F&L: Chapter 70

The rest of the term went by fast in a blur of training, classes, and socialization. On the whole, however, I was doing better than I had any right to be doing with a Basilisk loose in the school and a Guy like Lockhart, whose Mastery of the Mind Arts and willingness to jump off the slippery slope to mind control meant that he was gathering power under the guise of a NEWT-Level Girls Dueling Club. It was suspicious, and I waited for the other shoe to drop, dreading the consequences for me and all my friends once it finally did. They were bound to be spectacular, after all.

However, at the moment, everything was going well for me, as callous as that was to say while people were being petrified by Basilisks and turned into adoring thralls by Lockhart. Magnus Gamp even agreed to help me research Oscan Runes. It managed to drastically speed up my timeframe for learning the runic system. I was fairly confident that I would be able to figure it out and begin working with it before the end of the year, thanks to his insights. Before this, it would have taken the rest of the year and then some to get it down. That would give me one Hell of an Ace up my sleeve when it came to it. Nobody really worked with Oscan Runes because they were so obscure, after all.

That wasn't to say that Magnus Gamp didn't still kick my arse around the Hogwarts Training Field for sparring. Indeed, if anything, he got even more intense. Thanks to the constant blanket of thick snow on the ground. A late cold snap on the fifteenth had brought close to twenty inches, or fifteen centimeters to use the local term, of snow on the ground, resulting in Magnus Gamp deciding to train me in how to fight in arctic conditions. That only further hampered my ability to defend myself against my Tutor's onslaught, and by the time the Holidays were almost upon us, I had barely clawed my way back toward the halfway point of where I had been before in terms of closeness in our bouts.

"I suppose that's good enough for now, Lad. We'll pick this training back up when the term resumes." Intoned Magnus Gamp.

"Why are we doing this?" I questioned, frowning.

"You mean, why am I training you how to fight in these conditions? Isn't it obvious?" Queried Magnus Gamp.

"You want me to be able to fight in any weather." I huffed.

"Not just that. You've perhaps heard of Stormcalling?" Shtormovoy Zov, the Russians call it?" Asked Magnus Gamp.

"Sure. It's one of the electives they teach at Durmstrang. Russian Stormcallers helped beat Grindelwald and his Muggle Puppets. Napoleon, too, though that was against the Russian Taynyy Dogovor, their version of the Statute of Secrecy." I nodded.

"Well, the Dark Lord had a number of followers who were Alumni of Durmstrang, some of whom even took that elective and some of whom are still running about free somewhere." Intoned Magnus Gamp.

"You mean Dolohov? I thought you said you and Mad-Eye Moody caught him?" I questioned.

"Dolohov practiced the art, yes, but he isn't who I was referring to. Igor Karkaroff, Natalia Vulchanova, and Waclaw Koperniki are all Continental Allies of the Dark Lord who remain free to this day." Informed Magnus Gamp.

"A Russian Wizard, a Bulgarian Witch, and a Polish Wizard walk into a bar?" I queried, cheekily.

"Droll, Lad. You might want to take them more seriously, however." Warned Magnus Gamp.

"Karkaroff turned informant, and nobody has seen or heard from Vulchanova or Koperniki for years. Why should I be scared of them?" I asked.

"Vulchanova was a known Alchemist, specializing in magical poisons. If she wanted you dead, you wouldn't know until your heart seized up while drinking your morning tea. Meanwhile, Koperniki was a Seer who had been known to use Astronomy and the Sight to time his attacks for when the weather was already bad, letting him piggyback off natural storms to increase the power of his stormcalling. As for Karkaroff, Igor Karkaroff is a survivor, someone who will do anything to survive. Ruthless as it sounds, he's literally capable of anything when it comes down to it. Sometimes, that means defecting, true. Other times, it might mean killing your family and reanimating their corpses as undead to throw you off your game." Cautioned Magnus Gamp.

"I don't have any family left, though." I huffed.

