CHAPTER 68 - This is not an adieu, it’s a cheerio…!

'Damn it! They're taking my familiar away from me!'

[I would take a look into the new functionalities before bitching around.]

'Huh? What the hell do you mean?'

[Ha… too much for your low IQ… Just open the interface!]

And just as the system said, grudgingly, Logan opened the system, only for his eyes to shine brightly.

[User: Logan D. Taylor

Vocation: Sorcerer

Magic Level: 58

Magic Stage: 2

Status: Healthy

Familiars: 1 (!)

Points: 18795pts

Quests

Store (!)

Familiar Interface (!)

Inventory (Size limit: 850oz/24.10kg)]

'Ignoring the lack of improvement on my Magic Level, it does have new functionalities!' Logan's eyes shined as he went through the Familiar Interface.

[Number of Familiars: 1

List of Familiars (!)

Familiar Ranch (!)]

'Hopefully…' He thought as he moved directly into the last option on the list.

[Familiar Ranch: 0 (!)]

'...Eh?' He was shocked. But before he could ask the system, someone patted his shoulder. Turning to look at the person, he noticed it was Hermione. "What happened?"

"You seemed lost in thoughts." Ron shrugged, and both Hermione and Harry nodded.

"Come on, it mus' be that he's still tryin' to process havin' to separate fro' little Ryuko here." Hagrid said as he swape a tear from his eyes. "I can understan' 'im."

"Y-Yeah…" Logan nodded as he scratched the back of his head. "It's kind of sad to have to be separated from little Ryuko." He said as he patted the small dragoness, who rubbed herself on his hand. "She's just so cute."

"Isn' tha' righ'?" Hagrid nodded too.

'...You two have a weird definition of cute.' The golden trio thought to themselves as they exchanged glances.

After planning for the following weeks, Ron offered himself to write to his brother in order to try and take Ryuko back into the sanctuary. In the meantime, Hagrid would take care of Ryuko inside his house, while Logan would go from time to time to help and to spend time with his familiar.

As soon as they made their way to the castle, the first-years went to their next classes, while Logan took the free time he had before his next class to speak with the system.

'So… care to explain why it says that the ranch it's zero? I thought I could just leave Ryoko to stay there…'

[You're confusing something. The Familiar Ranch it's not a full sub-dimension where you can put your creatures while hiding them from the whole world.]

'Then? How does it work?'

[The Familiar Ranch it's a defined place that has turned into a 'Ranch', you can have multiple of these Ranches, and the amount of familiars you're allowed to keep in each one depends on the size of the available space. If, for example, you turn a wholly uninhabited island into a Familiar Ranch, you can fill it with as many familiars as the space on the island allows it.]

'Huh? Then how can it be possible for me to summon them? I'll have to go fetch them from the island if that's the case. And how can I even create one of these ranches.' He asked, slightly frustrated.

[That's why I told you to explore the new functionalities, as in plural. Not just the more eye-catching one.]

'Oh…' Logan nodded and looked through the new functionalities. Familiars only showed him the number of familiars. And he already saw the new Familiar Interface, although not in-depth, the other function just seemed to be able to show a list of his familiars. 'Mm… the store has been updated.'

[Store / 18795pts

Spell Books

Wands/Rods

Runes

Vocations

General Items

Equipment

Spells (!)

Pet Shop (!)]

'Spells is available now! As well as a… pet shop? Whatever! Spells first!' Logan thought as he directly opened the newly unsealed store.

[Spells | 18795pts

Summon/Unsummon Familiar (15000pts) (!)

Create Familiar Ranch (2000pts) (!)

Teach Skills to Familiars (30000pts) (!)

???]

'Oi. This is broken.' Logan thought as he was mesmerized by the list of 'spells'. Or more exactly… 'THIS IS BROKENLY EXPENSIVE! WHY SO EXPENSIVE!?'

[Stop whining. One skill allows you to summon your familiars from wherever to then send them back. The other allows you to create a special place that you can use to safeguard your familiars. The last one, allows you to increase the strength of your familiars.]

'Does it means that I can teach skills to Ryoko?' Logan's eyes shined.

[Precisely.]

'That's too great! Imagine her, a dragoness, with more power! Wouldn't she be pretty broken!?' Logan grinned, almost laughing maniacally. Fortunately for him, he somehow managed to calm down.

[Well, take into account that you need to save 30.000 points for that.]

"..." Immediately after, his excitement turned into sadness, as he looked at his points. '18.795… That's barely enough to get the two first spells… But… I guess that's enough for now.' With a nod, he decided to proceed.

[Congratulations! You have learned Summon/Unsummon Familiar!]

[Congratulations! You have learned Create Familiar Ranch!]

