15 Perfect Substitute

During the short period when Hogwarts was missing a History Professor, all the other professors hurriedly made time out of their already busy schedules to each take turns with teaching the class.

And, although it seemed messy for some, they all couldn't help but admit that, even with this unstable state, it was still far better than when the class was being taught by Professor Binns, who just kept teaching them about the Goblin War over and over again.

But, fortunately, after a few days, they finally managed to find someone who was willing to teach History class in Hogwarts, although only temporary, until they find a permanent professor.

It was Bathilda Bagshot, a renowned magical historian who was even older than Headmaster Dumbledore.

Knowing her age, it was clear why she was only a temporary professor despite her accomplishments.

Still better than being taught by a ghost atleast.

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"What a cute rabbit." Ymir muttered to himself as he strolled into the dark forest behind the Hogwarts castle.

I'm the following days after the mishap in the forbidden corridor, Harry Potter seemed to be trying to avoid whenever they happened to meet, both in class and outside of it.

Either glancing at him with an unreadable look in his eyes before quickly looking away once he was caught, or immediately running away when Ymir looked like he was going to speak to him.

On one hand, while it amused him to see Potter's various reactions, it also confused him about why exactly it was that Potter reacted that way.

And, it wasn't only him that noticed this as Anthony always made sure to glare at Potter's direction whenever he was nearby.

It made Ymir feel as though he had a pet cat that was trying to drive away other cats from outside.

In any case, he didn't have much time to dwell into their issue at the moment since he had another pressing matter to attend to.

Like looking for a safe way to harvest souls without alerting anyone of what he was doing.

Since Gaia was perfectly able to host life already, and souls were the only things that were proven to not be affected by the strange mutation occuring in the space.

After theorizing the effectivity of being able to use souls to create original creatures within Gaia instead of transferring already existing creatures from Earth to Gaia, Ymir couldn't help but want to begin the experiment immediately.

Therefore, as the school had already started to be suspicious of the mysterious disappearance of the Hogwarts ghosts, he opted to try his luck in the Forbidden Forest after curfew.

By killing the animals which no one would pay attention to and immediately capturing their souls after.

With that said, he took hold of the rabbit's neck and-

Snap.

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"Magic is all about intent." The professor narrowed his red eyes at him. "This, you must always remember."

During one of their lessons, Ymir asked the professor about the reason why magic was separated into either Light or Dark. It confused him why there was a need for it.

Ymir looked thoughtful. "Intent, professor?"

"Yes. Intent." The professor nodded in confirmation. "Intent to fix, intent to destroy, intent to heal, intent to kill. As long as the wizard has this intention, magic will surely respond."

That made Ymir feel intrigued. These topics usually weren't discussed in class. "So to say, verbal casting and wands are not actually necessary?"

The professor scrunched his nose, looking at Ymir as though he were an idiot for even asking that question.

"No. They are merely tools to guide magic in order to create the desired effect, especially when introducing students to the ways of magic for the first time." He explained clearly. "Strong wizards with determined minds, firm control over their magic, and focused intent, find that casting a spell silently or even wandlessly is no different than when they do with it."

Ymir recalled Headmaster Dumbledore having casted the Sonorus spell non-verbally during the Sorting Ceremony. So, it was like that.

"Is it similar to how accidental magic is emitted by children when under intense emotions, Professor?" He asked curiously, remembering the instances where he accidentally cast magic as a child.

"Very much so." The professor answered, nodding in approval. "Since a child's magic is still unstable and not yet quite fully formed, it is the time when it reacts more volatile to any changes in it's state."

Ymir blinked. Now that he thought about it, the only times he accidentally cast magic in the past really were when he was feeling some sort of turmoil. Like that time his painting was ruined by a bird that snuck in through an open window.

"So, when a child, let's say, is being bullied, thus, making the child have a strong urge to fight back or take revenge-" The professor's eyes darkened. "-their magic would take that intent as an instruction and would... burst out in aggression."

