[Cassius White]
Cassius felt his head buzz, a phantom feeling of loss spreading throughout his body, reminding him that all his 'plot' and 'future' knowledge was now completely useless.
'It's okay. At least I have magic,' he consoled himself… again.
The sound of cutlery and the smell of eggs, bacon, and other assorted foods stopped him from descending into deep thoughts and wallowing in self-pity, bringing him back to the present.
'I thought I was over this by now, but…' he thought as he looked at the professors' table, watching Professor Flitwick moving his small fingers and touching an interface-like screen while eating his breakfast.
He wasn't the only one either, as most professors, including Dumbledore, were doing the exact same thing. It gave him a serious case of déjà vu, remembering how people in his previous life used to eat while playing with their phones.
'That's not a wizarding magic,' he once again said to himself as his hands reached out to get himself something to eat. He took an egg, some breakfast potatoes, baked beans, and grilled tomatoes and put them on his plate before sitting back down.
He started eating slowly, trying to distract his mind by focusing on chewing, but his feelings were too disorganized, like a knot in his chest that he didn't know how to untie.
'Wasn't the news of Harriet destroying the Horcrux inside her head enough?' he internally complained. And who could blame him? No matter how many times he told himself that his canon knowledge was useless, he still held on to the hope that there might be some use for it…
The world didn't seem to care for his hopes and dreams, though… 'And now Harriet is suspicious of me,' he grimaced slightly, remembering her suspicious glances every time he talked about something. 'I might have just killed all chances for a relationship with her. She's not going to trust me unless I spelled everything out, and that's just not an option.'
I knew I should have tried my hand at Occlumency… But he had been too reliant and confident in his system's protection.
'And how did that work out for you, huh?' he mocked himself. He really had gone ahead and become like one of those fanfic protagonists he hated in his previous life.
"Hey mate, do you know what that magic the professors are using is?" he asked the student beside him. Someone whose name he really should have tried to remember by now…
"Hmm, didn't you hear Professor McGonagall's explanation a few minutes ago?… Oh, right, you were late," the student said. "Well, it's a magic Professor Dumbledore invented to help with study and magic research... The Professor said we will all get our own after breakfast," he explained in between bites.
'That's not an explanation, but I guess I should just wait,' he thought as he too returned to eating his breakfast. He really should not have been late…
X_
[Albus Dumbledore]
I was enjoying my breakfast, using my Archive to spy—ahem, observe—Gellert, who was going through a ritual of all things to check himself for any outside influence. After all, the spells he cast on himself had come back negative.
'Of course they'd fail; he was not being influenced yet…' I smirked inside my head. He seemed to have forgotten or ignored the fact that intent matters greatly in our magic, and I did not intend to influence him in the slightest… for now.
"Professor Dumbledore!!" someone called.
I tilted my head slightly, my eyes roaming towards the origin of the sound.
'Hmmm, what do they want now?' I saw the Weasley twins standing next to each other, hands grasping the table edge in resistance as their friends pulled on their robes to force them to sit back down.
"Yes, Messrs. Weasley?" I answered, amused by the situation.
"Professor, we were just wondering when the lecture you promised last time will begin?" they asked together, making the students near them look away as if they had nothing to do with them.
I chuckled at the situation; I often forgot that to them, I am still Headmaster Dumbledore…
I turned my gaze to the right, hoping to see what my fellow professors thought, but McGonagall continued to eat her breakfast as if this had nothing to do with her. Flitwick, on the other hand, looked at me hopefully… 'Ah, he has the first lecture with them today, doesn't he?'
I turned my head to the left, but Horace, Pomona, and the rest just ignored me.
"Well, it seems we can start after breakfast," I said as I looked back at the students. "We have an hour or two to update you on a few changes that will be taking place in Hogwarts soon, so we might as well do it together."
"Great!" "Awesome!" "I was so worried about handing the Charms assignment!" "Me too!" "I haven't finished that one yet!"
