Chapter 25— Contraband and Defence against the Dark Arts

~Fun Fact: Did you know that accidental magic is wandless? Meaning that wandless magic isn't as hard as it is believed to be.

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It was the dead of night at Hogwarts, the stars looking down at the castle unblinking and ever-present. High in the night sky; the overcast moon finally triumphed, breaking through the clouds obscuring it and shining an ethereal light upon the school. Around the corner of a ground floor corridor not far from the Great Hall, a faint circular light was cast on the wall—white, almost blue in colour—the shadows it created seemed to twist and turn producing the image of a ghastly wraith upon the floor. Hushed whispering echoed throughout the corridor before being replaced by a sudden and deathly silence.

"This is amazing!" Whispered a tall redhead wearing Gryffindor robes.

"Indeed it is, brother of mine." Replied another redhead, identical to the first.

"Now, when do you think you could get this ready by?" Whispered yet another voice— this one younger.

The younger voice was of course myself. "You two do realise we've got a prank war to set up and besides an odd jinx or hex between Gryffindor and Slytherin, nothing else has happened since the announcement of the prank war. Everything will fall into place if we can get this right. It'll be a game changer!"

"Right you are, our pint-sized compatriot!" Trumpeted Fred.

"Indeed!" Echoed George. "We'll have this done by the end of the week, next week tops."

"Alright, pleasure doing business with you." I said, sticking my hands out to them which they promptly shook.

Walking around the corner, I bade the twins goodnight before going on my way back to the Hufflepuff common room. Although I was outside of my dorm room at night, I could only technically be sanctioned if it was past 10:00 pm. Flicking my right wrist, my ash coloured wand slid into my palm, the wood pleasant and cool to touch.

"Tempus." I murmured while waving my wand in a slow, clockwise motion. A silvery mist flowed out of it, ebbing and flowing.

'Tempus' was a spell I found while searching for a spell to tell me the time. Surprisingly, such utility spells weren't all that popular amongst wizards for reasons I couldn't fathom. The spell's purpose was to form a silver mist to tell the caster what time it was. It was developed by a Muggleborn wizard by the name of Richard Palmer, who apparently was a Ravenclaw here not too long ago.

The time, according to the spell, was '9:52 pm'. I sighed in relief. Considering that we were already near the Great Hall, getting to the common room before 10 pm wouldn't be a tall task at all. I began walking down the corridors of the castle, mindful of the time as I whistled a merry tune.

*****

Once again waking up at the crack of dawn; I began my morning routine consisting of a cold shower — though uncomfortable as hell, they knocked the sleep out of me— and a run around the castle grounds and after an arduous shadow boxing session, I returned to the dorm and told the guys that it was nearly time for breakfast. Upon doing so, I picked up my towel and went into the bathroom for a shower—this time nice and warm— got dressed, and returned to check on the boys. To no surprise, they were still asleep. I walked over to Neville, whose body was leaning over the edge of the bed, dangerously close to falling off.

"Hey Nev!" I said, grasping his shoulder and shaking him. "Nev, wake up! It's nearly time for breakfast!"

He responded with a groan, before turning to the other side. I blinked several times before peering around the room at the comatose bodies before me. This wasn't a novel situation for me at all— I practically raised three younger siblings in my previous life. Luckily, thanks to the wonders of magic; I knew a much faster solution than shaking each and every one of the guys awake. Breaking out into low, evil laughter I made a pinching gesture with my hand— the evil smile never fading from my face. A moment later, a low hum filled the room as a brilliant midnight blue spark danced between my index finger and thumb.

"I warned you guys…" I said ominously before poking him with my index finger.

A series of yelping sounds followed by the muttering of curses ensued around the room before all of the boys assembled in front me.

"Now, what has this taught you lads?" I asked, a dangerous smile on my face.

"N-Not to ignore you when you wake us up…" They said in unison.

"Exactly!" I replied happily. "Now, you guys better go and fix yourselves up before I finish everything there is to eat at the table."

