Getting Situated

I awaken mentally before I do physically. For the time being it appears that I am stuck in a body that I can't yet consciously control, and in the dark since it appears my eyes aren't even open, as alien memories surge into my unprepared mind.

"I… kind of wish I had taken the 'Drop-In' option." I mentally mutter as I feel my mind flex and grow as it takes in a brief lifetime of memories. In this world I'm still eighteen and I'm still "Marco" but now I'm "Marco Ravenclaw" which feels a bit goofy to even think and will surely feel even goofier to actually say. According to the memories flowing into my mind it seems that I'm some sort of noble, or at least the equivalent of one.

I gain very important contextual information in the form of the memories before I can even open my eyes. Right now I'm in one of the vacation homes of "my" family, built by the ancestors of the body I am possessing. The figure I have taken over is actually the descendant of both "Rowena Ravenclaw" and "Salazar Slytherin", two of the founders of "Hogwarts University" and is himself a skilled wizard even though he has yet to begin his formal magical education.

This world is one that mixes both fantasy and modernity. Humans in many parts of the world use inventions as modern as cars and planes, while humans in other parts of the world possess things like magical broomsticks and arcane fireplaces.

I am also gaining an awareness of an array of newly acquired powers and talents. I can sense my arsenal of abilities increasing, even as knowledge this body possesses becomes hard-coded into me and transforms into perks. At the same time I also gain knowledge of backstories that explain how I have attained the new items in my possession. These items range from potent things like a newspaper of my very own, to an array of devices for combating wizards and witches opposed to my goals.

I spend a few minutes stuck in a liminal state between true wakefulness and the dark oblivion of sleep before I abruptly open my eyes. The sight that greets me is the ceiling of an elegant room of some sort, presumably "My" bedroom.

I sit up straight and look around the room. It is massive, and decorated quite darkly. I can see what my new memories allow me to identify as an array of artifacts from various corners of the globe, including one that immediately catches my eye. The object is a short, finely cut piece of wood that radiates potent arcane energy situated in a glass case. I know that it is a "Wand", a magical artifact that is quite helpful for precise control of magical energy and I extend my hand towards it.

As I outwardly motion with my hand I mentally reach towards the object and I feel the cool air between the object and my hand as it touches the invisible hand-like object I am creating and manipulating through my particular brand of telekinesis. The hand-like psychic extremity reaches the glass case and I feel the glass that stands between me and my wand. With a flex of my will I use my hand to dexterously open the case, and then with another purposeful twitch of my mind I grab the wand. I feel the solidity and weight of the wand and smile.

The object is slowly, methodically, lifted out of the case and then moved to my actual, physical hand. When I grab it with my actual hand I feel a wave of power and energy flow into me, as if I just had a shot of expresso injected directly into my bloodstream. The solid piece of wood is well constructed and sturdy, heavier than it looks and built to withstand the forces that accompany powerful spells.

"Nice…" I mutter as I study the object. I eventually focus and look away from my wand, turning my attention elsewhere and further study the room.

One of the objects of note in the room is a large desk that is placed on the other end of my personal space. The desk is a chiseled dark object and it is positively covered in letters. I glance at the letters for a moment before realizing that in this world the body I have possessed is that of a prolific writer and scholar, one who routinely corresponds with various magical beings.

My conscious recollections of the contents of the letters on the desk include recent conversations with penpals all over the world. "I" have penpals who live in locations as distant from where I live as the Pacific islands and the distant corners of the western edges of the Americas. The letters cover every centimeter of the desk, and even at a glance I can estimate that there must be dozens of letters on the desk, possibly even hundreds of them.

A split second later the distant door to my room opens and a blonde woman steps into it, looking at me and sighing nervously.

"Master Ravenclaw, you must begin to get ready!" She says, her voice soft and filled with a mixture of emotions. She is tall, taller than I am, and has pointed ears. Her eyes are entirely blue orbs, and she is wearing a uniform that seems like a fetishized version of a maid's outfit. "I" know her and I turn to her and chuckle.

As I look directly at her, I feel the effects of the "Essence of the Ultimate Chad" stir in the back of my mind. The potent essence makes me a skilled casanova and even discounting some of my perks, be they ones like "Setting Priorities" or "Sexual Prodigy", I sense my mind subtly expanding. I am gaining an instinctual, subconscious understanding of the elf and how best to interact with her if I want to begin a sexual or romantic relationship with the woman.

"Good morning Slyphie. And yes, I know that I must begin to get ready. Today is a big day after all." I say to her, as I move towards the edge of the soft and luxurious bed I was sleeping on. The elf smiles softly at me, and waits as I get out of bed.

