he fell. ... When Chris woke up, he was in a hospital room. When he looked next to him, Bradley and Lorraine were next to him sleeping. "Father. Mother," Chris said weakly. Both Bradley and Lorraine immediately woke up and Lorraine started to cry. "Chris, I''m so sorry. I swear I''ll never leave you again. I was wrong. I shouldn''t have left you. If you had died, I-I wouldn''t know what to do with myself," Lorraine said whilst she was crying. "Mother, it''s not your fault. It was either you fight or Father and Uncle Allen perish from the combined attack of all those Servants. If you hadn''t gone to fight, we would''ve all died," Chris said. "Oh yes, what happened to Hermione, Kristine and their parents?" Lorraine nodded and left the room. "Son, good job staying brave enough to protect your friends," Bradley said as he patted Chris'' head. "You''re certainly much braver than I ever was," Lorraine soon came back with water. "Father, how long have I slept for and when am I getting discharged?" Chris asked. "It''s been 1 day since you fainted," Bradley said. "The hospital used everything they can to help you so you recovered quickly. However, while they did treat you, they can''t remove your scars since it''s created by Dark Magic," Chris lifted his shirt to reveal 2 deep scars that resembled that of a cross. "You could leave the hospital tomorrow," Bradley said. "The cuts were severe, but they didn''t touch anything important," "Father what happened to those Servants?" Chris asked. "Don''t worry about it too much Son. We''ve taken care of them," Bradley said. "More importantly, we plan on canceling this trip. It''s a tad bit too dangerous here," "Chris your father is right, it''s too dangerous here," Lorraine said. "We could get attacked again and this time we might not be so lucky. There''s so many places we can go to. I''m sure ," ''Shit if they cancel this trip, we can''t get what we need for the diary," Chris thought. "Mother, we''re already here and I''m sure that if we have more guards with us, we can deflect any attacks thrown at us. I was looking forward to going to the Statue of Liberty," Chris said. ... Bradley and Lorraine looked at each other and left the room. After about 5 minutes, they came back inside the room. "Alright, we''ll stay here. We''ll have the Magical Congress have people send people to help us fight if necessary. However, we''ll scrap the idea of being separate for a week. Tomorrow, we''ll go to the Statue of Liberty and then we''ll plan things from there," Bradley said. "Also, no matter what happens, you''re not allowed to fight. Lorraine, you''re not going to fight either so Chris do not urge your Mother to fight because she definitely will not. Your top priority will be to help the kids and the Granger and Alder family escape," Lorraine and Chris nodded. Chapter 37 - To the Statue of Liberty "Father, Mother, is it alright if I can have a bit of time alone. I just want to think about stuff and rest a little more," Chris said. "Alright. I''m sure that you do want some alone time. We''ll leave you be for a little bit. We''ll make sure to bring you something good to eat," Lorraine said. "Yes, because who knows how bad food here is going to be. When I was at Mungo''s, just looking at their food made me want to retch," Bradley said as he shivered from the thought. "Bradley no need to say rude things like that," Lorraine scolded. "Alright thank you," Chris said. Bradley and Lorraine said their goodbyes before leaving the room. As soon as they left, Chris got a notification from the System. [Congratulations for the Host completing the Emergency Quest. Rewards Protego Diabolica )with restrictions), Fianto Duri, 1500 EXP, and 10 Galleons have been given. With 10% additional income from the wand, you have gotten 11 Galleons. You now need 4500 more EXP to level up. You now have 19G, 6S, 8K.] ''Alright let''s look at Protego Diabolica and the restrictions,'' Chris thought as the information for the spell popped up. Protego Diabolica: creates a ring of azure flames that incinerates all with ill intent, but does not harm allies. With enough experience, you may use the fire as a weapon. Protego must be level 8 for this spell to be used without restrictions. ''Overall, it''s not a bad spell,'' Chris thought. ''Now let''s take a look at Fianto Duri,'' Fianto Duri: Makes Protego Maxima 3x more effective. However, it can be used to slightly empower a regular Shield Charm. ''I can''t really use this spell to its fullest extent right now since all I have is the Regular Shield Charm, but this is a useful spell,'' Chris thought. ... It was now the next day and Chris was ready to be discharged. ''Goodness, hospital beds are just terrible. Also, am I hated? Only my parents and Uncle Allen visited me yesterday. Hermione, Kristine, and their family never came once,'' Chris thought as he dressed up and left the hospital room with Bradley and Lorraine. When he left the hospital, he saw Hermione and Kristine waiting for him in front of the door. "Hermione! Kristine! Why haven''t you visited me while I was in the hospital. I was extremely bored you know," Chris said. "We didn''t want to disturb your rest time," Kristine said while looking away from him. "Sorry Chris that I was such a dead weight. If it wasn''t for me, you would''ve been able to fight him better. I was just a burden," "Hey don''t say that," Chris said patting both of their heads. "The Kristine and Hermione I know wouldn''t feel down for such a small reason. If anything, I should be the one crying because I couldn''t even damage him aside from the sneak attack at the beginning. Besides don''t count yourself out. If it weren''t for those spells you two cast to distract that Servant, I would''ve probably died," Hermione and Kristine both looked at him with teary faces. Chris tried to console them to no avail. It looked like the two were going to start crying at any minute. "Alright, girls let''s not cry," Lorraine said. "Look at our Chris, he doesn''t know what to do right now," Kristine and Hermione saw Chris'' panicking face and started to laugh. They wiped their tears and Chris heaved a sigh of relief. "Alright kids, let''s get in the car, we have plans to go to the Statue of Liberty today," Bradley said. There was a limousine waiting for them and inside was Martin, the Granger couple, and the Alder couple. "Hello Chris, I''m glad that you''re doing much better," Mr. Granger said. "Sorry for not visiting. We thought it was a bit inappropriate seeing how we wanted you to bond with Bradley and Lorraine a bit more. They were extremely worried and thought they were going to lose you. No parents should ever have to go through that. After that I think that they deserve some alone time with you. However, all of us here would like to thank you for protecting us," Mrs. Granger and the Alder couple nodded. "Yes Chris, if it wasn''t for you, not only we would have perished, our kids would most likely not have survived as well," Mr. Alder said. "Thank you for protecting us," "No need to thank me," Chris said. "It was only the natural thing to do. However, more surprisingly, I''m very surprised that all of you will continue staying here," "Yes, it will be a little nerve-wracking to know that there is an evil cult out there, but in the Muggle world, there''s also many terrorists out there as well. That doesn''t stop people from traveling to where they are. We have it better than them with all the protection we''re getting," Mr. Alder said. "Alright now that we all clarified to Chris what''s happening, let''s go to the Statue of Liberty, our first stop for the day," Martin said. "And yes for the same reason as them I didn''t visit. I don''t have a child, but I''m certain that the feeling of almost losing your child deserves at least a day of bonding and while I am extremely close to your parents, I think it''s only right to not interfere," Knowing that everyone just wanted him to spend some time with his parents, Chris felt glad that there was nothing wrong with their relationship. With that out of his head, he turned to Hermione and Kristine. "Hermione. Kristine. Did one of you two bring the diary?" Chris asked with a soft voice. "I did," Hermione said. "I''ll take it out when we get there," It took around 40 minutes to get to the port. When they left the car, there was a chubby man with almost no hair that approached them. "Hello Mr. Allen it''s a p???sur? to meet you," The man said as he shook Martin''s hand. "Hello Mr. Schwartz. Thank you for taking us to Liberty Island today. My friends here were all looking forward to it," Martin said. "Oh no problem," Mr. Schwartz said. "We are giving you full access to all the parts in the Statue today. Would you like a tour or would you like to go on your own?" "Alright then. I believe that there were 33 people that were supposed to be with us. I only see 13 people," Mr. Schwarz said as Xander and three other men walked besides Bradley. "Yes, they''re on their way," Martin said. Soon there were 5 red cars with a horse logo that looked very familiar to Chris. ''Oi oi, 5 Ferraris? I would''ve killed to have just one of them and the Magical Congress is sending out 5 of these bad boys?'' Chris thought. 10 men and 10 women came out of the 5 cars. "I believe that''s 33," Martin said. Mr. Schwarz was shocked by the appearance of 5 Ferraris and couldn''t speak. However, he quickly regained his composure. "I''m sorry. It was just a little surprising for me. Yes, 33 people are now here. I shall guide you to the boat. You are going to be the first people to enter," Mr. Schwartz said. He started walking and everyone else followed. "I''m sorry to be so behind Mr. Allen and Mr and Mrs. Evergreen," One of the women said as she approached Bradley, Lorraine, and Martin. "My name is Sherry Brown and I am the head of the people here to guard you in case those terrorists appear again," "Hello Miss Brown," Bradley said. "Thank you for bringing all these people to help guard us. I''m sure it was a hard task to bring this many people," "No, no after seeing what those Servants did, it''s only right that we send this many people just in case the Servants attack again," Sherry said. "I shall do just that Mr. Evergreen," Sherry said. "I''m sure that the President would be glad to hear this," ... Chapter 38 - Torch Everyone soon arrived to where the ferry was and there was a long line of people waiting to go inside. "We have arrived. Please enter," Mr. Schwartz said as he guided everyone inside the boat. Chris heard some complaining from the people behind him waiting in line, but he didn''t mind them too much. Once they went inside, everyone took their seats with the 3 families in the middle while the bodyguards sat around them to protect them from every angle. Soon people started coming in and some looked at the 3 families with dirty looks. Mr. Granger and Mr. Alder started to get annoyed and was about to stand up. "Don''t mind them," Bradley said. "They''re not worth your time," Soon the boat was full and there were some announcements before the boat started to move. ''This really is beautiful,'' Chris thought as he looked at the waters. Soon they reached Liberty Island and everyone left the ferry. "Alright, now that we have arrived, let me take you to the Statue," Mr. Schwartz said. "Alright," Bradley said as the three families and the bodyguards once again followed Mr. Schwartz. They walked behind the statue where the entrance to the pedestal was. "No Statue of Liberty visit can be complete without first going to the pedestal and looking at the torch. It was removed for various reasons which I will explain when we get to the torch," Mr. Schwartz said. "Well let''s go inside. I''m sure that you''ll have a great time," Mr. Schwartz said. Mr. Schwartz led them to an elevator. "The elevator only goes up to the pedestal. To go to the crown, we would have to walk up stairs," Mr. Schwartz said. "Well we''ll get to it a bit later. However, some of you will have to wait for the next elevator. This one can only fit at most 18 people at a time," The three families, Mr. Schwartz, and 8 bodyguards went inside the elevator. The space was extremely cramped due to it being filled to the limit. ''I haven''t felt this cramped since when I went to Anime Expo,'' Chris thought as he tried to find a spot that was a bit more comfortable. The long elevator ride was finally over and they reached the pedestal. Everyone left the elevator and proceeded to stretch. "Next time let''s not fill the elevator to the limit," Bradley said. "Agreed, every part of my body just feels off," Mr. Granger said while stretching. After around a minute, the other body guards came and they stretched too as they came out. Mr. Schwartz showed them the various replicas, photos, and started to explain the history of the Statue. While everyone else was interested in the story of the statue, Chris was only really interested in the statues and photos as he already knew the story of the statue. Soon they arrived to what Chris, Hermione, and Kristine came for, the torch. "This is the torch of Lady Liberty. The one you see outside is a replica. It was removed due to it being too dilapidated. Furthermore, in 1916, German spies have bombed Black Tom trying to sabotage us in World War I even though we were neutral. Due to this, no one can go inside the new torch and the original has been put in the pedestal for everyone to see. It is quite the interesting story although I''m sure that back in the days, it was a traumatizing event for many," ''To think that a much bigger disaster will hit here soon,'' Chris thought as he shivered just remembering 9/11 and the fear it brought to all Americans. Chris, Hermione, and Kristine all went closer to the torch. "Take out the diary and open it Hermione," Chris said. Hermione quickly took it out and opened the diary. The pages then started to light up blinding the three. "What''s going on?!" Kristine shouted. After a minute, Chris opened his eyes revealing a never-ending white space. He saw Kristine and Hermione and quickly went to them. "Are you two alright?" Chris asked. "Yeah, where are we Chris?" Hermione asked. "I don''t know," Chris said. "Does the diary say anything?" Hermione looked at diary which only had the same riddle from before. "No, there''s nothing new," "Are we supposed to go somewhere from here?" Kristine asked. "All I see is white," "Can we use magic in here?" Hermione asked. "We can''t use magic? Even with magic, we would b?r?ly have chance of finding something. What are the chances if we can''t use magic?" Hermione asked as she started panicking a little. "We''ll just have to walk in any direction for now. We have to if we want to get the piece of hope that the diary wants," Chris said. "Come on let''s go," The three started walking. Time passed extremely quickly and soon Chris felt that about an hour has passed. "Chris we''ve been walking for a long time and there''s literally nothing," Kristine said. "It''s quite fascinating though," Chris said. "Even after we walked for so long, we''re not hungry, thirsty, or tired," "That doesn''t matter. If this continues, we might spend days or even weeks trying to find an exit. We might miss school for weeks. Oh I''m going to be in so much trouble," Hermione said. "Let''s just walk a little more. Who knows we might find something. If not, let''s think of what to do," Chris said. The girls nodded and they started walking again. After a bit more of walking, they found something. "That''s a door!" Hermione exclaimed. "We found an exit!" Chapter 39 - Mysterious Statue When they took a look at what was on the other side, the three were extremely surprised. "What is this?" Hermione asked. The room was pitch black and the three were hesitant to go inside. "What if this is a hole?" Kristine asked. "We''re going to die from the fall," "I don''t think we have a choice," Chris said. "This is the only door we found since we''ve been stuck here," The two were still reluctant to go inside. "I''ll go inside," Chris said. "If I fall then I fall. If we don''t go in, we''ll eventually go crazy from just walking without a set destination," Before the girls could say anything, Chris went inside the room. "It''s not a hole," Chris said. "Just come inside," Hermione and Kristine looked at each other and slowly went inside the room. The door quickly closed behind them and when Hermione and Kristine both went to find the door, they couldn''t. The three now were surrounded in complete darkness. "Great! The door disappeared and we have no light as well," Kristine said. "See if we can use mag-" There was now a marble floor with limestone round pillars around the three. In front of the three was a huge limestone statue of a n?k?d middle-aged man being held up by chains. "Whoa, what is all this?" Chris asked as he started to walk around the room. Aside from the torches, statue, and pillars, there was nothing else in the room. Suddenly the diary in Hermione''s arm started to vibrate. "Chris! Kristine! The diary is reacting to something," Hermione said. "Quickly open the diary," Chris said. Hermione opened the diary and on the page after the riddle, words started to form. Release the chains of the one that saved humanity. Give freedom to the one that has suffered never-ending pain for millenniums. Shout his name loudly to free him. However, do it fast as today will be the last for this great hero of fire. "Great hero of fire?" Kristine asked. "That could mean anyone. There were many figures in both history and mythology that discovered or created fire," "The work looks very familiar," Hermione said. "Not the statue itself, but the material and the looks of it look very similar," "Greek statues!" Chris shouted. "This looks like something the Greeks would make. Limestone is also material that ancient Greek used to use a lot," "No, Greeks usually made statues of their gods so I think we''re dealing with Greek mythology here," Hermione said. "However, there''s so much mythology and I don''t know that much about it. All I know are only the names of the big Gods and some stories like Pandora, King Midas, and Hercules," "Then this might be Hephaestus. He''s the god of fire I believe," Chris said. "I''ll shout his name," Chris walked to the front of the statue and was now only a couple feet away. "Hephaestus!" Chris shouted. However, nothing happened. "It was wrong?!" Chris exclaimed confusedly as he went back to where Hermione and Kristine was. "But there''s no other god of fire," "Chris I don''t think it''s as simple of just a god of fire," Hermione said. "There has to be more to this man''s story. Otherwise, it would just say god instead of hero," "I don''t know anyone heroes in Greek mythology that could control fire. Do you know any Kristine?" "I think I''ve heard of one," Kristine said. "Mother once told me about Hercules and his 12 quests. She didn''t tell me much because she said a lot of it was too scary for me, but she told about a story where there was a titan named Atlas who held up the sky without any help. Hercules asked Atlas to get him a golden apple which was his quest and told Atlas that he would hold up the sky for him. Well blah blah blah, the story ends with Hercules tricking Atlas. Well when my mother used to tell me some stories like this, she would sometimes say random facts and in this case, she had a random fact for me. She said that Atlas had a brother named Prometheus who had something to do with fire, but I don''t remember if that''s him," "Prometheus..." Chris mumbled as he went deep into thought. [As this is part of the Diary''s riddle, you can only buy it for 15% of your Galleon. Would you like to purchase it?] ''Of course not, you scammer!'' Chris exclaimed as he immediately pushed the thought aside. ''Alright I guess I''ll have to try remembering,'' "Oh yes! I remember Prometheus!" Hermione exclaimed. "You do?!" Chris shouted excitedly. "Yeah, it was something I read for a bit of fun. I forgot about him since I read it so long ago. Prometheus was also a titan who was good at tricking people. He also made humans on Zeus'' order and started to like humans since he didn''t really even like the gods in the first place. Well basically, he tricked every gods and goddesses and stole Hephaestus'' fire and gave it to man. He was punished by Zeus and was chained to a rock while eagles ate up his insides. I stopped reading after that," Hermione said. "He gave humanity fire which is the best technology mankind had. This should count as being a hero," Chris said. "Alright I''ll shout Prometheus," Chapter 40 - Prometheus Chris once again walked in front of the statue. "Prometheus!" Chris shouted. The room started to shake and Chris quickly ran back to where Kristine and Hermione was. "I think we got it right," Chris said. "I''ve never heard of someone potentially dying because they answered a question right!" Kristine said. "The room feels like it''s about to collapse at any second," "Look, the statue, it''s starting to fall apart," Hermione said. The statue was forming cracks and soon the chains broke. Then the statue started to crumble as if it was shedding. Soon the statue was completely destroyed leaving only pieces. The room stopped shaking. "Is-Is it over?" Hermione asked. Suddenly, a middle-aged man jumped out of the pieces of limestone where the statue was. The three of them screamed in surprise. The man that popped out of the limestone rubble had a beard that reached his stomach and had no clothes on. "Ok, girls time for you two to look back," Chris said as he forced Hermione and Kristine to look the other way. "Don''t look here until I say so alright," "Alright," Hermione and Kristine said simultaneously confusedly. Chris turned back to the man who was now stretching. "You said my name. I''m Prometheus. I suppose you can call me a god of fire, but I love to be called a god of trickery since you know it''s my thing. Well I''m not really a god but rather a titan. They''re two different things," Prometheus said. "And yes, Hermione I believe was the name, you were right with my legend. I''m surprised someone as young as you know about me. From what I remember, kids your age used to only know how to play outside and bother their mother for some food. And don''t point that weapon at me. Your magic won''t even scratch me even if you tried for decades," Chris tried to look at Prometheus'' stats, but other than his name, everything else was left with question marks. "Why were you trapped here Lord Prometheus," Chris asked. ''Better to call him Lord. Who know whether he''ll get triggered if I call him only by his name with no honorific,'' Chris thought. "Don''t get formal with me. Call me Prometheus. Well, I was freed by Hercules from my fate of eternal suffering. However, I was captured by the Keres, those goddesses of painful death and put here. I was supposed to be imprisoned here until they thought that it was the right time to cripple me forever," Prometheus said. "It''s crazy how terrible these gods and goddesses are. For heaven''s sake, Zeus imprisoned me for eternity for teaching you guys about fire, probably the most important tool you''ve ever received," "Before we continue, may you please get dressed and groomed? I''m sure that my two lady friends over there would love to be able to see you," Chris said. "Oh yes," Prometheus said. "I guess with the power I have left, I can do something like this," He snapped and he had an instant hair cut and now was wearing ancient Greek clothing. "This should be enough although I should be using my power sparingly," Prometheus said. Hermione and Kristine both turned around. "So Prometheus, why did the Keres capture you?" Hermione asked. "Because I know stuff that they can only wish to know. It''s quite complicated actually," Prometheus said. "And I can''t tell them the information they need because it will destroy everything. The balance of order and chaos will be destroyed and you mortals who aren''t even involved will probably go extinct," "Alright so is the diary yours or is it someone else''s?" Kristine asked. "What diary?" Prometheus asked. "This diary," Hermione said as she showed him the diary with the riddle. "No it is not mine and I''m quite surprised that it was able to bring you three here," Prometheus said. "And it says ''piece of hope''. I''m ?ssuming that''s me," "Prometheus, I don''t know if you know, but recently we have fought against these cult members who have apparently had the blessing of Nyx," "The Goddess of the Night?! That is impossible!" Prometheus exclaimed. He then stayed silent for a minute. "I think I know what you are talking about right now. So things are getting a bit more serious aren''t they? Well let''s get out of here. We don''t have time to waste in here. According to this diary, Keres is going to come to kill me here today so we should leave as fast as possible," "Wait a minute," Prometheus said. He closed his eyes then said some unfamiliar words to Chris. The diary soon glowed once more and Chris, Hermione, and Kristine closed their eyes. The three soon realized that they were back in the Statue of Liberty. (Author''s Note: I want to talk about Draco since I think he''s one of the most controversial character (just for what I think of him). There are two ways people perceive him. 1) The coward and 2) the boy with no choices. I lean towards the first one. A coward who only lives to save his skin. His family wasn''t the only one in danger. So was the Weasley''s so was the Longbottom''s (whose family was already destroyed), and many others, but all of them chose to potentially sacrifice everyone they love for the sake of the greater good. He had his choices, but chose the easier way out. Even in the end, when they turned to the "good side", they were still cowards unwilling to stay till the very end to save their skin. Of course, this may sound like I completely hate Draco, but I don''t because I''m like that too. So are almost every one of you reading. No one except for only a few are willing to sacrifice everyone they love for the sake of bigger picture. If I was there and my family was about to be killed by Voldemort, I would go to his side as well until things go awry. Would you for the sake of myself and my family potentially sacrifice your mother, father, sibling(s), wife, husband, and etc? Probably not. However, this is why many choose to defend him. It''s because he''s so relatable. They want to defend him because by calling him a coward, they''re calling themselves a coward as well. However, to me, he was a bigot that would turn his back on the losing side. Although I say that, I think that was the beauty of his character. He didn''t need redemption. His character was one of the greatest in the series and seeing how everyone talks about him and is so divided between if they like him or not makes him one of the best characters in the HP series. What do you think?) Chapter 41 - New Riddle "We''re back?" Hermione asked. "I suppose so," Chris said. "Looks like I brought you back," Prometheus said. However, when the three turned their heads around, he was nowhere in sight. "I''m in the diary right now," Prometheus said. "Before I brought you guys out, it was able to imprint the way for me to go inside the diary. So now I''m inside the diary speaking directly to your minds. All you have to do if you want to talk to me is to think it rather than saying it out loud and you''ll be able to contact me. Of course, I can''t just snoop into your mind so you don''t have to worry about that," "Alright that''s good to know," Chris said. "So do you know what this diary is or who made it?" "While I have information about most things under Mount Olympus, this diary is something I do not know about. It might be a secret weapon created by a titan or even one of the primal deities in which case, it''s out of my league. For now, all I know is that this diary is not here to harm you or any mortals for that matter," Prometheus said. "So wait, there is a question I''m dying to ask," Kristine said. "You''re part of Greek mythology and you''re obviously very real. So I''m guessing everything from Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and etc. are not real?" "The answer is not one of those black or white answers. It''s a pretty complicated system that will need a bit of time to explain," Prometheus said. "I''m sure that you''ll find the answer soon on your own. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that no time has passed since you were transferred into the space I was trapped in," "So why did the diary call you the "piece of hope"?" Hermione asked. "I thought that they''d be talking about a magical weapon or an ancient wand? "I''m not too sure. Everything that has been happening for the past couple of centuries have been quite chaotic to say the least. I ?ssume that due to the information that I have within me, I''m considered the "piece of hope" that the diary describes," Prometheus said. "However, what I can currently tell you is that I''m almost out of power due to bringing everyone out of that horrible space. Oh yes, I also forgot to mention that no time has passed since you went inside the space. So with that said, I''m going to sleep. I won''t wake up for a while longer so only when there''s an emergency should you call me. Well, I don''t know how much help I''ll be, but if it''s information that you need, I''ll be able to help you," Chris saw the diary shake once more. "Guys, I think it''s a new riddle," Hermione opened the diary to the next page and sure enough there was a new riddle. Before they could properly discuss what the diary said, Bradley went up to them. "Kids, we have a lot more places to go!" Bradley said. The three nodded and followed Bradley. ... The trip went by quickly without anymore attacks and soon it was time for school again. "Vacation went by so quickly. I''m already missing New York," Kristine said. "Well except that whole attack and everything," "Well there probably won''t be anyone who would miss fighting terrorists to the death," Chris said. "That fight really was a close call. I was lucky to only be let off with a cool-looking scar on my ?h?st," "Chris that scar does not look cool," Kristine said. "It looks like an attempt of someone who''s desperate to get some sort of attention," "Alright, let''s not insult my scar," Chris said. "It''s a battle scar that I''m proud to have alright," "One day, you''ll understand how cool having this kind of scar is. It looks much better than some random cuts," Chris said. "So what do you think was the diary talking about in the new riddle?" Kristine asked. "It seems like the founders to me," Chris said. "I agree," Hermione said. "I don''t think it''s coincidence that it''s 4 people with the same traits as the four founders. The only reason I''m doubting myself a little is because of the d?s?r? portion. If power is Gryffindor, wisdom is Ravenclaw, and kindness is Hufflepuff, d?s?r? should be Slytherin. However, Slytherin is known to be cunning not desiring. Also, absolute darkness is also something that doesn''t completely describe all Slytherin students. I''m sure that there are some good people in there," "Also, with tool of immortality doesn''t really make sense to me either," Kristine said. "No one is immortal except for probably Prometheus and those other deities," "Well we have some time to figure things out," Chris said. "For now, let''s concentrate on school and finish up whatever we have to do before trying things out," "You''re right. Exams are coming soon as well," Hermione said. "We better study or else we''ll be miles behind everybody else in the House," ... Chapter 42 - Major Update? really important one Non-important one: For patrons, chapter is coming in like an hour or two. Now for major update: I decided to revamp this entire novel. Maybe not right now, but really soon This is due to various reasons such as the fact that I feel that my ideas are too disorganized. It won''t affect the storyline too much. What I mean by revamp is to change some of the flow of the chapters. So the story will be the same, but I''ll try to fix the mistakes I''ve accidentally put in, add in some stuff, and make a few changes here and there. Chapter 43 - Snape Vs Flitwick They soon arrived at Hogwarts and were greeted by the 4 statues in the Entrance Hall. "Well there are our answers for this riddle. As long as we can get the tool of immortality, we''ll be able to go in," Kristine said. "Well we''ll have to figure out what that tool of immortality is before being able to do anything," Chris said. ''Well I have an idea of what it is, but I have time. I do want to personally see the events go down after all,'' Chris thought. Classes went by normally and at the end of the class, Professor McGonagall called the three over. "Activities resume today. Please do stop by," Professor McGonagall said. "Yes ma''am," Chris said. "Off you go now," Professor McGonagall said satisfied with his answer. ... After Quidditch practice, Chris met up with Hermione and Kristine to go to the Dueling Club room. Surprisingly, the room was empty with no teachers or students in sight. The three looked at each other, shrugged, and took their seats. Once they sat down, Chris noticed Hermione squirming in her seat. "Are you that impatient to take that test Hermione?" Chris asked. "Well, the only thing I''ve heard from Professor McGonagall was that my shield wasn''t good enough. Now that I feel that it''s good enough, I have to get it approved or else it won''t feel right," Hermione said. "Luckily Father said he''ll cover for us and allowed us to practice magic while we were in New York or else you two would''ve still been stuck on the Shield Charm," Chris said. "Yes and because of that I can finally feel right again," Hermione said. "Hello there you three," Chris called out. "Hello," Harry said with a somewhat fake smile. "Hello," Ron and Se-yeon said afterwards at the same time. ''I suppose even with the changes, he saw the Mirror of Erised,'' Chris thought. "Do you feel alright there? You don''t look quite happy. I suppose break being over has saddened you quite a bit," Kristine said to Harry jokingly. Harry chuckled a bit hearing this. "On the contrary, I feel kind of glad it''s over," Harry said. The room was silent for a bit before Hermione broke the silence. "You think that as well?!" Se-yeon asked. "I''ve been telling these two that it''s never too early to study and they haven''t been listening to me," "It''s 6 months before the exams. We''re just going to forget what we studied since we''re still learning," Ron said. "Simply put, there''s really no point in studying right now," "It''s always good to study early. Nothing has ever gone wrong after studying early," Se-yeon said. "Except for my brains needlessly feeling like they''re going to be turned into putty," Ron said. The two argued for a bit and Se-yeon continued to ask Hermione for her opinions much to Ron''s displeasure. Minutes passed quickly and the room was starting to become full. After all the students came in, the professors followed. "Good evening students," Professor McGonagall said. "It''s a p???sur? seeing all of you for the winter term. I''m sure that all of you are enthusiastic about challenging the captains, practicing the Shield Charm more, and moving on to the next spell. However, we''re going to start off a little differently for today," Everyone looked at each other with confusion. "On the first day of the club, we have allowed all of you to duel to let everyone have a little feel of dueling," Professor McGonagall said. "Now, as the first day of the club for this term, we shall show you what a duel between high-leveled wizards and witches will look like. Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape will duel right now and after the duel, we''ll explain what happened in further detail," Everyone started excitedly talking to each other. "Agreed," Kristine said. "Who knows when we can properly study a high leveled duel," "I hope Snape gets hurt somehow," Chris heard Ron say. "That''ll be the best time of my life," "Mine as well," Harry said. "Please students go to the left side of the room," Professor McGonagall said. "I will be casting a Shield Charm to encase all of you," Everyone huddled to one side making it a bit cramped. "Protego Totalum," Professor McGonagall chanted. A barrier quickly appeared in front of all the students, but disappeared shortly. Professor Flitwick and Snape then walked towards the center of the room and were now around 9 feet away from each other. "Whenever you are ready Severus," Professor Flitwick said. Snape didn''t say anything and lifted his wand A blue barrier appeared in front of Snape and he soon flicked his wand letting out an opaque light. Professor Flitwick quickly blocked the spell and flicked his wand to let out a blue light. The two were rapidly shooting spells and Chris could b?r?ly follow up let alone tell what spells they were using. However, Chris saw that Professor Flitwick was slowly casting more spells while Snape was defending more and more by the second. ''Snape''s going to lose,'' Chris thought. ''Without his Dark Arts, it''s simply impossible to beat Flitwick,'' Sure enough, Snape''s defense started to be filled with holes and Professor Flitwick cast a spell emitting red light and Snape''s wand shot out of his hand. "That was an excellent duel," Professor McGonagall said. Everyone started clapping and Snape went to pick up his wand. "That was an excellent duel Severus. It''s been a while since I had that much fun," Professor Flitwick said extending his hand. Snape reluctantly shook his hand quickly and walked back to where he was standing previously. "Now who can tell me what the two Professors did?" Professor McGonagall asked seeing that everyone was now seated. "I believe those were non-verbal spells Professor," A girl sitting on the opposite side of Chris said. "Excellent Miss Ballard," Professor McGonagall said. "Indeed those were non-verbal spells. This is an advanced technique taught in your sixth years. They have a lot of advantages such as adding an element of surprise for the spells that you are using. However, there are clear disadvantages as well such as the spells being weaker than when chanting the spell. While we will not teach you how to use non-verbal spells since no students here will be able to accomplish it anyways, it is still good to know about it before you all enter your sixth year. Well now that we have shown everyone here a proper duel, let''s go back to what we do regularly," Chapter 44 - 250-20 Everyone started to get into their own space again and started practicing their spells. Chris was practicing Impedimenta, the new spell after Levicorpus. ''It''s been a while since I''ve gotten level 1 on this spell. Too bad I can''t practice my other spells,'' Chris thought as he looked at his stats. Chris Evergreen Level: 44 Wand: 10 Inch Holly and Thunderbird Tail Feather Wand Magical Power: 9790 Learned Spells (Top 5 spells): Reducto (Lvl 7) 500/1700 (Non-Verbal with 45% reduced effect), Fulgur Pila (Lvl 6) (Non-verbal with 50% reduced effect) 150/1200, Protego (Level 5) 160/1100 (Non-verbal with 55% reduced effect), Privatio Sensoria Lvl 5 (Non-verbal with 55% reduced effect), Petrificus Totalus (Lvl 4) 155/950 Learned Potion: Cure for Boils, Forgetfulness Potion, and Wiggenwald Potion Experience needed to level up: 7800 ''It''s really getting harder and harder to level up both spells and myself,'' Chris thought. ''The System doesn''t give me much quests to begin with and I can''t be a jack of all trades anymore like before. I can only specialize in certain spells. Well once I get these spells to around level 8-10, I should be able to move on to a new one,'' From the distance, Chris heard Professor McGonagall congratulate some people. "Congratulations, Miss Granger, Miss Alder, and Mr. Neal, you three have created a satisfactory Shield Charm. Please go to Professor Snape to learn your next spell," Professor McGonagall said with a smile. Hermione and Kristine celebrated and did a high-five. Chris went up to them to congratulate them. "Well congratulations you two," Chris said. "Well it took a lot longer than what we wanted," Hermione said. "Compared to you, we''re behind by a whole spell. So whatever spell we have to learn from Professor Snape, we would have to learn it fast to catch up to you," "Well good luck," Chris said. "You should hurry, I think Snape is about to lose his temper seeing that you two are talking to me instead of going to learn the new spell. That Slytherin second year is already there trying to suck up to him," Chris went back to where he was previously to continue practicing the Impediment Jinx. Time passed quickly and it was the end of January. It was already in the middle of February and the day before the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Quidditch match. "Well, today''s the last day of practice," Brian said. "Our first game of this term will be tomorrow against Slytherin," "Well Gryffindor defeated them last time because of Potter and we have Chris," Jason said. "Chris is much better than Potter in my opinion so we should have a good time," (Author''s Note: Jason is one of the Beater. I''ll list the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Chaser:Roger, Brian (the captain), and Aletha. Beater: Jason and Duncan. Seeker: Chris. Keeper: Grant) "Don''t underestimate their team," Brian said. "Slytherin has always been a powerhouse and we will always treat them as such. Just because we have Chris does not mean that we will win," "But we have these brooms as well," Aletha said. "Overall, we''re a much stronger team than them in terms of both equipment and players," "Regardless, do not let down your guard or we will definitely lose," Brian said. Practice was soon over and it was the next day. Like every Quidditch game days, the Dining Hall was excited to see the match. "Of course," Chris said. "If I don''t, Father would probably kill me and my teammates for wasting the broom that he bought us," It was soon the start of the game and it was extremely chilling with the degree being at the very most 40 degrees Fahrenheit. "Alright guys," Brian said. "This is one of the most important matches. We win this and we''ll have the best chance of winning the Cup. We lose and we''ll have to hope that Gryffindor loses to Hufflepuff. We''re in the lead and let''s keep it that way," "Yeah!" Everybody shouted. They all flew into the field. The Slytherin players also came in and the two teams arranged themselves into their positions. The Slytherin Seeker stared at Chris with hostilty ''Did I kill his parents or something? What''s with the hate?'' Chris thought. The game started and immediately Ravenclaw has shown to be a better team. They continuously had the Quaffle while the Slytherins struggled to keep up. ''Oh goodness, this is too one-sided,'' Chris thought. ''Well I suppose since we had a lot of time to practice, we improved much more from that Hufflepuff game,'' Chris couldn''t find the Golden Snitch, but even without it the score was already 60-0 15 minutes after the game started. Soon another 10 minutes passed and the score was 100-20 with no sighting of the Golden Snitch. Chris happened to see Draco in the stands where he was furiously yelling. Seeing this made Chris chuckle. However, he spotted a glittering object near Draco. The game was over with the score being 250-20 and the Ravenclaw students were cheering deafeningly. After the match was the meal and all the Ravenclaw first years congratulated Chris. "Nice catch Chris!" Terry Boot said. "Well the score was already 100-20. Even without the Golden Snitch, we probably would''ve won," Chris said. "True. Slytherin played horribly today," Kristine said while chuckling. "Well Chris, you saved our vacation," Chapter 46 - Dining Hall Talk Soon weeks passed and it was now early May. With Gryffindor winning against Hufflepuff, it was Ravenclaw and Gryffindor fighting for the Quidditch Cup. However, even with this rivalry, Chris, Hermione, and Kristine started to get much more friendly with Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon talking about magic, how bad Snape was to Harry, and the exams. However, recently, Harry and Se-yeon had gotten in trouble with Professor McGonagall for being outside late in the night. ''It must have been Norberta,'' Chris thought. ''Since Hermione wasn''t there, it was Se-yeon that had to go with Harry since Ron was still bitten by her,'' During one of the Dueling Club meetings, Harry and Se-yeon looked dispirited. "I shouldn''t have come here," Harry said 5 minutes before the club started. "I have everyone in Gryffindor hate me already. I don''t think I can handle being here right now," "You''re going to be fine," Chris said. "This will all pass. Who knows maybe you''ll get a chance of getting more points later on," "Yeah," Ron said. "Fred and George lost so many points for Gryffindor and I think they''re probably the most popular kids within Gryffindor," "At least Fred and George are extroverted and funny," Harry said. "Quidditch is the only chance I got to redeem myself, but with my team hating me, I feel like quitting every day. It''s going to be 7 years of Hell here," While Chris and Ron were trying his best to comfort Harry, Hermione and Kristine were trying to calm Se-yeon down who was about to cry. "Even when I was back at home, I never got in trouble," Se-yeon said as tears started to roll down from her cheeks. "Once my parents learn that I got in huge trouble, they''ll be so disappointed in me," "Hey, it''s impossible for kids like us to be trouble-free. You''re doing a great job and just by being in this club alone shows that you''re a top student. Your parents won''t be disappointed," Kristine said. Se-yeon started to cry and Hermione hugged her. Chris, Ron, Hermione, and Kristine all looked at each other and nodded. They left the classroom and discussed what to do next. "We have a bit more than an hour left before curfew. Before we''re forced to split up, we can go to the Dining Hall to talk a bit more," Chris said. "That''s good," Ron said. "Alright I''ll go tell the Professors that we can''t make it to the meetings today since we''re extremely tired and that we can''t be productive while in that state," Hermione said. She quickly separated from the group to tell the Professors of their absence. "Let''s go. We''ll just sit down and talk," Chris said. Both Harry and Se-yeon nodded and the group headed towards the Dining Hall. Once they got to the Dining Hall, Chris noticed that there were a couple of unfriendly stares towards both Harry and Se-yeon although it seemed that majority of them were targeted at Harry due to his fame. "Why in the world would you two even go out? I wouldn''t be too surprised if Harry did it, but Se-yeon, I really didn''t expect you to do it," Kristine said. "It''s kind of complicated," Ron said. "Our friend Hagrid had some problems that we had to fix as fast as possible. If we didn''t, Malfoy would''ve gotten him fired," "Malfoy again?" Kristine asked. "That kid is asking for a beating. One day, I''ll make sure that he gets what''s coming to him," "When that day comes, take me with you so I can call him a piece of my mind. Just because his family has a lot of Galleons, he looks down on everyone around him. Look at Chris. He''s richer and his personality doesn''t stink. Malfoy stinks so much even Stinksap can''t compare to him," Ron said. "Of course, but I have to hit him first. Then you can do whatever you want," Kristine said with a wink. "Sure. Harry and we''ll give you the front row seat for the whole performance," Ron said smiling at the thought of Draco being hit repeatedly. Harry smiled a little as well. "Well looks like we cheered you up a bit," Chris said. "A bit. Thank you guys," Harry said. "But I decided that I''m never going to interfere in something ever again. If it wasn''t for that stupid Philosopher''s Stone, we would''ve-" "Harry quiet," Ron said. "There are people around. We have to keep it a secret," Harry covered his mouth. "Sorry," He said. "What''s a Philosopher''s Stone?" Kristine asked. "I feel like I heard of it before, but I just can''t put my fingers on it," As she was pondering about the Philosopher''s Stone, Hermione also arrived at the Dining Hall. "Hermione we''re here," Kristine said while waving. Hermione came over and saw the face of Harry who cheered up a bit and Se-yeon who was still crying. "So I see that Harry at least cheered up a bit," Hermione said. "Yeah we were just discussing about something else. So Ron what is the Philosopher''s Stone?" Kristine asked. "It''s a magical item that can turn any metal into gold," Ron said. "Oh wow, goblins would love that," Kristine said. "Well, there''s a bit more to it than that though," Ron said. "Not only does it produce gold, it also makes an elixir that can let one never die. We''ve researched about it and found Nicholas Flamel who''s now more than 600 years old!" "What?!" Hermione and Kristine said. They looked at Chris with shocked faces. "That''s quite the number," Chris said. "More than surprising. Chris, this means that Flamel is immortal," Hermione said emphasizing "immortal". "Not quite," Ron said. "Once your supply of the Elixir is gone, you''re back to being a mortal once more. It''s only if you can get a consistent amount of Elixir," "But still, that''s quite surprising," Kristine said. "So why were you even looking for it anyways at the dead of night. At least look for it before curfew," "Well we weren''t looking for that. This and the Stone are two completely different situations. Well as for why we''re looking for the Stone..." Ron said looking at Harry. "It''s alright. I trust them and I''m sure that they''ll believe us," Harry said. "It''s a bit confusing for me to explain everything, but what I can say for sure is that Voldemort is coming for the Stone and he''s using Snape to do so," " Chapter 46 - Is it not Snape? "What?!" Hermione asked loudly. "That- That makes no sense! He''s a professor that''s been teaching here for more than we''ve been alive," "And a lot of people who we thought would be on the good side joined You-Know-Who," Ron said. "We haven''t witnessed the horrors of those times with our own eyes, but our families did and many others. Many people became Death Eaters purely out of fear. Even the people my parents thought would stay with us for the fight went over to the dark side. Not only does Snape act suspiciously, he also was a Death Eater in the past," "Yes, he was a traitor in the past and it wouldn''t be surprising if he betrayed Dumbledore now," Harry said. "Well we can''t just start ?ssuming things now," Kristine said. "From our perspective, Snape isn''t even that bad. Do you have any proof of him trying to get the stone?" "Well it was before the Hufflepuff Quidditch match. He was injured by one of the things guarding the stone," Harry said. "Why in the world would he even be where the stone is being guarded if he didn''t want the stone? Furthermore, we also heard him threaten Quirrell, one of the professor who helped defend the stone. He''s been getting harassed by Snape for a long time now and he finally cracked," Hermione and Kristine were now silent. "Either way, regardless of whether or not Snape is helping You-Know-Who or not, it''s imperative that we don''t allow the stone to get to his hands," Ron said. "If he does get the stone then we''ll be screwed!" "How about we try to broaden our suspect list," Chris said. "While we do believe you about the stone because there''s no point lying to us, but you can''t just have Snape as your only suspect just because you hate him. I think that if Snape was going to betray Dumbledore, he would''ve done it a long time ago. After all, 11 years is a long time. Even if the Dark Lord has been extremely weakened, he probably still has his ways of finding his loyal subordinates. You have to have other suspects as well," "But Snape really is the most suspicious one Chris," Ron said. "Yes, Harry and I hate Snape, but we won''t accuse him of a crime he didn''t do especially if it''s something this serious. This is us just putting the evidences we found together," "So Harry what was your punishment anyways for breaking the rule?" Chris suddenly asked. "We-We went to the Forbidden Forest," Harry said. "Unicorns were being attacked and we had to figure who was doing it," "So did you find anything?" Chris asked. "Yeah, it was really scary. I don''t really remember much, but this man was drinking unicorn blood. He was about to attack me, but I don''t really remember much after that since I had a huge headache in the middle of it," Harry said. "Has anyone told you what drinking unicorn does?" Chris asked. "Yes, unicorn blood does give you life, but the price is that you''ll be cursed and essentially be very weak," Harry said. "I''m guessing that whoever it was that you met was the one that is ?ssisting the Dark Lord. Snape doesn''t look weak to me," Chris said. "On the contrary, I think he looks extremely healthy," Ron and Harry started to think about what Chris said. "You''re... right," Harry said weakly. "If it''s one thing that Voldemort needs, it''s an extension on life and unicorn blood can temporarily give it," "Then if Snape isn''t the person helping out You-Know-Who... then who is it?" Ron asked. "It could anyone from the students to the teachers. If it''s a student then it can be anyone," Chris said. "However, in my opinion, if it''s a staff member, it has to be Quirrell. He looks abnormally pale everyday as if he''s very sick," "No, it can''t be Quirrell. He''s the one trying his best to not reveal anything," Harry said. "Yeah, he never cracked and I think he''s the one trying his best to keep You-Know-Who away from the stone," Ron said. "Like I said, if it is a professor, then Quirrell is the most suspicious," Chris said. "He looks like someone who drank unicorn blood considering how haggard he looks," "Alright let''s stop talking about this," Kristine said. "The star of the show is not the Stone, but Harry and Se-yeon. Look at Se-yeon she looks so tired right now. Let''s get her to her dorm," "You''re right," Ron said. "Alright then we''ll be leaving. If we get any news, we''ll be telling you," "Yeah," Hermione said. "We''ll help you in any way that we can," Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon left the Dining Hall leaving Chris, Hermione, and Kristine. "Isn''t the Philosopher''s Stone it?" Hermione asked. "For the riddle?" Kristine asked. "Yes, it can make someone immortal. It''s the perfect answer for the riddle," Hermione said. "I suppose it is," Chris said. "Well what are we waiting for. We''ll try getting it now. We''ll ask Harry and Ron where it is and we''ll try getting it ourselves before You-Know-Who snatches it. We''re hitting two birds with one stone," Kristine said. "No we''ll wait," Chris said. "We''ll wait till the Dark Lord helper comes and then we''ll remove him from the school. It''s better to get rid of the liabilities before they become a real problem," "I suppose you''re right," Kristine said. "Alright we''ll wait for the helper to try to get it before we try to get the stone," ... Chapter 48 - Finals Weeks passed once more and Chris started to see Quirrell''s failing health. "Professor are you doing alright? You look quite pale," Chris said one day after Defense Against Dark Arts class. "Yes... I''m doing fairly well. I''m just waiting for summer vacation to come. This year has been a bit tiring for me," Professor Quirrell said. "Alright I hope you do get better Professor. Sicknesses do sneak up on you and become nasty little things since they''re going to be constantly in your head," Chris said. Quirrell''s expression changed a bit, but he immediately put up a smile. . "Alright do move along. I know that you don''t want to spend all your break with me," Quirrell said. "Of course. Have a nice day Professor," Chris said as he quickly left to go to Hermione and Kristine who were both waiting for him. "What took you so long? We have to study. The test is in like 2 weeks. If we don''t do well, we might have to repeat our first year! Repeat! Our! First! Year! I''d rather leave Hogwarts permanently and go to some other school before I get humiliated for repeating first year," Hermione shouted as the three started walking to the library. ''Goodness I knew that she was study freak, but to think she would freak out this much for staying behind 2-3 minutes late,'' Chris thought. ''But I guess Quirrell''s physical and mental health is hitting its peak. I suppose regardless of whether or not the results are going to be like the book or the movie, he''s going to die,'' ... Test days finally came with Hermione being more nervous than ever. "Oh guys what if there''s something we haven''t studied on in the test? I can''t get a single question wrong. I-" "Hermione, you have to relax," Kristine said as she rubbed her eyes. Chris noticed that she had a small dark circles under her eyes. "We''ve talked about this all night. We basically read all the textbooks for the past 2 months and if Harry, Ron, or Se-yeon were here, they''d basically say the same thing. Remember when even Se-yeon told us that we had to rest a bit, but you said that we couldn''t and we studied for the next 2 hours?" "Yeah yeah," Hermione said as she took a deep breath. "Alright I''m ready. Let''s go," As Chris was walking down to his first class, he heard a sound that he hasn''t heard in a while. [You have a new Quest. Get over 100% on all your tests. All the tests given today has a chance of giving extra credit. Even the History of Magic class can give you extra credit on some of the questions where you can write extra for more points.] Reward: 15,000 EXP, 3 Galleon, and 1 bottle of fire-repelling potion/Recipe Failure: Reduction in 2 levels and 2 Galleons ''Hmm?'' Chris took a look at the potion that was in the rewards. [Fire Repelling Potion: An advanced potion that helps repel all fire for 30 seconds after consumption.] ''This is nice. With this, I don''t have to worry about buying more of Snape''s potion when it comes to the riddles,'' Chris thought. ''But it also seems like I don''t have any room for error or else I''m going to lose 20% of my wealth,'' The three went to their first class for the exam: Herbology. When they went inside the classroom for Herbology, the room that were usually full with various plants had only tables with a quill and ink bottle for all the Ravenclaw students. "Alright students," Professor Sprout said. "Your exam will be a written test to show how much you have learned in the course of the year. You''ll have the hour to finish all the questions that I have given you. I do know that this exam can be hard for some so I have sprinkled extra credit chances in the test. If you are stuck on a question just skip it and move on to the next problem. Also, let me remind you that the quills that are enchanted with the best Anti-Cheating Spell so if you get caught cheating, there will be a lot of trouble for you," Professor Sprout flicked her wand and an exam landed in front of every student. "Please start now and good luck," Professor Sprout said. Chris flipped over the paper and scanned the questions. Most of them were extremely easy questions as they were all in the textbook. For example, a question was, "What is the plant that you may cast the Fire-Making Spell at, but must do so at a safe distance due to its needles?" However, there were some of the bit more problems such as naming 5 of the 7 uses of Dittany and the other two for extra credit. Due to the quest, Chris tried naming all 7, but was only sure of 5. The hour passed by quickly and everyone turned in their test. Chris nervously looked the progress on his Quest and he breathed a sigh in relief as he saw that the 0 became a 1. "So how was it?" Kristine asked after they left Herbology class. "It was alright," Hermione said. "I''m a bit worried about the Dittany question and a couple of other questions, but as for the rest I think I did alright. What about you Chris?" "Well, it''s almost the same as you. I had a bit of trouble in Dittany and Venomous Tentacula," Chris said. "Knowing you two, you two are probably exaggerating," Kristine said. She shrugged and the three moved onto the next test. ... Chapter 49 - End of finals Due to Chris knowing the contents of the test, he knew that he would be able to pass. The only problem was that he only practiced enough to get a high grade rather than trying to get extra credit. While Snape tests were easily conquered as he just made the Forgetfulness Potion as fast as he possibly could, Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall''s tests were slightly more difficult. "Arca Verto," Chris chanted. He did practice this spell a bit in the Practice Room, but he wasn''t sure how it would turn out. The mouse started to slowly change into a box and Chris knew that he would pass after around 2 more seconds, but he needed to put in the details for the quest. He started to think about the details of the beautiful snuff boxes that he searched up on the Internet in his previous world due to being curious about what it was. The box itself was formed, but the details started to form excruciatingly slowly as Chris did not level up the spell high enough for him to put in the details quickly. After about 15 seconds, the details of the box were finally put in, leaving a beautiful golden box with Egyptian drawings as Chris always believed that Egyptian drawings were much more beautiful on boxes like these. "Well Mr. Evergreen, that is very beautiful. If I didn''t see you transfigure this box, I would''ve thought that this was a precious artifact in Egypt," Professor McGonagall said with a smile. "Thank you Professor," Chris said. "Oh yes, Mr. Evergreen, you were captain for the entire year and you have not used a single one of those favors. The others have already used their favors already. Since those favors do not carry onto the next year, do you want to exchange yours for money or is there something that we can do for you currently?" ''System can the money they give me be part of my personal wealth so that I can buy stuff from the System or is it money that I can''t use?'' Chris asked. [The money that you personally earn is money that you are able to spend here in the System. However, you are not allowed to spend any money that you earn through inheritance or through family businesses for system items or spells. The only businesses that you can earn money that is usable in the System is when you open your own business with your own money.] ''Well I guess that isn''t a problem then,'' Chris thought. ''Family money isn''t the only thing that in my disposal. I have family influence, manpower, and etc. If I do need any financial ?ssistance, I''ll just get a loan from my father,'' "I would like to convert my favors to Galleons please," Chris said. "Very well. You will be receiving 8 Galleons. On the last day of school, Professor Flitwick will come and give you a pouch containing the 8 Galleons," Professor McGonagall said. "Thank you Professor," Chris said. "No, this is all due to your strength. Even after school ends, please practice. I''m sure your father will allow it," Professor McGonagall said with a smile. ''Damn, she''s outright telling me to break the rules here,'' Chris thought. ''I know she was a cool character, but now that I''ve actually had contact, she''s so much cooler than I thought,'' "That is all. Please leave so that I can test the next student," Professor McGonagall said. "So how was it?" Hermione asked. "Well she said that I should start looking for a job as an artifact counterfeiter," Chris said jokingly. "Stop joking around," Hermione said. "Well looking at your confidence, I suppose you did alright," They moved on to Charms and Chris tried to make the pineapple do advanced tap dancing which made Professor Flitwick smile. Although the dancing wasn''t perfect, the number went up from a 3-4 for Chris'' quest. ''Luckily, I used everything I could to make that pineapple do some fancy dances, or else I probably would''ve failed this quest,'' Chris thought. The next 3 classes, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Astronomy had simple written exams and while Chris was bored out of his mind taking those tests he managed to get extra credit on all of it. At the end of all of the exams, Chris got his reward from the System. [You have completed the Quest. You have received 15,000 EXP, 3 Galleons and 5 Sickles (due to the wand effect), and 1 bottle of Fire-Repelling potions and its recipe. You are now level 46. You have 23 G, 5 S, and 0 K.] ''There you go. Now that I got the Fire-Repelling Potion, I don''t have to worry about anything during the events of the 1st book. Now all I have to do is go with Harry and the rest down there,'' "So Chris, what are we going to do about the Stone?" Kristine asked. "I mean that''s the answer to the riddle right?" "Well to be honest, we don''t even need to do anything. The person who''s responsible for the break-in at Gringotts will strike tonight and that''s when we''ll swoop in for the prize," Chris said. "How do you know that?" Hermione asked. "Think about it. Hogwarts isn''t going to be the last place they''ll put the stone in so by logic, they should move it by next year so it''s the perfect time to strike now," Chris said. "Furthermore, I don''t think we''re the only people to know what''s about to happen," Like he said, during dinner, Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon sat next to them. First they talked about the exams, but soon Harry moved on to the main topic. "Guys, I think that Voldemort is going to strike tonight," Harry said. "I talked to one of our friends Hagrid and whoever is planning all this got all the information they need," Hermione looked at Chris with a slightly surprised face. "Well then do you need our help?" Chris asked. "No I don''t want to drag you guys into this- my mess," Harry said. "I just wanted to talk to you guys about this before going in. I just thought that you guys all had the rights to know," "What do we mean we?" Ron asked. "We''re going too," "Yeah, what kind of friends would we be if we just left you alone like that," Se-yeon said. "Well then us three will be going too," Chris said. "People say 2 heads are better than 1, but I also think that 6 heads that really do get along with each other are much better than 2 heads," Chapter 50 - Invisibility Potion "Wait you three too?" Harry asked. "Chris I do appreciate the help, but we have our method of sneaking through the night. How are you three going to get to the 3rd floor?" "We have our own methods," Chris said. "Don''t worry, we''ll be there right along with you," "Alright," Harry said "However, do be careful. I think you already know this, but the ghosts here are not fun to deal with especially Peeves. If he somehow catches you three, you''ll most definitely be sold out to the professors," "Alright," Chris said. "We''ll be careful," After dinner, Chris, Hermione, and Kristine went back to their tower to get ready. Chris excused himself and went to an isolated place and made sure that no one was around him. ''System can I buy 3 extremely strong invisibility potions or rent an invisibility cloak?'' Chris asked. [Both is available. You may rent the Invisibility Cloak for 1 Galleon per every half hour or buy 1 potion for 6 Sickles and 3 for 1 Galleon.] ''1 Galleon?! Don''t you think that''s a rip-off System?'' Chris asked with a surprised tone as he did not think getting just one of these two items would be that expensive. While in any other case, he wouldn''t sweat over a Galleon, in the case of System money, he only has around 20 Galleons. Even spending 1 would take a huge toll on his funds. [The Invisibility cloak you may rent is an extremely powerful cloak that will hide your presence from everyone including ghosts. So unless someone physically touch you, have an extremely strong sense of smell to track you, or happens to hear you walking, there will be no other way anyone would know you are there. Furthermore, the cloak can change in size depending on how many people are going to be under it and the sizes of said people. Of course, the limit is 3 people of all sizes. The Invisibility Potion has the same effect as the cloak except for the fact it will last 2 hours. You can drink half of the bottle and then finish the remaining half to turn visible again. Of course, you can also wait for the 2 hour limit on the potion. Also, you can see anyone that has also drank this potion and others may do the same. However, if you try to look in the mirror, you will not be able to see your bodies.] ''Alright fair enough. For how powerful it is, 1 Galleon seems to be a pretty good price,'' Chris said. ''Well then let me buy 3 potions,'' [Thank you for your purchase. You now have 22 G 5 S and 0 K. As long as you hold your hand out and think of the item, you may take out the potion.] ''Alright,'' Chris extended his hands and thought of taking out the 3 Invisibility Potions and in less than a second, 3 potion bottles filled to the brim with transparent liquid appeared in Chris'' hand. [Invisibility Potion: Potion that is able to grant invisibility to the drinker. To use it, drink half of the bottle to grant invisibility for 2 hours and the other half to immediately remove the invisibility.] ''Alright everything is prepared. All we need to do now is wait,'' Chris thought as he left to go to where Hermione and Kristine were. "Hey where were you? You suddenly disappeared," Kristine said. "Oh I was just getting the stuff I had prepared for today," Chris said taking out 2 potions. He gave one to both girls. "What is this?" Hermione asked. "I don''t remember seeing this in the textbooks," "Of course you haven''t because this is something that I got from a friend of mine," Chris said. "He always has strange items, but when he gives things away, he never gets it wrong. These 3 are invisibility potions. To use it, you have to drink half of the bottle and to remove the invisibility effect, you have to drink the other half of the bottle. He guarantees the effectiveness," "Wait Chris, I have so many questions such as the identity of this supposed friend that you have, but ?ssuming that you do have this friend, how can we trust him. It''s absurd that you have to drink half the potion to get the effect and the other half to remove the invisibility. I mean it just doesn''t make sense. Also, what happens if we drink a little over half or a little under half?" Hermione asked. "I don''t know. He tested it and that was how he got it. Of course, it doesn''t have to be exactly half. I''m sure that you can go a little over and under. Also, I trust that friend. He has never betrayed my trust so I''m sure that he gave us the right stuff," Chris said. "Alright. We''re going to trust this friend of yours this one time," Kristine said. The three sat down in the Common Room. Some of the first years came talking to them every once in a while, but after around 2 hours, it seemed that everyone was now in bed. The three looked at each other and nodded. "Drink your potions now," Chris whispered. The three took out their bottles and drank half of it. The taste was nice resembling that of strawberry flavored Skittles that Chris loved back in his previous world. After around 5 seconds, both Hermione and Kristine had confused faces. "What happened? Why can I still see you guys?" Hermione asked. "Oh yeah, I forgot to say that as long as you drank the same potion, you''ll be able to see each other. Try looking into a mirror," Chris said. The two looked for a nearby mirror and saw that they couldn''t see a body. "Wow, that''s amazing. Well I was thinking of how we were going to see each other while walking over there," Hermione said. "This potion is great!" "More importantly, that potion was delicious," Kristine said. "I think I might like that more than most of the wizard candies that I bought. Does your friend have any more?" "Maybe," Chris said. "I never know what he has and when he has those items. Alright let''s stop talking. We have to get going," Chapter 50 - The Chess Chamber The three went down the long passageway that was quiet except for the water trickling and the almost inaudible rustling sound ahead. "What is that?" Kristine asked. "It''s like there''s a bunch of birds over there. Oh my goodness, are Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon caught up in a bird attack. My mother told me once that if birds really decided to attack us, it would hurt a lot," "Probably not," Chris said. "Even if bird attacks might be scary, who would put in birds to guard one of the most wanted items of all time. A wizard or witch that''s passed their third year of Hogwarts can probably obliterate all of those birds in matter of seconds," "True..." Kristine said. "Then what do you think it will be?" "I don''t know," Chris said. "Something with wings that''s for sure considering they sound like birds. Maybe it''s some genetic mutations with some huge scary creature like spiders with bird wings," Hermione and Kristine were both silent for a second and shuddered thinking about it. The three soon reached the end of the passageway and into a lit chamber. However, more importantly, they saw Harry, Ron and Se-yeon on brooms chasing after the winged keys in the air. "Winged keys?" Kristine questioned. "GET IT NOW!" Harry shouted from above. Chris saw Ron dashing to the key, but failed. He almost fell off his broom, but balanced himself at the final second. Luckily Harry was able to grab the key and the three all landed. The three without realizing that Chris, Hermione, and Kristine were there hurriedly ran to the door and rammed the key inside the lock and successfully turned the key. "WE DID IT!" Ron shouted as he sat down on the floor to rest for a bit. "Hurry let''s drink our potion," Chris said as he drank the remaining half of the Invisibility Potion. Hermione and Kristine did the same. "Hey guys, good work there," Chris said as he and the girls went up to them. "Woah, we were wondering where you three were," Ron said. "We thought you guys forgot about coming here," "Of course not," Chris said. "You guys were just a bit ahead of us so we tried our best to catch up," "You guys were mean!" Kristine said. "You didn''t mention that big dog at the first floor," "Oh yes, that''s umm... our bad. We kind of forgot," Ron said while laughing sheepishly. "How could you forget about such an important thing?" Kristine asked. "If it wasn''t for... Never mind, let''s move," Kristine said. "Wait, what were you going to say?" Ron asked. "Don''t know," Kristine said while she stuck her tongue out. Ron scratched his head and turned to Chris. "Is she always this confusing?" He asked. "I guess sometimes she is," Chris said. "Well she''s right that we have to move forward. Let''s go," The rest of them went to the next chamber, a room that had a big chessboard in the middle. "Oh this has got to be the biggest chess boards and pieces I''ve ever seen my entire life," Ron said. He went to go touch the knight piece which suddenly turned its head around which startled him. "Um... do we all have to play with you to go to the next room?" Ron asked. The knight piece shook his head and 3 pieces turned around. "Alright guys, we have to replace 3 of the pieces instead of 6," Ron said. "Ron, Harry, and I''ll go," Chris said. "Well at least for Hermione and Kristine, they suck at chess. How about Se-yeon?" "She''s alright, but still worse than Harry," Ron said. "To be fair, while I was at Korea, you two were playing chess so it''s not really that fair," Se-yeon said. "Yeah and Hermione might be bad at chess, but I''m not that bad at chess," Kristine said with a slightly angry tone "Kristine you lost to me only around a week ago," Hermione said. "Alright, it doesn''t matter since I can beat both of you," Chris said proudly. Hermione and Kristine both stuck their tongues out at Chris. "We don''t have time," Harry said. "Voldemort might have already reached the stone by now. Let''s go," "So how are you at chess Chris?" Ron asked. "Like I said enough to beat Hermione and Kristine," Chris said with a smile. "However, I do know your passion for chess so I''ll let you direct me for this game. I wouldn''t want to accidentally injure one of you two. That would be pretty bad," "Alright then," Ron said. "But I might hurt you so if I do, don''t hold a grudge against me," "I know," Chris