The very instant the boys heard me finish my sentence signalled the start of a scramble to be first to enter the bathroom. Neville took the lead in a mad dash before being overtaken by Wayne; who dragged him by the scruff of his shirt before slamming the door in his face, giggling maniacally.

"Well that was unfortunate, better luck next time Neville." I said chuckling. "Don't worry, I was only kidding. I'll wait for you guys to finish up before I go to the Great Hall. It's only ten to seven and breakfast starts at seven thirty."

Justin, Ernie, Neville and Zacharias visibly relaxed after hearing that and by no means was what I said an exaggeration. I ate a tonne of food, far from what was considered normal, for reasons unbeknownst to me. Though unlike a certain redheaded pig, I ate my meals with some modicum of decorum and not as if I was someone who had never seen a single morsel of food in their life.

A while later, the boys had all finished washing up and we were in the common room when Susan and Hannah walked in through the entrance to the girls' dorms and made their way towards us.

"Hey guys!" Said Susan, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Yo!" I said, giving the girl a two-fingered salute.

"Yo?..." She repeated, looking bemused.

"It's a muggle greeting used when you encounter a familiar person." Clarified Justin.

"Oh, I see. Well then, 'Yo' to you too then!" She said, smiling back at me.

I held back my chuckle, reminding myself that she was truly oblivious to such greetings and customs and wasn't acting like that to mess with me.

"Are you guys ready or are we waiting on anyone?" I asked, looking around at everyone. They gave me a collective hum of assent. "Okay then, let's go!"

*****

Entering the Great Hall with the rest of the Hufflepuff first years, I looked around the hall for any sight of Harry. Eventually, I spotted a mop of familiar black hair at the Slytherin table.

"Hold on, you guys go on ahead," I said, turning around to the group. "I'm going to say hi to a friend. You wanna come, Nev?"

"N-No it's fine," Neville replied, shooting a furtive glance towards the snake den. "I'll catch up with him in Herbology anyways."

"Alright then buddy, see you in a bit." I said, fighting off a smile. He nodded back at me before walking onwards to the Hufflepuff table with the rest of the first years.

'Time to go say hello to old Harry.'

The closer I got to the Slytherin table, the more inquisitive and hostile eyes I attracted. Eventually, the entire table's eyes were on me as they waited with baited breath to see what I would do. The silence was broken by the cheerful voice of none other than Harry himself.

"Yan!" He said with a grin on his face. "It's been ages! How've you been?"

"First off, it's been at most a few days since we last saw each other," I said, smiling at him while looking around myself warily. "and I've been good. Though I've found something that I'd like to show you once we have a free period together. Now, how've you been finding the Snake Pit?"

He was silent for a moment. "It's been alright for the most part. Though Professor Snape seems to loath my very presence. Got any idea why?"

'Do I have him ask mum and dad? Or do I act as if I don't know?...'

I paused for a moment. If Harry asked mum and dad, who probably went to Hogwarts around the same time as Snape, they might be able to tell him themselves which would save me a world of explanation. Plus, it'd at least let Harry understand Snape's conduct towards him after hearing his experience from people who were actually there. After weighing up the pros and cons, I opened my mouth to speak.

"I'll tell you once we're both free. Though I think the soonest that we have a free period together is after Herbology on Wednesday."

"Okay that's fine." He said. "Do you want to eat breakfast here?"

I looked around at the scrutinous gazes directed at me.

"No thanks." I said, shaking my head.

"But if you want to, I'd like it if you come and sit at the Hufflepuff table. Preferably tomorrow. Bring Daphne, Tracey, and any other friends you've made. We can all get to know each other!"

"That'd be great!" Said Harry, his face lighting up. "I'll bring Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, Theodore and Draco!"

'Wait, wait, wait did he just say Draco?'

I was genuinely surprised. This must be an alternative universe because canon Draco and Harry would never be able to stand each other let alone this Harry and canon Draco.

"That's cool," I said to him, "I can't wait to meet these two new friends you've made."

"Okay, see you!" Harry called out as I walked back to the table, waving back at him.

I walked back to the Hufflepuff table as my friends ran up and crowded around.

