HP: Spirit Talker

How many ways are there to leave school before the scheduled time? Well, in the Muggle world, the list begins and ends with connections and the size of one's wallet, for people are greedy in their own right, and spreading the thought more necessary, this simple fact does not require — one should just think about it.

In the world of magic there are differences — it is undeniable, but they are not too many, and the fact of greed is still undeniable, but the choice of tools of influence is much wider due to many factors and nuances, which I have no desire to go into at the moment. I will only describe my tools, so to speak, the ones I have stopped using.

Before going on vacation to Hogwarts, there are tests, of course. If you switch on your brain and do not go with the flow, it is no problem to deal with them before. However, you should take into account the factor of education: in Britain there are still strong traditional single-sex schools of the closed type, cultivating retrogrades and retrogrades, and teachers are still terribly respected and influential, only thanks to their position, place of work.

Snape is a classic example of a British teacher/mentor: a narcissistic bastard who humiliates and diminishes self-esteem, trampling on the individual to bring them up to a "common" standard. I don't even want to say that somewhere is much better, because many people know the order in US schools, or the suicide rate during exams in Japan.

Anyway, the topic is very broad and I'm getting carried away again, so back to me. With the professors of astronomy and numerology, it was easy and quick to undo the tie — I just participated in their circles in the most active way for a few days, thus demonstrating my knowledge, and I automatically got my credits. So did some of the participating students from other faculties.

The runes were a bit more difficult — for them I had to spend a whole evening in close cooperation with the professor, who was working on a part of some intricate weaving of cascade charms to restore normal, weather-appropriate ventilation in the castle. Very interesting work, VERY interesting! By the way, Professor Flitwick was involved in our general work of calculating energy costs.

I have not told about my discoveries, and I will keep silent until I return to school — by then the professors promised to finish and even explain everything. I don't participate in the flights, and besides, these classes are only in the first year. The headmaster once tried to fit them into my schedule, and I thought about it, but my opinion about broomsticks was clear. And for flying, we can think of other options — we are mages, after all!

I met with the Potions Master, i.e. the temporary professor (although I think he will stay until the end of the year) after class, we talked, I treated the worthy employee with a voluminous liter bottle of the best local whisky, yes, with a basket of excellent snacks, in which there was another bottle.

At the end of the conversation we agreed on a variation of my evaluation during the lesson: if everyone brewed something simple, I would brew another potion. There was no problem, and the man pleased his wife with a Christmas present he found in the basket — twenty galleons of 'Holiday Allowance for Individual Specialists'.

Flitwick and I were hard at work sparring again at the Dueling Club. The main point of contention was McGonagall — who'd have thought it, right? That witch was, in every sense of the word, as horny as a sheep and categorically refused to play along. In general, this trait of hers — not to overstep the bounds and parentheses — really pisses me off. Not only did I ask her myself, as a specialist, but I witnessed scenes when other students turned to her for more advanced topics, to get ahead, not to be equal to the laggards.

But no, Minerva, contrary to the meaning of her name, stubbornly pulls everyone up by saying the same thing to literally everyone: it's too early for you to know that, wait until "x" course. The wiser ones immediately turn to upperclassmen or Flitwick, depending on the complexity of the question. I got the new etiquette lessons (a full hour a week!), fencing and dancing automatically in my first few lessons, as did many others, by the way.

Professor Sprout and I had a different arrangement. The thing was, I had just finished making metal bones for the prosthesis, and now it was necessary to grow vines and algae tissues on them in a special way that would exactly replicate the muscles and nerves of a human leg. The woman knew almost from the beginning what I was going to do, so she asked me to show the process to a "select few" — a few almost personal students.

For this purpose, a glass bowl was made with silver wire inside, a thin frame that would create a kind of cocoon to hold the necessary level of magical concentration. Well, not the creepy looking cocoon with the ritual circles and stars that Kiriko was born with? Bones made of a light but strong aluminum alloy, cleaned with a metal-cleaning potion (and there are such potions, you just have to look in the books), with some silver rings covered with hieroglyphics, attached to thin spokes, which will be easy to remove later.

