Part 1.
The Hogwarts Express. Platform Nine And Three Quarters.
A loud noise woke me up and somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I recognised the sound as that of a steam whistle. My eyes opened slowly and I soon found myself making eye contact with a pretty young girl who was giving me a look of concern. Just in terms of dress, she was one of the oddest people I'd ever seen.
Spoiler: Hippy Luna Lovegood
"Hey, you, you're finally awake!" commented the very colourful girl.
There was another girl here and this one also wore glasses. She still seemed concerned while the flower child girl was now spending her time reading a magazine that was upside down for some reason. The hippy girl seemed far less interested in what was going on here now that I'd woken up.
"I thought you might have passed out," the punk girl commented.
Spoiler: Punk Heather Potter
For some reason, I was reminded of the start of the Skyrim game when you wake up in the back of a wagon, only this was much more comfortable in terms of seating. It wasn't until I started to take in the world around me that I realised I had woken up somewhere even more unexpected than that. I found myself in the carriage of a train. An old-fashioned train judging by the steam.
The feeling of being in the Skyrim prologue made all the sense in the world as by the looks of things I'd been dropped into another world. This was rather worrying and stressful, the only reason I didn't have a panic attack was that I was still a too bit groggy, and it helped that nothing dangerous was going on.
"Are you new to all of this too?" the punk girl asked.
The young woman had a unique sense of style, to say the least. Compared to her and the
hippy girl, I must seem rather underdressed.
"Yes," I managed to answer.
The punk girl didn't seem interested in chatting further to me just yet, she was content to look out of the window as the train began to move out of the station, but not before someone blew that damn whistle again. If I'd been hungover it would have caused me a great deal of more distress.
Outside of the window, I could see families waving at people as the transport began to leave the station. Everyone was making a lot of noise and I noted that both of the girls sitting across from me weren't doing any waving. The punk girl staring out of the window didn't seem to looking for anyone she was just staring.
"Aren't your families out there?" I was asked by the punk.
I didn't know what to say other than "No" and the hippy was engrossed with her magazine.
It wasn't as if I needed my family to see me off if I went somewhere. In fact, the last time I took the train I was going off to visit a part of my family who lived in another part of the country. Perhaps I was going there on an old-style train for some reason and this wasn't some strange dream or super weird situation.
This was when I noticed my reflection in the window and I was startled by what I saw. I didn't look right, I wasn't me anymore. No wait this was me, just a younger-looking version of myself. I hadn't looked this good in a very long time. I was skinny and my facial seemed to have vanished.
What was going on here? I was somewhere strange, with people I didn't know and I looked to be young again. Hold on? Had I been Isekaied? Like what happens to people in those stories I read far too often on certain sites. No, because I hadn't died or been inserted into a character as far as I knew. I was still me or at least I felt like me. Did that make any sense at all?
No, none of this made any sense and if not for my desire to be ignored by the girls, one of whom was still staring out of the window while the other was reading, I might have allowed my anxiety to get the better of me and let myself have a fit of hysteria before curling up into a ball. Okay so things weren't that bad, but this was all still freaking me out.
I looked around for anything that would help me make sense of all of this and soon my eyes were drawn to a rather ornate-looking box with a scroll of all things on top of it. For some reason, I felt drawn to the container and I found myself reading the scroll. But it was not until until after I found a key on top of the box under the scroll, an item that I felt the urge to claim for my own, I also felt the need to use it to open the fancy container and see what was inside.
Before doing that I decided to read what the scroll had to say. I needed to know more about what was going on if I was to have any hope of navigating this strange situation.
Greetings, you have been selected to beta test the new Celestial Reliquary. As part of an experiment, you will be gifted rare items by the Reliquary. You will earn points and at certain times you will be given a chance to spend those points so as to claim a relic.
You may also use the Celestial Reliquary to safely store any relics you acquire from the world you have been sent to. Any relic placed in the Celestial Reliquary regardless of origin will be repaired if broken or replaced if lost, and will always be safe for you to use.
"I guess this is what is meant to give me an edge," I muttered to myself.
While nothing like this had ever happened to me before I had read about such things on certain websites, and when people such as myself suddenly find themselves inserted into a fictional universe they often have something other than their knowledge of canon events to help give them an advantage over the locals. It would be something you could use to fight the bad guys with or at least use to improve your position in whatever society you suddenly found yourself within.
After all, it would be rather pointless for some bored entity to take you out of your old life and throw you into a new one if you died a short time after your arrival. I was convinced that something like this was happening to me and figuring this out was oddly comforting even if it should make things scarier.
Okay, so I had been sent to a world by one of those ROB creatures and I'd been given a magic box that would supply me with relics. So far, that was easy enough to understand, and I think I already knew what world I had been sent to.
It was hard to figure out as I was on a steam train, and unless I was very much mistaken this was the Hogwarts Express, as it looked just as it did in the movies. Upon realising this I became even more relaxed as I now had an idea of what was happening here and where I was going.
A ROB had picked me, de-aged me, made me better looking than I remember being, and sent me to Hogwarts, but not as an eleven-year-old. Was I an older student with no memory of my education? No that made no sense as I'd be completely lost and unable to study at the school. In an attempt to find out more I finished reading what was written on the scroll.
The Celestial Reliquary will grant you three gifts to start with. Each is something that every young wizard should have.
I opened up the Reliquary using the provided key and that took me a while because it had a complex lock. I found an even smaller container on the inside that contained a wand. As soon as I took hold of the wand I knew without a doubt it was mine. I was filled with a warmth I'd never felt before and the tip of the wand glowed a little.
Spoiler
After a while, I noticed that the writing on the scroll had changed and inspected it to find some new information.
Wand - Harry Potter
A wand that has been chosen for you, and while it doesn't grant you any knowledge of the spells you can cast with it will work it will allow you to cast spells. Perhaps you can experiment or find a teacher.
Getting a wand made sense. I could hardly be expected to attend Hogwarts without one, not that I was enthused by the idea of spending my new life in the Wizarding World. On the other hand, there were much worse places I could have been sent to, and it wasn't all bad here. I would get to learn magic and I'd get to meet some interesting characters.
It took a while for me to remember that the Reliquary was offering me three gifts and after putting the wand away I reopened the fancy box to find that nothing had been added. Had I done something wrong? I checked the scroll to find out more.
Trunk - Harry Potter
A simple-looking wooden trunk on the outside is pretty much a pocket dimension you can carry about. On the inside, it has about a dozen compartments, each the size of your average living room. No matter how much you put into it, it will never weigh more than a feather.
This comes with built-in bookshelves, a closet, a potions rack and other containers for any common items you may pick up, and automatically sorts anything you may toss in for ease of access. As a bonus, this version is filled with everything you'll need to attend Hogwarts.
