64

Fifteenth of May, Evening, Hogwarts Castle, Library.

 The rustle of books and the hubbub of children, these were the sounds that surrounded me. Due to exams, most of the schoolchildren suddenly realized one global problem. They suffered from all sorts of nonsense all year, but didn't even think about studying. Now they are trying to cram into their heads in a few weeks what should be studied throughout the year. That's what makes the noise. Some were surprised by the upcoming volume of work, while others clutched their heads in panic.

 Turning another page of the history textbook, I glanced at my watch. For some reason Nev is delayed. Maybe something happened?

 Shrugging my shoulders, I continued reading. If I don't show up within twenty minutes, I'll go look for him.

 Ten minutes later Neville appeared in the passage. He looked thoughtful and slightly angry. HM interesting. Sitting down opposite me, he opened the book and began to read it.

 — Did something serious happen? "You're almost an hour late, and that rarely happens to you," I told him after he calmed down a little and stopped throwing angry glances at the book. Well, what is she for?

 "Granger caught me along the way," he said dryly. Well, he tried, but he couldn't remove the anger from his voice.

 - And what interesting things did you tell me?

 "That's right, it's nothing," he raised his gaze to me. "She decided to apologize for the guys, saying that they were still just children, they didn't understand what they were saying," it seemed he was about to start growling. They really hurt him then. - But this is not true! They were well aware of what they were saying then! - he shouted, jumping up from his seat. From such a sharp jerk, the chair fell back, a stack of papers flew out from under his hands and scattered throughout the library. What can we say about the other schoolchildren who stared in shock at the always cheerful and balanced Neville.

 - So. "Follow me," I said, getting up from the table and heading towards the exit. Along the way, we collected all the papers, under the angry glances of Madame Pince.

 We walked along the corridors in silence, not talking about anything. After three minutes of meandering, we arrived at "my" class. Having entered it, I waited until Nev entered it, closed the door behind him and cast a standard spell on the class.

 "Wait a minute," he turned to Neville, drawing figures with a wand, for show. A few moments later, several mannequins appeared at the far wall. "Hit," I turned around to face my friend.

 - What? - he didn't understand. Well, getting lost in thought and not noticing the outside world is my prerogative.

 Pointing my hand at the mannequins, I said again:

 - Hit with all your might. Magic, prana, fist - whatever you want, but hit. "Release your emotions," I fell silent and stared at him.

 Nev looked at me in shock, but after five seconds he sent the first spell to the mannequin. Small fire, small needles, ice, ropes, cuts - all this and much more flew from the Neva. With each blow, the mannequins became more and more destroyed. First a small part from the body, then the left arm, leg, right arm. After about five minutes I had to update the charm.

 I thought as soon as his mana ran out he would calm down, but no. As soon as it ended, he ran towards them with his bare hands. Each of his blows was well amplified by prana. Some of them even left marks on mannequins.

 After a few more minutes, he fell exhausted to the floor. His breathing was intermittent, his chest was shaking, but there was no longer anger and rage in his emotions, only emptiness and calm. It was as if the sea was calm after a storm.

 One swing - the mannequins disappeared, the second - a sofa and a soft chair appeared, the third - Nev soared above the ground and carefully flew onto the sofa. However, he did not notice this, or did not pay any attention.

 Sitting down opposite him, I began to wait until he deigned to say at least something. In general, this outburst of rage helped me convince myself of something. Neville's prana is very different from mine. I had the feeling before that he was softer, but now I'm convinced of it. My prana does about twice as much damage as Nev's. If you remove the gap of six months of training at school, then the difference comes out to about one and a half times.

 I wonder if mana is different? No not like this. She is one hundred percent different, but the question is how much. What about psi? As if he would check. It would be good not for one person, but for many more. The more subjects, the better the final result.

 "You've flown off to dreamland again," Nev brought me to my senses. Yes, it seems again.

 - Happenes. What else can I say?" he shrugged, thereby confirming his words. "I see you've finally calmed down." This is good, it means the method works.

 "Yes," nod, "he calmed down." Quite an effective method," he grinned, sitting down on the sofa. - How did you find out? Otherwise, I have a hard time believing that you will do the same thing to calm down.

 "Yes, I read in one of the books about two effective ways to calm the nerves," he said in response. - This was one of them.

 - And second?

 "Sex," it seemed like a simple word, but how much it made Neville blush. - For obvious reasons, this method does not suit you, so I had to resort to the second.

 "Uh-huh," he hummed in response, lowering his head to the floor.

 - Why are you embarrassed? In a couple of years, this is all you'll think about," I grinned at the end. This made his face the color of a ripe cherry. - Okay, we closed the topic, that's enough for him. Better change the topic. "What did Hermione tell you that made you all on edge?"

 "Nothing special," he waved his hand listlessly. — She came and apologized for the guys, saying they weren't out of malice. But I didn't think to apologize for myself. After all, then she silently agreed with Potter's words, and did not object to him - in the end he became sad again, well, at least not so much. "And she also invited them to join their "team" again," Nev put so much venom into the last word that Snape would have envied him. "They still haven't calmed down." Everyone suspects Snape," he hesitated and looked at me somehow guiltily. "And they also suspect you, Kol."

 - Me? — pointed a finger at himself. - Why such an honor, did she tell you?

 "Actually, that was the basis of the conversation," Nev told me. — The main arguments were: secrecy, isolation, distrust, too strong a desire to protect them, as well as constant absences from dinner. All this is enough for them to suspect you. "Don't talk to him Neville. He's dangerous," he fell silent about the tale.

 "I guess that's why you were so angry, right?" - I asked him. Nev turned away from me in embarrassment, but nodded nonetheless. "Thank you, Nev," a smile appeared on my face. I am very glad that he protects me even in such a small thing. - But don't worry. These words don't move me at all. No matter what they say, no matter what they do, they won't hurt me.

