The Caretaker Quest - Part 6
This is part 6 of the "side quest" for "Disappearing Hogwarts".
An unofficial alternate timeline based on HeadQM´s highly praised quest, Disappearing Hogwarts.
Reading the original story is not exactly necessary but heavily encouraged since this quest will contain references to it.
Created mostly as a place to wait while HeadQM was away for a while but slowly evolved into his own thing.
Quick recap so far:
>Recently graduated Ravenclaw student is hired at Hogwarts as the new Caretaker.>Merlin somehow ended up inside your head.>Harry Potter´s daughter died, letting Salazar Slythering (previously stuck inside her head) free to continue his quest to control The Beast, an all powerful ancient creature accidentally created by Merlin.>Is currently looking for a new body.>So is The Beast.>Your girlfriend almost died.>It is a now a race against time to stop Salazar and The Beast from causing irreversible damage to everything in existence.>Hogwarts is slowly becoming an administrative mess now that Harry Potter himself disappeared.>You now have a private investigator lurking around Hogwarts and might have suspicions about you.What will happen now? Let's find out!
Part 5 here
>>6196175links to previous threads
Part 1:
https://archived.moe/qst/thread/6038711/
Part 2:
https://archived.moe/qst/thread/6080818/
Part 3:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/6122821/
Part 4:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6159531/
Part 5:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6196175/
List of currently archived threads
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Caretaker%20Quest
Thanks to IlvermoryQM for the links!
(if anyone can figure out a way to save the ".moe" threads into "thisisnotatrueending" that would be much appreciated)
Previously, on the Caretaker...
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
“What if…ok, hear me out, we mentioned Horcruxes to Potter before, he already has dealt with this stuff when he was younger, for what little we know, those things can make weird stuff happen…”
“Are you suggesting…?” Willow asks, seemingly getting the idea of what you are about to suggest.
“A Horcrux caused all of this, but not any regular Horcrux, an ancient one, something that was impossible to track” you say with an almost dramatic flair.
“Are you sure you want to involve such dangerous dark magic into all of this, boy?” Merlin asked worriedly.
“You said that he has experience with this kind of magic, wouldn't he know what to look for?”
“Usually, yes, but ancient magic behaves differently from modern day magic, rituals are not common, incantations changed, magic itself evolved, there is a difference between regular magic and ancient magic, i have felt the difference every time i got close to that weird black fire magic thing, pretty sure you have noticed that by now, right?”
“I have noticed that children are very much in tune with modern magic, yet there is barely mention or trace of ancient magic of any kind, it is safe to assume that some ancient rituals for dark magic like ancient Horcruxes would have been lost to time”
“Exactly! all we have to do, is say that we “suspect” it's a Horcrux, no names, no hints, just that we saw some weird magic and maybe drop a hint about the already confirmed knowledge that a Horcrux might be able to possess someone in order to preserve itself and presto, we have a perfect alibi that leaves us free of suspicion AND its vague enough for them to be distracted with it for a long time, the perfect solution! it fits everything!”
Both Merlin and Willow stay silent for a few minutes, thinking of anything you might have missed or something that wont fit.
“I can't zhink of anyzhing…how about you, Merlin?”
“Just a couple of small details, but nothing that the vagueness of this story wouldn't solve, after all, there are many things that not even i know or remember yet from the ancient times, for all we know, we COULD be telling the truth and wouldn't be the wiser”
“So it's settled then? this is our story?”
“Ja”
“Aye”
“Very well, we´ll go with this”
After you all come to an agreement, it's time to go to bed.
You give Willow a loving and long good night kiss before heading to your room, you make sure to do a quick check up of the corridors and rooms you go through to get there.
Before you know it, you are lying in your bed and pass out within minutes.
…
Your day usually begins at around 8 am, not this time.
It's 10 am when you finally wake up, you stretch while still in your bed, you take your time and treat yourself with a warm shower, get dressed and finally are out in your way at around 11 am.
>After a nice night of rest, the magical exhaustion is almost gone, your magical debuff is down to -5
Despite being a few hours later than usual, the castle does not appear to be any dirtier than usual, you clean whatever small puddle or magical mess you find as you make your way towards The Great Hall, hoping to get some breakfast so you can properly begin with your day.
Some might say you feel great.
You enter The Great Hall and immediately see Merula talking with some other professors near their table, a little floating notebook follows her along with a long dark purple quill that writes down whatever it's told to.
Not feeling so great all of a sudden…
“Calm down, boy, just stick to our story and we should be fine” Merlin says inside your head.
“I know, it's just…”
She then turns her head to look at you, silencing the professor she was talking to, then tells the quill to write something down and looks back at the professor, continuing their conversation.
“...She gives me weird vibes…”
“She does have an imposing presence”
You try to shake her off from your thoughts and ask one of the elves to bring you a nice egg sandwich.
While you wait for your food to come, you notice Willow entering The Great Hall.
She is now walking using some crutches instead of rolling in a wheelchair, progress!
You quickly stand up from your place to help her walk the rest of the way but you don't really do much since she refuses to lean on you or have any other kind of help, being next to her until she sat in her usual chair was more than enough, she thanks you with a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, how you feeling?”
“A bit better actually, technically i still should be in my vheelchair, but Madam Chiara said that i could try valking as long as i take it slow, so here i am”
“Glad to hear that, just be careful, ok?”
“Yeah, yeah, i know”
She asks one of the elves for some noodle soup and then takes a quick look at Merula, then back to you.
“Has she said anyzhing yet?”
“Nothing yet, but i suspect it's gonna be soon, so remember to stick to our story”
“Posible ancient horcrux, no hints, no names, got it”
“Good”
The elves eventually return with your food. To your surprise, you have a nice breakfast, Merula does not interrogate either of you, have a nice conversation with Willow and finish up your meals without any problems.
“...She is probably waiting to get us later”
“Ja, i vas zhinking zhe same”
And so, your day continues, no interrogations, no incidents (besides a few messes here and there and stopping a fight before it escalated).
By the time regular classes are done and battle classes begin, you are somewhat on edge, just waiting to be ambushed by Merula at any moment…
But the moment never arrives…Instead, you are cleaning the mess in the battle classroom, its last students leaving as you enchant a couple of brooms to sweep the floor while you fill up some holes in the ground.
It took you almost an hour, but eventually the classroom goes back to normal.
You stretch your back and rotate your prosthetic foot a bit to ease the stinging feeling.
“Well, looks like we are done here for today, what now?”
“Care to try again our last experiment?” Merlin asks you. “We are in a training room after all, it would be a waste not to use it when we have the chance”
“You mean that whole “controlling one of your spells”-thing that left me magically drained last time?”
“Precisely, we should take every opportunity to strengthen our connection, especially now that we have the time before The beast or Salazar show up again”
“I don't know, I still feel a bit sore from last time…”
“I understand your apprehension towards this particular training, given the results of our last attempt…But the fate of everyone depends on us stopping them, every little bit of knowledge and ability counts.”
You turn to see a row of training dummies, all standing in a line at the other side of the dueling arena you just fixed.
“What spell do you have in mind this time?”
“I think last time we bit a bit more that we could chew, how about something easier, an offensive spell, capable of taking down groups of targets with a single attack, how does that sound?”
>”I like the sound of that, let's do it!” (take the opportunity to train with Merlin again) (Throw 1D100+10 (+10 from Merlin´s guidance, +5 from the experience of your previous attempt, -5 from the remaining bits of magical exhaustions you have left) to beat a DC of 80 (You will learn a powerful ancient spell if successful, you will be exhausted again if you fail and might take severe self-damage).
>”That sounds way more dangerous than last time! I ain't risking it!” (pass on the opportunity to train with Merlin. Will guarantee the end of your magical exhaustion.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
And now, we continue.
“I like the sound of that! Let's do it!”
“That's the spirit, Boy.”
You position yourself in front of the dummies and use your magic to set them up in rows like bowling pins, then go back several steps and hold your wand out.
“Good, now, just like last time”
You let Merlin take control of your body and magic, it still feels weird, you will most definitely need more training to get used to this.
“There, spell is ready, now take over and control it, let the ancient magic flow through your body and wand, the spell should feel somewhat familiar”
You do as you are told and take control over your body again, as soon as you do you feel a powerful electric force running from your stomach to your arms, making you tingle all the way through.
“Woah! what is this?!”
“Don't talk, focus, feel it moving inside your body, how the power is being drawn from your stomach, push it out guiding it with your arms and your wand, like a whip”
You do in fact feel your stomach kinda empty, like it took all the energy from it and it's now transforming it into pure electricity and making your arms feel tense.
“Hold it for a bit, the more your store it, the stronger it becomes, just be careful not to overdo it or you will explore your arms off”
“WHAT?!”
“NOW! RELEASE IT!”
“I-YOU-BU-GAH!”
In a bit of a panic you release all the stored energy through your wand, for a microsecond, it feels like your wand will explode into a million pieces, the entire thing becoming white hot except for the tip, which becomes a bright blue.
Then, as if Thor himself smited some creature from the underworld, a bright neon lighting bolt comes from your wand along with a deafening and thunderous explosion.
It strikes every dummy, chaining itself several times between each of the wooden statues until they become nothing but ashes. You swear you saw the head of a dragon at the very tip of the lighting.
After the sound of thunder finally ends and the ringing in your ears disappears, your wand falls off of your hands and you kneel down, eventually landing back on your butt, sweating and feeling a buzzing sensation all over your body.
“Holy shit…I almost felt like screaming “Unlimited Power!” right there”
“Well done, boy. A bit sloppy but you got it on the first try. Nicely done”
“Wha-what the hell was that?” You say as you struggle a bit to stand up.
“That was “Draco Tonitrualis”, the Thunder Dragon spell, it will aim for large groups and bounce between each target, it will not stop bouncing until each target has been incinerated to ashes or you command it to stop”
“Awesome…i…don't know if this will be very useful though, we aren't exactly fighting hordes of demons here”
“Hmm, you never know. By the way, you can also feed it very little power and use it as a torture device, imagine being shocked one thousand times per second, strong enough to cause paralizing pain but not nearly enough to kill”
“...”
“...Just a thought”
“Yeah, keep your intrusive thoughts for now, we don't really have a need for that yet”
“Suit yourself.”
Once you stand up, you dust yourself up and pick up your wand, shaking your arms to help the buzzing sensation disappear from your limbs.
You then hear something that is not supposed to be there.
“Wooooooaaaaaaah!”
And you freeze.
“That was amazing!”
You turn to what were supposed to be the empty stands for dueling spectators and instead find that little sick girl from before.
“Ahh shit…” You say in your head. “How long has she been in there?”
You see her put away some parchment in a bag and quickly make her way down from the stands.
“How did you do that?!” She asks excitedly.
“I uuhhh…”
“I don't recognize that spell from anywhere, Did you create it? Could you teach me?” She asks rapidly while hoping on her heels.
“Woah woah, slow down there girl, first of all, what are you doing here? How long have you been here? classes are over”
“Oh, i was doing some of my homework in the Hufflepuff common room but i was feeling a bit too cold, so i went to the library to work next to a window where the sun would shine through, but every table with a window was occupied”
“...ssssso you instead opted to go to the dungeons…one of the coldest areas in the entire castle?”
For a moment she decides that the floor is a bit too interesting and shuffles her feet a bit while looking down.
“mumble mumble”
“I'm sorry, what?”
“I wasss mumble mumble…”
“Girl, you better speak up or-”
“I was trying to learn some combat spells! ok?!” she shouts, annoyed and a bit angry.
“Shouldn't you be resting? wait, hang on, what year are you in?”
“I'm in 5th year!”