In addition to all of that, the trunk is keyed to you, meaning only you and those you permit can open it. It can take the form of a muggle briefcase at your will and can even be shrunk to the size of a matchbox, without anything inside being affected, again at your will.
I looked again and this time I found a matchbox-sized trunk at the bottom of the Celestial Reliquary.
Marauder's Map - Harry Potter
Your copy of the to-scale, self-updating map of Hogwarts school, complete with the people shown as named dots. It pierces Polyjuice, Invisibility cloaks, and anything else people might come up with to try to hide, always telling the real names of people. If you're not at Hogwarts you can set it to show you something similar such as a school or place of business as long as you spend time in that location.
Assuming that all of my required school stuff was in the truck as promised then these three items should be all I needed for a while. I'd have to seek out the Room of Requirement to find out if anything in the room could be taken from that place. Also, I would need to make some gold and I had no doubt there were a few valuables in that special room.
Now that I had some idea of what was going on and even a bit of a plan to survive I felt much better about this situation. I felt sure that I just needed to come up with some sort of plan and then I would be able to survive in this world.
I was still thinking about the Room of Lost Things or whatever it was called when I saw the writing on the scroll change.
The Celestial Reliquary will award points as you progress and the chance to roll to obtain more important objects. You will be granted 500 points to begin with.
500 points
So the five hundred points must be something to get me started. Why did I have these points? Was I somehow entertaining some higher power such as the ROB who must have sent me here, and if so was he/it/they watching me?
Another query of mine was about how I could spend the points. Do I write on the scroll? Should I try to open the fancy box? I tried to open the box, and as I did a feeling filled me as if I was about to roll to win big or lose.
I checked the scroll in case it could provide any further information. Again the elegant script appeared before my eyes.
Test Roll
500 points
Bank or Roll?
Since I had a quill and inkpot in my trunk I was able to write on the scroll that I wanted to roll. I was able to make the trunk big enough to reach into and as promised it contained what I needed for school while keeping everything very well organised.
500 points
-100 points
400 points
Moogle Badge - Kingdom Hearts
By wearing this badge you'll find yourself a little sturdier, and your magic's a little more potent and plentiful. It can stick to surfaces even though it has no pin, and the wearer can take it off at any time just by trying to do so. If worn on skin, scales, fur etc. it will come off easily without taking anything with it.
Spoiler: Badge
The badge wasn't to my taste, but it was worth looking a little silly to get the benefits. I was attaching it to my leather jacket when someone knocked on the door.
"Have any of you seen Neville Longbottom?" someone I didn't know asked as they entered the compartment.
Unlike the people in this compartment, it looked as if she'd made an effort to dress smart or had been forced to by some parent, so as to make a good first impression. I did not envy this person.
Spoiler: Ginny Weasley
"He's supposed to be with my brother, Ron Weasley," said the girl.
So she must be Ginny Weasley
"No idea" the punk girl in the compartment answered.
"Me either," I said.
The hippy girl didn't even look up from her magazine and the red-headed young witch simply left, and I wondered why she was looking for Longbottom of all people. Also, I wondered why he'd be with Ron. Where was Harry Potter?
"Anything from the trolley!" a voice called out.
It was at this point I realised that I wasn't carrying any cash on me and even if my bank account existed in whatever year and world this was I didn't think the woman pushing the trolley had a card reader.
"Anything from the trolley?" she asked us.
I shook my head.
"No thanks," I said.
The girl sitting across from me reached into her jeans to show that she had quite a lot of
coins in her pocket.
"We'll take three of everything, please," she said.
Who the hell I was sitting with? Wait hold on. Weasley was looking for Longbottom and the girl who was buying a load of snacks was wearing glasses and had green eyes. Was she a female Harry Potter? I had to find out more.
While she was buying snacks and then sharing them, my attention was once again directed to the scroll.
400 points
+200 points
600 points
Bank or Roll?
I assumed that this wasn't a test role and that I would lose points this time.
600 points
-200 points
400 points
Azura's Star - The Elder Scrolls
The Daedric Artifact of Azura, Daedric Prince of Dawn and Dusk, takes the form of a large, intricately designed gemstone with prongs, making it resemble a star. It acts as a reusable soul gem of the highest quality, though it can only contain white souls within it.
Spoiler: Azura's Star
Since I don't know the soul trap spell and don't have a way to use any souls I could trap if I knew how then this item was rather useless to me. The Celestial Reliquary must give out things at random and not know or care what I might need. At least it hadn't cost me a lot of points and a Daedric Artefact might have other uses for me one day.
With all of that business taken care of I decided that I wanted to find out more about the people I was sharing a compartment with, and more about the world I'd found myself in as it did not seem like the standard Harry Potter world.
The only thing I kept on my person was my Hogwarts letter that I'd found in my trunk, as I would need to check that out to find who I was supposed to be in this world.
Part 2.
The Hogwarts Express. On Route.
"Hey, I'm Darius Olle," I intruded myself.
It hadn't been hard to find out my identity in this world as my Hogwarts letter was in my trunk and since my trunk had been given to me by the Celestial Reliquary I couldn't see why it would contain things belonging to other people.
Besides, using a fake name was a good idea as I'd read about how in some fictional worlds with magic knowing a person's full name can give you power over them. I didn't think it worked that way here, but why take the chance, besides, having an odd-sounding name was rather normal for a wizard.
The Hogwarts Letter had been addressed to a Darius Olle who lived at a Wool's Orphanage in London, or rather I had lived there as I had no intention of going back to someplace that gave me the impression that it could have been part of an Oliver Twist type story.
Carefully, the hippy girl put down her magazine before greeting me. She'd already accepted some of the snacks the punk girl had brought for the group, yet beyond that she didn't seem very interested in interacting with anyone. Perhaps she was simply shy?
"Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood," she said.
With that, she hid her face once again. I wasn't surprised to find out she was some version of Luna Lovegood as who else would go to Hogwarts looking as if the spirit of the 1960s had been vomited all over them?
"Hi, I'm Heather Potter, but you can just call me Heath," she told me "I don't know anyone here. Do you?".
So was she a female version of Harry Potter, or maybe he had a sister? I should find out as it might be important to me later.
"If you don't mind me asking how old are you?" I questioned.
She didn't seem to mind despite it being considered rude to ask a lady her age.
"I turned 17 on the first of August" she informed me "I think you have to be 17 to attend Hogwarts".
There was some information to unpack there. This version of Harry Potter or his sister couldn't be the Chosen One as even if the prophecy didn't mention a boy, August was the 8th month not the 7th, and I could see no sign of a scar.