[Congratulations! You have completed a hidden quest! You've purchased your first spell! Spells are unique abilities that you can acquire from the system after certain conditions are met, and they allow you to do game-like things that are not necessarily related to any OTS.]

[1000pts have been earned.]

'Well… that's something at least.' Logan thought as a silent, lonely tear escaped his eye after the loss of so many points.

[Well, I should congratulate you. You now have access to one of the most useful functionalities of the system.]

'Ha… thanks, I guess. I just have to figure out a way for me to acquire a Familiar Ranch. I can't just grab anywhere.'

[I would suggest you use an expansive briefcase. One of the most famous magizoologists in the Wizarding World was famous for carrying one filled with different magical creatures and full biomes inside it.]

'Mm? Who?' Logan frowned.

[Newt Scamander.]

'Oh right! I almost forgot about that guy. Never saw the movies, but I have read about him in some fics.' Logan nodded. 'From what I somewhat remember, he got that in the United States… That will be hard.'

[...]

'Oh well, I guess I can just try and replicate something similar with runes and enchantments.' Logan shrugged.

[I thought you would forget about it.]

'No, not at all. I'm too immersed in runes to forget about what's possible with it once mastered. It might take time, but I know I'll be able to recreate something similar, if not a lot better.' Logan sighed. 'Anyways. I better get going, my next class is soon starting, and I need to get my stuff.'

***

Days passed by, and contrary to what the golden trio, and even Logan, thought, Malfoy never snitched on them, so he didn't get stitches. A few days after Ron wrote to his brother, Charlie actually responded to his letter, telling the trio that some friends of his were going to visit him at the sanctuary the upcoming week, so he would contact them in order to get the dragoness, giving Hogwarts a visit, albeit a hidden one.

The news from Charlie alleviated the trio, as the dragoness has been growing too big, too quickly. She was almost a medium-sized dog's size in a week, and the growth wasn't stopping any time soon. Although both Hagrid and Logan were too happy to complain about it, seemingly not seeing how dangerous was to have a fire-breathing creature inside a hut with wood and other flammable materials all around.

Thankfully for them, Ryuko was quite calm and quiet, especially when Logan was present. She quite loved to rest on his lap while he caressed her, breaking any notion that Ron, and even Hagrid, had about the Norwegian Ridgebacks. After all, no matter how much Hagrid loved his creatures, he too knew the temperament of that particular breed. Even if they were not as hostile as a Hungarian Horntail, they were still quite ferocious, especially the females of the specie.

Another week passed, and Charlie wrote back again, saying how his friends would pass by to get the dragon.

[Dear Ron,

I wrote my friends, and they agreed to get the dragon. They will come to visit the next week. The problem is that transporting an illegal dragon will be complicated, and they can't be seen with it. Could you take the Norwegian Ridgeback to the astronomy tower Saturday at midnight? They will find you there and will take the dragon away under the cover of the night.

Send me your answer as soon as possible.]

Sending back the answer as fast as possible, the whole group got calmer. At least the golden trio, as both Logan and Hagrid were reluctant to part ways. Logan was thankful that he could summon and unsummon the dragon on, but it was still difficult to say his farewell. Even with Draco's constant smug's smile, and the threat of him telling on them, they found time to do their usual activities, and even spend some time with the dragon.

Unfortunately for Ron, who after seeing the 'calm' demeanor of the dragoness for days decided to pet her, the dragoness seemed to have something against redheads, or well, probably just against Ron, or so Logan joked in his mind, while Ron cried about the apparent injustice of being the only one bit by Ryuko on the hand.

And as if fate was laughing at Ron, Norwegian Ridgebacks had a particular trait, and that was their venomous fangs, which in Ryuko's case, ended up being worse. It didn't take long for his injury to get worse.

"Mm? What are you doing here?" Logan asked the trio as they entered the Hospital Wing.

"..." Ron could only deadpan at his question, at least until the pain on his hand made him flinch and whine.

"Is that because of…?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow, confirming that it was Ryoko's bite that caused the damage. 'So venomous fangs… noted.' Logan thought as he took Ron to a bed to rest.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked him as he helped Ron lay down on the bed.

"I usually help around the place." Logan shrugged. "Madam Pomfrey is teaching me healing magic, while I use some of my own to help students and alleviate some of the load on Madam Pomfrey's shoulders."

"You know healing magic?" Hermione's eyes widened. Logan could swear they were shining, even if dimly.

"Yeah." Logan nodded, turning to Ron's hand.

"But those are not taught in the curriculum! How can you know it?" She excitedly asked.

"Some I've learned on my own, others were taught to me by Madam Pomfrey." He put both hands on Ron's poisoned hand. 'Exana Pox Sio'. With a version of the Cure Poison spell that could be applied to another person, Logan managed to stop the main problem, the venom. Though, the venom of Ryuko was particularly stronger than other members of her specie, so the damage was far more advanced than what any other Norwegian Ridgeback could have done.

