Reward

'Bigger than this? Damn!' he thought looking at the seven-foot.. puppy.

As the first years were petting the Cerberus, Rose jumped onto its back. Once again surprising everyone.

With a loud bark, the Cerberus turned around and licked Rose's face.

"Come on, Rose. That's dangerous… and late. We have to go. You guys have classes tomorrow." Hagrid grabbed the Gryffindor like a toy and dropped her on the ground.

"We always have classes," Rose grumbled and hugged the Cerberus, petting its fluffy fur.

The Cerberus looked very happy at the attention he was getting; his thumping leg shaking the windowsills.

Leon glared at the giant before returning to petting the adorable Cerberus who was trying to slather his head in saliva, ignoring Hagrid.

As he traced his hand in the fur of the Cerberus moving towards his hind legs, Hagrid suddenly caught him.

"It's dangerous, Fluffy doesn't know how to control the strength of his tail. The naughty boy broke nearly sprained my fingers while I was scrubbing him."

'A sprain to Hagrid's fingers means, it will just pulverize my whole arm, right?' he wondered looking at the 13-foot jolly gatekeeper who was also wider than any man has the right to be.

While Leon thought dying because the giant dog was happy to see you was funny, Susan thought differently and retreated from the muscled guardian.

 "Rose, enough! Let's go!" Hermione pleaded, backing up with Susan.

The girl who lived grumbled a little, but she too backed away from the Cerberus.

The odd group left the room under the sad whines of the giant puppy.

"Isn't the place too small for Fluffy, Hagrid?"

"Ah! Don't worry about that. Headmaster Dumbledore personally enchanted the room to be as big as his home when Fluffy is alone. Great man, Dumbledore. He is good to everyone."

'So, opening the door returns the room to its original size?'

"I heard Cerberuses live in volcanoes why is that?" Susan asked. "Won't he get homesick?"

"Ah! They like to swim in the lava, the buggers love the heat. And love to keep themselves clean."

'So awesome!' Leon wanted to squeal; he was just in the presence of a creature that uses lava to bathe.

'Control yourself, Leon. While the magical world is awesome, I am not a simp! Not even for a giant slobbering puppy.' The image of the happy Cerberus, its eyes squinting in happiness flashed in his mind. 'Maybe I am for the giant slobbering puppy.' He nodded his head, sometimes you can't win against cuteness.

Susan let out a nervous laugh at that before hitting his shoulder like he did something wrong.

The group split up in the middle, leaving Susan and Leon to reach their dorms.

"So, Susan, I just can't ignore your earlier outburst, I am ready to talk whenever you are," Leon spoke, feeling a little guilty that he was caught up with the Cerberus and ignored his friend.

"Tomorrow, please."

Susan gave him a quick hug before she ran into her dorm.

Shrugging, he too went to his room.

The Hufflepuff sprawled on his bed, tired, brainstorming ideas on how he could own a Cerberus.

But before he further delved into the silly thoughts, golden words appeared on his roof, catching his eye.

"Oh! Dear, oh you Hufflepuff

You proved your worth, you've shown enough.

But are you the vision of my ideals?

Let's see if you can find what nature conceals.

Seek the noble of plants, through forest and glen,

Guarded by the dauntless, striped like a wren.

With courage and heart, venture forth and roam,

Bring back your prize and return to your home.

...….

Remember, loyalty is not ascertained until tested under fear.

'CAN THIS DAY BE ANY BETTER?' Leon nearly danced, jumping from his bed, but he quickly wrote down the lines that appeared on the roof of his room.

The poem slowly disappeared, making Leon return to his bed.

He fell asleep, rereading the sudden quest he got.

With yesterday's impromptu duel perfectly showcasing the results of his hard work, Leon completed his morning routine with more enthusiasm.

While he took the help of his artifact for the first two exchanges to push his year mates into illusion, it didn't matter to him as he made that artifact and he could have done the same without it, it would have just been a little more time-consuming.

After all, once the author's spell hits anyone then they are under the mercy of Leon. With him reaching the Un stage, the spell limits ballooned exponentially.

While he couldn't mess with the proprioception and time sense even when in illusion, he could have easily used Smith as a shield yesterday, by manipulating what he sees and hears.

