Professor Winston

I think the less said about History of Magic, the better. Nobody really cares about that class anyway. I mean, I could revive Professor Binns, and maybe 'It's a Wonderful Life' him into finding renewed purpose, but that's too much effort.

Defense Against the Dark Arts though… it'll probably be something else…

For the first-years, Hufflepuff and Slytherin are together, but every year after, it's either a house by itself or the good ol' Slytherin-Gryffindor melting pot. Right, the two houses with animosity at a slow broil which will turn into a boil and maybe, just maybe, reach a point like ice in a deep fryer.

…Nah.

Back to class, where we're all sitting patiently, staring at the man sitting at the podium. He's slightly portly, with tired eyes, wrinkling skin, and few gray hairs upon his balding head. His softly wheezing breath hitches before he coughs, looks up at the door, and sits slightly straighter.

"Hello…Hufflepuff and Slytherin, I believe? I am Professor August Winston, your professor for the year. Now, I know what maybe seventy-five percent of you are thinking, 'This guy might croak before the end of the year.' No. No, I won't. My wife wouldn't let me."

He pauses for a second. Whether for a laugh or to catch his breath, I'd rather not know.

"Anyway… Most of the time, I won't be standing up or walking around. I sustained a back injury about two decades ago that the Medi-Witches couldn't fully heal. Something about debris in the bone, I don't know. So, I have 'this'." He reaches under his podium and pulls out a baseball bat, though with two flat sides. A flat bat.

"If I need to get your attention—" He slams the bat against the podium.

*WHACK*

"—I'll do that."

"A few other things. I expect you to take notes. Shorthand, word-for-word, whatever. I don't care. Just make them. I'm older than these books, so if I'm reading out of one of them, I might start reciting something from memory of an older edition. Sorry, but it's habit. If you need me to repeat something, just raise your hand."

"Now, the most important thing we'll be learning for the next several weeks is safety. I'm old and can't move much. If anybody gets hurt, it'll hurt me to help you. I'll do it anyway, but I'd rather prevent the incident in the first place."

Huh. Okay. I guess this teacher is…fine. I mean, he knows what he can do and can't. Better than most teachers in the books, to say the least. I guess we'll just have to see where this goes.

"First, do not look at the end of your wand. Those things are weapons, and they can take your eyes out. Eyes are notoriously hard, and expensive, to fix, so don't look down the end.

Second, do not point your wand at someone unless instructed to do so, or if it is an emergency. If it is an emergency, you will be interrogated on your actions.

Third, don't pull out your wand until you're ready to cast a spell.

There are a few others, but those are the important rules. Follow those, and we can have a fun time."

A-Aren't those just the gun safety rules? Well, wand safety…and I guess a wand pretty much is a gun. Just one with several hundred types of ammunition.

———————————————————————————————————————

I'm wandering through the halls, reviewing some nodes I grew on my body a long, long time ago, and I cannot remember what some of them did!

I have this one labeled PSI over in the psychic abilities, but I don't know what it does and I'm sort of afraid to touch it. For one, a lack of energy. Two, I'm afraid of what a psychic Pressure per Square Inch attack looks like.

I don't want to make Thomas rebuild the planet if I destroy it. It'd mean paperwork…and no candy for at least a millennium.

I've contacted Thomas and he said that he and the prospective Ruler of Power and Energies would be working on a solution. He thought I was dying, but I told him it was more akin of a constant state of tired.

Because my name is Dreamer…or at least, they call me that.

In the meantime, he gave me this fake star reactor…thing. It has a lot less power than some of the generators I've seen Thomas build, but hey! It was free.

Tasted like river water, too.

It doesn't produce much, but I could fuel it entirely into a node. There's just—I don't really know—something about this PSI node that's attracting my attention. Something in it that says it can help me pull power from more sources.

You know what, I'll do it. I'll turn it on. My gut hasn't misled me before!

…

Huh. I don't feel different. Let's tune back into Earth.

…WAIT! Where am I? Some kind of forest? Oh…oh…ok. I know where I am. My gut has led me into the forbidden forest. Sun's going down soon. I should go back.

"Grr…" As I turn around, I'm met with some not-so-pearly whites, but are rather sharp teeth.

"Oh hi, Mister Wolf." I peek around to look at the rest of the pack. "And Mister Wolf. And Mister Wolf. And…"

Mister Wolf A bites at my face. Engaging the battle, I guess.

———————————————————————————————————————

* You engage the Forest Wolf and its cohorts.

* Dreamer tried PSI Fire Ω!

* 397 HP of damage to Forest Wolf A!

* Forest Wolf A was defeated!

* 392 HP of damage to Forest Wolf B!

* Forest Wolf B was defeated!

* 368 HP of damage to Forest Wolf C!

* Forest Wolf C was defeated!

* 400 HP of damage to Forest Wolf D!

* Forest Wolf D was defeated!

* 378 HP of damage to Forest Wolf E!

* Forest Wolf E was defeated!

* 390 HP of damage to Forest Wolf F!

* Forest Wolf F was defeated!

YOU WON!

* Dreamer gained 818 exp!

———————————————————————————————————————

That's what that did! Right! I pulled those abilities from the Mother universes. I even made my own. I even made my own skills that weren't even from those worlds. Ones that fit more of…my level of enemies.

Welp, let's eat these trees that are on fire, and get back to the castle. I don't even need to rip a hole in space this time. Teleport β can bypass the anti-Apparition wards, too!

Now, to find a world full of psychics and subtly use PSI Magnet Ω on the entire thing…