A plethora of reactions swept the hall, making me smile. Some of them clued me in on why they had bothered asking about the lecture in the first place.
The rest of the breakfast time turned more lively, as opposed to the previous half-sleepy atmosphere. Even the professors relaxed more, as I had just emptied their first-period classes.
…
"Ahem, alright, now that we are fed, alert, and ready for the day," my voice traveled across the Great Hall, gaining the attention of most of the student body. I noticed that most students had already finished eating their breakfast and were now just sitting there chatting. "Now then, please stand a few feet away from the tables so that I can reconfigure the hall into an appropriate setting."
They did just that. They started shuffling and moving around, and I noticed a few students taking their plates with them too. 'Those must be the ones who were late,' I thought as I summoned my old wand—a 12-inch pine wood with a dragon heartstring core—and started using my magic to change the hall's configuration.
The house-elves worked fast, as I noticed the plates were vanishing from the tables quickly while I started moving my hand as if I was conducting an orchestra. The chairs started getting on top of the tables before they began folding together, into each other, and melting into the ground.
Carpets and rugs that had the Hogwarts symbol on them started to quite literally sprout from the ground. Seat cushions of varying sizes and colors began to pop into existence; some had their prospective house symbol on them, others had Hogwarts'.
Our staff table and seats started turning into big, comfortable sofas on either side, with an armchair in the middle that was mine.
Clap. Clap.
I clapped my hands as I saw the students looking at the spectacle with awe, even if this was not the first time they had seen it. I can't fault them for that, though, as the atmosphere had been quite tense last time…
"Now then, take your seats and get comfortable. Professor McGonagall will start by informing you of the upcoming changes before we begin," I announced before turning my head. "Minerva, if you please."
Minerva sighed as she started walking towards my spot, and I went back to my seat.
"Alright, everyone, there are three points to announce, so pay attention," Minerva said as she looked at the seated students. "First thing first, as of today all of you will be connected to Hogwarts' Archive. And yes, it's the magic you asked about earlier. This magic will allow you to cut your study time considerably and aid you in your future magical endeavors."
"Second, Hogwarts will start accepting new and younger students in a few weeks' time. That means we will be assigning some of the sixth and seventh-year students as their mentors. This is a chance for those who hope to gain a job in Hogwarts after you finish your magical training, so if you are interested, you can sign up later today and tomorrow," Minerva continued, completely ignoring the raised hands of the students and their questions.
'That's good; this will give her time to actually get a rudimentary plan without saying things that conflict with it.'
"Third and final point, Hogwarts will start focusing on practical magic and spell application more from now on. That means dueling classes, spell practice, body training, and other such activities. This point is compulsory for all students," she stated her final point and started moving back to her spot on the sofa, right next to Flitwick and Sinistra, but not before sending me a glare.
'I guess she didn't like that I rushed things without an actual plan.' I thought as I stood up. 'But then again, we wizards kind of have a thing for slow progress, so doing things on the fly might be better.'
I stood up, walked a few steps, and stopped by the edge of the small platform. I looked at the students who were now in each other's ears, whispering and talking quietly about what they had just heard.
Cough, Ahem. I did the fake cough thing to get their attention. "Now then, I know you have a lot of questions, but you'll have to wait a little until we have everything set up." I smiled slightly as I saw the students nodding in understanding. "Still, let's start our lecture first before we get into the Archive magic and connecting you to it, because, let's be honest, if we start with that, you will be more interested in figuring out how it works instead."
I heard a few chuckles in response, so I just smiled and started talking again. "We will continue our Theory of Magic class now, so pay attention."
"As I am sure most of you remember, we talked briefly about intent and its importance to our magic last time, as well as discussing our overall magical system structure." I started getting into professor mode as I continued. "We will continue talking about that as well as have a brief Q&A session by the end, too. Nevertheless, raise your hand if you have a question."
I waved my wand, making an arc-like motion before pulling back and twisting my wrist, creating an illusion that swept over the entirety of the Great Hall, making it appear as if we were in a big Roman auditorium-type classroom—an amphitheatre-like room, with a chalkboard behind me, and students seated all around.
