21 HP 14

The week was progressing smoothly and surprisingly quickly, it was already Thursday night, and I was on patrol duty currently patrolling on the first floor. It took them some time but the Slytherin kids have started to learn that during my patrols, they ought not to be attempting something after curfew. There were a few attempts on Wednesday, but after the kids lost a few more house points, they stopped coming. From what I've heard there was a huge fight in their dorm, requiring Snape to intervene. It's kind of understandable, their house points were at an all-time low, standing at negative seventy. The Marauders Map was a gift from heaven, and I was abusing it to the fullest.

Sadly, today's harvest wasn't so good, I've only caught 2 couples, trying to sneak away to have some fun. If I'm not having fun during the week, nor can they. I don't give a fuck what they do during the weekend but there will be no copulating during my watch. Why the fuck do I sound like an old man?

Thinking about the map, reminded me of an interesting fact, the map displayed the names of Quirinus Quirrell and Tom Riddle constantly at the same location on the map, and what I mean by that, on top of each other. I wonder how the Weasley twins never noticed this in the movies or the books. I could understand if they saw him in his chamber and Quirrell had Tom on top of him exploring his chamber of secrets, or who knows maybe the other way around. Actually, nah, Tom seemed more of a top kind of a guy.

Anyway, the twins never questioned the fact not even during classes or meals. Now that would have been an awkward sight to see, for some probably even a stimulating and inspiring one. Whatever, those idiots are out of the picture right now. The latest news I've heard about them, and I cannot confirm or deny, was that they were found making out in a broom closet. Although with the curse, I placed on them and its effects, the gossip drawing from reality has a high possibility.

The map was an interesting artifact, it somehow connected to the school warding schema and pulled information out of it. The fact that it not only somehow connected to an extremely high-security ward system but also did it with the proper procedure and all required security codes, made it crystal clear that this was not the work of four idiotic teenagers attending a magical school. No, this was done by someone who had years of experience behind his back and knew how to access highly secure wards, or what was more believable, and more probable, someone who had direct access to the ward. Now the only person to have that, in the time when the Marauders roamed Hogwarts halls, was the same person who has the sole access to them even at this moment, and old fart, who goes by the name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

So the whole map and everything about it might have been a convoluted plan, set in motion the moment those four stepped on the grounds of Hogwarts. With how proficient Dumbledore was, and still is with Mind Arts, I am pretty sure he modified the memories of those four, and maybe even was the cause of Harry's birth. If that part of my theory is true, Dumbledore ended up cuck-blocking his favorite emo minion.

Giving them the map also made sense. Dumbledore needed a spy in the werewolf front of the war, so Lupin became the first werewolf to attend Hogwarts in generations. While the map allowed three of his friends to keep track of him, in case he escaped during the time of a full moon. The ability to do pranks and dodge professors during mischief was an additional but welcome bonus. However, I still don't understand why three teenagers were allowed to attempt the dangerous animagus transformation. Additionally, the most idiotic thing, however, was allowing a Stag, a Dog, and a Rat of all things, to guard a two-meter-high blood trusty beast, that not only could kill any of them with a single bite, but in case it didn't, the same bite would make them turn into an exactly same beast.

Some of Dumbledore's convoluted plans never made sense, he always did things in the most complex way possible. He made Harry's parents the martyrs of the wizarding world. While forcing their son into an abusive family and allowing him to experience pain, suffering, and deathly trials to become the savior of the wizarding kind. Who, as a teenager, in the final fight against Dumbledore's foe, would need to give up his life for the mutual death of the 'most' dangerous Dark Lord in history? Instead of just finding and ending the man all by himself.

I'm pretty sure Dumbledore was the one who made Peter Pettigrew the Potters' secret keeper. There was no way they wouldn't choose their son's godfather, or at least Lupin for such an important task. Actually, why was Hagrid the first one at the scene, moments after the demise of the Potters and the vanquishing of the Dark Lord? The giant waltzed into the destroyed house took the baby and left, and no one questioned, why or how he knew what happened. Dumbledore had a hand in everything bad happening in the wizarding world, not only was he the one responsible for the birth of two Dark Lords, but when he had the chance to end both of them he pulled back.

Getting away from the rant and back to the topic of the map, Quirrell and his passenger were snooping around the third-floor corridor, right near the door that he wasn't supposed to be. To my knowledge his first attempt at breaking in was on Halloween, maybe this time he's only checking it out, or wait was this before he had a meeting with Hagrid, where he sold him the dragon egg? Well, I do hope the old fart has already placed the stone into the mirror, and the mirror inside of the trial, because, this was a prime time to take care of two quests at the same time.

I coated myself in a layer of [Furtim] and became one with nothingness, my steps ceased to make noise and none of my actions seemed to matter to the world. I walked up to the oh-so-dangerous hallway and straight up to the crazed Dark Lord. He was whispering to the fool on the other side of the turban, ordering him to cast diagnostic charms on the door. I casually stood next to him and waited for the information to be disclosed.

