****
Twenty fifth of December. Morning. Hogwarts Castle. Gryffindor Tower.
The room, which was usually illuminated by the morning sun at this time, was drowned in darkness. Heavy, velvet curtains the color of fresh blood hid the only "owner" of this room from the intrusive rays. Nothing could disturb his sleep.
Of the five beds, only one was occupied. If you take a closer look at the room, you can understand that this room was intended for five intelligent people, but due to one "case" this room was owned by one girl who successfully hid her real gender.
The measured breathing of a sleeping person fit more than ever into the general atmosphere in the room. However, nothing lasts forever, like her dream.
Slowly, as if by magic, the heavy curtains parted in different directions, letting in the light of the star called "The Sun." Its rays, as if possessing intelligence, fell exactly into the eyes of the sleeping guy (girl).
The eyelids fluttered, only to open a second later, revealing two emerald-colored eyes to the world. Slowly, as if reluctantly, their owner (owner) sat down, looking around the situation in the room with a dull gaze. Gradually, recognition and understanding flared up in his eyes more and more.
"Was it a dream?.." a sad, slightly trembling voice rang out in the silence of the room. Tears slowly welled up in my eyes.
Pictures of such a real dream appeared before her eyes. Mom and dad, so dear, but distant. Their smile, warm hands, such a familiar but forgotten smell. For the first time, she was able to consciously talk to them. Find out about their past, tell about yourself, your problems, goals. And even if they did not approve of all her aspirations, they nevertheless gave their tacit consent to everything. Even if it was a dream, it was much nicer than reality...
With a slight hum, the mana that was still in her magical body after the ritual rushed out, creating semi-transparent phantoms of her parents. Those same smiles, warm glances of brown and green eyes...
A trembling hand slowly rose to the top in order to destroy this mirage with its touch. Slowly the hand clenched into a fist. The fog that remained after the mirages sparkled in the light and disappeared, but this time forever.
- I will be strong. I promise," a single tear rolled down his cheek to his chin, only to fall down and break into thousands of particles.
There was silence. Not a single sound was heard. Lonely specks of dust flew through the air, so visible in the rays of the sun. Their dance was mesmerizing, but this was not the thoughts of the owner of the room...
"In the meantime..." suddenly a couple of words escaped the guy's lips.
Rising from his seat, he (she) slowly walked over to the chest that stood against the far wall. Having opened it, he climbed into it up to his waist and after a few seconds got out, holding some silvery fabric in his hands. Slowly unfolding it, he revealed to the light a diamond-shaped amulet with a ruby in the center. The stone flashed in the light with an ominous bloody light.
"We need to finish one little thing," emerald sparks danced in his green eyes. And the lips stretched into an ominous smile.
*****
The morning is painted with wonderful light... Maybe so, but my thoughts were occupied with completely different things.
I don't know how, probably by pure luck, but I managed to carry each sleeping person to their room without getting caught. What if this action is not called luck? As well as outright stupidity, but more on that later.
Things were easy with Luna and the two Gringras sisters. I simply brought them into the living room of my faculty, and then Penelope took care of them. Yes, she was the only one (not counting me) who regained consciousness after the ritual. True, this happened in the living room, but this is better than watching the "sleeping beauties" in the living room.
Next in difficulty was the journey to the badgers' living room. Due to the fact that I had been there more than once, finding the entrance was not difficult. However, there was a slight hitch at the entrance; I didn't know the password, which I decided on my own. One of the couples decided at that very moment to return to the faculty. So there were no problems with this.
But the most fun came when Potter returned to her room. Finding the entrance was not a problem, the most problematic thing was with the portrait. The owner of this dwelling decided to leave her monastery at the most inopportune moment and I, as well as three other students (who did not see me) had to wait for her return.
Further difficulty arose with the search for Potter's bedroom, there are seven floors, and it is not known which floor it is located on. Only on the third attempt did luck smile on me; in one of the rooms I came across Seamus, sleeping without his hind legs.
Hmm, now I'm sitting and wondering, why exactly did I need this? They wouldn't have any problems if they slept for the allotted time in that clearing. Magic guarded their sleep that night. But no, I put them on my "hump" and carried them to the rooms.
So I've been meditating for the last fifteen minutes in order to understand such an altruistic act. And I came to only one conclusion: the emotions after the ritual had not completely left me at that moment, and I completed the rest of the "work" purely out of principle. After all, the joy of the lower spirits, of which there were the majority, their kindness, playfulness, all this quite strongly influenced me. At least for the next couple of hours.
So it turns out that I was faced with another problem - increasing the sensitivity of empathy after the ritual, which, in turn, needs to get used to. My range grew from forty meters (in six months it grew by a good ten meters, and this is quite significant), to fifty-five. But that's not all, now I can understand with even greater accuracy who is experiencing certain emotions. In a crowd of thousands of people, I still won't be able to find what I'm looking for (if he's not nearby), but out of hundreds, it's easy. Tangible progress, which also takes some getting used to.
I also felt that my control over my ability had also increased. Not much, about ten percent, but it's still nice. Now it will be much easier for me to "project" the necessary emotions to other people. Even though I don't use this ability often (obviously in vain...), but this does not change the fact that I have become stronger. Now you need to think about how best to use this ability?
