A Web Of Magic - Volume 1 Chapter 53 Improvements
Magnus was shocked for a few moments after the revelation. He always suspected that she had some special identity but he didn’t think it was this special! ‘Does this mean there are ghosts of the founders too? But if they existed, we’d have known by now, right?’ Magnus wanted to ask her many questions but he decided to stay polite for now and not infringe on her privacy. There must be a reason for her to hide her identity. If not why would someone as proud as her hide most of the time instead of basking in glory?
“So, you must be over a thousand years old? Imagine the amount of history and knowledge you’d know. You are like a walking library!” Magnus exclaimed.
“Thank you, Magnus for the compliment. But I’d prefer you not to mention a lady’s age,” the Grey Lady grumbled.
“What do I call you from now on then? Grey Lady sounds so drab compared to your name. Should I call you Helena or Ms. Ravenclaw?” Magnus asked.
“Call me Helena, but only when I’m alone. Ms. Ravenclaw is my mother so that’s a no. The Grey Lady is a name someone came with a few centuries ago. It’s such a boring name for someone as bright as me, but I couldn’t bother correcting them so it stuck,” Helena answered.
Magnus looked at her attire. While her attire is no doubt very expensive, the dull silver tones on it gave away why she was called the Grey Lady. He decided not to talk on that just as he ignored her subtly praising herself. He had gotten used to her by now. Why deny her joy when she was already dead? Ever since he met the ghosts of Hogwarts, he always wondered and hoped if his family would come back as ghosts. But, nothing of that sort happened till now.
“Alright, Helena it is then. So, tell me Helena. What was your life like?” Magnus asked her with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. Helena’s eyes lit up at his question and they spent the next few hours talking about her experiences when she was still alive. Magnus was enthralled from start to the end. Here is a living relic that existed since the time of the Founders. Anything she’d say will easily beat Prof. Binns as the history teacher. ‘If they are willing to hire ghosts as history teachers, shouldn’t they get someone like Helena? She’s better than Binns any day. Is it because they don’t know her identity?’
Magnus’s rumbling stomach reminded him that he missed lunch and if he delays anymore, he’ll also miss dinner. Thus, he could only stop their discussion for now and continue it some other time. “It’s been nice talking to you Helena. Let’s continue it some other day,” Magnus bid her goodbye a he moved towards the exit of the room.
“Magnus?” Helena called him making him turn back. He looked at her questioningly. “Thank you for listening to me. Most only want to know about my mother, no one ever asks about me. Learn well from the knowledge given by my mother. Once you are done, come to me again and I’ll give you an opportunity. Whether it’s gift or a curse will depend on your capability,” Helena told him seriously. Magnus just raised an eyebrow at her cryptic ending, but he decided to deal with it as it comes and went to the Great hall for dinner.
Magnus spent the following days in a new routine. He had to put a stop to his usual experiments in the Room of Requirement in order to digest all the knowledge bestowed upon him by Ravenclaw. The days after Halloween were filled with intense quidditch practice among all the houses and there were plenty of injured students every day. Before the quidditch match it was training because they wanted to win the match. After the game it was training because they lost the match. It’s like a switch was turned on as even students not undergoing practice kept getting hurt for one ridiculous reason or the other.
He realized how tiring and intense being a Healer at Hogwarts really is and his respect for Madam Pomfrey rose a notch. It’s no surprise that there are no other Healers applying for a position here. It’s a wonder how Pomfrey limited herself to only mildly chastising the students as opposed to tying them up and throwing them in a corner for their own safety like Magnus was sorely tempted to do. All of this work coupled with his classes kept him busy. At least his Healing raised in proficiency as he came to know all sorts of things that weren’t written down in books. Hogwarts students can be quite creative in hurting themselves.
It was only before Christmas that Magnus completely digested the benefits gained from the trial of Ravenclaw. It was only made possible due to the spending of points generously and using [Instant Read] and [Comprehend Mode] multiple times a day. He spent 400 points in total to complete this endeavor and he was very glad he did. He looked at his interface to see the progress he made.
[Magnus Webb
Title: Seer Descendant
Traits: Beast Blood (Magic), Blood Curse (inactive), Beast Blood (Deformation)
Body: 3
Mind: 19
Magic: 32
Impact Points: 843
School: Divination Lv4 (60%), Healing Lv4 (80%), Charms Lv4 (10%), Transfiguration Lv4 (20%), DADA Lv4 (20%), Potions Lv4 (50%), Herbology Lv3 (90%), Astronomy Lv3 (80%), Magical Theory Lv5 (90%), Mind Arts Lv4 (10%), Care of Magical Creatures Lv2(90%), Runes Lv4(30%), Arithmancy Lv4(30%)
Skills: Wand Magic Lv4 (80%), Wandless Magic Lv4 (30%)]
His Body stat didn’t increase as always, he’s not worried about that. His body felt fine and healthy to him and he checked himself regularly to make sure there’s nothing wrong with him. His Mind stat finally made progress due to the enhancement techniques he received. He could feel his memorizing capabilities increasing day by day. While not at the level of eidetic memory, he’s getting there. His magic too increased by a few points and is now in the range of a typical third year student. The schools of magic namely Magical Theory, Mind arts, Runes and Arithmancy were all boosted by two levels. This was his greatest takeaway from the trials of Ravenclaw. With the knowledge gained in Mind arts, he became a beginner in both Occlumency and Legilimency. He still needs a wand for the latter for the time being. While he didn’t learn any offensive mind spells, the theory for making them are all there in his head. Magical theory, Runes and Arithmancy at their improved levels gave him great confidence in making and improving his own spells. He still decided to be cautious and take it slowly while using Divination to skirt around any dangers. All in all, it was a great progress for him that took him one step closer to his goal.
Few days before Christmas, Fred and George found him by the lake. “Hey mate. What’re your plans for Christmas?” George asked.
“I’m thinking of going home for Christmas. Tonks’s dad came through and I’ll try and see if I can sell some of my potions. I’ll also have to sell our acromantula venom,” Magnus casually said as he made sure their words weren’t overheard with a quick spell. Wouldn’t want people to know that they have something they aren’t supposed to have.
“Wicked! We are also going home. Say Magnus, if you succeed in selling, tell us how to do it too alright?” Fred asked.
“Alright. Then maybe we can all go to Diagon Alley to sell,” Magnus suggested.
“We’d love to, but there’s one problem. We might have to go to our Great aunt Muriel’s place for Christmas. Mum promised her because she kept nagging her. The lady doesn’t even like us! Why does she want us there?” George threw up his hands in protest.
“And you know what the worst part is? We can’t use our pranks in Aunt Muriel’s house or mum will have our heads!” Fred exclaimed.
“No pranks on Christmas? Are we still living in a free world?” George followed.
“Freedom is a myth mate,” Magnus said sagely. They all had a good laugh and goofed around the lake shore for the rest of the day. When the vacation started, they all boarded the Hogwarts express and were off home.