“Huh, really? you look way youn-”
“Don't you dare finish that sentence!” she interrupts you with an angry stare. “...They won't let me take the class, ok?”
“What? why not? i thought they wanted to teach as many students as possible”
“They do, but apparently I'm the only exception.” She walks back to the stands and sits down on the first seat she finds, crossing her arms over her knees, making herself look smaller than she usually does.
“I have problems with my magic, its weaker than most people´s…doesn't help much that im still a bit sick, so im banned from taking combat classes, “too dangerous for you” they say…bullshit”
You sit next to her and she skootches a bit to the side, giving you a bit more space to sit comfortably.
“Well, that doesn't seem fair”
“That's why I was hiding there, I just wanted to learn something new…could you teach me something?”
She says with puppy eyes.
“Look, i'm not exactly qualified to-”
*BAM*
The door to the classroom gets kicked open and professor Flitwick, along with Merula and a few other professors rush into the room. They all seem to be on edge and ready for combat.
“MR. TEDMON!” Flitwick screams. “WHAT WAS THAT?!”
“What! what was what?!”
You immediately stand up and feel a surge of adrenaline.
“The-the-the explosion or whatever that loud sound was! Do we have another situation?!”
Him and the other professors are scouting the entire classroom while speaking.
“Explosion? what explo-” then you remember the new spell you just learned from Merlin.
“Ahh…right…”
“Oh, that's right, the spell is particularly loud, it is basically a localized lightning strike, it's natural that people unaware of it would be frightened by it” Merlin says casually in your head.
“You dont say…” you sass back at him.
“Everybody!” you shout to get their attention. “Calm down, it was not an explosion, we are NOT in danger! Nothing is happening”
This gets the attention of everyone, making them stop their search but still looking rather anxious.
“It was just…ummm”
For a second you look at the girl in the stands, not exactly saying anything but pretty much asking for help with nothing but your eyes.
She seems to get the message and speaks after you.
“He was just teaching me how…to…beeee creative with my spells! that's right, just a bit of magical improvisation, that's all”
She says, obviously buying time for you to come up with a better excuse.
…
After a long and improvised explanation about using “Sonorus” to magnify the sound that you make when you snap your fingers as a way to stun enemies with a loud sound (You still cannot believe they ate that excuse after a demonstration with help from the girl). The professors leave, shaken from the false alarm but at least glad that nothing is happening at the moment, Merula was not amused though.
You are finally done cleaning the classroom, the girl still sitting in the stands while talking with you.
“I didnt knew fingers could be so loud”
“You can do pretty much anything with the correct spell and a bit of imagination, you don't really need combat spells to take care of yourself”
“I still would like to learn some of those…”
“Well im sorry, but again, i cannot teach you any of those”
You say as you get closer to her, ending the charms on the brooms that finished sweeping the floors.
“But…but I just helped you with the other professors! you owe me one!” she says, clearly mad at you for not wanting to teach her something.
“Look kid, i'm not a professor, i'm the caretaker, i clean your messes and patrol the school…that's it, besides…i have my own problems to take care of”
You turn to leave, grabbing the brooms and carrying them in your shoulders as you head to the door.
“You mean besides talking to yourself before casting some unknown and powerful spell that you are clearly trying to hide and that i now know about?”
You stop next to the door and turn back around.
“How much did you hear?” You say trying your best to hide the rising panic in your voice.
“Enough to know you are having conversations with somebody we cant see and something about…what was it that you said? “Unlimited power”? i wonder how professor Flitwick would feel about that”
“You wouldn't….”
“Look, i don't like doing this, this is not my style, but you are obviously hiding something suspicious and i want to learn something useful before…something else happens here…”
She looks at you with some misty but determined eyes.
“im sorry, i dont want to do this, but you are my only option now, teach me some GOOD offensive spells and i wont tell professor Flitwick about this”
“Listen, kid, i don-”
“My name is Artemis Pertinger, Not. Kid!”
You take a moment to calm down and take a deep breath.
“Look…Artemis, i would love to teach you something, i really do, but i simply don't have the time for this, i'm in the middle of something important and i cannot afford to waste much time, please, don't say anything to anyone and i´ll promise you i´ll teach you something after i'm done with this whole thing”
“NO! I need to learn NOW! if you don't teach me then I will tell everyone that you are the one responsible for the stuff that's been happening!”
“Thats bullshit and you know it!”
“TEACH ME!”
>”FINE! I´LL TEACH YOU SOMETHING, JUST DON'T SAY ANYTHING!”
>”OBLIVIATE!” (Roll 1D100+30) (+10 from overall magical experience, +25 from Merlin´s support, -5 from the lingering effects of your magical exhaustion) Have to beat a DC 95 for success.
>Other (Write in:)
Rolled 63 + 30 (1d100 + 30)
>>6236989>>”OBLIVIATE!” (Roll 1D100+30) (+10 from overall magical experience, +25 from Merlin´s support, -5 from the lingering effects of your magical exhaustion) Have to beat a DC 95 for success.
>>6236989I don't think Obliviate is the way to go here. Per DH canon, it's a temporary solution at best that leaves room for people to learn the same thing as before but faster. Here's the best I've got.
>You're considering this from the wrong angle. You want a spell that can best someone in combat? Something like what I just did? That's not what wins real battles, Miss Pertinger. The magic that would suit you best lies in Enchantment - charms and hexes laid into objects for months, years - sometimes hundreds of years. Enchantments need hardly any investment beyond their initial creation, and any Wizard worth their salt can attest to how dangerous it can be to face a horde of animated Gargoyles defending a home. That, however...is not something I'm personally versed in. But it's something you can, and should, pursue.
Rolled 72 + 30 (1d100 + 30)
>>6236988>”OBLIVIATE!”
>asked for a tie breaker in /qtg/
>end up with another tie
heh, im gonna wait one more day just to see if by any chance i get a tiebreaker
Rolled 42 + 30 (1d100 + 30)
>>6236989Obliviate, bitch.
>>6237673Support, but offer to teach her anything we do know to get her started when we have time. Let her check out a book on Enchantment from the restricted section that covers it after we vet it with Merlin. Show her basic combat spells when we have the time, not something this dangerous; point out that if she has magic strength issues, a spell like this would be more of a liability than a benefit. That she would be on the ground panting and if she missed, defenseless against an attacker.
>>6236989I know it is kind of mean to tie this again but I think this is the best option. I do not like mid fucking people, and I don't think Brandon really does either given the shit that has happened to him.
>>6236989FINE! I´LL TEACH YOU SOMETHING, JUST DON'T SAY ANYTHING!
>Obliviate>>6237136>>6238573>>6239263>Best roll being 102>Teach her something>>6237673>>6238521>>6239266>>6239308well, looks like we got our winner.
this was an interesting one, never had this many ties in a row for a single choice, that was weird but fun
>>6239266you are right, that was mean, but fun, at least we got a winner now
update soon...ish
We can also point out to Arty that spells using electricity are not really taught for a good reason. Like Mulfulgar will keep draining you till you die if you aren't strong or skilled enough to manually cut the spell off. She is just a kid and has magic power issues. Something like our electric dragon spell might kill her if it keeps using juice as it arcs around.
Just a thought.
“FINE! I´LL-“
You take your hands to your face and groan, not even trying to hide your frustration.
“Ok, ok. You win, i´ll teach you something” you say after taking a couple of calming deep breaths.
Artemis seems to cheer up but still looks a bit hurt after hearing you groan about it.
“I'm sorry for forcing you to do this, but i have my own reasons too…and i cannot wait too much” She says with a bit of a tremble in her voice.
“Hmm, and you just think that whatever you have going on is more important than what I have, don't you?” you say with a hint of sass.
“Yes it is”
“Yeah right, like the end of the world is something you can just push to another day” You say to yourself, really wishing you could say it to her but stopping before you expose anything you shouldn't.
“Ugh, fine, let's get this over with, we are at least still in the battle classroom so we don't have to waste time looking for a place to practice”
You leave your brooms next to the wall and walk back to the center of the room.
“What are you doing?” Artemis asks while standing up and stepping into the battle arena.
“Trying to figure out what am i working with, cmon”
You summon one of the remaining training dummies and set it up for her.
“Cmon, right here, as hard as you can, just hit it with whatever you know”
“Just like that?” Merlin asks inside your head.
“Sir, with all due respect, i dont want to deal with this, i'm trying to speed things along”
Artemis takes out her want and immediately you notice something unusual.
“Hang on a second, let me see your wand”
She hands over her wand and you examine it closely.
“What year did you say you were?”
“Fifth year” she answers “why?”
“Your wand is almost brand new…”
“...Is that a problem?”
“That depends, has this always been your wand? Is this a replacement?”
“No, this has been my wand since I joined Hogwarts…”
You scratch the back of your head in frustration.
“I'm sorry Brandon, but i dont think I'm following here…what am I missing?” Merlin asks you.
“A brand new wand up until fifth year? no scratches, no signs of wear, not even stains or burns? she has not used this wand at all” You reply
“Hang on, i have an idea”
“You know your basic spells, right?”
“Of course I do” Artemis says as you hand her back her wand.
“Ok”
you walk back to where the dummy is standing, ready to be used for practice.
You push it away.
“Depulso” You slap your chest a couple of times. “Right here”
“What? No! won't that hurt you?”
“Don't you worry about me, im testing something”
She fiddles with her wand for a second, suddenly looking nervous, the brave face that she was wearing a few minutes ago, gone.
“A-are you sure? i can just use a dummy to-”
“Hit me!”
She fumbles with her wand for a second before casting a hasty “Depulso”
The volt that comes out of her wand is small, the color is wrong and it moves slower than it's supposed to.
It hits you square in the chest, but instead of sending you flying into the wall, all it does is make you lose your balance for a second.
“Even weaker than i expected” Says Merlin actually surprised “What is wrong with her?”
“I don't know, but something is most definitely not right”
“This helps though, i think i know what to do now”
You pay attention back to Artemis, her wand hand is trembling and she already looks like she is gasping for some air.
“Ok, last test before i teach you anything”
You walk to the door and close it with a regular lock.
“Open it”
“But…that's just a simple Alohomora, i need something tha-”
“Just do it, Artemis”
She looks at you annoyed but casts the spell without any problem.
“Alohomora”
The door unlocks and opens up gently.
“How ya feeling?”
She simply puts her wand away inside her sleeve.
“I'm fine so far…what are these tests for?”
“Do you take extra curricular classes, Artemis?” You ask as you close the door once again.
“Just one, i try to focus on my main classes since i have to work on the weekends”
“So I'm guessing you are not familiar with Magical Theory class, are you?”
“That boring old class that only teaches you old facts of magic? No, I opted for an extended version of Care Of Magical Creatures instead. Why?”
“Do you know the 3 Main spell types?”
“Of course i do, Transfigurations, Charms and Curses, first year stuff”
“Good…did you also know that every single spell that exists, charm, curse, etc. is also divided in 2 categories?”
“What?”
“Charged and Activated, every spell ever created falls within one of these 2 categories, no matter what type of spell it is”
You walk towards the unused training dummy and pull your wand out.
“Depulso!”
You shoot a red volt of magic, blasting the dummy into the wall. It slams with a loud “crash” and then falls to the ground before lifting itself up and rolling back to where it was before it was launched.
“Charged shots are spells that become stronger depending on how much magic you put in them, basically “charging them up” before firing.
You aim at the dummy once again.
“Depulso”
this time, you say it with barely any enthusiasm, almost looking uninterested.
This time the dummy simply gets hit with a small volt and rocks in place for a second or two.
“Barely any magic or effort, that's the result. THIS is your problem”
You walk to the stands and sit, then set up the dummy in front of her with your wand.