said. "In a game of chess, sacrifice is necessary," Ron smiled and confidently looked at the white pieces, a look that Chris had rarely seen from Ron in the films. ''I suppose that the films did him wrong. Ron looks like he''s quite the brave boy,'' Chris thought. The game started and from what Chris could see, it was going smoothly. With Ron in the lead, while the white pieces were able to take many black pieces "Chris move 3 step diagonally and take that pawn!" Ron ordered. Chris walked to where the white pawn was and it immediately shattered without him doing anything. ''Huh so that''s what happened when I take their piece,'' Chris thought. Luckily there were no other pieces that could take down Chris so he was safe. The game continued on and soon it was the fated moment. There were only a few pieces left with Ron only having one choice left. "Well guys good luck to you all," Ron said. "What do you mean Ron?" Harry asked. "There''s only one way to win and that''s for me to be taken. Otherwise, I would have to make this game even longer than it''s supposed to be and You-Know-Who will be taking that stone," Ron said. "No Ron!" Se-yeon said from outside the chess board. "There has to be another way for us to win!" "No," Ron said. "That means I''ll probably have to sacrifice either Harry or Chris at one point and even then we might still lose. It''s better for me to be the one who''s sacrificed. We don''t have time for any more playing. Knight E5," The stone horse that Ron was sitting on moved to E5. "Ron no!" Se-yeon shouted. She tried to go inside the chess board, but Hermione stopped her. "No, Ron made this choice. We have to respect it," Hermione said. The Queen looked at Ron who gulped at the sight of the stone sword that has destroyed so many other pieces. She swung her sword at stone horse. When it broke, Ron fell out of the horse, stones the size of fists hitting his body. He fainted on impact. "Ron!" Se-yeon shouted as she tried to step into the board. "Don''t!" Kristine said. "If you go in right now, the sacrifice Ron made will be meaningless. Let them win the game first," Chris saw the winning play and quickly went to winning space that Ron made. "Checkmate," Chris said. The king piece dropped its sword indicating that the game ended. Chapter 51 - Going down the Puzzles Chris, Hermione, and Kristine left the Common Room and was on their way to the 3rd floor. However, on the second floor, they saw Peeves panicking. "Did I just offend Sir Baron. Is he going to find a way to get rid of me. No! I don''t want to be gone!" Peeves said as he was continuously moving around. The three looked at each other and quietly chuckled. After seeing just how annoying Peeves was, it was a nice change of pace to see him panic. ''Well it seems that Harry''s group is just a bit ahead of us. Hopefully, they just got past Fluffy and we''ll be able to catch up,'' Chris thought as he motioned Hermione and Kristine to quickly move forward. They did not have any more distractions and safely made it to the third floor. They opened the door and saw Fluffy for the first time. The Cerberus was much more frightening than what Chris saw in the movies and even he was intimidated seeing this huge dog that can potentially rip his head in seconds. Hermione and Kristine was even more terrified than Chris was. "Uh, Chris," Kristine said with a shaking voice. "How are we going to get past this huge dog," Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice that has not spoken in a long time. "Oh, what''s Hades'' dog doing here?" Prometheus asked. "Woah we haven''t talked to you in a while," Kristine said out loud getting the dog''s attention. "Use your mind to speak to me. Both of your friends can hear and talk to you with their minds as long as I''m facilitating the conversation," Prometheus said. "Unless you want to be eaten by the dog," Kristine covered her mouth immediately. "She is right though," Chris said. "You haven''t spoken to us in forever," "That''s because there was no reason to. You three had nothing going on ever since we got out of that cave," Prometheus said. "The space inside this diary is huge and very comfortable, but if necessary I wouldn''t want to come out. I''ve only felt pain for the past couple thousand years so I do deserve some break don''t I?" Prometheus said. "Well in any case, now that I have a better look at it, that''s not Hades'' dog. It''s more like its great-great grandchild that b?r?ly has any of its blood. Alright I''m going back to sleep," Prometheus stopped talking and the three looked at each other. "Why did he come out?" Kristine whispered learning her lesson from speaking too loudly earlier. "I don''t know," Chris said. "I think he just wanted to talk to someone after staying inside that diary for months," "Fair enough, I would go crazy being in there for as long as he did," Kristine said. "Guys pay attention. We have to get past this monster," Hermione said. "How are we going to get past this," "There''s a harp near it," Kristine said. "We probably have to play music to it," ''System let me buy a harmonica'' Chris said. [A harmonica similar to a model from your previous world will cost 5 Sickles.] ''Alright I''ll pay for it,'' Chris said immediately. [Thank you for your purchase. Please hold out your hand and think about the harmonica in your hand.] Chris let out his hand and a small harmonica appeared in his hand. "Guys I have an instrument right now," Chris said. "Where did you get that?" Hermione asked. "I just had it in my pocket since it''s really small. I think I forgot to take it out," Chris said. "Well I had it, but I never played it before. So let''s hope that I can somehow do something with it," Chris put the harmonica in his mouth and started playing it. The sound was horrible and Chris saw Hermione and Kristine wince when he started to play. ''Well this is why I never played any instruments in my previous world,'' Chris thought. However, even with the terrible sounds, Fluffy''s eyes started to droop and like in the movies, it fell asleep. "Well that was easy," Hermione said. "Chris stop playing, my ears hurt," "Yeah, well I guess it was worth it seeing that we now know that even you''re bad at something," Kristine said. Chris stopped playing to quickly explain it to both Hermione and Kristine. "If I start playing-" Fluffy suddenly growled and it seemed like it was about to wake up. "That''ll happen," Chris said as he quickly started to play again. Hermione and Kristine both had annoyed faces, but they found the trapdoor near Fluffy. They quickly opened it and saw that there was no ladder and only pure darkness. "Hey Chris. Is this a trap? Can we really fall down there?" Kristine asked. Chris nodded and stuck his hand to give them the thumbs up. "Alright I''ll trust you," Kristine said. She closed her eyes and jumped inside. Hermione struggled and looked like she did not want to jump inside. However, she closed her eyes and jumped in the hole. Chris quickly followed going inside the hole. He heard Fluffy barking, but he was calm as he landed on the soft Devil''s Snare. He saw both Hermione and Kristine panicking. "What are you two doing?" Chris asked. "The plant is su?k?n? us in!" Kristine said. "This is the Devil''s Snare," Hermione suddenly said. "We need fire to get away from it," She quickly took out her wand and cast the Fire-Making Spell causing the three of them to fall down further. "Come to think of it, where is Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon?" Kristine said. "We haven''t seen them anywhere," "I think they''re a bit more ahead of us," Chris said. "I don''t think they got that far ahead of us since even you two struggled a bit at the Devil''s Snare part," "Alright," Kristine said. "Wait guys," Hermione said. "I think I hear voices in that passageway. I think it''s Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon," "Then let''s go," Kristine said running down the passageway. Chapter 51 - Potion Room As soon as the king piece dropped its sword, Se-yeon ran towards Ron. She saw that he was breathing and heaved a sigh of relief. "Ron is smart, but sometimes he acts just so dumb," Se-yeon said. "Hermione, Kristine, can you two head back to the top with Se-yeon to take Ron away?" Chris asked. "From here on, it''s going to get more dangerous and considering that we have not met with Snape''s or Quirrell''s test yet, one of them is definitely going to be really nasty," "No, if it''s going to be that dangerous then it''s better that we come with you," Hermione said. "Do you think that Se-yeon is enough to bring Ron up to safety? His safety is priority. Right now he might look like he''s alright on the surface, but what if he had a serious internal injury. She''s going to need help," Chris said. "But-" "Hermione let''s go back," Kristine said. "Like Chris said, Ron might be seriously injured and we''re going to need to help Se-yeon in every way that we can," "But he''s going to die Kristine. Do you think You-Know-Who will spare him after seeing that they''re trying to interrupt his plan?" Hermione asked angrily. "It''s hard for me too!" Kristine shouted. " Do you think I want to leave two of my friends to die to stall for what 20 minutes? But at the same time, I know this is for the best. Who knows maybe Chris and Harry together will be strong enough to stall You-Know-Who for much longer considering that You-Know-Who is greatly weakened. This is for the best Hermione. If we don''t let them do this, the entire school will be in trouble," "Yes," Harry said. "Se-yeon, grab the brooms from the flying-keys room and take Ron to safety. Then please get Hedwig and contact Dumbledore. Regardless of who Voldemort is using, even if Chris and I together can''t defeat him, like Kristine said we can definitely stall him for a while. The things we learned in Dueling Club will definitely come in handy. And who knows, I survived him once. Maybe my luck will save both of us," "Alright," Se-yeon said after a bit of hesitation. "Good luck to you two," Hermione was reluctant, but she still agreed to leave. She followed Kristine and Se-yeon as they tried to carry Ron and walk to the brooms in the chamber before. "Alright Harry you ready?" Chris asked. "Yeah. I mean I have to be don''t I?" Harry asked. "Yep," Chris said. "Well it''s time let''s finish up the tests for Quirrell and Snape," They soon reached another door and Chris opened it covering his nose instantly to not smell the foul odor of the troll that was on the ground unconscious due to an injury on its head. "Let''s hurry and move to the next door," Chris whispered. "I''m covering my nose and it still makes me want to throw up," "Yeah," Harry said. "This is ridiculous. Why in the world did Quirrell even have a troll?" They quickly moved to the door and opened it. The room was just as how Chris remembered it to be in the movies, a table with 7 very different bottles. While this part of the movie wasn''t action filled, it was one of the most memorable for Chris due to the riddle and the purple and black flames. "Huh, for someone that nasty, Snape''s test isn''t all that bad," Harry said as both of them entered the room. Immediately, the purple and black flames appeared blocking the entrance and exit of the room. "Oh I knew that something related to Snape wouldn''t be good," Harry said. "There''s a paper over there so let''s read it," Chris said. He picked up the paper and read it together with Harry. "Is this a riddle?" Harry asked. "Yes," Chris said. "Many great wizards are only able to churn out powerful spells, but can''t solve the simplest of riddles so this one can have many stuck," "So what do we do?" Harry asked. "Voldemort could be repairing his body any second," "I''ve solved it already. Just drink the smallest bottle," Chris said. ''Like Harry said, I don''t want to waste more time here. I''ll drink the new potion I just got,'' Chris thought. Harry looked at the smallest bottle which had enough potion for only one person. "Is there a potion for going back?" Harry asked. "It''s the big bottle," Chris said. "Chris, you go back as well," Harry said. "This is my business more than anything. Since there''s only enough for one person, I should be the one facing Voldemort," "Harry-," Chris said before Harry interrupted him. "Don''t try to convince me otherwise," Harry said. "It''s better for me to go. You have a loving family and many friends that care for you. I only have the latter," Harry took the potion and quickly drank it. He then walked towards the black flame and hesitated, but shook his head. "Goodbye Chris," Harry said as he went through the black flame. Chris was stunned at Harry''s action. ''Wow he didn''t even try to hear me out,'' Chris thought. He then took out the Fire-Repelling Potion given to him by the System. However, before he could drink the potion, the System gave him a Quest. [You have a new Quest. Defeat Quirrell and get the Philosopher''s Stone. The Stone has much more uses than making gold or giving life.] Get the Stone 0/1 Reward: 20000 EXP, 5 Galleon, and 1 Ticket for Pet Roulette Failure: A tortuous death ''The price for failure is much bigger than I thought,'' Chris thought. ''Then again, it is Voldemort so it is expected. However, considering that I have to defeat Quirrell, I suppose that the easy Harry win isn''t going to happen this time around. System let me buy 3 Invisibility Potions,'' [Thank you for your purchase. You now have 21 G 5 S and 0 K.] Chris took out one of the Invisibility Potion and drank half of it. After about a second, he drank the Fire-Repelling Potion. While it tasted like nothing, Chris felt that an extremely cold force was surging inside of his body as if trying to freeze him from the inside. ''Well time to start this mission,'' Chris thought as he went inside the black flames. Chapter 52 - Changes for Chaps 1-3 Chapter 1 Changes: Minor grammar changes. Added some new things that are extremely minor and won''t change the story at all. For example, i added that Chris had his books signed by the actors and actresses. I changed the System interface a bit. I took out the info that I never really put in. I also made it so that apostrophes are either for thoughts or using the System. I''m sure that you as smart readers know when Chris is thinking or using the System. Chapter 2 Changes: Once again minor grammar/flow changes. Also made it so that when the system speaks, it starts with a hyphen. I added that only money earned by Chris can be used in the System early on in this chapter. As for that I added that when creating a business, if Chris borrows money, he has to pay that money back and wait until he makes that much money in profit before using any of the profit to buy stuff from the System. For example, if he borrows 10 Galleons, he has to earn 10 galleons, pay the person back and then earn another 10 galleons. Then he can start using his profits to buy things from the System. Changed the name of the Wizarding Book to Spell Book. I have plans for potions as well. Mentioned that there are spells that can only be learned after Chris reaches a specific level. I decided to stop making the System address Chris as Host, but just you. Added some details in this chapter as well. Mostly explanations. Chapter 3: Increased Dumbledore and Voldemort''s magical power a million each. I will be doing a lot of these number changes. I took out the fact that Chris can use a certain amount of outside money to buy things from the System. Added some new dialogue and etc. Once again, nothing is really that big of a change. . Chapter 52 - 4-6 changes Chapter 4: Changed a lot of the dialogue between Chris and the System. However, the information that is being told is something that everyone already knows. Once again there isn''t much of a change. I added a condition that Chris may enter the Practice Room during battle, but he may only be in there for half the time and he is banned from entering for the next 3 days. Added that at lower levels spells have a higher chance of failing to cast and when it fails, it will not count towards leveling up the spell. Chapter 5 Added more dialogue between Chris and Hermione. Fixed grammar issues. No big changes this chapter. Chapter 6 Once again a couple of grammar fixes that were pretty bad. I changed the fact that casting spells won''t give EXP. Chapter 53 - Quirrell When Chris went through the flames, he felt the cold inside his body fight the flames around him. It didn''t take long until he went to the other side. In the room was Harry tied up with a rope looking at Quirrell with a shocked face. "Wasn''t Snape trying to kill me?" Harry asked. "No you blithering fool, I was trying to kill you," Quirrell said. "To think that Snape tried so hard to save you for you to just give yourself to me. Well I do have to thank you for this wonderful gift Potter," "And that troll during Halloween... Was that you as well?" "Yes, but that blasted Evergreen was there to foil my plan! I suppose I''ll kill him too when I have the chance in the future. My master will most likely give me the chance to dlo so," Chris looked at him coldly. ''It seems that I won''t bat an eye killing Quirrell them,'' Chris thought. ''Funny I thought I would be more against about killing someone, but I guess when your life is being threatened, even killing isn''t much,'' He took a look a Quirrell''s stats. Quirinus Quirrell Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Magical Power: 10,000 (Extremely weakened. Original: 109,000) ''Well then, it seems that I''m only a little behind him in his weakened state,'' Chris thought. ''Luckily, Voldemort made him drink all that unicorn blood and made him very weak. His will to live is going to be his downfall,'' Chris slowly went down the stairs as quietly as possible and went to a spot where he knew he could hit Quirrell. He took out his wand and started to wait. "Now enjoy the few minutes that you have left to live Potter. Life is an extremely precious thing and if I were you, I would enjoy every single bit of it to the fullest," Quirrell said as he faced the mirror. "Strange. I see myself giving the Stone to my master, but the stone isn''t appearing," Quirrell said. "When I heard you sobbing. I thought you were being stressed out from Snape questioning you," Harry said "Oh Potter, that was my master punishing me for my mistakes. He doesn''t like failures and so when I failed getting the Stone, it was him punishing me. It is hard trying to follow one of the greatest wizard in the history of magic while you are a mere Defense Against the Dark Arts professor trying to teach amateur wizards how to cast the most basic spells in the book," Quirrell said. "Well it''s almost over. My master will give me the biggest rewards once this is over. He will make me stronger. He will make me his most strongest servant. Then I will come back. I will kill that wretched Snape and drink his blood. I''ve already drank Unicorn blood so I don''t think it makes a difference to drink some human blood especially since he''s my greatest enemy," "You know what the funny part is," Harry said. "Snape probably sees me as his greatest enemy. He doesn''t even see you in his eyes. You''re so weak that he doesn''t even acknowledge you as a fellow wizard. Even if you turned into a Muggle the next day, he won''t notice," ''Wow, Harry developed quite the poisonous tongue,'' Chris thought as he watched with amusement. As it wasn''t the right time to jump in, he stood still only able to watch the events unfold. Quirrell twitched, but he continued to look at the mirror trying to learn the secrets of the mirror. "Soon Potter. Soon, you will know the terror of the Dark Arts. I will show you how it feels to d?s?r? death, but be unable to get it," Quirrell said. "Master what should I do? The stone isn''t in my hands," "Use the boy," A faint voice said. ''God I know about parasitic Voldemort, but it''s still extremely freaky to hear his voice out of nowhere,'' Chris thought. Quirrell''s face lit up and the ropes tying up Harry disappeared. Harry slowly walked towards him and soon was right in front of the mirror. "Tell me what do you see Potter?" Quirrell asked. "I see- I see Dumbledore giving me the trophy. I- I won the Quidditch Cup!" Harry said. "What? Move out of the way!" Quirrell shouted as he pushed Harry. Harry stood up and as he was slowly moving away, "He lies!" Voldemort said as loud as he could. "Come back Potter!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me what do you see. If you lie to me again, I''ll give you the worst pain you can imagine," "Let me speak to him," Voldemort said. "Master-" "I have enough energy," Voldemort said. "Let me speak to him," Quirrell started to untie his turban. Voldemort''s face soon appeared in the mirror frightening Harry. "Look at me Potter," Voldemort said. "Look at my wretched form. I''m a mere parasite, but I am fortunate to have faithful servants like Quirrell have unicorn blood to help me. However, I want a full body. I want to once again rule the Wizarding World and I''ll even let you be by my side so why don''t you give me the stone in your pocket Potter," Harry fell down and his face was full of despair. "Ah I remember this scene. Your father had that same face. However, I applaud his bravery. Even if he was frightened, he fought till his dying breath. After I killed him, I went to your mother. She did not need to die, but she was also brave as she sacrificed herself to save you. I know you don''t want your mother to die in vain Potter," Voldemort said. "LIAR. I WILL NEVER GIVE YOU THE STONE!" Harry shouted as he stood back up and tried to run away. "Get him!" Voldemort shouted. Quirrell snapped and the whole room was in flames. He then snapped again tying Harry up with ropes. He slowly started walking towards Harry. He went to grab Harry who seemed to be in huge pain. "AGH!" Quirrell shouted as he let go of Harry. His hands were now extremely red. "Master I cannot hold him," "Then keep you distance and kill him!" Quirrell jumped back and was about to perform a spell, but Harry jumped to reach for Quirrell. He was able to grab onto Quirrell''s arm. He was able to reach grabbing onto Quirrell''s arm trying not to let go. Quirrell continued to scream in pain trying to get rid of Harry. He was finally able to kick him away, but his arm was seriously burnt. He angrily looked at Harry who fainted and was about to perform a curse. ''Now!'' Chris thought. "Fulgur Pila," Chris chanted. A small ball of lightning formed and he shot it at Quirrell whose back was turned towards him. Quirrell quickly turned back and was shocked to see a spell. He was b?r?ly able to block it as he created a weak enough shield. "Who?!" Quirrell shouted. However, since Chris was still invisible, all Quirrell was able to do was just panic. "Use Revelio you blithering fool!" Voldemort shouted. "Are you a teacher or an amateur?!" "Revelio!"Quirrell chanted. -Notice: Revelio Charm has been used on Host while under the Invisiblity Potion.- Chris panicked. ''Oh shit, if it works then I''m done for,'' Chris thought. Chris heaved a sigh of relief and regained his confidence. Voldemort seeing that Quirrell was too weak to do anything, decided to ignore Chris. "Get the stone first. I''ll help you deal with the attacker later," Voldemort said. Quirrell quickly ran towards where Harry was to try to get the stone. "Privatio Sensoria," Chris chanted and Quirrell fell to the ground. "Why did you trip? You worthless servant!" Voldemort shouted angrily. "Reducto," Chris chanted. Quirrell''s unburnt arm disappeared and there was blood spewing out. When Quirrell came back to his senses, he screamed in pain. "The Reductor Curse?!" Voldemort shouted. "You must not be a student. Show yourself if you dare! Who dares to fight against Lord Voldemort!" However, Chris didn''t fall for his taunt. He just watched as Quirrell continued to scream. Soon the screaming stopped and Quirrell died leaving a bloody corpse. ''I thought I was ready to kill him, but I still feel a bit nauseous,'' Chris thought as he tried to control his urge to vomit. When he looked up, he saw a black mist in front of him. Voldemort stared toward Chris'' direction as if it could see him. However, he just let out an angry scream and left the room unable to even touch the stone. ''That was much easier than I thought,'' Chris thought as he went towards Harry. He grabbed the stone inside Harry''s pocket and left the room. Chapter 54 - Dumbledores Opinion As Chris approached the door to exit, he saw Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall entering. After a bit of thinking, he decided to sit down by the wall. "Is that Quirrell?!" Professor McGonagall asked with a surprised tone. "What is he doing here?!" "It seems that it is and it looks like he had quite the fight. One of his arm was blown cleanly off and the other looks like it was burnt," Dumbledore said as he looked at Harry. However, he looked troubled as if nothing went according to plan. "Was it Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked with a surprised tone. "No..." Dumbledore said. "Well partially no. It seems that whoever blew off Quirrell''s arm is different from the person that burnt his arm... The stone!" Dumbledore took a look at the Mirror of Erised. He frowned and finally looked at Harry. He started searching through the pockets. "It''s not here," Dumbledore said. "The Stone is gone," "What?!" Professor McGonagall shouted. "How is it gone? You ensured that if it''s You-Know-Who, he''ll never be able to get it no matter how strong he is," "He used Potter to get it out of the mirror," Dumbledore said. "However, if Voldemort indeed took it, things would''ve been different. Harry wouldn''t be alive and Quirrell would not be dead with two of his arms completely obliterated. My guess is that whoever killed Quirrell took the Stone," "But who could''ve done it?" Professor McGonagall asked. "It''ll take a bit more time for me to figure it out, but I just hope that whoever took it would destroy it. The world does not need the existence of the stone anymore," Dumbledore said as he looked toward Chris'' direction. ''Has he spotted me?'' Chris thought. ''No, the potion is extremely strong. If the System said it''ll hide my presence, for someone with strength like Dumbledore, he should only feel a slight tingle if they could really feel my presence unless he uses the Revelio Charm. Either way, if he spots me, then I''m screwed. I''ll try to destroy the Stone later, but first I''ll have to use it for the mysterious book,'' Chris quickly left the room leaving Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall to take care of Harry. He took one of the few brooms remaining in the Winged Keys Chamber and quickly flew up to the trapdoor where Fluffy was. He quickly burst through the trap door and quickly flew out of the room while Fluffy started barking extremely loudly. ''God I hate that stupid Cerberus,'' Chris thought as he hurried back to the Ravenclaw Dorm. He quickly solved the riddle that the door had and hurried inside. He took out the remaining bottle of the potion and drank it. A couple of seconds passed and he sat down on the couch in relief. "It was a long night wasn''t it?" Chris mumbled to himself. He did not see Hermione or Kristine so he stood up and went back to his room. He noticed the System give out his reward, but couldn''t care to check it out. For the first time since he got his System, he did not enter the Practice Room. ... The next day both Hermione and Kristine hugged him as they were crying. "Chris we thought..." Hermione said as she started to hiccup. "Don''t do that ever again," Kristine said. "You do that one more time and I''ll-I''ll-I''ll do something," "Alright alright," Chris said as he smiled. "People are looking guys," Both Hermione and Kristine immediately stopped crying and looked around. The students looking at them were whispering and both girls'' faces turned bright red. "Alright let''s go somewhere quiet where we can talk," Chris said. They went to the boy''s room where for now was empty. The three sat down on Chris'' bed where he happily took out the Philosopher''s Stone. "You got it!" Kristine shouted. "How did you defeat Quirrell?" "Quirrell fortunately had a very stupid master," Chris said with a smile. "If it wasn''t for You-Know-Who''s extremely powerful will to get a new body, Quirrell wouldn''t have been so weak that even I could fight him. "Huh, but how did you fight him?" Hermione asked. "Even if he was weak, just by his experience and the amount of spells he knew, it would have been very hard to fight him?" "You know when I said that I only had those 3 Invisibility Potions... I kind of lied. I had a bit more," Chris said. "What?! You lied about such an important thing?" Kristine asked. "You''re giving me some more right? Right?!" Kristine asked as she glared at Chris. "I''ll give it when we need it. Those cost a lot of money," Chris said. "You''re rich anyways," Kristine said. "How much can those potions cost anyways?" "A galleon each. And let me tell you that''s a one bottle of Dragon Blood worth for each bottle. So yes we went through 4 bottles of Dragon''s Blood worth of Invisibility Potions and let me tell you, my family is rich. I am not," Chris said. ''You think that easy quests come to me every single day? I wish!'' Kristine continued to glare at Chris, but did not talk about the potion anymore. "So are we going to the statues?" Hermione asked. "Let''s wait until after the last Quidditch match," Chris said. "Alright. Although it is really unfortunate," Kristine said. "I really wanted to see you go against Harry, but he''s in the hospital wing and we don''t know when he''s going to wake up," "Yeah," Hermione said. "However, without Harry, it''ll be an easy match for Ravenclaw," "Well we still have 6 more years to go against each other," Chris said. "And I''m sure that they''ll put up some kind of fight," Chapter 55 - The Wrath of the Red Mist After the game, Chris, Hermione, and Kristine skipped the celebration that the Ravenclaw students were having and went to the Entrance Hall where the statues of the four Founders were at. Chris took out the Philosopher''s Stone and the diary. "You guys ready?" Chris asked as he turned back. "We wouldn''t be here if we weren''t," Kristine said with a tone that seemed like she was belittling Chris for asking such a obvious question. "Well I knew that. I just wanted to ask to look a little cooler," Chris said. "Don''t all main characters in novels ask that to their friends?" "Chris I don''t know what you''re talking about," Kristine said looking at Chris as if he was crazy. Chris coughed and looked at the diary once more. ''Hey Prometheus,'' Chris called. ''Huh what?!'' Prometheus answered with a surprised tone as if he had just been woken up from his sleep. ''Do you know what I have to do? I solved the riddle and brought everything I needed to bring,'' Chris said. ''Oh let me check... ummm... give me a second....'' ''Hurry up! If we had all day we wouldn''t be calling you for help,'' Kristine said. ''Goodness girl, you became a lot more feisty since I decided to take my little nap,'' Prometheus said. ''Ahh here is how you do it. Just put the stone on the page where the riddle is and get close to the statues. The book should light up and as long as you''re within 2 feet of the diary, you should be able to teleport inside,'' ''Wait so you knew the answer to the riddle the entire time? So we were all worried about what this ''tool of immortality'' was for no reason?'' Kristine asked. ''Well not quite,'' Prometheus said. ''The book sensed that the statues and the stone were near each other which allowed me to know the answer and the next step. They wouldn''t give me the answer before you guys figured it out. After all, I''m just a visitor,'' Kristine did not talk anymore. Chris just laughed and opened the diary to the page while the three were walking closer to the statues. Chris put the Philosopher''s Stone on the page and the diary started to light up. All three of them closed their eyes and they disappeared from the Entrance Hall. Once again the three were put into a space that was only filled with white. There seemed to be an infinite amount of space with no walls in sight. "Oh no, are we doing this again?" Kristine asked. "Chris it seems that we can''t use magic again," Hermione said. "Alright," Chris said. "Let''s start searching. I''m sure that something will come up like last time," However, to the surprise of Chris, Hermione, and Kristine, they did not have to walk anywhere this time. A huge red mist approached them at rapid speed and stopped right in front of them. "WHO DARES TO INTRUDE MY HOME?!" The mist shouted. Chris felt like his soul was about to leave him body. He knew that this red mist was not like Voldemort, but something that could actually kill him in an instant. Both Kristine and Hermione fell and started to shiver a bit. "Hello sir," Chris said meekly. "We are here to-" "DO YOU THINK I CARE?!" The mist asked. "NOW I SHALL GIVE YOU TWO CHOICES! YOU SHALL EITHER DIE PEACEFULLY OR DIE AFTER BEING TORTURED!" Both Hermione and Kristine shrieked after hearing this and Chris was starting to sweat himself. "Sir, with all due respect, shouldn''t there be another choice completely different from you know... dying?" Chris asked weakly. "NONSENSE, WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF A FLY WENT INSIDE YOUR HOME?!" The mist asked. "I would let it go because all life is precious," Chris said. "NONSENSE, I SENSE THE AURA OF DEATH ON YOU! YOU HAVE KILLED SOMEONE NOT TOO LONG AGO! YOU DARE SAY THAT LIFE IS PRECIOUS WHEN YOU CAN''T EVEN RESTRAIN YOURSELF FROM KILLING ANOTHER PERSON?!" "Well sir, once again with all due respect, my friend''s life and essentially the lives of millions were at stake if I didn''t kill that person. Please forgive my actions," Chris said trying to convince the mist to not kill them. The mist was silent for a second. "VERY WELL I SHALL GIVE YOU 2 MORE CHOICES! YOUR FIRST CHOICE IS TO LEAVE BY YOURSELF. THE TWO GIRLS SHALL STAY HERE SUFFERING ETERNAL TORMENT! YOUR SECOND CHOICE IS STAY HERE BY YOURSELF AND SUFFER ETERNAL TORMENT! NOW CHOOSE!" Chris cursed in his mind. ''God fu?k?n? damn this scumbag red mist. I swear to God whoever made this diary is the definition of a lonely bastard,'' "Chris..." Kristine looked at Chris with frightened eyes. Hermione looked a bit less scared, but scared nonetheless. Looking at this, Chris could only sigh. "Let me suffer," Chris said. "I KNEW YOU WOULD CHOOSE THAT! WELL TRYING TO ACT LIKE THE HERO AREN''T YOU?! VERY WELL! YOU HAVE CHOSEN YOUR FATE. THE TWO GIRLS SHALL LIVE HEALTHY LIVES WHILE THE BOY SHALL LIVE IN ETERNAL TORMENT!" The red mist started to expand and looked like it was about to swallow Chris whole. ''God damn this diary,'' Chris thought as he closed his eyes waiting for the end. Chapter 56 - The Four Founders. "Chris!" Both Hermione and Kristine shouted at the same time running towards him. However, it seemed that they were stuck as they were running in the same place unable to move forward. As the red mist was about to envelope Chris, he opened his eyes and from the corners of his eyes, he noticed a blue mist rapidly coming towards his direction. ''God damn it another one? Are the girls going to be alright?'' Chris thought as his fear started to get replaced with worry. However, instead of going to Hermione and Kristine, the blue mist instead went to the red mist and let out a bright light. ''What''s going on?!'' Chris thought as he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, the blue and red mist turned into a tall man with a red beard and a sword and a beautiful woman with raven black hair wearing a diadem. The two were both wearing clothing that seemed reminiscent of the 14th century. "Hello there young man," The woman said. "Forgive this unsavory man for pulling such a horrible prank on you," The woman proceeded to hit the man in the head and Chris heard loud thunk sounds for every hit. "Come on you old bag. Can''t you let me have some fun every once in a while?" The man said. "We haven''t been able to talk to other human beings in centuries," "That does not mean you can act like you''re some sort of devil and pretend to make this young man make such a difficult choice like that!" The woman exclaimed hitting the man once again. "And who are you calling an old bag? If memories serve me right, you were the one on your knees begging for this ''old bag'' to accept you," "Alright woman, that''s going too far. You-" "Don''t talk anymore. Look at those kids, they looked confused," The woman said as she pointed at Chris, Hermione, and Kristine. Indeed the three were very confused. The man and woman both seemed extremely familiar to the three of them, but they couldn''t grasp who the two were. "Wait, are you Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw?!" Hermione asked excitedly. "Indeed we are," Rowena said. "I am Rowena Ravenclaw and this boorish man is Godric Gryffindor. Might I ask who you three are?" "Oh I am Hermione. She is Kristine and he is Chris," Hermione answered. "You three must be from Hogwarts. Which house are you in?" Rowena asked. "We are all in the Ravenclaw house. Thank you for saving us earlier Founder," Kristine said. "Oh it seems that you are all from my house. From the bravery shown by this young man, I was suspecting that he was from the Gryffindor House," Rowena said. "Well what a pleasant surprise. Come with us. You must be feeling weird being in this dull white space," Rowena and Godric started walking towards the direction they came from and Chris, Hermione, and Kristine followed them. Soon after what felt like 15 minutes, the white space suddenly changed into a forest. There were three log cabins with two of them being right next to each other and the other one being relatively far away. Rowena and Godric entered one of the cabins. "Come in," Rowena said with a smile. The three went in and the decor was something that you would imagine in every modern log cabins. Wooden tables, wooden chairs, a fireplace, a small circular marble table and even sofas, something Chris did not expect. The only things that were "missing" were TVs and refrigerators "This place is