Trick 26: Being a huge Coward!

A student from Slytherin ran out to go find the nurse while Ace held his hips, smiling happily. He looked quite funny in a black suit with sneakers making that pose, but he was happy enough so what did it matter, right?

Severus came up on stage and said "Thank you, Professor Brand. Now if you'd please, I heard Professor McGonagall was looking for you in the library." as he gave Ace a look. Ace was stunned and cursed "Damn! Really? I just saw her this morning!" before hopping off the stage and sulking back to the library…

Only to find out Snape lied to him!

Ace was happy that McGonagall wasn't looking for him, everytime they experimented, it was another headache…

And so he returned to studying in the library~

A few days later

As Ace was writing down in his notebook, Hermione walked over and knocked on the table.

Ace hummed and asked "Yes?" as he continued to write. Hermione looked at the notebook and asked "Intermediate Charms and Hexes?" Ace smiled slightly, replying "Believe it or not, there are thousands of Charms and Hexes in the beginner category. A lot of them can save your life in a pinch…"

He looked up at Hermione and added with a gentle smile "Anyways, what can I do for you, Hermione." Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment before remembering, "Oh that's right!" she looked at Ace and asked seriously, "Do you know anything about Parselmouths?"

Ace pursed his lips and reached into his magical bag, he pulled out a book before putting it back and pulling out another. He smiled and handed the book to Hermione, saying "I'm going to need it back when you're done."

Hermione grabbed the book from Ace's hands and opened it, her eyes widened slightly as she flipped the pages. Every page was covered top to bottom in writing!

There were different Languages with different effects on spells and regions where they're used most, even lost languages that weren't even very well known!

She looked up at Ace in shock as he smiled, "Parseltongues, or Parselmouths, are not that rare in India. Most of the spells using Parseltongue are healing spells, although sometimes they're used in voodoo." he rubbed his chin and added, "Most magical languages have different effects on the spells they cast, for example if you casted a fire related spell, charm, hex, etc using Draconian, the fire would burn fiercer."

He paused for a moment and tilted his head, "Although, most languages are dead ones. For example, the Elvish language has gone extinct along with the Elves. While House Elves are called Elves, they are more like goblins than anything. However there is speculation that House Elves are the result of ancient Elves inbreeding for generations."

Hermione closed the book and asked in shock, "Inbreeding for generations? I've heard that they are slaves!" Ace smiled and nodded, leaning back in his chair as he replied "Well, yes, but also no. The way House Elves are treated is awful and should be stopped, however!"

He raised a finger and explained further, "House Elves are actually quite happy to be enslaved. Most House Elves are extremely loyal to their masters and will see freedom as an insult more or less." he smiled and added, "There are speculations that if a House Elf actually needs a Master to survive or would otherwise die, which, in my opinion, is complete nonsense."

He waved his hand and continued, "There was even a case of someone having 12 House Elf heads mounted on a wall, while the House Elves thought of this to be the greatest honor. That being said, they don't seem to have a language of their own."

Hermione's eyes sparkled and she held his arm, asking "Can you tell me more?!" Ace smiled happily and replied "Sure, sit down. I have nothing to do today anyway." Hermione ran off and came back with a chair before asking all sorts of questions as Ace explained what he knew to her.

The rest of the day passed just like this.

The next day~

Ace rubbed his neck and knocked on a door.

A short little man opened it and looked up saying, "Oh, Mr. Brand! How may I help you?" Ace smiled and looked down at him, replying "Sorry to bother you so early, Professor Flitwick. I hope it's not a problem?"

Flitwick chuckled and said "Not at all, I was just composing some music, come in!" as he walked back into the room. Ace followed him inside and sat down as Flitwick asked "Tea?"

Ace shook his head and explained "That's alright, I actually came to let you know Ms. Granger was with me in the library yesterday. Which is the reason she missed your class." Flitwick nodded and replied "I see! I was wondering where she was, it's very unusual for her to skip classes." Ace chuckled and said, "I was explaining a bunch of different things to her as she kept asking questions."

Flitwick smiled and replied "I understand." Ace stood up and smiled, "Anyway, have a nice day, I have around 3 more professors to talk to about this." Flitwick looked up at him and snorted, "Good luck to you." Ace hummed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

He rubbed his neck and looked at a little list, sighing "1 down 3 to go… Now where is Madam Sprout's class… What a headache…"

A few weeks later

Ace was reading a book and frowning as he walked the halls. It was nearly Christmas at this point and Ace didn't have any family, not to mention he was wanted in the US…

So he had nowhere to go pretty much.

As he was walking around, he bumped into Percy Weasley chastising 2 Slytherin boys.

Ace looked at them and tilted his head strangely. One of the Slytherin boys has Harry's glasses on.

Very strange.

Percy stopped and said "Mr. Brand." Ace smiled and nodded, "Mr. Weasley, how is your father?" Percy smiled and replied "Very good, thank you for asking." Ace smiled calmly and turned to the Slytherin boys, asking "These are…"

Before anyone could answer, Draco appeared at the end of the hallway, saying "Crabbe? Goyle? Where have you been? Pigging out at the great hall all this time?" as he walked over.

He looked at Percy before turning to Ace, he snorted and said "Let's go." Ace chuckled and waved at Draco, who quickened his pace. Ace turned to Percy and smiled, "You best be going back now too."

Percy smiled and nodded before walking away. Ace stood in the hallway and hummed to himself, thinking of something.

The boy with the glasses, Draco's weird look, and the fact that Hermione asked him about Polyjuice Potions the other day…

Ace curled his lips in amusement before shaking his head and walking away, kids these days! It reminded him of himself when he was a kid, unfortunately there was no one to talk about it to!

A few weeks passed in silence as the students left and returned from Christmas break.

Ace was in the library on this day, Hermione was reading a book next to him in silence, strangely there was a mirror on the table in front of her.

She closed the book and snorted, "I should be going now, Harry has a Quidditch game." Ace waved and nodded, "Tell him goodluck for me." Hermione smiled and nodded before getting up and leaving, secretly tearing a page out of a book.

Ace noticed but he had already taken notes on that page, so it wasn't really his problem…

What a responsible adult!

Not even 5 minutes later, Ace heard a slithering sound and half a shout. He froze and frowned grimly.

The slithering got closer until Ace could feel hot breath on his neck. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes, muttering "Lux Ruptis!" as he pointed his wand behind him under his arm.

An extremely bright light flashed and Ace heard loud hissing noises before he grabbed his books, rolling to the side quickly.

He touched his wand to his throat as he heard thrashing, saying "Sana Consideratione." his throat vibrated and he screeched at the ground. His voice reverbed off the bookshelves, floor, walls, and ceiling creating a picture in Ace's mind of what and where the creature was.

He raised his brows and stuffed all his things in his bag before jumping out of the way as the creature thrashed around in pain from the shouts.

It was a Basilisk!

Ace started to sweat a bit, a little terrified in his heart. He started running as the Basilisk shook his head and chased after him, enraged at the pain Ace caused.

Ace continued to shout at the ground to see where he was going from the sounds. He suddenly transformed into a cat and leapt onto the bookcases, jumping all the way until the tops, perching on top and shivering.

The Basilisk hissed at him, trying to slither up but failing ultimately. It looked around, seemingly hearing something before hissing at Ace one more time and slithering away before disappearing out of the library, leaving Ace shivering in fear on top of the bookcase.

He kept meowing until he couldn't see the Basilisk anymore…