Ymir studied the professor for a moment. Those words seemed like something he experienced himself.

"Is the creation of Obscurials related to that, Professor?" He asked after a few seconds of silence, subtly changing the topic. "The instability of magic, I mean."

The professor leaned back, seeming as though he didn't expect the topic to head to that direction, but he still answered anyway.

"That is another path altogether of magic." He said with a slight shake of his head. "Obscurus are creatures formed when a wizard forcefully suppresses their magic. But, as you know, magic can never be suppressed."

Ymir nodded. Magic is a gift. To suppress it forcefully is blasphemy.

"Magic suppressed to the utmost, will inevitably lash out." The professor carried on his explanation. "And Obscurus are parasites formed from that out of control, tainted magic. Now, try to think about what situation forces a wizard to reject their own magic."

Suddenly, Ymir thought about just where he learned about the existence of those creatures and his eyes dawned in realization. "So, those news of Obscurus being spotted every now and then in the muggle world-"

His words were cut off with the professor's sigh.

"They are children who once had the potential to become wizards, I'm afraid." The professor said grimly. "Muggles are inherently scared of what they cannot understand, so their first reaction is to reject it."

His dark eyes and the way he venomously spat out his words made it clear to Ymir how much he hated them.

"That is why muggles and wizards can never coexist." His grip on his wand tightened. "It is either muggles suppress us, or wizards rise up against them."

Ymir went silent, contemplating on the professor's words.

There are around 5 billion muggles on Earth in the year 1990. And, only roughly 500 million wizards all over the world.

The population of British wizards is 3,000 give or take, with around 300 being Hogwarts students.

Even if the factions supporting the Light side and the Dark side were divided evenly in half, there would only be 1,500 wizards to support his cause.

Now, how can the professor fight 5 billion muggles with those 1,500 dark wizards while also battling with the 1,500 light wizards?

It was impossible.

The right course to take in this situation was-

"Instead of killing them, it's much easier to take over their government." He muttered his ideas, idly spinning his wand around his fingers. "Why wage a difficult war when ruling over them is so easy? Just use Imperius on the right people and you'll have entire countries playing at your every whim."

After all, muggles aren't as weak as wizards think. They have weapons of mass destruction hidden in their arsenals. "Muggles can kill each other well enough on their own. There's no need for wizards to do it themselves."

Unknown to him, he just gave his professor a dangerous idea.

By the end of their lesson, both of them were satisfied for different reasons. And, as Ymir packed his things and turned to leave, he realized that he forgot to inform the professor of one important thing.

"By the way, professor-" He turned back just as he opened the door to leave. "Did you know about the Cerberus in the Forbidden corridor?"

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October 4, 1991

02-Gaia

Observation Entry #77

Contrary to what one might expect, the appearance of a human's soul and an animal's soul actually didn't have any difference after all their leftover memories and personalities are erased.

They were all wispy grey orbs with no distinction from one another.

After acquiring a sufficient number of souls from the Forbidden Forest, I set off to begin my experiment to create the first original life in Gaia.

For that, I specifically consulted the various legends of how Gods created life from old religions and folklore. And, immediately, something stood out to me.

It seems that the belief that the first life was created by Gods through molding the earth to form a specific shape of a creature which they breathe life into was quite common and prevalent amongst various old tales.

Since it was repeated so often and amongst different sources, I couldn't help but think that it must have some form of truth to it.

So, I gave it a try.

In order to minimize the affected area in case an error occured during the experiment, I chose only one of the islands where the experiment would take place, granted, it was one of the largest islands currently.

And, because the only edible food in it as of this moment were only the leaves that fell from the Yggdrasil tree right at the center of the island, I carefully transplanted some of the Bleeding Weeds from Terra.

Then, I was set. Though, still limited to creating herbivores for now.

