The first weekend of the school year had arrived and I was on my way to the school library. You could say that I was beginning to look more like a typical Ravenclaw despite my intervention during the sorting ceremony. But it wasn't purely for the pursuit of knowledge that I was departing for such a location on a precious day off, though it was related.
It was my first meeting with my nominally appointed study buddy. I had run into Hermione, almost literally a few days ago. Although I was slightly nervous, the time presented itself as opportune. Rather than attracting more attention by visiting the Gryffindor common rooms or vice versa, deciding on meeting times. Thus, we had both immediately seen the deputy head mistress, who also acted as Gryffindor's head of house, I wondered if that conflict of interest would have any effect on the house cup. Unrelated.
We went to see Professor McGonagall and agreed to meet for two hours on a Saturday and Sunday in the library. I doubted Hermione would be spending much time in other locations, given her... demanding personality and fixation on learning. And there was quite a lot of new information I needed to familiarize myself with, so I agreed on the spot. Whilst having the deputy head's attention I also made another request, though that was rejected for unseen reasons. It seemed that collecting my 'contraband' would be an arduous task at this rate. The only thing I can do is wait. Wait for him to return from whatever business keeps him away.
During my walk to the library, I was internally accosted with two major questions.
The first question being: Am I the only student with a study buddy in a different house?
The second question: Did every other study buddy pair share the same trend?
I wasn't so blind to notice that every single one of our pairs was a boy-girl pair. You could argue that this was because all the transfer student in our house year were female, though that didn't explain why mine followed that same trend and was in a different house to boot. The pairing did have the positive effect of essentially confirming my theory that the sorting ceremony was planned and nearly every student was predestined to place in a certain house. Still, I would have to do some extra research on the other study buddy pairs, to see if mine is the only strange occurrence.
These were the facts so far:
· The hat specified gathering allies; however, this is incongruent with the morals of each house. Gryffindor valued courage, bravery and valor. Ravenclaw valued intelligence, wisdom and insight. Slytherin valued confidence, talent and results above all else. Finally, Hufflepuff valued connection, friendship and understanding. By that understanding, even if I knew the members of Gryffindor, it wasn't the most conducive house for that goal.
· If that's the case, then the major factor isn't the house or number of allies, it's the individuals of the house. The Weasleys' wouldn't abandon me simply over a house change, it wasn't in their character. I didn't know many of the other students, obviously. However, two interesting applicants were present in the same house and year. The boy-who-lived and the daughter of the ANHS director. My attempted induction into Gryffindor was certainly tied to them.
· Add onto the fact that the deputy headmistress is the head of that house and Dumbledore is a previous Gryffindor alumnus then his sway over that house is obvious.
· Finally, the fairness that has been exhibited in all houses for the competition.
Question:
Why are there only three other first-year students present in the Ravenclaw house from ANHS?
Every other house has four.
Three transfer students, plus me an originally Japanese citizen. I was also involved in the study buddy system despite not having ever applied to ANHS nor had Dumbledore ever mentioned it. I could've attended as a student of Hogwarts; Britain is racially diverse much more so than Japan. The need to count me amongst their numbers is strange. The letter specified that the directive was from the ANHS organization and spoke of the Hogwarts-ANHS act, likely some sort of legal merger that joined the two in a transactional agreement. The question is; why did they involve me as an ANHS student and what did each party get from the agreement. Was it through Dumbledore's request? That would infer that the power balance between the two parties isn't entirely central.
To have chosen only 16 students per year to be inducted into the sister school program must mean they choose their individual students based on criteria... Unless the magical population of Japan is so small that this is all they had to offer? A consideration for another time.
It also made me wonder how long the ANHS institute and Dumbledore for that matter were aware of my arrival and subsequent attendance at Hogwarts. Did ANHS already have a candidate in mind, and I was switched at the last minute or was this all planned as if I would be attending from the start?
Judging by my own conjecture, if they admit students based on merit and certain other conditions. That must mean they know something about me. For these schools to work internationally, they must be a highly functioning institute. If governmental figures are involved, then it's almost certain that my past is known by at least one individual. The leading suspect of course being the Director.
...
Dumbledore bothered to change the sorting of the other ANHS students to ensure that they were still evenly distributed despite my intervention. He couldn't have known which house I would pick early unless he had read the future. I didn't even know the differences between the houses before looking at the banners and deciding based on other allocations. Slytherin was out because of Malfoy, Gryffindor would no doubt result in my autonomy being restricted and bothersome requests coming my way. Hufflepuff didn't agree with me for some reason. That and I was interested in Michael Corner, the only other student to be immediately sorted. Just like Malfoy, his attributes must've been strong enough to make the decision a tacit one.