beautiful," Hermione said. "Thank you dear. It took us a long time to be able to decorate our living room to the way it is right now. While we are stuck in this space, using a bit of our powers to explore the outside world every so often is possible," Rowena said. "So if you are able to see the events of the outside world, did you see the deeds of the Dark Lord?" Chris asked. "Yes, we did briefly see him rampaging throughout the Wizarding World. Surprisingly, it was our dear old friend Salazar who was the most disgusted. While he isn''t too biased against Half-Bloods, the fact that one of his descendants actually had a child with a Muggle angered him quite a bit," Rowena said. "But you should have seen the look on Salazar''s face. He was quite upset to see that Voldemort or whatever you call him was actually doing quite well in his conquest. Was that guy the king of the Wizarding World for a while? It would be hilarious if that was so," Godric said as he was trying to hold back his laughter much to the annoyance of Rowena who started to glare at him. "No he was defeated by someone in your house," Chris said. "Haha! I knew that the people in my house had it in them!" Godric cried out loudly. "Quiet you damn monkey," A new man''s voice said as they entered the house. He was a bald man with a white beard with an evil-like appearance. He was wearing a green robe with a large snake imprinted on the front. On his neck was a peculiar locket. "Hello Salazar. It seems that the ape is you considering that you don''t even have the manners to knock before entering someone''s home," Godric said with a smile. "Hmph, I merely wanted to see the visitors, but it turns out that they are just children," Salazar said. "And do not mention that half-blood descendant of mine. His wizard parent is a disgrace to my name! As my kin, they should''ve known better to fall in love with a filthy Muggle!" "It seems that you still can''t get over your hate for Muggles," A woman''s voice said as she entered the house. She was a bit chubby, but she seemed the most m?tur? out of all the people here as if she was the mother figure. She was wearing a yellow dress and brought a cup with her. "Quiet Helga. I will not have you try to convince me for the 10,786,098th time that those filthy Muggles deserve the power a wizard can have. Every "wizard" and "witch" with Muggle blood is considered second-class and will always be," "My friends here are from Muggle families and they can defeat any of those Pure blood students in our grade especially the ones from the Slytherin House. It seems that your thinking is just egotistical wishing Founder," Chris said with a mocking tone. "You dare mock my house?! Watch your tone boy! I may have only a fraction of my powers, but the bit I have is still enough to send you to oblivion!" Salazar said as his face turned red and his figure started to get bigger, green mist flowing out. "Don''t get angry Salazar. This boy is simply defending his friends whom you have indirectly insulted. I understand your anger. However, if you keep on doing this in my home, I will seriously be angry," Rowena said as her figure started to get larger and blue mist started to flow out as well. Salazar clicked his tongue and he turned back to his original self, but he still glared at Chris. "Sit down children. We have a lot to talk about," Helga said with a smile as she created 3 more wooden chairs for Chris, Hermione, and Kristine to sit on. Chapter 57 - The Mysterious Throne Room "Alright kids, do you have any questions for us?" Helga asked. "Yes we have a lot! How are you still here?" Kristine asked. "Do you three understand what a soul is?" Helga asked. The three nodded. "Good. This''ll be a lot simpler then. While we were still in the other world, we have found a way to safely inject a sliver of our soul into an object," Helga said. "Founder, I have heard of a method very similar. It is called a-" "Yes a Horcrux. I am extremely surprised you know of this," Helga said. "However, our method is slightly different. A Horcrux forces the person to put in 50% of however much of their soul is left in their body after killing someone and doing a specific ritual. However, we found a method where we were able to put in 1% of our soul without murdering anyone or doing a ritual. This allowed our main bodies to be unaffected by the soul transfer, but we were completely disconnected from our main bodies making our main bodies vulnerable to death," "Then why add your souls in the statues?" Chris asked. "I mean it''s not like you four were able to do anything inside here," "I suppose in our hearts, we all did not really want to die," Rowena said. "While we knew that we would have to die eventually, we just wanted to live eternally in another place and we have done that. Like we said, we even got to go to your world every so often to see what''s new and how we can improve our humble cabins," ''I guess even the powerful Founders of Hogwarts are scared of death,'' Chris thought. "So since we have answered some of your questions, it is time to answer some of our," Godric said. "So how exactly did you three get in here?" "We have a diary. We don''t exactly know whose it is or what its purpose is. However, we found it in Hogwarts and using the Philosopher''s Stone, we were able to enter," Chris said taking out the diary and handing it to Godric. "Hmm.. Rowena do you know where this is from. If it is from our school and allows three random people to enter this place with just the Philosopher''s Stone, it has to be something very old and powerful," Godric said as he handed it out to Rowena. "I don''t know," Rowena said. "Like you said, it is a powerful artifact, but I don''t know its origin nor do I know its power. All I know is that it knows about us being here and we have never told this to another soul. We never had an entrance to this place either so that means it forcefully created one to allow three people from the other world to enter. The creator of this artifact must be a lot stronger than we are," "Scary scary scary!" Godric said jokingly. "So what are you looking for that''s in here? We literally have nothing to give you," The diary in Rowena''s hand started to shake. "The diary. Words are starting to form," Rowena said. To the four heroes, Gather your sacred treasures for the young ones. For they have the burden to fix the mistakes of the past. This is your final quest as heroes. Succeed and you''ll live peacefully for eternity. Fail and you will all perish. "Is this diary threatening us?!" Salazar asked angrily. "No it is merely prophesying what will happen in the case that we decide to not do what it has asked. The diary will not be able to do anything, but the force that is against this diary is able to kill us," Helga said. "I refuse to use my locket to help these kids, two of whom are Muggle-born and one who dares to insult me!" Salazar said angrily. "Salazar, we have all sacrificed a lot for the sake of benefiting the Wizarding World. I do not think your disdain for these kids is better than any of the reasons we have made to try not to sacrifice what we did forgo to improve the Wizarding World," Rowena said strictly "She''s right," Helga said. "You have sacrificed things much more important than your locket even though you had reasons far more important than dislike for Muggles," Salazar clicked his tongue and threw his locket towards Helga who caught it without getting angry. He then left the house in a huff. "I suppose that when it comes down to it, that snake will do the right thing after all," Godric said. "Let''s not insult anyone here," Helga said. "Now you have your sword, Rowena has her diadem, and I have Salazar''s locket and my cup. Now what do we do children?" "More specifically, what did you do with the Stone to come in here?" Rowena asked. "We put the Stone on the diary and it allowed us to come in," Hermione said. "Well then, let''s do the same. It seems like it is the most logical method," Rowena said. The three founders put all four of their treasures onto the diary. The diary soon shook once more and a bright light enveloped everyone in the room and like before, Chris was forced to close his eyes. "What''s going on? Where is this? Why am I here?" Salazar asked. "The book must''ve been able to bring you by using the magic imbued in your locket," Rowena said. "While sitting on a throne is nice, I don''t want to be here," Godric said. He tried to get up, but he realized that he was stuck. "Sorry, I suppose getting out of here was a slight bit harder than I thought," Godric said. He used a bit more of his power to get up to no avail. "Alright I''m getting a bit angry now," Godric said as he started to use most of his power. Once again, he was unable to get up. Godric decided to use all his power, but he could not even get his bu?? an inch off the seat. "I suppose we''re stuck here," Godric said. Chapter 58 - The Four Founders Test "So I suppose we''ll be watching those brats," Salazar said pointing to Chris, Hermione, and Kristine. "Damn you guys for making me give you my locket," "Yes and I''m hoping that they succeed in whatever they have to do," Rowena said. "I''m suspecting that if they lose, it won''t be just them who face the consequences," "You are partly correct," Prometheus said his voice vibrating throughout the entire space. "Prometheus?" Kristine asked surprised. "Hello Kristine," Prometheus said. "So hello four founders of Hogwarts. I am Prometheus," "The one in the Muggle Greek mythology?" Rowena asked. "Yes, I am the titan that have stolen fire from Zeus and gave it to human kind," Prometheus said. "Alright Prometheus, so why have you brought us here?" Godric asked. "It is not I who brought you all here. It is the diary that brought you here. And this space is technically a part of the dimension you created. The diary just created a space separate from your home in the woods," Prometheus said. "So what does that damn diary want?" Salazar asked. "We''ve been dead for centuries. We could b?r?ly form as mist outside this dimension," "Salazar let''s not be insulting," Helga said. "No conversation can progress by showing hostility. So Prometheus, what is our role here?" "Simple, you are the judge and the maker of your own test," Prometheus said. "When you have created your houses, you have had requirements for students in order to be accepted to your house. These kids will have to take these tests and everyone here will be able to leave once any one of these 3 kids pass all 4 tests," "Wait then it''s extremely unfair!" Salazar said. "I have had two requirements! One is to be cunning and to be able to do anything for your goals and the second is to have a wizard or a witch''s blood running through their veins. Those two Muggle-born girls are already going to fail my test," "The diary will not count your blood purity requirement for the test. Do not worry," "Does the diary want something to do with ''that''?" Rowena suddenly asked. ... Prometheus was silent for a second. "Yes," Prometheus finally said. "It will require half of ''that'' for its plans," The four founders'' eyes all widened. "Half? you''re crazy!" Salazar said. "Do you know how much of our life we spent trying find and procure ''that''?" "Perhaps a quarter of your life?" Prometheus guessed. "Regardless, even with half, you''ll be able to do what you do normally. The diary taking half will only serve to benefit the world," "Then why make those unknowing kids take these tests?" Helga asked. "If it only serves to benefit the world, we would all agree," "I do not agree!" Salazar shouted. "QUIET SALAZAR! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO PUT THE SAFETY OF THE WORLD AT STAKE BECAUSE YOU ARE ACTING LIKE A CHILD AND DON''T WANT TO SHARE OUT OF SPITE!" Helga shouted angrily. Salazar looked at Helga with a surprised look and did not talk anymore. "Damn, I haven''t heard Helga scream like that in centuries," Godric said trying to hold back his laughter. Prometheus cleared his throat. "You say that Founder Hufflepuff, but it seems that deep in your heart, you feel that no one should be able to take away ''that''. Due to this, no matter how much you say that you are willing to let the diary take ''that'', the diary will never be able to actually take away half of ''that''. However, the diary has found a way to take away ''that'' and that is by having these kids take your tests and have you acknowledge them when they pass," Helga seemed stunned, but after a couple of seconds started to laugh. "I''m a disgrace aren''t I?" She asked. "I even made my House based on kindness, but it seems that I still can''t be very kind. I suppose I can''t do what I preach," She stayed silent for a few seconds and regained her composure. "Alright, what happens if those kids fail?" Helga asked. "If they fail, the diary will be forced to f?r??b?? close this entire dimension and take away ''that''. In the case that this happens, all four of you here will perish. As for the three kids, one of them will have to perish alongside you four as the diary can only bring two people out. However, the two that lives have to hide away this diary in the place it d?s?r? to be hidden at. Then the diary will pick out more people and have me try to call them out using my powers," Everyone in the space were shocked by the harsh consequences. "I do not agree with doing this!" Salazar said. "It was bad enough that you guys made me use my artifact and take away ''that'', but you''re also forcing me to put my life in the hands of these brats?!" "This is where the diary is forced to give you a choice," Prometheus said. "You can agree and put your lives on the hands of these kids or you can decline and the diary will put you four back where you were and eject the three kids out of this dimension. However, let me you the consequences of declining the diary. You will have more guests coming here. However, they won''t be nice like us and give you a choice. As they are stronger than you four in your current forms, they will easily take away ''that''. You four will perish and the world will be much harder to try to save. If half of ''that'' is taken, we will be able to essentially stop one of their biggest plans," ... The four founders were silent. Even Salazar knew that he can''t be too confident to think that he would be able to defeat any intruders. If none of them could even get out of this throne created by the diary, then there is no way they would be able to fight against whoever else that can enter their dimension. "Salazar just agree," Godric said. "If we will die, I would like it to be while attempting to save the other world," "Yes," Rowena said. "This is the most practical choice," "Fine!" Salazar exclaimed. "I agree with allowing these children to take the test," Prometheus let out a sound of acknowledgement. "Chris, Hermione, Kristine, these tests will be extremely difficult and the order will start from the easiest to the hardest test. I don''t know the exact contents of these tests, but what I know is according to the diary, if I took those tests, I would fail at the third one. However, these tests are going to be different for each person and only the end goal will be the same. You will have to try to be what the Founder wants from each of their students. You have to show that you have some of that quality. For example, for Founder Gryffindor, you three will have to show your bravery," Prometheus said. "Now here is my question. Are you three willing to risk your life for the sake of this world?" "Yes," Chris said immediately. Hermione and Kristine hesitated a bit before answering yes as well. "Alright then let your tests begin!" Prometheus shouted as a bright light engulfed everyone in the space. Chapter 59 - Slytherins Test When Chris opened his eyes, he could not see anything as he was in a dark room with nothing in sight. He quickly took out his wand and tried to cast the Wand Lighting Charm, but nothing happened. ''Does magic not work here?'' Chris thought. ''This is the waiting room so of course you can''t use magic,'' Prometheus'' voice suddenly said in his head. Chris was startled to suddenly hear Prometheus, but was interested at the same time. ''Oh, waiting room? What am I waiting for?'' ''The test is currently being made right now and you''ll have to wait for a bit before you can take the test. Once the test is done being made, I''ll have to explain what your goal is in order to pass the test,'' Prometheus said. ''Oh, I see,'' Chris said. Suddenly, he heard a familiar noise. He had received a quest. -Quest has been given. Pass the 4 Founders'' Test. These series of test will be extremely difficult. All the System can say is good luck.- Quest: Pass all four tests Tests passed 0/4 Reward 15 Galleon, 25,000 EXP, Recipe for Potion of Strength, A month''s supply of top-grade pet food Punishment for Quest Failure: Death through being the sacrifice. Chris was extremely surprised by what he saw. ''System, is this mission that difficult? You always have some sort of witty comment,'' -This mission is the hardest mission you have ever received throughout your time in the Wizarding World. The System will not make any other comment aside from wishing you good luck.- Chris suddenly became a bit afraid. During some of his other missions, the System had never wished him luck even if those missions had chances of him dying. Chris realized that his probability of survival was low with this mission. ''At least, the amount of EXP and galleon soothes me a bit,'' Chris thought. ''Well let''s see what this potion of strength is,'' -Potion of Strength: An extremely advanced potion created by mixing very rare magical ingredients. It gives the drinker a 10% Magical Power boost for 2 minutes no matter how high their Magical Power is. After a day of it wearing off, the drinker''s magical power is permanently boosted by 0.1%. The effectiveness of this potion will stay the same no matter how many times the drinker drank the potion in the past. However, only 1 Potion of Strength can be drunk every 24 hours or else the drinker will immediately start to disintegrate after 5 minutes of the second potion being drunk.- ... ''Wait, then if I have this, doesn''t that mean that Dumbledore can defeat Voldemort very easily? If someone with 5,000,000 Magical Power drink this, then they will gain 500,000 Magical Power temporarily and 5000 Magical Power permanently. That''s a huge power boost even if the 500,000 Magical Power is just for 2 minutes! Dumbledore''s Magical Power is beyond 5,000,000 so even Voldemort shouldn''t be able to even scratch him. System can I purchase this potion?'' -You may buy 1 for 10,000 Galleons. Another detail that the System wants to add is that the chance of you succeeding in brewing the potion is less than 5% and to purchase the ingredient from the outside world cost 5,000 Galleons in total.- ''Damn it. It''s way out of my league. I need to somehow make money myself fast. I''m missing out on way too much!'' Chris thought. ''But to think that I could even get something so big out of this is insane. I suppose I can give brewing it a try later. As for the pet food, I guess I''ll open the pet roulette once I get out of school. It would be a bit weird for me to suddenly have a pet,'' "The test has been successfully created. Are you ready?" Prometheus asked. "Course I am," Chris said. "Alright then. I''ll explain the condition to pass. The first test shall be the Slytherin test. Become the top 1% in terms of wealth using any means you got," Prometheus said. Chris was quite surprised by the mission, but he quickly nodded. Good luck. I really do hope that one of you three pass," Prometheus said. The dark room suddenly started to morph into a small room that Chris was rather familiar with. ''This is... my room back when I was still living at home?!,'' Chris thought. As Chris was looking through his old room, back in the throne room, the Four Founders were looking at 3 mirrors. Each mirror had one of the three test takers. Suddenly Gryffindor laughed. "Salazar my old friend, it seems that your test was deemed the easiest. For how prestigious you make your house seem, I suppose that it''s very simple to get in once you get rid of the whole blood purity requirement," Godric said. "Yes I suppose it''s much easier to be smarter than be a bonehead," Salazar said. "Well if that was the case then Rowena''s should have been first. I suppose that with human nature, it is the easiest to be a snake. Please do not compare the intelligence Rowena seeks with cunningness. Even the most moronic can be a good snake," Godric said. Salazar seemed as if he wanted to say something, but decided to stay silent. Chapter 61 - Madeline After Chris was sure that this was his old room, he quickly dressed up from whatever was inside his closet. He then heard a call from outside his room. "Chris come down and get breakfast!" A familiar woman''s voice said. ''It''s Mother!'' Chris excitedly thought as he went downstairs with his black backpack that was next to his desk. While he was starting to get used to the Evergreen family, the thought of his family back in his old world was always in the back of his mind. ''I wasn''t able to do much for them in my past life. Even if it''s a fake world created by the diary, I want to do more for them here at least as a final gift,'' Chris thought. When he went downstairs, he saw a woman that was around her late 30s. ''Goodness, She looks so young too!'' Chris thought. ''I''m really back!'' "Come on Chris, it''s time for you to go to school. If you don''t eat, you''ll be late. It''s your last year. You can do it," His mother said. "Alright," Chris said with a smile. He quickly ate the food and left the house after saying goodbye to his mother. As he was walking to school, he was pondering on what to do for the quest. ''The diary said I should become the top 1% in wealth. I''m back in 2006, a year before the housing crisis started so the top 1% should have a net worth of around $4-$5 million,'' Chris thought. ''Luckily, I followed the stock market quite closely so I should be able to earn some money. Wait, but even if I use that method, it''ll take at least a couple of weeks or even months before I''m able to make evena million dollars out of that. Is there any other way I can earn money?'' Chris thought. He continued walking down the familiar road that he used to walk every day for 4 years. Soon he arrived at Burroughs High School, his alma mater. Burroughs High was relatively big for a high school with a main building and a couple of other buildings and bungalows. However, Chris knew that compared to a college, his high school campus was nothing. ''To think I was getting lost in this place when I attended here,'' Chris thought. When he entered, there was a huge row of papers pasted onto the walls. Chris looked for his last name and quickly found it. He then ran to the room of his class just as the bell rung and he sat next to a girl he hadn''t seen in a long time. "Hey Madeline," Chris greeted. "Hey Chris," Madeline said with a smile. She was someone that Chris could call extremely beautiful, on par with Emma Watson, someone Chris had idolized for at 2 decades. She had platinum blond hair with a large blue eyes that captivated every boy at school. Her hourglass figure and plump lips made her look s?xier than most models that Chris saw online or in magazines. Her face did not have a single sign of blemish and the most make-up she ever used were lipsticks which always amazed Chris as she looked better than 90% of models that wore heavy make-up. To perfect her already perfect looks, she was extremely rich as her family was old money. Chris has always wondered why she attended a regular public school, but he didn''t pry. The two met as Chris was reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She was a Potterhead as well allowing the two to connect very well. However, romantic feelings never sprouted for Chris as he only saw Madeline as a Potterhead buddy. Madeline noticing that Chris didn''t ?ust for her opened up to him allowing the two to create a deep friendship that lasted even until Chris was su?k?d into the Wizarding World. ''Come to think of it, Madeline would be so jealous that I''m in the Wizarding World. She would kill to be there,'' Chris thought. "So we''re in the same class again," Madeline said with a smile. "Yeah," Chris said. "Well, we''ve been friends since freshman year. It seems that God wants us to keep on talking about Harry Potter in class," "I suppose that God has been very good to the two of us. We were always in the same classes throughout the entirety of high school," Madeline said. "Yeah, we always chose the same classes, but the fact that we always had the same teachers surprised me every single year," Chris said. "Oh yes Chris, come to my house today. I want to discuss something with you," Madeline said. "Oh, what is it?" Chris asked. "You''ll see," Madeline said with a smile. Chris noticed some of the boys in the class sneak a look at her. "You''re very popular once again," Chris mentioned. "I''m tired of it. Those boys want nothing but my body so I just replaced their faces with monkey faces and I just go about my day," Madeline said while shrugging her shoulder. School ended without much happening and Chris called his mother that he was going to Madeline''s house. After a bit of teasing, he hung up and the two were greeted by a huge man wearing a suit who led them to a Mercedes CL500. The two went inside and at the drivers seat was an old man who looked no younger than 60. "Hello Young Lady and Mr. Kim. You two look as friendly as always," The driver said. "Hello Hughes. Thank you for coming on time as usual," Madeline said. "It''s only my job Young Lady," Hughes said. When the huge man sat at the front seat, Hughes started driving. "So what do you want to discuss about?" Chris asked. "You always think of rather interesting things," Chris said. "I''ll show you at home," Madeline said. "Believe me, you''ll like it," Chapter 61 - 00 Computer Set-up The car ride was short and Chris arrived at Madeline''s house. While many would think that Madeline lived in a gigantic mansion with servants everywhere, that was far from the truth. It was a modest home that any middle class family would own with 2 floors, a pool, and a garage that fit two cars. When Chris went inside, it was as normal as it got with a wooden floor, family photos with cheap frames, and furniture that most middle class families would buy. When he went inside, he saw Madeline''s dad who smiled when he saw him. "Hello Chris, I haven''t seen you in a while. You didn''t come for a while," Madeline''s dad greeted with a hearty smile. "Hello Mr. Porter," Chris greeted. "I''m sorry I haven''t visited. I''ve been a bit... busy," "Oh no worries. I was only kidding. I know that you''re busy. You''re a high school senior. There are a lot of things to do," Mr. Porter said. "Well we''re always glad to have you here. Think of yourself as family here," "Thank you," Chris said. Chris smiled as he remembered the warmth of Mr. Porter who treated him as family. He even gave Chris a $25 dollar an hour part-time job as a janitor in one of his stores. As it was Mr. Porter was the one that gave him a job, Chris only worked three hours a day including weekends and the manager always su?k?d up to him even though he was only a janitor. Even though he gave some of the money to his parents and had to pay taxes, he was still able to save $30,000. Although Chris quit the job in his senior year, he was always grateful to Mr. Porter for giving him so much money. ''He reminds me of Father back in the Wizarding World," Chris thought. "Come on Chris, you need to see this!" Madeline exclaimed as she excitedly pulled Chris upstairs. "Wait Madeline, I''m coming. There''s no need to pull me," Chris said. They soon entered Madeline''s room that was as big as two rooms. It looked like it was originally 2 rooms with the walls torn down to make it just 1. The room was girly with pink walls and stuffed animals placed here and there. The bed was a normal queen sized bed with pink blankets. "Look at what I have on my desk!" Madeline said. When she pointed to her wooden desk, there was a large PC and monitor. Although Chris has had the best computer that was offered before, he could tell with a simple glance that the set-up Madeline had was top-notch back in 2005. "AMD64, GTX7800, and everything you need to have the best gaming experience. I also have the best headphones and gaming mouse for the job," Madeline said. "Oh those are pretty good specs," Chris said as he went and started the admire the set-up. "What do mean ''pretty good''? Madeline asked with a sarcastic tone. "This is top of the line. I asked Dad to get this for me. He was reluctant, but this overall cost me $2000," ''Oh boy. I spent over $10,000 on my gaming setup. If only a good gaming PC was this cheap in the future,'' Chris thought as he remembered crying about the hole in his wallet after he had gotten his gaming PC. Although he had to eat fast food and cup ramen for a while, it was worth it. "Well so you have a gaming PC. What are you going to play on it?" Chris asked. "I don''t know. That''s what you''ll have to help me with," Madeline said. "Well the computer was the surprise although you didn''t really look that surprised," "I mean the computer is really nice," Chris said. "I mean other than something related to Harry Potter, have you seen me get surprised?" "I guess not. Even when Kathie that really pretty girl confessed to you, you just said no which made her cry and run away. Come to think of it, didn''t some guy try to bully you for making her cry?" Madeline asked as she chuckled thinking about that time. "Yeah and I beat his ?ss," Chris said. "That''s an understatement. You humiliated him in front of all the kids and he transferred schools within the next month," Madeline said teasingly. "Alright let''s not do this whole history digging. Let''s find a game that you can play," Chris said. Madeline turned the computer on. It turned on quickly and Chris was hit with Windows XP that he had not seen in decades. ''Oh boy have I not seen that in a while,'' Chris thought as the Windows logo disappeared and Madeline opened up Internet Explorer. "Alright so what should we play?" Madeline asked as she searched up games to play on her computer. "Oh World of Warcraft is pretty popular right now," "No!" Chris exclaimed. "Let''s play something else..." (Nothing against WOW players. I just don''t know anything about WOW, but it was really popular at the time so I had to include it.) "Sheesh alright," Madeline said. "How about Maplestory?" "Huh... Alright. Let''s go with that," Chris said. He had good memories of this game. When he had a bit of time, he would go to the PC Room near him and play some Maplestory. While he was not able to have much time playing it due to his part time job, he always enjoyed it when he did get to play it. "This is my final surprise!" Madeline said as he opened up a drawer and took out a camera. "Tadah! I''m going to be a Youtuber!" ! Chris started to remember this portion of his life. When Madeline wanted to become a Youtuber, she decided to play World of Warcraft. While her Youtube channel did alright, she quit Youtube a bit before it became one of the biggest games in the world. Although she regretted it a bit, Madeline always said to Chris that she would''ve quit anyways. "Alright then let''s play," Madeline said. She downloaded Maplestory and set up her camera. Chapter 62 - Madeline, The Youtuber Once Maplestory opened, the login music that Maplestory had for decades started to play. "So how long should an episode be?" Madeline asked. "Honestly, it''s very difficult to say. Everyone on Youtube is mainly doing skits right now. Those are the one with views and those are less than 10 minutes long. Video game players aren''t really that popular right now so it''ll be trial and error," Chris said. "However, I don''t think it''s good to have it less than 10 minutes long so start with 15 minutes. Although 15 minute videos can be considered really long, since you''re playing a videogame, I''m sure the viewers won''t mind the longer video. If your audience wants longer videos then do longer videos. You should also do an introduction video that introduces people to your channel. So after you record this video, we''ll do an introduction video," "You sound like you did these kind of stuff before," Madeline said in a questioning tone. "I was literally a janitor for your dad," Chris said. Madeline stared at him for a little longer, but decided to move on. "So how do I start this. How do you think I should handle a recording?" Madeline asked. "I mean you''ve played video games before," Chris said. "I know you''ve had frustrating moments before like when you die or just completely lose the game. Instead of being quiet about it like you always do, just say everything out loud. That''s all. Act like you''re putting on a show. Oh yes, when you start the video, you should have a greeting like ''Hey guys, blank here''," "Alright I guess," Madeline said. Madeline minimized the screen of Maplestory and opened her screen recorder to record the screen. She then turned to her camera on and Chris started the camera. Madeline then took a deep breath and put on a smile. "Hello! It''s Maddy and welcome to my first video! I''m going to be playing Maplestory for the first time and it''s quite exciting!" Maddy said facing the camera. ''She sounds like she''s been doing this for a long time! It''s sounds a little awkward, but it''ll only get better with time!'' Chris thought. "Already, the music sounds so nice and I love the art. It''s really cute," Madeline said. She put in her login information and started to make her character. "Alright I hope I can make a really cute character. If I can''t make it pretty, I''m going to be really sad," Madeline said. True to a girl''s personality, it took her a couple of minutes to be satisfied with the character she made. "Alright let''s play!" Madeline said excitedly as she entered the game. After the storytelling of Maplestory, the tutorial and a couple of beginner missions, Maddy decided to end the video. "So how was it?" Madeline asked. "It was pretty good. So you''re naming your channel Maddy? I thought it''d be something Harry Potter related," Chris said. "Just thinking about that makes me cringe. Do you realize just how many people will get turned off by that?" Madeline asked. "True. So do you have an editor of sorts who can edit these videos for you or are you doing this on your own?" Chris asked. "Yeah. Fortunately, Dad hired a pretty good one. He at first disagreed and said I should do everything, but after he realizes just how much time each video will take then, he conceded into hiring an editor for me," Madeline said. "Well that''s already a pretty good start. Most people on Youtube have to edit the videos themselves so they do it through trial and error. While learning yourself is good, there''s nothing wrong with hiring an editor if you have money. You''re in a really good place right now because your video quality will already be better than most other people," Chris said. "So what should we name the video?" Madeline asked. "I mean the title is the most important thing," "How about Let''s Play: Maplestory Episode 1. It''s short, but since it feels like you''re interacting with the audience, the viewers should be a bit more attracted to your video," Chris said knowing how Let''s Play videos blew up in the future with even Pewdiepie joining in on the fun before moving on to memes and reactions. "Hmm... You''re right. It does sound nice," Madeline said. "Alright let''s name it that!" After filming an introduction video with Chris, Madeline sent the clips to the editor who said the video would be done by tonight and will be uploaded the next day to get the most amount of viewers. "Alright that was the surprise!" Madeline said. "So what do you want to do right now?" "Wanna watch all the Harry Potter movies again?" Chris asked. "Sure," Madeline said. She started searching for Harry Potter and the Philosopher''s Stone. As they were watching the movie, from the throne room, the four founders were nervously looking at the 3 mirrors. "The two girls don''t seem to be doing very well so far," Gryffindor said. "I can already see that they''re confused," "The boy looks like he has multiple plans, but doesn''t know which one to use," Ravenclaw said. "On the other hand, look at the technology that is in the boy''s test. All the muggle technology including the computer and the T.V. looks to be much more advanced than what we saw when we went to see both the Wizarding and Muggle world. I''m always surprised how far Muggles can go without the help of magic," "Hmph, those are the inferior ways," Slytherin said. "Magic is something that will always surpass the likes of Muggle ''technology''. Wizards will always defeat them in war!" "I wouldn''t be so sure of that," Ravenclaw said. "We have went all over the world in our spirit form. Have you not seen the power of those weapons that Muggles use to kill each other? They looked more powerful than any curse that I have ever seen. Wizards and witches need to stop thinking of Muggles as sword wielding warriors. They''re now wielding weapons that shoot small projectiles at speeds that cannot be seen with the n?k?d eye," "Hmph, you''re simply overexaggerating," Salazar said with an unconfident voice. Chapter 63 - Madelines Rise The next day, the two videos that Madeline made was posted onto Youtube while they were at school. "Oh, I''m kinda nervous about this," Kristine said when she looked at Youtube through her flip phone. "It is what it is," Chris said. "I''m sure that your editor did fine. Let''s just finish school and watch it on your computer. Phones are still really bad at playing Youtube," Chris said. Kristine sighed and put away her phone. During the hours Madeline and Chris were at school, the two videos that Madeline made were blowing up each having 100,000 views each. She also gained a couple thousand subscribers "Look at her, she''s so hot!" A commenter said "She plays Maplestory as well?! I picked it up a bit ago and wanted to move onto to WOW, but if she''s going to be