"Not the point, lad. We'll continue these training sessions. When spring comes, we'll do the same for training during thunderstorms. No student of mine is going to be caught out by an unfamiliar trick like Stormcalling and killed. This isn't up for discussion." Insisted Magnus Gamp.

I couldn't very well argue with that, so instead I just shrugged, resigning myself to more frosty training sessions once the term resumed in January. To be followed by soggy training sessions in March and April. Either way, I wasn't getting out of it, and My Tutor did have a good point about not being caught out by unfamiliar magic like that. Even if I didn't think there was anything to fear from Vulchanova or Koperniki, Karkaroff, I knew, factored into things with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and if I was being honest, if Sirius Black could escape from Azkaban, odds were that someone like Dolohov could find a way too.

I would just have to make the most of the foul weather training sessions when they happened and hope I improved enough to not need more. . .

XXXX

Mind you, tutoring lessons were far from the only things I had to do before school let out for the Christmas Holidays. Classes didn't stop, after all. Not even so close to the Holidays. Of course, there was only time for one lesson each before we were sent home for the Christmas Holidays. In Hebrology, this lesson came in the form of a unit on Leaping Toadstools, an ingredient of several potions, not least of which was the Invisibility Potion, which was Fifth-Year Material, along with the Disillusionment Charm whose effects it aped.

"Now, Dearies, can anyone tell me what Leaping Toadstools are used for?" Questioned Professor Sprout after revealing the subject for class.

"Aye! Invisibility Potion, Professor!" Called out Susan from right next to me.

"Indeed, Susan Dear! Well done! Five points to Hufflepuff for a prompt and correct answer. The Invisibility Potion does indeed have the Leaping Toadstool as an ingredient. Can anyone else tell me another potion that has Leaping Toadstool as an ingredient?" Queried Professor Sprout.

"Ambrosius Flume's Dancing Elixir, Professor. I believe he won an award for Potion Creation for it sometime in the sixties." Spoke up Daphne.

"Indeed! Very true, Daphne, five points for Slytherin for the answer. Good Job! Indeed, Ambrosius Flume's invention, a potion that enhances the drinker's dancing ability, won him ten thousand Galleons in prize money for a contest the Ministry put on nineteen-sixty-eight regarding innovative potion creation. He took that money and used it to buy Honeydukes from Madame Redding. He and his wife still run Honeydukes to this day." Beamed Professor Sprout.

"Thank you, Professor." Nodded Daphne with a look in my direction before sitting back down.

"You're welcome, Dearie. Now, does anyone else have another potion that uses Leaping Toadstool in mind?" Asked Professor Sprout.

"The Elixir of Clabbert Leaping, Professor. Along with Clabbert Mucus and Puffskein Fluff." I answered, knowing that the look Daphne sent my way had been her way of telling me to answer.

"Correct, Blaise Dear! Five Points to Slytherin! Very good! Indeed, the Elixir of Clabber Leaping can allow the Drinker to leap from street to rooftop in a single bound as easily as Clabberts leap from tree to tree in the Jungles of South and Central America. Now, let's move on to the care and planting of leaping toadstools." Grinned Professor Sprout.

Leaping Toadstools apparently were unique in terms of fungi, because they were one of the relatively few sorts of magical fungi that not only could tolerate decent levels of light, but thrived in the light. Indeed, leaping toadstools apparently required enough light to properly grow that they actually behaved more like regular plants than fungi. It was why you tended to find patches of wild Leaping Toadstools in clearings more than you did in caves or other such darkened places. Not only that, but they didn't require quite so much damp as other fungi, instead taking more of their nourishment from detritus, which was why you could usually find Leaping Toadstools on logs.

Their leaping properties were interesting in that they allowed the leaping toadstool to move from fallen log to fallen log around the edges of clearings without much preparation. This ensured that even after a patch of Leaping Toadstools had exhausted the nutrients in their initial log, they could simply move to another, nearby log. So long as said nearby log was within forty feet of the initial log, or roughly twelve-point-one meters away, the Leaping Toadstools should be able to manage it.