Which led to a final hypothesis:
Is this the shadow I had to uncover?
The objective I had been given was questionable beyond all reason. It was enigmatic and even after experimenting with the wand in attempts to understand further it was despondent. Revealing the organization for what it was would be painting a huge target on my back, I would have to be prepared for enemies on all sides. Not like how it is now. Open hostility. That made all the difference.
The movements also didn't completely line up with the statement given by the wand. 'Relegated to shadow'. That didn't describe what was happening, if anything Dumbledore and the higher ups were attempting to reveal me to other students. It would put me in the spotlight, so to speak. Retreating to another house resulted in punishment via attention from the students. My own housemates, for the most part, avoided me. The fact that my study buddy was from a different house would no doubt spark controversy in the future.
If they could change the house sorting for the ANHS students, then it was fair to say they could also change the study buddy to a student in my own house. It was as if Dumbledore wasn't trying to hide his intentions. No, he was gathering attention to it. Letting me know that I shouldn't have outright deflected his machinations. That he intended for me to become a Gryffindor, partner with Hermione and become acquainted with the politically strong individuals in that house.
I had finally arrived in front of the large wooden doors that provided entrance to the library. The old oak was pristine despite its age, it was magnificently serviced, a testament to just how much the library was treasured.
I was awestruck by the sweeping bookshelves that were erected up to 20 feet in the air, countless rows of them were organized with a clear walkway through the center of the room. I strolled down the central pathway peeking down each row as I passed them. There were few people in the library at all, those that were present were usually older students and had occupied a small corner of the library for some independent study. A pleasant side effect of our early rendezvous. Books and scrolls stacked on their table whilst parchment layered the table as if stuck to it.
The sheer size of the library was a sobering reminder of just what a human could achieve. The sheer amount of knowledge in this place, even if one were to study a lifetime, several even, they wouldn't be able to finish it all. It was a futile challenge, a welcome one.
Humans were born and bathed in ink; the pursuit of knowledge was ingrained in every person. My life was no different. I couldn't help but imagine that it would be my resting place as well. The library was a manger and tomb all at once.
The fluttering of pages could be heard subtly above.
A flying book. Did the addition of more pages help its flight, or hinder it?
I marveled as books flapped their wings flying from place to place, seemingly sorting themselves. What a convenient system. Though I couldn't help but see the irony. For all the information in the world to be available at my fingers in this one room. But it was isolated. Just like those days; it was the approximation of freedom, the absolution of knowledge.
If books can fly, then it is only in this room. For it to happen in any other setting is impossible.
I continued to watch the lazy traffic of books weaving between each other in the quiet symphony of paper.
In a cozy corner of the library with a small window looking out into the courtyard I found the elusive bushy-haired girl. Sat on a bench with her nose buried in a book. It was only thanks to her particular silhouette that I could confer without a doubt that it was her.
Not wanting to interrupt or bother her study, I simply took a seat on the opposite side of the table. She continued to peruse the thick leather-bound book propped onto the table. The book was oppressively dense, if this was what was meant by using knowledge as a weapon then I agreed. It could be used to efficiently bludgeon a person. The actual contents of the book, on the other hand, didn't seem pertinent to our current studies.
Transforming and transfiguring. A guide to distorting the reflection.
I waited patiently. The sudden decrease in the rate of page turning made me believe she was aware of my presence. That or she had come across a particularly dense or challenging text.
As if that wasn't the only clue, she looked slightly over the large book, our eyes meeting. She made a sudden noise as the table jolted slightly. A dull thud echoed from under the table. A surprising reaction from someone who knew that I was there...
"Ow!" She gripped her shin in pain. She brought her damaged leg up onto the seat. If she willed it, she could've hidden herself from view with the billowing robes that reached the floor even now. A cloak of obscurity rather than invisibility. Thinking back that was the first magical thing I had seen. I had yet to witness anything that mimicked the effect.
"Hello." I said plainly.
"...Hello to you too. Could've maybe given me that greeting when you showed up..." She seethed through closed teeth, holding her shin all the while.
"I didn't want to interrupt. Anything interesting?" She perked up instantly, a smile forming as she flipped through a few of the large book's pages.
"It's brilliant, honestly. There are so many applications for transfiguration. There are even some potions that have similar effects. Did you know there's such a thing as animagi? They can turn into animals, all kinds!" A spark of wonder lit up her wide brown eyes.
"Really? Any animal?" All these possibilities are going to make me paranoid.
"Well, in theory. But when one becomes an Animagus their form is predetermined, the possibilities though! Kind of like a spirit animal I guess?" So, it was an animal that matched the temperament of the person? My dreams of becoming a bird were all but hopeless then.