"Today's lecture will start with wand movements. What are they? How do they help us? Why do we need them? Etc… Any guesses?" Students started raising their hands, mostly third-year and above, which made me blink. "If I wasn't clear enough, I meant first years," I added dryly.
Most of the students who raised their hands either quickly put their hands down or started making stretching poses to try and save themselves some embarrassment. It didn't work, but B+ for the effort and quick thinking.
"No one?" I asked as I saw that no first-year had raised their hand. Even Hermione Granger, who I expected to do such a thing, didn't, but that probably had something to do with Harriet restraining her.
"Well, it matters not. So let me explain. Now, what are wand movements exactly? Different people will give you different opinions. Some will say they are an essential component of spell creation and spell casting; others will say they are there to teach children how to cast spells, and so on and so forth… There's a lot of debate about what they are, but the primary theory is that they are one of the ways to translate intent into a practical magic, that is the spell."
The students were staring at me with rapt attention now, focusing on the lecture, with most Ravenclaws forgetting to blink.
"My opinion and theory on the matter is that they are a crutch, a way to help beginners feel the magic and make it easier for them to build a clear intent for the spell. This theory, though, wasn't pulled out of a hat; it's an opinion I came to form after reading about ancient magical casters and how they used magic—way before the Romans came and started creating the structured wand magic that we use today." I smiled as I saw them getting more interested.
"Wizards of old, as you'd come to find out if you research, used to start training very early under an apprenticeship system. They started by training physically and going through long hours of meditation for years in an effort to build a powerful mind and body, thus powerful magic and intent."
"Some of them used staffs and other artifacts, but those were for magical amplification purposes and, ironically, one of the things that were considered when making the magical system we know today…"
A Hufflepuff student raised his hand, making me stop my rant. "Yes, Mister Diggory?" I acknowledged him, making him stand up.
"Professor, doesn't that mean today's magical system is better?" he asked, while trying not to fidget under the attention of the whole student body.
"Good question," I said. "Though do sit down, please; there was no need to stand up in the first place. As for your question, is our current magical system better? That's debatable. It's easier, and it guarantees more magic-wielding wizards and witches, but I wouldn't say it's better. The old system, while inefficient, did produce some extraordinarily powerful wizards and witches, whose magical might was considered godly by Muggles. Still, our current system doesn't lose out by much, as I am sure if people start to put more effort towards training, then they too will be just as powerful, much more easily."
I waved my wand in a zigzag pattern and the chalkboard behind me showed a new question. "Now, who can tell me, how do we know what wand movement to use when creating a spell?" Yet again, no one raised their hand, making me close my eyes. "Older students can answer this one," I informed them, with a half-exaggerated sigh.
"Um, we use Arithmancy to determine the wand movements in relation to the intent, after figuring out the incantation, sir," a voice came from the Ravenclaw side. Turning my gaze, I saw a girl with brown hair and eyes with glasses—Amelia Brown—if I remember correctly. The girl had this whole nerd-vibe down to a T.
"Correct. After determining what spell you want, you start translating your intent into numbers. Then, after figuring out what Arithmancy system to use, you start figuring out the incantation under the bounds of said system. After, and only after, you have figured that out, do you start researching what wand motions to use," I said. "This is why spell creation is a dangerous field, because mistakes cause spells to backfire…"
I saw looks of enlightenment on the faces of the first years, slightly widened eyes and mouths as they had an 'ah' moment.
"Now then, any questions?" I asked, my eyes roaming the hall, watching if anyone would ask something.
I saw Cassius raising his hand for a second before deciding otherwise, but I wanted to see what he'd ask. "Yes, Cassius, what's your question?"
For a second there, he looked like a deer caught in headlights with all the attention on him. Still, he took a deep breath. "Professor, you say that there are different things needed to be done to cast magic, but why? How do we cast it? Why does it succeed while other times it backfires?"