It didn't take me long to piece together that the fan girl Ginny Weasley had come in here looking for Neville Longbottom, not Harry Potter, so it seemed highly likely that he was the Boy-Who-Lived. Plus if he was friends with Ron Weasley did that mean they were travelling in the flying car? Surely an older version of Ron Weasley would not be that foolish? Well even if they were then it was no concern of mine.
Wait, does that mean the Horcrux diary is now on its way to the castle? Does Ginny already have it in her possession? Hold on didn't Malfoy Senior give that book to Ginny Weasley because of some Muggle Protection law that Mr Weasley was using to raid Wizarding Homes for dark relics? If so the diary thing might have already happened. Still, I should remain on my guard.
Since Heather had mentioned her birthday was in August it seemed safe to assume that anyone born after July 31st would be in a different year to anyone born afterwards. That would explain why Heather Potter appeared to be in the same year as Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley.
"So did you grow up with Muggles too?" asked Heather Potter.
I would assume so. I knew nothing of my background story other than what I could infer from my Hogwarts letter.
"Yes," I answered.
Since I wanted to learn more I kept the conversation going as best I could.
"Any siblings?" I asked.
Again the answers were negative, and so I concluded that in this universe Lily and James Potter had a daughter who was born a bit later than their son would have. Even such a small change to the timeline could mean big differences.
I knew nothing of the life of Darius Olle, other than he'd been living in an orphanage as the Hogwarts letter was addressed to one. Which hardly mattered now as unless my birthday had changed I'd be 18 in November and orphanages don't house adults. So by Christmas, I'd have nowhere to go unless I stayed in the castle.
Not unless the Celestial Reliquary gave out houses and I'd seen nothing to indicate that it could and it's not as if one would fit inside the box. Although with magic that might not matter.
Maybe I could purchase one of those wizard tents that is more or less an entire flat, and camp out over the summer or rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron if I could get my hands on some money.
Before then I'd have to find out what sort of legal rights I had, I didn't want the Wizarding World's version of social services, assuming they even existed, interfering with my life as my fabricated background might not stand up to any sort of inspection.
Purchasing a tent or staying at the Leaky Cauldron would cost money, none of which I had, so I was going to either have to find some, earn some, or steal it. At once I thought about that giant lost and found a place that the Room of Requirement could turn into. There were bound to be valuables in there that or could sell to someone.
"This was all a surprise to me" said Heather "I didn't even know I was a witch until I got my letter and a professor from the college came to see me".
I acted as if the same thing had happened to me.
"My whole family is magical" stated Luna "So I've known I was going to Hogwarts all my life. Daddy dropped me off at the station early because he runs an important magazine and needed to get to work".
It pleased me that a conversation was starting as this way I could learn a lot about what was going on without having to keep asking questions.
"I just found out my parents were magical" Heather mentioned, before she turned to me "Any ideas about yours?".
It seemed safe to assume that they had never existed at all, and wouldn't perhaps outside of some paperwork.
"I don't know anything about them," I stated "My letter was sent to the orphanage".
Heather seemed to sense that it was a good idea to drop the subject, and I took a little time to examine the snacks she had brought for all of us. There were small pumpkin pies, pumpkin-filled pastries, and even pumpkin rolls. Not much in the way of sweets, but that made sense since the people riding this train would all be older than their canon versions.
"These magical types sure love their pumpkin" I commented.
I drank some of the butterbeer that girl Harry Potter had purchased. I found the drink to be too sweet for my taste, but I was thirsty and didn't have any alternatives.
"So what do you know about the magical world?" I asked, "I want to know why I didn't get invited to this school until I turned 17".
Assuming my body was that of a seventeen-year-old me. I'd certainly not been this fit at that age. Not that I was complaining as it meant I would not have to suffer those little back pains and aches you have to endure once your youth is behind you.
"You have to be 17 to legally own a wand" supplied Luna Lovegood "The Ministry doesn't consider anyone under 17 to be mature enough to handle wielding magic".
That made some sense. I mean what kind of morons would give an 11-year-old a magical stick that allows them to alter reality around them? It's even stupider than giving a ten-year-old their own Pokémon and then sending them out into the world. That should have resulted in Pallet Town getting burned to the ground.
"So in the magical world you're considered to be an adult at seventeen rather than eighteen?" questioned Heather.
That would keep things simple. If were adults then we'd have more freedom than school children.
"No you're a proper adult at 21 because that is seven times three" she told us.
Which sounded silly at first until I recalled that three and seven are magical numbers. Witches such as the Charmed Ones, and Terry Pratchett's witches come in threes. As for seven, it is supposed to be a lucky number. Even the Muggles know that.
"Once you are 21 you get to decide what you want to do with your life" Miss Lovegood informed us "That's when you become a proper adult and you leave college".
That still made some sense to me and why would wizards have a magical school as a high school? High School is a sadistic invention the Wizarding World had been spared.
"At least I don't have to go back to my relatives" stated Heather Potter "They made it clear that I wouldn't be welcome back".
I wondered if Lily Potter had still died for her child in this timeline, just not when facing Voldemort, and Heather had some sort of magical protection until she turned 17. Perhaps the Potters were attacked by Death Eaters in this world's version of events.
If she wasn't the Chosen One would Dumbledore interfere with her life? Who would she stay with? And what happened to Sirius Black? Did Heather have a godmother in the timeline rather than a godfather? I had so many questions, but I didn't ask them as it would be strange to inquire given that I'd only just met this girl. I would have to discover the information I desired over time.
"There's nowhere for me to go other than Hogwarts either" I mentioned.
That made things awkward for a time and no one spoke until one of us decided to change the subject.
"Do you know about the Hogwarts Houses?" Luna Lovegood asked us.
I did know, but I shouldn't, so I didn't say anything.
"Only that dark witches and wizards come out of Slytherin" said Heather Potter "And my parents were in Gryffindor so I guess good witches and wizards go into that house".
I knew that it wasn't that simple as despite the changes in the timeline caused by Harry Potter being born a girl and in a different month it was likely that Peter Pettigrew had still turned on the Potters after becoming a Death Eater. If he was at the school, pretending to be a rat called Scabbers then perhaps I should do something about him.
For now, I wouldn't take any action that could interfere with the timeline until I was more certain about what was going on in this version of events. I'd rather not mess things up and doom the wizarding world. Not when I was living in it.
Luna took the time to explain to Heather that Gryffindor House was founded by Godric Gryffindor and favoured students who possessed characteristics such as courage, bravery and determination. The house colours were scarlet and gold, and the emblematic animal was a lion.
"There's also Ravenclaw, that's the house my Mum and Dad went to and Hufflepuff, which is the friendliest house according to my Daddy," Luna told us.