playing Maplestory, then I guess I''ll stick with it," A fan said. "Take a look at the quality of the video. The editing and the camera she recorded with all look higher quality than a lot of the videos here on this site. I mean compared to those Smosh videos, this is much better!" While some of the comments were perverted, most of the comments were supporting and mainly asked Madeline to make more videos. When Chris went to Madeline''s house with her, Madeline was ecstatic. She started dancing around in her room. "Look Chris! I have 100,000 views on each of my videos. So many people watched it! And my subscriber count too! I have 5,000 subscriber!" "Congratulations!" Chris exclaimed. While he knew that Madeline would be relatively successful as a Youtuber in the future, he couldn''t really remember how successful she was at the beginning stage of her Youtube career. "This is so fun! I want to make more videos!" Madeline said ecstatic to make another video. "Alright let''s set everything up then," Chris said. For about a month everyday after school, Chris tried to help Madeline as much as he could with her videos. Fortunately, every time she posted, she gained more subscribers. Due to her being beautiful and the fact that she had a very good editor, her videos garnered 150,000 views on average and she easily gained 100,000 subscribers zooming past the second most subscribed Youtuber that had only 50,000 subscribers. "Wow we''re doing great!" Madeline said. "Although uploading every week day is kind of tiring. I''ll do it for the sake of building up my name for now and then I''ll start uploading less once I get big enough," "Yeah at the very least you''re able to rest during the weekend. I was kind of scared that your audience would be mad at you for not posting," Chris said. "No my audience is nice. At the very least, most of them seem to be better than those boys at school who all look like they''re trying to devour me or something," Madeline said. Madeline constantly uploaded at least 1 video a day with her editor working nonstop as well. Fortunately, due to the high pay and the work being only about 4 hours a day, the editor was able to constantly churn out high quality videos that received praise from her audience every time. When she hit 200,000 subscribers, it was announced that Youtube was bought by Google and that now there was going to be ads in videos allowing Youtubers to make money. The online community went ballistic with more people becoming both creators and users of Youtube. Due to the sudden influx of people, Madeline''s subscriber count was boosted to 500,000 subscribers with each of her videos netting at least 300 thousand views per video. ''The rise is too big... Even Smosh didn''t gain so much at this stage in Youtube,'' Chris thought amazed at the progress Madeline was making. During this time, it wasn''t only Madeline that was gaining more popularity on Youtube. Maplestory, the game that Madeline consistently play every video also started to skyrocket in popularity with everyone playing it. In the Nexon headquarters at Tokyo, the employees were extremely enthusiastic about their growth. "Manager, we''re almost doubling in the amount of new players we''re getting every day for the past couple of weeks! Furthermore, the amount of people buying in-game items have skyrocketed as well in that same time frame!" An employee said to the man behind him. "Is it that girl?" The manager asked. "It seems like it. From what I can see on Youtube, Maddy, the most popular Youtuber, has been exclusively playing our game. Furthermore, ever since Google bought out Youtube, the amount of publicity Youtube has been getting has been massive so Maddy, the most popular person on that site, has been getting more and more attention every day. This all flows back to us where we get more players due to her!" The employee said excitedly. "So then it looks like we will have a very good earnings report this week," The manager said happily. "Yes it looks like our revenue has easily doubled and we can expect our stock prices to rise greatly this time around," The employee said. "Looks like we have to thank that girl. Think of a reward for her that will only belong to her in the future. Remember she''s the one that will probably give you your bonus so think of something good," The manager said. "Yes sir," The employee said excitedly as he racked his brain to think of a gift for Madeline. Chapter 64 - Stock Rising When Madeline opened up Maplestory the next day while recording a video, she found a new item in her inventory. "Guys, it looks like I got a gift," Madeline said. It was a ?h?st. When she hovered her mouse over it, the name of the ?h?st was "Chest for Maddy!". "That''s strange. I didn''t really do anything to earn a ?h?st from the game. I mean I''ve been dying to slimes and mushrooms every time," Madeline said. She double-clicked on the ?h?st and it gave her a cosmetic card and a letter. "Alright guys, it looks like I got some free cosmetics. That''s lucky for me! I was thinking of buying some cute stuff for my Bowman so having this saves me some money. Let''s read the letter first," When Madeline clicked on the letter, the Maple Administrator showed popped up. "Hello Maddy! Thank you for playing our game and releasing videos of your gameplay to the Youtube community! You did so much for us that we wanted to give you something back! Since you show your face on Youtube, we decided to draw it to the best of our abilities and change it into a cosmetic! This is only for you. You''ll have it for every girl character that you make on this account forever! Once you are done reading this letter, you''ll have some more items (none of which will give you any stats!). Some of them will be items that you can find in the cash shop and other items are made just for you! The limited items will never be released to the public so if you want to show off that you are our best creator, you can! Once again, thank you for everything that you do and have fun!" The Maple Administrator said. After reading everything, Madeline shrieked. "Oh my god! Guys, this is so amazing!" Madeline said as she clicked on the cosmetic card. Her character''s face instantly changed into a face that was a Maplestory art style version of her. "This is amazing!" Madeline said. "It looks like me! I''m a character in this game now!" Madeline took a look at some of the other items that were given to her. She got a medal that said "Maplestory''s Youtuber" and in her cash item section, she got a cat that never expired, angel wings, and an outfit that she would wear a lot in videos. Furthermore, she got a chair that had the Maple Administrator jumping on both sides. "These are beautiful!" Madeline said as she started to equip all her new items. "Thank you Maplestory for the items!" ... Back at Chris'' house, Chris was eating dinner with his father and mother something that he has wanted to do one more time during his new life in the Wizarding World. "So are you dating Madeline yet?" Chris'' father asked. "No of course not! She''d reject me in a heartbeat Dad. Besides I''m not looking into being in a relationship right now. Studying is the most important," Chris said with a bit of embarrassment. "Alright whatever you say bud," Chris'' father said. "Oh yes, speaking of studying, for college, I''ll pay for everything so don''t you worry about it. I know you studied hard and Harvard invited you to go to their school. Since you accomplished all that, at the very least, I can get a loan and start paying for it. Besides, you got financial aid and free room and board for all 4 years so I only have to pay half of the tuition. As for all the money you''ve saved up from that job of yours, use it on other things. When I was your age, I always lamented on how I didn''t have any money and the money I did make would go to rent, food, and all the other stuff. Look at me now. I''m not rich and I''ve never been able to go further than being a middle class man. I''ve always wanted to create a business and see how far I could go with it, but I never did have the money. I don''t want you to have the regrets that I have now when you turn my age," Although Chris had heard this talk before in the past, he started crying once more. He knew that while his father was able to put a roof above their heads and put food on the table, getting a $17,000 loan for 4 years was something that he saw his father stress over for years. He had too many friends that had piles of debt due to the interest that accumulated over the years. Due to his father''s sacrifice over the past couple of years, Chris was able to successfully start a business and invest a lot of money into the stock market. Needless to say, he paid his father back 10 fold, but he never believed that the money he gave would ever amount to the money that his father gave him. "Oh come on Ryan, you made the boy cry! We''re eating right now!" Chris'' mother said. "Haha, my bad honey. I didn''t think I''d make him cry. Come on boy. Stop crying or else your mother will scream at both of us," Ryan said with a hearty laugh. "Yeah. Thanks dad," Chris said as he wiped his tears. ''I may have paid you back, but this time, I won''t let you stress over it for years,'' Chris thought. ... ''Good thing I made Madeline play Maplestory or else I would''ve had no way of making so much money all at once. If I remember correctly, Tesla stock went from $450 to $900 in a matter of days. From what I can remember, this stock is also pretty heavily shorted so there should be a nice squeeze incoming,'' Chris thought. ''If I''m lucky, I can make up to 3 million with this. If I get that far, I have a plan for the remaining million dollars,'' Chris thought as he went to school. During school, Nexon''s earning reports came out. Its revenue doubled the estimated amount and there were no financial risks. With new projects, Nexon believed that they would greatly increase the revenue in the next quarter as well. The reaction to the earnings report drove people wild. "Holy shit! I need to invest," "George! Hurry up and put some money into Nexon! They''re going to go parabolic!" A manager of a hedge fund said. "After losing so much money in the stock market, I''m going to be rich!" A man in a basement said excitedly. The stock price for Nexon rapidly increased. It quickly hit $1 and then after about an hour hit $5. "It hit $5! I have to short it! Bulls are going to be screwed this time! I lost so much money shorting this piece of shit stock. It''s going to go down now! One earnings report won''t save it this time," A investor said as he put in more money to short. While there were many with the same thought process, the price did anything but fall. While there were many who took profits at $5, the price still skyrocketed due to many previous shorts covering. It hit $10 and quickly hit $15. Due to the stock constantly rising, there was a constant covering by new bears who were trying to short at the right time. Unfortunately, that time never came and the day ended with Nexon''s stock price rising to $50. Chapter 65 - Madeline, Youre going to make me Rich! When Chris'' class ended, he quickly went home and checked the stock price of Nexon. "Alright it went according to my plan," Chris said happily. He quickly sold all his shares and his bank account surged to $3 million. ''It would be easy for me to invest all this 3 million and get another million or two within a week, but since I did all the prep work for Nexon, let''s end it with Nexon,'' Chris thought. He took out his phone that he recently got and called a number that he never used in his past life. It rang for a couple of seconds, but soon a male picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Can I have some pig''s feet with scallions?" Chris asked. "Let me transfer you to the proper department," The man said in a calm tone. The phone rang once again and this time a female''s voice answered. "Job description?" The lady asked. "Nexon''s game Maplestory. Down for 2 days starting tomorrow noon, but no data losses," Chris said. "200k," The woman said. She immediately hung up and Chris smiled. "Oh I''m going to be richer than those regular 1%," Chris said. The next morning, Chris immediately went to his brokerage site and put in all of his money except for $200,000 in order to short Nexon. ''Luckily in my past life, a friend of mine told me about them. Their password changes a lot, but he did mention about this password which he thought was the best password out of all of them,'' Chris thought happily. "$50 per share! We''re going to get such a big bonus!" An employee shouted. "Yeah! Let''s go out to a pub today! I''m buying! Who''s in?!" Another employee asked excitedly. The manager smiled and also decided to take part in the little celebration. ''I''m going to get promoted soon right?'' The manager thought as he was already starting to celebrate his promotion in his mind. However, their celebration was short-lived. "Manager, we have a huge problem!" An employee that looked at his computer said with panic. "What''s the matter? The stock went down by a dollar?" The manager asked jokingly. "No... Maplestory has been hacked! For now, we''re trying our best, but there''s no sign of us recovering," The employee said. "What?!" The manager asked with a shocked tone. "Try your best to recover the servers. If we don''t get this fixed by today, it won''t be only me that gets sacked, all of you will be as well!" All the employees were frantically trying to do whatever they could, but nothing was happening. "We''re screwed.. No one can do anything about this right now and news is going to go out fast. Forget the bonus, we''re going to lose our jobs," The employee who asked everyone out to the pub said sadly as he shuddered at the thought of him losing his job. "It''s alright," The manager said. "You guys have till the end of tomorrow to try to fix this or else we''re all going down," However, Nexon was not able to fix the servers the next day. Even Madeline switched to World of Warcraft as she could not play Maplestory anymore. All the employees at Nexon were depressed. While they felt that they were getting closer to fixing the problem, it was already too late. The stock price for Nexon plummeted to $10 per share and while it did not drop any lower than that, there was no sign of it ever going up even if they fixed the hacking problem. This was because many were now insecure about the security of Nexon. While it was still considered a huge win overall considering that the share price went from $0.50 a couple days ago to $10, going down from $50 to $10 was a huge sting to the company. ''It''s over. I''m going to be fired,'' The manager thought gloomily. He knew that even though he increased the price by a huge amount, it was still nothing compared to the error of getting the share price lowered from $50 to $10. On the other side of the world, Chris was extremely happy. He once again took out his money. The amount that he had was enormous with it being in the tens of millions. Chris knew that he was in the 0.1% now that he had a 8 digit figure in his bank account. Chris suddenly heard a familiar voice that he hadn''t heard from in a while in his head. ''Chris you finished the task at hand. Are you ready to return?" Prometheus asked. "Wait," Chris said. "I want to do a couple more things. Let''s see if I can increase my wealth a little bit more," "Alright. Contact me when you are ready, but don''t take too long. If you do, I''ll forcefully remove you," Prometheus said. "Alright let''s see what I can do," Chris said. When he went to school, he met up with Madeline who looked visibly upset. "What''s up Madeline?" Chris asked. "I still can''t play Maplestory!" Madeline exclaimed. While her World of Warcrafts video was doing just as well as her Maplestory videos, she still liked Maplestory more. "They should fix it by today," Chris said. "You know the people at Nexon are very hard-working people. Perhaps the problem with their server is a little worse than they thought," "I know, but with 2 days, I could''ve leveled up my Archer 2 levels!" Madeline said angrily. "And even if it does come back, there won''t be a lot of people playing it anymore. I like it and will still play it, but a lot of people who don''t trust the security of the game anymore won''t play it so a lot of the friends I made in the game won''t play anymore," "Why don''t you ask your dad to do something about it?" Chris asked. "Doesn''t he have a company related to cyber security and things like that? If he helps, people can trust the company again" "Oh yeah he does!" Madeline said. "Alright I''ll talk to my dad. He''ll be able to do something," When Chris went home, Nexon stated that they fixed the servers. However, the share price still did not go up. On the contrary, it went down a little bit more to $9.50. "Alright, here goes nothing," Chris said. He put a limit order at $9 to buy as much Nexon stocks as he possibly could. While this did bring a bit of talk within the investing community, only some people decided to buy the shares and many others shorted it. "Whoever put that limit order must be stupid," An investor said as he put in a couple thousand dollars shorting Nexon. "I wish I could see the face of that rich guy when he loses hundreds of thousands of dollars at once from this stupid decision. It''s not about it being oversold anymore. This hacking incident will lower the amount of players by at least half," Another investor said to himself as he spent $40,000 shorting Nexon. However, the news the next day shocked everyone even more than when the game was hacked. After the One of the top cybersecurity company, CyberTech is negotiating to work with Nexon to massively improve the security of the game. "Isn''t CyberTech that company owned by Henry Porter that billionaire? Why are they talking with Nexon?" The investor who spent $40,000 asked. "That''s probably some fluff news. They''re probably going to bail last minute. Alright shorting more," Many others had the same mindset as they shorted more. The prices dropped further as many people got cold feet and sold while the amount of buyers were not increasing. Chris also lost a lot of money, but he still kept his shares as he knew that big news was coming. ''Oh Madeline, you''re going to make me extremely rich,'' Chris thought as his order was filled. Chapter 66 - Final Moments The price of Nexon continued to stay around the $9 range. While it did drop to $8.80 at times, it would immediately jump back up. Chris patiently waited and knew that his money was about to grow ten-fold. Finally his news came. On the news was Madeline''s father shaking hands with a Korean man. The title was short, but shocking to the trading community. "BioTech signs security deal with Nexon!" Before any of the bears could sell and take their profit, the shares quickly went back to $20. "Shit! I''m going to be in debt if I don''t get out soon!" The investor who shorted $40,000 worth of shares exclaimed as he started to cover. Similarly, everyone else who shorted Nexon quickly decided to cover and Nexon''s stock price quickly rose to $50 once more. After a couple hours passed, the stock broke past the $60 mark. As for the people who followed Chris in buying Nexon, they were celebrating. "This is why you follow the rich men. They know what''s going to happen! There''s a reason why people follow Warren Buffet when he buys stocks!" An investor who made a couple hundred thousand dollars said as he sold his Nexon shares. In the headquarters at Nexon, everyone was once again celebrating. "We''re not getting fired!" An employee said happily as he put his arm around his friend''s shoulder. "You hear that Jun! We''re not getting fired!" "I know!" Jun said. "Thank god BioTech decided to work with us though. I wonder why he suddenly wanted to help us when we were going down?" "Who cares. Perhaps his child loves our game so much that he wants to support it when it''s down," "No way. He probably just saw it as a good business opportunity. He most likely knew that with his company''s influence, he could bring back Maplestory''s popularity," Back at Chris'' home, Chris quickly sold all his Nexon stocks. He looked at his trading account which had a couple hundred million dollars. ''Even in Galleons, this is tens of millions. I''ll have to pay a lot of taxes, but I''ll still have a lot remaining,'' Chris thought as he started to think about what to do with the money. ''I don''t think my parents will do much with all this money. I''ll invest most of all this in Dow Jones. No need to keep it rotting in the bank. At today''s price, they won''t be making much losses even during the financial crisis since the price was only around a couple hundred dollars apart. By 2020, the money should double and my parents might even become a billionaire by 2050. Unfortunately, this is the most I can do for them,'' Chris thought as he spent 99% of his money putting in a market order for Dow Jones. As for the remainder, he withdrew it to his online bank account. ''Alright I guess I''ll have to give my parents some gifts before leaving,'' Chris thought. When he went downstairs to eat dinner, he told them the news. "Dad, you know how you said I should do what I wanted with the money I made?" Chris asked while his father was happily eating fried tofu. "Yeah what about it? Did you already spend it on something?" Chris'' father asked fearing for the worst. "Yeah I recently invested in the stock market and I made quite some money. Now I have around $300,000," Chris said. "You did what?!" Chris'' father asked loudly as he dropped his chopsticks. Chris'' mother also stopped eating and put down her chopsticks. "Honey that''s not a good joke. How much did you have? $25,000? You''re telling me that in less than 2 months, you increased your money by ten fold?" Chris'' mother asked. "Yeah I got really lucky. The market just happened to be on my side and I sold as fast as I could. So tomorrow, I want to go buy a car for all 3 of us. How does that sound? There should be a lot of unused spaces in the garage anyways. We could always pay the manager for those. They will only be $100-$200 extra per month anyways. I know that Dad always wanted a BMW and Mom always wanted a Mercedes Benz so let''s get that tomorrow! I''ll settle for a Toyota Camry," Chris said as he continued to eat more side dishes. "Alright son, even if this were true, you have to save that money. Who knows when you''ll need that huge sum of money. Even if I am paying for your college, you might need it for when you start a business or something along those lines. You''ll regret it when you come up with a really good idea and you don''t have the money to make you ideas become reality," Chris'' father said. "It''s alright Dad. It''s something I''ve always wanted to do. As for money, even if I buy all of us a car, I should still have a little more than half left. I''ll put that money in the bank and get the interest off of it. Since I''m going to Harvard, I can always find work after I graduate. I don''t plan on becoming an entrepreneur any time soon," Chris said calmly. "Honey, I suppose our son has grown. He went from a little boy who cried about not being able to get some Skittles to buying us a car. Time flies a little too fast doesn''t it?" Chris'' mother asked happily. "Yes I suppose so, but he still has a lot of growing to do," Chris'' father said trying to hide his excitement. The next day, Chris and his parents took a taxi to the BMW, Toyota, and Mercedes Benz dealerships to purchase their new cars. Even though both Chris'' parents were against it the night before, they were ecstatic about purchasing the new cars. Chris'' mother chose the M-Class while his father chose the Z4. Chris took the cheapest Camry and the three were pretty happy with their choices. When the cars were inside their garage, Chris'' parents were even happier. ''Alright let''s do this,'' Chris thought as he started looking for houses. Houses were definitely on the cheaper side and Chris found the perfect home in a rich neighborhood not too far from where they currently lived. Furthermore, his father''s current job was closer at the house he was looking at. The price of the house was $600,000 and was 3500 sq ft. ''Perfect,'' Chris thought. He contacted the realtor for the house and hearing that Chris was willing to pay for everything at once, the realtor was excited and said that he was willing to give a tour the next day. (Author''s Note: Look I''m a college student. I don''t know anything on how buying a house works. While I know that there has to be a lot of inspections and stuff like that, for the sake of time, I won''t do that.) When Chris went to the house, he thought it was perfect. There was enough space in the garage to fit 4 cars and overall it was extremely spacious with 3 bedroom, 3 bathrooms, a backyard, a pool, and etc. "Alright I''ll purchase this house. I''ll pay for everything in one payment," Chris said. "Alright!" The realtor said excitedly as she thought about the huge commission she was about to make. The two signed the contract and Chris happily left. Seeing that Chris left in a Toyota confused the realtor, but since Chris already signed the contract, she didn''t care. "Chris where did you go today?" His mother asked. "No where really. Just hung outside for a bit. You know since I got a new car, I wanted to go for a ride," Chris said. "Looks like we had the same idea!" Chris'' father said after he chuckled. "Oh yeah Mom Dad, I have a surprise for you tomorrow. Madeline told me about this really good restaurant and I wanted to take you there. It''s a bit expensive, but she said that it was one of the best restaurant she''s been to," Chris said. "Alright I suppose we''ll have to let our son treat us tomorrow as well," Chris'' mother said with a smile. ... After Chris and his parents ate at an expensive Italian restaurant Chris found on the Internet, instead of driving his parents home, he was on his way to the new house he bought. "Mom Dad, when I earn enough money, I want to buy you a house from this neighborhood!" Chris declared as he entered the neighborhood he bought the house in. "This is a very expensive neighborhood. You''ll have to work really hard then," His mother said jokingly. "Is that Madeline''s new home? Why did Mr. Porter give you a key?" His mother asked. "They didn''t buy a new house" Chris said as he carefully parked his car. "I bought this house for you guys! It''s also closer to your work Dad!" "Chris are you crazy?!" His father asked. "Did you already sign the contract?! What-?! How-?! Do these people not do checks? You just turned 18! That alone should be a red flag for realtors!" "Oh my goodness. This house must cost a couple hundred thousand dollars. Son, I know you made a lot of money, but you can''t get ???ky like that! To you, a complete amateur, the stock market is a better form of gambling!" His mother said. "Ryan, is there any way we can void the contract as his parents?!" "I think we can since, but I''ll have to look into it," Chris'' father said in a panic. "Mom! Dad! You''re being too dramatic. Let me tell you the truth. When I told you I made $300,000, that was a lie. Add a couple of zeros and that''s how much money I have," Chris said. "This kid wants to get a beating. He created all this trouble by buying a house and now he wants to give us a ridiculous lie?!" Chris'' father said angrily. "I''m not lying to you!" Chris said. "I''ll show you at home," "Oh you better show me," Chris'' father said angrily. "I want to see how far your lie can go and don''t blame me when the bamboo stick comes out!" "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7" Chris'' father counted the number of zeroes repeatedly. He suddenly started to laugh. "Babe, I think I''m hallucinating. Can you count the zeroes?" Chris'' father asked. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7," Chris'' mother counted slowly. Her jaws dropped with every count and she sat down on the bed. "Son are you sure that this is all your money?" Chris'' mother asked. "Yeah, I invested in a stock that I knew would do well and then all sorts of things happened and then I ended up making a lot of money. I decided to invest most of it in the Dow Jones and leave a portion of it so that we can live comfortably. So I know you love your work Dad, but when you feel that your body can''t keep up with it, you can always retire and know that you have financial security. The money in my bank account should last us a long time and when we don''t have money, we can always sell our shares in the Dow Jones. I''m sure that within 20-30 years, we can become billionaires," Chris said confidently. "We don''t need that much money," Chris'' mother said. She still couldn''t believe the number on the screen. "We can never have too much money. Besides we never know when we''re going to be in trouble so having a lot of money is good," Chris said. "So umm... now that we bought our house and I proved have the money, we should start packing so we can start preparing for the move," "Yeah," Both parents said listlessly. "Alright!" ''Alright you''ve passed the test. Do you want to leave?'' Prometheus asked. ''How much longer do I have?'' Chris asked. ''1 more day. Any longer than that is a no-go,'' Prometheus said. ''Alright. I''ll spend some time with everyone before going,'' Chris said with a smile. The next day, Chris hung out at Madeline''s place and when he arrived home, he had a long talk with his parents. At 11:59, Chris got ready to leave. ''I feel like Cinderella right now,'' Chris thought as he chuckled. ''Alright Chris. You''ve passed your test and will be brought back to the waiting room,'' Prometheus said. "Alright," Chris said as he wiped a couple of tears. ''Well I suppose it was nice seeing my parents, Madeline, and Mr. Porter for the last time. I guess I was able to get over those regrets,'' Chris thought as his surroundings started to change. Chapter 67 - Next Test The surroundings changed and Chris was back inside the waiting room. "Good job Chris. It seems that even the diary was extremely happy with your results," Prometheus said. (Author''s Note: While in most other cases, Prometheus'' dialogues are in apostrophes instead of quotation marks, in the waiting room, I''m going to put it in quotation marks simply because it''s not like Prometheus is talking to Chris inside his head.) "How are the girls doing?" Chris asked not caring too much of what the diary thinks of him. "Well... it''s not going so well," Prometheus said. "They''re children. The Slytherin test tests your resourcefulness and the girls haven''t even lived a quarter of their life yet. Without any experience in the real world, I''m surprised that you did so well," ''Hmm... it looks like neither Prometheus nor the diary figured out I was from another dimension. Unexpected, but good for me I suppose,'' Chris thought. "So what do you think are the chances that the girls would pass?" Chris asked. "Well... from what I can see, 40% maximum and that''s really stretching it. It''s more like 25%," Prometheus said. "Well, that''s better than I expected. I expected something along the lines of 5-10% judging by how you were speaking," Chris said. "Luckily, the two of them are extremely intelligent and learning along the way. Essentially, they''re forcefully taking this test using their talents. Luckily, the Slytherin test allows people to do that," Prometheus said. "Is it alright if I took a peek?" Chris asked. "No, I can''t let you do that. Only the founders, the diary, and I can view your exams. I don''t have the power to do anything except tell you the contents of the exam. Well that is until you fail the exam. You can view Hermione and Kristine''s test as a spectator if you end up failing. Oh and Salazar Slytherin would like to have a word with you as you have completed your exam. After his words, I''ll tell you about the next exam," Prometheus said. Soon Salazar sitting on his throne appeared in front of him similar to that of a hologram. "While I do not like you as you decided to ally yourself with those Muggle-born witches, I do commend you for passing my exam with flying colors. You created wealth from almost completely nothing not with luck, but with the help of the people and resources around you. Even in the end, you have convinced your friend to do something to make sure that the results skewed in your favor," Salazar said. "For the sake of my life, you better do well on your next exams. I am prideful, but I am not stupid. My test was the first one and the ones ahead especially the final one will be extremely difficult more than you could ever imagine. Even I found my exam to be relatively difficult especially for kids that do not even know how to use the most basic of spells," Salazar disappeared and Chris chuckled. "What a weird way to wish me luck,'' Chris thought. "Alright are you ready for your next exam?" Prometheus asked. "Go ahead," "Alright, like I have stated before, the Slytherin test was the easiest test out of all of them. However, it wasn''t easy because of the qualities Salazar was looking for, but because you had knowledge of what you had to do," Prometheus said. Chris quickly realized what Prometheus was going to say. "Don''t tell me-," "Yes, you won''t have knowledge of what you have to do for the next three exams," Prometheus said. "When you wake up after entering the exam, it''ll feel like you were dreaming and so during the exams, you''ll forget what you have to do. If you did have the knowledge that this is an exam, the next 3 exams would be extremely fake and easy," "Well... That escalated the difficulty really quickly," Chris said. "This is the test for the diary. However, what I can say is that these tests should be much shorter and if you have the right qualities, much easier than the Slytherin exam. So it isn''t the worst. However, even with this in mind, the tests should be extremely difficult especially for a child like you. Now that I explained everything I can, I shall only ask you a question. Will you be morally right or strategically right?" As soon as Prometheus finished asking his question, Chris'' surroundings changed once again and he fell into deep sleep. ... "Slept tight Chris?" The girl asked. "Well Kristine, considering we''ve been getting chased for a couple of days, I think I''ve slept well this time around," Chris said as all the information started to flow back into his head. "Well I believe that most of us have woken up," Kristine said. "We have to get a move-on. You-Know-Who''s army is closing in on us and if it wasn''t for Neville and dozens more stalling some time, we wouldn''t have time to rest at all," "I know," Chris said. "Wake up everyone who''s sleeping, we have to get a move on. If we''re able to get to the main force, we''ll be able to trap in You-Know-Who and his army. Luckily, we''re not too far from them and should be reaching them by tonight," Chris said. "Alright Commander," Kristine said in a sarcastic tone before telling the rest of the people guarding Chris to wake everyone up. Chapter 68 - Designated Spot Chris saw the people waking up and saw that there were about 3 dozen students in years 6 and 7. In the middle of the group was Harry being carefully guarded by 3 people with one of them being Hermione. "Come on everyone," Kristine said. "If we don''t get to the base, all of us will be killed," ''If only everyone can apparate...'' Chris thought. However, due to the fact that underage apparation can be tracked and also because not everyone in their group could properly apparate, Chris couldn''t take the risk. "Let''s go," Chris said as he noticed that everyone got ready. Hermione walked up to Chris as everyone started to walk. "Chris at the rate we''re going, we''re going to get caught," Hermione said. "We''re on the last step. We''ve destroyed all the Horcruxes and all we have to do is just group up with the main army. As long as we can escort Harry into the base, we can get rid of You-Know-Who. We can''t afford to lose here. We''ve lost too much people. Dumbledore, Neville, Terry, and so many other people were killed," "I know," Chris said. "And if they caught up to us, you know the plan. I''ll stay with a couple of other people. I''ll bring a few down with me. Perhaps I''ll give You-Know-Who a good fight before I go down," Hermione stayed silent. She went to the front and started to lead everybody. The group walked as fast as they could. Due to some people having injuries though, they could not run and only speed-walk. Furthermore, as Chris knew that any magic used would be traced due to all of them being underaged, he forbid the use of it unless absolutely necessary. The sky was beginning to darken and everybody seemed to be both extremely excited and nervous. "Careful guys. We should be able to make it, but we have to also be very careful. Any mistake will lead us to our deaths," Chris said in a serious tone. He went up to Hermione who was continuing to lead everyone. "So how much longer?" Chris asked. "Not very long. We''ll be at the designated spot soon. As soon as we find that secret spot, no matter how strong You-Know-Who is, he won''t be able to find us," Hermione said. "Good because I don''t think everybody here can last much longer," Chris said as he looked behind at the tired students behind him. While most of the students were used to some strenuous activities, walking through a forest for an entire day was not an activity they can handle. They were wizards and witches not athletes. Even Harry, the athletic Quidditch player, was tired. Hermione continued to look through the forest navigating her way to the designated spot. However, Chris heard a faint rustling sound. ''Shit!'' Chris thought as he lifted his arm. The group quietly, but quickly tried to hide wherever possible. Fortunately, as it was night in the forest, there were plenty of places to hide and although there was some noise, it wasn''t anything too loud. As he was staying still, Chris noticed a figure wearing a completely black cloak approaching them. ''Is it a Death Eater scout?'' Chris thought as he tried to breathe as slowly as possible to try to not attract any attention. After looking back and forth