"W-Why'd you go over to the Slytherin table, Yan?" Asked a confused Justin.

"I didn't know you were friends with Harry Potter?!" Exclaimed Ernie.

"A-Are you okay?" Asked Hannah timidly.

"How's Harry doing?" Asked Neville.

They spent another 20 seconds or so barraging me with questions.

'I knew I'd face some backlash for going over to the Slytherin table but damn! This is too much. I'm really not looking forward to their reactions when Harry and his friends come over here…'

"Guys, guys relax, I'm alright see?" I said placatingly, in an attempt to calm them down.

It worked, they slowly relaxed and went back to their seats, inviting me to sit down with them.

"Could I have some cereal and orange juice?" I asked, talking to seemingly no-one. The bowl in front of me was filled with cereal and two jugs of orange juice and milk appeared on the table next to the bowl. "Thank you."

Justin looked at me oddly through his peripheral vision when he thought I couldn't see him.

'Do I fuck with him a bit more or should I tell him about the house-elves… This is a dilemma indeed.' I thought mirthfully.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed between Justin and I while the rest of the gang continued talking.

'Ah damn it, I guess I'll tell him.'

"I'm not being weird Justin." I began. "There are house-elves who clean and cook for us in Hogwarts. They're little creatures with big ears and eyes who love to serve. They can also turn invisible. Don't forget to thank them every time your clothes end up folding themselves or when you come back to the dorms and your bed is made."

Justin looked stunned before staring down at his breakfast with a soft smile.

"Thanks for the food." He said a little too loudly.

The first years stopped talking and looked at him as if he were a madman.

"What?!" He exclaimed indignantly. "It's called being grateful!"

They stared at him a little longer before resuming their conversations. I turned around in order to hide my smile from him.

'I didn't think the idiot would be so loud about his gratefulness' I thought amusedly, trying to hold back the laughter that threatened to escape from my mouth.

*****

I breezed through my first two free periods of the day fairly easily. I spent my time manipulating my electricity and testing how much of it I was able to handle without it going out of control. Over the years, I had been doing an exercise similar to the one Killua used to create his Hatsu. Exposing yourself to electricity once and then trying to manipulate it. Initially, I limited myself to two fingers out of fear of the electricity going berserk and damaging someone. However with my increased affinity, I was curious as to how much electricity I could actually use in a controlled manner. Currently, I was sitting on my bed in the dorms, surrounded by Neville, Wayne, Justin, Ernie and Zacharias.

"Do it again!" Said Wayne excitedly. His brown eyes alight in anticipation.

"What he said." Parroted Ernie as Justin nodded mutely.

"What about you, Nev?" I asked Neville who was sitting on the floor next to my bed.

"You know that I've seen you do this multiple times when we were kids but sure, why not?" He replied unenthusiastically.

"Aw c'mon don't be like that Nev." I said, a smile on my face. "You've seen it all those times but still can't hide your mind-blown expression."

He didn't reply and I snorted in amusement before turning my attention back to the task at hand.

"Alright guys, here goes!" I said, bringing my index fingers parallel to each other.

The room fell into tensed silence, as the guys held their breath. A midnight blue spark flitted from the tip of one finger to the other. Soon enough, a brilliant dark blue current of electricity arced between them as a slow hum filled the room. I slowly extended my middle fingers and eventually, both fingers were directly underneath the index fingers of each hand. The current continued to arc, the sparks growing and forming a bigger current as a result of the two added fingers.

'Alright, this feels stable.' I thought after a minute or so.

I continued to add more and more fingers to the loop until both my hands were in a knife-hand position, a dark blue arc of electricity travelling across the top of each hand. The room was filled with a sound akin to the chirping of hundreds of birds. At this point, I was moving more on instinct than logic— it was akin to walking or breathing. I moved my left hand over my right, the current slowly falling over my right hand. The chirping got louder and louder as my hand was shrouded in a circular arc of midnight blue electricity.

Grinning, I let the electricity travel around my hand and up and down my arm before letting it fizzle out. I shook my hand before turning to the amazed boys. "So, what do you guys think?"