Given that I was an introvert who spent a lot of his time reading I figured I'd be in Ravenclaw. If I did then I should stick close to Luna to protect her from the bullies in that house. I loathed bullies and unlike the first time I'd been a teenager I had no intention of being meek around any of them.
As the train carried on its journey through the countryside, leaving England and entering Scotland at some point I found myself listening without speaking much as the two girls started to get along. When not talking about government conspiracies and possibly nonexistent magical creatures, both of which were featured often in her father's magazine, Luna was a great source of information.
As the afternoon passed by and I paid attention to the information the hippy was sharing I noticed that it was starting to get dark and that the fancy scroll had returned to my hand. If I had picked it up at some point then I would not done it willingly.
400 points
+200 points
600 points
Bank or Roll?
After again taking a quill and ink pot I wrote to roll
-100 points
500 points
Tome of Town Portal - Diablo
You've managed to 'borrow' a book from Deckard Cain that teaches you how to open a portal to any town you've been to in your current world. You can only have one portal open at a time, but it only takes a few seconds to cast this spell so changing destinations is an easy task.
The only town I'd been to in this world was London, which wasn't really a town, so if I used this book would it create a portal to the centre of London? If so the muggles were bound to notice.
That was something to worry about if I ever needed a quick escape for now I needed to get ready to attend Hogwarts College. The afternoon had flown by and it was already dark. I felt more tired than I should have due to everything that had happened to me and despite the snacks I was hungry.
I soon found out that the robes we were supposed to wear were more like a cloak that we just put on over our normal clothing. There was no school uniform beyond that and there no was silly hats we had to wear this was good because I was not a hat person.
When the train came to a stop the student body at Hogwarts began to get off the train and soon I heard the voice of Hagrid calling us over to him
Part 3.
Train Station. Hogsmede.
While the older students got to take fancy carriages up to the castle (that from my perspective weren't pulled by anything as I couldn't see threstals) Hagrid guided the new students to a fleet of small boats waiting to take us across the lake. Since I'd read the books and seen the movie, more times than was healthy, I knew that soon we would get our first view of the castle from the lake as was traditional for new students.
"No more than three to a boat!" the Gamekeeper called out.
Or at least that was what I thought he said, his accent made it hard for me to understand the big man, it wasn't even a Scottish accent, so I wondered where the half-giant had picked it up from. Hadn't he been living at Hogwarts since he was expelled about fifty years ago?
Heather Potter, Luna Lovegood and I got onto the same boat. As we did I heard Ginny Weasley commenting that she still hadn't seen any sign of Neville Longbottom. Again I thought about the possibility of her carrying that evil diary.
I considered telling Dumbledore what was going on by writing him a letter and sending it to him with a school owl, and then letting him handle the matter. I could even tell him about Scabbers the rat, but I don't really trust Dumbledore, he likes to use people and will sacrifice them if it suits his goals.
Not that this meant he was evil, but he was someone who endangered others for his goals, and while those goals might be worth the sacrifice Dumbledore is willing to make, I had no desire to be one of his followers, and if he found out about me at the very least he would try to make me one his people.
For now, it was best to keep my cards close to my chest and if prophecy mattered then Neville Longbottom would face the Dark Lord no matter what I did. If prophecy wasn't absolute then perhaps the Celestial Reliquary would give me some means of dealing with Voldemort without any help.
As for Longbottom perhaps he was closer than anyone expected him to be and would soon crash into the Whoomphing Willow, or he might arrive in some other manner that would look like showing off.
"Onward!" I heard Hagrid yell.
Without the use of an engine or oar the boats began to move across the lake and before long we all got our first look at the castle.
Spoiler
"It's only a model" I muttered.
Neither of the two young witches with me got that reference so I just looked at the castle some more. Despite its stupid name, I mean really who calls a castle by the name Hogwarts? It sounds like a childhood disease such as Chicken Pox, I could not have denied that the castle was a majestic sight when all lit up in the dark.
Getting across the lake didn't take as much time and no Giant Squid bothered us as I'd imagined it might and once we got off the boats we took a steep path up the castle. At the end of the path, we found ourselves in a chamber where we waited to be allowed into the Great Hall for the first time.
The door swung open almost at once and one of the teachers quickly appeared. It was Professor McGonagall, clad in emerald-green robes. She was just as composed as she was on the TV screen and I knew she was not someone to mess with.
"The first years, Professor McGonagall," the large man said.
Professor McGonagall nodded at the gamekeeper who might already be the Care of Magical Creatures Professor depending on how things had worked out in this timeline.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here" she told the man.
The teacher then turned to us.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet shall begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be Sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family while you are here at Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room".
That seemed rather odd to me. It was as if the school was set up to limit who could be friends with. How could I make friends with someone from Hufflepuff when we had nowhere to go hang out? There should be a student union or something like that. The school's grounds wouldn't be suitable for socialising once the weather got too cold.
Professor McGonagall had paused for a moment, then she continued speaking.
"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced many outstanding witches and wizards" she informed us "I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours".
She paused for a moment as if to let her words sink in.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school" she said "I shall return when we are ready for you".
It must be part of the tradition not to give any clue as to how we would be Sorted. I might be the only person in this group who knew and even I couldn't be sure that the process would be the same here what with the students being different ages and Harry Potter not being Harry Potter at all really.
"Does anyone know exactly how they Sort you?" someone asked quietly from behind me.
Ginny Weasley tried to answer that question.
"Some sort of test, I think. My brothers said it hurts a lot, but the twins are known for joking" she shared.
I'd have to be careful of their pranks, and if they got me I'd have to see about striking back as turning the other cheek doesn't work with bullies and pranking people is just a form of bullying. At least in my view.
"The Sorting Ceremony's about to start" said the Deputy Headmistress when she returned "Now, form a line, and follow me."
When the door opened I got to see the Great Hall in person which was lit up by hundreds of candles that thankfully didn't drip wax and I figured that if they did melt then it would be a great expense to keep replacing them. Fireplaces were adding to the level of light and providing enough heat to make the Great Hall much warmer and more inviting than the small chamber we'd just been waiting in.
I also saw the four tables and I soon spotted that the robes of the different students were trimmed with a different colour. Anyone with half a brain would know where to sit if their robe changed to match their new schoolhouse. Gryffindors had red, Hufflepuffs had yellow, Ravenclaws had blue and Slytherins had green.
There were banners up for each of the Houses as well, showing the animal symbols for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each banner was the same colour as the trim of the robes with a second colour at the edges of the banner.
Professor McGonagall led the line to the far end of the hall from where we came in so that all of the older students got a good look at us and before long we were standing before the teachers who were at the head table.