“IF my hunch is correct, “Activated” magic is what's going to work for you, spells that don't require you to put too much effort or grand amounts of magic behind them, stuff like Alohomora or the Jelly legs curse are best for you, spells that “flip a switch” and make something happen and then stop after they are completed”
“So…hexes, jinxes and some curses? That's all I can do?”
“As far as our little test showed us, yes. You will never cast a Patronus, you wont send an enemy flying behind a mountain with a powerful Depulso, but you might be able to cast a mean Petrificus Totalus or Conjunctivitis curse, stuff that just makes things “happen” after a bit of concentration, not power”
She sits next to you, her eyes looking at nothing, defeated.
“Have you…gone to a healer to get that checked out?”
“I have…Mr.Potter helped me look for several healers, i´ve gone to St.Mungos, the Ministry was interested in my case too…nobody could fix it, i'm just broken”
She starts sobbing and hides behind her legs, hugging them to bury her face in between them.
“Im…im sorry, i-”
You want to comfort her, but you don't even know how to approach her.
Instead you just sit there and stay by her side while she sobs.
Shit, you might want to be done with this, but you just can't leave a poor broken girl alone.
“Hey, it's ok, you don't need to be the most powerful witch to protect yourself, all you need is a bit of imagination and some simple spells, anyone can do that.”
There is a bit of sniffing while she tries to steady herself.
“Ho-how did you learn this stuff?”
“Hey, i might be a caretaker now, but i was a Ravenclaw, knowledge is your strongest ally” You say proudly while showing her your Ravenclaw pin in the cuff of your coat.
“Read some old books, a bit of simple research can take you a long way”
You stand up and offer your hand to her, she takes it and you gently pull her up.
“You might even find something nobody else knows”
You then crouch to her level and whisper in her ear.
“I know I have, just don't tell anybody.”
Then you wink at her.
She looks at you like she just found a big secret, she knows you are hiding something, but just doesn't know what it is.
“Is that why-?”
“Shhhh” You shush her while putting your finger on your lips. “you promised you wouldn't say anything”
She copies the gesture
“Good girl, now go, we are done for today and you have some research to do”
She gives you a quick smile while rubbing away a couple of tears.
“Thank you”
“It's not much, but i know it will be of use to you”
She then leaves without saying anything else.
“That was somewhat impressive.” Says Merlin.
“What?”
“I didn't expect you to be good with kids”
“She is not a kid, she is a young adult by now”
“You know what i mean”
“Yeah I know, I know…”
You pick up your brooms and go for the door.
“So…what was that about charged and activated spells?” Merlin asks.
“Are you saying you didn't know?”
“Must have been something that was discovered while I was trapped in the nothingness, I was not aware of that.”
“Hmm…did you know that in theory, a baby could be able to cast the killing curse?”
“What?”
“Avada Kedavra, its an activation spell, you don't need to apply huge amounts of magic for it to work, there is not such thing as “a little bit of death” just…death, should a baby ever be angry enough, all it needs is the intent to kill and it would be able to do it…you know, if it knew the incantation of course”
“That's a scary thought…”
“It is…Come on, we still have to patrol the castle”
You open the door and exit the room.
“You know, there is something off about that girl, but i can't figure out what it is”
“What do you mean?” You ask.
“Something about her magic…i might have seen it before, but i'm not sure…”
Regular classes are done for the day and your nightly patrolling will begin in a couple of hours, you have a bit of time all to yourself to do anything you want.
What will you do?
>Strengthen your link with Merlin (Roll 1D10, best roll wins)
>Hang out with Willow (What will you do?)
>Start your patrol early (this will push back your free time to around midnight)
>Other (Write in:)
hello fellas!
sorry for the long wait between updates, but that triple tie was kinda unexpected, nevertheless, the next update is up!
i know it might look a bit slow now, but trust me, im setting up stuff for later, so just bear with me for a bit
sounds like in this timeline we might be able to help her without the world being nearly destroyed a short time later, interesting
Rolled 9 (1d10)
>>6241211>Strengthen your link with Merlin (Roll 1D10, best roll wins)Might as well train our "superpower". I have a feeling we will need it.
Rolled 4 (1d10)
>>6241211>Strengthen your link with Merlin (Roll 1D10, best roll wins)
After all of your cleaning duties are completed, you make your way back to your room to take a quick break and refill your thermos cup with your signature Irish coffee.
“Are you so used to this beverage that its alcoholic effects no longer have any effect on you? you drink this every day all day, i may be from older times, but even we knew something like this can't be good for you” Merlin says with both curiosity and worry.
“I'll be fine” You say while refilling the cup. “The coffee waters down the alcohol part almost completely and if anything were to happen to me, im sure its nothing that Madam Chiara can't fix with a nice potion”
You take a sip of it to wash down your nerves a bit.
“Ahh, good stuff…So, we have some time, Sir. Anything you would like to do? we haven't really done much for you lately, maybe it's time to fix that”
“Your concern for my well being is appreciated Brandon, but for now i'm afraid there isn't much we can do, maybe once i get a proper feeling for the outside world i´ll take you up on that”
“Aww, you sure? doesnt have to be a big thing, maybe something small, something we both can do or enjoy?”
You can feel Merlin considering his options for a minute.
“Well…now that you mention it…”
…
And that's how you ended up reading the newspapers at The Three Broomsticks, this time with Merlin being the one in control of your body.
“Would you look at this, Brandon! A curious event is happening soon” He says while holding the newspaper with curiosity and child-like wonder.
“”All Hallows Eve is upon us, be ready to celebrate all and everything spooky this upcoming weekend” fascinating! the spirits walk among us and sweet confections are shared among all, what an ingenious and fun idea!”
“Right, Halloween wasn't a thing back in your days”
“Do you think we will be able to attend the festivities, Brandon?”
“Heh, sure why not? i don't see how one night could do any harm, as long as we keep everything under control, we should be fine”
“Most excellent! i can not wait to taste these “Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.” sounds delightful”
“Sure, if you are lucky and don't come across an awful one…I swore off them after coming across a “sweaty testicle” flavour…”
“ooh, so they mean “EVERY” flavour?”
“Yes…every. single. one…sometimes i swear i can still taste it in the back of my throat” You shudder at the memory.
“Well, hi there. what are you doing here?”
A familiar voice sounds behind you, Merlin turns around while lowering the newspapers to his lap.
It's Olivia, she is cleaning a mug with an old rag while giving you a warm smile.
“Where have you been? haven't seen you since THAT night with your girlfriend, are you ok?”
“Ummm, Brandon?” Merlin says inside your head.
“Crap, i completely forgot about her, she must have been worried all this time”
“What do I do? I don't think I can hold a conversation with today's youth yet!” He says with a bit of panic in his voice.
“The great Merlin, scared of a bit of conversation? i never would have imagined it”
“You know what I mean, boy! stop playing around and help me out here”
“Relax, I got this, just repeat after me. *Ahem*: “Oh hey Olivia, i was-”
“-out of commission for a bit, but i got better, sorry i didn't show up in a bit, i had to take care of some stuff” Merlin says in your voice.
“Well next time send a letter or something, you had me worried!”
She then gives Merlin a weak punch in your arm.
“I'm sorry, i´ll make it up to you later, promise.” Merlin says while rubbing your arm.
“Fine but you better bring your girl too, she was fun to hang around with”
“Heh, i´ll let her know about it”
“Good, i expect your letter soon”
You then see an impatient patron at the other side of the room ask for more butterbeer
“Yes I'm coming! talk to you later, Brandon. I have to get this.”
She then leaves to attend the rest of the pub.
“See? That wasn't so bad, was it?”
Merlin slumps on the stool, wiping a bit of sweat from your forehead.
“I was worried that our secret would come out, i guess i lost a lot more than my body after being trapped in the nothingness for so long”
“Social interactions have been a thing since way before your time, it's part of human nature, don't worry. After a bit more time and some other people to talk to besides me and Willow, I'm sure that you´ll recover your social confidence in no time. How are you feeling?”
“I think I'm fine, a bit nervous but also excited. It felt great to talk to someone else for a change! even if i was just mimicking your words”
“Im sure we´ll find a solution for this soon enough, but i'm glad you are feeling better, maybe it's time to go back to the castle for now though, we still have to do the night patrol”
“Right, i think i´ve used your body for enough time already, i greatly appreciate this kind gesture, Brandon. I will not forget this”
“Ehh, think nothing of it, i'm just glad you had a little time to enjoy the outside world even if it was for an hour”
Merlin stands up and away from the stool, making sure to wave Olivia goodbye as he gets close to the exit door.
Once out, Merlin steps away from the steering wheel and you take control over your own body once again.
“I think we are getting the hang of this, perhaps you might be able to properly taste food soon enough” You say as you open and close your hands a few times.
“i'm excited for it”
>Thanks to a small outing, your link with Merlin is now a bit stronger. (+9 to your previous Merlin bonus of 25 for a total of 34)
You start making your way back to the castle, the last rays of sun disappearing behind the mountains and the stars already shining in the sky.
After a couple of minutes of walking you reach the edge of town and follow the now lonely dirt road that takes you straight to Hogwarts, barely illuminated by a few candle light posts and fireflies along the way.
This feels like it could be a romantic spot to take Willow sometime, you have to remember it for later, she would probably like it.
You are so busy imagining date scenarios in your head that you fail to notice Merula sitting on a partially destroyed rocky fence.
“Tedmond” She shouts your last name as she jumps off from it.
Hearing your last name coming from her voice takes you out of your dreamscape and you stop several meters from where she is.
“I was wondering where you were, i´ve been looking for you”
“Were you now?”
“I was, it's time we have a little chat”
“I guess it is…so, what do you need?”
She walks a bit closer to you as she speaks.
“I need to know everything you know, everything that you have experienced, What have you seen?”
“I guess it's time to see if our alibi is as good as we think it is, boy” Merlin says, not really expecting an answer.
“Well, i haven't really seen much to be honest, just some shadows and some weird magic”
“Weird magic, huh? When did this “weird magic” show up for the first time?” She pulls out a notebook and a self writing floating quill begins taking notes.
“I-i don't know, at the time i thought it was some sort of leftover magic from some miscasted spell or something, i didn't really took note of the date”
“Mmhm…and how did this “miscasted spell or something” looked like?”
“Just some weird shapes…shadows, it felt old though”
“Old?”
“Yeah, like, OLD old, like, you know that cold shiver when a ghost enters a room or goes through your body? kinda like that but…older, broken”
She looks at the quill to make sure to remark the “old” and “broken” parts
“Broken you say? how so?” She takes a few steps closer, stopping just a few steps away from you.
“Yeah, like something was missing, or incomplete. It's hard to describe”
“I see…Old…Broken…if i didn't knew better i'd say you are describing a Horcrux or something like that”
“...Weeell…”
She looks at you with suspicious eyes.
“Are you suggesting…”
“I'm not saying anything! but there might be a possibility that the source of these problems could be precisely that”
“And why did you say anything before?!” She steps as close as she can and holds you by the collar of your coat.
“Do you realize what this could mean if it's true?!”
“That's exactly why I didn't say anything! I'm sure of nothing and i didnt want to spread the wrong idea and cause any more panic!”
She lets go of your collar while pushing you away a bit.
“I have to report this to Flitwick, you better pray that you are wrong…”
“Trust me, i really hope i'm wrong”
With that, Merula turns around apparates away, people can't really apparate into Hogwarts, so she might have gone somewhere else. Good, the last thing you want right now is to deal with her.
“Well, I think that worked,” Merlin says.
“Yeah, hopefully that should buy us some time for us to deal with this whole thing…what do we do now?”
