8 Start of the Year

After the feast ended, all of the houses were led by the prefects to their respective dormitories. Ours is inside of the Hogwarts tower. The entrance is without a doorknob and replaced by a bronze eagle-shaped knocker. When all Ravenclaws stood near the door, the prefect suddenly spoke.

"The other houses' entrances are opened by a secret password, but our house is different. Since we are the house of the intelligent and wise..." some of the students had a smug look on their faces. I bet they take pride in being called the house of intelligence.

"...The door requires you to answer a riddle. If you fail to answer, you just have to wait for other housemates to answer the door correctly." He explained. Well just like the books. I hope I'm smart enough to answer riddles.

"So, anyone wanted to try?" The prefect asked the first years in particular. Even his eyes were on me. I just sighed and raised a hand. I can't wait to hold my wand again.

When he saw me raised my hand, he made stepped aside as I made my way to the door. I was in the spotlight since the sorting ceremony began. Even my other housemates either sneered or looked at me expectantly. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'll have to answer the riddle correctly.

"You can only enter if you answered the riddle correctly.

The beginning of eternity,

The end of time and space

The beginning of every end

The end of every place."

The bronze eagle waited for my answer.

My housemates were confused about the question. No doubt even they don't know the answer. Even the prefect is thinking deeply about the answer. This riddle is easy, I've heard this countless times in my past life. The authors of some fiction I've read made different riddles, and I searched every answer on the internet.

When I looked at Cho, I nearly laughed at what I saw. She stared back at me with a puzzled face, wondering if I know the answer. I just smiled at her and turned my head to the entrance. Then I answered confidently.

"The letter E". I spoke. Just like what they say. Sometimes the simplest things are the answers to the most complicated questions.

" Acceptable." The eagle said before opening the door. The door opened and there I saw the Ravenclaw Common room in full glory. The whole room is painted by midnight blue, with its curtains themed in Ravenclaw's blue and bronze silks. The common room is so wide and well-lit coming from the light of the moon that passes through the arched windows. Our common room also has its mini-library. I haven't seen the contents of the library, but I'm sure as hell I'll read all of it. The wooden floor is also covered with midnight blue carpet with star patterns. The whole room was themed like some sort of a royal bedroom. Rowena sure has a good sense in terms of aesthetics.

"Wow," I said with my jaw widening a bit.

"Glad you liked the room Mr.Grindelwald. This will be your home for the rest of your stay in Hogwarts. First years, welcome to the Ravenclaw common room."."

"The dorm will be upstairs with the left side being the girls' side and the right side for the boys. Girls are not allowed inside the boys' dormitory as the boys are not allowed inside the girls'. All your trunks and things are already brought inside. Also, your class schedule will be distributed tomorrow, so I might suggest you all sleep. And wake up early. Good night." The prefect spoke before all of us went to our respective rooms.

When I entered my room, I saw my trunk there. I immediately picked up my wand and put it on the nightstand. I practiced wandless magic for a bit, from basic spells to the complicated ones. I may have my wand, but I have to continuously exercise my wandless magic so I won't lose my touch. Grandfather may be a Dark Lord, but he's still a great wizard, so I took all his advice to heart. He even made me research spells so I can make my own. I already made less complicated spells, but what I was concerned about was my inability to cast the Patronus charm. Grandfather told me to never cast that charm the day I was taught the Dark Arts. I have no defense for the Dementors, so I took notes of what can affect them except the Patronus charm. The greatest breakthrough I made in my research is that while Dementors are not affected by simple fire, they will be pissed if someone casts the Incendio spell near them. That meant that somehow, fire can affect Dementors. What I found was very astonishing. Fiendfyre can surely affect them since that curse is a fire from Hell itself. The only concerning thing about Fiendfyre is it was a fire that can't be controlled. It will only die out if it doesn't have anything to consume.

I can't conduct my experiments yet, but I'm thinking of going to the Room of Requirement in the future. That place will be my testing ground for my spells. I only finished the theory part. The thing is, my spell would be considered a bit dark since I'm drawing power from Fiendfyre. I already got my magic and all, what I'm lacking is how I'll shape my Fiendfyre. My hypothesis is that I needed an intent to be able to control the cursed fire. Following the 3 W's of magic, the will, the wand, and the wizard, I pretty much got it all.

Another topic in my research is about time itself. Even grandfather was wary when dealing with time, saying that time is the very fabric of reality, and it does not like to be tested. But I'm not going big like making some time machine. I found out that there are not many spells for healing, and I think the most advanced spell is the Vulnera Sanentur, which heals serious bleeding wounds. I was taking the risk of messing with time to form my own healing spell that I even made more progress in it compared to my current Fiendfyre project. I was almost complete with the spell, successfully curing small wounds. But I haven't tested if it can cure huge cuts. My spell also won't be able to reattach lost limbs. The idea behind it is basically turning time back into the state when the flesh is clear of any wounds. It may be only effective against wound though. I don't have a spell that can counter poisons, mental magic, and the likes.

My most successful spells are Fulmen and Supris Nocta. Fulmen is the name for my lightning bolt. I swear I looked like Palpatine when I cast it wandlessly. Basically, it's just a streak of lightning that I can blast to a target. I can even control its power from paralyzing my opponent to outright killing him.

The next is Supris Nocta, which is just a hex. The Obscuro spell just blindfolds the target, while my hex is about total blindness. What's more, I modified it to make the target temporarily deaf and blind. He won't even be able to hear his own voice. But it can be cured by a simple Finite. It's a simple but useful hex, that's why it was easy to create.