"My lord. There seem to be four wards on the door, but the lock itself isn't enchanted." Quirrell answered his master without a single stutter.

"Foooool, check again! Dumbledore everything but incompetent." An ominous whispering voice replies to him.

"Yes, my lord." Said the frightened Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Annoyed by their interactions and their incompetence, I bonk Quirrell's shoulder with my finger and simultaneously cast a quick stunning spell, making him unable to dodge even if he had noticed the spell. A loud thud could be heard throughout the corridor as Quirrell's back, or should I say Voldemort's front, impacted the ground. Thankfully, the old guy already lost his nose, otherwise, there would have been a crunch.

Seventy-four probes, created from highly concentrated mana and mind, assaulted the mental shields before me, and like spears, they pierced through them with ease. I've struck the mind of my target, but quickly realized my error. Images of Quirrell's childhood flash before my eyes, making me grimace for a moment, then pull back out. The ease with which I entered, should have been a clear indicator of being in the wrong mind, but I didn't realize it straight away.

Allowing [Mind Arts] to sense the other mind in the same body, I allowed my mental threads to seep into it, and my mental projection appeared before a thick dome. The shields of this one were like a fortress, reinforced to the brim. That translucent dome kept me away from all of his knowledge and memories. My full-on assault commences. Mental threads formed into spears and battering rams, heavily impacting his shields and shaking his mind. The first cracks form and thinner threads of my probes start to chip away at them, widening the hole and slowly expanding the crack.

It doesn't take long for the shield to be littered with cracks and crevices all around. One last impact of the rams shatters the already unstable dome, turning it into motes of mana that disperse into the realm of the minds. Seventy-eight mental proves assault the, now unprotected mind, shredding it into pieces, ripping out chunks of memories, experiences, and knowledge, depositing them all into my own.

What remains of the mind before me is like a still lake, no thoughts will ever surface, and no new memories will ever be made or remembered. The parasite from the world's perspective was already dead, but the system disagrees, as no quest update notifications appear before me.

I grumble and give my status a glance. Some of my skill levels have skyrocketed, and some straight up maxed out, the experience I've stolen from one of the most 'dangerous' Dark Lords of history, was quite rewarding.

Status

[Global LVL: 46 XP: 77,790/79,180]

[Class: Wizard LVL: 9/50 XP: 5,400/5,975]

[Titles: [Zombie Slayer] | Race: [Human Wizard] | Tier: 1]

[WP: 2,661] [UC: 2,060.11]

STR: 4

VIT: 10

DEX: 67

AGI: 29

PER: 34

INT: 65

WIS: 67

Skills:

Defence:

[Sneak 16] [Muted Steps 18] [Dodge 46] [Pain Tolerance 9] [Counter 13] [Acrobatics 3]

Offence:

[Small Blade Mastery 32] [Large Blade Mastery 16] [Gun Mastery 5] [Dual-wielding 7]

Magic:

[Mana Manipulation 39>44] [Charms 95>Max] [Transfiguration 78>95] [Mind Arts 67>78] [Alchemy 40>76] [Runic Language 47>59] [Enchanting 40>69] [Spellcode 29>33]

Misc.:

[Deception 27>39] [Drawing 4] [Writing 20] [Reading 59] [Seduction 24>37] [Acting 34>53] [Cooking 50] [Mathematics 35] [Herbology 42>49] [Teaching 28>32] *[Leadership 1 > 29]

Whereas most of his memories and experiences focused on spells, a few of them actually raised my [Deception], [Acting], and [Seduction] skills, while at the same time granting me a new skill by the name of [Leadership].

[Leadership LVL:1/100]

- Making hard decisions, won't have a mental effect on you.

- While speaking to other entities, they become easier to entice.

- All of your subordinates believing in your cause will have stats boosted by 1%/Lvl.

The skill wasn't a bad one, it joined my already vast amount of mental manipulation skills, and it will be probably, forgotten in the depths of my status screen.

Back at the still unconscious member of the staff, killing him right away would alert the rest of the staff, making the acquisition or destruction of the philosopher's stone a harder task, but knowing that the door in front of me hides a three-headed puppy. I first cast diagnostics charms on the door trying to find any hidden ward or enchantment, that might alert the old man of someone entering the room, and to no one's surprise I actually find a few. None of it has a direct connection with the old geezer, thankfully, they only inform him with a mental tug, if they are disarmed, or triggered.

Quirrell was almost right there were four wards on the door, but the cheeky little bastard actually hid charms under his wards. I chuckle, as I have the perfect counter to it, I place my hand on the door and will it inside of my inventory. Preventing any and all of the charms, enchantments, and wards from ever triggering. The three-headed dog sniffs the air, smelling the food levitating next to me, but before it can wake up, an overcharged stunning spell is sent his way, the same spell is then repeated at the bastard floating next to me before he is unceremoniously dropped before the beast. No, I didn't want the ability to turn into a three-headed dog, so I didn't even attempt to get any DNA from the beast.