I figured that there were more than a hundred people in the Great Hall and all their attention was on us. This made me feel rather uncomfortable, however, it was nothing compared to the concern I felt when I realised that the Sorting Hat was about to read my mind.
The hat would be able to expose me for the fraud I am as soon as it touched my head, but what could I do about it? I couldn't destroy the hat or refuse to put it on. Perhaps it would keep whatever it saw in my head a secret. That was my only hope of becoming a student.
Professor McGonagall soon placed a four-legged stool in front of us, and on top of the stool she placed a pointed wizard's hat. Then the hat began to sign, and I didn't even hear what it was singing about as I was too busy trying to figure out if I could back out.
There was a whole world out there, did I even need to attend Hogwarts given that I was getting free stuff from the fancy box? Perhaps I should escape? But how would I get out of the castle to somewhere there wasn't full of wizards?
Hold on, I had that town portal thing, and the book was in my pocket, not that I recalled putting it there, as it was a small thing, if things went wrong then I could escape to London before the shock of having an intruder in the castle wore off.
After that, I'd just have to survive as best I could. Sure I had no money, but I kept being gifted magical items so I should be able to make my own way in this world and try to learn magic from the books if I had to.
I would be okay, assuming that the Ministry didn't come after me for having the magic to open portals here at Hogwarts as the castle was supposed to be secure. The Department of Mysteries would no doubt take an interest in such exotic magic.
The whole hall burst into applause when the Hat finished its song and then became quite still again. Then Professor McGonagall stepped forward, and I saw that she was holding a roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat to be Sorted," she instructed.
I only knew three other first-year students aside from myself so the names called out meant nothing to me. No wait, I did know about Colin Creevy the boy with the camera who got Sorted into Gryffindor. He must be disappointed as I couldn't see Neville Longbottom here for him to photograph.
Luna Lovegood got Sorted before myself or Heather Potter since it was done in alphabetical order and she went into Ravenclaw after only wearing the Sorting Hat for a few seconds. I wondered how the hat had even made sense of what it saw in her head.
"Olle, Darius!" called out the teacher.
I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst to happen only for the hat to yell "Ravenclaw!" even as it touched my hair. That was it apparently. No big reveal, no struggle to find me a place at the school, I was just a Ravenclaw and I got some polite applause as I took a seat next to Luna Lovegood.
As I took my seat I found that the Celestial Reliquary had appeared before me and the scroll was sitting on top. Again no one seemed to notice this oddity so I checked out the scroll while the last of the new students were Sorted into their Houses.
Meanwhile, Heather Potter was sorted into Gryffindor after the hat took its time trying to place her. I wondered if she had asked to be able to join Luna and me. No one waited with bated breath for her Sorting to end nor did cheer any louder for her than they did for others. Further cementing that she wasn't anyone special in this timeline. She was just another student.
500 points
+200 points
700 points
Bank or Roll?
-200 points
500 points
I might as well roll since I knew that even if I didn't have enough points for whatever was on offer those points would be saved. As such I wrote to roll using the quill I'd put into my pocket at some point. It somehow still had some ink on it.
Starforged Sword - ASOIAF
A sword made out of the remnants of a fallen star. Milky white and intensely shiny. Around as sharp and light as Valyrian Steel. Gives a strong impression of chivalry and honour.
Spoiler: Starforged Sword
I didn't take the sword out of the fancy box after checking it was there. Instead, I just moved the container and placed it under the table. Since it had appeared here by magic I figured it would turn up again later. Come to think of it hadn't I left it on the train? That had been rather careless of me. I should be more careful with my awesome stuff.
As for the sword I had no idea what it could do, other than be used to stab people, or how to fight with a sword, so it was nearly useless to me aside from being something I could put on display or gift to a real warrior should I ever encounter one during my adventures.
Maybe I could find someone to teach me how to fight with a sword. Given how backwards the Wizarding World could be it wouldn't shock me to discover they had people who knew how to fight with such old-fashioned weapons.
Not long after Ginny Weasley joined her brothers the Sorting came to an end and it was time for the Headmaster to speak.
Part 4.
The Great Hall. Hogwarts.
"Let the feast begin"
Those were not the only words Headmaster Albus Dumbledore said before sitting down again. There had been a few others before he'd retaken his seat, stuff about the Forbidden Forest being as the name suggested forbidden for students to enter, a list of banned items, something about Quidditch try-outs.
There had been nothing about the third-floor corridor, or any dire warnings about Dementors, mentions of the Triwizard Tournament, and no Ministry official had made a speech. Dumbledore hadn't warned about dark wizards or anything dangerous.
If not for the fact that I was worried about the evil diary I might have considered myself lucky for turning up during what looked to be a peaceful year here at Hogwarts, or at least peaceful for anyone who didn't have a cursed scar on his forehead.
As I began to fill my plate with just some of the fine British cuisine on offer, which included roast potatoes, roast chicken, roast beef, pork chops, lamb chops, steak and kidney pie as well as sausages, Yorkshire Puddings and Peas & Carrots which I enjoyed with some mint sauce, I looked at the tables and felt surprised by what I saw, or rather who I didn't see.
So far, there was no sign of Neville Longbottom or Ron Weasley, their absence had been noted and many of the students were speculating as to what fate could have befallen them. I wondered what Hermione Granger was doing without them. Only I could not see anyone who made me think of that witch over at the Gryffindor table.
It was only when I looked around some more that I realised Hermione Granger was at the Ravenclaw table. She did not look like she was having a good time here in the magical world if her expression and dress sense were anything to go by.
Spoiler: Goth Hermione Granger
She'd gone all goth and was wearing too much makeup. It wasn't hard to see why no one was talking to her. I wondered who made up the smart part of the Golden Trio if Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley had to manage for themselves. Without her to think for them the Wizarding World might be doomed.
There was no Lockhart at the table, he would have been impossible to miss, and nor was there anyone who could be Professor Snape. Instead, a man who had to be Horace Slughorn was sitting at the head table along with a woman whose hair changed colour a few times during dinner, so she must be Nymphadora Tonks and our Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor unless my guess was wrong.
Wasn't she supposed to be training as an Auror or already be in service as one by now? Perhaps the lack of candidates for the job had resulted in the Ministry fobbing the job off to the most junior of the Aurors. Even the least experienced of magical law enforcement would be better than Lockhart.
In fact, having no professor would be better than Lockhart as he was harmful to the education of the students as his books contained false information and he wasted everyone's class time with re-enactments of events that were either fictional or close to it.
Professor Flitwick who was head of Ravenclaw House was recognisable to me more due to his height than any other feature and sitting next to Hagrid only made his stature more noticeable. If not for the fact that he was clearly an older gentleman it would look as if someone had sat a child at an adult-only table.
