Settling Down

Beta: Zam Zap

The past week went by around the same as the one before did; I went to class, worked on weaponizing everything, and hung out with Theo and Blaise. This week, I created something similar to a flashbang, except with no noise, and I also get blinded, so not really a flashbang but more of a useless bright light. Additionally, I was able to master the shrinking charm, yay! I can shrink anything except for humans, not that I have tried to- yet. If needed, I will use Pettigrew as a human test subject.

Today I have started my journey on mastering the enlarging charm. It is going much faster than the shrinking charm. I think it's because it has the same principle as the shrinking charm, just the opposite. I imagine that my magic is a bunch of Pym Particles, the ones from ant-man, except that since Pym Particles shrinks the space between atoms, the weight remains the same, so I think that if I applied a feather-light charm to it, it would make it both lighter and smaller. If I had enough power, I theoretically could create a black hole; I would need to keep on shrinking an object until it is so dense that it collapses on itself On that note, I could also, in theory, create a star, except that it would go out pretty quickly without a constant hydrogen supply. Just compress a bunch of hydrogen, and then boom, the hydrogen becomes helium, and boom, a shit ton of energy gets released.

During my stays in the ROR, I came across a book, Of Potions and Poisons by Leon Austerlitz. It was about the many poisons you could create with potion ingredients. I decided that it will go well with my future fighting style, shrink myself, poison them, get out. And then have a few heavy-hitter spells for backup, just in case. I'm thinking about coating needles in poison, as they are easy to transfigure and not too suspicious. Anyways, back to the book, one has four ways of poisoning a target, contact, ingested, inhaled, and from injury.

Contact is a type of poison that can be applied to a person. Ingested, as the name suggests, is a type of poison that is effective only if consumed. Inhaled is a poison that is a gas. And finally, injury is a type of poison that has to be applied directly into the bloodstream. I will not be using the last two, as using gas has too many risks, and I won't have a chance of injecting it into someone. I think I will be using ingested and contact, as they are the easiest to apply; place it in their food or skin, and the effects occur.

"-athan, Jonathan!" came the voice of Theo, causing me to look up.

"Yes? Is something going on?" I ask with a confused tone.

"No, you just spaced out for a bit," replied Blaise.

"Oh, did you know that unicorn blood is considered a poison?" I relay my findings, "apparently, even though it can heal you when you're an inch from death, it curses you, gives you a half-life. It doesn't specify what the curse is, though."

"Why would you be reading about poisons?" Blaise asked with a slightly worried tone.

I turn to look from my book, "are you worried that I may poison you? Don't worry. I won't."

Blaise narrowed his eyes and looked at me; after a bit, he shrugged and went back to discussing quidditch with Theo. Even though I consider them friends, they might not consider me friends. And even if they did, they are the heirs of their families, which means that they would be wary of anything that could be considered a threat to them.

Theo cast a Tempus to see the time; it is 12:40, "Alright, time to go, it's time for flying class," he announced. Today, we have our first flying class. It is also the day that Harry joins the Gryffindor quidditch team.

"I don't understand your obsession with quidditch," I say as we walk towards the fields outside where 40 broomsticks are lying.

"That's because you're a mudblood and can't understand the greatness of the wizarding world," came a voice from behind me, three guesses to who it is, and the first two don't count.

I felt my pride demanding me to defend myself and my anger rising like a volcano. But I quelled it, feeling it bubbling and shimmering under my skin. This will get annoying quickly. Maybe there is a ritual that I can use, well, perhaps not as the primary cause behind this is a literal goddess. "Hmm? Theo, did you hear something? I thought I heard something," I said

"Wait 'till my father hears of this," came the pathetic voice behind me.

"No, no, I didn't. What about you, Blaise?" Theo's amused voice came from my right.

"I swear I heard something buzzing around us like a fly," he said while looking around for the so-called fly.

Draco, at this moment, was little more than stutters.

We were not the first to arrive at the broomsticks. The Ravenclaws were already there, same with the Hufflepuffs, and finally, a handful of Gryffindors; as the time neared 9, the rest of them trickled in.

As I turned around to look for more Gryffindors, I see Madam Hooch arriving. She has short grey hair and hawk-like yellow eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

I looked down, my broom had bent twigs, and it did not look like it could handle a sweep, much less flight. Ah well, when in Rome.