I open the trapdoor and jump down to the abyss below. Lighting up the cavern under me, the deadly wines pull back from the light of the spell [Lumos], while I stop my fall with a quick cast of [Arresto Momentum], then gently touch down on the ground. Ignoring the true completion requirements of the tasks prepared by the rest of the staff, I blow through the rooms at a quickened pace. Everything here was planned to be completed by first-year students, and pose no difficulty to me.

I light the room with the keys on fire, burning off all of their wings, and when they drop [Accio] brings me the correct key to open the door. The chessboard suffers fatal damage, when [Bombarda] hits the opposing king, and the game cannot even start. The room with a troll, is empty, probably not yet implemented by Quirrell. The potion riddle room is completely ignored as [Fiendfyre] burns away not only the door to the next room but also the substance responsible for lighting the fire.

Finally, I stand before the mirror, but I see nothing in it. In the same way, the Room of Requirements didn't listen when I was under [Furtim] with my mind shielded, so does the Mirror of Erised ignore my complete existence.

I sigh and only for a moment contemplate if I truly want to see, what my heart truly desires. The curiosity wins, [Furtim] and mind shield drops, and the mirror shimmers. I see myself, and - "Well fuck you too!" I curse. "I already knew that!" I shout at the inanimate object before reapplying [Furtim] and bringing up my mental defenses to lose its bewitching effect. I grumble, and pace about, I had a feeling it will show me that, but I didn't want it to. "Fuck! This will change things." Annoyed another curse leaves my mouth, I turn back towards the Mirror and point my palm at it.

"Primus Frigus!" *Crack*

The temperature of the room instantly drops way below freezing, but the cold produced by my own spell doesn't affect me. Everything in the direction of my palm freezes, covered in ominous black frost and ice. The air, the mirror, the columns, the floor, and the wall, everything, even magic itself, frozen in time, succumbed to the embrace of primal ice. A thin foil of frost starts to spread in all directions, covering every inch of every other surface.

After countless days and countless failed attempts, I have finally perfected the spell yesterday. The requirement to cast it ended up being a focus on the images Halt, Embrace, and Succumb. And in all honestly, it was a perfect description of the spell. It halts all physical or metaphysical, forces and substances, envelops them in a cold embrace, and then everything succumbs to death. The spell's affinity was closer to that of death than pure ice, but the spell, just as [Fiendfyre] had a secondary effect.

Just as the black frost covers most of the room and finally stops to spread, a low rumble and a sudden crack could be heard. Then simultaneously everything covered by ice shatters, showering the room in tiny particles of snow, but not for long. Not even those snowflakes survive, quickly shattering on their own, leaving nothingness behind, even their protons, electrons, or neutrons cease to exist. The room is now barren, only the floor, a meter around me, an inch higher than the rest of the chamber, however, everything else, is leveled and erased from existence.

[Quest: [Philosophy] Completed 550 WP Received]

A ding resounds in my mind, a quest complete notification informing me that the souls of millions have been allowed to rest. The philosopher's stone was destroyed together with the mirror and the room. But then a sudden chill and ethereal darkness descend the chamber, primal fear and a shiver like nothing I've ever felt run through my body. The room was cold before but this was something else, someone else.

I rapidly rotate and look around, trying to spot whatever or whoever is watching me. Even under the effects of [Furtim], I feel a pair of eyes directed at me. As quickly as the feeling came, it disappeared, causing my mental state and my quickened heartbeat to gradually calm down.

I take a deep breath to calm myself, then decide not to delve deeper into that rabbit hole. Whatever that was, it was way more powerful than I, and I didn't want to be on its bad side. I shake my head and with brisk steps, got out of this amateurish trial dungeon.

"Avada Kedavra." I send the killing curse at the unconscious member of the staff, killing him and his passenger simultaneously, the moment I exit the dungeon. An ominous cloud representing a shard of a tainted soul gushes out of the professor's every pore and while shrieking disperses into the air. At the same time, the castle shook, reporting to all, that a death has happened in its confines.

[Quest Update: [Shade Lurking] 2/7 Completed]

[Quest: [Defeat the troll] Completed 150 WP Received]

The second quest completion actually surprised me a bit, because I was sure I didn't just kill a troll. Giving the quest system a quick glance I check the description on the unexpectedly completed quest and realize that it was completed by prevention.

[Description: Stop the troll incident from taking any unnecessary lives.]

I drop the door to the side of the room then aim my finger at the three-headed dog and cast [Enervate], waking it up from its unconscious state. The beast shake's all three of its heads, then spots the treat right before it and with a lively and hungry expression bites down and starts munching on the body of Quirrell. Moving away from the third floor I quickly descend the staircase to the first and after entering a bathroom I drop [Furtim].

I take a deep breath and prepare myself for trouble. Tomorrow I expect there to be an annoying day.