As we began to plant our leaping toadstools, I noticed that we were planting them on fallen logs. It was less planting and more simply moving them, actually. Of course, we had to keep a good grip on them. Otherwise, the Toadstools might just leap out of our arms in anticipation of being placed on the nearby logs. It was entirely possible that if that happened, they would leap themselves into one of our classmates, knocking said classmate over, though that wasn't as bad as what could have happened with the Mandrakes we'd planted earlier. It was still bad enough to possibly cause a student a concussion if they fell the wrong way.

Speaking of which, almost as soon as Susan and I had our Leaping Toadstools situated on their fresh log, an incident happened. Goyle had been too busy chatting with Crabbe about whatever it was those two lummoxes chatted about, and hadn't been paying attention to keeping hold of his Leaping Toadstool. The thing slipped his meathook-like grip and rocketed toward Hannah, who was busy with Millie, putting their Leaping Toadstools down on their own log.

"Hannah! Millie! Watch out!" Called out Susan from next to me.

Hannah and Millie, startled, dropped their own leaping toadstools, which set them rocketing off toward Daphne and Tracey. All four of my friends were in danger of being gut-checked by flying fungi, and there was only one way I could think of to prevent that as time slowed down for me as I entered the Dead Moment. I had learned both Summoning and Banishing previously, and could use one of those now to save the day. Flicking my wand in an arc in front of me and summoning up magic from my core, pun not intended, I began casting the Summoning Charm with a cry of 'Accio Mid-Jump Leaping Toadstools!'. The spell took hold, and suddenly, I had two armfuls of red and white Leaping Toadstools. It was all I could do to keep the quartet of fungi secured, and I had to drop my wand to do it. Fortunately, Susan managed to pick it up. No sooner had I deposited various Leaping Toadstools on various logs than Susan returned my wand to me, an impressed look on her face.

"That was some Canny Spellcasting, Blaise." Offered Susan.

"Thanks for helping us out." Added Hannah.

"Psh, it's Bliase. He can't help himself." Grinned Millie, rolling her eyes.

"Not when friends are in trouble, anyway. He's fairly Hufflepuffish in that regard." Agreed Tracey.

"Still, thank you. I'm not wearing an outfit under my School Robes that is tolerant of mud and rotting compost, after all." Sniffed Daphne.

"It was nothing, you guys." I waved off, a small smile on my face.

"No, that wasn't nothing. That was the Summoning Charm." Intoned Daphne.

"Aye! Damn Canny Spellwork for someone our age." Agreed Susan.

"Yeah, that's a fourth-year charm. I'm surprised you managed it so cleanly." Mused Tracey.

"Please, if anyone could have, it's Blaise." Scoffed Millie.

"Well, Blaise or Harry." Admitted Hannah.

"Indeed, well done, Blaise Dear! I am awarding Slytherin twenty points! Ten for the spellwork and ten for showing such dedication to Helga Hufflepuff's Ideals!" Beamed Professor Sprout as she made her way over.

And that was how Herbology went. By the evening, of course, the Rumor Mill had done its churning and spread the news that I was capable of Fourth Year Spells. That meant that not only was Malfoy sulking, but I was likely about to be a target for people in the cross-house study group to want to learn any Fourth-Year Spells I could teach from. Indeed, that week's Study Group had so many visitors that I would have to organize a group training session instead of one-on-one instruction, though thankfully, they all obeyed the rules of the Study Group vis-à-vis bringing knowledge to trade. Unfortunately, I would barely have time to delve into it all because of the requirement for group training.

At least I managed to refill a decent chunk of my Silver Points with the antics, though. It seemed that whatever Genius Loci ran the rankings within the Slytherin Dorms decided that earning twenty-five points in a single day with a fourth-year spell was sufficient to grant me a one-for-one House Point to Silver Point pickup for the action.

So I had that going for me, which was nice. . .

