Another day to enjoy. Yesterday I almost couldn't talk to Hermione all day without her being like a tomato, I guess it was too much for her, but I hope she gets over it fast. I'll make her a larger than normal breakfast as an apology before training.
Being outside the castle, I started my practice. I did various kinds of physical training, but at this point, I think I should also look for some combat training like martial arts or something like that, so I can make better use of my [Warrior Essence]. I guess I'll leave it for the holidays before I start my second year.
After finishing my fitness routine, I proceeded with my spell practice. I pretty much cast spells consecutively until I get used to them enough to naturally cast them in different ways or under different conditions.
My practice was like every morning until I could feel someone approaching me from behind. It was weird considering who I was, and unlikely to be Hermione considering the time of day.
"Hey, nice movements you have there" I heard a female voice directed towards me, I guess it's for me because I'm pretty far from anyone at the moment.
When I turned around, I was a little surprised, but I tried not to show it. When I saw the older girl in front of me, I was somewhat shocked.
"Thanks, Tonks right?"
"That's right, Nymphadora Tonks, but just call me Tonks. You are the new Weasley, along with the other one who seems half lost" she extended her hand to shake hands in greeting
"Red Weasley, nice to meet you, Tonks." I accepted her greeting.
Here's Tonks. This was something that has been bothering me for a while now, I had seen her from afar, but I couldn't confirm it, since in the original story of my previous life she should have already graduated last year. I don't know why she would still be at Hogwarts, maybe it's not exactly the same world I used to know, well, considering that my presence already makes it different from the history I knew.
What surprises me the most and has made it difficult for me to confirm that she was Nymphadora Tonks is her appearance, it does not have the slightest resemblance to the representation of her in the film. She had a pale complexion, but not sick, her face was heart-shaped with quite delicate features and her hair is shorter and spiky, almost anime-style, of a particularly striking bubblegum pink color.
Her looks, coupled with that radiant and cheerful demeanor, make her seem like a bit of a hyperactive and rambunctious girl, the kind of person that teachers have to look at every once in a while to make sure they're not about to cause trouble.
"So...what brings the famous 'thousand-faced Tonks' to see me?" I told her as she held the tip of my wand with the fingers of my free hand.
"I didn't know they call me that" she said, somewhat surprised.
"I don't know if they do, I just made it up"
"hahaha, but maybe you're not wrong, they probably call me something similar, although I don't think I'm that famous" she laughed at what I said, always exuding happiness.
"Don't be modest, both you and my brothers are recognized for being the hurricanes that can turn all of Hogwarts upside down, you give a little life to student life" I told her in a flattering way. They are certainly part of the soul of the school.
"I guess I can't deny it. I'll accept your thanks for improving your life at Hogwarts, I live to serve" she bowed slightly.
"Then…why I have the honor of your presence?"
"I just wanted to meet another of the interesting people at Hogwarts, you're not going to deny me you've got your thing too, there are a lot of rumors of the crimson red-haired Weasley. Knowing your family, you might as well be one of the 'Hurricanes', I can see it. Wouldn't it be my duty to meet the new generation before I pass the hat to them?"
"I'm not going to deny it" she's right, possibly going back to all of Hogwarts in the future the way things are going if there's something that interests or annoys me.
"Come on, I know you are 'special', and as another 'special' person I wanted to meet you and see how special you are" she said with a hungry look, but not a bad hunger, rather like the emotion and excitement that a child has when you discover something new.
"Show me yours and I'll show you mine" I said ambiguously.
"How audacious! But who made me such a curious person?" bad acted excitedly and then laughed.
And with that, I could see in front of me how Tonks's hair and eye color changed from pink and brown to bright red, almost identical to mine, her facial features became more masculine and her chest shrunk a bit, plus she lowered causing our eyes to be on the same level.
In front of me was an almost identical copy of me, if it weren't for the fact that I didn't share senses with her, I could almost assure that she is one of my clones.
"And how are you? How do I look?" She said putting a hand on his waist trying to emulate my voice.
"Very beautiful, well, more than usual"
"I don't know whether to accept the compliment or I'm upset that you think I look better being you than me" she mocked "Now show me yours"
"Damn miss, be more demure" I told her, covering my body with my arms.
"Come on, show me, just a bit, I'm not asking for much" she licked her lips, it was very strange considering she looked like me.
"Okay, if it's just a little" I whispered as I turned my hand palm up in front of her.
On my hand, a deformed and liquid red sphere was formed that floated a few centimeters in the air, on the surface of the ball you could see clear waves originating from different directions caused of my lack of control to keep it stable in the air.
