52

Fifteenth of March, Outskirts of Hogwarts Castle, Evening.

 Although the calendar spring has already arrived for half a month, everything in life turned out a little wrong. The winter weather had no intention of giving up its hold. The snow continued to lie in drifts - burying, it seemed, this entire mortal world. The wind was still strong and cold, not one bit sparing the poor traveler for deciding to go outside in this weather. Only the sun continued to shine as before, but it was still missing. The day was too short, and the clouds that covered almost the entire sky did not allow the rays of the huge plasma ball to reach the surface of the earth.

 That evening, like many others before it, there was heavy snowfall, which made it impossible to see anything further than twenty to thirty meters, there was so much of it. But there was also a plus in this weather. At such a time, it is very difficult to notice "suspicious individuals" who were trying to turn back their affairs. Our hero was precisely such a person that in this not calm weather he walked only along the only path he had seen. Each step he took measured an ever greater distance, and the traces that he left behind him mysteriously disappeared. Although there is no mysticism in this, it is just another way to use Psi powers to your advantage.

 "Damn weather, Damn Hagrid, Damn dragon," Calder wailed in his mind as he made his way through the snowfall. Although, it looked more like a real snowstorm. - How do the trio get to Hagrid's hut in this weather? No idea."

 Making his way through the snowdrifts, actively helping himself with magic and Psi, the guy once again thought about his further actions.

 "You had to get so carried away by books, training and magic that you forgot one very interesting fact. Well, how can I forget, I'd rather just not pay attention to him," the guy chuckled at his own statement. Although no one saw his grin, and no one could have. And this is not because of the living people next to him, no. It's just that, as he always does, he hid his identity before the sortie with the help of charms. All that could be seen in place of his face was a black hole without a mouth, nose or eyes. — Hagrid got a damn dragon, which Quirell gave him. What is a dragon? One of the highest creatures in the magical fauna. And who am I? Metamorph. What do I need for development? That's right, Genes of strong creatures. Another week, and I would have completely missed the opportunity to receive the Dragon Genes, due to the departure of the carrier of these genes. Eh, well, there's only a little time left," Kol thought and quickened his pace. And indeed, at a distance of about fifty meters the light began to loom, pouring from the window of the hut. Calder, with his vision, was able to see him successfully.

 Just half a week ago, or more precisely three days, Nev and Kol, sitting in the library, noticed Hagrid that he was taking books from the section dedicated to magical animals.

 "What is actually unusual here?" - Nev asked Calder this question, noticing his reaction to Hagrid. The answer is simple - for all the time that they were in the library, and they were there almost every day, Hagrid never visited it, and now he is suddenly inflamed with new knowledge? Kol had some doubts.

 His doubts were confirmed when the boys, out of pure curiosity, of course, looked at what book Hagrid was taking. It was a guide to dragons. It was then that Kol remembered Norbert, the dragon that the Forester was supposed to have. And here, apparently, he already had it at that time.

 Nev didn't know this, so he attributed the forester's atypical behavior to another of his mania for "cute animals." Of course, Kol did not convince him; he did not want to deceive his friend, literally at all. And there was no need, he himself came up with a convincing theory for himself, which he himself believed in. All Calder needed to do was remain silent at the right moment.

 The outlines of the hut became more and more visible in this darkness. Now the cone-shaped roof became visible, which was covered under a cap of snow. A couple more steps and the walls became visible, and a moment later a wooden door reinforced with steel plates.

 Like the previous two times, and Calder was making this way for the third time in order to reconnoiter the situation, the boy looked around, and then with a wave of his wand he created a spell:

 "Rationabile Palam," one of the ancient, and therefore forgotten, charms for detecting sentient beings that Calder found in the library of the founders worked, as always. Invisible to the ordinary eye, gray waves dispersed in space, capturing all three planes of our real world.

 Three seconds later the answer came in the form of a gray-white bundle of threads. The result, as expected, was negative - there were no intelligent people within a radius of two hundred and fifty meters.

 "Tangibilia," the proven charm worked as it should, although this time it was necessary to exert fifty percent more effort than then in the class. I wonder who enchanted the forester's hut? Yes, and there were runes on the door; in magical vision they glowed with a bright, dark brown color, like the bark of an old tree. It's good that the sterility charms were created precisely for such cases, when you need to go through the door, but at the same time not disturb the spell placed on them.

 True, it's not worth lingering anyway, you never know what other charms were here. Calder was sure that there would be a solution for any case.

