Chapter 7 Psycho.

Full-blooded wizards have their own problems. Even if what was written in some fairy tales about the code of the genus turned out to be fiction, there were no codes in this world, at least I did not find anything like it in the memory of my ancestors, but there were oaths to the genus. In some way the oath was replaced by the code on certain functions. In addition, the purebloods themselves sometimes let the people duck about the code of the genus.

It always seemed to me that to write the code of the clan, which is essentially a set of rules for members of the clan, to limit wizards, to regulate their actions in almost all significant areas, is nonsense. In terms of loyalty to the family, there are enough oaths. For some special cases, there are individual vows. Why else would there be a code?

Something similar to the code existed in magical orders, magical clans, and other associations of magicians or different kinds of magicians. But even there, the code did not regulate all relations and was often advisory in nature. The kickback could only be obtained for the grossest violation of the code under certain articles. For the violation of certain rules of law the punishment of magic was purely symbolic, and for other violations should not have any penalties.

Now, Davis, in his excuse for his unsightly behavior, mentioned the code of the genus in passing. Technically, Roger kept his face, but practically, he was a coward. Both he and I understood that.

"You see, Arrakis," Davis reasoned, " the purebloods have all sorts of conventions, rules that are not written anywhere, but sometimes they mean more than the laws of the ministry.

"I understand," I said.

— Well, there is such a thing as the code of the gens…

"The gens code?" I asked Davis.

"Well, yes," Roger said, grimacing. — It doesn't exist as a specific book, but it's vows and vows made to the family.

"Interesting," I said, expressing my interest.

"Well," Davis said enthusiastically, " I couldn't stand up for you under the code, just because it could turn into a war between the clans. I'm not even the heir, so my intervention would be, how should I put it, an unauthorized violation…

Davis was clearly beginning to mumble and spread his thoughts across the tree.

— So Bletchley could so easily declare war on your family, and you couldn't do anything without breaking the code?" I asked.

"Not exactly, but in general terms," Roger continued.

"I can reassure you, Roger," I said, smiling, " but I wouldn't accept your patronage even if I knew I was going to be pressured. I don't want to get involved in all this pureblood stuff with codes and oaths just yet. Too many restrictions and too serious consequences can be from their violations.

"It's good that you understand," Roger said.

Well, as vaguely as he explained, I answered him at the same length. It seems that he explained to me about the wrinkled dogwoods, and I answered him according to the Schrodinger equation. Called and talked to him. However, such a conditional reconciliation was sufficient. Davis tried to pretend that nothing had happened and that everything was fine. I, for my part, did not demand anything and did not throw accusations.

Gradually, the study dragged us out, distracting us from unpleasant thoughts. The conflict with Bletchley began to be forgotten. I ignored Miles, and he did the same for his part. Perhaps he would have liked to do something nasty, but he was warned and strongly advised to refrain.

From particularly memorable on this conflict, so to speak: on sweet, there was a conversation with Snape.

"Mr. Blair," the dean of Slytherin said to me after the potions lesson, " hold on.

Davis gave me an unreadable look as he left the classroom. There was sympathy and doom in his eyes, anger and fear, and many other shades.

I walked slowly to the potions professor's desk and waited in silence for him to tell me.

"Mr. Blair, I've learned that you and a student in my department have had some sort of conflict of interest," Snape said, looking at me questioningly.

"Rather, we disagree on the structure of a magical society," I said, answering an unasked question.

"You could say that," Professor Snape did not insist on his wording.

"In any case, Mr. Blair," Snape said, " I would like to inform you that Miles Bletchley's actions were in no way approved by the Slytherin House or myself. I also informed your dean about this separately. That's all, you're free.

I was grateful that Snape hadn't warned me about private fights within the walls of Hogwarts. He could understand that I knew a lot of the nuances of what I was saying to Bletchley. Snape didn't apologize for his student and did not take responsibility for it themselves. Moreover, he had absolved himself of responsibility for the student's possible next misdeeds. Though not in full, but refused to be his student.