“Not much to do now other than to keep our eyes and ears open, we must be ready to take action as soon as we get the first hints of their return, The Beast should be the one to appear first, but we have to keep an eye for Salazar too, if he shows up and we haven't found The Beast yet, that means that the beast is already here and hiding”
“I'm starting to hate my job…”
You head back to Hogwarts.
…
“So, zhe story vorked?”
“As far as we can tell, yeah, so keep your eyes open, we are in full search mode now, anyone and anything that looks suspicious, let us know”
“I'll be on zhe lookout”
You give Willow a quick goodbye kiss and part ways, time to do your night patrols.
10:00 PM.
Sometimes you could find a couple of professors walking at night, also doing some sort of shorter patrols, ghosts floating around having idle conversations about whatever ghosts talk.
There is none of that tonight, the school feels empty despite knowing that there are towers filled with students and professors around you.
You light up a few torches mounted on the walls when you come across a particularly dark hallway, lighting up the way to no one other than yourself.
“It's a perfect night to sneak around…ISN'T IT?!”
You turn around suddenly, hoping to find someone sneaking behind you.
Nothing.
“Am i going crazy sir?”
“They do say that being alone in the dark is a pretty effective way of going mad”
“Ugh, at this rate i'm gonna need some vacations or something”
*step step step*
…
“Did you-”
“I heard it too”
You hurry to the next intersection of corridors and you find yourself in one of the several gardens inside the castle, a single lamp post with a clock on top of it working as the only beacon and source of light in the area besides the starry night.
In the left side, a big shadow casted on the wall slides across until it disappears into the corridor connected to the garden, going deeper into the castle dungeons.
On the right side, you hear the sounds of steps, running away and sliding and screeching as they turn into another corridor, you recognize this as the corridor that goes straight to the outer gardens of the castle.
>chase the shadow in the left side
>chase the steps in the right side
>>6244321>>chase the steps in the right side
Man! this update has been reayd for 2 days now but my internet provider decided to shit the bed for some reason.
posting it now that i finally got some working internet again.
>>6244321>chase the steps in the right side
>>6244321>>chase the steps in the right sideFeels right. May end up screwing us but oh well.
>>6244325>>6245434>>6245765alright, looks like we taking the right path.
writing, update tomorrow
A shadow could be anything, but running steps in the middle of the night indicate guilt, that means someone is sneaking around, could be a student or an intruder.
“i have enough problems as it is, im not letting an intruder give me any more of those”
You try your best to run as fast as you can while keeping the noise to a minimum, something that's a bit harder specifically for you because of your prosthetic foot but you manage to keep with the pace of your intruder.
Right, Left, Right. After the last turn, you see one of the many gardens that surround Hogwarts, this is the garden that has several bushes in the shape of the Hogwarts House´s animals enchanted to move around and interact with students.
There are also a few dragons and other magical creatures scattered around the entire area, that besides decoration, they serve a double purpose as some sort of security system, they are limited to the garden but are still effective within their range of mobility.
One of the bushes is burnt down to its branches, leaving just some smoking sticks on the ground.
Once you cross the garden and jump over the hedge that delimits the property of Hogwarts, you get a clear view of the plains that separate the castle from the forbidden forest.
There is no one in sight.
“We were right behind them, there is no way they ran away all the way across”
“Perhaps they apparated away?” Merlin says, startling you for a moment.
“If they did, that's only gonna spell trouble for later…there's gotta be something here that could give us a hint.”
“Perhaps that black thing in the middle of the field could be a clue?”
“What black thing? i don-wait”
You squint trying to see better in the dark, it takes a moment but eventually you see it, a black…thing is lying in the middle of the field, it seems to be gently moving every time there is a gust of that cool night wind.
You make your way to it and realize it's not just a simple thing, it's a Hogwarts robe, Hufflepuff according to the yellow trim.
A chill runs down your spine.
“Oh this aint good…”
You banish the robe into one of the pockets of your coat, maybe it´ll be useful later.
“Look, Brandon, up ahead”
You look up and quickly find what Merlin was referring to, a singular shoe, it's sitting at the very edge of the forest.
As you walk closer to it, you look around the fields, trying your best to find anything else or anyone, anything that would make you not walk into the forbidden forest.
“There is no one around, Brandon”
“I know…i was just hoping there would be a reason NOT to go in there”
You walk into the forest.
“Hey, how did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You found stuff that I didn't even have the chance to see, are your senses coming back?”
“...I think they might, at least in some capacity, definitely more than what i had before”
“Nice, once we solve whatever this is, we´ll do some testing, maybe you could finally taste some food”
“Oh how i wish for that to happen already, but for now, we have got to focus”
“Right, sorry”
As you walk into the forest, you notice that the moonlight slowly goes away as the sky is darkened by the canopy of the trees and the floor gets covered in a dense layer of mist that makes you unsure of your step.
“oooh i don't like this place…”
“I certainly don't remember this place being so…dark back in my time”
“Maybe we should-”
“-Over there!”
You turn to where Merlin was directing you and find a gray skirt hanging from a branch. Definitely part of the Hogwarts uniform.
“How…”
*CRACK*
You immediately jump behind a tree for cover after the loud cracking sound.
Then the sound of a falling tree follows, it slams into the ground taking another tree with it.
The gust of air it creates clears enough of the fog for you to find a path to a small clearing.
“Curses!” Says a somewhat distant female voice, sounds young.
You sneak close to the clearing and peek from behind a stump.
What you find is a naked girl, stepping around in circles, almost like some sort of aggressive dance and holding what appears to be a stick, maybe her wand, you can't exactly tell from the distance.
“Well, you don't see that everyday…”
“Try stepping closer, boy. We must see this”
“what? no! I'm not creeping on her, she is naked!”
“Quit acting a fool, boy! How many times have you heard of a naked girl in the forbidden forest?”
“Well…”
“Exactly, this isnt-”
“FUCK!” The girl screams, you pay attention back to her just in time to see her fall to the ground, she appears to be panting, her short hair is covering her face and you notice what could be some bruises on her arms.
She then punches the ground several times in some sort of tantrum while screaming.
“noooooOOOOOOOO-AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
She takes her hands to her head and pulls on her hair, only to fall backwards and end up looking at the sky with her back on the ground, she looks defeated.
“I don't think we should be spying…”
“Shh, look”
The girl takes the stick she was holding before and forcibly shoves the pointy end straight into her young womanhood.
She screams and cries in pain.
“STUPID! STUPID STUPID!”
she screams each time.
“Ok, i am not watching this”
You hide behind the tree stump to stop watching.
“I believe we should help her…”
“WHAT?!” you scream inside your mind because you know if you did it with your mouth the entire Hogwarts castle would have heard you despite being behind a thick wall of trees and empty fields.
“Merlin, I am NOT getting close to that girl at this moment! Is the pervert side of you also coming back or what?!”
You hear her scream once again, but this one was slightly different from before.
“Did she just-”
“I believe she did, yes”
“Ok, we are out of here. We are not dealing with a student´s midnight escapades”
“Take her with us back to the castle” Merlin says, almost as a command.
“Sir, there is no way in hell i'm doing that, none of this looks good no matter what way you see it, i'm not getting involved in this, just look at her!”
To prove your point, you peek again from behind the tree stump.
She is lying on the ground, in a slowly growing pool of her own blood.
“...shit”
>”No, forget it, there is no way i can explain this, it's only going to get me in more trouble, she got here in her own, she can go back in her own” (end the night and leave her alone)
>”...i'm REALLY starting to hate my job… “(show yourself and take her back to the castle)
>Other (Write in:)
in other news, remind me to never EVER again say that an update will be ready "tomorrow"
the amount of bullshit i had to deal with this time was outstanding...thankfully it should all be over now
>>6248367>”...i'm REALLY starting to hate my job… “(show yourself and take her back to the castle)something's definitely wrong here
>>6248367>”...i'm REALLY starting to hate my job… “(show yourself and take her back to the castle)what dafuq
”Ooooh, I'm REALLY starting to hate my job…”
You take a deep breath while gently smacking your face a couple of times in order to clear your mind…You exhale.
“Here we go…”
First you make sure that nobody else is around, you look behind, side to side and across the clearing where the girl is lying on the ground.
There is no one around. Good, the last thing you want is for somebody to find you in the forbidden forest with a wounded and naked girl.
You then stand up and slowly step away from behind the stump, slowly making your way towards the girl.
“Heyyy…theeeere…”
The moment she hears your voice, her chest, which was rising and lowering at a very fast pace, suddenly freezes.
For a moment, all you hear is the gentle breeze of the forbidden forest making its way across the trees and the elaborated yet slow breathing of the girl trying to control herself.
“Its ok, its ok, Im not here to hurt you, im just here to help”
The more you step closer to her, the more she turns, showing her back to you trying to hide her face.
Once you feel you are close enough, you kneel down, the dried leaves slowly crunching as you do so.
You hear her say something, but she is mumbling too much for you to understand, whether it is from cold, from the pain of the wound or shyness, you can't tell.
“I'm sorry, i didnt quite catch that…”
“...-se…-one”
You inch closer, dragging your shoes on the ground and making a scrapping noise, this seems to startle her a bit and she makes herself smaller, taking her knees to her chest and hugging herself.
You can now see the stream of blood coming out from in between her legs and pooling on the ground.
“You need medical attention”
“Please leave me alone…”
“I can't do that, I need to take you to the infirmary”
“I don't want to! this is my punishment!”
“Punishment? for what? WHO is punishing you?”
With her back still facing you, she sits on the ground still hugging her knees
“I'm punishing myself…For being so weak…It's what I deserve…”
“Being so weak? what are you talking about?”
You close the gap and put a hand on her shoulder trying to spin her around just enough to see her.
She resists but she isn't lying, even when trying her hardest you can still turn her around without much problem, easily overpowering her.
When she turns around, she covers her face with her hands but you immediately can tell who she is behind them.
Your heart sinks as you slowly take her hands away from her face, revealing a bunch of bruises, a split lip and a somewhat swollen left eye.
“Artemis…why?”
But she says nothing, instead she closes her eyes and silent tears begin to flow.
She slowly rests her head on your chest while hugging herself, sobbing.
“Please help me…I can't take it…”
“Hurry, boy. We must take her to the castle” Merlin urges you.
You summon the robe that you found on your way here, now deducing that it's most likely hers, and cover her with it, clasping the brooch around her neck so it hangs over her body.
Then you lift her up, cradling her into your arms since she is small enough so you can do it without much problem.
You stand up and turn to make your way back to the castle, but just as you do…
“Thank you…Rubbish-boy”
>Roll 1D100 against “Artemis”, Best roll wins.
Rolled 58 (1d100)
>>6250407he just couldn't resist insulting us and blowing his cover
Rolled 86 (1d100)
>>6250407Came from the qtg to roll. HP not my cup of tea but hope you're doing alright here.
>>6251922much appreciated anon!
If anyone else is going to roll, do it now.
Rolled 62 (1d100)
>>6250407
Rolled 55 + 25 (1d100 + 25)
>>6250420>58>>625192286
>>6251960>62lets see what are we going against, victory is pretty much guaranteed tho.
>>6252388btw, that was supposed to be a -25
As soon as the words come out of her mouth, you realize who that is.
Just as you turn your head to look at “her”, “she” already has a twisted but familiar grin on “her” face.
“You bastard!”
“Her” body suddenly twists and you can see a knife on “her” hand heading straight to the side of your head.
The sudden fear of being so close to HIM makes you go into overdrive, the world moves in slow motion and you move your head back and to the side, completely dodging the knife and then dropping Artemis's body to the ground while jumping away.