"Those are some very good questions, but answer me this: what do you think happens when we cast magic?" I looked around to see if there was anyone who was going to answer. There were none.
"Well, I'll just tell you. You see, when we cast a spell, we use our energy to carry out what we want to happen. This energy then leaves the body and is divided into three parts: the part that is burned to create a bridge between what we want and the world/reality; the part that carries your want, feeling, intent, whatever; and the part that is burned to carry that payload." All I got in return were scrunched faces, furrowed eyebrows, and blinking eyes. Confusion at its finest.
"Think of it like sending a letter. You need an envelope and a stamp (the bridge energy), the letter itself with your message (the core energy aka the spell), and the owl that gets it from A to B (the carrier energy). If any part is wrong, the letter doesn't arrive, or it goes to the wrong place—a backfire." This time I got some nods but they were mostly from the upper year students so I had to try again.
"Okay, let me try this in a different way instead," I said as I twirled my wand and made a blank, humanoid-shaped figure appear in front of me, with a wand in its hand. "Imagine that this one here is you, or someone you know, okay? Now, let's say he casts a Petrificus Totalus spell, the full-body-bind curse."
I explained as I made the illusion do the wand movement before a white streak of light shot from its wand.
"Okay, now you used your magic to cast this spell. So, for simplicity's sake, let me show you how the magic you spent is divided. First, a small portion of it is used while you are doing the wand motion—or, if you don't use one, the moment your wand lights up—which, as I said before, acts as a bridge. Everything clear until now?" I got a chorus of "yes" and nods to my question.
"Okay, here's the next part. Now, most of the energy is the core of the spell, the part that carries what you want the spell to do—in this case, to bind." I continued my explanation as I made the spell light bigger. "Now, why does it glow? Where does the glow come from? That's the other small part of the magic, used to make the spell visible and to carry it through the air. You are watching it get burned in real time."
"So that's why!" "Oooh!" "I didn't know that!" "I knew that!" "You totally didn't, don't lie!"
"Settle down, settle down, please," I said as I heard the reactions of the students. "I am still not done; you can clap after."
"Now, if any of you had attended a dueling tournament before, you'll see that there are people who can manipulate the colors of their spells, whether there's a light or not, and other different things. These manipulations have nothing to do with the actual spell's function as much as they reflect magical control and mastery."
"That means if you are a master, you can manipulate what color your spell is, how fast it moves, even how silent it is… that's the reason why people pursue further mastery after Hogwarts. They are learning a lot of different, finer controls. These are things that we decided to start teaching you soon enough."
I dismissed the illusion I cast on the hall, making it turn into butterflies, as I walked back and sat down on my comfortable armchair.
"Now let's start a brief Q&A session and then we can continue our lesson," I said as I snapped my fingers, and a cup of water appeared hovering next to my still closed hands.
Of course this 'wow'ed the students, but they didn't know that this was a house-elf's doing. Dinky to be exact, one of Hogwarts' oldest elves.
"Professor," two identical voices sounded together.
"Yes, Messrs. Weasley?" I sighed and replied.
"We have a question. About the Muggle world. Do they have joke shops? Like Zonko's?" the Weasley twin asked, each having their part of the question.
"Hahahahah," I laughed lightly. "Yes, yes they do, quite a lot too, and in different varieties too." I informed them. "They also have quite a lot of different chocolates, which I spend most of my money on. Minerva here could attest to that."
I have never seen so many necks turn faster, as most students turned their heads to look at McGonagall for an answer. She, on her part, just rubbed her eyes and nodded, not saying a word.
"What about the weapons, sir? Wouldn't we all die if they started fighting or if they discovered us?" Another voice sounded, this time though it was a soft feminine one. I turned my head towards the Slytherin side and saw Gemma Farley, the Slytherin prefect, raising her hand slightly while sitting elegantly on the large cushion.