Upon thinking about it I realised it made sense that Snape wasn't here. Snape only turned spy and switched to serving Dumbledore because Lily Potter was endangered by the prophecy he had only partly overheard. However, in this timeline, the prophecy could not have applied to Heather Potter so Snape wouldn't have gone to Dumbledore because he would not fear Lily being targeted.
I wondered if that meant the man was dead or locked up in Azkaban, or had he managed to worm his way out of trouble like so many other Death Eaters. I could see Lucius Malfoy bailing Snape out of trouble so he could have a skilled creator of potions on his debt.
Since Professor Slughorn was here he must not have retired. Perhaps in the original timeline, he'd been pressured into retirement to make way for Snape. Bad luck for the students as while Slughorn was known to play favourites he didn't create a hostile teaching environment for his students. Then again he might do. This was clearly an alternate universe from the canon one so I shouldn't assume too much.
"Any idea when we get our lesson plans?" I questioned Luna Lovegood.
She didn't know, but a young man called Terry Boot who was in his second year was happy to provide us with some information, and as the desert began to appear, which was a selection of fruit pies, tarts, cakes and fruit, I was told a few things.
Apparently, lessons were set out rather simply. There were five years' worth of students who went to two lectures every day. During his first year, Monday to Friday. Monday to Thursday were the lectures in mandatory subjects, Transfiguration, DADA, Potions and Charms, which between them gave you a solid foundation in the uses of magic.
As for Fridays, they were for the electives, with one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You got to pick electives from a great number of magical subjects. There were quite a few of them, and I guessed you picked which of them would serve your career goals.
There were also a number of clubs and study groups to help supplement your education. Preparing for the OWL exams took five years. If you wanted to study magic beyond what you learned here at the castle then you found a master to take you on as an apprentice or you got on-the-job training.
It seemed like a simple and effective way to learn magic, and I wondered who had come up with this arrangement for the wand wavers as they were far from logical people. I amused myself by wondering how long it would take a Vulcan from Star Trek to be driven mad by all the illogicalness here in the Wizarding World.
Once dinner came to an end the students of the Ravenclaw house all headed up to one of the towers and as in the books we had to answer a riddle to get into the common room.
"I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but I come alive with wind. What am I?"
"An echo," answered one of the older students who then addressed the newcomers "If you can't answer the riddle then you have to wait for someone to figure it out before you can enter the tower".
The Ravenclaw common room was a wide circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows from which hung blue and bronze silk curtains, and the room had a domed ceiling painted with stars.
By looking out of the window I could tell that the Ravenclaws have an excellent view of the school grounds, the view includes the lake, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch pitch, and other sights could be seen depending on which side of the tower you looked out from.
Spoiler: the view
I liked the view of the surrounding mountains. The mountains dominated the countryside around the school. I wondered if trolls and other magical creatures made their homes up there.
The common room was furnished with tables, chairs and many, many bookcases. By the door leading up to the dormitories stands a tall statue of the greatly admired Rowena Ravenclaw which is made from white marble. Her statue showed her wearing her famous diadem which was hidden here in the school. I might go and claim it.
Past the statue is the dormitories, one for the girls and one for the boys. In that respect, it was pretty much like the Gryffindor Tower. I wondered if I would be forced to share a room with anyone.
"Boys go to the right for their rooms and girls on the left," said an older student.
I noticed that Hermione Granger was already heading up the stairs to the girl's rooms. She was not one for socialising I assumed.
It was soon explained to us that we could have small private rooms if we wished as there weren't that many students and while the girls could go up to the boy's rooms the other way around wasn't allowed. Attempting to do so was discouraged, although what would happen if we tried wasn't explained. I figured it had something to the suits of armour that stood on either side of the stairs.
I again assumed that this was to ensure that if students did bunk together then it would be the girl who decided this would happen by going to the boy's room, making it clear that the guy hadn't tried to force the issue by seeking out the girl's bedroom. A rare sensible thing is seen here in this magical world. Perhaps the four founders of Hogwarts had a bit of sense.
"Professor Flitwick will speak to the first years in the morning after breakfast" we were informed "Classes won't begin until the day after tomorrow, so you'll have time to settle in and to get to know the castle".
I spent a little time admiring the collection of books here in the common room.
"An impressive collection," I commented.
An older student, who I suspected was Cho Chang since there weren't exactly many Asian girls at Hogwarts, but the age difference made it uncertain with less well-known characters, told me that the books were left behind by former students to help future students with their studies. Generous and a good way of ensuring that Ravenclaw students had access to plenty of reading materials.
After a while, I went to seek out my sleeping space. My room was small and it was mine alone since there weren't that many students in the tower so there was plenty of room. Having five or so students share one room never made sense to me as boys need privacy once in a while and this is a huge castle so why have students crammed into one dorm room?
Hogwarts was far too large for the current magical population if the number of people in the Great Hall was any indication, the population had no doubt been cut down by the last two wars. Add to that these people naturally lived longer, and their reproduction rates weren't that high judging by how students didn't have siblings, so I imagined that the castle must seem rather empty.
For me, this meant that it would be easier for me to move around without being seen, and it also meant there were plenty of empty places to make use of if you wanted to do some experimenting. However, since I would have access to the Room of Requirement my needs should be met in that department.
Before climbing into my new bed my attention was once again drawn to the fancy box and the equally fancy scroll that came with it. This time there was no one around to see what I was up to, not that this seemed to matter as so far no one had paid me any attention when I gained a relic.
500 points
+200 points
700 points
Bank or Roll?
I'd kept up a high amount of points so far so saving them made no sense as such I wrote down to roll on the fancy scroll.
700 points
-600 points
100 points
The Oghma Infinium - The Elder Scrolls
The Daedric Artifact of Hermaeus Mora, Daedric Prince of Knowledge, is an ancient tome of knowledge written by Xarxes, the wizard sage and scribe also known as "The Ageless One." Upon reading it, you gain the eldritch knowledge of one of the three paths, Magic, Might, or Shadows. Each person may only be affected by this artefact once, as any more than that can and has driven men to madness.
Spoiler
Wow that had wiped out most of my points in one roll and by the sounds of it, this relic worked the same way as it did in the game. I wondered if the knowledge of magic it gave a person would be suited for this world or for the Elder Scrolls universe. Well, the only way to find out would be to carefully study the book.
Thinking about I wondered if I should study the path of Might so that I could use my sword and any other weapons I got my hands on. After all, I had access to the Hogwarts library and teachers to learn magic from. As such it might be better to learn to be a warrior or an assassin type and add magic to that skillset rather than just be a pure mage. Having unexpected skills could give me an advantage over others.