"What animal would you choose?" Following the natural flow of the conversation I asked her.
"What does it matter? You don't get to pick." She had a point, but it was only hypothetical.
"I'll ask differently then. What do you think your spirit animal is?" Using that unfamiliar term, I hoped she would humor me.
"Hmmm..."
"I'm surprised you haven't picked a lion." If I had asked most other students, I guessed their house emblem would've immediately come out of their mouths.
"It's not as if it's a bad choice. But it positively does not fit. Not at all." She hummed whilst looking out the window for a moment. "Maybe cats, they're nice. Quiet, unobtrusive, and they wander about as they like." And they held similar antisocial behaviors, I couldn't help but add mentally.
"I guess they're still related to lions, so it fits thematically." I responded. She nodded slightly before looking at me questioningly.
"Why, what would you have guessed?" Here we go. Contribute Kiyotaka, you can do this. Just as practiced.
"...An owl."
"An owl?"
"They're quiet. Wise. Nocturnal, it'd give you all the time you wanted to read the books here."
"That sounds amazing! Though, turning the pages would be hard." She mimicked a claw with her hands, making a show of failing to grip the pages.
"Oh. One more reason." There were plenty of reasons for my answer. The fact that she seemed to fit more in line with the typical Ravenclaw than Gryffindor. Those tired eyes that only light up when books come into the equation. But above all else...
"Huh?" She looked over at me as she still held a single hand up slightly, the claw gradually losing its tension as she realized what she was doing.
"Because you're a hoot." It was the perfect setup. The punchline for my amazing joke was finally completed. Now all I had to do was wait for the raucous laughter and applause to stop and I'd have made a new friend.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Pfft. You're weird." Well, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting, I was beginning to think that I might not have much of a future in comedy. A truly terrible revelation.
"...Thanks?" Being the oddball that I am, I took the compliment to heart.
"My Dad tells jokes like that." Was she forming a subconscious equivalence to say that I was as beloved as a member of family? My joke must've worked better than I anticipated.
She continued. "He isn't very funny."
Never mind.
"I suppose we should get on with studying." I stifled back the tears that were undeniably forming in my eyes and turned to the topic at hand.
"Wait, I never meant... No, it doesn't matter. Do you have anything you'd like to study?" She took a breath before heaving the book to a close on the table.
"I'm afraid I'm behind on studies, would going over the fundamentals be a problem?" I was still looking for Gamp's principal exceptions. For such a vital piece of information it hadn't been taught in the classes yet. I wondered if we were expected to have done reading in advance of the classes, otherwise Professor Snape's reprimand of Terry wouldn't make much sense. The magic folk would also be at a much greater advantage to receive points in class.
"They say the best way to prove learning is to teach, I'd be happy to!"
"I'll be in your care."
"What foundations specifically? There are quite a few books that are targeted at beginners, I have a few here." She spread her arms about the table to show the few small tomes that gathered at the edges of the counter, flanking the ridiculously large, blunt book she was reading just moments ago.
"Professor Snape mentioned something about Gamp's principal exceptions in potions, supposedly it applies to many areas of magic. Though none of the teachers have mentioned anything so far."
"Gamp's law of elemental transfiguration... I see. Can you define transfiguration? Just to start." She asked whilst reaching towards one of the smaller, yet still thick, tomes beside the large book taking the majority of the table.
"My understanding is; it's the art of changing a subject's molecular structure into something completely different, opposed to charms and hexes which add to an objects existing property, transfiguring attempts to create something entirely new from the existing substance."
"Probably a bit science oriented for Hogwarts liking, but a good enough explanation between muggle born students. Correct, though there are instances where this doesn't apply, these are called the principal exceptions; of which there are five."
"You can think of these rules as the physical laws for the magical world. These would essentially act as the same fundamental laws of physics such as Newton's motion, gravity or thermodynamics." She tried to relate it back to things I would already be accustomed to, she might be a natural at tutoring.
"Understood, so what are the exceptions?"
"The first; good food cannot be created from nothing. It can be summoned, transported, multiplied or increased in size. But it cannot be created from zero, I view this similar to the conversation of energy we're familiar with."
"Assuming that's true; increasing the size or multiplying the food would make it lose nutritional value and substance, correct?" This also explained Snape's answer. The plant couldn't miraculously create the nutrients from nothing, the Canis root was needed to increase the surface area of the root network to gather more nutrients from the soil in turn growing to a greater size.
"Yes, using such spells would make the food easily divisible but the nutritional content would decrease as a result. You should note that this isn't the case for most liquids or condiments."
"Because they don't have much nutritional value?"
"Precisely."