 Having passed through the door, he found himself in a standard hut full of them. One large room that included both a kitchen and a dining room with a bedroom. There was another opening on the side, which was covered with something like curtains. There was a warehouse for the forester's belongings, and there was also a back exit from the house. But that was not what interested the boy.

 Looking around the room again, he came across what he was looking for. In the corner, next to the fireplace, there was something like a nest, created from various rags. In the very center, covered with its own wing, the dragon slept. This was Calder's goal.

 Carefully, trying not to wake up the winged one, Calder moved towards him, however, without missing a moment to examine the future ruler of earth and sky. The powerful body, even at such a small age, was covered with gray-green scales, which even looked very strong. The membranous wings, reminiscent of those of bats, only much more powerful, were partially folded. The dragon's head, lying on its own paws, was strewn with small thorns. The winged one was about half a meter in size, and you couldn't tell that it had recently hatched, but if it spread its wings it would become even larger.

 A couple of steps and now he is already at his goal. Drakosha himself never noticed his presence. Concentrating, Calder tried to use one of the simplest techniques of psionics - putting a living being into sleep. Magic works even worse on dragons than on trolls, even such small ones. That's why you have to be more sophisticated.

 A wave of purple color, visible only to the psionicist himself, carefully enveloped the sleeping dragon, deepening his sleep even more. Now he asks for at least two hours.

 "Phew," Calder mentally sighed. - And it was harder than I thought, I still don't have enough practice. We need to train more."

 Quietly, without rustling his clothes, Kol took out a vial of blood, as well as a transfigured syringe. The needle carefully and, most importantly, painlessly entered under the wing. It is there that there is a place that is not so strongly protected by scales. Having drawn a full syringe of blood, the boy carefully took out the needle and poured the blood into a container, but simply dispelled the syringe.

 Having hidden the blood in his inner pocket, Calder stood up, took a careful look at the hut again and headed towards the exit. Things are finished here.

 The path to the castle took about twenty minutes. There were still ten minutes left before lights out, just enough to get to the living room.

 No longer hiding from anyone, Calder walked through the castle. He didn't meet anyone along the way. And no wonder, most of them were already in their rooms, dinner was over, and the rest, mostly couples, were in secluded places. Therefore, the guy's path was clear. He's better off.

 *****

 Without a sound, the wall behind Calder closed, cutting off the passage to the castle corridor. Here he is, in the faculty living room.

 Nodding in greeting to some of his acquaintances, the boy was about to head to his room, but a female voice called out to him:

 - Good evening, Calder. Won't you join me? - Turning towards the voice, Calder met the eyes of Penelope Crystal, who, sitting by the fireplace, smiled sweetly at him.

 After a moment of hesitation, Calder realized one thing:

 "They didn't hear her," he guessed, looking at his classmates. - What is this? Leglimency disappears; there was no meeting of eyes. Psi? Same no, I didn't feel the Psi waves. Perhaps the magic of sound? — pondering all sorts of options, Kol walked to the chair that stood opposite Crystal.

 Sitting down on a chair and making himself more comfortable, the guy said:

 — Hello again, Miss Crystal. What did you want to discuss with me?

 - As always, straight to the point, right? "She said, tilting her head slightly to the side.

 "I prefer specifics rather than meaningless conversations," he shrugged.

 - What about the conversation with the cute Girl by the firelight? - She said, puffing out her cheeks slightly. At the same time, the space next to them seemed to be covered with ripples, and then everything disappeared.

 "This is an illusion," the boy realized after examining the surrounding space with magical vision. - How does this turn out, then there was a sound illusion, and not the magic of sound? It may well be, but one should not discount another option - the fleeting glance that he threw at Crystal was already completely different, more serious and focused. However, she did not notice this glance. "And she is quite gifted beyond her years." Especially among the general fund of the school. I knew this before, but now..."

 - With you? "Any time," he flattered her. - But alas, not today. Today my extracurricular activities were unusually exhausting. I would like to quickly go to bed and have a good rest. Tomorrow is not a day off, especially since I have transiguration and potion-making awaiting me.

 "Come on," she waved her hand slightly. "Everyone has known for a long time that you know the material for the first year. I think there won't be any problems," an encouraging smile bloomed on her face. He was silent, there was nothing to say. "Let me ask you a question," she changed the topic. - How do you like life in our house? Do you like everything? Maybe you noticed something strange? — He smiled slyly, narrowing his eyes slightly.