She stared intrigued at the floating bloody mass, she reached out so she could touch it with a finger and when she felt the stickiness of it she brushed it away quickly but without reducing her emotion. She had already returned to her original form as she circled around it
"This is...?" She asks, having a vague idea of what it was.
"Yes, it's blood, real blood"
"Wow, and here I thought we girls were the ones bound to have a bloody fate, but I think you beat us to it. Is it your own blood? Do you have a limit? Would you die if you use more? Or is this your limit?" She asked, putting her hands into the sphere without the disgust that someone might expect.
"Yes and no, technically it's my own blood, but not the one that runs through my veins. And yes, I have a limit, I have a certain amount of reserve that grows over time, but at the moment it has a limit. I only handle this because then it is difficult to recover it with my current capacity"
"Great, it's very interesting, I don't know what it would do, but it's great"
"Thank you... I have something I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind"
"Yes, what is it?" She said, still playing with my bloody ball.
"What year are you in?" I asked wanting to get rid of my doubt if this is an alternative universe that may have more differences because if so, things could get more difficult.
"I'm in seventh grade, sadly this is my last year at Hogwarts, I feel like it went by so fast" she sighed a little depressed
"And you didn't repeat any year, right?" I knew it was very rude, but it was the only way to be sure.
"Why? You don't think I'm smart enough to do it" she said, somewhat annoyed, but also playful.
"No, rather I wanted to know if with everything you did during this time you haven't had any inconveniences, I mean, so that if I do similar things I know what I can expect" I tried to camouflage my question.
"It sounds like you're conspiring with something big if you're scared of that, I don't plan on stopping you if you do, though I don't recommend making Snape too angry" she advised.
"Okay, so you're in your last year, you should give up your NEWT right?" I asked her to leave the previous topic
"Yes, don't remind me, all last year I was studying to get good grades, I want to be an auror so I have to work hard. Even this year, I'm practicing most of the time"
"Oh, do you want me to help you?" I asked her after recovering the sphere inside me [Blood Reserve]. It seemed interesting to me and if I could, I wanted to be friends with someone like Tonks, at least the laughs would not be lacking.
"Not to put you down, but I don't think you're very useful, I've heard you spend a lot of time in the library, but we're several years apart, you're a long way from seeing some topics, and you couldn't help me much without getting in the way to some extent... no offense" She apologized but without any shame in her words.
"I wasn't talking about helping you in your theoretical study, I know my limits, at the moment I'm not capable of doing it. But, on the other hand, I could help you in the practical part"
"Explain" she asked me, intrigued of what I wanted to say.
"In the NEWTS you have to take a written exam, but there is also a practical part. I am offering myself for you to practice your spells with me "I told her since I could also use a partner to fight and gain more experience "as well as to try whatever potions you make. Let's just say it would be your test dummy in a way."
"I didn't expect you to like taking hits and stuff, though I don't judge you"
"Don't get those ideas, I don't like masochism... well, I don't think so, I haven't tried it. It wouldn't be me with whom you would practice" I said causing her to look at me confused "wait a minute"
At this moment, a Red who was reading in the library stood up to put the book back on the shelf and then turned into a pool of blood that disappeared on the floor.
Meanwhile, Tonks stared at me seeing that she didn't do anything, but since I told her to wait for me, she didn't say anything for the moment. When a few seconds passed, I moved my hand and next to me a red stream emerged from the ground and quickly took human form. Another me had appeared to my left, causing the eyes of the girl in front of me to widen.
"I was talking about him" I pointed to my clone "He would help you practice, I'm not one to get hit for anything, but he's not my real body, so it doesn't matter if you impale him from side to side, nothing will happen to me, I think..."
"Wow, so it was true that there were two of you, I heard the rumors, but I didn't think you could actually duplicate yourself. I thought maybe they got confused or it was a polyjuice potion, or it wanted some kind of apparition, but this is great"
"Thank you" x2
"Can you make it do what you want?" She asks excitedly.
"I don't order him to do things, we share the same mind, so I am him and he is me, we do things at the same time"
"That's the coolest skill of all! If I could have done that, I could have gotten out of so much trouble, the teachers would have never known it was me. I would have sent in my copy looking different each time and they would never have caught me" she said ecstatically and envious.
"Yes, if I were also a metamorphmagus I would do the same, it would be great to have those two abilities, although it would be terrifying for anyone other than us"
"But I guess the world gave us the abilities separately to protect others then" she said somewhat dejected but very amused by the idea.
"So, you accept my offer"
"Sure. We don't have many test items that work as well as a human body, and my peers aren't as accessible to stuff like this anymore, not since one of them spent a week on mantis legs. But it won't affect you in any way, right?" She asks, despite being somewhat mischievous, she is still quite responsible with her minors.