'I should practice making the Viscupi spell, the illusion, form smaller.'

While, unlike other spells that shine like they are on fire the original spell of his ancestor, Viscupi, is partially see-through. And unlike other spells, practice can make it transparent and also decrease its size.

Leon observed size decrease was easier when compared to taking away the spell's shine. So, he wanted to get it out of the way first as the spell is only eye-catching in darkness.

.....

The Hufflepuff left for the great hall with his friends.

While Susan was shying away from his gaze, the oblivious Hannah was humming as they traversed the empty hallways, just like always.

Leon and Susan were accosted by Ernie and Justin as they sat at the breakfast table.

"It's not a dream, right? Justin too remembers the last night, our 'dreams' match." Ernie murmured urgently, holding Leon's shoulder.

"Yes! It was not a dream! I hit you guys with a sleeping charm. It's my version of disarming, unlike you guys who learned stupefy in their first year." Leon served himself some food as he answered.

"Yeah! I guess. Everyone has a list of general spells from their parents. I have been learning the stupefy spell from the day I got my wand, but I am still nowhere as fast as Susan." Ernie said, looking at the Hufflepuff girl who was explaining the events of last night to Hannah.

"Yeah! It's tough! Maybe we should learn the charm Leon uses, Ernie." Justin spoke, mixing his soup. "Joining your stupefy practice didn't help me or you much, did it?"

"Nah! Man, we spent so much time already, let's not change to something new now."

"Just saying. By the way, why did Susan draw her wand on you." 

"A small disagreement."

"It didn't look small."

"I dunno, Ernie. You got to ask her."

"Yeah! He is gonna do that." Something in Justin's tone made Leon stop demolishing his food and turn towards them.

"Ernie is afraid of Susan." Justin mocked whispered after a quick glance to make sure the girls were still talking in a corner.

"No! I am not… Okay! A little." Ernie quickly broke down under the unimpressive stare of his friend.

"But why? She is so sweet and supportive." Leon asked, remembering Susan patiently helping her fellow puffs with their assignments.

"Yeah! She is sweet until she is not. I still remember her pressuring me to come clean to the adults after I sneezed on the food table at a party. She becomes very passionate and stubborn regarding some things."

"Please you are just jealous that your father thinks she has better discipline than you." Justin elbowed him.

The duo continued bickering while having their breakfast.

While Leon returned to his breakfast, Smith stomped towards the Hufflepuff table and sat before him.

"You were able to beat me only because of that artifact," he spoke through gritted teeth.

 Leon just shrugged and ate his last bite.

"Using an artifact doesn't make you better than me." He slammed his fists onto the table, making Leon look up.

'What's this guy's problem with me again?' He thought back to their interactions, cursing himself for not taking note of this guy even after deciding to.

'Yeah! I remember.. he doesn't think anyone can be more talented than him. Isn't it easy to solve then?'

"How about a duel, Smith? The duel can decide who is better between us. And the loser has to promise they won't disturb the winner. Our house members will decide the punishment if the loser breaks their word." Leon proposed, unhurriedly, ruminating over the pros and cons.

"I agree! Good! Seven days and Wands only." After Leon nodded his head, Smith stood up and walked away.

'Is he skipping breakfast?' he wondered as he watched Smith go.

Leon decided it was better to give Smith a chance to blow up instead of getting surprised when the guy eventually loses his shit. And looking at him, he was very near to losing it.

'Yeah, I did the right thing. It's better to be in control.'

As they finished their classes and walked towards the great hall for lunch, Susan grabbed him and gestured towards a corner.

The steel in her eyes hinted at what was going to happen.

"You know, I can wait for more time. Take your time and properly come to terms with what happened."

She shook her head.

 "You have the right to know. And I am fine now."

"I am really sorry, Leon. I shouldn't have drawn my wand on you and shouldn't have asked our friends to gang up on you." She took deep breaths and continued.

"It's just that Rose slipped that you were stalking the troll on Halloween. That coupled with Daphne mentioning how you didn't know the basic tenets of mind magic made me feel like a lousy friend…. I am not giving you excuses but my mind wasn't in the right place, and I think a mind healer mildly suppressed some memories that resurfaced and made me blow up."