"That was amazing!" Said Wayne, a manic grin on his face.

Justin and Zacharias sat there absolutely astonished before nodding their heads in agreement with Wayne.

"Definitely!" Said Ernie, giving me a friendly slap on the back.

"Y-You've never shown me that particular trick before!" Neville spluttered.

"Well you should know me by now." I said cockily. "Always expect the unexpected."

He snorted in response before going back to his Herbology textbook.

"We've got lunch and then Defence against the Dark Arts." I said to the boys. "You should be excited Ernie."

He looked at me with a forlorn expression.

"From what I've heard about the Professor, I'm pretty sure my hopes have been thrown away into the wind, never to be seen again…"

"There, there…" I said, patting his back. "You won't know until you actually take the class and see for yourself."

'I'm definitely bullshitting right now.'

"You know what?" Wayne said, perking up with newfound energy. "You're right! I won't give up hope until I see the Professor for myself."

"That's the spirit!" I said, trying to stifle my laughter.

*****

"H-Hello everyone!" Said Professor Quirrell, his stutter signalling the beginning of his performance as an idiot.

'It was one thing seeing it from a T.V, but him pretending to be a bumbling fool is really pissing me off and to make matters worse, he's only said one sentence.'

"M-My name is Q-Quirinus Quirrell and I will be your Defence against t-the Dark Arts Professor this year. T-The Dark Arts are an ever-changing, ever-growing branch of magic. W-We can never completely vanquish the dark arts, only hold it off. M-Much like a hydra, if you cut off one head, two more will grow in its place. T-That's not to say the dark arts are unbeatable, instead the dark arts are always adapting and in order to stop it, we must adapt too."

'Behind his stutter, he seems to know his stuff.' I thought semi-appreciatively. 'That doesn't change the fact that he has to go. He is, after all, carrying Tommy boy underneath that turban of his.'

"B-Beyond these walls, there will be no teachers to protect you. F-First, you must learn what exactly the dark arts are before you can truly understand what you are up against. Therefore, I will give you a very brief history of the Dark Arts, just so you know the basics."

Quirrell began the lesson by explaining the history of the dark arts. Ranging from the cruellest and barbaric Dark Wizards in history, to what legally and morally brands a spell as 'Dark'. As a result of his stutter, not many people were paying attention but since we were paired with Ravenclaw once again, it was far less than the average first year class. I looked towards the front of the class where I saw a familiar mop of bushy brown hair.

'Dear lord, she really seems to be writing exactly what he's saying. Stutters included!' I thought.

This caused me to fight off a bout of laughter that resulted in me missing what Quirrell had just said. I focused on the lesson once more, catching the tail-end of his sentence.

"...a further category of curses within dark curses. T-These curses will not be seriously discussed here— these are the darkest spells known to the wizarding world and will not be covered in-depth until a few years later for you guys. T-That being said, I believe it is important that you should be aware of this category of curses. T-The use of any single one of these three curses will earn you a lifetime stay in A-Azkaban— a foul place used as a prison for those who break wizarding law." Said Quirrell, his speech peppered with stuttering. "T-That concludes our lesson. You will notice on the blackboard that there is a compulsory essay on treating werewolf bites. T-There will be assigned reading for the week on that however I will reduce the size of the essay as a consequence. I-I look forward to seeing you all in the next lesson. C-Class dismissed."

The instant he dismissed the class signalled complete pandemonium. The scraping of chairs on the wooden floor followed by the multiple footsteps of quite a few children sounded around the classroom. Quirrell, staying ever-faithful to his role of the fool, squeaked and hurried behind his desk.

'Worst case scenario, I sit through a year of this? Although useful, his stuttering is really starting to grind on my nerves. Oh well, I'll see how it goes.' I thought, walking out of the class with the rest of the kids and making sure not to look in Quirrell's direction.

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*A/N: Hey everyone, how are you guys? Not much of an author note today. Just would like to know how you guys are doing, just because. I'm personally doing fine and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

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