"What is that?" Hermione asked as she looked at the light-green light coming from Logan's hands, as the already putrid green, almost black-looking injury on his hand returned to a slightly more decent color. Ron's hand was still far bigger than what could be considered normal, and there were some signs of slight decaying.

"You should have probably come earlier." Logan shook his head. "The injury was quite bad. If I didn't stop the venom, it could move from your hand to somewhere else, and the result wouldn't be pretty at all. We're lucky that it seemed to stay for a while in your hand."

"Am I going to be alright!?" Ron asked, his face pale as a sheet, probably more because of fear than the effects of the venom itself.

"Yes. You still need to rest though." Logan said as he proceed to apply some healing to his injury, taking out any risk of it getting worse. It somewhat improved the condition of Ron's hand, but it still looked quite bad.

"..." Hermione couldn't take her eyes off Logan's hands, who seemed to use strange charms one after the other. 'Seriously, what is this magic? I've never heard of something like this! It looks more like magic from those fantasy novels for teens and kids than anything I've read here in Hogwarts.'

"Anyways." Logan said as he stood up, Ron's condition stable enough to manage a natural recovery. "Madam Pomfrey should be here soon, I was covering for her, but it's time I get back to work. With Hagrid too occupied with Ryuko, I've had to help Professor Kettleburn with more of the creatures in Hogwarts."

"Can you just finish healing me?" Ron asked with hope in his voice.

"I'm sorry Ron. But I really need to get going." Logan shook his head. "Besides, you're already out of danger. Take the time to spend a day or two free of classes." Logan chuckled as he went outside of the Hospital Wing.

"How are you feeling?" Harry turned to Ron after Logan abandoned the place. "Does it still hurts?"

"Yes, somewhat." Ron nodded, slightly moving his injured hand. "But it's far better than before. At least now I don't feel as if my hand would fall anytime soon."

"..." While both of them talked, Hermione frowned as she looked at the entrance of the Hospital Wing. 'He's always using magic that I've never heard about… What could he be hiding? Is it something that can only be learned in Ravenclaw? They do have their own library after all…'

***

Ron's happiness at being saved from a horrible death, or from losing his hand, didn't last long. As a smug Malfoy suspiciously showed up in the Hospital Wing with the excuse of borrowing a book. And, once again, as if Lady Luck was laughing in his face, Malfoy took a book that had the letter from Charlie. He now knew when, and where, they would take the dragon. If they were treading on a thin line before, now they were royally screwed. Or so the trio thought.

"Relax, guys." Logan tried to calm them down. "We'll be able to do this easily. Besides, I'll help you with it, right?"

"..." The trio looked at each other, not sure how to break it for him that the invisibility cape could only cover two of them, plus the cage they obviously needed to use to hold Ryuko.

"Mm… I see you don't really trust me huh." Logan chuckled. "No worries, you'll see when the time comes. You better find a way for people not to see you."

With a nod and an apparent lack of confidence in the upperclassman's words, the trio went back to the castle from another day in Hagrid's hut. Causing Logan to chuckle as he caressed Ryuko.

***

Saturday night finally came, it was a dark and cloudy night. Midnight was almost on their head, so they had to move fast.

Hermione and Harry were standing in front of Hagrid's hut, with the latter holding a cage with Ryuko inside. The already not-so-small dragoness ended up growing to be quite big, to the point that it rose the question of how hard it would be for them to carry her all the way to the astronomy tower.

"Well, that's a tricky piece of cloth you have there, Harry." Logan chuckled as he saw Hermione and Harry showing up under the invisibility cloak.

"Y-Yeah." Harry nodded sheepishly. "It was a gift from my father."

"Mm? It's that so?" Logan nodded. "Good for you kid." He said, while inside, he was doing his best to ignore the feeling that was pulling him towards the cloak. 'Ha… Somewhat, having this feeling towards what could as well be considered a relic from Death itself leaves a weird taste in my mouth.'

[Yeah… at least it's not towards Fate.]

'Right.' He inwardly nodded toward the system's message. "Everything ready?" He asked the two and then turned to the sobbing mess known as Hagrid. "Hagrid, as much as I hate to admit it, she will be better in a place where they can take care of her." He tried to calm the half-giant.

"I know… It's jus' tha' it's har'... She's such a sweetie…" He said between sobs.

"How will you accompany us?" Hermione asked as he turned to Logan. "We have the cloak, but it can't cover all three of us, plus Ryuko."

"I have my ways." Logan shrugged, before turning invisible. "We're in the wizarding world, Miss Granger." He chuckled at her shocked face. "There's more than one way to become invisible."