I will be making more spells in the future. But with my current achievements, I'm quite satisfied. I slept in a good mood that night.

The next day, I was coming down the hall to eat breakfast when all the students went silent. I am already used to that kind of treatment, so I ignored them and sat near my housemates. I was busy eating when someone sat near me.

"I guess I did make it on the front page? g'morning." I spoke as I realized who it was.

"Good morning. That's quite an understatement there Fred." Cho replied with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" I looked around the hall and noticed that many students have copies of a newspaper... Is that Daily Prophet? I saw the ridiculous title and read it.

'HEIR OF GRINDELWALD ENTERS HOGWARTS'

"You made in the front page... of every wizarding paper that is," she said with a hint of mischief. Damn, that was really an understatement.

"You even stole the limelight from The-Boy-Who-Lives, " she talked with that kind of face again. Yeah, even the Boy-Who-Lived didn't make it to the front page. I bet Harry is happy with that. He's a person who doesn't want that kind of attention.

Back to Cho, she must be interested in how I'll react. Sorry lady, but I must disappoint you. I'm a practitioner of mind arts, so I can manage my emotions.

"I even heard that some people from the Ministry might come to try and see you," she said while frowning. Must be disappointed that she didn't manage to get a reaction out of me.

"And here I was hoping I can live a quiet life," I said while eating. The other might noticed it, but I already know that some people are eavesdropping in our conversation. I don't plan on revealing anything though. Not that I have something to reveal, except about having skills in dealing with the Dark Arts.

Now that I think about it, grandfather warned me about the wizards that might hunt me down for revenge. But he didn't exactly look concerned. I wonder what he has in his mind. I guess I'll have to deal with those people on my own. I hope my words are strong enough to protect the orphanage.

I continued eating in silence due to the sudden news when Professor Flitwick approached the table. Oh, the class schedule is supposed to be distributed today. I was about to read the schedule when Professor Flitwick spoke again but in a low voice.

"Mr. Grindelwald, the Headmaster wishes to speak with you after the class. Don't worry. If you want, I can accompany you in the office." He assured me.

"Thanks, professor, but I think I will be fine myself." I replied, declining him politely. The professor was fine with that too and returned to his table with the other teachers. Soon, the class was about to begin.

The first class for the day is Transfiguration. I immediately went straight to the room and sat in the middle part, in between other chairs. I saw a cat sitting on the teacher's table, but I ignored it. I already know it's Professor McGonagall. Instead, I chose to review the book while waiting for the room to fill up. I can feel the Professor's gaze at me, but I still continued my reading.

Eventually, the room was filled up with students. Surprisingly, we would be studying with the Slytherins. The students were chatting while I only waited for McGonagall to transform. I don't have that many friends, and Cho is only an acquaintance at most.

The class was shocked and amazed when they saw Professor McGonagall change. When she was done, she turned to me with a look of approval and... worry?

Well, the class started as we were introduced to Transfiguration. All of us were warned that we will be punished if we ever try to practice this kind of Magic outside the room. Since the first years only began using magic, their chance at making mistakes was very high. I'm a special case though, but I won't talk about that.

Then we were instructed to turn a box of matchsticks into needles. I waited for the others to do it first, but the most progressive are the Slytherins since one of them managed to turn the color of a matchstick into silver.

"5 points to Slytherin, " McGonagall said. some of my housemates were looking at me expectantly. While I raised one of my eyebrows at them. The others must have noticed it too as they all stared at me.

'I'm being quiet here!'

As much as I don't want to show off here, my pride as a Grindelwald is on the line. Grandfather will be disappointed if I fail to raise my house. I just helplessly sighed at that.

After a shake of my head at the thought, I waved my wand and turned all of the matchsticks into needles. I must have not noticed, but the cat professor was actually behind me.

"Good job, Mr. Grindelwald. 15 points to Ravenclaw." I can't help but sigh again. How many times did I sigh today?

The Ravenclaws were celebrating, but the Slytherin was either a little mad or nothing.

I may show off a little so I can build my reputation, but I will be very careful to not reveal too much.

After the class ended, I immediately went outside and straight to History class. Being an early bird like I am, I was the first person inside. Binns is a ghost, he's not counted.

I made sure to sit in the back though. No matter how interesting History is, with a teacher like Professor Binns. It will just end up boring.

The next person who entered was Hermione. The moment our eyes met, I just smiled at her but she just rolled her eyes, and sat in front of the room. The next pair of people who entered were Ron and Harry. Ron quickly pulled Harry away on the other side of the room while narrowing his eyes at me, with Harry looking very confused. But he still followed him anyway.

'History is with Gryffindors, huh.' I thought.

Eventually, the whole room was filled up and the class started with Professor Binns droning away. Even the studious Hermione found it difficult to keep up in the lesson since the droning voice is making the whole class drowsy. Fortunately, my shields are all up and I'll be able to keep myself from sleeping. I noticed Hermione kept turning in her seat, which I found amusing. Unexpectedly, she raised her hands up. At least Professor Binns was attentive enough to notice her.

"Yes, Miss..." Binss trailed off.

"Hermione Granger, sir," she said.

"What is it, Ms. Granger?" replied the ghost professor.

"Could you tell us the history between the Headmaster and Grindelwald?"

The whole class froze at that, even me. The history between Dumbledore and Grindelwald was very popular, but few knew of the actual details, and the whole class was all eager to find out.