"Technically we share the senses, so I can feel everything we do"
"It wasn't that you didn't like being a punching bag." She raise an eyebrow mockingly.
"Not that I want that part, but I'm willing to put up with it to test the limits of my clone, I've only used it for reading and studying at the moment and I wanted to find a way to put other areas into practice and that's where you come in. what do you think?"
"No problem, I also spend time testing the limits of what things I can do and to what extent I can change, I still do sometimes. It will be fun to try some spells with someone, I just hope you can handle them" she said laughing.
"Don't worry about it" I said, remembering my [Will Essence]. It'll help me out a bit if things get rough.
I could finish my training, so we headed to school.
"Do you want us to start practicing today? I'm excited to see what you can do with your clone, if his head explodes, will you feel it?" She said excitedly as we walked.
"I don't think I feel it, I guess him would come undone before feeling the pain, although I think the way you think is somewhat dangerous" I replied seeing that her cheerful attitude had hints of Black's madness "and if you want we can start after the breakfast, if it doesn't get in the way of your classes"
"No, this year we have much more freedom to attend classes or not, so several people study on their own and only show up for important classes. But you should have classes now in the morning, don't miss them just for that, I don't want you to lose the year because of me and then your parents come to claim me"
"Okay, my Real self can go to them, while my clone is with you"
"Wow, another advantage of your ability, as I would have liked to have had it. Alright, then let's take advantage of this time, we only have until Halloween and then we will have to wait a long time if we want to do it again"
"Like until Halloween? I thought NEWTs were past the middle of the year, it should be quite a while."
"I'm in the Ministry of Magic student programme, after Halloween I'm going to practice outside Hogwarts. Since I want to be an Auror, I'll be temporarily working under other Aurors to see what the job is like and to get some experience, besides if I get good performance it will be easier for me to enter after graduate"
"Oh that's great, that's a wonderful practice. I could use that, I could crack some skulls legally, I'd like to participate too."
"Hahaha, you're a few years away, and I don't know if by the time you're a senior that programme will continue to exist, but I wish you luck."
"Yeah...we'll see" I said as I was thinking about those internships.
I was thinking how useful those practices would be to perfect my combat so that later my mind would drift to Tonks and her ability to drift once more and a brilliant and diabolical idea would form in my head. I couldn't help but stop short and have a very wicked smile, which Tonks noticed.
"Why the Smile? It looks like you're up to something bad" She asked in her usual energetic tone.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because it's the same one I put when I think something bad" she answered me.
I looked into her eyes and smiled at her.
"Tonks, how willing are you to have some intimate contact with me?" I asked very seriously, but without removing the smile from my face.
"How intimate?" She asks me without questioning my previous question.
"Possibly, the most intimate thing would be a few kisses"
"Ha, and I thought I already knew how bold you were, but it seems you can still surprise me" she said, then put her arm around my neck and hugged it tightly, causing her boobs to be pressed against my face "What's wrong? You want the older sister to help little Red with his first experiences in love? Although you're a bit young to ask for those things so directly, don't you think? Maybe if you were a few years older, I wouldn't have much trouble helping you in that area. Certainly, you are quite well, but you are very young. Although it is not impossible that I can give you some kisses for your first experience, but, first let's see if your help in my practice is useful and then maybe I could consider it" she said playfully and in a mocking tone, but with some sincerity in her words.
"I wasn't talking about that, I'm not that desperate, although I certainly wouldn't refuse if it was you, I would consider it an achievement maybe" I said causing her to puff out her chest, showing pride in the compliment "I really wanted to ask you for help, I wanted to know if could you help me with your ability to annoy a friend"
"Ohhh, that explains the smile. It's okay, I'm in" she nodded without a problem.
"Did you demand my help in your practice to get a kiss from you when you thought it was because I wanted to experience spring, but you readily agree when it's to annoy someone?" I asked confused.
"Yes, you said it yourself, I like to party quite a bit. If that had only been the request of a hormone-ravaged eleven-year-old, even though I like you and you're quite attractive, I wouldn't agree. In this situation at least I would try to get something and it is not that it is certain that I will do it, only if you really helped me with my study and showed that it was worth your effort, I would believe that you deserve it and I could do it. Upset someone, then it could be fun and worth the sacrifice. I'm in my last year and I want to enjoy it, so I want to do as much as I can before I graduate" She said without any shame.
"Okay, so let me tell you the backstory"
And with that, on our way to breakfast I told her the story of Hermione mistaking my night job, she laughed a lot at the situation and agreed to help me. She does not ask what I actually did at night and I am grateful for it, she understands that everyone has secrets.