"That's amazing…" Harry looked shocked at the scene in front of him. Inwardly, he always thought that he was the only student that could disappear, ignoring the obvious signs of Dumbledore. 'Mm? Now that I think about it, didn't Professor Dumbledore say something similar to me before?'

"Is that another one of your secret charms?" Hermione asked, still in shock a the demonstration of such unknown magic to her. 'Maybe I would have been better in Ravenclaw? No! It's great being in Gryffindor with my friends!' She self-chastised at the thought of being in the wrong house.

"Anyways, we better go." Logan said although the two freshmen felt it would be difficult to follow where he was. "I'll keep this light on, and tread ahead." He said as a small, dim light appeared. It would be difficult to see in normal circumstances, but under a dark, cloudy night such as this one, the light was visible enough for them to see and follow. "If the light disappears, or turns red, you should stop. Understood? Also, stay at least a couple of meters away from it, while I can see you two under the cloak, you won't be able to see me."

"Wait, you can see us under the cloak!?" Harry was shocked. It was the first time he was hearing something like that was possible.

"Yes, Harry, I can. But don't fret, it's not something that just anyone can do." Logan calmed him down. Truth be told, Logan thought that for something created by Death, it was quite weird for him to look through, even if it was only possible thanks to his Arcane Eyes. Again, it might have something to do with the feeling he had toward the Deathly Hallows. "Let's go then."

With a sobbing Hagrid 'seeing' them off, the three students and a dragoness embarked on their way toward the Astronomy Tower. On their way, Logan acted as the pathfinder and made sure that they didn't face anyone. Whether it was a professor, a prefect, or even the bothersome Peeves, Logan expertly guided them through the hallways of the castle. Both Hermione and Harry couldn't help but think about how many times he had done something like this for him to be so adept at scurrying through Hogwart undetected. Sure, invisibility played a major role, but his certainty on where to go, and when someone could show up, was too coincidental for them to shrug it off.

"Detention!" And just as they made their way up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. An angry-looking Professor McGonagall dressed in a tartan bathrobe, had Malfoy by the ear. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you?" She asked him as she pulled him away.

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming!" Malfoy tried to reason with her. "He's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish!" She scoffed. "How dare you tell such lies. Come on, I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The three invisible students could only try not to laugh at Malfoy's situation, his attempt at catching them turning around to bite his ass. The last stretch of the way was quite an easy one, as they made their way to the top of the tower.

"Malfoy's got detention!" Hermione exclaimed as they finally left the cover of the invisibility cloak, benign quite stuffy under it. "I could sing!"

"Don't." Harry quickly stopped her.

"Well, that was fun." Logan said as his invisibility disappeared. Standing beside them, and crouching down to pet Ryuko while they waited for Charlie's friends. Hermione and Harry were joking about Malfoy's situation, while Logan only chuckled at them.

Minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness. They were Charlie's friends, certainly a cheery group by the way they acted, Logan and Harry thought.

'Wasn't Hogwart supposed to have some kind of shield that stops people other than guests, students, and professors from entering this place?' Logan tilted his head in confusion as Charlie's friends were securing Ryuko in a harness they put together to carry her. Harry and Hermione were helping them, while Logan was petting the dragoness to keep her calm.

"Well, color me surprised, mate." One of Charlie's friends muttered as he looked at Logan. "Never have I seen a dragon, especially a female Norwegian Ridgeback, act so calm while someone petted her. You sure you don't plan to work at a sanctuary after graduation?"

"I don't think so." Logan shook his head. "Though it's still too early to decide."

"Well, think about it kid. You do seem to have a knack for it." He said as the four of them lifted into the air, Ryuko in tow.

As they left, Logan, Harry, and Hermione stared at the disappearing group of broomsticks. 'Dumbledore has to know about this. Hopefully, he doesn't nag me about doing dangerous stuff later on…' He chuckled at the thought. "Well, we better start going." Logan said, while both Harry and Hermione nodded, and made their way down the stairs. 'Aren't these guys forgetting something?' He tilted his head but shrugged it off. 'It's not like they will get caught this early on.' He thought as he looked one more time at where Charlie's friends disappeared. Shaking his head to ignore his thoughts, he looked for the Invisibility Cloak that the other two forgot.

Once he found it, Hermione and Harry were well past halfway down. Shrugging, he grabbed it and turned invisible, following after them, it would be best to give them the cloak before someone caught them, ignoring the notification he received, as well as the feeling of something inside him pulling at something inside the cloak. His hopes of them not getting caught came crashing down at the voice that appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, well, well," Filch, who was at the foot of the stairs, whispered. "We are in trouble."

'This is why you don't bring noobs to this type of covert operations…' Logan sighed inwardly as he looked at the apprehended students. 'Should have predicted it!'

[+1] The system timely commented.