and walking around for a couple of minutes, the man in black finally left. "Alright let''s go," Chris said. However, 5 men in the same black cloak suddenly appeared behind them. One of them shot a Morsmorde curse into the air signalling the presence of the students. "GO!" Chris said to Hermione as she, Harry, and around 2 dozen students left some looking back emotionally as they knew that the ones remaining would most likely pass away. Hermione and Kristine also looked back and saw Chris'' back. The two of them started to cry as they ran into the night. The 5 men started to shoot spells at the dozen students. The spells had a green light signalling that it was all Avada Kedavras. Luckily, the students knew what to do. Instead of blocking them, they immediately shot out another spell most of the them being Expelliarmus spells. Due to it being a 12 v 5, the fight was quickly over with all 5 men being subdued. Chris quickly used the sleep charm on all 5 of them putting them into deep sleep. "We have 2 choices," Chris said. "Either we hide right now and ambush their main army and take down as many as we can or we can run in another direction and hope that they run towards us. 1 or 2 put out your fingers," The rest of the students put out only 1 finger. "Alright hiding it is. Hide within the area and when I appear and attack, you all come and fire your spells as well. Remember this is most likely your last fight. Use the lethal spells you can. The more that die, the less trouble the others will have afterwards," Chris said. "If you understand go," Everyone scattered and started to hide. Chris also found a good hiding spot where he knew no one was going to be able to find him. Several minutes later, a group of 20 people appeared. All except for 1 were wearing hoods and that one person was very familiar to Chris. ''Voldemort,'' Chris thought angrily. He was repulsed by Voldemort''s snake-like face devoid of any emotions. In the dark, he looked like a demon from hell. When Voldemort saw the 5 sleeping men with no students around, he was livid. He quickly killed all 5 of them using the Killing Curse and started to shout at the people behind him. "Are these the type of morons that you brought to me?! They have lost to students. Mere students! And they have not even scratched a single one of those students! Incompetent fools!" Voldemort exclaimed. "I''m sorry my lord, but the students that ran were the elites of Hogwarts," A Death Eater said as he kneeled. "We cannot blame the failures on those men. They were mere-" "Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort chanted. The ominous green light hit the kneeling Death Eater and he fell to the ground. The other Death Eaters flinched a bit. "Find them! If we do not find them by tonight, you all will be personally tortured by me!" Voldemort shouted. "Understood," The Death Eaters said in unison. However, before they could move, Chris jumped out of his hiding spot. "Confringo!" Chris chanted. Author''s Note: Hello, guys, it''s been a long week already lmao. Shit''s been crazy and I b?r?ly understand what''s going on lmao. So as you guys know, COVID has been screwing everything up and it''s financially hurting my family as well (a lot). It''s to the point where I don''t even know if I''ll have a roof on top of my head after this passes. This is not a donation thing. In fact, I''m thinking about shutting my pat_reon down as I feel bad taking money from people when I don''t even upload as frequently. This is just an alert as I might have go on an indefinite hiatus if something goes wrong. I really do want to continue to write, finish this story, and write even more. However, with things heading towards the terrible side, I don''t know if I can have the leisure of writing. However, I will definitely upload for now and I hope that I can put out as much as I can before shit hits the fan. Chapter 69 - Chris VS Voldemort The place near Voldemort exploded immediately. "Go!" Chris shouted. The rest of the students hiding appeared from their hiding spots and shot out the spells they excelled at the most. Some were Expulso Curses and others were Blasting Curses. Chris let out spells of his own. "Expulso!" "Bombarda Maxima!" Chris let out all the spells that dealt with explosions. However, out of the dust that started to form from Chris'' spells, multiple green lights exited hitting some of the students instantly killing them. ''Shit!'' Chris thought as he started to move around and shoot spells. From what he could see, 4 students died from the Avada Kedavra''s. Chris continuously let out Expulso curses. However, more and more Avada Kedavras were shot out. Soon all the students except for Chris was killed. When the dust settled, Chris laughed. ''It looks like we did our job!'' Chris thought happily as he saw how many people were remaining. Around half the Death Eaters died from the ambush. Voldemort, who had some dust on his face, was fuming as he took a look at how many Death Eaters died. "Come out you rat! I know there''s still one of you remaining!" Voldemort roared. Chris thought of running away. ''I''m alone so I can probably escape, but Hermione shouldn''t have made it yet. If Voldemort ends up finding them somehow, it''ll be disastrous. Luckily, I''m confident in my Occlumency so he shouldn''t be able to pry into my mind,'' Chris thought. He then stepped out of his hiding spot revealing himself to Voldemort. Voldemort was surprised when he saw Chris, but he smiled. "Ah... the heir of the Evergreen family. It seems that you are doing well. I suppose that your mother and father don''t know that you have decided to go against me," Voldemort said. "No matter. You''re born from one of the purest family. I''ll be glad to take you in. Those that died were incompetent fools anyways. I''ll forgive your sins if you decide to join me," Hearing this Chris laughed again. "That''s weird," Chris said. "I have killed half your men. Besides that, aren''t you a little too boring Dark Lord?" "What did you say?!" Voldemort asked angrily. "Why you only use the Killing Curse and nothing else. It seems that you have dulled. In your d?s?r? to master this one curse, your knowledge of every other spell got reduced to almost nothing," Chris said as he laughed. Voldemort''s thin body started to shake. "You dare insult me?! The greatest wizard in the entirety of the Wizarding World?!" Voldemort asked. "No that was Dumbledore," Chris said. "Unfortunately, it wasn''t even you that killed him. It was Severus Snape who did," "I have killed Snape. I have killed the man that killed Dumbledore," Voldemort shouted as he got even angrier than before. "Why I''m sure he trusted you to not kill him. His guard was down. You have taken advantage of that. You''re simply a cowardly snake that takes advantage of the strong. That''s how you came into power. You are nothing more than a cowardly dictator!" Chris said with a smile. Voldemort took out his wand and pointed it at Chris. However, he stopped himself and chuckled. "Imagine being provoked by a brat. It seems that you have won in your little scheme Chris Evergreen," Voldemort said with a sinister smile. "Well no matter. I''ll give you what you want. You have called me a coward so I''ll show you what a coward does. Bring him to me alive," Voldemort pointed at Chris and half of the remaining death eaters apparated behind Chris while the other half ran in front of Chris blocking Chris'' path. "Why you really are a coward," Chris said trying to provoke Voldemort a little more. "Yes I am," Voldemort said. "This cowardly dictator will happily detain you and see where your friends are. In the end, I will kill Harry Potter and I will cleanse this world of Mudbloods. Only the purest shall remain. Of course you will also be on that list. I am quite forgiving. It may take the Imperius Curse, but it can be done," When Chris looked around, he recognized some of the Death Eaters. They weren''t famous like Bellatrix, Snape, or Dolohov, but he still knew that they were elite troops. If they were to die, the Order of the Phoenix would have a much easier time dealing with all the Death Eaters. As for Voldemort, that was up to Harry. ''I think I stalled for enough time,'' Chris thought. ''Everyone should''ve already make it to the base by now,'' "Dark Lord, do you know what spell would be the best for this situation?" Chris asked. "Oh do you think you can get out of this situation?" Voldemort asked. Chris whispered a chant and flame was shot out of his wand. He pointed at the ground with all the dry leaves and everything started to rapidly burn and spread. Multiple animals such as dragons, snakes, and eagles started to form. In the span of a few seconds, the animals grew 6 meters tall with the fire encompassing the entire area. The Death Eaters surrounding Chris all panicked and tried to use the Extinguishing Charm, but it was useless. The fire instantly evaporated all the water and they were all engulfed in flames. Flames continued to pour out of Chris'' wand, but he had no intentions of stopping it. He let the fire go out of control burning everything in sight. However, before it could spread any further, Voldemort lifted his wand and all the fire started to go towards him. ''Shit it''s the countercurse,'' Chris thought as Voldemort started to gather all the fire and dispelled it. Voldemort looked at Chris and laughed. "Fiendfyre. Who knew using out of control magic would be the proper way to win the fight!" Voldemort said. "Those incompetent fools let fear overtake them and decided to use the Extinguishing Charm instead of the countercurse. No matter, I can always replace idiots like them," Voldemort immediately shot out a spell surprising Chris. Chris quickly used the Shield Charm b?r?ly blocking Voldemort''s spell. Voldemort continuously shot out spells leaving no room for Chris to attack. However, the more Voldemort attacked, the angrier he became. Soon he let out a scream and shot out a green light. Due to what Voldemort stated earlier, Chris did not expect Voldemort to use the Killing Curse. He used the Disarming Charm to counter it. The two spells clashed letting out a bright light. The green light started to slowly encroach upon Chris like a snake slowly approaching to eat its prey. Chris tried to direct the Killing Curse elsewhere, but he failed. The green light hit him and Chris'' world instantly turned black. Chapter 70 - Moving on to the Next Test When Chris woke up, he was in the waiting room. "Oh god," Chris mumbled. "Did I just die?" "Indeed you did," Prometheus showed up in front of Chris. "I did not think he would use the killing curse on me," Chris said. "I guess he just didn''t care anymore," "So I''m guessing I passed the test," Chris said. "Yes, you have," Prometheus said. "You have passed Gryffindor''s test. He will have a couple of words with you," Like Slytherin, Gryffindor''s hologram appeared in front of Chris. "Well done boy," Gryffindor said. "The best choice for you to survive would have been to split up and run into the forest. The chances of Voldemort catching your friends that have run away was close to zero. However, you decided to sacrifice yourself not to give Voldemort that sliver of a chance. You have also realized that being brave doesn''t mean you have to be stupid. The fact that you decided to sacrifice a group alongside yourself was smart. Brave but stupid people would''ve done a solo suicide mission and that''s not what I want. I want brawn and bit of a brain. That''s enough for me. Good luck on your next two tests. The only two remaining are Helena and Rowena''s," Gryffindor''s hologram disappeared. "So ready for your next test?" Prometheus asked. "No!" Chris said. "I just died 5 minutes ago. Not even Gryffindor can be ready after dying," "Alright, I''ll give a bit of time to rest," Prometheus said. Chris sat for a while constantly thinking about how he was killed. "So how are the girls doing?" Chris asked to stop thinking about his death. "Kristine passed the Slytherin test. She went on to the next test. She''s doing alright. Doing what a Ravenclaw should be doing," Prometheus said. "Wait Ravenclaw? I was doing Gryffindor," Chris said. "The test is different for each person so the order can also be different as well. Slytherin was the only exception as his test allowed you to have knowledge that it was a test. You can''t fake resourcefulness, but you can fake bravery, kindness, and in a sense wisdom especially because it is a test. If you knew that the battle in the forest was test for Gryffindor, you would''ve just forced everyone to leave and go on a suicide mission. That''s not brave. That''s just you trying to pass," "Wait so then how come you said that you couldn''t pass the third test?" Chris asked. "If it''s all arbitrary then you shouldn''t know the results," "Oh, pretty fancy word you used there for a kid. Sorry, I can''t really answer that," Prometheus said. "Ok. It was not even a hard question, but I guess I''ll move on," Chris said looking at Prometheus with a funny look. "So what happened to Hermione?" "She failed Slytherin''s test. That doesn''t mean she''s unintelligent. She is very intelligent. However, for now, she is only extremely smart with books and the likes. Her knowledge of taking advantage of others and etc. are lacking. She needs to grow a little more," "Then how did Kristine pass?" Chris asked. "She doesn''t seem to be the ''taking advantage of others'' type," "Talent. More than her skills in learning from books, she is better at being resourceful. She tried her hardest and just absorbed all the knowledge she possibly could and b?r?ly did it," Prometheus said. "It''s quite unfortunate you couldn''t see it. Perhaps she could tell you about what happened," "Huh, I guess I''ll do that later. Well, I''m ready for the next test," Chris said. "Perhaps I can do it even faster than the Gryffindor test. I mean the test only lasted a couple hours long compared to the weeks I had to spend in the Slytherin one," "Well that all depends," Prometheus said. "It''s just a matter of if you have the trait or not. If you do, it can last very shortly. If not, then tough luck because you''ll eventually fail. In the Slytherin test, you could learn how to become resourceful, but you can''t really learn how to be brave or how to be kind. Well the next test is ready for you. Good luck," Chris closed his eyes as he readied himself for the ride to come. Soon he lost consciousness. ... "I was so close to passing the Slytherin test too," Hermione said as she started to tear up a little bit. Rowena noticed Hermione who started to silently sob. "Child do not cry," Rowena said. "I am proud to have a student like you in my house. You have done very well in the test. Perhaps it was not enough right now, but people in my house get resourceful and a bit cunning after they age a little bit and those two in the test simply just did a little better than you have. In fact, out of the three of you, I would think that you are the best for the Ravenclaw house. Your thirst for knowledge and your absorption of that knowledge is the best," Hermione looked at Rowena with a shocked look and wiped the tear off her face. She then smiled the best she can and thanked Rowena. Seeing how Hermione cheered up, Rowena smiled and looked back at the mirrors with a serious gaze. ''Hopefully, the two of them pass my test,'' Rowena thought. ''While knowledge is the main part of being in the Ravenclaw House, wisdom is another part and wisdom might mean coldness. Hopefully, those two kids have what it takes to be cold and calculating,'' ... Chapter 71 - Cassia Elks When Chris woke up, he was in a bedroom with 2 other people. He looked over to see Harry and Ron still sleeping. ''Luckily we made it out of the forest and made it to the base,'' Chris thought. ''Who knew that the ''base'' were some portkeys that were being guarded. Well I guess it made sense. If we were caught by the Dark Lord and he used Legilimency, no one would know anything,'' Suddenly, the door burst wide open and in came an unfamiliar woman. "Wake up you three. It''s time for breakfast!" The woman said. Harry and Ron groggily sat up in their bed and proceeded to get ready. Chris did the same and in about 5 minutes, the woman led the three of them to the dining room where there were students and ?du?ts eating together. Chris saw Hermione, Kristine, and Se-yeon already starting to eat at a table. The three quickly got their food and went over to where the girls were. "Glad that I can have another breakfast," Ron said. "To be honest, I thought I was going to be snake food last night," "If it weren''t for Michael, Justin, and the others staying behind, we really would''ve been snake food," Kristine said sternly. "Ok... Just trying to lighten up the mood here," Ron said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Well-" "Alright Kristine, let''s not sour the mood even further," Chris said. "Right now, we need to stay positive. We''re getting closer to winning this war. If we''re so down all the time, we can even lose the battle we''re supposed to win," Kristine pouted and silently ate her food. "Hello ladies and gentlemen!" A loud female voice shouted. Chris looked towards where the voice came from and it was a lady around Professor McGonagall''s age. She had a simple outfit with a robe. "My name is Cassia Elks. You can call me anything you want as long as you say either my first or last name. I''d like to give a warm welcome to the students who have all made it here. I know that it was an arduous journey with uncertainty and fear and so I would like to thank all of you for being brave enough to fight against someone that we know is extremely powerful and tyrannical," Cassia said. Everyone in the dining room clapped and all the students who were tense lightened up a little. "I also understand that you all had friends, people that you cared about deeply, sacrifice their lives in order to bring everyone here and I want to thank them for their bravery and let them know that their sacrifice will not be in vain," Cassia said as she saw that the tension in the students'' face significantly lessened. ''Wow she''s good. I probably can''t do that as fast as she did,'' Chris thought as he also noticed that the students even Kristine were starting to lighten up. "While we still do have a lot of work to do, we have progressed a lot in our battle against the Dark Lord. So for now, let us have a happy healthy breakfast and have all the students meet up in the Command Room. I''ll have a person guide you all there after breakfast," Cassia said with a smile. Everyone started to eat once again and Ron even had seconds. "Jesus Ron, you''re eating as much as you eat breakfast and lunch together in one sitting," Se-yeon said. "Not really eating during a run does that to me," Ron said as he continued to eat rapidly. "Besides, I think it''s crazy that you all are not eating as much as I am right now. Who knows how long we''ll be able to peacefully eat like this until the next battle," "Well you''re not wrong there," Chris said. "Alright guys, let''s finish eating. I''m starving," After finishing breakfast, all the ?du?ts except for one left the Dining Room. It was a tall man wearing a suit and a tophat. "I''ll guide you to the Command Room," The man said as he gestured to follow him. The students orderly left the Dining Room and entered the hallway. After a couple of turns, they arrived in front of a double door. The man opened the door revealing a medium sized room full of bookshelves packed with books. In front of the students was a relatively big desk and a chair. Cassia was sitting down smiling at the sight of the students. "Hello students. Once again welcome. It''s a p???sur? meeting all of you. So as you guys know, I am Cassia Elks. You can call me Cassia, Mrs Elks, or whatever is suitable for you. Now I am also the commander. So on a more serious note, who here is the leader of the group?" Cassia asked. Everyone pointed at Chris. "Alright then. I believe you are Mr. Evergreen. I have met your relatives quite a lot especially your uncle. He''s a very kind and brave man. Always willing to go to the front of the battlefield without a care for his life as long as he''s willing to help others. He''s a very close friend of mine," Cassia said. "Well then, since everyone here is used to Mr. Evergreen leading the charge, he''ll be the commander of the students. It''s better this way rather than ?ssigning an ?du?t to you. An army works best with a familiar leader. So since we have chosen the leader, everyone except for Mr. Evergreen and Mr. Potter may leave the room," Everyone left with only Chris and Harry staying. Chapter 72 - Planning for the Next Battle "Hello Mr. Potter," Cassia said. "It''s an honor to finally meet you," "Pleasure to meet you too Miss Elks," Harry said. "I am glad that you made it here safely," Cassia said. "We definitely were all a bit nervous to hear of the plan," "Well yes it was risky and we have sacrificed a lot," Harry said. "Well as you know, you are the most important person for this battle. You have to make sure that you survive until the end. Even if majority of us perish in this battle, you have to survive as you are the only one who can win us this war," Cassia said. "I understand," Harry said. "Good," Cassia said. Then she turned to Chris. "Mr. Evergreen, we will engage in minor skirmishes and diminish the Dark Lord''s forces until the final battle. Since you were all able to make it here, I''m ?ssuming that most of if not all the students that came with you are somewhat experienced in battle yes?" "They might not be the best forces here, but I am sure that we all can hold our own in battle. Even if a higher ranking Death Eater comes, I''m sure we can win," Chris said confidently. "Then we shall have you all battle as well. Obviously, if this were normal times, we would never allow any of you to risk your lives to fight, but this battle is too important. Too many can die if the Dark Lord gains more power than he already does now," Cassia said. "Well then we shall discuss the battle plan with you later today. Please have some rest before that so that everyone will be in their best shape for later," Chris and Harry left the office and went back into their room. In there was Ron, Hermione, Kristine, and Se-yeon who were all waiting for them. "So was it the usual?" Ron asked. "What do you mean?" Harry asked. "You know the typical ''I''m glad to meet the Boy Who Lived. It''s an honor to meet you,'' shtick that everyone uses when they meet you for the first time," Ron said. "Well if you put it that way then yes," Harry said. "I think she wanted to talk to Chris more than me though. I felt like Chris'' decoration while in the room," "I mean Chris is our leader this time around and he has always gotten a lot of attention at Hogwarts as well," Ron said. "Well we all kind of have," Chris said. "We''re all in the shadow of the boy who lived after all," Harry ?r??n?d. "Not you too Chris," He said with an annoyed tone. "Alright guys let''s stop teasing Harry," Kristine said. "We can''t afford to anger the Boy who lived," "Harry ?r??n?d which made everyone chuckle a little. "Alright let''s get serious here," Hermione said. "Chris what did Miss Elks say to you?" "She asked if we were ready for battle. I explained that we could hold our own to which she replied that she''s going to put us in battle and talk about strategies later today," "We''re going to battle already?" Kristine asked. "It hasn''t even been a day since we successfully ran away," "Well it''s understandable," Se-yeon said. "While we are on the verge of defeating the Dark Lord, we''re running out of time. If things stay as it is, over half the resistance will be destroyed and when that happens even this huge base we have here will not win us the battle even if we have Harry," "Se-yeon is right," Chris said. "For now, we have to reduce the Dark Lord''s forces or else we''re going to have too many casualties. For every Death Eater killed, multiple lives will be saved. Since we have the capability to reduce the enemy force, why not take the chance to do so? Besides Miss Elks won''t send us to our deaths by making us fight high level Death Eaters that can easily kill us. She''ll most likely send us to a place that has a relatively low amount of high ranking Death Eaters and only some low tier ones that we can defeat," A couple hours later, Chris was summoned into the office. In the room was 5 other people gathered around Cassia''s desk. They made space for Chris as he tried to see the map. "We have intel that there is a 30 man force in this area," Cassia said as she pointed a red spot on the map. "We have an ally that has a vanishing cabinet there for us. The opponents are a mid tier force so we''ll transport 20 ?du?ts and 10 students there so that the students can get some experience while being safe. The ?du?ts will take care of the higher leveled opponents while the kids will take care of the weaker ones. Since the ?du?ts will know the faces of most of the relatively strong Death Eaters, they''ll immediately attack them so that the students don''t mistake the stronger opponents for a weak one. Does everyone understand?" Everyone including Chris nodded. "Alright I''ll decide the ?du?ts later. You guys can leave. Mr. Evergreen stay here, you''ll tell me who''s going tomorrow," Cassia said. Everyone but Chris left the room. Chapter 73 - Strategy for the Battle "So, Mr. Evergreen, I noticed that your face has been a bit weird when I announced the plan," Cassia said. "Well, can we trust this person that provided the intel? Can we trust the person with the vanishing cabinet?" Chris asked. "Of course, this person has been a trusted ally of ours for a very long time. I believe he''s even a friend of your father''s," Cassia said. "I''m sorry to be rude, but during our fight against the Dark Lord, we''ve learned to never fully trust the people that provide intel or a hiding place. One day they can be our allies, but as soon as the Dark Lord gets a hold of their family or some other weakness, they''ll turn on us in the blink of an eye. There''s also the Imperius Curse that we have to worry about as well," Chris said solemnly. Throughout his fight against Voldemort, he has been betrayed numerous times. While some did it for their ?ust for power, most of times, they were forced to do so due to their loved ones being threatened by Voldemort or the Death Eaters. "So are you saying that you don''t trust us as well?" Cassia asked nonchalantly. "A bit yes," Chris said. "Although at this point, my friends and I don''t really have a choice but to trust you don''t we? However, I''m not letting go of the idea that there is a spy in here. If you guys could make a portkey that is not able to be tracked by the Ministry of Magic, it should be possible for a spy to be here as well," "Well you are definitely right. Although we do try our best to find any spies, if it was that easy, no one would dare to be a spy. While we do have a person skilled with legilimency, as long as the other person is proficient in occlumency, it will still be a bit difficult to determine who is the spy,&" Cassia said. "So now that I''ve heard your worries, what is your plan? It seems that you didn''t bring it up for no good reason," "Well it is related to the mission. Do you happen to have a Metamorphmagi and a polyjuice potion of said Metamorphmagi?" "Yes we do happen to have a Metamorphmagi and their polyjuice. Who are you planning on changing that person to?" Cassia asked interested in his plan. "Change that person into Harry and tell everyone tomorrow that the plan is to have Harry have more experience against Death Eaters. If anyone has doubts, just say that he is capable of protecting himself against those groups of Death Eaters since they''re not relatively high leveled and to watch him closely just in case something bad occurs," Chris said. "As for Harry himself, after you announce that Harry will be going, call him to your office to talk and have the two switch with each other," "It''s not the worst plan," Cassia said. "While there are definitely some flaws, if there is a spy, this can potentially weed them out," "Yes and send in a lot more than the 20 ?du?ts that you were planning on sending in secret by either the disillusionment charm or an invisibility potion and have those people only fight if there is more people than originally stated. If there is no spy, just have them secretly come back," Chris said. "Alright, let''s do as you say," Cassia said. "I''ll take care of the smaller details," Chris then told the 8 other students that were going with him. The ones he chose were all relatively stronger in duelling and even if they knew less spells than Hermione or Kristine, they were the most battle-hardened. "Alright, have a good rest for the rest of the day. You''ll need it for tomorrow," Cassia said. "That is the plan," Chris said with a smile. He left the room leaving Cassia alone. "Well he certainly does resemble his father a lot," Cassia said as she was thinking about the past. "Now I feel jealous of Lorraine. Perhaps I should have had a child with Leo, but alas, he left too soon," ... When Chris went back to his room, he was met with the curious eyes of his friends. "So what happened? Are we being sent?" Kristine asked. "I can''t say much since we''re trying to keep a lot of the information secret. You''ll get to know tomorrow. However, what I can say is that the enemy shouldn''t be too difficult to fight and they''ll send much more ?du?ts than students so there won''t be much danger to students," Chris said. "Alright then," Kristine said disappointed that she couldn''t know whether or not she was going to fight. However, she was relieved that the danger level wasn''t too high. "Is it really necessary to send us at this moment?" Ron asked. "I mean while it does bring students experience, the risk just outweighs the rewards that this could bring. If something happens and we lose all the students that were sent then the consequences will be dire. Sure, we''ll accept that in major battles, we''ll lose friends, but if we start losing friends in minor battles like this right after escaping the Death Eaters, it will definitely kill some of the motivation we had to fight and will definitely affect our mindset for future major battles," "Don''t worry Ron, Mrs. Elk does not seem to be the leader to go in without a plan or else she would have been ousted right away," Chris said After reassuring Ron and answering whatever questions he could answer without revealing too much, Chris spent the remainder of the day resting for the battle tomorrow ... Chapter 74 - Going Through the Other Side. The next morning after everyone ate breakfast, Cassia called out everyone involved in the battle including Harry into the room. When the ?du?ts saw Harry in the group of students, most were heavily against it. "Commander, you can''t do this!" A tall young man wearing a dark coat said with anger. "He''s the one who''ll defeat the Dark Lord. If anything in this operation goes wrong, we''re finished. Everything we worked for for the past couple of years will disintegrate!" "I agree Commander," A half-goblin said. "Having one of our most important member go to a battle right now is just going to cause us unnecessary stress! Why haven''t you told us yesterday? At the very least, we''ll be a bit more mentally prepared!" "While I definitely understand your concern, it''s not much to worry about," Cassia said. "This is a very minor battle and having 20 of you go with 10 students is definitely safe enough. Furthermore, the students are not pushover either. They''ve been trained by some of the best at Hogwarts including McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape. All they''re missing is a little bit of actual battle experience," "But.." "Luthor, I usually let people voice their opinions in plans, but this will be the one time that I will not allow anyone here to oppose!" Cassia exclaimed angrily. "Harry Potter in this mission is something that I deem necessary! These students have also gone through battles and have practiced for years. They are not babies that need constant supervision. They only need a bit of protection against stronger Death Eaters!" Hearing the angry screams of Cassia quieted everyone in the room down although they still were not satisfied with Cassia''s decision. "Alright, so now that we got everything out of the way, let''s get ready shall we?" Cassia asked with smile. "Everyone go back outside and get ready. Mr. Potter, please stay behind. I want to speak to you on some matters before you leave," Harry looked visibly confused as he did not expect to be sent into the battle in the first place. Everyone including Chris left leaving Harry alone with Cassia. Outside the room, the ?du?ts were all disgruntled with the decision. "I can''t believe the commander did this. If something goes wrong, what did we fight for? So many of our friends died. Some of her closest friends died for all of this," Luthor, the tall young man wearing the dark coat said to his friends. "Well, it doesn''t matter now," The half-goblin said. "We just have to increase the level of protection on Potter for this battle. Luckily, like the Commander said, for every student, we have 2 ?du?ts. The Dark Lord''s medium sized forces won''t distract us so much that we can''t protect one student," Just as the ?du?ts were a bit worried, the students were also concerned about both their safety and Harry''s as well. "Chris, are we going to be alright?" Augustus, a Ravenclaw student a year younger than Chris, asked. "We just escaped a fight against the Dark Lord. Is it really good idea to be fighting so soon?" "Well we''re definitely not going to be at a disadvantage," Chris said. "Like the ?du?ts said, 2 of them are protecting one of us. Furthermore, we were trying to run away from the main force of the Dark Lord when we were escaping, but now we''re just fighting against a smaller force that doesn''t have many strong figures. We have also been learning various duelling spells for the past couple of years. We need this combat experience if we''re going to have a better chance against the Dark Lord when the final battle comes," "Why did you choose us Chris?" Augustus asked. "I believe that you were the ones who chose us. Mrs. Elks does not know enough about us to choose us. It would also be irresponsible for her to randomly choose between the students. It would only make sense if you chose us. We''re definitely not the strongest of the pack. There''s Hermione, Glenn, and so many other people that can help the ?du?ts out more," "Well, I think you guys are the ones who will reap the most benefits out this battle," Chris said. "From my observation, you 8 have been extremely good at learning, but you guys tend to choke up a little during actual duels. You have the foundation, but lack the experience. When are you guys going to get a better chance at duelling other than these small skirmishes?" "If this is so, I refuse to believe that Harry is a good addition to this," Cathryn, a 6th year Hufflepuff student said. "We might choke up during duels, but Harry is one of the best at duelling. He was even the first one to learn the Patronus Charm and effectively use it on the Dementors. He won against so many Death Eaters as well. He has experience and we don''t need to risk him to get a little more experience," "Well Harry needs as much experience as he can get. If he is in trouble, I''ll make sure to do everything in my power to help him so don''t worry," Chris said. "Besides, you guys know my strength. I can definitely help Harry in a pinch," The 8 students stopped asking questions. The 29 people were waiting outside for Cassia to finish talking to Harry. After a couple of minutes, Harry finally came out. ''Alright so I guess she finally succeeded in convincing Harry to switch with the Animorphamagus,'' Chris thought. ''Harry'' joined the student group and soon after Cassia left the room as well. "Alright follow me," Cassia said going to another room. Everyone followed and entered the room. The room had nothing but a couple of furnitures and a large black cabinet. "This is not going to be the easiest mission, but it will not be very difficult either. May you all come back home safely," Cassia said. She opened the Vanishing Cabinet and everyone started to enter one by one. Adults went first and then it was the students. Finally Chris went to the other side. It felt as if he was in darkness for a couple of seconds before making it out to the other side, a small wooden cabin that seemed to be full with the 30 people inside. ''Harry'' also came through the Vanishing Cabinet. As ''Harry'' walked forward, an old man went past him and quickly closed the Vanishing Cabinet. ... Chapter 75 - Old Man After the old man closed the door, he gave a wide grin "Welcome to my humble abode ladies and gentlemen," The old man said. "We''ll need a little more time to finish the preparations. After we are done, you can all make a plan. I have a tent with an extension charm applied to it in the room over there. It can easily fit every single one of you," "Thank you sir," Luthor said with sincere gratitude. "You the leader of this group?" The old man asked. "I am the leader," Luthor said proudly. "What are you proud of? You''re dealing with ragtags and a third of your team is a group of kids who probably just recently stopped drinking their mum''s milk," The old man said with a condescending tone. Hearing this made Luthor''s face turn red in anger, but he decided not to say anything. "At the very least you can control yourself," The old man said nonchalantly. "That''s a good step towards leadership. Maybe you can be promoted to be a leader in a team of actual ?du?ts in the future well if the battle is still going that is," Luthor didn''t say anything and quickly turned to where the door was and entered. The rest of the group followed. Luthor wasn''t the only angry one however. The students excluding Chris and ''Harry'' were all fuming. "What is wrong with that old man? I know that people can be really unreasonable sometimes, but he''s saying that we... I can''t even say it," Augustus said."It''s not like we''re complete