 - I know. I just don't want anyone to misunderstand who slandered my friend," he muttered barely audibly. At that moment he looked very much like a hamster, and turned away from everyone with a pout.

 -Pf. Ha-ha-ha," I still couldn't resist.

 - What's so funny? - Neville jumped up offended.

 "Ha-ha, no, nothing," I answered through laughter. "I'm glad," I said, wiping away a tear that had come. - That you value our friendship so much.

 Neville became embarrassed again, and once again I couldn't stop laughing. In response, a stream of water flew at me, which I somehow managed to dodge.

 Yes, it's good to have a friend.

 *****

 Twentieth of May, Evening, Corridors of Hogwarts Castle.

 Leaving the living room, I headed towards the Help Room. Along the way, remember to take in your surroundings.

 After a little over two weeks, I'm finally ready to get back out there again. Still, it was not for nothing that he invited me to his place that time.

 Walking along the corridors and avoiding people, I finally came to the entrance to the room. Even as I was approaching, the door began to appear in front of me. Opening it, I entered the room.

 This time I found myself in a ritual room. The entire space was dotted with runes, from completely different languages, and geometric figures. Having looked around the room and not finding anything suspicious, I headed towards the altar.

 Before I could approach him, the Spirit of the Room appeared out of thin air. Opening his eyes, he looked at me, and then, smiling, said:

 - Good to see you, Calder. You still came.

 — Were there any doubts? — asked him a question, and then added: "And I'm glad to see you."

 - Yes they were. Even during the time of the founders, many apprentices of demonology, clairvoyance and healing left their schools and moved to others that were less demanding of adepts.

 - But why did it happen that these three schools are so demanding? After all, the same Schools of Elements are no less difficult to master.

 - You're right about that. However, it is these three schools that require much greater stability in psychological terms. For example, demonologists - their test implies a complete understanding and subordination of the essence of demons, from several dozen to hundreds. And they are known to be the most cruel creatures. Not many people can bear it. Or clairvoyants - they need to look at the future of several hundred people. And they are selected so that the adept can understand all aspects of human destiny. And sometimes she is no less cruel than the same demons. Well, you yourself know about healers," he finished with a sad smile.

 "Perhaps this is so," I answered after a few moments of silence, during which I pondered the Spirit's words. "But this in no way diminishes the fact that all schools are very scary in themselves. Mentalists can subjugate them. Fire magicians become more and more hot-tempered as they study their elements. And that's just the most obvious. And how many other pitfalls there are?

 - Maybe you're right, maybe you're not. It's not for me to judge, that's all the answer that came from him. Clearly, apparently he does not agree with my statement.

 "Let's leave this topic," I tried to take our conversation in a different direction. - Better tell me, why do you need me? Especially in the ritual room? — I looked around the room around me. "I don't remember anything in the book that the founders left."

 - Everything is simple here. There is an unwritten rule: Anyone who has been able to obtain the title of three-star apprentice in one of the schools can undergo the kinship ritual. Do you want to go through it?

 - Why not go through it earlier? Even before the start of training?

 "You see, many magicians, having learned about their supposed abilities, focused only on them. But magic does not tolerate one-sidedness. If you delve into only one school, then other schools become more difficult to master.

 "Something tells me that this is not the main reason - well, such a simple reason cannot influence the entire path of a magician's development." There are examples when a magician in only one school reached heights that no one had ever dreamed of. And this is not little.

 "Smart," he grinned. - That's right, there is another reason. Let me give you an example: one magician decided to study the water element. After performing the ritual, he learned that he has abilities in the fire element. What happened to him?

 — Has he started studying the second school?

 "If only," the old man smiled sadly. "He has been afraid of fire since childhood, that's why he chose water." But while studying it, I constantly thought about my abilities in the fire school. "I would have achieved more there," "I have no talent," "It would be better if I chose fire." As a result, this led to the inhibition of development as a magician. Although those who began to study water first, and only later learned about abilities in fire, did not show a decrease in the rate of development in the first school.

 "Self-hypnosis," I nodded. - If you are not confident in yourself, then why should others be confident in you?

 - Right. So, do you want to perform the ritual?

 I was silent. I didn't have an immediate answer to this question. Do I need this? I'm already studying three schools; I won't have much time for others. But the counterbalance is a higher rate of learning at the beginning, but this will be followed by, at least not a large, but still a decrease in the rate of development in the first three schools.

 This question just threw me off track. I do not know what to do. Although, why worry about missed opportunities if later I know that I did everything I could.

 In the end: everything that is done is for the better. Right?

 "I've decided," I said to the spirit. "It's better to regret the lack of time than the missed opportunity." I will perform the ritual," my gaze was firm and my mind was clear.

 Looking into my eyes and not finding any doubts, the elder smiled:

 - Wonderful. Follow me, please.

 Flying past me, the spirit headed towards one of the walls. I followed behind him. With every step the room stretched out, becoming larger and larger. Turning back, I saw an altar that seemed to be following us. Are we walking in place or is he actually flying? Putting it out of my head, I continued on my way.

 For about fifteen minutes we walked along an invisible path. Finally the Spirit stopped. Turning to face me, she said:

 - Stand in the center of the figure and just wait.

 Walking past him, I looked at the floor. It depicted a star that partially resembled the Star of Solomon. It was enclosed in a circle, and its edges, like a snake, were entwined with various runes. Looking around the space, I noticed exactly the same figures on the ceiling, as well as on four walls.

 Having looked around again, I was convinced that there was no danger.

 Standing in the center of the star, I looked at the Spirit in anticipation.

 "Well, I see you're ready," I nodded. - Then let's begin.