During the conversation, Snape tried to probe me with legilimency, but he ran into obscura and gave up. Most likely, he considered the obscurus some kind of artifact active protection, or an unusual natural block: it is unlikely that he had encountered the obscurus before.

In general, this whole situation has taught me a lot. Yes, and my increased authority had a certain not very good color. Yes, and the authority of Bletchley, though collapsed, but not so low as it might seem.

The essence of the conflict was that Bletchley noticed a promising person and wanted to bring him under vassalage or protectorate. There was nothing unusual about it. In the memory of my ancestors, I have seen similar situations, only the Blacks themselves usually relied on the nobility of the family, money and acquaintances, never trying to push with brute force. Bletchley decided to take the short cut and force his way in. If he had succeeded, then he would have been respected and honored on Slytherin. What about it? I saw a promising wizard and managed to subdue him under my family.

Most likely, Bletchley was warned in a specific way. You will succeed — well done, your reward. But if something goes wrong, you acted on your own and against the recommendations, and you will take full responsibility.

Bletchley, after the prefects ' talk, decided that there was only a little bit of pressure left, so he didn't back down. It was pure calculation on his part.

Snape "refused" his student only in a question about me and only in a conversation with me. In fact, if anything, Bletchley can somehow secretly support. But, most likely, Snape hopes that there will be no further development of this whole story.

Well, what was the action on my part? I just freaked out. I would like to say that I also calculated everything — but no, I acted on emotions. Now I have a reputation for being a lunatic, which is better not to offend once again. Such a reputation also has its advantages. Now I will not be touched, trying to bring under vassalage, at least in a rough form. But there are also enough negative points: now I am more feared as a savage with a grenade, rather than respected. With Davis, it's easier, he thought that I was freaking out because of Asia, which is not far from the truth, such a reason he considered quite good.

This whole situation has exposed my vulnerability to a surprise attack — I have no one to insure me. Davis was a normal companion, intelligent, well-mannered, noble, but there were also negative aspects to him. Davis was a bit of a coward, especially when it came to moral pressure, and he still didn't see me as an equal, although he didn't show his superiority in any way. In public or one-on-one, he didn't detract from my dignity in any way.

There was nothing I could do about my vulnerability. Yes, there were occasional duels with Roger now, but they were half-measures. The previous approach to me will not be, no one will " play "with me now, if they attack, they will maim or kill.

At one of our sparring sessions, Roger accidentally injured me. It was a minor wound, but I had to go to Madam Pomfrey for help. Then I decided what I would do in the next year. I considered the ability to provide first aid in case of injury even more important than learning to fight.

Well, what can a first-or second-year student do against an adult wizard in open combat? The question is rhetorical. I did not give up dueling classes, but I did not have much hope for them — it was all pampering.

I finished this course without any problems, even the Weasley twins tried to avoid me with their jokes. For most students, I looked inadequate, which at the slightest pressure loses the "roof". My actions when shifting to other realities corresponded, as if when a gopnik hit in a doorway, instead of contacting the police (police), I would complain to the president, or more precisely, I even called a bomb strike on my own coordinates on the radio. My action was very ambiguous.

Mindful of my desire to find a life partner early and gain some experience with girls, I decided to find a replacement for Asie. As an alternative, I chose Abby Myers from my home faculty, officially a Muggle-born, who I initially liked less than Asia, because of her special character.

Abby was bright. Outwardly, she was less beautiful to my taste than Asia, but she knew how to present herself, knew how to show herself from the best side and in general, was quite lively and confident. In terms of strength, she was average.

Without hesitation, I approached Abby with an offer of friendship.

"Hi, Myers," I said to the girl in the hallway when she wasn't with her friend Jema Brooks.

"Hi, Blair," Myers said without much enthusiasm. — What did you want?"