It is impossible to find out in detail what exactly has changed in me. The complex enhancement was painful, in some places it was almost unnoticeable, in others it was the opposite. That is why it is not possible to track all these changes.
However, one thing about me that I still cannot understand has changed quite significantly. An anomaly, that most incomprehensible formation in my mind. As it turned out (which is logical, and I was aware of this, but did not pay due attention) it is connected not just with the mind, but with every part of the soul, even with the indestructible principle. Its "veins" were routed to each shell. Only now I was able to see all the "threads" connecting her and my soul.
To understand what exactly I saw, you can imagine an orange. A regular fruit, with varying numbers of lobes. However, there are seven of them in me, according to the number of shells. So, all those micro veins that are in it are the threads connecting the anomaly and my soul. They intertwined with each other, penetrated into the depths of each shell, taking something from them. However, to what extent will this happen? Will it happen in an instant that this anomaly will devour me and my soul? And I can't do anything with all this, I simply don't have enough skills. And to tell a stranger about my "problem"... Well, only as a last resort.
When I first saw this picture, I was seized with a slight stupor. Of course, don't suspect this and live with it. But there is a certain plus: my magical vision has become stronger, which allowed me to examine all these "pitfalls" of stones. And yes, at first I had a question, how do I actually see all this? After all, sighted people cannot examine their aura directly. So I don't look at the aura, but turn my magical vision inside myself, at my soul, my nature.
Okay, enough thinking. Today I still need to go to the teacher. Even though I can't get into Mungo's, no one forbade me from studying within the castle walls.
Smoothly getting up from my place and quickly throwing on my robe, I headed out.
But I still wonder what the rest got out of it all? And if Nev tells me about this sooner or later, then here are the rest... How terribly interesting...
*****
As before, I only had to apply a little effort and the door leading to the hospital wing opened. Having entered the room and examined it, I immediately headed towards the office. The chambers were empty except for a couple of "statues". But they didn't have long to remain in this state. Relatively…
The teacher was not in the office, so without staying there for long, I went down to the ritual hall, where in theory she should have been. And I turned out to be right, as soon as I went down to the hall, the figure of a teacher immediately caught my eye, enthusiastically stirring something in a cauldron. Hmm, isn't it Snape who provides the necessary potions for the Hospital Wing?
"Another five minutes and I'll be free," she said without turning to face me.
Without answering, I landed in my favorite chair, continuing to watch Pomfrey's actions. What can we say about her skills in brewing potions? I can say for sure: I definitely won't be able to determine who is more qualified, she or Snape. Undoubtedly, the "smoothness" of the flow of mana is much higher for her, but Severus's dexterity is much better. To put it another way: the teacher takes control, and Snape takes skills.
After four minutes, the potion brewing process came to an end. Having extinguished the flame and cooled the contents, Poppy immediately began pouring the resulting liquid into bottles. It's just a common cold potion. And she cooked it?
"Snape won't be able to prepare potions for the Hospital Wing for a week," Poppy answered, seeing my puzzled look. - Still, he will have to take care of the kids. Make sure they don't kill each other," a malicious smile and a sidelong glance in my direction clearly made it clear who exactly she considers "baby." No use, teacher. You can't get through me like that. - Because of this, the brewing of potions fell on my fragile shoulders - oh, what facial expressions! What emotions! An Oscar worthy performance.
"Don't exaggerate," I said without changing my face. - For you, this is nothing more than an annoying hindrance. You can easily make such simple potions with your eyes closed.
"Hmm," the teacher's green eyes flashed with magical light. A smile bloomed on Poppy's face. — Someone can be congratulated on the next development of their gift, right?
How did she know? Can this be tracked by the aura? But how and where? If the Guild of the Sighted can do the same, then I'm in deep trouble...
"You shouldn't worry so much," she tried to reassure me. "Not many people can see what I see." And our mutual acquaintances have only one intelligent person who is capable of this," for a brief moment I was able to see a shadow run across Poppy's face, but after a moment it disappeared. I wonder if this is just another game or actually unpleasant memories? And are they related to my future service?
"That means he will be able to recognize me, so you shouldn't let your guard down; you need to take care to hide your aura." I think for me today it is quite possible, albeit very difficult.
"Believe me, he definitely won't be able to get here." He is occupied with much more important things than an ordinary schoolboy - a malicious smile at the end is the teacher's calling card. Now it becomes clear why her friends speak about her with not very flattering words. For example, the same August.
"Okay, I'll take your word for it," I nodded to her. But hiding the aura is still worth looking for.
"Great," she smiled at me, walking past me. - Since the talking is over, we should start the next lesson, right?
A slight wave of the hand and a thin, big-eared little house-elf body appeared on the ritual bed. His entire skin was covered in miasma, cut marks, cracks, and burns.
- This time the house-elf? — not at all afraid of the injuries received by the creature, I asked. Still, during my practice I saw a lot. Just look at the body of a man who was eaten alive by maggots. Yes, that was a curse. I worked on it for four hours, with breaks for meditation. And then I couldn't complete my work, I didn't have enough skills.
- Since we have fruitfully moved on to magical creatures, then why not? — Poppy said, smiling at the corner of her lips. - Get started.
Taking out my wand and activating my magical vision, I got to work.
Well, here it is - a routine that in the future promises to make me quite a capable magician.
*****