When I am out of bed she moves towards another part of my room, and opens one of the doors connected to my living space. She raises her hand as soon as the door is open, her body hiding whatever is in front of her from view, and I listen as the noisy sounds of a robe fluttering through the air fills the room until the object comes into contact with her hand.

I glance at the ornate robes she is now holding as she turns and smiles at me. The robes are finely made and I can detect potent magic coming off of them, it colors the air around the clothing and makes me smile. She begins to approach me, and as she does a faint blush appears on her cheeks, coloring them ever so slightly.

"Alright master, let me help you get dressed." She says, even as I chuckle and disrobe. By the time she is in front of me all I am wearing is a surprisingly modern pair of underwear. I glance down and see that this body is in decent shape, and when the elf begins to help me get dressed she sneaks glances at my body. She is not very subtle.

I allow her to do her work, and do not offer any commentary, instead silently and playfully smiling at the elf. While she helps me get dressed I turn inward and take advantage of one of the handier things I can do as a cryptid: supernaturally learn who knows me.

I relax my mind and think about my bizarre true nature. On one hand I am a decently famous heir and a young wizard who is guaranteed to make a splash in the wizarding world. On the other hand I am a strange, dark being who can take on a variety of monstrous forms with as little as a thought and a tiny bit of intentionality. It takes a few moments before I begin to gain results from my usage of "I Know", the specific perk that lets me know who knows about me.

The information that fills my mind is innately divided into two tiers. The first tier refers to who knows about me broadly, in my identity as a wizard. That is a number that is as high as a few million people, though what I can infer about them based on this is not a tremendous amount, since my family is actually active in both the world of magic and the mundane world.

Curiously, somewhere twenty and twenty-five thousand people all over the world have some knowledge of my more monstrous identity. That information intrigues me, though I instinctively understand that it is tied to the effects of some of my perks such as a fusion between "Meme" and "Myth" two perks, and not the only ones I have, which when working in concert increase my monstrous starting reputation.

This is a potent starting reputation, especially since this means that plenty of people know me in my capacity as a merchant who is capable of making deals for supernatural resources. Even now some people have performed the rituals used to summon me, though none of them are aware of the fact that the monster they seek to bargain with has a human form.

Over the course of the next few minutes time begins to blur. Selphie quickly feeds me breakfast and helps me go over the list of activities that will be occurring today.

Unsurprisingly I have begun my time in this setting at a pivotal moment in history. Today is the day that I, "Marco Ravenclaw", am going to be beginning my time as a student at Hogwarts University. Even just that comes with a deal of fanfare and ceremony, which will take up the lion's share of the day.

Slyphie eventually rushes me from room to room in a flurry of activity. We begin in the dining room, where the elf feeds me before she pushes me to a large room filled with fireplaces. Between each of the fireplaces is a small table atop of which is a box filled with a glittery powder.

"Master, did you study how to use the Floo Network?" She asks as we approach one of the fireplaces. I casually point my wand at one of the boxes and nod at her as I wordlessly cast the incantation needed to pull the object towards me. The thing begins to move and slowly floats towards me, only stopping when I grab the box of floo powder.

One of my items is a box of never-ending powder as well as the ability to craft my own private Floo Network, a series of interconnected magical locations witches and wizards can travel to using the powder in the box in my hand. It is a handy ability witches and wizards can use to travel from place to place with immense speed and relatively safely.

"Okay, master, the first stop on our list is the home of Johan Blatburg. He lives and works in Diagon Alley. Let's begin this by first visiting the 'Leaky Cauldron'." She tells me, causing me to nod even as I reach the edge of one of the fireplaces. I have never been to Johan's home, but I have met the man before and know, roughly, where he stays. I have also been in correspondence with him over letters, and he has told me he is excited to show me the pair of familiars he has arranged, at no small cost, for me to have.

I grab a handful of the radiant powder in the box before telekinetically handing the box to Slyphie. Her eyes grow dazed and confused as I sense some of my perks that rationalize my stranger abilities in the eyes of people I have not told about my powers activate.

Slyphie delicately takes the box even as I lift my hand and utter the name of my destination, a pub that I know in my capacity as a "Ravenclaw" serves as the entrance to a famous part of the magical half of London. I hurl the powder onto the floor and watch my surroundings blur and change the instant the powder explosively collides with the floor at my feet.

The shift is seamless, and the instant I find myself in a lonely bedroom in the pub I hurry out of the fireplace I'm standing in. This is good because a split second later the fireplace behind me radiantly glows for a few moments as Slyphie appears behind me in a burst of green flames, the result of her using the same arcane process I have just used.