— You're beautiful, I wanted to be friends with you, " I said simply.

"Don't take it personally," Abby said, frowning, " but no, it's exactly on your account: we were warned to stay away from you.

"Stay away?" — I was surprised. "The

prefects," Myers said sympathetically, " advised me to stay away from you and not get into any conflicts with you if possible.

"But, but, but..." I stuttered, " we're not in conflict, are we?"

"Boys fight and fight all the time," Abby said wisely. — I don't want to be around when something happens again, I don't want any trouble, Blair.

With those last words, Myers turned away and walked down the hall, leaving me standing there, thunderstruck. It turns out that I did not acquire the reputation of a psycho myself, but it was officially put on me by the prefects. Most importantly, now it is useless to try to prove anything, it remains only to go further with the flow, hoping that over time my appearance will improve a little. Yes, and some lengthy rumors can not scare everyone away, the same Davis took my breakdown normally.

I did not calm down immediately, did not give up my idea, but it was useless to approach girls of older courses with an offer of friendship. Either it will not be accepted at all, or it will be rejected because I am too small for them. There were two other interesting girls in the first year, but one, Diora Travers, was from Slytherin, and I only had to exchange glances with her to know that I shouldn't approach her, and the other, Annie May, from Gryffindor, only saw me take a step in her direction and grimaced so that I used a far-fetched excuse to address her and decided not to voice the real reason for the approach.

"I won't be able to find a mate in my first year," I decided.

Looking back on my previous life, I realized that I was somehow unlucky in my personal life. At first, it seemed that there was no need to rush, everything will be applied at a certain moment, when the time comes. There was a certain faith in fate and in sublime love. But time passed, and those I looked at paid no attention to me. And if they did, it wasn't quite the same attention. It was more like, " Come on, surprise me, entertain me, and then we'll see." At the same time, the look read the true attitude towards me: "You're nobody, I'll wipe my feet on you."

Time passed, and my bar of requirements fell, but the interest in me was also less and less. Somehow it turned out that the girls who showed interest in me always turned out to be below the requirements.

There was hope for LOVE and FATE. But, as often happens, love burns those who do not know how to handle it. A boy burned by love for a woman becomes a man. Looking back on the object of his passion, he can not understand what he saw in it so beautiful and alluring. Love passes, but scars and disappointments remain. Who loves, loses. Not because it is such a law of the universe. Just through this feeling, you can get a lot of power over a person, completely unfounded. And power corrupts. For many, the feeling of their own power becomes a drug stronger than the most "heavy" substances. And there are very few who want and know how to use power for the benefit of the one over whom this power extends. There are very few who can refrain from using their power for the sake of banal pleasure.

Anyway, I thought it best to give up the idea of finding a girlfriend in my freshman year. Yes, the moment is lost. My hopes that over time the friendship will grow into something more, and it will be possible to avoid the unhappy experience of first love, collapsed.

I knew about the friendzone, but I thought I'd be able to see that I was being used in time. In the end, the principle of the friendzone is the same: the power of the calculating over the lover.

Putting aside my plans for finding a couple for more senior courses, I started studying. In a couple of years, the whole Bletchley thing will be a little forgotten. Other children will come to Hogwarts. I had some plans for Granger, who at first would be very clumsy in her search for friends. Besides, there must have been other pretty girls. I'll take a live look at Greengrass — is it worth taking the risk and pushing the wedges to Slytherin? Padma Patil, who was just a beauty in the film, should enter Ravenclaw.

There will be chances, I decided. — Don't cling to every girl like it's your last chance, it only makes it worse."