"Oh no, don't worry about that. They are still a few decades away from discovering us, and while Muggles might be ignorant in the ways of magic, they do know, quite extensively if I might add, the dangers of using their weapons," I answered, getting a nod from her.
"Why can't we just try and kill them with their own weapons? Or better yet, lord over them?" Another one asked, 'Felix Rosier, a seventh year average Slytherin student,' I remembered.
"Well, because the first witch hunt started because we were lording over them in the first place," I answered. "Do you have any idea what taking control over Muggles means? It means setting a timed explosion spell on a chair and sitting on it."
"The Muggles could barely tolerate themselves," I shook my head. "As for why we haven't tried to kill them all, well that's easy, because we can't."
I could picture a question mark appearing above most of their heads, which I found an amusing thing to imagine, but… "Let me explain, why do you think wizards opted to hide instead of trying to kill all Muggles back when the witch hunt happened?"
"Because we couldn't?" someone blurted out, but I didn't see who, only that his voice came from the Hufflepuff side.
"Hahah, yes and no," I said as I shook my head. "We couldn't kill them not because we didn't have the power to, but because magic will die out if we did," I revealed, and didn't that get a reaction.
"Impossible!" "How?" "No way!" "Bloody hell, not magic!"
Almost everyone in the Great Hall erupted. Loud exclamations and outcries spread throughout the student body.
"Quiet, please," I said as I snapped my fingers, generating a loud sound that silenced most of them.
"Let me explain something that should have been quite obvious, but it seems I still need to explain it." I leaned back on my chair and continued, "The world, and by extension, magic, demands balance. Where there's life, there's death; where there's night, there's day; and where there's magical, there's non-magicals."
"You seem to be under the misconception that we actually lost a lot of magicals in the witch hunt. We did not. Sure, we lost some, mostly children who couldn't yet use their magic, but even this problem was swiftly handled back then. We retreated into hiding not because of fear, but because the other option was not worth it," I explained further.
"But last time you said that Muggles could bring about our end!" Podrick Haywood, a Hufflepuff sixth year, exclaimed.
"I know what I said, and I stand by my statement," I nodded. "Though I should clarify something: this could happen if we start going out and killing Muggles for sport, like some of the Death Eaters did in the last war. Muggles are very petty, and they will try to commit mass destruction if they have to."
"Ahem, Albus, maybe try going back to the topic of magic," Horace, who was sitting on the sofa by my left, coughed and said.
"Ah, you are right, old friend, but it seems we will have to actually teach them these things," I replied as I looked at him, getting a nod in return.
"Professor, you said we didn't lose much in the witch hunt trials, but history books say something else. Why?" Badeea Ali, a tan-skinned girl with black hair and eyes, a third-year Ravenclaw student, asked.
"Hmm, let me ask you something: do you know the Flame-Freezing Charm?" She nodded. "Do you know when it was created?" She nodded again. "And do you know when the witch hunt trials began?" She stopped nodding and stared at me. "You see it, don't you? How the spell is almost a hundred and fifty years older than when the trials began?"
"So yes, most adults could easily get out of the way, kill, or adjust the memories of the assailants back then. It was only the Muggle-born children that had a problem, but that too was solved rather quickly."
Some hushed whispers were heard as the students started talking about what they had just heard.
"Now, last question before we continue our magical theory lecture," I said as I saw one of the Gryffindors raise his hand.
"Yes, Mister Robins," I gestured for him to ask his question.
"The papers said there was an attack on the Ministry and you went and defended it. Can you tell us what happened?"
Well, I didn't expect a question like that.
"Well, what happened is quite simple. Monsters worked together, they fought, I went there, killed them, and announced that Britain is under a war preparation state," I informed him. "The casualties were more than enough to clue me in on a big problem we are facing: we don't have enough powerful people. So we will start training them."
"But we can't all be powerful," someone interjected.
"On the contrary, we can. We just have to train hard enough. Plus, my new magic allows people to bridge the gap that usually separates talented wizards from the rest. So if after everything you still didn't get at least as powerful as me, then the problem is with you; it means you didn't train hard enough…"
"Anyway, this topic will be expanded upon and explained later, so let's get back to our lecture, shall we?" I said as I stood back up and went to my previous spot.