XXXX

Meanwhile, my other two classes were Astronomy and Transfiguration. In Astronomy, given the recent eclipse, Professor Sinistra had us learning about Eclipse Mechanics and how they formed. She also showed us how to predict them by observing the motions of the sun and moon through conjured lenses of dark crystal. Supposedly, there was a way for wizards to do it that didn't rely on having The Sight, which was more accurate than the way the Muggles do it, at least more accurate than the way the Muggles do it without having access to things like satellites or expensive advanced telescopes like the Hubble, both of which the Wizarding World seemed wholly ignorant of.

Mind you, it was an attention-consuming method, and one that was best practiced solo, so as not to disturb your class partner with chit-chat while doing the calculations. That meant that while I would ordinarily socialize with Padma and talk to my other friends during Astronomy Class, it just wasn't in the cards for today's lesson. I would see them over the Christmas Holidays, though, I was sure of it. Especially if Daphne's father still had a Yule Ball this year like he did last year, for all those Pureblood Families who didn't want to go to the Malfoy Ball. I would be looking forward to that, then. No doubt I'd be invited. Daphne was one of my closest friends after all, and honestly, she was kind of my best friend if I had to admit to having one.

Regardless, I already knew when the next total eclipse visible here in Europe was going to come in November of next year, with the next partial eclipse visible here in Europe coming in May of next year. I knew this because of Metaknowledge from my previous life before becoming Blaise, not that I could share such knowledge without pissing the fates off. Either way, my calculations, while monotonous and time-consuming, only confirmed that fact for me, so that was good to know.

As Astronomy Class let out, I wondered what else was the same from my Old Life to this one? Obviously, the Wizarding World being real was unique to here, but a lot of history was at the very least similar to what had gone on in my Old World, and now the Eclipse Schedule was the same, too. I had bet heavily on Microsoft's rise going the same way with Gringotts, of course, but what else could I exploit? Would Apple go from a distant second-place computer company to a big player in the Consumer Electronics industry with the Ipod like it had back in my Old Life? Could I predict the Dot Com Bubble Bursting at the end of the Decade? What about Nine-Eleven? Would that still happen?

These were all questions for later. After all, even if Nine-Eleven still happened, the Statute of Secrecy demanded I let it happen and not interfere. That would possibly expose the Wizarding World to the Muggles, after all, a big no-no. Instead, I should probably put all my focus on learning magic. After all, what would Nine-Eleven matter if I got killed years beforehand by a resurrected Voldemort? No, my studies had to be the primary focus on how I planned to change anything for the foreseeable future.

It was literally the only way forward. . .

XXXX

Transfiguration was similar to last week's lesson. Here, we were turning needles into knives, something which was easy enough for me to visualize creatively that it wouldn't be a repeat of the Milk into Cheese Fiasco of a couple of weeks ago. As the lesson began, I focused on the Needle and began to concentrate, willing the needle to first flatten, then grow, before finally gaining things like a defined new shape, an edge, and a simple hilt. It took me fifteen minutes to get the process firmly planted in my mind, and another two to actually will it into being with my magic.

When I opened my eyes, my Needle had been transformed into a Swiss-Style Baselard Dagger, with a double-edged blade that tapered to a fine point and a Capital I-shaped hilt. I grinned as I saw that, picking up the Dagger in my left hand and testing the balance, weight, and edge. We'd been provided carrots to chop in another attempt by the Hogwarts Kitchens to save time chopping vegetables while also allowing us extra training materials. While the Baselard wasn't a kitchen knife, being designed primarily for thrusting instead of chopping, it still had enough of an edge that I could chop the carrots no problem.

Turning about to see who else had finished, I noticed both Daphne and Parvati had finished a few minutes before I had, while Tracey was chopping her carrots at the same time as I chopped mine, reaffirming the Transfiguration Pecking Order and keeping me safe from whatever vengance Daphne might have wrought on me for outdoing her in a subject she was supposed to be better than me at. Either way, I was safe and could move on to helping others. Interestingly enough, both Harry and Ron had managed to get their knives out just fine without my help. Harry managing it as I approached, his needle turning into a Kitchen Knife. I nodded as I approached the pair.

