"It should be regarding the book you were supposed to get. Maybe he enchanted the book not to get stolen and wants to have a word with you about it." Susan tried to assuage his worries as he finished his lunch.
Nodding at her, Leon left for the headmaster's office after getting directions from an older Hufflepuff.
'I am meeting my headmaster first time in both of my lives,' he thought as he traversed the magical maze of a school. He was a quiet kid until he was introduced to extreme sports. So, he never got into any kind of trouble.
Excitement and trepidation warred in Leon as he walked toward the office of the most powerful wizard in the world.
He was going to stand in front of a man whose hands were deep in the magical Britain and even the whole magical world.
A small flex of Dumbledore's influence can upend his life.
'So, just like a billionaire of my previous life then.' Shaking his head at the thought of the ditsy girl he worked for, Leon thought about the positives of having contact with such a person.
'I will have a little leeway to influence the peak power of this world. And people like him are very less unlike the hundreds of billionaires in my previous life... But here, there is a possibility of semi-immortals like Nicholas Flamel hiding in the world….. let's not go into that rabbit hole.'
Leon cleared his mind and stood in front of the gargoyle that hid the staircase to the headmaster's office.
"Sour Candy," he muttered.
The gargoyle slid away revealing a helix staircase.
'It's not a real gargoyle, right?'
Leon climbed the staircase eyeing the mythical stone monster.
"Come in, Come in, Mr Leon." A calm elderly voice tinged with youthful energy called out just as he was about to knock on the door.
Shrugging, Leon opened the door and was hit with a feeling of dissonance.
Spindly knick-knacks and the murmurs of the previous headmasters filled the room with little noises; the headmaster's office had a magical weight to it.
Leon didn't get to admire Dumbledore's unique taste in organizing as his gaze pivoted toward the corner of the room.
The majestic bird of fire, a Phoenix, perched in the corner.
The concepts of life and death danced around the magical bird in perfect harmony as its feathers shimmered like they were made of flames.
Leon doesn't know why he felt that, but something about the Phoenix catapulted these feelings to the forefront of his mind.
Like the warmth of a hearth in a cold winter, the Phoenix's presence melted away Leon's paranoia and anxiety.
"Beautiful creatures, Phoenixes. You are lucky to see Fawkes in his prime, Mr Astraeus. While the beauty of a Phoenix never depends on its body, the majestic and vibrant glow of a phoenix in its prime, dare I say, is unmatched by any creature."
Leon wrestled his eyes from the fire incarnate and saw Albus Dumbledore in his eye twinkling glory.
While the phoenix gave of feeling of warmth, Dumbledore's presence was a paradox just like his voice.
Kindness, ruthlessness, passion, apathy, pride, and arrogance intermingled, forming a magical paradox that strained Leon's mind as he tried to understand it.
The feeling swiftly vanished as Dumbledore's eyes gained his famous twinkle.
'Isn't he too young to feel the magic of others?' Dumbledore wondered, gesturing for the young wizard to take a seat.
"Candy, Mr Astraeus?"
Leon nearly blurted out 'Stranger Danger' at the old man giving out questionable candies to kids but just shook his head.
"Did you know why I called you here, Mr Astraeus?"
"No, Headmaster Dumbledore."
Dumbledore just watched Leon without asking any more questions, so the Hufflepuff went back to observing the various knick-knacks arrayed in the headmaster's office.
With Leon's 'mutated occlumency' talent he didn't have to fear Dumble's foraging his memories and he doesn't think the headmaster reads the minds of everyone he encounters.
Dumbledore broke the silence.
"As a headmaster, I take my student's safety seriously, Mr Astraeus. I try to make Hogwarts a safe place, away from the influence of their families, away from the expectations their family name brings.... No one can make you do something in Hogwarts if you wish otherwise, Mr Astraeus."
Dumbledore rubbed his hand and his inquisitive gaze which would make some students confess turned kind as he continued to talk.
"If you allow me to be a tad boastful, there isn't a problem I can't solve, especially when it comes to magic." The Headmaster folded his hands and waited to let it sink in. "Remember that Hogwarts always keeps its students' safety and interest at the forefront, Mr. Astraeus. Here is your mail."
"Why do you have it, Headmaster?"
"Everything that comes into Hogwarts is subjected to general scrutiny. We can't have kids bringing their family heirlooms or artifacts they know nothing about, after all. And when I saw your mail, I thought why not use this opportunity to meet Professor Flitwick's favorite student?"