It all takes less than a couple of seconds, but it's just enough to put some space between you and HIM, giving you enough of a safe distance.
“Hello once again, rubbish boy. How have you been?”
You see Artemis´s body twiddling the knife between her fingers and in a sudden movement, transfiguring into the wand that HE used on HER body.
“I was fine until you came back” You reply with as much venom as you can.
“D´awww, that's too bad, and here i was hoping we could be FRIENDS!”
Salazar throws a spell you can't recognize, it's red and fast, but not fast enough.
You summon a shield and block the attack, noticing how it was remarkably easy to defend yourself.
“Why her?” You ask.
“Ohh believe me, i was not aiming for her, but her weakness, all that empty space inside her, it was like a hole pulling me in from which i could not escape, luckily all that empty space just made it easier for me to take control”
He lets out a frustrated growl.
“I still would have preferred the big guy though, but i can still make this WORK”
He throws the same spell once again and you deflect it easily.
You can see him already panting slightly.
“Is…is he getting tired already?” Merlin says in your head.
“Its Artemis´s body, i dont think he knows what is wrong with her yet”
“Good, let's use that to our advantage” Merlin replies.
Now you are the one on the offensive. You begin attacking at a fast pace, however, you are not really trying to land a strong hit on him.
“Expelliarmus! Depulso! Confundus!”
You send a barrage of some simple dueling spells, stuff that first years know.
Salazar begins deflecting, blocking, shielding and countering the attacks with some fancy wandwork and spells.
“What's the matter, rubbish boy? Is this really all they taught you?”
However, after the 10th attack, he starts dodging instead of facing them head on.
“Wait…Something is-”
He jumps to the side to evade one of your Bombarda's
“-what is going on? i feel-”
He steps aside from an incoming spell and falls to the ground after losing the strength on Artemis's legs
“Its all…getting…blurr-”
He tries to stand up but straight up cant.
“What did you-what did you do to me?!” He slurs as he speaks, shaking his head trying to shake the feeling away.
“What do you say? should we do the same we did with him when he was inside Lily?” You ask Merlin.
“I would love to lock him inside something else, something that won't move or has the chance to cause us trouble, but for now i think this body works as the perfect prison for him while we figure out an alternative” Merlin responds in an unusually cheeky way.
“I think I can work with that”
You aim your wand at Artemis's head, ready to cast Obliviate once again.
But just as your wand touches her forehead Salazar seems to get a second wind and kicks your wand out of your hand while rolling away to put some space between each other.
“You are NOT pulling that trick again! AVADA KEDABRA!”
You miraculously manage to step away from the green volt of dead and hide behind the tree that fell down before.
“Shit” you say while rubbing your hand where you got kicked.
“You must recover your wand, Brandon.” Merlin says. “If i remember correctly, you said that Avada Kedavra is an activation spell, he will be able to attack constantly with that before getting tired again.”
“Trust me, im well aware”
You peek from behind the tree, trying to locate your wand before you have to hide again to dodge another green volt.
“At least Salazar is still too tired to run away, he is just standing there for now but i dont think we have much time before he makes a run for it…or us”
“Are you capable of using wandless magic, Boy?” Merlin asks.
“Im not proficient on it, just enough to push or pull small things for some very small distances”
“Are you capable of summoning your wand with Accio?”
“I am, but I need a clear look at my wand and enough time to pull it back”
Another volt of dead smashes against the fallen tree trunk, you can hear it splinting and quickly becoming more brittle as the wood quickly dies.
“I don't think we have enough time, we have to either run and hide or go for it!”
Another volt tears a big chunk of the tree apart.
“SHIT!”
>Run away, deeper into the forbidden forest.
>Stand your ground and try to summon your wand back. Roll 1D100-10 (-10 for being in a bad position) against an opposing roll from “Artizar”. The best roll will be used against his.
>Other (Write in:)
Rolled 30 + 10 (1d100 + 10)
>>6252717>>Stand your ground and try to summon your wand back. Roll 1D100-10 (-10 for being in a bad position) against an opposing roll from “Artizar”. The best roll will be used against his.
>>6252721>20uff...somebody else better roll something way higher or this might get ugly...fast
Rolled 66 - 10 (1d100 - 10)
>>6252717>Stand your ground and try to summon your wand back. Roll 1D100-10let's go gambling
Rolled 11 - 10 (1d100 - 10)
>>6252717>With the next bolt, drop to the ground and pretend like it struck true - play dead while you summon your wand back. Channel Merlin if it helps.Trust me - Salazar wouldn't believe in a double-tap when it comes to Avada Kedavra. He would instead go up to his 'defeated' enemy and gloat, back turned to the world, not at all expecting the wand to come to us. It buys us time to do wandless magic without him distracting us.
>>6253385>20>56>1we are so fucked
>>6252721>20>>6253192>56>>6253385>not the same option as the others but still rolled...a fucking 1Thank fuck 56 is the biggest one, but holy shit, i´ll be real, i was NOT ready for these results.
stuff is going to happen, i was planning on ending the battle with this roll but with these results? this needs another roll, i´ll ask for it in the next update...make sure to keep your lucky charms close, you are going to need it.
Damn. I have to fuck off for a while and now we have ArtyZar. I kind of suspected it when Apollo said she was sick, under the weather but thought it might be a red herring.
If we let Apollo in on this... he is not going to be happy with good old Sally.
Atleast Arty is so weak that he can't pull too much shit.
Him making her fuck her with a stick and bleed is pretty fucked. Glad you are not pulling your punches with screwed up shit and making us hate Salazar, Kektus.
Rolled 99 + 10 (1d100 + 10)
>>6252717>Stand your ground and try to summon your wand back. Roll 1D100-10 (-10 for being in a bad position) against an opposing roll from “Artizar”. The best roll will be used against his.
>>6254853Kek.
Doubt this one counts or anything but probably the best roll I have made in a HP quest.
If it does, get fucked Sally.
You take one last deep breath.
“Here we go…”
One last green volt hits the tree you are hiding behind and it explodes into a cloud of splinters and dried leaves.
You roll and tumble away using the exploding tree as cover.
“Sir! Did you see where my wand landed!?”
“Salazar kicked your hand to the right, so it should be on the right side of the clearing”
You run around the edge of the clearing, paying more attention to the ground than the dark ancient wizard currently trying to kill you.
“I can't see it! this place is filled with dried leaves and sticks!”
“WATCH OUT!”
You stop behind another tree, it immediately explodes into another cloud of splinters as another Avada Kedavra hits the trunk.
You dive behind a boulder next to another fallen tree.
“This body might be weak, but I can still keep going all night if I have to, rubbish boy!”
“Thats a lot of bullshit” You say mostly to yourself.
There is a small gap between the boulder and the fallen tree that you can use to look around a bit safely.
Salazar is still in the middle of the clearing, holding himself up with one hand over a knee while the other one is tremblingly aiming in your direction.
“I think I see it, Boy! over there, a few steps in front of Salazar, next to the split rock” Merlin says loudly in your head.
You follow his directions and you see it, your wand, lying next to a rock split in half and a couple of yellow mushrooms.
“There you are, now to bring you back to papa…problem is…how?”
You slowly try to extend your hand around the boulder but immediately back away to dodge another green volt.
“Agh, son of a bitch is right on me!”
“We must get your wand before he gets his energy back”
“And how do you suggest we do that? i cant exactly create any covering fire”
You look around in your immediate area.
“Trees, dried leaves, sticks, nothing useful…”
You put your hand down on the ground to shift yourself a bit and feel a bunch of pebbles digging into the palm of your hand.
Some are smaller than your nails, a few are the size of your hand.
“I can't believe I'm about to fight the bringer of the end of the world with a bunch of rocks…”
You grab as many rocks as you can and stuff your pockets with them, ending with handfuls of stones, some smooth and circular, others sharp and with many edges.
You even grab a bunch of dirt, sand and mud, just in case.
“Be careful and aim for the head, we have to make him defend himself” Merlin instructs you.
“Im so glad nobody else is here to watch this, this is making me feel like a little kid defending myself from a bully, this feels pathetic…”
“Hey, If it works…”
“Yeah, I know, I know…If it works then it isn't stupid…*sigh*”
“HEY! SALAZAR!” You shout.
There is silence.
“SALAZAR…”
“...”
“Hey! Stupid face!”
“WHAT?!” he shouts angrily.
“Aaah! he replied! haha!”
He growls while he stands straight once again.
“Cease your childish games!”
“Hey! catch!”
You stand up and quickly throw a handful of pebbles at Salazar before hiding again.
He instinctively creates a shield and the rocks bounce away harmlessly from it.
“...You are joking, you DARE mock me with pebbles!? Am I a joke to you?!”
You take another handful of rocks and prepare your next attack.
“I am Lord Salazar Slytherin! I will bring everything down to its-HEY!”
He creates another shield to protect himself from another volley of stones.
“STOP THAT!”
You laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation as you continue to throw rocks at him.
“I swear when all of this is over, I'm telling everyone about this! haha!”
“BOMBARDA!”
“OW SHI-!”
You crouch behind the rock just in time for half of it to be disintegrated in a magical explosion.
“Dont stop now, Brandon! Keep going!”
You continue throwing rocks from behind what's left of your hiding spot, your next throw even contains a bit of mud in it.
The mud lands over his shield and stays there blocking his view, forcing him to drop the spell to remove it from his sight.
“NOW!” Merlin commands.
You throw as many rocks as you can while stepping away from your hiding spot.
“ACCIO!”
>Roll 1D100 to summon your wand. Best roll will be used against an opposing roll.
>>6254852>spoileri had the feeling that i was taking too long to show any sort of consequences, so some of those will start showing up soon.
>>6254853>>6254855sadly you were a bit too late to consider the roll since i was already writing the update, unfortunate timing, glad to have you back tho.
i think this update ended up being a bit sillier than what i intended, but i hope you can still enjoy it, remember we are still in mortal danger.
>>6255455Big Brandon's little Brandon rolls!
>>6255457Happy to be back. Repair costs aren't as bad as I thought so no picking up shifts for every single day or stuff.
Rolled 38 (1d100)
>>6255466And... forgot to roll. Yeah. Time for bed.
>>6255455
Rolled 52 (1d100)
>>6255455
Rolled 19 (1d100)
If you don't get another roll by a different person, here is a second from me. Count the new guys over mine if you want.
>>6255455
>>6256117oh thanks, i was going to ask in /qtg/ for one, but i´ll wait until the end of today, if there are no new rolls then i´ll use yours.
>>6256158Coolio.
I will say this quest suffers from a distinct lack of Penny and or Bea, my only big complaint lol, considering we have 2 characters from the same game; but I like blonds.
Rolled 64 + 25 (1d100 + 25)
>biggest roll is 52
oh boy, lets see what we are up against
>>6257596its annoying that rolling the dice can only add instead of substracting, either way, thats a -25, leaving us with a total of
>39writing
>>6257599If you want a negative bonus it is dice+Whatever+-Whatever.
Rolled 65 + 25 (1d100 + 25)
>>6257607Or the other way around? IDK, don't listen to me.
Rolled 28 - 25 (1d100 - 25)
>>6257608Yeah. I have forgotten how to do it. Or maybe they fucked with the dice roller at some point.
>>6257609Ah there we go. It is +-whatever
You extend your hand with your palm open and force whatever magic you can through each of your finger tips.
It feels as if you had a string wrapped around the tip of your fingers and reeled back into your body, wandless magic feels freaky.
But it works, your hand and eyes lock into your wand and it rises from the ground, suddenly moving straight at you.
“Accio!”
The wand stops in midair, rapidly moving from side to side while being pulled from two different sources.