I decided that I would sleep on it and then decide what path to take as it would greatly impact my life. I also wanted to think about what happened with the Sorting Hat as it had not read my mind I was sure of that before placing me in Ravenclaw. Did that mean other people couldn't simply peek into my skull? Did I need to learn to defend my mind?
Such troubling thoughts might have kept me up for a while if I hadn't been so tired and if the bed wasn't so comfy. I would just have to try to deal with my issues tomorrow.
Part 5.
Ravenclaw Common Room. Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Luna Lovegood was unsure or not if she'd finally made a friend as she didn't exactly have a lot of experience in this area. Once upon a time, she'd been friends with Ginny Weasley, but after the death of Luna's mother, they had drifted apart as the young witch grew closer to her father.
Sometimes Luna suspected that the only reason Ginny had ever spent time with her when they were little was because there hadn't been any other girls for her to hang around with in Ottery St Catchpole. At least not any magical ones.
Not that Luna disliked Ginny for this as they had both been very young when they'd first met, and it had been her mother as well as Mrs Weasley who had urged the two of them to play together.
It hadn't helped that Ron Weasley had never been very nice to her, calling her Loony just because she didn't believe the rubbish in the Daily Prophet and instead chose to trust what her father wrote about. As if having a different opinion from everyone else somehow made her insane. Still, she could have forgiven him for it if he tried to be nicer.
She hadn't had that lonely of a childhood after her mother's passing, her father had always been there for her, and he'd taken her on trips all around the world where she'd meet some very interesting people. They like her father were seekers of the truth and they cared about living things. As she'd grown up she'd collected a few pen pals and become a flower child.
The Muggles who called themselves hippies and their magical counterparts, who were sometimes hard to tell part, had the right idea about life. People should embrace peace, and happiness, love the planet, be kind to animals and tie-dye dye clothing. After all, why not wear as many colours as possible? They made the world less dull.
She'd not had much to do with people her own age while travelling with her father and his friends. She'd met very few boys who had ever paid her attention even though she was a pretty girl, at least according to some of her father's friends.
Sometimes she thought this might be a good thing as Mrs Weasley had during one of the few times Luna had been to the Burrow in recent memory, mentioned to her only daughter that boys were only interested in getting one thing from a girl, or at least from Ginny, and this could cause trouble.
Ginny's Mom hadn't mentioned what that thing actually was, or why boys weren't after other things that Ginny or other girls might have, such as Luna's collection of butterbeer bottle caps. Perhaps she should ask Heather Potter or Darius Olle about what it was of hers or another girl's that alike might like to have. It seemed a bit mean to deny them if it meant so much to them.
Heather Potter had been sorted into a different house here at the college, so Luna would have to wait until classes started to to talk the young witch and she didn't know where Darius Olle had gotten off to after they had eaten breakfast. She just knew that he wasn't here in the common room.
Luna had already decided that she liked Darius as he'd sat with her on the train and again at dinner, and unlike most people who weren't her father's friends, he paid her some attention. Not a lot, but that was okay as he'd looked as if he was having a lot of deep thoughts.
One of the things about Darius that caught her attention was that he had a beautiful magic box that no one other than her had seemed to notice and even she never gave it much thought. She would ask about it later. Assuming that it was important to bother remembering.
Luna wondered where Darius had gotten off to, he hadn't mentioned to her where he was going, and Luna was sure that friends would go off to places together. Perhaps it was just too soon for them to be proper friends. That must be it.
She'd wait until dinner to see if the young wizard would sit with her again. If he did then it must mean he wanted to be friends and that she could ask some questions about boys that her father had only stuttered something about. She might even find out why the subject made Ginny blush so much.
The Room of Requirement. Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
My timetable ended up being as simple as Terry Boot had promised and while today was Tuesday I didn't have classes on my first day because the new students were to use this day off to familiarise themselves with the castle so that they would know where their classrooms were in advance.
I'd half expected the staff to send us off to lessons on the first day and let us get lost, with the idea that this would force us to learn our way around as quickly as possible, but no we first year got some time to learn our way around by wandering around. The wand wavers might have some sense in their heads after all.
Since I had a copy of the Marauder's Map that meant I would have an easy time finding my way around the school and the map would allow me to keep track of those I wished to avoid. Which for now was everyone.
I was a little concerned about Fred and George Weasley spotting me using my map as it looked like theirs and they might see me coming to this special room if they came to investigate after noticing someone vanishing on the 7th-floor corridor, yet I didn't have much choice as I needed the resources of this room.
Thankfully finding the room proved to be simpler than I'd imagined as there weren't that many paintings in this part of the castle and only one involving any dancing trolls. Still, I couldn't help wondering if the castle had helped to guide me here. I wouldn't rule it out as this was Hogwarts. It contained many mysteries.
One of which was the Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room, this was a secret room within Hogwarts Castle, that only appeared when a person was in great need of it. The room had the unique ability to transform itself into anything that a witch or wizard required.
The Room of Hidden Things is one of the Room of Requirement's forms, appearing to those with a great need to hide or store something, and it doesn't seem to mind if you want to remove stuff either. It takes on the form of a storage room with a vast number of miscellaneous items that had been stored there over the years.
I had to wonder if the Room of Requirement actually created desired rooms with magic or if it just made use of what had been stored in The Room of Hidden Things over the last thousand years. If so then there had to be even more here than I could see and I could see a lot.
All around me were little hills made up of broken and damaged furniture, mostly chairs, and tables, as well as various kinds of cabinets that were so haphazardly stacked that it was a wonder that none of the piles had collapsed. Perhaps they did and the House Elves kept rebuilding them.
Spoiler: Room of Hidden Things
There must be thousands of books here to be found either in tottering piles or kept safely in bookcases, and I knew I'd be spending hours upon hours sorting through these books before adding many of them to the collection within my trunk.
No doubt there would be many duplicates as well as books I simply had no use for, but I was a true Ravenclaw, which was something that made me smile now I'd somewhat gotten used to the idea, I would not leave this treasure trove of knowledge just lying about.
Some of the duplicates I would be selling if there were any handbook stores around and I should make a list of what books I had because no doubt there were rare texts out of print that people would pay to own. This could lead to profit if handled carefully.
It took some time but I managed to get the Levitation Charm working so that I could move things around without touching them. It wasn't a hard to spell to learn to cast, yet I figured it was going to take me quite some time to master it. I was still rather chuffed with how quickly I got it working.
The collection of Fanged Frisbees didn't get much attention from me as for toys they were far too dangerous and I also ignored the chipped bottles of congealed potions as they would be not safe to consume, nor could they be sold since they were ruined.