To distract myself from bad thoughts, I immersed myself even more in my studies and my project. I began to pull the project almost alone, Davis clung to me with a trailer and was not particularly happy with such an "interesting" time. I might not surprise anyone on Ravenclaw with my intensive training, but I set a very fast pace, and Roger's displeasure sometimes broke through. However, I practically left my friend alone — if he wants to learn, he will learn. I didn't impose my company on him, I didn't hide anything about the project. Flitwick praised me, but mercilessly cut down my project almost to the level of Davis, who took my calculations as a basis and greatly simplified them. In fact, his modest solutions were more like a school curriculum, so the professor only slightly supplemented Davis's project with inserts from my work.

By the Christmas break, the project was ready, on paper.

I stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays. I did not want to see my native shelter at all. Davis was going home to see his family and possibly perform some family magic rituals. I also had the opportunity to conduct several experiments with obscura, because I was left alone in the room, and Help out-the room will be free. In addition, I decided to try transfiguration to produce different alloys or separate pure substances from alloys.

On the night of the winter solstice, I brought the proper gifts, praising magic. I didn't feel any changes in myself, and I didn't even feel anything. Usually, such a ritual has a small beneficial effect on the magician, cleanses from minor curses, increases health. This effect is credited to supporters of the theory of intelligent magic. But, I did not notice any special effect when bringing gifts, the fire did not change in any way, the log just burned down, as well as the offerings. I was healthy as it was, without any rituals, no curses on me, except for the obscura. What other positive effect can there be?

Christmas feasts at Hogwarts provided an opportunity to see the professors in a somewhat informal setting. Some teachers were, as they say, "drunk" and behaved a little strange. But I didn't care, the professors ' behavior didn't seem particularly funny to me. I have the consciousness of an almost adult person and I quite understand the desire to relax sometimes. During the training program, professors have almost no free time, even on Saturdays and Sundays they are busy patrolling, conducting circles and other related activities. And some professors conducted scientific activities, moved magical progress forward, published articles in specialized publications. Therefore, I normally perceived that our teachers use a legitimate opportunity to "relax culturally" a little.

Experiments on transfiguration have shown that this method of obtaining pure metals or different alloys is possible, but in each individual case it is necessary to conduct a ritual, make a private formula for transfiguration, or invest more effort. Moreover, the investment of large forces did not always solve the problem. The output could be obtained instead of eternal transfiguration, which is, in fact, a change in shape, and a change in the structure of chemical bonds, the usual temporary transfiguration with the substitution of atoms of substances for magico-illusory formations.

I was leaning towards a certain description of transfiguration. Where the wizard's will plays a big role, replacing the transfigured object with a real illusion. This theory had its supporters and opponents, its strengths and weaknesses. Not everything could be explained by the theory of substitution by illusion, for example in animagia, or the transformation from living to inanimate, when the subject undergoes changes on the mental level, but in some points this theory fits well with reality.

Immersed in this topic, I learned a lot of new things. Magic, like any other energy, seeks the shortest path. Therefore, with the eternal transfiguration of any materials into the desired shape, there are no internal changes, silicon and oxygen are not spontaneously released from the sand, and with changes in wood, it does not crumble with carbon with the release of hydrogen and oxygen. However, if you need to change the internal structure and achieve certain chemical bonds, or vice versa, break these bonds, then you have to exhaust yourself and invest more magical powers.

I tried to make a formula for decomposition into materials, but I didn't have much success. All I did was remove the electroplating from the metal surfaces. I found samples for experiments in the help-out room, in its hypostasis of the room of lost things. I didn't show Davis this aspect of the magic room, intending to dig around alone so I wouldn't have to share it if I found something valuable.

I also managed to "communicate"with obscurus. I came to the conclusion that he is the same as me, only with a tail, in the sense that he is bestial. He has no mind of his own and his will is not free, he copies everything from me. This is not surprising, because it came from me, from my negative emotions, from my magic. I did not understand all the subtleties of our connection, but in the near future we can not expect danger from this dark formation, which is already pleasing. To a greater extent, the disclosure itself promises me danger.

In the history of the magical world, there were obscuras without a host, even if they were doomed without support, but carriers who got rid of the obscurus and survived did not meet.