On my first try, I took a small handful of fine white clay which I molded into a ball. Next, I added a pair of long ears, which made it look like an incredibly round bunny. Finally, I marked it's eyes, nose, and mouth, along with four little legs.

It was cute.

And, for an additional artistic touch, I added a little horn on its forehead to mark it's difference from the rabbits on Earth.

Now, came the part where I add the soul.

Which wasn't as hard as I thought.

Initially, because I am familiar with how a soul looks like when it is freshly out of it's body, I had thought that I'd have to mold the soul into a perfect copy of the body I was placing it into before they could meld perfectly, but, it seems I had thought too much as the soul orb slipped into its new container quite easily on its own.

It only took a few short seconds before the soul acclimated to its new body and, soon, the creature took it's first breath of air, shaking off the excess dirt to reveal pristine white fur beneath.

Just like that, the first original creature in Gaia was created.

But, of course, I wasn't arrogant enough to think that it was this easy, and, since it was only my first try, it might just be a coincidence that it succeeded.

With that thought, I decided to create more of them; starting by adding more little horned rabbits, to slowly moving on to more complex creatures like squirrels, small birds, and deers.

And, soon, the riverbank that I took as my experimental location was filled will little animals, all white as the clay I used to make them, wandering about curiously.

Unexpectedly, they all succeeded quite easily.

Almost too easily that it felt strange.

It may be... that creating life...

Is not so difficult?

Or perhaps I unknowingly had a talent for such things.

But, it's not over yet.

I still need to observe them for a period of time to make sure they won't be affected by the mutation.

Entry End

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"I heard from the grapevine-" Anthony slid into the seat in front of him with a sly grin. "-that someone is being eyed by the Quidditch team."

It was another afternoon which Ymir planned to spend in the Ravenclaw common room, reading in peace, but was interrupted once again by none other than the resident gossip.

With a sigh, he looked towards the disturbance to acknowledge his presence lest he do something drastic to attract his attention. "The Quidditch team?"

Not knowing the thought process of his most frequent gossip dump, Anthony leaned towards him to whisper.

"Right! See that Asian senior over there? The one that keeps glancing at you." He discretely pointed with his finger, making Ymir take notice of the somewhat pretty Asian girl sitting a few tables away. "Her name's Cho Chang and she's the current Seeker for our house."

"I see." Ymir said monotonously, his eyes inadvertently locking with the girl who happened to look their way, though she quickly turned away when spotted. "Why is she looking at me?"

Towards his cluelessness of his own reputation, Anthony just shook his head helplessly.

"Right... Since the news of you saving Bones spread, it's obvious that the Quidditch team would be interested in you." He smiled meaningfully. "And, Cho is the Seeker this year, but, with your appearance, it might not necessarily be the case next year. So, of course, she'd be wary about you!"

Ymir furrowed his brows at that.

"There is no need for her attention." He said straightforwardly. "I will not be playing Quidditch."

Anthony raised an eyebrow, smiling slyly. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes." Ymir nodded, conveying his seriousness in one word.

In reply, Anthony just shrugged casually. "Hmm... Sounds like a raised flag to me."

"Hey, Anthony!" Suddenly, a girl from their year, whom Ymir still didn't know the name of, trotted towards their table. "Have you seen Terry anywhere? He's supposed to be coming with me to the Library."

Turning towards the girl, Anthony have her a wry smile.

"Probably playing Dungeons and Dragons with the Hufflepuffs." He huffed in amusement. "You know how it is."

Ymir slowly tapped on his journal, listening in on how the game had gradually spread amongst the students.

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He had succeeded.

After consulting the books dictating how Magical Portraits were created, he finally learned an easy way to copy his mind.

And, with the way to strip a soul of it's memories and thoughts having already been created by him before, all he had to do was to reverse the runes used in it, then, he'd have a perfect method to impart his own memories and thoughts into a blank soul orb.

Now, all he needed was a body.

From the corner of his eyes, he spotted the box containing the mysterious egg from Terra.