"It is a pleasure to study under Hogwarts professor, Headmaster. Maybe not under, Professor Bins or Professor Snape. Anyways, Professor Flitwick is my favorite professor too." He muttered, his mind fully focused on the parcel in his hands.
"I think he will be happy to hear it, Mr Astraeus. Remember help is always given at Hogwarts for those who ask for it." The headmaster graciously ignored his remarks about Snape and Binn and reiterated.
Leon just nodded and waved at the phoenix who trilled at him as he left.
The phoenix cry, as the bird's name suggests, was magical.
'God damn it! Its voice is too perfect!' He was feeling strangely rejuvenated. 'Should I ask Dumbledore how he met Fawkes? I want a magical companion too.'
With a last glance at the headmaster savoring the candy, he descended the staircase.
'I still have time for a magical companion; I will ask him later.' Leon knew the headmaster would expertly dance around the subject if he didn't want to open up, so he left for now.
Once again standing before the gargoyle, he poked it with his finger.
'I think it's just a statue, unlike the rock soldiers that defended Hogwarts.'
Tossing away the thought that Hogwarts was filled with these rock monsters and soldiers, Leon quickly ran towards his charm's classroom.
Flitwick jovially and expertly completed the theory part of the class, leaving students to practice the Leviosa variant.
The spell variant was for finer, delicate, control of levitating objects.
As usual, Leon's performance was outstanding.
'Ha! Take that Potions! I don't need you.' He cheered as a dozen paper men danced to a silent tune in the air, their limbs twisting and turning fluidly creating a magical scene.
But just like always Leon was under a spell, so the students missed witnessing his marvelous (average) choreography skills.
The class ended too quickly like every other charms class, at least he felt like it did.
Just as he was leaving, Rose bumped into him and stuffed a paper into his pocket.
Leon covertly read the paper Rose gave him following his friends.
'Damn! I totally forgot about them! If Rose or Hermione talks, I can't give a proper answer to the question of what I was doing on the second floor.'
The paper asked him to meet them in an abandoned classroom and had directions written.
'At least they are being candid about it. I wonder what they were doing on the 2nd floor. I guess hoping that they won't recognize my voice is just wishful thinking.'
Slipping away from the gaggle of Hufflepuffs, he reached the classroom early.
He leaned on a wall and used the camouflage spell on himself, keeping an eye on the meeting spot Rose gave him.
As much as Leon ached to read the Senses book, he decided to see what the damsels wanted first.
Rose and Hermoine marched right into the abandoned classroom, murmuring at each other.
Leon waited for a minute before walking into the classroom, sticking to the wall.
"Hello!" he suddenly called out after dispelling his camouflage, startling the Gryffindors.
"Hey! Was that necessary?" Hermoine called out.
Leon just sent an unrepentant grin at the not-bushy-haired bookworm and observed the girl, metallic braces glinted as she spoke, coupled with her straight hair she didn't have the canon Hermione look.
'Does she use some spell to tame her hair or is this world Hermione doesn't have bushy hair?' He remembered her bushy hair was supposed to be her negative trait, so she just could have straightened them. After all, she is a teenager.
Hermione slinked back under my evaluating gaze, swiftly closing her mouth, halting whatever she wanted to say next.
'Great! She is conscious about her braces.'
"What were you guys doing on the second floor?"
"We like to know the same, you go first." Rose sent him a challenging gaze as she stood in front of Hermione.
He shrugged at her protectiveness and spoke.
"I wanted to see what a troll looks like, coincidentally I had the necessary spells so I stalked it for some time until someone walked in front of it and foolishly came back slinging spells, ignoring their common sense that a first-year's spells won't even tickle a Troll."
The girls looked shocked before blushing at his words.
'Simple and semi-truthful lies are the way to go. I hope they don't pursue the troll incident anymore. Hmm! I can just say a House elf informed me that a Troll was in Hogwarts even in the unlikely case Rose talks with Susan.' He wasn't in the great hall when Flitwick tried for Oscar, so covering his bases never goes wrong.
"You are mad! You could have died or worse expelled if the professor caught you trailing the Troll instead of running away from it." Granger fumed and looked like she was ready to go on a rant about how getting expelled is worse than death when Rose cut in.
"I like it! You got balls, Uncle Sirius would love you!" Rose winked at him.