The room subtly radiates a faint, barely perceivable light that I know I can only see because of my abilities as a seer. My magical perceptiveness is due to one of my new perks, one of the two that grants me a kind of future-sight or at least the ability to see shades of the future. Everything here, everything in the estate I was just in, Slyphie and even I, radiate some shades of curious arcane light.

"Okay, master excellent work!" She says as she studies me with a bright smile on her face. I chuckle and she tells me she has business to do here, and asks me to go to Diagon Alley by myself before meeting up with her outside of "The Hogwarts Express". I tell her that that is fine, and I am thankful for the fact that I have this new "Marco's" memories which give me all of the information I need to know to be able to safely navigate the magical neighborhood I've been asked to go all by myself. She hands me a list of places to visit and tells me she'll see me later.

I dart out of the room and find myself on the second floor of the building I have magically entered. Down below me I can hear some hubbub about someone named "Harry Potter". My in-setting memories allow me to "recall" that that is the name of the figure who somehow defeated a powerfully famous dark wizard, "Lord Voldemort", as a baby.

I opt to prioritize efficiency here and even as I begin to walk down the stairs leading down to the first floor of the pub I activate "Spooky Ghost", a potent perk of mine that lets me become selectively invisible and intangible. I reach a point in the stairwell where I can see the main part of the pub and notice a crowd gathered around someone my age with dark hair and green eyes. I note the lightning shaped scar on his forehead, as it is a distinct feature. He is clothed in clean, if shabby, robes and is crowded by strangers, presumably witches and wizards saying how delighted they are to meet him. He seems mildly distressed by the attention.

I am able to easily slip out the back of the pub, phasing through the door that normally keeps riff raff from making use of the entrance to the magical community of "Diagon Alley". I don't bother entering a secret magical code normally needed to enter the community from here, and my out-of-context ghostly abilities allow me to phase through the brick wall that is enchanted to keep unwary strangers out of London's most prominent magical neighborhood.

The instant that I phase through the wall I find myself standing in the middle of a wide, cobblestone street. Hundreds of people, and dozens of families and groups, wander about the wide street, entering and exiting shops and homes freely and loudly. They are all dressed in the same sorts of robes as me, though only a few people have robes that seem almost as nice as mine.

I move into one of the more packed areas and turn off my perk, causing me to become tangible and visible. No one immediately notices me and I begin to use my memories and knowledge to navigate the community.

It takes me a few minutes of walking with and sometimes through traffic before I find myself standing in front of a nondescript door and listening to the muffled and vague sounds of a hearty conversation someone is having with what must be some sort of bird. I chuckle and knock on the door, which causes someone other than the figure speaking to approach the door and open it.

I find myself standing in front of a young woman with the most fascinating eyes I've ever seen. Her eyes are inverted and she has black sclera and white irises and pupils. She is shorter than me and she has jet black hair, and she looks at me in pleasant shock, a look of idle confusion on her face.

"Uhh… Hi?" She says, half a question and half an exclamation as she feels the effects of some of my newer perks as well as the softer effects of my "Ultimate Chad" essence. I silently activate "Demograph" as I look at her and read the mental table this ability creates detailing her information. I learn two fascinating bits of information about her: this woman's name is Delira and her species is listed as "Half-Dementor". That, to the best of my in-setting knowledge,… should not be possible. I smile at her, curiously.

"Hello? Is this… Johan's home?" I ask, quizzically. This question instantly helps her focus and she smiles more sincerely at me this time.

"Yes, it is! By chance, are you Marco? Rowena's descendant?" She asks, as she studies my appearance more focusedly this time. My resulting smile is a lot more genuine this time than it was when I was being curious. My status as the youngest descendant of the mother of sages is public information. On the other hand, my nature as the heir of Salazar is far less well-known…

"I sure am!" I tell her, and she steps out of the doorway and motions for me to come in. I do as she wordlessly asks and as I step into the home I immediately feel a noticeable chill, which I suspect she is the cause of though I don't know if it's on purpose.

"My father has been waiting for you! He's so excited to show you the familiars he was able to arrange for you." She says as I study the narrow entryway into her home. Her "father" is a strange sort if he actually fathered her… Dementors are nasty creatures, even for those versed in dark witchcraft. Magical moving pictures of various animals as well as her father and her line the walls. In every one of the pictures both the woman and her father seem happy,

"Father is waiting for you in the living room. One of the two familiars is a rowdy sort and he has been attempting to get it to relax. Normally he can soothe even the most upset beast, but since it's not upset getting it to relax is a bit difficult." Delira tells me. I note she still hasn't told me her name, I walk past the entrance to a kitchen, and each step allows me to more clearly hear the energized sounds of a mysterious bird as well as the increasingly soft sounds of a man's voice as he attempts to get the beast to relax.