amateurs on the battlefield. We''ve been fighting for a long while too," "Calm down Augustus," Chris said. "You can''t get emotional over every single provocation. Are you going to start getting angry if Death Eaters say something you don''t like. If you do, you''ll die within the next 5 seconds. Also, I get what he is saying. He''s a man that has experienced war before and is currently experiencing another one. He has the right to say that we''re greenhorns. Let''s just give our respects and move on," Hearing this made Augustus quiet although he and a couple of other students were still a bit angry. Looking at Augustus'' expression made Chris sigh. ''Looks like they still have some ways to go,'' Chris thought as he entered the room. The room had a shabby tent that looked like it was about to fall over at any second. However, when Chris went inside, it was a large living room with a large table surrounded by many chairs. There were also many sofas around for resting and there was even a small bed. No one went on the bed as they ?ssumed that it was for the old man and either sat on the various sofas or chairs around. Obviously, the ?du?ts huddled on one side while the students hung around on the other. No ?du?ts went to try to talk to Harry which surprised most of the students as they were so used to seeing people go to Harry and ask him questions about his scar or about his fight with Voldemort. "Well, at the very least, there was still Harry who didn''t get angry over what that old man said," Augustus said after calming down from his outrage earlier. "Normally, Harry would be easy to provoke especially by people like Snape or Malfoy," "Are you trying to say something Augustus?" ''Harry'' asked jokingly. "No, just complimenting you although it feels like you''re kind of leaving us," Augustus said with a chuckle. "Well I guess having Gin-" Before Augustus said anything, Summer, a fellow Ravenclaw student Augustus'' year, tapped him on the shoulder. "It''s alright," ''Harry'' said. "Well, Harry has grown. We all have," Chris said trying to move the conversation to its previous direction. "It''s just that his growth has accelerated far more than anyone because of his position. You would to if you were the Boy Who Lived Augustus," "Maybe, but with his personality, I doubt it," Nick, a Gryffindor student friendly with Augustus, said with a hearty laugh. After some time has passed, the old man entered the tent. "We have gotten information," The old man said seriously. He entered the room carrying a large folded parchment paper. He went to the big table where Luthor was and laid out the paper. The parchment paper was a map that was extremely well-detailed to the point where Chris thought it was the perfect map for the area "We needed a couple more places to look before we showed you this map," The old man said. "Now that we''re done, we can talk," Luthor looked at the students and his gaze onto Chris. "Mr. Evergreen, please come here so we can talk about the plans. The students will hear the details from you," Luthor said. Chris went to the large table and stayed at the edge. Unless he noticed something major, he planned on not talking for this planning. While he was listening the plans, he noticed from the corner of his eyes that ''Harry'' excused himself and left the tent. "From what I have been told, Death Eaters will be at side of the forest later today," The old man said. "Is this information trustworthy?" Luthor asked. "If it isn''t, do you think I would call you guys to come here and get killed?!" The old man asked angrily. "Of course not," Luthor said. Although he was extremely annoyed by the old man, he knew that the old man could be trusted."So where are the places we should hide for ambushes?" ... The planning was done after around 30 minutes and Chris went back to his students to tell them the basics of the plan. "Alright we''re setting off," Luthor said after waiting for a couple minutes. ... Chapter 76 - Fight Against Death Eaters Everyone stood up and started to leave the tent. When everyone was at the room where the Cabinet was, Luthor gave a last briefing. "I''m going to reiterate the plan. After we get close to where the Death Eaters are supposed to be, I''m going to give a hand signal and you are all going to split up according to the plan. Once the Death Eaters arrive at their destination, we''re going to ambush them. As for when to ambush them, everyone take a Galleon," Luthor said as he passed down a Galleon to everyone. "These are fake Galleons that I put a Protean Charm on. I have the master coin so when I want to announce something, it''ll heat up. When you feel it heat up, immediately start attacking them. Any final questions because after this, there will be no talking," After a brief moment of silence, Luthor nodded. "If there are no questions, let''s move out," Luthor left the cabin and the others followed. When they were outside, Chris looked around to scan the surroundings, but there were only trees as far as he can see. However, the combination of the dark cloudy sky, large trees surrounding the cabin, and the rustling of the leaves made the atmosphere feel ominous. Once they started to walk towards the target destination, the group made sure to make as little noise as possible by not talking and avoiding as many dead leaves and branches as possible. After walking for about 30 minutes, Luthor raised his hand giving everyone the signal. Everyone started quickly to form their own groups with 3 ?du?ts and 2 students in each group making 6 groups. They quickly went to a place to hide in the direction that they were supposed to go and started to wait. The student alongside Chris was Augustus and it was the most nervous Chris has ever seen him. However, he was unable to calm him down as he was not allowed to talk. Thus, he put all his attention at the place where the Death Eaters were supposed to show up. The fake Galleon was in his left hand to make sure that he would feel the heat signal while his right hand was tightly holding onto his wand. ... The wait quickly became an hour long and there was no sign of any Death Eaters. ''I wonder how long we will have to wait,'' Chris thought as he started to look around for any signs of the Death Eaters. After around half an hour more of waiting, Chris finally noticed a group of dark hooded figures walking towards the target destination. However, since Chris did not feel the heat from the fake Galleon, he did not attack. The Death Eaters moved at a normal pace, but to Chris it seemed that they were walking slower than a snail. When they walked a few more yards, Chris finally felt the heat from the coin. He immediately stood up and cast the Stupefy Charm. The others in the group let out their own spells, some potentially lethal while others meant only for incapacitating. The spells hit their target and only a few Death Eaters were left. While the ones remaining were the stronger ones in the group and were ready to fight, they were still quickly defeated due to them being outnumbered. Even if they can b?r?ly handle two people at once, they were not strong enough to handle 3 or even 4 people at once. After the Death Eaters were defeated, the group let out a short triumphant cry. However, Chris, Luthor, and a couple of other people were silent. ''This was too easy,'' Chris thought as he started to scan his surroundings. ''While we were informed that the forces were medium leveled and we sent extra people just in case, we finished the battle too fast. Even if we consider that they were ambushed, as people who have fought before, they should''ve been at least a bit prepared. If there is a spy within our group, there has got to be a better plan than letting 30 people just die when they could easily be saved. Regardless of how arrogant and cruel Voldemort is, he won''t just allow 30 of his men to be slaughtered like that,'' Even knowing the fact that Cassia sent in more men secretly, Chris was still wary. He quickly went to where ''Harry'' was. "Did the hidden people leave?" Chris asked in a quiet voice so that no one could hear. ''Harry'' shook his head. "They should still be stationed here. They will not leave until they are completely sure that this is a mission success," ''Harry'' said. "Good," Chris said. "Is there something wrong?" ''Harry'' asked. "Nothing. I''m just preparing for any scenario. We can''t be too careful in battle," Chris said. "Of course," ''Harry'' said. Chris took a peek Luthor who was rubbing his arm looking troubled . ''It seems that he noticed as well,'' Chris thought. "Watch out!" Chris shouted. However, it was too late. An ?du?t got hit and fell over. ... Chapter 77 - Second Battle Begins "Dominic!" A blonde frizzy-haired woman shouted as she started racing towards falling Dominic whose soul has already left his body. However, before she could get close, more green lights started to appear forcing her to move away in order to dodge it. The rest of the group moved slightly away from each other as well in order to give each other space to dodge the killing curses. However, the awaited killing curses didn''t arrive. Instead around 45 people wearing black hooded robes appeared out of the forest. They surrounded the group like the group had done to the Death Eaters earlier. A few seconds after the Death Eaters revealed themselves, 3 more people not wearing a hooded robe stepped out of their hiding spot. "Rodolphus Lestrange, Thorfinn Rowle, and Walden McNair... What are they doing here? Even among the Death Eaters, they''re at the top. They''re not supposed to come out in a small mission like this..." The frizzy-haired woman muttered shakily. Her body started to tremble and she almost fell down due to fear. "Well well well, look at who is here right now!" Rodolphus shouted with a happy tone. "It looks like the resistance sent us Harry Potter right at our doorsteps wrapped in wrapping paper and a bow on top for decoration! We''ll gladly take this gift of theirs to the Dark Lord!" The three Death Eaters smiled while thinking about the praises they''ll receive from their lord. Rodolphus scanned the group a little bit more and his eyes landed on Chris. "Ah Mr. Evergreen. We also have many uses for you and your family. It seems that you''re also a great gift for the Dark Lord. I''ll gift Potter and McNair will gift you. Rowle will have to find someone here that''s suitable for the Dark Lord as a gift. Maybe a mudblood for the Dark Lord to play with. I''m sure that it''ll be a great stress reliever for him. Oh yes, our little spy, come back to us," Rodolphus said. Everyone was surprised and was even more shocked to see Luthor slowly go to Rodolphus'' side. "You dimwit! You''re too slow. Come faster next time. The Dark Lord is not a patient person especially matters concerning Potter," Rodolphus said as he hit Luthor''s head. "Originally, we were planning on keeping this dimwit in your base for a little longer to get more information, but I suppose for the sake of Potter, using him early was worth it," "Then if you had that traitor on your side this entire time why let all 30 of your men die? I suppose the Dark Lord loves sacrificing people for no reason," Chris said trying to buy some time. "You impudent... The Dark Lord merely wanted to root out the spy in that small group," Walden said. "Well I suppose that since you left no one unharmed, there''s no spy within that group. It doesn''t matter though. Once Potter is lost, we will win the war," "No need to say everything to people that are going die Walden," Thorfinn said angrily at Walden. "Kill them all except for Potter and Evergreen," At his command, the other Death Eaters got ready to attack. However, before they started to attack, many of them were hit on the back with various spells ranging from the Stunning spell to the Incarcerous Spell. "Looks like my worries were right," Chris said. "Luckily, the commander didn''t let us down," The invisible wizards and witches that Cassia sent revealed themselves and gave an effective surprise attack on the Death Eaters and were able to take out a quarter of them. However, the remaining Death Eaters quickly composed themselves and positioned themselves to fight. They quickly shot their killing curses and the fight began. Chris'' group quickly started to shoot their spells as well. The frizzy-haired woman angrily rushed towards Luthor. "In honor of Dominic, I will kill you!" She said as she started to rapidly cast powerful spells that left no room for Luthor to counterattack. "I knew that you liked Dominic for a while Lilly. Didn''t you say that you wanted to confess to him a while back? Well you can confess to him in hell! I cannot beat people like Rodolphus, but I can kill a witch like you in my sleep!" Luthor said as he was defending himself from Lilly''s spell. Meanwhile there were 2 people that surrounded Chris and another two that surrounded ''Harry''. Chris quickly walked next to ''Harry'' "Don''t reveal yourself until the battle is decidedly over. If they know that we tricked them, they''ll retreat since they''re fighting a losing battle. If they think that they have a chance of killing or capturing Harry Potter, they''ll stay until the very end or at the very least until their forces are almost annihilated," Chris whispered. ''Harry'' nodded and the two started their fight against the Death Eaters surrounding them. Meanwhile, as there were 25 people in the invisible group, Rodolphus, Walden, and Thorfinn were fighting 3 people each with all 9 people being the strongest within both the invisible group and Chris'' group. "This doesn''t look good for us Walden. Should we retreat?" Rodolphus asked as he defended himself with difficulty. "We can''t," McNair said. "If the Dark Lord hears that we retreated when Potter was in our hands, he''ll kill us himself. I''d rather kill Potter then die rather than dying a dog''s death because we failed a mission," With the Dark Lord''s anger acting as motivation, the three desperately fought against the 9 people. ... Chapter 79 - The Second Battle While the 3 against 9 fight was continuing, Chris and ''Harry'' were also having a fierce fight of their own. While ''Harry'' and Chris were stronger than the four Death Eaters on an individual level, their advantage disappeared as they were outnumbered. ''Luckily we don''t have to win this fight,'' Chris thought. ''As long as we buy time for the others to finish off their opponents then we''ll win for sure. With their d?s?r? to capture us, they won''t dare use anything too excessive,'' Chris continued to cast spells that would immediately incapacitate his opponents such as the Full Body Bind Curse. Likewise, as the Death Eaters did not want to kill ''Harry'' or Chris for fear of angering Voldemort, they were only able cast non-lethal spells as well. While the duel still felt like a fiercer version of the practices Chris had gotten from the Duelling Club, but he was still calm. Unlike Chris, the Death Eaters fighting them started to get more frustrated as the realization that they couldn''t defeat Chris and ''Harry'' dawned upon them even when they knew that they had the advantage in numbers. As they briefly looked to their side, they realized that Walden, Thorfinn, and Rodolphus were also struggling to defeat their opponents who were overpowering them with number. "I''ll take full responsibility. Split them up. Kill Evergreen and quickly capture Potter. We''ll leave as soon as we''re done," One of the Death Eaters said. As the other Death Eaters were frustrated, they agreed. They quickly sent out Killing Curses against Chris which he was forced to dodge. ''Shit this wasn''t the part of the plan,'' Chris thought as he was getting further and further away from ''Harry'' who was still doing fine against the other 2 Death Eaters that were still casting non-lethal spells. ''God damn it,'' Chris thought as he quickly cast a Stunning Spell. It was quickly blocked by the swipe of one of the Death Eater''s wand, but it gave Chris the small opportunity to start hiding behind the numerous tall trees around him and try to find opportunities to attack. However, Chris continuously hiding behind the trees and coming out briefly to attack only infuriated the Death Eaters further. In their fury, they started to cast various explosive curses that destroyed the area around the explosion in order to lure Chris into the open and kill him. After a while of the strategy not working, one of the Death Eaters released Fiendfyre. Huge jets of fire ejected from his wand and the Death Eater flicked their wands to produce a chimera from the fire. Chris'' eyes bulged and he shook a little from the massive chimera that was staring down at him.The chimera roared and started to chase after him. He quickly cast the counter-curse, but was only able to partially dispel the flames as it was too big for him to eliminate fully. The chimera charged towards him getting bigger as it started to devour the dead leaves, branches, and even the smaller trees around it. Chris dodged as fast as he could and narrowly avoided the chimera. Taking advantage of Chris'' attention being drawn to the fiery beast, the other Death Eater cast a Killing curse aiming at Chris. At the same time, the chimera turned around to face Chris and charged at him again as it was roaring getting bigger as it was devouring more objects around it. Chris noticed the Killing Curse and immediately jumped away to dodge it. However, due to his sudden jumping, he fell down to the ground. The chimera, almost seeming happy that his prey fell, roared and ran towards Chris to devour him. Chris tried to use to counter-curse to try to dispel it, but it was too close for him to even start the counter-curse let alone dodge it. The two Death Eaters smiled under their masks. At the moment, Chris heard a shout. "Expugno Maleficum!" The chimera roared, but while it wasn''t completely dispelled, the flames dwindled a bit. Chris looked at the direction from where the shout came from and it was Lilly who was fighting against Luthor earlier. Chris took a further look and saw Luthor''s body on the ground dead, his open eyes seeming like he was not willing to die the way he did. Lilly continuously flicked her wrist to try to completely dispel the Chimera. She was starting to sweat from the amount of difficulty she was facing from trying to dispel the fire. Chris took this opportunity to stand up and quickly cast the Stunning Spell on the Death Eater that cast the Killing Curse on him earlier. The Death Eater quickly tried to defend, but failed to do so as his guard was originally down. The Stunning Spell hit him and the the Death Eater fell to the ground unable to move a muscle. Chris turned to the other Death Eater whose Fiendfyre was now successfully dispelled by Lilly. "Damn you Evergreen!" The Death Eater shouted as he started cast various curses including the Killing Curse. However, he was no match for Chris as Chris easily overpowered him and used to Stunning Spell to incapacitate him. The battle between Walden, Thorfinn, Rodolphus, and the 9 rebels were over as well with Thorfinn and Walden dead while Rodolphus''s right arm was missing. He knelt from the pain he was feeling, but he smiled and even laughed. "We can die here today, but the Dark Lord will avenge us. He knew that we were doing this for the sake of his happiness. You all will be the very first he will send to the depths of hell to meet us. I will be your devil giving you eternal torture!" Rodolphus said. However, no one paid attention to him except for 1 person who was guarding him in case anything happened. ''Harry'', who was uninjured, walked in front of Rodolphus. He knelt in front of Rodolphus who spit on his face. "I curse you Potter! You will die miserably just like your parents have! You-" Before, he could curse ''Harry'' anymore, ''Harry'' changed his nose to a pig''s nose and immediately turned it back. ''Rodolphus'' eyes widened and his shock quickly became anger. He screamed and fell, his breathing stopped after the excessive anger he felt in his soul. ''You have passed your test!'' ... Chapter 79 - Euphoria When Chris opened his eyes, he noticed that he couldn''t move as both his arms and legs were bound by ropes. Without really thinking, he violently shook his arms trying to get out of the bondage. However, he couldn''t break free which made him start to calm down. He thought of using wandless magic to cut the ropes but stopped himself as he started to ?ssess the situation he was in. ''We were in battle and to help Harry escape, I stayed behind to help him escape,'' Chris thought as he started to look at his surroundings. As he was looking around the prison-like room, he was able to remember everything that happened. Harry was successfully able to escape and the angry Voldemort ordered the Death Eaters to kill everyone except for him. When the battle ended, over half the Death Eaters died, but they were able to kill all of the resistance with Chris the only one still alive. Chris was hit with two Stupefy Charms and was rendered unconscious. When he finished piecing together what happened to him, a Death Eater wearing a hooded robe and mask came inside the room. The Death Eater stared at Chris not saying a word. Chris glared at him, but there was no reaction from the Death Eater. After a couple minutes of this standoff, the door opened once again. This time the person that entered was Antonin Dolohov. "Hello Mr. Evergreen," Antonin said with a sinister smile. Chris, knowing that he wasn''t going to make it out alive, smiled at Antonin. "Just kill me already. Feed me to that gluttonous snake that your filthy lord has," Chris said with a smile even spitting at him. Antonin''s face turned ugly and his face morphed into one that would normally scare any other students. However, Chris just laughed knowing that he was able to break Antonin''s smile. However, Antonin quickly regained his composure. "I would love to kill you with my own hands for the words that you have just uttered out of your foul mouth and for that vile act. However, unfortunately for you, we still have some uses for you," Antonin said. He took out his wand and waved it at Chris. "It''s alright. I''ll personally make sure that you pay back for what you did ten-fold," Antonin''s smile was the last thing Chris saw before his body felt weak as if it was slowly no longer becoming his. He was able to see what was going on, but he wasn''t able to control anything like he was only a spectator trapped in a cage. Soon the feeling of helplessness changed into bliss with all his worries and responsibilities washing away. Now all Chris wanted was stay in that happy place. However, after a while of staying in that empty but blissful space, something was egging at him. He tried pushing it out not wanting to leave the happy place he had entered. However, the feeling got stronger by the minute and he was no longer able to control it. ''You can''t become the enemy!'' A voice shouted at him. ''No I want to stay here!'' Chris shouted back angrily. However, that anger quickly disappeared and he was calm and happy again. ''Look at yourself! You want to stay here? Ridiculous!'' The voice said in a mocking tone. ''I fought hard! I did what I can. Leave me alone. I want to rest,'' Chris said slowly going back into the trance-like state he was in earlier. ''You want to stay here and let yourself go? You want them to hurt your family and friends using your own body? You want to personally fund the people that will destroy everything you love?'' The voice asked irritating Chris once more. ''Does that matter?! I''m resting and that''s all that matter. I fought hard. I fought so much that I couldn''t even enjoy the school life that so many others were able to enjoy. I fought ever since my first year. Isn''t that ridiculous? A first year has to try to fix the problems that so many ?du?ts weren''t able to fix. Give me this time to rest. I''ll come out when I''m ready. It''ll only be a little bit,'' Chris said as he tried to go back into the blissful state that he was in earlier. ''Since you started to fight, fight until the very end,'' The voice said. ''You said you fought so much, but what about the people that were fighting for far longer than you. What about the people that have fought next to you fighting the same battles as you and are still fighting as we speak. If you don''t wake up now, you''ll regret it when you inevitably wake up later. You''ll regret that you allowed yourself to stay here while everyone that you loved was slain by you. The guilt will make you want to come back here but guess what, no one will send you here. All you''ll have left is the regret that''ll eat you alive for the rest of your life. If you want that then stay here,'' The voice stayed no more leaving Chris alone in the empty space. Chris felt happy knowing that the voice was finally gone and he could return to the blissful state that he was in earlier. However, he wasn''t able to relax like he did earlier. It felt like something new was eating at him. Realizing that he wasn''t able to go back to that euphoric state that he was in earlier, Chris screamed. ... Chapter 80 - Hufflepuffs Test After hearing those words, Chris'' mind turned black. When he woke up, Prometheus was waiting for him. He smiled at Chris. "Congratulations Chris. You have also passed the Ravenclaw test. You''ve done a great job," Prometheus said. Chris nodded. "How did Kristine do on her tests? Did she pass Ravenclaw?" "Good news is that she passed the Ravenclaw test. The bad news is that she failed the Gryffindor test. Unfortunately, she didn''t have what it takes to get Gryffindor to acknowledge her. Like I have said with Hermione, that doesn''t mean she isn''t brave. It''s just not up to the standards of Gryffindor," Prometheus said. "So now I''m the only one left," Chris said. "Fortunately so because like I said, I honestly don''t want to part with you guys just yet. Maybe after a couple decades I''ll start to get a little tired of you, but as of now, you''re a blank canvas and I''m waiting for a picture to be drawn," Prometheus said. "It seems that I''m not a completely boring person after all. It''s an honor to have a titan be so interested in me," Chris said a bit sarcastically . "Enough with your sarcasm. Ravenclaw wants to speak to you as well," Prometheus said. Ravenclaw''s hologram appeared like the other two Founders. "Congratulations Chris. You have passed my test. Fortunately, it seems that as a student in my House, the test wasn''t so difficult. Having plans for every situation is the key to success. Making new plans when in an unexpected situation is just as important. Of course, there were some things that I would do differently, but you are worthy of passing," Ravenclaw said. Unlike Gryffindor, she didn''t have as much words to say and her hologram disappeared. "So are you ready for your final test?" Prometheus asked. "It''s the Hufflepuff test correct?" "Yes and it is the hardest test. Many would think that a Hufflepuff test, if it existed, would be easiest test of them all simply because her house is the most inclusive and the character traits of the people she accepts are things like loyalty, fair play, and patience, traits that people in other Houses would all most likely have. However, the diary has gotten what she wants deep within her heart and put it as a test and it has deemed it the most difficult test out of the four. Perhaps it''ll be easy for you to pass because it all depends on the person," ''I really wonder what the Hufflepuff test will be,'' Chris thought as Prometheus continued to wait. "I ?ssume that you''re done resting up?" Prometheus asked. "Yes. Send me to the last test. I''m sure that Hermione and Kristine are getting really nervous right about now," Chris said. "Alright then. Good luck and I hope you succeed. I haven''t had my fun yet," Prometheus said and Chris'' world went black once more. Back in the throne room, like Chris predicted, Hermione and Kristine were both getting more nervous. Hermione who stopped crying earlier has started crying again both because of guilt and fear for her life. "What do we do Kristine? If Chris doesn''t pass, we''re going to die," Hermione said as she started to hiccup. Kristine who was also about shed a tear wiped her nose and hugged Hermione. Hermione continued to cry on Kristine''s shoulder while Kristine was patting her back trying to comfort Hermione. "You''ve got good students in your House Rowena," Helga said with a smile. "I agree," Rowena said with a smile. "So Helga, please enlighten us on what your test might be," Godric said suddenly. "If I am correct then the test should be about the ability to forgive," Helga said. "When I created my House, the requirements to enter were set to include everyone so I made my requirements very broad and long. However, the long list of requirements means that there are some traits that can sometimes be difficult to do and if my test is the hardest one, I think that the hardest trait is to be forgiving," "In the end, my test was deemed easier than just the simple act of forgiving?!" Salazar asked angrily. "It''s not that simple Salazar," Helga said as she shook her head. "Anyone can forgive someone for accidentally breaking their glass cup, but can just anyone forgive acts that are much more severe than just accidentally breaking a cup? Salazar, I''m sure that you know the answer to that," "Yes Salazar, I remember you chased down that man who hurt your wife," Godric said. "That bastard deserved to die in my hands. However, if I am correct, you would do the exact same thing Godric. I''m sure that the anger you have felt towards Roman on that day would have made you kill him if not for the fact that he had already killed himself," Salazar said with a smile. Godric''s face turned red as he remembered the past, but he quickly regained his cool, but he didn''t speak any further. "So Salazar, I am sure that you know what I mean. Trying to pass a test where you have to forgive any random incident is extremely simple, but if that boy is able to forgive even when others find it extremely difficult to forgive, I will fully acknowledge him," Helga said. "Let''s see if he is able to do it. Like you said, the test is very difficult indeed. That boy will definitely struggle with his emotions," Rowena said as she looked the mirror in front of her. ... Chapter 80 - Soulless When Chris woke up, he realized that he was wearing a very familiar outfit. He was wearing a black-hooded robe that all Death Eaters wore. When he realized that he wasn''t in the small room that he was in before, he looked around his surroundings to see where he was. However, before he could see the room he was in, he noticed the people around him. Next to him were 3 Death Eaters all laughing evilly and encircling two females both of whom were on the ground and shaking uncontrollably. Each Death Eater seemed to take a turn casting a spell which would cause one of the two girl on the ground to scream in pain. When one of the girl finished screaming, there was a long silence. The three Death Eaters looked at Chris. "It''s your turn," The Death Eater reminded him. Seeing that there was no pain coursing through them, the two girls looked up at Chris. Chris felt that the girls were familiar before but when he saw their faces, he finally recognized who they were. They were Hermione and Kristine both having swollen eyes from crying. Chris also noticed knife marks on their arms indicating that they were physically tortured. When he looked closer at his robe, he noticed faint marks of liquid on it showing that it was him who tortured his two most closest friends. Chris'' eyes turned red and he screamed as he waved his wand. A shock wave emerged and the Death Eaters around him were blown back unable to get up. Chris hurriedly knelt to try to see if there were any other injuries on Hermione or Kristine but they both instinctively backed away from him due to fear. Chris suddenly felt pain in his heart as if he was getting a heart attack. Seeing the fear in the eyes of his closest friend made him feel an unbelievable amount of guilt and regret and he started to hyperventilate. He knew that it was him who wanted to stay in the euphoric state and while he was enjoying himself, his captors were using him to torture his best friends. "I''m sorry," Chris said as tears started to pour down his eyes. He didn''t get close to his friends as he knew that he shouldn''t trigger their trauma. As he was apologizing repeatedly to Hermione and Kristine who were both shivering with fear, a door behind Chris opened loudly and 3 people came in. The person in the front was Lucius Malfoy who seemed to be absolutely delighted. Behind him were Draco Malfoy who seemed to be disturbed by something and another Death Eater who had two bodies levitating next to him. Lucius Malfoy noticing the three bodies that were scattered frowned. However, his frown quickly turned into an evil smile and he started to laugh. "It seems that talent is talent. I admit it Evergreen, you are much better than my son. Scratch that, you''re better than most wizards. Only the elites can defeat you, a mere student who hasn''t graduated out of Hogwarts," Chris glared at Lucius who only laughed harder. "You might be mad right now Evergreen but I wonder what your reaction will be when you see this?" Lucius signaled the Death Eater behind him who threw the bodies next to him. The bodies slid in front of Chris. Chris had an ominous feeling as the bodies got closer to him. When the bodies stopped, Chris slowly moved forward to see who the two people were. From the back of their heads, it was obviously a male and a female and when Chris took a closer look at their faces, he fell down backwards. It was his parents who looked like they were severely tortured. They had cuts all over their bodies and Chris could even see burn marks. He couldn''t even tell if they were dead or alive. "Don''t worry, we haven''t killed them yet. Well I''m glad I didn''t because I was so close to doing so," Lucius said as if he could read Chris'' mind Chris opened his mouth to say something but he wasn''t able to. All he could do was hyperventilate and more tears started to pour out of his eyes. "Yes what a perfect reaction Evergreen," Lucius said as he laughed evilly. "Well like I said, I''m glad I didn''t kill them. So right now, I''ll give you two choices. One is for you to-" Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud explosion not far from the room all of them were in. Lucius who had a lot of confidence before started to panic and his eyes started to dart around the room trying to figure out what to do. However, before he could do anything, around a dozen people entered the room all pointing their wands at Lucius, Draco, the Death Eater, and even at Chris who still looked like his soul left his body. "Lucius Malfoy, there''s nowhere for you to escape now," A man seemingly the leader of the group said as he started getting closer to Lucius. Lucius tried to cast a spell but the person quickly disarmed Lucius first. "Not today Malfoy not today. There are no more tricks for you to play anymore. We''ve already captured everyone in this building including your wife. You and your son should come with us," Before Lucius could say anything, the Death Eater who tossed Chris'' parents earlier cast a spell at the man. However, the man was quickly able to block it and a red light emerged from his wand hitting the Death Eater. The Death Eater fell down to the ground unconscious. The man who looked proud of himself looked back at Lucius who looked even more terrified. "Any more people left for me to take down Malfoy?" The man asked mockingly. Lucius didn''t say anything and the man signaled the people behind him. 4 men came out to escort both Lucius and Draco who didn''t seem to have a big reaction. "Take care of the Death Eaters on the ground," The man said as he approached Chris who was still wearing the Death Eater robe. When he saw the soulless look on Chris'' face and the fear etched onto both Hermione and Kristine''s face, the man had a basic idea of what had happened. "I''m sorry you guys. I''m sorry for being so late," ... Chapter 81 - Sorry guys Eye problem again :( 500 Chapter 82 - Aftermath As more people came in to take away the Death Eaters, some were ?ssigned to move Chris'' parents. When they saw the condition his parents were in, the helpers'' face turned pale. "Oh my god, this is one of the worst I''ve seen. I would be surprised if they came out alright after this much torture. The damage to their body can be fixed but their minds..." One of the helpers said quietly as they cast a spell to lift the bodies of both Bradley and Lorraine Evergreen. "Be quiet. This is the head of the Evergreen family and his wife. Their child is right there. If you want to talk that kind of nonsense, do it outside, not in front of the kid," The other helper said angrily. Fortunately, as both of them were quiet and the room was already loud with all the Death Eaters being taken away, Chris was unable to hear them. Although he saw his parents getting taken away, Chris was unable to move or even react. The guilt, regret, and sadness from everything that happened took over his body. He started to get nauseous and the last thing he heard was the man who took down Lucius scream his name as his body hit the cold floor. When Chris woke up, he wasn''t in the Death Eater outfit that he was in earlier. Instead, he was wearing a white robe and lying down on a hospital bed. When he sat up, his mind immediately turned to all the horrible torture he did to both Hermione and Kristine and his parents'' bodies that were on the floor half-dead. He started to gag but before he could throw up, the door opened and a woman that seems to be a healer came in. She immediately cast a spell which calmed down Chris and his stomach. However, his mind continued to go to the horrible scene which made Chris feel like he was going crazy. Tears started to form and he started to sob uncontrollably. More people came inside the room and when Chris looked up, he saw Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon in front of the door waving at him. "Hey guys," Chris said with a forced smile. Harry walked towards Chris and