Salazar is using Artemis´s wand to deny you of yours.
“Man, you just don't want to make things easier, do you?”
Your wand becomes the price of a tug of war between the weakened founder of Hogwarts and the wandless caretaker.
However, you are both stuck in a stalemate, since you don't have the experience to dominate wandless magic and Salazar is too weak to beat you like this.
“Just let go of it and i promise i wont make it hurt this time…too much”
“Your insolence will be your doom, rubbish boy. You will not trap me again”
At that moment, you hear a gust of wind coming, the branches of the trees rustling as the approaching gust gets closer fast.
It comes from behind you
“I am done with you”
You use your free hand to dig in your pockets for whatever is left of your improvised ammo.
You find a fistful of sand, it’ll do.
You throw the sand in the air just as you feel the gust of wind running across your back.
It blows it away from you and straight into Salazar’s eyes.
He can't summon a shield because his wand is busy, he can't turn around or he will lose concentration and the pull on your wand will end.
So his face takes the full force of your pocket sand.
“AGH!”
He loses concentration, taking his hands to his face and trying his best to rub the sand out of his eyes.
You give a final pull and your wand flies back to your hands.
“Please don't leave me again!” You kiss the tip of your wand.
“Nicely done, Brandon. Now please, end this charade” Says Merlin.
“My pleasure”
You were about to fire a volley of spells at Salazar, but stop yourself from doing so when you remember that he is still inside the girl´s body. You can't risk causing too much damage. Instead, you go with your best stunner.
“Petrificus Totalus!”
Yet, while still rubbing his eyes, he somehow evades your spell.
He is slower than before though, he focuses on dodging and only blocks or counters when he is unable to step aside, his legs failing him and becoming weaker and sluggier by the minute.
“What is *pant* wrong with this *pant* damn body?!”
He kneels down, quickly getting exhausted.
“Petrificus Totalus!” You shout once again, firing the spell at Salazar, but he somehow finds the strength to keep jumping away from your spells.
“STAY. PUT. YOU FUCKING. SNAKE!” You said with each attack.
He manages to throw a couple of small counter attacks but you just dodge or straight up block, his attacks becoming pathetically weak now.
“Expelliarmus!”
The spell lands and Artemis´s wand flies away from Salazar's grasp.
He becomes stunned, not because of the paralyzing spell, but out of fear and seething hate towards you.
He clenched Artemis's hand into a fist, not even trying to hide his intentions.
But he just can't do it, too weak to throw the punch, too weak to stand up, too weak to do any strong or sudden movements.
“Petrificus Totalus” you say calmly, finally landing the attack on Salazar and leaving Artemis´s body stiff.
You exhale dramatically and take your hands to your knees.
“Finally!”
Artemis's body gently rolls to its side on a tiny slope and stays put after rolling a couple of times.
You can still see Salazar's eyes looking directly at you with a primordial hate, clearly angry at being stopped once again by you.
There is a stump a few steps away from you that looks like the perfect chair right now, with Salazar paralyzed and weakened, you decide to sit on it and take a quick break to recover your strength.
“So…are we doing the same thing we did with Lily?” You ask Merlin.
“It is our safest option, we know it works and it would buy us a lot of time to find the rest of The Beast” He replies.
“However…”
“”However?”...Do you have any other alternatives?”
“I do, but it is risky, I am not entirely sure if it would even work, but it if does, it could give us a more…permanent solution to our predicaments”
“I'm listening…”
“You remember how you were able to erase his mind while he was still inside Miss Lily Potter?”
“I do, the process was slow but a bit easier than I expected it would be, why?”
“Were there any secondary effects? Was Lily in any discomfort or showed signs of consequences?”
“Not as far as we could tell, there is the possibility that there could have been some, but if there were then nobody noticed or they were small enough to be dismissable, what's your idea?"
“Perhaps we could…kill him and be done with it”
“...Sir, I think there is a big difference between messing with an intrusive mind WHILE STILL INSIDE a host body…and straight up KILLING IT while inside the occupied body”
“I know, but think of the possibilities, we could get rid of him NOW, we would have more time to find The Beast, no more immediate danger lurking in the shadows of the castle, waiting for us to make a mistake”
“Would that even work?”
“Well…”
You stand away from the stump, your strength returning after a bit of rest.
“It…it seems like a huge risk, we don't know if killing the parasite mind would have consequences on the host body…it could even kill it for all we know…CAN the invasive mind even be killed?”
“Perhaps…this is uncharted territory for everyone, it could be the solution to most of our immediate problems, it would help us remove one of the biggest obstacles in our mission”
“But we would be risking an innocent student for a CHANCE of this working…i do-i dont know if i could do it…”
“It is a risk worth considering, Boy. one soul in exchange for the rest of them”
“You mean, the CHANCE of saving them”
“...Sometimes, we have to take our chances, I have done so before…”
“Did it work?”
“Sometimes…”
“Sir, you are not really making a strong case in your favour here”
“Do you prefer to be dealing with Salazar for who knows how long? yes the mind erasure works, but for how long? Will it be permanent? Is there a chance of him coming back? because if there is then how different it is taking that chance and not this one?”
“...i…i dont…”
“There is a risk, yes. But it could also be a more permanent solution…”
You hold your wand and walk closer to Artemis´s body.
The eyes of Salazar still linger on you.
>Try killing Salazar while he is still inside Artemis. (if this option is chosen, another set of questions will follow)
>Vegetize Salazar again like how you did when he was inside Lily. (Roll 1D100+10 (from previous experience) against an opposing roll from Salazar) (you can request Merlin´s help for another +25 but you will miss on earning a permanent bonus)
>Look for another way to deal with Salazar (Write in:)
>Other (Write in:)
Rolled 70 + 10 (1d100 + 10)
>>6258112>Vegetize Salazar again like how you did when he was inside Lily. (Roll 1D100+10 (from previous experience) against an opposing roll from Salazar) (you can request Merlin´s help for another +25 but you will miss on earning a permanent bonus)Yeah, if it has a chance of killing an innocent student, especially one with health issues already? Screw that. Especially when she has Apollo, who would rip our head off if he found out.
A possible option would be to just keep Arty stunned/sedated to keep Salazar trapped or force him to GTFO. Draught of Living Death or something, but that bring up it's own issues.
>>6258112>Try killing Salazar while he is still inside Artemis. (if this option is chosen, another set of questions will follow)this is a rare opportunity
>>6258112Sounds like we're fucked either way honestly
Rolled 2 + 10 (1d100 + 10)
>>6258112>Vegetize Salazar again like how you did when he was inside Lily.Picking that one, better a chance to save her than no chance.
>>6259942killing salazar isn't going to also kill her, that'd defeat the whole purpose
>>6259944If Arty dies, I think it would be quite bad. Just saying.
>>6260077Didn't mean to link to a post, just tired after work.
>>6258112>Vegetize Salazar again like how you did when he was inside Lily. (Roll 1D100+10 (from previous experience) against an opposing roll from Salazar) (you can request Merlin´s help for another +25 but you will miss on earning a permanent bonus)This buys us time to look for another method WITHOUT a timecrunch. We can research a method of killing mental soulshards effectively and without impacting the host. Or develop our own method with Merlin's aid.
That being said, I do want another assurance against Salazar since he wasn't down for PARTICULARLY long...
A false memory charm to make Salazar believe that he is no more than 'an imaginary friend who wants nothing but the best for Arty' prior to Obliviating him into a coma could be useful here. The hope is that it becomes the first things he thinks of when he reawakens, and delays him from acting maliciously as false connections become reinforced. We can also reinforce this fake idea of being a friendly and fun dude by casting the Cheering Charm to go with it. Oh, and we should cast Surgito (the Disenchantment Charm) before ANY of this in case Salazar laid some traps for obliviate.
So to simplify it, my suggestion is:
>Surgito, followed by Cheering Charm, followed by False Memory Charm, followed by Obliviate.Just to really cover all of our bases.
Rolled 43 + 10 (1d100 + 10)
>>6261405Dropped these.
Rolled 43 - 25 (1d100 - 25)
>>6258123>80>>6259942>12>>6261406>53sorry for taking so long, got an unusual amount of stuff to do lately, but i think everything is done. lets see how bad things go for Salazar with his opposing roll and i´ll tryto post the next update tomorrow.
>>6261852>18hohoho, this guy just cant catch a break, huh?
>>6261855Kek. Well he is kind of a piece of shit. Guess Karma may be real.
You lift your wand and point it at Artemis’s head.
You could try it, enter her mind, find Salazar just like before and kill every bit of his memory and soul until there is nothing left of him…
…But would it work? you doubt it would, you can put things inside a box, but the box still remains.
You need to destroy the box, but messing with a mind and soul like that? while still inside ANOTHER mind and soul?
“I can't do it, there are too many questions, too many risks, i will not risk the life of a poor, innocent girl, just for the CHANCE of it working”
You lower your wand.
Merlin sighs in your mind.
“I cannot force you to do it, but I must say I do feel a bit disappointed”
“If he were inside someone else…something else? I would do it, sir. But not while there are innocent lives in the middle of our crossfire, we are trying to save lives afterall, aren't we?”
You feel Merlin shift a bit inside your head, he feels uncomfortable…shame?
“...I…”
“If we find a way to do it when there are no people that could suffer the consequences of our actions? I will be the first one to suggest doing it sir, but not now.”
“...You are right, I think my emotions clouded my judgment. Seeing an easy solution like that, it made me jump at the first opportunity, hasty…Most embarrassing"
He says with an almost regal tone, like he is forcing down his emotions, sounds like an actor in an old play.
“Hmm, it's ok Sir. I think I can understand the feeling. Dont worry though, We´ll get this mother fucker eventually, but for now…”
You lift your wand once again.
“Obli-wait…Surgito!”
“Surgito? what are you doing?” Merlin asks.
“We have done this before, maybe he prepared for it this time, not risking it”
“I…hadnt thought of that, nice intuition, Brandon”
The spell lands, you feel something being undone in her body or mind, you can't tell.
“Ooh, the bastard actually had something!”
“Were you able to tell what it was?”
“No, i couldnt, but im sure its gone now, we can continue”
“By all means, do so”
“Obliviate!”
Just like with Lily, you feel your mind invading hers.
You locate the memories and shards of Salazar, looking as evil and green as before.
You group them all together, not letting a single memory wander too far.
“This is the 2nd time i´ve got your ass like this, Salazar. I gotta say, I'm a bit disappointed” You taunt. “I was expecting more from THE Mr.Evil snake guy”
The orbs of memories all shake in place, angry and restless.
“Cant talk this time, huh? looks like despite being a weaker body, you didn't really took as much control of her mind as you thought you did”
The orbs go from a deep green to a dark red
“Yeah stay mad, Obliviate!”
You open your eyes and are greeted by the morning rays of sun, slowly creeping through the canopy of the Forbidden forest.
Now that you aren't fighting for your life you hear the morning calls of a few birds and the gentle sound of a small creek, flowing not too far away from where you are standing.
It reminds you of that forest you were in when you met Faith inside Elliot´s mind, just a bit colder.
The morning fog slowly clears away as the rays of sun touch the ground, warming the earth bit by bit and giving some color to the, usually, pitch black forest.
“We did it. Sir.”
“Nicely done, Brandon. You have bought us invaluable precious time, all we have to do now is-”
His train of thought is interrupted by a pained moan and some movement in the corner of your eye.
Artemis, still being protected only by her school robe, lies on the ground, her legs covered in dried blood and her arms in bigger bruises than before, to the point of looking almost entirely black.
Then the crying begins.