The process of growing a plant and putting the algae into it took five hours, one of which was a break, and I was exhausted. I still had to draw the ritual figure, because it took a lot of personal magic, and I didn't have a full gift yet, so the magic tried to scatter to the sides. It was to keep it in the right direction that I drew the circle. And also, I don't know if the professor noticed or not, but in the process I had to infuse all four vines equally with Mrs.

 Greengrass's blood, so that the artificial leg would become native, and the little accumulator in the bottom of the bowl would maintain a steady background of the woman's magic in the bones.

I ended up with a pale green, but not at all repulsive looking leg, covered in a slightly darker plant pattern that I was never able to completely remove. But the quality of the overall work pleased even me.

By the way, Sister Greengrass and Ms. Davis did not stop their visits to the algae for magical nourishment, which resulted in another pleasant surprise: the core of the algae formed two seeds that will mature in two or three weeks. In gratitude, all three girls ate very sparingly for three days, had to wash themselves three times a day with a special herbal decoction, and had to drink a special balm. On the fourth day, all three were angry, but they obeyed, so they came to my ritual site at the lake.

I repeat, the girls were terribly angry at me, offended and also embarrassed to have to remain on a naked body in simple robes while I performed a purely female ritual. It was supposed to be done by a full-fledged miko, but since I didn't have one on hand, I had to do it. There were no special effects, but the girls did not freeze in the cold, because the heat of the flame warmed not only the body, but also the soul. The essence of the ritual is simple but very important.

In the process of growing up, development, minor ailments are often not noticed behind raging hormones and thirst for action. Thus, in adulthood, you can get various pathologies, especially hormonal stability and reproductive system, to which girls are more vulnerable. This ritual, if performed regularly, compensates for the effects of minor colds, microtraumas, etc. By the time they reach adulthood, girls will be in good health and will be completely free of even the slightest traces of childhood wounds.

Why just this trio? Who else? Granger is still in an unclear position for me, for her life course is not yet fully determined. Fleur is already grown up and her special nature has straightened everything out — I admit, I couldn't resist clarifying this question. Luna is as healthy as possible. Do you remember her barefoot walks in the movie? Do you remember her ever getting sick?

No. I was seriously worried at first, and I even had an extensive conversation with Padma, but it turns out that no one touches Lovegood's shoes and things in general, and they literally disappear on their own. The Ravenclaws even tried to investigate, but they couldn't find anything. I tensed up even more and went into meditation, accessing the spiritual planes. I didn't see it at first, but when it all came out, I called myself an idiot.

The girl was initiated not at the beginning of my training, but from birth. The spirits have always spoken to her, always protected her: how else would she have survived the explosion of her mother with her own eyes? Why does she wander wherever she wants, and not that she won't catch a cold afterwards, but her heels are even clean — I checked them myself!

 Literally every step of clean, white feet, every stroke of blond curly hair, every gesture and word is a ritual. Luna Lovegood is the hope of the British Isles, the hope of the spirits, the hope of cleansing these lands of total curse pollution. Funny earrings? Necklace? Why do Native Americans wear feathers on their heads or fringe their leather pants? That's right!

Everything has a sacred meaning that is gradually built into the culture through traditions and customs. But that didn't stop me, and the girl was given several pairs of different shoes, albeit with amulets, so the barefoot walking stopped... almost. Almost. Luna sometimes takes off her shoes herself, she says she wants to. Rituals, damn it!

Anyway, I no longer have to attend classes, even some of the mandatory ones. If I didn't have to go to the Christmas ball, I wouldn't be at the castle on December fifteenth. So I agreed that I would visit, though less often than usual, and that I would keep in touch: McGonagall had a pair of my Through-Mirrors, and the Patronus was still on. I took the time to go to my house, where all the materials I'd prepared were waiting for me, but I still had to check them.