immediately hugged him. "Hey man, I''m not that hurt. I''m not that..." Chris said as he started to cry once more. When Chris finished crying, he laid back down on the hospital bed and Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon got three chairs and sat next to his bed. The healer that was next to him saw that he was alright and left the room. "I''m guessing I''m at the base''s hospital right now?" Chris asked. "We''re at St. Mungo''s," Harry said. "What? How can I be here?! Does that mean you guys..." "Yes, we were able defeat Voldemort and we''re currently in the process of capturing the Death Eaters," Harry said. "We got really lucky too," Ron said. "Harry said that since the Elder Wand technically belonged to him and not You-Know-Who''s, it ended up backfiring on him. After You-Know-Who died, the rest of the Death Eaters were easily captured," Chris laughed at this good news. "This is great. It''s finally over..." Chris said as he closed his eyes. When he was finished digesting the news, he turned to Harry his face turning more serious. "How are Hermione and Kristine. How are my parents?" Chris asked hoping that the stream of good news would follow. "Hermione and Kristine are doing fine. Since the harm done to Hermione and Kristine weren''t to the point of being permanent, they woke up fine with all their cut wounds healed as well. All they need is a little rest for their minds to recover. As for your parents, the healers were able to heal all the external wounds as well since none of the spells used to torture them were spells that had irreversible damage. However, since their torture was a lot harsher and longer than Hermione and Kristine''s, they''ll need a lot more rest and the healers here said that there will be some permanent damage to the mind that they can''t fix," Chris sighed in relief. "As long as they''re fine it''s alright. As long as they''re fine..." Chris said. He felt that he was lucky especially with his parents'' situation. He expected the worst since when he last saw them, they were half-dead. As the four were talking, Chris noticed another person enter the room. It was the man who took down Lucius. He got another chair and sat down next to Harry. "I''m sorry Mr. Potter. Is it alright if you three could leave the room for a minute? I have some things I need to talk to with Mr. Evergreen," The man asked with a smile. Harry nodded and the three left the room leaving only Chris and the man. "Hello Chris," The man said. "Do you know me?" Chris shook his head. "Fair enough. Even though we were both in the resistance, it is kind of difficult to know everyone since the resistance was quite large. I''m Drake Goldhorn. You can call me Drake, Mr. Goldhorn, or Mr. Drake, whatever you wish. Did you hear the news?" Drake asked. Chris nodded. "Well that''s good. Then I''m sure that you know the conditions of your friends and parents as well. I''m just going to specify a little bit more. Is that fine with you?" Drake asked. Chris nodded once more and Drake started to explain. "As for your friends, they are in good shape. I''m sure you know that they only need a little rest for to fully recover. However, there''s a problem. It seems that they now have a trauma ?ssociated with you. While they know that you were under the Imperius Curse, it seems that your friendship is going to be a bit difficult to recover. Even if it does recover, there''s a huge chance that it won''t be the same again," "I deserve it," Chris said as he looked away from Drake. He knew that if he snapped out of it faster, he would''ve been able to save both Hermione and Kristine. "No. No one deserves a damaged friendship because they were under the Imperius Curse." Drake said calmly. He waited for a minute to talk again. "As for your parents, I''m sure Mr. Potter told you that while the external wounds have been healed, some of the damage in their minds will not be fixed so there will be some changes. They''ll be easily irritable at times and they can also get panic attacks from getting pointed at by wands. They''re mainly from the damages caused by the trauma of being excessively tortured both physically and mentally," "It could''ve been much worse," Chris said once again feeling lucky that his parents didn''t pass away. "Yes. It really could have been much worse but it seems that fortune was in their favor," Drake said while nodding. "I have one final news that might shock you," Chris looked at Drake with a confused look. "You have been given the power to determine the fate of the Malfoy Family," ... Chapter 82 - Judge of the Malfoy Family "Did I hear that correctly? I was given the power to determine the fate of the Malfoy family?" Chris asked shocked by what he had just heard. "Specifically, you''ve been given the power to judge Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy," Drake said calmly. "How does that even work? Am I going to sit in the center of the Wizengamot trial and give out the verdict without any need for witnesses or even a fair trial?" Chris asked. "The process is similar. You shall meet with the Malfoy family in a private room with one Wizengamot member. You will declare your verdict and afterwards, there will be an official trial where the Wizengamot members will give them the punishment that you have decreed. Well the only limitation is the punishment itself since the only punishment you can really give is time in Azkaban. Of course, you can tell all three of them to rot in there forever and give them life sentences," Drake said. "So they will be in control by Dementors?" Chris asked. "No, the Ministry of Magic decided to lock away the Dementors after they ?ssisted the Dark Lord. Since all they really care about is sating their hunger, if someone like the Dark Lord appears again, who know what the Dementors will do. Aurors will guard prisoners of Azkaban from here on out," Drake said. "So why me?" Chris asked. "This is extremely unfair for people that have lost families and friends to the hands of Death Eaters. There is Neville Longbottom whose parents were tortured by Death Eaters. There is Harry who lost his godfather, parents, and teacher to Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. There is Ron who lost his brother to Death Eaters. His family especially Fred is still mourning and I doubt that George will ever be the same again," (Author''s Note: I know it''s Fred who died but since things are different in my story, I put George''s death.) "You know exactly why Chris," Drake said. "You know why you were given special privileges that others would kill for. It''s quite obvious. It''s your family. Ignoring your wealth, your family''s power in the Ministry of Magic alone is probably enough to get this benefit. Do you know why Lucius Malfoy had a lot of say in what happened in the Wizarding World? It''s because he had money and power. If it wasn''t for the Evergreen Family suppressing him, he would''ve really controlled everything in the shadows," Chris stayed silent. "It may seem unfair now but let me also say this," Drake said. "Your benefits are not really all that big anyways. Death Eaters were going to be given heavy sentences anyways. I''m sure you know that Bellatrix Lestrange was given a life sentence in the past for torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom. The only real benefit you have is the power to not allow the Malfoys to escape their punishment with money and the power to get justice personally. All they did was to make justice taste a bit better," Chris nodded which made Drake crack a smile. "Well now that you understand, I''ll tell you when your little meeting with the Malfoy family is. Of course, the Wizengamot will give you time to recover from your mental state. From what I saw earlier, I''m sure that you need more time to heal," Drake said. He stood up and left the room. When Drake left, Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon entered the room. They looked at Chris who was blankly staring at the wall as if he was staring at an invisible creature that only he could see. "So what did you guys talk about?" Se-yeon asked as the three sat down on the chairs they set up earlier. "Well the conditions of my parents, Hermione, and Kristine. He just got a little bit more specific. At this point, I''m just glad that they''re not dead after being captured," Chris said. "I was also told that the Wizengamot gave me the power to determine what happens to the Malfoy Family," "They let you do what?!" Ron asked loudly as he stood up from his chair. "Yeah I was surprised too," Chris said with a chuckle. "They''re giving me the power to deal with the Malfoys personally. Even if the Malfoys decide to use their entire fortune to try to escape, as long as I say life in Azkaban, they can never escape," "Well I think it''s better this way," Se-yeon said. "From what I know, the Malfoys escaped punishment at the end of the first war by saying that they were under the Imperius Curse but I''m sure their money were able to influence the judges a lot more than their statement. Since they tried and succeeded once, they''ll definitely try again. However, if the heir of the Evergreen Family personally laid down judgement then no bribe would be enough for the judges to let the Malfoys go especially because the Malfoys were in the wrong," "Well that makes sense," Ron said. "So it seems that the Malfoys are definitely done for this time," "Yes," Chris said. "Perhaps with this I can at least redeem myself a little bit for Hermione and Kristine," "Don''t say that," Harry said. "Hermione and Kristine understand what you went through. They just need a little more time to heal up," "Agreed and by the time, you''re out of bed, I''m sure that the two of them will go to you with a smile and we can all have some Butterbeer together after going back to school," Ron said. "I hope so," Chris said with a smile. COMMENT 2 comments VOTE Load failed, please RETRY ¡ª New chapter is coming soon ¡ªWrite a review Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Weekly Power Status See Who Voted -- Power Ranking -- Power Stone Vote 2 Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Translator: Editor: Chapter 83 - Recovery It didn''t take too long for Chris to recover. Not only was his physical body from all the resting but being able to talk to Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon frequently allowed his mind to recover somewhat as well. Soon he had heard that his parents were awake as well. He immediately went to visit his parents with the hospital''s permission. He quickly entered the room to see his parents who looked weak but still bright. They smiled after seeing their son. Suddenly, tears started to pour out of Chris. Seeing that her son was in a vulnerable state, Lorraine opened up her arms for a hug and Chris ran to hug her. "I''m so sorry Mother. I''m so sorry Father. If only I was more capable, this might''ve..." "Oh son, what do you mean if you were more capable? Even if you were Dumbledore, you probably couldn''t have done much. On a second thought, maybe if you were Dumbledore, you could''ve done a teensy bit more," Lorraine said jokingly as she stroked Chris'' head. "Yes your mother is probably right but you''re 17 while Dumbledore was 117 before passing. You''ve gt a long way to go before 117," Bradley said with a smile. Chris smiled brightening up the room. "Oh yes, I''ve also heard the news. You''ve been given the right to judge the Malfoy family," Bradley said. "Yes I''ve gotten this news a couple days back," Chris said. "Wizenmaggots... Always trying to do us a favor in the weirdest of ways," Bradley whispered. Lorraine glared at him. "I hope you know that both my uncle and your cousin are a part of those Wizenmaggots," Lorraine said sternly. "Haha... I was only talking about the other people. Of course our family is an exception," Bradley said. "Son, the decision is going to be a hard one to make. Are you ready to make that decision?" Lorraine asked. "I don''t know Mother. On one hand, I just hate them so much that I just want them to rot in Azkaban for the rest of their lives but it''s also so difficult to be firm about my choice. I mean if I make that decision, I''m basically taking the lives of 3 people including a student my age. There will be no way for them to come back!" Bradley and Lorraine stayed quiet. They both sighed knowing what Chris was going through. "I wonder why they are making you a 17 year old make such a decision. It would''ve been better for them to give it to me," Bradley said as he shook his head. "Chris, in life, you''ll go through many struggles similar to this. In the past, I''ve had to make decisions that I knew would completely destroy the lives of others but I knew that if I didn''t do it, I would definitely regret it in the future. If you really want to give them a taste of their medicine, give it to them. Let them all rot away for life in prison. Likewise, if you want to spare them, then your mother and I will understand. Your friends will understand in time. Do what you think is best," Chris nodded. "That''s my son. Now let''s talk about school," The three moved on and started to focus on random topics. Occasional laughter was heard in the room and Chris never felt happier. The next day was something that Chris both hoped and dreaded to do. He walked in front a door and knocked. "Come in," A girl''s voice said. Chris took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. Inside were Hermione and Kristine both looking almost unfazed looking at Chris. "Hey..." Chris said awkwardly as he found a chair to sit on. "Hi, you never visited us," Kristine said with a smile. "Well it was a bit difficult readying myself," Chris said. "Well now you''re here. It seems that you''re ready to meet us," Hermione said. "Yeah..." Chris said. It was completely silent in the room. Chris wanted to leave as soon as possible but he knew he couldn''t. ''If they''re brave enough to look at the person who tortured them then I have to be brave too,'' Chris thought. "So it looks like you''re almost on the road to a full recovery," Kristine said. "Yeah I''m getting discharged soon. I have some things to take care of. It looks like you guys are doing alright as well," "Well... we just need to stay here a bit more. We still feel a bit dizzy you could say," Kristine said. ... A couple seconds passed and Chris slapped himself in the face. "I''m sorry!" Chris suddenly shouted surprising both Hermione and Kristine. "There''s nothing you need to apologize for Chris. We-" "I was incompetent. I was a coward. I had the chance to break the Imperius Curse but I couldn''t. I made you two go through so much because of my selfishness. I''m so sorry," Chris said as he bowed his head. Both Kristine and Hermione started to shake a little from this statement but they soon stopped. "Well it looks like there''s something the perfect Mr. Evergreen couldn''t do," Kristine said jokingly. "I-" "There''s nothing to be sorry for Chris," Hermione said. "We tried to save you. We were weak and we got caught. It was no one''s fault but ours. Give us a bit of time and let''s be friends again," Chris almost choked but held his tear back. "Yes that would be great," ... Chapter 84 - Start of the Trial It didn''t take too long before Chris was discharged from the hospital. As the time for his judgement is coming soon, he didn''t go home but to a nearby building that Bradley told him to go to for lodging. As it wasn''t far from the hospital, Chris opted to walk. After only around 15 minutes of walking, Chris arrived in front of a luxury apartment. ''It''s impressive just how luxurious Father''s buildings are. I''m sure that this building alone will earn him a bucket of Galleons every month,'' Chris thought as he entered the apartment with the key that Bradley gave him. Inside the building was a spacious lobby with marble flooring and white walls. Comfortable chairs and tables were alongside the walls of the room to allow for rest. In the center of the lobby was the front desk where a man around the age of 50 wearing a suit was sitting down. "Greetings Mr. Evergreen. I have been expecting you," The man said with a bow. "Hello Mr.-" "You may just call me Sebastian. I am a friend of your father''s. He entrusted me this building years ago so that I can peacefully work as a manager. Of course, when You-Know-Who came for the second time, I armed myself to battle once again. I really do apologize for not being able to help your father when he needed me," Sebastian said. "No, I am sure that my father as well. He is fine now," Chris said politely. "I am glad this is the case. I''ve heard he has woken up recently and I plan on visiting him a little bit later," Sebastian said. "Your father has already sent me the message. There is always an empty room available in case your father needs it for himself or for someone he knows. I will lead you to your room," Sebastian led Chris to an elevator. There were numbers from 1-7. While 1-6 had bu??ons next to it, 7 had a key hole. Sebastian took out a key and put it in the key hole. He turned in making the elevator move. "This building was one that your father acquired when he was very young even before he married your mother. He said to me that when he acquired the building, he wanted a whole floor to himself. So every single room on the 7th floor is for you to use," Sebastian said handing him the key. "That''s for you to keep. Do you also want to have meals sent to you?" "Yes please," Chris said. "Excellent, there should be a phone in every single room. Just dial 555 and when someone picks up, you just need to say what meal you want," The elevator made a ding sound and the door opened. Chris left the elevator. "Then I hope you enjoy the stay," Sebastian said as the door closed and the sound of the elevator going down was soon heard. Chris opened the door closest to the door and entered the room. The living room was massive with white walls, white floor, sofas, and tables that had books on top of it. The dining room had table for 6 people. There were 3 bedrooms that reminded Chris of the luxury hotel rooms he stayed during his vacation with his family with king sized beds and a beautiful view outside. "I suppose there''s nothing else for me do to," Chris muttered as he laid down on one of the king sized bed quickly falling asleep afterwards. ... A couple of days passed with Chris living in comfort while changing rooms occasionally. Every room had a different design with different color walls and furnishing. There was even a room solely for entertainment with both wizard and muggle entertainment. While Chris was sitting down, he heard the phone ring. He picked it up and heard Sebastian''s voice. "A messenger from the Ministry of Magic is here to talk to you," Sebastian said. "I''ll come down right away," Chris said. He quickly got dressed and went downstairs to meet the messenger. Even though the weather was hot, the messenger wore a black coat that covered his entire body. Topped with his black hat, Chris was surprised that he was not on the floor having a heat stroke. "Hello Mr. Evergreen. I will be escorting you to the Ministry of Magic today," The man said softly. Chris nodded. Sebastian led them a room where Chris and the messenger both apparated to the atrium. Inside the atrium, the messenger once again led Chris to an elevator where they rapidly went down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They soon arrived in front of a wooden door. The messenger opened it and signaled Chris to go inside. The room was b?r? except for a table with 4 chairs, 3 of them occupied by the Malfoy family who were all wearing striped prison uniforms. The other chair was on the other side of the table and Chris sat down. The messenger alongside 2 others wearing the same black coats and hat also went inside. The messenger stood behind Chris while the other two stood behind the Malfoy family as they took out their wand. "Well now that we''re ready, let the trial of the Malfoy family begin," The messenger declared. Chapter 85 - Path When Chris saw the Malfoy family, he thought that they would panic and ask for forgiveness. He was ready to hear Lucius Malfoy beg for his and his family''s life. However, there was not a trace of panic in Lucius Malfoy''s eyes. Contrary to his expectations, all Chris saw a calm look on his face as if nothing would happen. "I expected us to meet again later but not like this," Lucius said. "Wizengamot is giving you quite the privilege here. Even I never got to do this," "Well it helps that your family was a Death Eater from the very first war while my family has been fighting against the Dark Lord for both wars," Chris said. "More importantly, I''m surprised that you are able to keep your calm. Usually dogs like you that betray their master would panic and ask for mercy but it seems that you are a bit better than when the late Headmaster Karkaroff was put on trial," "Karkaroff had the chance to get off by giving the Ministry as much information as he could. I, on the other hand, have nothing to offer. All I have to offer is to satisfy your revenge by having my entire family sent to Azkaban. Isn''t that right Evergreen?" Lucius asked with a smug grin ignoring the fact that Chris had just called him a dog. "Lucius, can you not think about your child?!" Narcissa asked angrily. "What about Draco? Do you want him to spend his life at Azkaban?" "Do you think I can do anything about it?!" Lucius shouted. "Do you think that Evergreen would forgive me and my family for torturing his parents?!" "Ask him for forgiveness. Bow down to him. Even if we cannot get out, we have to get our child out! He did not want this life. Your screw-up has made the Dark Lord-" "Quiet! What''s done is done. There is nothing we can do," Lucius said unable to look at his wife. Even if Lucius tried to be calm, Chris saw that his hands were shaking indicating that he was unable to accept that his only son who hasn''t even reached his 20''s would spend his life at Azkaban never to see daylight again. "Chris Evergreen, I beg of you. You may send me to life imprisonment, I don''t care but please spare my son. He is the same age as you. He has a life that he hasn''t even started living yet. Please-" Chris quickly interrupted her. "You can say the same to all the students from various schools that the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters killed. Cedric Diggory, George Weasley, Colin Creevey, and so much more were killed. You all killed students the same age and some even younger than your son. Did you think about that before getting blinded by your obsessive want with blood purity?" Chris asked. Narcissa stayed silent. "Was Muggle blood so dirty to you that you had to kill others for something they could not control? Did you want to have power over the Muggles that much? Why was it necessary to kill, raze, and destroy for an ideal that should have been extinguished a long time ago?" Chris asked. "It was for the Malfoy Family," Lucius said. "Do you think that I wanted our family to constantly be worse than the Evergreen family? I saw the Dark Lord as the golden ticket to rise up to the most powerful family. Unfortunately, the golden ticket was just a poison that destroyed our family," ... The room was silent and seeing that there was nothing more to be said, the messenger clapped his hands. "Now that the Malfoy family has had a chance to speak with Mr. Evergreen, would you like to make your judgement, Mr. Evergreen?" "Yes I will," Chris said confidently. "For all the crimes that Lucius Malfoy has done in both the First War and the Second War, he shall be punished with lifetime imprisonment. While everyone certainly has greed in their soul, it is up to the person to try to figure out how to satisfy that greed. Lucius Malfoy, you have chosen the wrong way and the path you were going was wrong for a long time. Your riches came from Muggles yet you despise them and want to end the lives of their children. Every action has its consequences and you have been dodging your punishment for a long time. Now it is time to serve your sentence," "The decision is final. What is your decision for the wife and the child?" The messenger asked. "Narcissa Malfoy, you were not a Death Eater but you actively supported your husband and housed Death Eaters. As for Draco Malfoy, you were a Death Eater that has participated in activities that caused the deaths of many innocent people. While I can technically send both of you to lifetime at Azkaban, I will not do so. If I do, I will be doing the exact same thing you Death Eaters have been doing to so many others. I refuse to act out in hatred," Chris said. "Narcissa Malfoy, I shall sentence you to 5 years in prison. Draco Malfoy, I can see why you did what you did. I am your age and the education of your parents have influenced you to be like this. Furthermore, I noticed something that day. Your eyes were not happy that your father was able to defeat and torture my parents. You were disturbed and seemed like you wanted no part in this. However, you will still have to atone for your crimes. I will sentence you to 2 years in Azkaban. I hope that when you get out, you can different from your father," ... Chapter 86 - Sorry for the late chapter Sorry for the late chapter. I have no excuses for this one. I apologize. I''ll finish up the chapter tomorrow. Chapter 87 - a "The sentencing is finished!" The messenger said. "Lucius Malfoy will serve lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban. Narcissa Malfoy will serve 5 years in Azkaban and Draco Malfoy will serve 2 years in Azkaban," The messenger signaled Chris to stand up. Chris followed his order and followed the messenger to leave to room. "Thank you," Narcissa said surprising Chris. ''Perhaps if she hadn''t met Lucius, she would have been like Sirius who fought against his family for what was right. It''s truly unfortunate that she met Lucius who strengthened her belief on blood purity,'' Chris thought as he left the room and the door closed behind him leaving behind the Malfoy family. Chris was brought back to the Atrium where there was Harry, Ron, and Se-yeon there waiting for him. "Over here Chris!" Harry said as he waved his hand. "I shall leave you to your friends," The messenger said as he tipped his hat and left Chris. Chris walked towards the three who were eager to talk to him. "Well what did you do?" Ron asked. "Did you give them what they deserve?" "I gave them what I thought was fair," Chris said. "Lifetime in Azkaban?" Se-yeon asked. Chris shook his head. "That was only for Lucius. I gave 5 years to Narcissa and 2 years to Draco. In the end, Narcissa was not even a Death Eater and Draco was a student like us who was brainwashed by his father. I think he''ll definitely learn his lesson after he faces his punishment. You guys aren''t mad at me right?" Chris asked a bit worried that the three would get mad at him for not giving him a longer punishment. "Hey if that''s your decision, I''ll respect it," Ron said. "Besides if it weren''t for you, I''m sure that the three of them will just get away scot-free by spending some Galleons. Honestly Lucius Malfoy serving a lifetime sentence is more than enough. Draco and his mother getting a sentence as well is just the icing on the cake," "Definitely. I really despise Draco Malfoy but I don''t think that he should stay in Azkaban for his entire life. As long as he learns his lesson then I''m happy with that. Of course, if he doesn''t learn his lesson then I''m sure you can handle it again right?" Se-yeon said. "Of course," Chris said confidently. "I''ll make sure that the Malfoys won''t get away if they do anything dirty," "But with the entire Malfoy family in Azkaban and your father still healthy enough to run the Evergreen Family as soon as he is discharged, I''m not sure if the Malfoys will be able to bribe the judge if they decided to commit another crime after they get released from Azkaban," Ron said. "We''ll have to see," Harry said. Chris led the three to his father''s apartment which marvelled them. "I honestly shouldn''t be surprised considering how wealthy your family is but it is still amazing seeing that your father decided to keep the entire floor of an apartment to himself" Harry said. "Yeah I was quite surprised to hear this as well from Sebastian. You can choose whatever room you want. If you need a place to stay, this place is always welcome. Of course, that goes for any other property my dad owns. I''ll have to acquaint myself with all of them before showing them to you guys though," Chris said. After the three chose their own rooms, Chris went to the room that he had used before. He suddenly felt sleepy and laid down on the bed to close his eyes. ''You have passed the test!'' Hearing those words, Chris woke up to see the familiar black space. "Congratulations Chris. It seems that you won''t be dying any time soon," A familiar voice said. "Well the test was difficult but it seemed that I had enough strength in my heart to not act out in revenge," Chris said with a smile. However, his face immediately turned grim. "Did Hermione and Kristine see?" Chris asked worried that the two would see the traumatic things he saw. "Fortunately, the diary had decided that they shouldn''t watch the test. If they did, I''m sure that with they would become afraid of you," Prometheus said. "Good. I''m the only one who should have to deal with that," Chris said. He gagged thinking about Hermione and Kristine both of whom he personally used the Cruciatus Curse on and his parents who were almost tortured to death. "However, I watched you and I have to say that you did well," Prometheus said. "I''m sure that for my test, I wouldn''t be able to hold myself back from giving Zeus the most excruciating torture that I could ever think of. Forget eagles eating his liver, I would have made sure that rats would enter every single orifice on his body and eat him inside out every single day. When I get tired of that, I would put him in lava and then the extreme cold. Goodness I am smiling just thinking about it," "And that is why you would fail," Chris said. "Well it is of no matter as I am not the one that has to take these tests. Oh yes and Hufflepuff would like to have a few words," Hufflepuff''s hologram then appeared. "Well done Chris. You''ve certainly met my expectations. It is extremely difficult to hold yourself back when the people you love have been dealt that much physical and emotional pain. I would''ve loved a student like you to be in my house but of course considering that you have passed all four tests, I am sure that all the other founders think the same," Hufflepuff''s hologram disappeared and Chris was swallowed by a bright light. Chapter 87 - Sorry guys eye problem again. Going to the ophthalmologist (fancy word for eye doctor) tomorrow but I''m not posting today. This started since Saturday... Sorry guys Chapter 88 - Leaving the Throne Room Chris opened his eyes to see that he was next to Kristine and Hermione who were both crying. "Chris you made it!" Hermione said excitedly her face no longer red from crying earlier. "Yeah, we made it," Chris said. He sighed in relief knowing that one of them wouldn''t have to die today. "Yes congratulations," Ravenclaw said. She stood up and walked down the staircase. Godric, happy that he could finally stand up, immediately stood up to go down the stairs. Slytherin and Hufflepuff followed. (Author''s Note: I realized that I went from putting Godric to Gryffindor and I apologize. For some reason, I started doing it and now I can''t stop.) "You''ve succeeded in passing all 4 tests. Although you girls were not able to pass, I am equally proud of all three of you. I am sure that there are numerous ?du?t wizards who would not dare to take the tests as they might fail but you three as kids knew the dangers and took the tests. I am proud to have you three as students in my house. I am sure that Godric and Helga both are jealous that I can have such wonderful students," Ravenclaw said. "Yes, I do wish that I had students like you three back when I was still alive. I''m sure it would have been a wonderful 7 years for me to see all you grow to be wonderful wizards and witches," Gryffindor said as he pointed as Chris. "Especially you as you are one of the best students I have ever seen. If you are able to live long enough, you might grow to be the strongest wizard," ''I hope so because if I can''t with the system, I don''t deserve to be in the Harry Potter World,'' Chris thought. "Well I''m done taking what I need," Prometheus suddenly appeared in front of the founders with a white ball in his hand. Chris noticed all the founders'' face, especially Slytherin''s, turn a little dark as the ball disappeared. "I suppose all the hard work we put in was all for someone else," Gryffindor said as he shook his head. "No, when you four acquired this item, you have unwittingly saved the world. This item would have been extremely dangerous had it been in the hands of people that wanted to use it for malicious means. As we have retrieved only half, you will still be able to maintain your space in this world," "I remember that you have stated that there will be visitors entering this space. What do we do about them? We are not strong enough," Ravenclaw asked. "Do not worry. The diary has already set a measure against them. As the item they wish to look for is only half complete, they will want to hunt us down before coming here so they won''t bother you as long as we''re still alive," "So my fate is depending on three kids that b?r?ly passed our tests?" Slytherin asked with disdain. "If we weren''t here, you would be the first one to face an all-out attack from these guests so I would say that it''s better that we''re handling this mess rather than you. Of course, if I asked you to fight those visitors, you would die without even knowing how you died," Prometheus said. "Salazar, these kids have already passed our test. I am sure that the diary will allow them to grow before they can fight whatever it is they need to fight," Ravenclaw said. "You are right. The diary can hide these kids for a couple of years. With the diary''s help and the rate they are growing currently, I believe that they have the potential to save everything," "I am curious though. Who are these visitors?" Ravenclaw asked. "Yes I also wish to know who it is that I cannot fight," Slytherin said. "Unfortunately, I cannot disclose that. What I can say is that they are the group that was able to trap me, a titan. So you four can guess how strong they are and how futile it is to resist if they decide to barge in here with a small portion of their army to take whatever it is they need," Both Slytherin and Ravenclaw''s faces paled. "Perhaps if you were in your peaks, you would have a decent chance with the right equipment. However, you four never had the right items to defeat them," Prometheus said. "I see," Ravenclaw said. "Alright you three, it''s time we get out of here," Prometheus said. "Alright. Thank you founders for helping us," Chris said as he bowed. "No, it was our p???sur? to be able to meet you three. I do hope that when we get out of the mist for our little vacation outside, we are able to see you three at the peak of the wizarding world," Ravenclaw said. "Yes, bring honor to Hogwarts. I''m sure that if you are able to do that, Salazar will be able to accept all of you even if two of you are Muggle-born," Gryffindor said. "That will never happen," Slytherin said as he glared at Gryffindor. "I will be able to accept the boy as he is both a pureblood and was able to pass my test but not the two Muggle-born," "You have already improved as you are calling them Muggle-born," Hufflepuff said. "We''ll have to see in a couple years," Once again a bright light enveloped the space forcing everyone to close their eyes. ... Chapter 88 - out tomorrow I''ll be posting a chapter tomorrow or at most Monday. Sorry for the wait. It''s been a busy week. School started again and I have 7 classes now. I also have a job interview so I''ve been preparing for that. Chapter 89 - Dropping writing altogether Hello guys, I thought about this for the entire day and I decided that I''m going to drop writing altogether. I decided that I''m not going to write altogether. For anyone still donating to my ******* thank you but you should stop donating immediately. Why am I doing this? This is because I realized three things. 1. I don''t have talent for this. I know I don''t have to be exceptionally good since writing is a hobby but I feel I don''t have the level of writing I should have and I don''t feel that I''m going to improve. 2. I''m not having fun. A hobby is supposed to be enjoyable. I''m not able to enjoy writing anymore. If I''m not having fun, how can I expect any of you guys to enjoy my writing especially when I''m not good at it. If I was good at it, I can somehow make it a fun read but like I said earlier, my skills are not adequate. 3. I have a lot more work to do. I have 24 units or 7 classes I have to take. That''s a lot and it won''t get any better within the year. Alongside that I have to start networking, go to interviews, eventually have an internship/job. It''ll be impossible for me to continue writing anything at all. I have other hobbies that I enjoy more than writing. With all that in mind, writing even 1 chapter a week is difficult for me. I think I''ve been writing for 3-4 years now in total. It''s been a long ride and it had its great moments and its horrible moments but I think I enjoyed most of the ride. Thank you to everyone who supported me by voting for the novel and even going to my *******. It''s a blessing to have a group of people who enjoys what I write and you were the reasons why I kept going with this novel for a year. Since I won''t be back, if anyone by any chance wants to use what I wrote then by all means go for it because it''ll be in better hands. I don''t know if anyone would really want to do so since my fanfic wasn''t really that good but for the ones that do want to continue this then go for it. All in all, thanks for sticking with me and my terrible schedule. I tried to keep it up but in the end I couldn''t and I apologize. I''ll be a reader just like you guys.