"Looks like you've got it down, Harry. Need any help, Ron?" I questioned.

"Nah, Mate. Just give me a moment." Responded Ron, frowning as he concentrated.

As Harry began to test his Kitchen Knife on the Carrots, I watched as next to him, Ron's needle transformed into a Dagger of its own. Interestingly, instead of turning into a Kitchen or Utility Knife, Ron's needle turned into a sixteenth-century Rondel Dagger. Double-sided blade coming to an even finer point than my Baselard, and hilt flattening out and taking on a sort of cylindrical shape, with the guard and pommel being a pair of flattened metal circles, the better to hammer the point into some poor bastard's helmet visor with.

"Wicked!" Beamed Ron as he finished.

"Yeah, mate, it looks like something I saw on the Telly once." Nodded Harry.

"It's a Rondel Dagger, though, where Ron saw one before, I have no clue." I offered.

"Oy, I like history. Why do you think Chess is my favorite game?" Queried Ron.

"Fair enough." I remarked.

"Anyway, the Rondel Dagger's better than that Baselard you've got. You can hammer it through armor if you have to." Smirked Ron.

"Do wizards wear a lot of armor?" Asked Harry.

"Not so much these days, no." I answered.

"Oh, shove off." Scoffed Ron.

"Mate, we have to take the piss out of you sometime. If you didn't, you'd think we stopped caring." I chuckled.

"Yeah, besides, Blaise didn't bottle the lesson one way or the other this time, so it's your turn." Grinned Harry.

That got the three of us chuckling, though it didn't get me anywhere close to getting more points, either House or Silver. Luckily, Neville seemed to be having difficulty, and I left Harry and Ron to go help him out. He was frowning down at his needle, looking between it and his wand with an increasingly frazzled look. I'd seen that look before. He was caught in a loop of frustration that would wind up being terminal for his prospects of figuring this out. Neville would get frustrated and frazzled that he couldn't manage the transfiguration, resolve to try more magic or a stronger intent, only to fail again and get even more frazzled.

"All right there, Nev?" I questioned.

"Blaise? I'm having a bit of trouble here. Mind helping me out?" Queried Neville.

"Always, Mate." I agreed.

"I just can't figure out what I've got wrong. Can you see whatever it is I'm missing?" Asked Neville, red-faced at the admission.

"First, take a deep breath, Nev. You'll never get it if you're so frustrated." I advised.

Neville nodded and then did so, taking a deep breath and trying to force himself to calm down. After a few moments, he tried it again, but the best he managed was enlarging the needle and turning one end, the hilt end, a different color. Frowning, Neville cast the Reparifarge Spell, and the Needle reverted to its normal size and uniform color. He took another few deep breaths and tried again, failing once more, this time causing the needle to turn into a hooked bar of blackened metal. With a strangled growl, Neville cast the repairifarge one more time, then looked back at me, face red.

"I don't get it! What am I doing wrong?" Questioned Neville.

"Breathe, Nev. You need to be calm." I insisted.

"Oh, what good will that do? We tried that already, remember?" Queried Neville loudly.

I frowned at that, wondering what the problem could be. He'd seemed fairly calm before, but looks could be deceiving sometimes. In the end, though, I wasn't just some random Second-Year Wizard In-Training. I had a grasp of the Mind Arts that few others could possess. If we had to, I could force calm into Neville with Empathy. The problem was, doing that would make me little better than Lockhart, even if it was for Neville's own good that he got the lesson down. True, I would be doing it to help Neville, instead of using my powers to stroke my own ego, and possibly something lower and more bodily, but still.