This made some sense, though it became contradictory as the contents of the conjured items weren't zero. Even if it was close. I could understand water originating from moisture in the air, but drinks and condiments used other substances to create them so where did they come from?
"The second is slightly more confusing, I imagine it might make more sense when we study conjuration. That which is conjured is ethereal, it exists between the states of life and death much as the amortal. The only thing it may touch is the essence. Somehow it has both real and unreal properties, confusing." Hermione slightly gripped her hair, scrunching up her eyes as she read the corresponding words.
"It would make sense for them to have no physical properties since they're made from nothing, but is it implying it touches the soul?"
"Unlike transfiguring, conjuration creates an object from nothing. We'd have to see a conjured object to tell."
I suppose it isn't that surprising; ghosts were in the castle after all. There must be some sort of incorporeal aspect of the human condition, whether this was the soul or something analogous to it was yet to be found.
"The third; Transfiguration is and always will be the art of imitation. With great understanding, prowess and experience even the greatest wizard can only make a rat take the shape of the cup, it does not become the cup itself."
In actuality, this related to Plato's forms, the idea of the true essence of an object that transcended the physical plane and was much more real than any of the physical representations that we see with our own eyes. That led me to an interesting question; would conjuration not be the manifestation of the true form? Assuming Plato's theory was correct then the creation of an object which ascends the physical plane would be more real than any representation.
"The next two are more like laws of the land than physical boundaries."
"Ethical guidelines?"
"Yes. They both relate to transfiguring living or non-beings."
"The amortal? What exactly is amortal, though?" I knew the basic definition, but an actual creature that depicted those traits couldn't form in my mind. Ghosts were the closest to that idea, though they still didn't adhere to the definition.
"Ghosts would be the best example though there are other creatures like that."
"Ghosts implies they previously died though, surely they wouldn't count." And seeing as the world isn't overrun with them, they can also disappear, something amortal creatures supposedly couldn't do.
"Ah! Apologies, poltergeists. That's what I meant; can't believe I got them confused." She muttered the last part under her breath, forcing her eyes down back onto the page once more, repeating the passage as if to ingrain them into her memory.
To me poltergeists and ghosts were synonymous so that justification didn't make much difference I could only assume they had their own unique differences. That must've also been a reason that Hermione confused them.
"Any other examples?"
"Here it says Boggarts and Dementors, though I don't know anything about them. Should I look for a book on them?"
"That can wait for tomorrow. What are the last two?"
"Right. Simulacrum repetition ad infinitum is outlawed. To create a copy of a copy of a copy is to damage the integrity of the creature and creates a soulless shade of the original subject, as such it is a heavy crime to practice this on any living being, or amortal being for that matter." I assume this meant continuous repetitions of the spell, changing a rat to a cup to a chair to etc.
"Hmm. Does it say how many repetitions is outlawed? Or if it has to be cumulative?" The number might change depending on the ability of the wizard or the complexity of the altered object.
"...No, it doesn't say how many. But it seems that if the creature is allowed to return to its original state, then another transfiguration can take place without any risks." Allowed to return? Just how long would that take? As long as I want, or is it dependent on the object being transfigured?
"The last one?"
"It reads; 'One should never transfigure a living being back into itself, to create what is the individual's view of the being is to play God. One should deactivate their transfiguration and allow the creature to return to nature. Lest the price paid be heavy'." She shivered slightly and quietened at the last words.
A high price? Was that implied to be enforced by some greater being or simply a moral outcome?
It doesn't matter.
Whether it means playing God or any other manner of creature in this world. So long as I can take these advantages, these areas of study, then I can always protect myself. To protect yourself is everything, so long as I can do that then I don't mind learning until I become dust to grace these shelves.
I couldn't help but remember my own thoughts. "The library was a manger and tomb all at once."
Having reached the end of our study we closed the books and cleared the table. I couldn't help noticing Hermione having trouble with the outrageously heavy book, so I offered to take it. To which she thanked me solemnly. After a few moments she perked up and attempted to change the atmosphere.
"You never did tell me what sort of animagi you wanted to be." She asked whilst slightly turning towards me as we walked to the bookshelves.
"A cat, probably."
She hummed in response as we deposited the books and went our separate ways.
Curiosity killed them in the end, I could only hope I didn't share the same fate.
---
Word count: 4020
Chapter acted as a way to explain some of the magical laws that will become more important later on. I was a bit annoyed to find that only one of these was actually real, that being the first, so I kind of filled in the other of Gamp's laws with my own rules. They will be used later in the story, though just how much later I'm not exactly sure.
Since these laws are basically all made up, it's possible I didn't explain them particularly well. Let me know in that case, I'll try to clear it up as best I can.
Hope you all enjoyed it. As always let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Until next time.