Start of a second year(chapter 21)
which was a lot to say given that he had only lived for one year and some months in this world, and he had already reached level 5 while the system limit on his skill was level 20, meaning that he was already 1/4th of the way there. But he was not getting complacent. In fact, these two months nearly broke him—physically, mentally, and financially—to the point where going to Hogwarts was seen as a break to him. He turned around and looked at his prized potion, framed and stored on the top of his shelf.
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Chapter 21
"My baby," he said with love in his eyes. Maybe Gray's one true love would always be potions. Anyway, the love he had for this potion was temptation. He wanted to consume it so badly, but he had to control himself. "I really don't want to stay as a 12-year-old for a long time," he chanted to himself as he got to work, mastering the potions he would be taught in the next coming months, as well as looking over the spells he had to master.
So, like usual, Gray pulled an all-nighter until the next day when he got ready to go to Hogwarts. He slept on the train, of course, only waking when someone woke him up—Hermione. "The train stopped," she said as she looked out the window. It was raining again, just like his first year. "Thanks," he said to Hermione, who smiled as he picked up his suitcase and wand. But the moment he touched his wand/cane, it vibrated, as if she was unhappy being near Hermione.
"Weird," he thought as Hermione left the train. Then Hermione noticed something. "Do you not have a pet?" she asked, as every student at Hogwarts either had an owl, a cat, a toad, or, for some strange reason, a rat in Ron's case. This made Gray delve into his memories as he answered, "I don't like pets," which was the reason the previous Gray didn't want any. Hermione pondered for a bit as they joined the line of second-year students before entering the Great Hall with the others.
while Hermione looked for Harry and Ron, who were nowhere to be seen before they entered the great hall where gray received another round of shocked expression for student that knew him. which was a lot given his reputation as the sole provider of the sleepless potion, he went through the sorting hat ceremony for this year first year student but he didn't pay attention.
-scene change-
The next day, the second-year students gathered in the Herbology greenhouses as Professor Sprout made her entrance. "Morning, everyone," she said, tapping the stand to get their attention. The students responded in unison, "Good morning, Professor Sprout." She welcomed them to Greenhouse Three and instructed them to gather around. "Today, we're going to repot Mandrakes. Who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?" Gray didn't look at Hermione, whose hand shot up before he answered.
"Mandrake is used to return those who have been petrified to their original state. Some believe that it's also dangerous. The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it," Professor Sprout commended her and awarded ten points to Gryffindor, explaining that the seedlings' cries wouldn't kill them yet, but they could knock them out for several hours.
"Nerd," one of the students behind Gray yelled very, very quietly as another student next to him smacked him, "Shut up, Jemal, you're going to get us killed." But to Gray, they didn't even exist as he looked at the Mandrakes like he wanted to gobble them up. As the students put on their earmuffs, Professor Sprout demonstrated how to repot the Mandrakes, pulling up one that resembled a monstrous, screaming baby.
The students looked alarmed, especially as Neville fainted. Seamus clarified, "No, ma'am, he's just fainted," to which Professor Sprout replied, "Yes, well... just leave him there," which earned a chuckle from Gray as the student behind muttered, "He is really terrifying." The class continued repotting their Mandrakes, with Draco playing around and getting bitten.
Later that day, Nearly Headless Nick floated down a Hogwarts corridor. A student pointed out his presence, and as Nick passed Percy, who was walking with a girl, he greeted them, "Hello, Percy, Miss Clearwater," tipping his head like a hat. Percy replied politely, "Hello, Sir Nicholas."
At the Gryffindor table, Ron was struggling to tape his broken wand together. "Say it, I'm doomed," he groaned, and Harry replied with a smirk, "You're doomed!" Just then, Ron noticed the cane inside Gray's robe as he said, "Why do you have a cane?" making Gray, who was writing in a book labeled The Philosopher's Stone Copy, look up at him before looking down and touching his cane, which vibrated with disgust towards Ron for some reason. "Looks cool," he replied nonchalantly as he continued to focus, making Jemal, who was sitting a couple of seats away from Gray, attempt to say something only to be silenced by his friend.
Gray, who was writing notes on the creator of the Philosopher's Stone, thought, "This guy is a genius. How the hell did he make this?" The philosopher gave him the idea to create his own version: "i will Call it the Arcane Stone." But he was getting way ahead of himself; he needed to focus on urgent matters, which was trying to obtain more permanent potions. He then turned to one of his notebooks, which had a list of all the permanent potions he had consumed. "So far I have consumed 10 Wiggenweld potions, with each one having 30%, 2 Arcane Elixirs, both with 200%, 5 Swift potions, each with 100%, and 5 Troll's Might potions, all with 200%, which did make me the monstrous 12-year-old I am. But it's not enough." He sighed. Of course, it wasn't enough, given the dangers of this world, the ones he had not yet encountered. Gray was determined to prepare for all of them.
"Good thing I prepared a lot of ingredients before I came here," he thought, which made him smile, creeping out some of the students. But he didn't really care as he focused on the Philosopher's Stone. However, he didn't get to do that as Ron received a Howler, which was a magical envelope that can record a message, and the owl delivering it crashed into a bowl of chips.
Ron then opened the Howler, which recorded his mother's voice yelling at him for stealing the car before the envelope ripped itself to pieces. Gray, whose head was ringing, looked at the shredded remains as the whole hall looked at Ron. There was a silence, which was broken by Gray's groaning as he got up and left.
The next class, Gray, who thought he was going to have a nice and quiet lesson, was seated in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but he didn't seem to be happy as his head pounded. He looked around the room, which was adorned with numerous portraits of its owner, Gilderoy Lockhart. As the door to his office opened, Lockhart emerged, beaming. "Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: me, Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award," he declared with pride. He flashed his award-winning smile and added with a chuckle, "But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him." Lockhart laughed at his own joke, but the room remained silent.
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A/N Ah, this chapter contains a lot of pieces that are extremely important to the plot, but i am 100% sure that you wont notice. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.