It's slow, pained but slow, she doesn't have the necessary strength to let her cries out, she tries moving her legs but you see pained flinches every time she tries to move.
“Now we have to get her to a healer” Merlin suggests.
“Lets take her to the infirmary”
You get closer and kneel next to her, ready to lift her up in your arms.
Then you accidentally take a peek at the damage in between her legs.
“Good God!”
“Forget the infirmary, boy. We need to take her to St.Mungos, Now”
“Agh, i hate i cant apparate!”
You lift her as gently as possible and head off towards the castle as fast as you can.
By the time you reach the gardens, you can feel her body getting weaker and somehow lighter.
“Cmon girl, stay with me”
Her cries of pain are almost non-existent now, only letting out the smallest of grunts or moans when you take a turn a bit too fast or step too hard.
“Is Miss LeClair able to apparate?” Merlin asks.
“No, I don't think she can”
“Perhaps any other Professor?”
“Some can, but I don't know who to trust with this, I don't want to mix more people into this whole mess we have going on”
You run across the corridors of the castle, glad that it's still very early in the morning, no students in sight.
“What about that jolly giant fellow? didn't he bring you back from St.Mungo's once in some sort of vehicle?”
“Hagrid? maybe, but i dont think his motorcycle is fast enough to get us there in time, even if it is enchanted, that's still a trip all the way to London.”
“Well, who else could take us there any faster?”
You stop when you take a turn into another corridor after taking a short flight of stairs.
At the end of the corridor was Merula, looking at some random statue, deep in her thoughts and her notebook in hand, looks like she is still investigating what's going on in the castle.
She still hasn't seen you.
“She can apparate” Says Merlin.
You freeze in place and bite your lip.
>Ask Merula to apparate you at St.Mungos. (Faster but she'll ask questions)
>Go to Hagrid and ask him for a ride in his motorcycle. (Slower, might not care about what's going on as long as Artemis is fine)
sorry for the very long wait between updates, had a small writers block along with some other stuff getting in the way, but now we are back.
hopefully the next updates wont take nearly as long
>>6262964>>Ask Merula to apparate you at St.Mungos. (Faster but she'll ask questions)we have a plausible cover story, we can tell her what happened minus the part where Salazar mindraped her into trying to kill us
>>6262964>Ask Merula to apparate you at St.Mungos. (Faster but she'll ask questions)We just chose to spare her even if it might have been a real way to get rid of Sally.
We don't want her dead and we know she is already not in good health.
update is 95% ready but i´ll have to post it tomorrow since im too sleepy to post it now and i dont want to fuck anything up
“Of course…dammit, fine”
You decide to get closer to her before getting her attention.
“Hey! Merula! we have an emergency!”
She turns her attention to you.
“Tedmond? i was looking for-what the hell?!”
“Shh! not so loud! or you´ll get everybody's attention, we need you to take us to St.Mungos, Now!”
“What the fuck happened?! Why is she almost naked?!”
“We don't have time to explain, she is getting weaker by the minute!”
“Just take her to the infirmary! its closer, im sure they'll be able to treat her-”
You move her robe to the side, just enough to show that her legs are covered in blood and some bits of hanging, ripped flesh still attached to her body.
“Sweet fucking Merlin!”
“Hey!” Merlin protests in your mind.
“Follow me, we have to leave the castle area to apparate away”
She runs and you follow as fast as you can without hurting Artemis. It feels like forever before you exit the castle and go a bit further beyond the Quidditch fields, once there, all of you disappear in a quiet “snap”
You reappear in the middle of the now familiar reception area of St.Mungos hospital.
The snapping sound of Merula´s apparition startles a few of the people patiently waiting in some chairs and a couple of healing witches, some give you some annoyed stares until they notice the girl in your arms.
“Sir!” A healing witch wearing some green robes and white apron steps closer.
“It is highly inappropriate to apparate in the middle of-MERLIN'S HAT! We need a stretcher and a vial of blood replenishing potion here!”
When the stretcher finally arrives, you help to gently set her down on it and watch as she is wheeled away.
The healing witch that was waiting behind the counter calls you.
“Sir, we need to know what caused this in order to treat her as soon as possible”
“Right, of course, she…”
You stop for a moment, just enough to remind yourself not to tell anyone about the evil wizard inside her mind.
“...i believe she was mauled by some creature in the forbidden forest, not entirely sure which, i found her like this when i was patrolling the perimeter” You lie while trying to give something that matches the description of what actually happened.
“I actually think she might have been stabbed by a unicorn, for what little i could see, those looked more like stab wounds than bites”
You can't tell whether she believes your story or not, but she writes down some notes regardless.
““stab…wound” got it”
The healing witch taps the note with her wand and it disappears, most likely being delivered to the people currently taking care of Artemis.
“I'm guessing you are her legal guardian or parent?” She asks.
“Me? oh no, im not, im just Hogwarts caretaker”
“Hmm, im going to need the name of a family member or legal guardian so i can notify them as soon as possible”
“I can only think of her older brother, he is also a student at Hogwarts, would that work?”
She sighs and stands up.
“Please wait for a moment, I need to notify administration”
She leaves shortly after that.
While you wait for her return, you lean into the reception desk to rest for a bit, you then notice Merula staring at you, she is leaning against the wall opposite of you, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.
You walk up to her after gathering your thoughts (and courage).
“You just happen to find her in the middle of the forbidden forest, huh?”
“She was kinda close to the edge of the forest…”
After hearing that, there is a sudden shift in her expression, she looks offended.
“Do you really think I'm that stupid, Tedmond?”
She steps away from the wall and gets uncomfortable close to you.
“Do not play games with me, rubbish boy…”
“That nickname again…no, that was a coincidence, he is still trapped inside Artemis” You think to yourself after feeling the coldest shiver running down your spine for a brief moment.
“...The only reason I haven't pinned you to the ground is because St.Mungos is very strict about causing panic or chaos inside the building. Tell me one reason why I shouldn't drag you out right now and take you straight to Flitwick?”
You feel her poking your ribs with her wand as she takes one step closer. She is practically pinning you against the wall.
“I-”
“Mr.Tedmond…” The receptionist comes back and calls your name.
Saved by the bell, you slowly step away from Merula and head closer to the witch behind the desk.
Merula however refuses to let you escape, she follows you and is always a couple of steps away from you at all moments, her wand however is now tucked away.
“Y-yes?” You stutter.
“Administration has agreed that the patient's older brother should suffice for now”
She gives you what appears to be an official medical note.
“He should be alerted as soon as possible, however, while the message is being delivered, we cannot allow the patient to be without an adult while she is being attended to”
You immediately hand the note to merula.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Hey, i cant apparate and we cant leave her alone, I'll wait here while you deliver the note to Apollo”
“Do you take me for your errand girl? what makes you think i will-”
She stops herself before she raises her voice even higher.
“-Fine, but if I come back and don't find you here…”
She then takes a few steps back and disappears with a snap.
You exhale almost dramatically and head to the waiting area, you sit on a lonely chair at the corner of the room next to a big potted decorative flower.
“Should we be worried about them undoing what we did to Salazar?” Merlin asks.
“I don't think that should be a problem, the damage was entirely physical, at most they would probably give her something to sleep, they have no real reason to check her mind…i think Merula is our biggest problem right now anyway”
“Do you think she will deliver the note quickly?”
“No way, she is 100% going straight to Flitwick and letting him know everything that has happened so far, but again, we should be fine as long as we stick to our story”
“I still believe she would make a great ally in our battle, perhaps we could convince her with whatever creates that delectable aroma?”
“...Sir?”
“Hold on, boy…I can…”
You can actually hear him “sniffing” the air from inside your mind.
“*sniff sniff* i think i can *sniff*...I can smell…”
“...quick, sir, take control of my body, can you feel the texture of this plant?”
You give away control of your body and notice that you can also see clearly while inside your own mind.
“I can feel it” He actually says in a whisper. “I can actually feel it!”
“What is causing this?” You ask.
“Im not sure…but…”
You then feel a cold sensation running across your body, you both feel it as clear as day.
“Is that…?”
“It is…There is ancient magic somewhere close…i think its a slumbering piece of The Beast, it feels just like whatever is inside that Elliot boy”
“I can feel it too, the question is…where is it…and inside who is it?”
“We have to move, Brandon. The closer we get to the source, the stronger the feeling might be”
“I just hope this won't take too long, the last thing i want is Merula hunting us down”
“Do you think we have enough time to search the entire building?”
“If she really is selling us out to Professor Flitwick, delivering the note Apollo will not be a priority to her, i say we have a couple of hours at most between their discussions, moving around Hogwarts and delivering the message, plus whatever paperwork they have to do in order to let Apollo become an official legal guardian, we might not be able to search the entire thing, but we should be able to find something”
You look at a map of the Hospital that's hanging on a wall near the reception desk.
It shows 5 floors, each focused on different treatments for different ailments or injuries.
You even learn that there is also a basement, but the path to it seems to be closed due to renovations.
“I think we have time to explore…maybe 2 floors? where should we start?”
You are currently in the ground floor, where the reception, waiting area, alchemy room and overall administration area of the hospital are housed.
Pic 2 floors to search:
>Basement: Temporarily closed and access restricted to general public (Roll 1D100 to bypass the locks and security)
>1st floor: “Dangerous' Dai Llewellyn Ward: Serious Bites and Creature Injuries” (Artemis is most likely being treated here)
>2nd floor: “Magical Bugs: Ailments and Diseases”
>3rd floor: “Poisoning Department: Plants and Poisons”
>4th floor: “Janus Thickey Ward: Spell damage. Jinxes, Hexes, Curses, Etc.”
>5th floor: Visitors Tea room, Hospital shop and dining area.
>>6266003>4th floor: “Janus Thickey Ward: Spell damage. Jinxes, Hexes, Curses, Etc.”>1st floor: “Dangerous' Dai Llewellyn Ward: Serious Bites and Creature Injuries” (Artemis is most likely being treated here)
>>6266007yeah, i did notice that.
i know it took me a bit longer in between updates, but the jump from page 8 to 9 was unusually fast this time, still, we might have time for one last update if we get enough votes fast enough.
Rolled 88 (1d100)
>>6266003>4th floor: “Janus Thickey Ward: Spell damage. Jinxes, Hexes, Curses, Etc.”>Basement: Temporarily closed and access restricted to general public (Roll 1D100 to bypass the locks and security)In that order.
>page 10
it was only a day since we got into page 9, what the hell?
is there a sudden spike in activity or what?
ok, closing the votes later tonight, if you havent voted then do it now.
so far the 4th floor is guaranteed, but if there isnt another vote then i´ll decide the 2nd floor with a coin toss, so vote now
Rolled 1 (1d2)
welp, no new votes, im closing it now.
4th floor is guaranteed to be explored...it is now a tie breaker between the basement and the 1st floor
i´ll flip a D2:
>1 for basement
>2 for 1st floor
>>6267261basement it is then
>with an 88 to bypass security and locks thanks to >>6266097update soon
>>6266003>Basement: Temporarily closed and access restricted to general public (Roll 1D100 to bypass the locks and security)>4th floor: “Janus Thickey Ward: Spell damage. Jinxes, Hexes, Curses, Etc.”
alright, update is almost ready, will be up in a couple of hours.
in the meanwhile, i hate to be a bother, but could
>>6267944 help me archiving the thread in thisisnotatrueending once again?
Merlin speaks first
“I think the basement might hold something of interest, I would recommend exploring it”
“Really? I don't know…it's a basement, they most likely only have some old equipment and storage stuff…but if you insist, sure, but may I recommend going for the 4th floor first? I just have a…feeling…”
“Sure, the order seems irrelevant as long as we are able to visit both areas, lets us go to the 4th floor”
And so, you go to the 4th floor, not before letting the reception witch know that you will be there, just in case they need to inform you of any updates regarding Artemis…you decide to omit mentioning your basement plans for now.