"Now it's your turn." Leon nodded at Rose, motioning for the girls to get on with it already.
"As we were making our way towards our tower-"
"So, Gryffindors live in a tower." Leon smiled mischievously, making Granger stutter.
"It isn't much of a secret, don't tease her too much," Rose grumbled, prompting Hermione to continue.
"As I was saying, Rose wanted to use the time, when professors were distracted, to check what was on the third floor. She didn't listen to me and ran off, so I followed her."
"Come on! The troll was supposed to be in the dungeons. There was supposed to be no danger. But, you know how that turned out though don't you Leon." Rose patted Leon's shoulder as Hermione gritted her teeth at her friend's tone, before continuing.
"We ran from the corner staircase point, leaving behind our housemates, hoping to use the middle one. As you know the three staircase points in Hogwarts- one near to Great Hall, one away from the Great Hall, and one in the middle- were always supposed to work, but the moving staircases in the middle point weren't moving that day. Even when I begged her to turn back, Rose wanted to use the last staircase point, bringing us face to face with the Troll."
Rose looked bashful for a second before her carefree, mischievous look returned.
"We did come out of the encounter without any injuries and got an awesome story to tell. It's a win in my opinion." Rose waved her hands, clearly believing her words, and stared at Hermione.
They both entered a staring contest where one looked unbothered while the other frowned at her disapprovingly.
"Just don't mention my name when you share your story."
Leon's words broke their staring contest.
"We do owe you a big one, you can ask for my help anytime."
"Thank you for saving us."
"So did you guys find out what is on the third floor?"
"Nah! The moving staircases do not stop on the third floor, we checked. So we don't know yet."
Leon eyed the rambunctious red-haired girl before bidding them goodbye.
They expressed their thanks again as Leon left the room.
'Now for the time to reap my rewards has come.'
Leon left towards his dorm with a spring in his step, excited to see the type of spells the books had.
'As it is an alternative to the Will of ancestors reward it should be awesome right?'
As he walked, his head in clouds, imagining spells that would function as sonar or that would have great synergy to his stealth combo- Camouflage spell + Notice me not- the sight of a large boy in Slytherin robes fumbling his wand stunned him.
With a twist of his wrist, Leon's wand appeared in his palm.
A sticky spell aimed at the mouth of the Slytherin turned the efforts of the boy to cast a spell useless.
'Good thing, I practiced to reduce the casting time.'
Patting himself for his marvelous forethought, Leon observed the boy who was touching his mouth with a shocked expression, his wand forgotten on the ground.
"Don't force it too much otherwise your skin and flesh will be torn apart, and then you really won't be able to speak."
The boy whimpered at that before deciding it was wise to charge at the guy with a wand in his hand.
A simple back jump to create distance and another sticky spell toward his shoes sent the Slytherin sprawling on the ground.
As he slithered on the ground trying to get up, another sticky spell made sure he would continue to hug the ground with his body like their house mascot.
"Crabbe, is it? Maybe Goyle?"
Leon did feel that he was a little cruel to burn the retinas of Malfoy's minions just because they followed his orders. But somehow not recognising whose retinas he burned felt worse.
'Maybe next time I will use another spell combo if they want to bully me.'
Malfoy's scream was a little funny. They felt like he was surprised that he was getting hurt instead of screams of pain. Leon thought a strong reminder in the form of pain would stop them from coming after him, but they proved him wrong.
He doesn't even know why Malfoy was ticked off at him. Leon didn't even have a conversation with that guy.
'I don't want to deal with these fools, right now.' With a sigh, Leon played with his wand, unsure of how to proceed.
"Where is Malfoy?" He asked.
The Slytherin's eyes quickly darted to the side before he caught himself.
'They are each guarding a corridor that leads to Hufflepuff dorms. Like one of them can take me, solo.' He quickly caught on as he remembered every path that led to his dorm.
Enemies this dumb aren't enemies but nuisance.
'Tonks did ask me to tell her if they bothered me again. Something about Hufflepuffs tradition.'
Shaking his head, he left for his dorm under his stealth spell combo.
'I will let her deal with them, I have too many things to read and do,' he decided, remembering the half-read 'Rise and Fall of Artefacts' and the fresh 'Mastering the Senses' books.
He was a Hufflepuff why not take advantage of that to deal with some nuisances?
...................................
A/N: Hit me with some power stones, and reviews. Suggestions and comments are welcome too!