After passing by a few open doors I reach the edge of the long but narrow entryway and find myself standing just outside of a large living room. In the room a tall man is gazing into the shockingly green eyes of a large, ruby-colored bird. The bird is standing on a coach, and it is gigantic. It also radiates a healthy amount of powerful red light, tinting everything around it a shade of red close to blood-like.

The two appear to be having a deep conversation, but the bird turns and notices me. It lets out a loud sound and excitedly flies towards me, even as the man I recognize as Johan turns to me and excitedly gestures at the bird. At the same time I hear a quiet, inarticle hissing sound but I can't identify the source in the excitement of the moment as the bird sails towards me.

The creature flying towards me is easily identifiable at a glance. It is a member of a legendary species of elemental birds, a creature of healing and life, a phoenix. I smile at it and when the bird reaches me it stops in mid-air, flapping its wings to stay aloft and studies me.

I feel its deep intelligence as we lock eyes. For several seconds we simply study each other, with me sensing the beast's great power and animalistic majesty, and I can intuitively feel it appraising me and attempting to determine if I meet some mysterious criteria. The bird suddenly chirps, and then perches itself on my broad shoulder before emitting a noise louder than any I have yet heard it make. Johan smiles in delight even as he gets up and approaches me, his scarred hand extended towards me.

"Marco you never let me down!" He says excitedly and informally, even as he reaches me and I shake his hand. He is warm and his hand is strong.

"Johan my friend, it's been too long. This… a phoenix? Someday you'll have to divulge your secrets." I remark, genuinely astounded by the intensity of the achievement. He laughs, the sound boisterous, and then smiles proudly at me.

"Oh Marco, if you think this is an achievement… Wait until you learn what else I managed to find." He exclaims, even as he pulls me into the living room and Delira follows close behind me, a wicked smile on her face. I hear the hissing sound again, and this time it becomes intelligible speech as it reverberates throughout my mind.

"The phoeniiiiiix found aaaaa worthy masssster?" The voice questions, and I look in the direction of the noise only to lay my eyes on a creature that is radiating potent, dark magic so shadowy that it is almost hard for me to see the actual body of the being.

The beast appears to be a large serpent but the second I see a thick white blindfold on its face I recognize it for what it is: a basilisk, a quasi-mythical, extremely dangerous predator. My ability to understand it is not a product of its immense intelligence, but a feature of some of my newer perks. As the heir of Slytherin I can easily understand serpents, so long as there is purpose behind one of their utterances and I can make the same sounds, even communicating intelligbly with serpents, with ease.

"This, Marco, is my true achievement. I was in Honduras for part of the summer and I found a basilisk egg. The baby in that egg is this serpent. It is unique, and can be safely looked at by someone other than its chosen witch or wizard so long as it doesn't want to petrify anyone. Its deadly eyes work, but only if it is angered. It doesn't mind the blindfold which helps comfort the few people who knew about this creature whenever they'd come over." Johan explains, an enormous grin on his face as he allows me to take in the implications of this revelation.

"Dumbledore has come and personally confirmed the creature's safety. It's even gotten permission to go with you to Hogwarts, provided both you and it agree and allow it to be studied and it is kept under constant surveillance." Johan explains, which tracks with the sort of controversial policies Dumbledore has been known to enact in Hogwarts. I bet this is being kept a secret too.

A safe basilisk is a kind of creature that is rarer than once-in-a-lifetime, to the best of my awareness such a beast would be entirely unique, but Johan is here in this room and like me he is looking at the thing and isn't petrified. Delira enters the edge of my sightline and smiles.

"He's a handsome fellow isn't he?" She asks, smiling at the beast. In response to this question the basilisk itself lets out a low hiss which is automatically translated in my head and shocks me by being a soft chuckle. I smile and begin to approach the beast.

"Oh? Ssssssomeone who issssss aware of me willingly approachesssss…?" The beast asks, still making just hissing noises to my companions. I reach the edge of the cage and the long serpent waits to hear what I do next. I open the cage the beast is in and smile as I emit a hissing sound I know the beast will hear and understand.

"Hello there. Let's be friends." I say in the serpentine tongue known to both magical and mundane serpents. The creature slithers out of the cage and emits another low hissing noise, which is once more the serpent softly chuckling.

"Hmm… Yesssss, lets be friendssssss." The beast eventually says, its vibrating tongue flickering out of its mouth for a second. I grin at the creature, delighted to have such unique familiars coming with me to Hogwarts.