"Stick your hand out above the broom," called Madam Hooch from the front, "and say 'UP.'"

I did as I was told, stuck my hand out on top, and said up. Nothing happened.

"Up," I said a little louder. The broom flopped up, then fell.

"You need to believe that the broom can fly," said Theo. I imagined that he was trying to be helpful.

I looked down at my broom for a couple of seconds. I looked back to Theo, "Theo, you want me to believe that this big twig can carry me without breaking in two? Or be used for anything other than decoration?" I deadpanned.

"Well, when you put it like that…" he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. I noticed he already had his broom in hand.

"It normally wouldn't, but have you heard of something called magic?" Blaise said, dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes, yes, I know, no need to be sarcastic, Blaise. I'm just saying, when you look at it, it doesn't inspire much confidence at all, does it?" I shot back. Said broom flopped around again. "See, it's pretending it's a fish out of the water, flopping all over the goddam place."

Theo had the audacity to laugh. Piece of shit, I'll show him.

"UP," I demanded my broom as if daring it to disobey. And next thing I know, it's in my hand. I shot a smug grin at Blaise.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you will kick off the ground, hard," came the voice of Madam Hooch, preventing me from doing anything else. "Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come down by leaning forward a bit. On my whistle, one, two, th–"

It was at that moment, Nevile lost control and shot up.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted. But he kept on rising. Eventually, he slipped and started falling. When he hit the ground, a crack came from him. I winced. Hearing someone break a bone is not pleasant. I am willing to be that Madam Hooch knows the feather falling charm, a charm that makes you fall slower. We are supposed to learn it in 4th year. Why didn't she use it?

Anyways, she took Nevile to the hospital wing with a threat of expulsion should anyone fly while she was gone.

I went back to trying to enlarge objects, using grass as a test subject.

Engorgio. I mumbled. There is no point in chanting your spells in a normal voice.

The grass grew by a few centimeters.

Reducio.

The grass shrunk by a few centimeters. You know, since I know both the reduction and enlargement charm, there is no point in ever buying new robes. I can make them bigger whenever I grow.

I went back to trying to perfect the enlarging charm.

After a couple of repetitions of enlarging and then shrinking, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Blaise pointing at Draco and Harry. Draco had just thrown the remembrall, and Harry dove towards the ground at a breakneck speed. Right as he was about to hit the ground, he caught the remembrall and slowed down before he went splat. He must have some impressive reflexes to pull off stunts like that.

"Those are some impressive stunts," I mutter.

"Agreed. It's a shame he's not in Slytherin. He is a natural seeker. He would have brought our quidditch team to glory." said Theo.

"Potter? In Slytherin? Don't make me laugh. Even if he were a Slytherin, he would get kicked out of the dorms at the very least, if not cursed." Blaise laughed a deep belly laugh.

Blaise stopped laughing when he saw professor Mcgonagle walking towards Harry. I quickly looked at Draco; he had already gotten off his broom before Harry caught the remembrall. He was positively gleeful at the sight of Harry getting berated by Mcgonagle.

I cast a tempus. "And with that, the class is over," I stated as I walked to the castle. We have herbology now and then lunch. After lunch, we have potions.

We stopped by the dorms to get our dragonhide gloves and then headed to the greenhouses. The only thing Draco could talk about on his way back was how he managed to get Harry expelled. That was a pretty smart move of his, I'll admit, but it was also reckless and had many risks, like what if he got caught?

The greenhouses are next to the lake and made entirely from glass, making normal greenhouses really hot usually, but apparently, magic greenhouses are just cool. Inside there are two long metal tables with seats for the students. In front of each seat, there is a potted plant. It has small, spear-shaped leaves, which are a mixture of yellow and green. It also has some bronze, silver, and light pink flowers. Sometimes two colors are mixed to make a shiny pink or a dull silverish color. I spent the rest of the time before the other students got here studying the plant.

Eventually, the door opened to reveal a short, pudgy woman, professor Sprout. "Good morning, class. I hope you brought your gloves. Today, we will be studying the poisonous Three-Leaved Osage Pokeweed," she said. I was suddenly glad I didn't touch the plant.