This second part is going to be quite fun.
X_
[Minerva McGonagall]
She watched as Dumbledore once again started to go on with his lecture, diving a little deeper into the theory of magic.
He was smiling, moving, casting spells, and creating illusions. He seemed like he was actually having fun.
It was then that she realized that Albus Dumbledore was a teacher first. He enjoyed teaching, and it was apparent by how lively and interactive he was.
He knew how to control the crowd, as apparent by how quiet students were when he's talking, how organized they were when asking questions, and how all in all very attentive they were when he's talking.
'He's way too charismatic,' she thought as she had a moment of déjà vu, remembering just how similar it was when Albus taught her when she was still a student.
'Sometimes, it's hard to believe how many years it has been, yet here he is, teaching as if it's his first time,' she continued to watch him as he started explaining the theory of why wizards believe magic to be alive.
"… I myself know for certain that magic has some sort of sentience, not quite alive in the sense that you and I are, but sentient and responsive all the same. Still, that doesn't mean you have to take my word for it. Research, experiment, and study, because I guarantee you, if you discover something, it will be one of the things that cement your name in history books."
She could only sigh as she heard him motivate the students to mess around. Doesn't he know that we are barely able to keep up with them?
She huffed but couldn't argue with his logic; their name will be engraved in history if they find some evidence that proves that magic is sentient.
'Hopefully, it doesn't involve a Horcrux this time,' she mused as she leaned back on the sofa, adjusting the cushion behind her back for maximum comfort.
She continued to watch as Dumbledore went on and explained more about magic's response and how magic as a whole tends to interact and react.
It wasn't until nine-thirty, an hour and a half after he started, that the lecture came to an end. And it was time to get the students connected to the Archive.
He did so by opening his own interface and enlarging it so that more students could connect to it as he started to explain what the magic is, how it works, and other related things.
He even added a small, cartoonish version of him that explains how everything works, just in case.
She had to try hard not to laugh when she saw the small, funny-looking old version of him on her own interface. Though the rest of her colleagues weren't so reserved, as Horace and Filius started laughing out loud, prompting Pomona and Sinistra to giggle too.
'It is quite funny,' she snickered inwardly.
"Hahaha, it is quite amusing, isn't it?" She heard him say. "Still, I will be concluding this lecture with a few words." She shifted her position to pay attention to his words.
"Now, with this magic in your hand, you don't have any more excuses to blame for your failures," he said in a serious tone. "Now, you can't blame the lack of knowledge, talent, or any such thing. If you fail, then that means you didn't try hard enough. So please, study hard, practice even harder, and become pillars of our society."
She nodded, agreeing with his words.
Soon enough, the students started standing up and leaving the Great Hall, most of them walking while inspecting their own Archive interface. Still, watching them leave filled her with hope.
Maybe, just maybe, the future will be a lot better.
X_
[Harriet Potter]
Harriet found herself sitting together with Hermione, huddled together on the same armchair, as they explored their new magic.
This Archive thing was great. Now she could just send and download the information she needs into her head, though for some reason, she can't access information above her own level until she masters everything on her current level.
How did the Archive know? She wasn't yet sure, but maybe it had something to do with uploading her own experience into it? She'd do some testing later.
She raised her head to ask Hermione something but caught sight of Cassius sitting not far from them, his eyebrows knitted tightly as he muttered something about Fairy Tail and someone named ROB?
She didn't know what he was on about, but she could have sworn she heard something about a system and cheating.
She shook her head and looked to her side. "Hermione, what do you think about the new magic?" she asked, not knowing that she just bought herself a half-an-hour rant about computers, the internet, and how much better this magic was than them.
'I should not have asked…'
X_
A/N: sorry for being late… I was asleep and forgot to use the timer yesterday 😂😂😂🤦🏻♂️