 "Ravenclaw is the ideal house for me," Calder said, after pretending to think. - Loneliness and the thirst for knowledge - that's what I'm pursuing. What about the strangeness?" His eyes rose to the ceiling. — Well, one of them is my bewilderment about the "storage" of knowledge in our faculty.

 - Warehousing? What do you mean by this word? — A question mark appeared next to her head.

 "Is she messing with me?" — this was exactly the thought that was in the guy's head at the moment.

 "Well, the thing is," he pretended not to notice "this." — That knowledge should help in self-improvement, and not lie as a dead weight. In other words, they must "work". What do I see at our faculty? - His hand described a line, pointing to each representative of his house that were currently in the living room. — Knowledge does not work, it lies and gathers dust. Only a few use them at all, except in class. Believe me, this is very little.

 Having fallen silent, the guy stared intently at the headman of his house.

 "What is her answer? Will you skip this topic? Or, on the contrary, will it continue? It's not just that she asked me to express my opinion about the faculty. Somehow she is pursuing a goal, all that remains is to understand: What exactly is this goal and whether it can harm me."

 In general, this conversation, or a conversation similar to it, has been brewing for a long time. During this six months, Calder constantly communicated with her on various topics that in one way or another related to either him, his magic, or the faculty. Of course, he hid almost everything, and transferred the topics to some other topics. You never know why she needs this information.

 "An interesting statement," she finally said, having come to some conclusion. - You know, I completely agree with him. Unfortunately, this is what happens in this house. Apparently most simply fail to realize this, so after graduation they go to work as some kind of clerk, or in different guilds. Those who understood this during school achieve much more. There's nothing you can do about it. This happened back in my first year, although I am sure this has been happening for many years.

 "Well, that's quite interesting," Calder thought after hearing what he heard. — It turns out that the school is still a social institution, but already independent. Yes, this is practiced everywhere in ordinary schools, but there teachers act as a kind of limiter in the actions of children. After all, no one wants to be punished? — mentally his face broke into a grin, although in reality he was still sitting with an emotionless face. - There is no such thing here. This leads to the second problem."

 "The first "problem" is clear," Calder began, after a minute of silence. - The second follows from the first. Arbitrariness bordering on permissiveness.

 - ABOUT? And where does this show up?

 "In relation to elders to younger ones," the boy shrugged. — Different faculties have different attitudes towards people who have greatly distinguished themselves or stand out. The vultures will mostly stick to him, but if they are disappointed, they will immediately betray him; the canon actions with Potter are an example of this. - Slytherin - different factions will try to get it, it won't work - they will ignore all faculties, or a new mini-faction will appear. Halfluff - they will try to make friends, or they will simply ignore you. But with Ravenclaw, everything is a little different," Calder emphasized the name of his house in his voice. "With us, if you stand out more than is permitted, you will be treated as persona nongrata, and possibly persecuted." And immediately, without thinking about the situation.

 - Yes? But you are the person of nongrata in our faculty. But I don't see any bullying.

 "The dean and you singled me out," the guy pointed at her. "And you don't need to make such a face; if you think about it, it becomes immediately clear." But there is one small question that I have been wanting to ask for a long time. Will you allow me? - A slow nod on her part was the answer. - Why do you need all this? What was so special about me at the very beginning? And there's no need to talk about my "genius," which doesn't exist, it didn't exist then. So what's your answer?

 This question plunged them into silence. The guy looked at her intently, but she was somewhere far away in her thoughts. Only the eyes were extremely serious and concentrated. The silence lasted for about two minutes until she finally spoke.

 "The attitude of our faculty is one of common fear. Many come to our faculty with thoughts of tranquility, which is why they are afraid of people who stand out. What if he makes my life difficult? Will it interfere? Will it attract unnecessary attention? These are the thoughts that fly out of your heads," her answer was more or less justified. If we take it on faith that the majority of students in the department are cowards. - As you correctly noted, they stood up for you. The dean is simply interested in you, but at the beginning I simply supported the dean, but then," a mysterious smile appeared on her face. "I won't tell you anything more." Perhaps you will find out about this, or maybe you will disappoint me and it will remain a secret. — at the end of the last word, she rose from her chair and headed towards the women's rooms. The illusion spell dissipated as soon as she crossed the line. - Good dreams, Calder. Get some rest.

 So she left without answering the main question.