"The Three-Leaved Osage Pokeweed is a widespread, small plant that can be found mostly in savannas. It has tiny, spear-shaped leaves, which are usually yellow-green. It also grows small flowers, which can be bronze, silver, and light pink," she instructed while pointing to the mentioned flowers. "these plants grow in small numbers. They can be dried and used in cooking. As a defense mechanism, the Three-Leaved Osage Pokeweed is poisonous to most creatures. To us humans, they will at most give you slight nausea. It relies on winds to carry its seeds away to reproduce. Once pollinated, they grow small, inedible fruits.

"Today, we will be repotting the Three-Leaved Osage Pokeweed. This is to get you used to dealing with plants, so when we get to the more deadly plants, you will be prepared," she explained. Her voice grew more serious as she finished, making some of the weaker-willed kids' gulp in a mixture of seriousness and fear, but at the same time making them slightly excited. We have been learning the basic biology of most plants, the stem, the leaf, the roots, things like that for the past weeks.

"Put your gloves on, and grab the base of the Three-Leaved Osage Pokeweed. Make sure to grab precisely where the stem meets the soil," she explained. She then walked around helping students.

"Now, I want you to pull gently, don't do it too strong, or you will rip out the roots, but not too weak so you can't lift it from the soil. When you have done that, gently shake the plant to get rid of as much dirt from the roots as possible."

I did it almost automatically. My daughter had decided that she wanted to become a botanist in my past life, so we had built a small vegetable garden, and we would often go to remove weeds from it.

"Hey, Jonathan, can you help me? My plant refuses to be lifted," Theo said with a blush of embarrassment.

"Sure, here, let me," I say as I try to lift the plant. Try, because it won't separate from the pot. I pull a bit harder; still, nothing happens.

"Maybe we should pull harder?" Theo asked.

"What? No, if you do that, when the plant gets lifted, a bunch of soil will explode on our faces."

"Professor Sprout, Theo's Three-Leaved Osage Pokeweed won't be separated from the pot," I shout, getting her attention.

"Ah well, sometimes, when these things happen, we use a spell." She pointed her wand at the Three-Leaved Osage Pokeweed and did three counter-clockwise. There was a slight tremor in the dirt, and when Theo tried to lift it again, he was able to do it with ease.

"Why don't we just use the spell?" Theo asked with a confused look on his face.

"Because you can't rely on your wand for everything," she said with a knowing smile before walking away.

"If you don't have your wand, I imagine you have bigger issues to worry about than replotting a plant," Blaise muttered.

"Well, what if it's a carnivorous plant that is trying to eat you," I said while grimacing and earning weird looks from Theo and Blaise. Ugh, while meditating has helped me control my personality changes, it pops out sometimes.

What if I am in my tasks and don't have my wand? How would I survive? An option is to master wandless magic, and while I will try to do that, it will take a long time. Another option is not to lose my wand in the first place. And finally, I can use another tool, another wand, maybe? Or what about a gun, I would need to learn how to use it, but it could be potentially useful. But how would I make it silent, sure I could use a silencer, but I want something permanent, maybe enchanting or runes?

Would it get rid of all sound? If so, would all the extra energy used to make the sound be transferred to make the bullet go faster? Also, would it silence the gun or the individual bullets? Hmm, I will have to look into it later. Scratch that; I will start learning about runes/enchanting asap.

"Time for lunch, what do you think they will have?" exclaimed Blaise. I think this is the most excited I have seen him today. As an Italian, Blaise has a love for food little to none can match.

"Nothing Italian," Theo said, enjoying the despair that Blaise felt at his words. That's for sure; the house-elves rarely make anything that's not English.

"Do you think that if I gave them some cookbooks, they would make a greater variety of food?" Blaise asked

"Hmm, that's a good idea. I can show you where the kitchens are if you get some cookbooks with food from everywhere," I said after a moment's hesitation.

"You know where the kitchens are? Why didn't you ever tell us?" Theo and Blaise said in unison.

"Well, you never asked, and so what about it, Blaise. We introduce the house-elves to international cooking, and I show you where the kitchens are?" I said, enjoying Blaise's enthusiastic nod at my words and ignoring Theos cries of sadness.

"What about me?" Theo asked.

"What about you?" I responded, grinning. "You have to understand Theo; the world doesn't revolve around you."

"What will it take for you to tell me where the kitchens are?" he said with frustration.

"Well, what are you offering?"

"I could do your astronomy homework," Theo said after a moment's hesitation.

"It's a deal then." Astronomy is the only class I am having slight issues with.