I carefully collected what looked to be the remains of silver eggs, I'd seen a collection of them in the First Fantastic Beasts movie so I knew that they were made from silver. So they would have some value and could be exchanged for money.
As I travelled around the room I even found the odd animal, none of which seemed dressed or bothered by my presence, given the way the room worked I figured that they would find a way out if they wished to.
While looking around some more I found several rusting swords. These were not relics, I found out because they wouldn't go into the Celestial Reliquary and since they needed a good cleaning, something that was beyond my skill with magic at this time, I decided to leave them here for now. I could come back after finding out if anyone would purchase some old swords and I'd found some way of restoring them.
Another weapon I found was a massive and heavy-looking, bloodstained axe. Which also wasn't a relic and it also needed a good cleaning before I put it in my trunk, as well as checking for curses. Perhaps one day I would have a weapon section in my trunk, that just wouldn't be today.
An enormous stuffed troll that I paid little attention to was surrounded by a collection of hats and cloaks as well as other bits of clothing. I had no desire to mess about with clothing because it might not have been washed for decades.
Worryingly I found many cages in various sizes, including one with a 5-legged skeleton in it. That freaked me out so I decided to avoid and go look for stuff elsewhere in the room. Who knew what kind of dark curse that poor man or woman had been subjected to?
I found a collection of broomsticks that I decided to avoid for now as I'd not had a single flying lesson and I had no idea what to look for to tell if a broom was safe to rid on or if was just meant for sweeping. Besides, flying didn't interest me, I might not even attend the lessons at the weekend.
Along the way, I found some musical instruments and while I wasn't a musical person I knew that even a second-hand instrument could be worth some money. I really had to learn about magic for cleaning and repairing as as well detecting curses. Once I did I'd come back here.
Something that caught my attention was a set of dominoes that weren't enchanted in any way as far as I could tell, so they might just be a muggle set. I couldn't recall the books ever mentioning anyone playing muggle games here at Hogwarts. Given the number of muggle-borns and half-bloods around it did make sense.
In another part of the room I found entire piles of metal ware, including many cauldrons, none of which looked as nice as the one in my trunk, but I did take a few of cauldrons that looked to be in good shape in case I ever needed some spares and there was plenty of room for them in my trunk.
In yet another pile I found a few old suits of armour, some of which were in a disassembled state, that looked as if they should be in a museum. I couldn't help wondering if some collector would pay for them or if I should drop them off at a museum once I was sure they were free of any enchantments.
I felt my jaw try to hit the floor when I found an entire trunk full of jewels the contents of which I quickly placed into a bag that was bigger on the inside, while wearing my dragonhide gloves for protection, before placing that bag carefully in my trunk. I had to take them to Gringotts soon and to find out if they were real because if so they must be worth a fortune.
Since I wanted some spending money, I would need to get at least some of the bag's contents turned into galleons. I would only keep some of my wealth in the banks, the rest I would store in my trunk as I didn't know how trustworthy the goblins were.
Next, I found something I remembered from that Hogwarts Legacy game that I couldn't recall the name for, and while I had no magical creatures that needed housing, that could change one day, as such I should grab one. I decided to see if it was a relic that the Celestial Reliquary could hold for me and this time it turned out to be one.
Vivarium- Harry Potter
Inside the vivarium is a massive outdoor area that houses magical beasts and other creatures. Much like the inside of Newt Scamander's briefcase.
The Vivarium shrunk down as I placed it inside my ornate box for safekeeping, I suspected that this was a very low-level relic since the scroll hadn't had much to say about it.
When I found the Horcrux sitting on the bust of some old man I wondered what I should do with it. If I messed with the Horcrux I might screw things up for the Wizarding World or I might be helping since I couldn't be certain Neville Longbottom would do things as Harry Potter would or even live long enough to.
Did the prophecy even matter to me? Did I even care? It wasn't as if I would be staying in this country if Voldemort got a body back. Heck, no magical Britain wasn't worth fighting for. If I had the power I might tear it down myself.
In the end, I decided that I didn't care. Prophecy could attend to itself I wasn't going to let the words of some drunk, who might have even faked the whole thing to get a job, decide what I did with my life. Besides, my fancy box might give me the means to deal with Voldemort without needing a Chosen One.
With that in, mind I carefully floated the fancy headpiece over to the Celestial Reliquary while wondering if it was even a Horcrux and if it was somehow connected to the curse on the DADA teaching position. If so I might be about to remove the curse.
Once the diadem was inside the box I closed the lid it opened for a moment and belched out a load of black smoke before closing again. I checked the scroll in case it had any useful information.
Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw - Harry Potter
The Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw was the only known relic once belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Etched upon its surface was Ravenclaw's famous quote: "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." It was said to enhance the wisdom of its wearer, which is Ravenclaw House's most treasured attribute.
It was used by the Dark Lord Voldemort as a Horcrux and while placing it inside Hogwarts the Dark Lord used it to curse whoever took the job here at the school he had once applied for.
Now that it was my Celestial Reliquary it should be safe to wear, but I didn't wish to put it on, and I wondered what I should do with the thing. I could claim to have discovered it somewhere within the school or maybe I'd be able to gift someone some with different tastes than myself.
I also wondered what had happened be the bit of soul within the fancy box. Had it been the black stuff it burped up or had Reliquary consumed it? Best to leave the thing alone since I wasn't sure.
When I found the Mirror of Erised, which was something that really should be locked up in the Department of Mysteries, it didn't matter that it was too big to fit an into ornate box, as I recalled how items would change their size so that they fit. As such I was able to store the mirror away where it would not be able to do any harm.
The Mirror of Erised - Harry Potter.
A magical mirror that shows the 'deepest and most desperate desire of our hearts' via the mirror the viewer could see their reflected self in a state of perfect happiness. Harry Potter first encountered the Mirror of Erised in his first year at the school where he realised he could see himself surrounded by his family.
Grown men have wasted away before it, but you don't need to worry about that.
I had no use for the mirror, but the Celestial Reliquary didn't seem to be getting full so I might as well take it. Perhaps one day I'd be good enough with magic to study its enchantments.
Since the day was passing by quickly I decided that I should soon leave this room and come back another day to seek out any more relics that might be hidden. Before I could leave the Celestial Reliquary again got my attention as it was time for it to gift me with something new.
100 points
+200 points
300 points
Bank or Roll?
Was three hundred enough points to get something really good? Should I bank and wait? I decided to roll because I was curious about bout else was on offer and even if I did bank I might still only get something worth one or two hundred points.
Failed. Points Banked.
Oh well, I'd gained a few relics on my own today so a failure was not a big deal. Still, I couldn't be wondering what I could have gotten. I also pondered about what wonderful relics I could get in the future as I made my way down to the Great Hall for dinner.