You ask for some quick instructions on how to reach the 4th floor, you then follow a row of wide stairs, you climb them and look up as you do so seeing several rows of steps, way more than you think would be needed to reach the next floor, but before you know it you are already at your destination, the 4th floor.
“I think we skipped the 2nd and 3rd floor somehow” Merlin says.
“Magic stairs, enchanted to take you directly where you need to, very useful for hospital emergencies”
“Hogwarts could really use something like that…”
“Yeah, perhaps we could find the spell and use it?”
“It takes great magic to break any of the castle's spells, let alone adding a new one”
“Oh c'mon, THE great Merlin and me? im sure we could make it work somehow”
“Hmm perhaps we could, but lets not dwell on uncertain futures, we have things to do”
“Right, right”
You begin exploring the floor, it's long and spacious, several corridors branch out from each side, creating an impossibly big area for such a small building.
There are a few doors that are open and let you see inside them, most look the same, with several beds and windows looking out the street despite knowing that they should have any kind of view blocked by the building next door, there shouldn't be any sun coming in either…thanks magic.
Sadly, that's the happiest that most rooms look, since their inhabitants are all either in some sort of catatonic state, sleeping or wandering around like zombies.
A couple of healer witches greet you as you walk around, a bit surprised to see anyone “visiting” this floor.
“Hello, may I help you find whoever you came to visit?” Asks a witch, her voice motherly but tired and soft.
“Thanks, but that's ok, I'm just here, umm…exploring a bit while waiting for some news on a girl” You say, not really lying.
“I see, well, do let me know if you need anyth-No! Mr.Jones! drop that! please excuse me”
The witch leaves to stop a wandering patient with a confused look on his face and lifting a chair for no particular reason.
You look at her go, wondering if you should give her a hand but a boisterous and egotistical yet still cheerful voice commands your attention.
“Dont worry about her, she can take care of him no problem, come here instead! it's been a long time since I've had somebody pay me a visit!”
Wait, you recognize that guy, what was his name? Figaro? Chilaro?...Gilderoy! That's his name, you have heard of him before, apparently he disappeared for a bit after some weird accident…or something like that, you know that most of the details are public but you never bothered looking into it.
All you know is that he can't even remember his name sometimes..
Still, whatever accident he went through, that didn't stop him from ageing gracefully, his hair is white with a gentle golden hue and still has lots of it, you are sure most people would kill for hair like that.
He is wearing a very comfy and fluffy looking yellow robe with white trims and matching slippers.
“Ah! a new face comes to see me and my masterworks!” He says loudly.
“You are-”
“Childero Rockhard! in the flesh!”
You struggle to hold in a chuckle.
“A pleasure to finally meet you, sir.”
“I know it is! Now, what brings you here boy? heard of my masterworks and came for an original piece huh? you aren't the only one, you know?”
“Masterworks?”
“My paintings of course! How many do you want? 2? 4? 10?! I can give them a special signature for you, make them even more valuable!”
You look behind him and see several easels, each holding paintings, some finished, some incomplete, behind those, down on the floor and leaning against the wall are rows and rows of canvases, all with finished paintings of different topics.
“Who is this person, Brandon?” Merlin asks.
“I believe he was a famous book writer back in the day, i remember hearing something about some sort of accident happening before i went to Hogwarts that ended up with him losing most of his memories…or something like that, i didnt really cared much for it so i dont know the details, all i know is that he was famous at some point”
You can feel Merlin looking at the paintings through your eyes as you reply, he appears to enjoy them.
You direct your attention back to Gilderoy.
“Would you mind if I take a look at your…umm…catalog, before we make a decision? i would like to see what have you done so far”
“ho! ho! Looking for my best huh? smart boy! sure! go ahead, I'll be here putting the final touches to my most recent piece.”
He then picks up a brush and walks closer to an unfinished painting.
You walk closer to the end of the room where all of his paintings are scattered on the floor or leaning against the wall.
“He has talent” Merlin begins. “His style reminds me of the ones from back in my day…”
You notice that most of his paintings are self-portraits and a few landscapes of places you don't recognize, with portraits of a few healing witches here and there.
“A bit full of himself though…but still, pretty good”
“I like your landscapes, Sir.”
“Ahh yes, places i think i´ve been to but have no memory of, most of those come to me from time to time, usually along with people who i also dont remember, im still unsure if they are related or not, but so far i just cant remember”
You see a few other paintings, nothing too interesting besides one that appears to be some sort of tunnel system and a BIG snake…no, that's a basilisk…weird.
“Nevermind those old paintings boy, im entering a new chapter in my artistic career! I call it…My “Cosmic Fate” era! it's going to sell like ice mice in summer!”
“...Your WHAT era?”
“Ooh! interested aren't you? here! let me show you!”
He leaves the painting he was working on and goes to a bed on the opposite side of the room, you suspect that's his bed.
He kneels down and pulls a set of paintings from under the mattress and lays them all on his bed as you get closer.
As soon as you see them, you and Merlin feel that chill once again running through both of you.
Paintings of space, constellations unfamiliar to you, abstract shapes and even stars.
They all are…dark, both in theme and color palette.
There is one painting of a constellation, but it's so messed up you can't even make out what constellation it's supposed to be.
There is one of a planet…? no, not a planet, a star, it appears to be the sun…with a giant hole going through it.
“Is that a hand coming out of the hole?” You ask Merlin without moving your mouth.
There is one of a bright, silver tree in the middle of the sky…it looks…familiar…
And there is a final one, it's a canvas filled with nothing but solid black, no stars, no color, not even his signature. Just black.
There is a pit in your stomach, a desert in your mouth and a chill in your spine.
You turn to look at Gilderoy, he seems happy, proud even.
“Some of my best if i do say so myself, 4 out of 5 paintings ain't bad at all, eh?”
“4 out of 5? What happened to the 5th one?” you ask.
He sighs dramatically and pulls out one last painting from under his bed.
“At the time it was my best work yet, but then one night while i was adding some small details, it simply became…wrong, not even me and my perfect artistic talent could fix it, so I had to abandon it”
He hands you the canvas.
As soon as you touch it, you and Merlin feel a wave of dread washing all over your body and souls.
It's a perfect image of a blond young wizard, sword in hand, standing his ground against a creature of darkness, you can't even make out what that creature is supposed to be, behind it there is a sea of indescribable creatures of madness and rage. The sky is aflame and both ancient and modern cities are destroyed.
It's an impossible level of detail for a simple brush and paint, and yet, after everything the painting shows, none of it is the source of your fears.
Instead, the small mistakes in the painting are the ones that cause you confusion and dread.
The painting is complete, you KNOW it is…but…it has more, there are things that SHOULDN'T be there, things that SHOULD be there, you don't know how you know this, you just KNOW, you know what's wrong with the painting.
Your eyes gravitate towards the small “mistakes” in the painting:
The blond wizard's arm, it's blurry, you can't tell if it's supposed to be there or not.
The sword, should be a bright silver, instead, this one is red and angry.
He stands alone, he should be surrounded by friends and allies.
In the corner of the painting, amongst the sea of creatures of madness, there is a woman in a yellow dress, she screams in agony as she burns and is torn apart.
Your grip on the painting is so strong, you can hear the wood of the frame creaking. Merlin forces you to drop the painting on the bed.
“Its awful, i know, not even i can stand watching it for long, ugh”
Gilderoy takes the painting and hides it under his bed.
“Thats why I've been working on a replacement!”
He walks to the painting he was working on while you were checking his catalog and turns it towards you.
The painting shows the dark silhouette of a man surrounded by the cosmos, holding a small but bright light cupped in his hands, he is offering it to a pillar of light in front of him while another pillar of light behind him is shown with cracks and crumbling…the man is missing his left foot.
When you see the painting, you also feel that dark ancient magic. So does Merlin.
“It's inside him” He says. “A piece of The Beast is inside this man”
You look at him, a bead of sweat running down your face.
He looks at you, smiling, unaware of what he just painted.
“And this is only one of the many paintings I have planned! They come to me in my dreams sometimes! I want to paint them all”
He then takes the painting off from the easel and puts it along with the other “cosmic” paintings, completing the set.
“I might expand this set of paintings later, if I have more of those dreams of course” He says cheerily.
“Sir. How are you feeling?” You ask with a small shake in your voice.
“Feeling? Fine i suppose, i have been feeling pretty good lately since i started painting, sure some dreams are weird and some might call them nightmare-ish, but I don't feel bad when I see them. It's almost like this is what I was made for! Like I'm fulfilling my destiny!”
He takes another empty canvas and sets it in the easel, readying his material to paint something new.
“I think The Beast is creating prophecies through him and his paintings” Merlin says inside your head with a hint of danger.
“Seems like it…what do we do?”
“The plan remains the same, boy. We remove The Beast”
“But…how do we do that?”
“I believe i know a way…but you are not going to like it”
“...what is it?”
“Do you know how to contain a fragmented soul?”
“...Oh, fuck off…”
“Told you you wouldn't like it…”
“But…Horcruxes? Is there no other way?”
“Do you know of any other way to contain a soul? im open to suggestions”
You scrape your brain for any idea, any plan that could work, any alternative you might know, but you find none. There is only one solution.
But then…an idea.
“Wait…before we do this…are we sure this is the best thing to do?”
“What are you talking about boy? this is what we have been trying to do since the very beginning, this is our main goal”
“I know, I know, but, hear me out…we could create a Horcrux to contain it, or…we could use it to our advantage”
“What foolishness are you saying, boy?”
“You think The Beast is spewing prophecies through his paintings and dreams, right? Perhaps we could take glimpses into the future through them, see what's ahead of us and use it to our advantage, adapt and counter attack!”
“You can't adapt to prophecies, there is nothing to adapt to, prophecies do not change, prophecies become real one way or another!”
“Theres gotta be a way to do it, i refuse to believe a prophecy is set in stone like that”
“Boy, you are talking about breaking destiny, no one has ever done that before, its impossible!”
“People used to think that hurting a Poltergeist was impossible, we eradicated one not too long ago, i have The great wizard Merlin stuck in my head, tell me if that sounded possible before”
Merlin stays quiet for a bit.
“We have done the impossible before, we can do it again.”
“This is a huge gamble, boy. Think this through…”
>Create a Horcrux to contain The Beast
>Leave it inside Gilderoy and use it to your advantage
>Other (Write in:)
this will probably be the last update before the new thread.
be sure to take your time and think things through, it is VERY POSSIBLE that i will keep the votes open up until the next thread, so take your time.
might also keep them open for a bit after the next thread is done in case anyone wants to change their votes.
good luck.
>Leave it inside Gilderoy and use it to your advantage
A Horcrux requires the death of someone... I don't think we are up to cold-blooded murder.
I tried to archive the thread but got a message CloudFlare is being retarded, so I will try later.
>>6268838>>Leave it inside Gilderoy and use it to your advantagewe can deal with it later if necessary
>>6268838>"The beast is a part of you, right? Can't you just, I don't know...reconnect with it, like pieces to a puzzle?"
>>6268838>>Leave it inside Gilderoy and use it to your advantageHorcrux are a bad idea.
>>6268992Not really sure what that would imply but interesting idea
>>6269750Basically slotting the beast piece inside of Gilderoy into the merlin piece inside of us.
Some might say "oh but there's not enough room!" but I honestly and genuinely think we could collect more and more beast pieces by doing it like ear gauges - working our way up by doing things piece by piece slowly.