Fighting down my gag reflex at the mental image of Lockhart using the Mind Arts to brainwash his Thralls into being what were effectively loveslaves, I resolved that there was one way that I could differentiate myself from him. The situation was completely different, but there was another way to make it different that would instantly make me better than him. That was getting Neville's consent to calm him down with Empathy. Consent was key with a lot of things, after all. Decision made, I turned back toward Neville, still red-faced, and made my pitch.

"Nev, I can help you get into the right mindstate for this, but it's gonna require using the Mind Arts on you." I began.

"In what way?" Asked Neville, frowning.

"I can use the Mind Art of Empathy to project a feeling of calm into your mind that should help you calm down enough to get the lesson down. The thing is, I don't want to do it unless you say it's ok." I answered.

"And you won't do anything odd, right?" Questioned Neville.

"Nev, using the Mind Arts like that would be a gross abuse of the power, not to mention just generally gross as well. I would never do that, even if we weren't mates." I insisted. Neville paused, thinking it over, before asking another question.

"So I just have to lower my Occlumency Shields and let you in, right?" He queried.

"That's all." I confirmed.

"Sure then." Agreed Neville.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like I pressured you into this or anything." I reiterated.

"I'm sure. I trust you. We're Mates, right?" Asked Neville.

"Damn straight we are." I nodded.

And with that, we proceeded with the plan. I put my hand on Neville's Shoulder, looked into his eyes, and time stood still as I entered his mindscape. Instead of doing this the quick and dirty way, I decided to do it this way instead. After all, I wouldn't want to accidentally trigger any of the Occlumency Defenses that Neville had in place by just trying it the quick way. I would be able to deal with them, I was his teacher in the Art of Occlumency, after all, but a Good Friend didn't do that sort of thing to his mates.

Neville's Mindscape, it turned out, was interesting. An old school Castle somewhere in what looked suspiciously like the Lowlands of Scotland. This castle, though, wasn't a ruin and hadn't been converted into a Manor House or anything, but was very clearly still a functioning fortress. Was this a mental representation of Longbottom Manor? I knew the Longbottoms were an old Pureblooded Noble Family, going all the way back to before William the Conqueror arrived in the British Isles, going back to the Reign of Duncan the First, King of Scotland in the ten-thirties, and having been fairly well-off for more than a hundred years before that point, even if they weren't nobility yet.

As I pondered that, however, the drawbridge lowered and the portcullis raised, and I was able to enter Neville's Mindscape unopposed by the defenses, entering into the castle. As I entered what looked to be an entrance hall, I imagined myself with a guitar. One materialized in my grasp even as the suits of armor in the entry hall, with their Claymore Swords, turned to look at the unexpected manifestation, clearly also parts of Neville's Occlumency Defenses. I grabbed hold of the Guitar and put my recent Guitar lessons to use, strumming out a tune as I began to sing.

"It's not time to make a change. Just relax, take it easy. You're still young, that's your fault. There's so much you have to know. Find a girl, settle down. If you want you can marry
Look at me, I am old but I'm happy." I sang, starting to sing an old Cat Stevens song.

For some reason, the gentle strains of the song managed to calm Neville's defenses down. I wasn't sure why I picked that song, but it seemed right as I played and sang. While I did so, not only did the suits of armor with their giant swords return to their display alcoves, but they also relaxed back. I kept playing, and after the song had come and gone, I withdrew from Neville's Mindscape, coming back to my own mind. As time resumed and I opened my eyes, I nodded at Neville, who had clearly calmed down a lot from the tizzy he'd worked himself into earlier.

"All right, Nev. Try it now." I offered.

"Right." He nodded.

The next try brought not another failure, but a success, Neville transfiguring the needle into a small Sgian Dubh Knife of the kind you would wear with a kilt. If you were Scottish, anyway. It had a blackened metal handle and a straight, double-edged blade that tapered to a sharp point. I grinned at him, seeing him get it right, and patted him on the back.

"See, there you go! Just needed a bit to calm down." I confirmed.

"Thanks, Blaise." Thanked Neville.

"No worries, Mate." I beamed.