She explained how she lost her parents on the first day they broke curfew and how his breaking the curfew overlapped, turning her normal concern for him into an emotional breakdown.

"It's my fault. I can understand if you want me to stay away from you." Susan hung her head, wringing her hands.

Leon smiled, ignoring Hannah who was trying hard not to look in the duo's direction.

"Do you think I would have taken you with me last night if I wanted you to stay away from me? Or do you think you could have harmed or even touched me? Even after I easily took down three of our classmates. Arrogant much, Susan." Leon teased the girl, making her let out a teary smile.

He doesn't mind that she drew her wand on him, he respects that she has some strong opinions.

While getting ganged upon by his supposed loyal friends did make him feel a little sad, he enjoyed the battle yesterday a little too much to hate Susan for it.

Ernie was her friend from childhood and with Justin being his best friend, Leon didn't know them like he did Susan and Hannah. So, he wasn't that upset at the end of the day.

"Yes! I do think I can harm you, disarming you would be an easy task." Susan retorted.

The eavesdropping Hannah quickly ran up to them and hugged Susan before patting Leon on his shoulder.

"What do you think Hannah? Do you think Susan can beat me in a duel?"

The Hufflepuff glanced at Susan.

"I dunno, she practices hard and has her aunt's set of spells for duels. But you practice hard also." She shook her head and shrugged.

"Well! How about a friendly duel after the one with Smith?"

"What Smith?" Susan asked.

"Oh! Right, you didn't know. We decided on a duel seven days from now on." 

Susan took a long look at him and spoke.

"If you are sure, we can ask an older student to referee the duel."

"Cool!"

.....

As the classes ended, Leon hurried to his room. The three-headed mythical monster made him forget about the reward promised by his ancestor for reaching the Un stage.

The gift the author, his ancestor, mentioned was supposed to be out of the world, just like his Viscupi spell- the illusion one.

While it wasn't that great before, reaching the Un stage changed things.

Leon could now use the illusion spell without leaving any traces in the target's mind, along with the litany of other advantages he has an inkling of, but he has to explore to be sure.

As he opened the book, words started to appear. The gift was, of course, spells.

They were neatly divided into categories.

Vision: Eyes of the Sphinx, Arcane Gaze, Fenrir's Sight

Smell: Breath of Nundu, Arcane Scent, Fenrir's Snout

Sound: Unicorn's Hearing, Arcane Hearing, Fenrir's Ear

Taste: Banshees scream, Arcane tongue, Chimera's tongue

Presence: Stealth of Demiguise, Arcane weight, Presence of Fenrir

After he saw his options, he cursed his ancestor's ancestors for giving birth to the narcissist.

How was he supposed to choose from the above spells without any explanations and even then, he had to choose only one spell?

Leon didn't remember what a Nundu or Fenrir was, though he remembered hearing them somewhere. So, after a quick search in the library, he got some idea of what the spells offered.

The author offered three spells for each sense where the first spell replicates a magical property of the mentioned magical being. 

The second spell is about feeling magic via eyes, nose, and such. At least he guessed as much.

Like every protagonist, he can get a spell that will make him see magic; unlike every other protagonist, he can even choose to smell, taste, feel, or hear it.

The last of the three columns amplifies his physical senses. This was a guess as there wasn't a magical creature named Fenrir in the bestiary.

Now coming to the magical beasts.

Sphinxs are said to be beings of mind and intent, the word karma popped up whenever the books mentioned a Sphinx.

So, his guess was he could see karma and use it somehow

The breath of Nundu was straightforward, simply put his breath would stink. With the addition of magic, his breath will stink enough to kill people.

The spells, Stealth of Demiguise, and Banshee's screams are also straightforward.

And just like Sphinx and karma, the words purity aka goodness detection popped up for Unicorn. So, his best guess was that the Unicorn perceives a person's goodness through its hearing.

While he easily dismissed the mundane sense-enhancing spells and spells like Nundu's breath, and Banshee's scream as they were not his type- after all, he doesn't have any need for lethality right now- he still has seven spells to choose from.

'What to do?' he wondered, sprawled in his room.