That little bit of help earned me another five points to Slytherin, along with five more silver points later, when I returned to the Slytherin Common Room. That night, not only did we have Chicken Noodle Soup with suspiciously familiar chopped carrots, but over at the Gryffindor Table, Neville couldn't stop humming the song I'd used to help him calm down. That would be something to look into if it persisted as more than a temporary earworm, but for now, I'd call it mission accomplished.

Even with the hopefully temporary side effect. . .

XXXX

Aside from classes and tutoring, I still had clubs to go to. I did wind up making it to Potions Club while Professor Snape was still marking the formula for the potion for today down on the board. It was for the Elixir of Clabbert Leaping, interestingly enough. As I entered, Professor Snape turned to regard me before frowning slightly. I knew I was early, but there was a reason for that. I didn't want to chance missing Potions Club due to potential Trelawney-related shenanigans. Still, Professor Snape couldn't help himself. Even though he liked me more than most students, he still had to make a remark about my early arrival.

"You're early, Mister Zabini. Do you require something, or is this just a rare day?" Questioned Snape.

"Last time I tried to come to Club, Professor Trelawney ambushed me and gave me detention. I didn't want to miss this one." I answered, truthfully.

"Is that so?" Queried Snape.

"It is, Professor" I affirmed.

"And what makes my club so interesting? Not that I do not appreciate your presence, but you have never shown such diligence before when it comes to extracurricular activities. As the one student in your year who is possibly the least dunderheaded, you hardly require a Club to research new potions formulae. Why have you made this effort now?" Asked Snape.

"Well, the last detention had me mucking out the Thestral Stables with Hagrid." I frowned.

"An ignominious punishment, certainly, but not one that would wound your pride too badly, I should think." Pointed out Snape.

"During the detention, I was bitten twice by Thestrals, one took a chunk out of my ear, and I had to go to the Hospital Wing in order to get it regenerated. I am not looking forward to a possible repeat performance." I shrugged.

"And so, the diligence in club attendance." Mused Snape.

"Just so, Professor." I concurred.

"Good. You are cunning, I will give you that, Mister Zabini, but it is mixed with dunderheadedness from other houses. I am gratified to see that such mixed traits have not dulled your edge." Opined Snape.

"Perish the thought, Professor." I offered.

"Take a seat, Mister Zabini. Club begins in fifteen minutes." Intoned Snape.

I did so, and soon enough, the Club was in session, filled mostly by fourth and fifth years tonight. I swiftly began to brew the Elixir of Clabbert Leaping, which, oddly enough, only required five steps. First, add the Clabbert Mucus, then add the Shredded Puffskein Fluff, before finally adding the Chopped Leaping Toadstool Caps. Then you had to stir three times clockwise, as if winding a watch, before letting the potion steep for an hour. In the end, you were supposed to get a green potion that fizzed as if it were some sort of soda. If you got a flat green potion, you'd botched it without triggering one of the immediately deadly reactions and would be sorry if you drank it.

The Elixir of Clabbert Leaping was an odd recipe in that it only took stirring at one point. Most Potions required you to stir after every additional ingredient. However, if you did that here, the results would be anywhere from the standard cauldron explosion to transfiguring your legs into literal metal springs on drinking the botched potion. Mine, however, came out exactly how Professor Snape had described, and he declared that my potion was Adequate, dismissing me shortly after.

Aside from that, the Cross-House Study Group was packed, filled with visitors from third and fourth years as well as our normal crowd. Eddie Carmichael and Marcus Belby from Third-Year Ravenclaw, Katie Bell from Third-Year Gryffindor, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet from Fourth-Year Gryffindor, Roger Davies from Fourth-Year Ravenclaw, and even Cassius Warrington from Fourth-Year Slytherin. All of them were here, along with several members whose attendance had lapsed, like the Weasley Twins, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe, Sophie Roper, and Cedric Diggory

All told, I was largely forced to institute a group study session, teaching the fourth-year spells I knew. These largely amounted to Summoning, Banishing, the Aqua Eructo Spell, and the Arresto Momentum Spell. The first two, many of the group had already learned. The ones that had continued working on whatever they had been working on before. In the meantime, I went through the instructions for Summoning, with the wand motion of an arc in the air and the incantation of Accio, followed by the object you wished to summon, and then the Banishing Charm, with the wand motion of an upside-down arc and the incantation of Depulso.

As the Group Members who hadn't learned either began working through the spells, I taught the ones who had learned it both Arresto Momentum, with the wand motion of an M-shape in the air at the object or person you wanted to slow, and the eponymous incantation, along with the Aqua Eructo Spell, which was a swish and flick, followed by pointing your wand in the direction you wished to cast and incanting the words Aqua Eructo. The first would slow the movement of whatever you cast it at, be it a thrown blade, flung spell, or even a falling person. The second would create a spout of water that flowed in the direction your wand pointed as you cast the spell.

Both spells could be fine-tuned in intensity, with the Aqua Eructo being highly variable, going from a hose stream to a high-pressure jet of water that could chew through stone, depending on power input. As for Arresto Momentum, well, there were stories of some wizards of significant mastery over the spell who could stop bullets fired from Muggle Handgonnes in mid-air using it. Whether or not those were just stories, exaggerated, or true, I couldn't say for sure, but at least I figured it was a good idea to learn the spell ahead of time, just in case. Now, I was teaching them to the others.

It took up so much of my time that I only had time to learn one of the spells that had been brought in trade by the newcomers. Cassius Warrington had brought a spell that sprayed an acidic, blinding mist at your opponent that, if it hit them, could blind them, burn them, and even make it so they had trouble breathing if they caught a lungful of it until they managed to get it out of their system. It wasn't lethal unless you overpowered it, though, which he felt made it all right to hand out to 'People like you lot' whatever that meant. When I asked for clarification, what I got in response was a sneering answer.

"You lot are too soft to deliberately overpower your spells, even the Slytherins among you. You won't be beating anyone but other weaklings with this." He scoffed, so assured of his own superiority.

"Careful, Warrington. You might eventually regret that attitude." I warned.

"What are you getting at, Zabini? Think you can take me?" Questioned Warrington.

"Probably. I took Eekins, and she's older than both of us, after all. That isn't the point, though." I responded.

"Is that a threat, Zabini?" Queried Warrington.

"No, just a statement that you never know what can happen in a duel." I pointed out.

"Eekins was soft, like the rest of the folks you've gathered here." Sneered Warrington, using his size to loom and try to intimidate me.

"Look, Warrington, take the advice or don't, I'm not particularly bothered either way, but do you want to learn this stuff or not?" I asked.

That got him to narrow his downturned, slothlike eyes in thought before nodding once and getting in line. Thankfully, this would wind up being the only time that he showed up to the Cross-House Study Group. Come to find out, it was because he thought doing so would help him slack off in future Charms and Defense Classes, since he'd already know the material, he could ditch those days. Either way, though, I didn't mind. His Acid Spray Curse was still useful. It had the incantation of Causticus Imbre and the wand motion of a slash to indicate the width of the spray, followed by a point to indicate direction. Most importantly, it worked, and I hadn't been fobbed off with something useless.

Of the others who arrived, most brought various elective knowledge, since as the founders of the Study Group were mostly Second-Years, we wouldn't have figured out the Elective Stuff Yet. Various Books on Artihmancy, Alchemy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Magical Theory, Ancient Studies, and Enchantment were all offered and copied with the Amanuensis Charm that Hermione had invented for my birthday last year, along with a number of Divination Methods that were taught by Trelawney, such as Tasseomancy and Numismatomancy for divination by Tea Leaves or Coins. Largely, I ignored the divination methods and Care of Magical Creatures Books.

First off, Trelawney was a hack, and even if she wasn't, I wouldn't take anything from her at this point and trust it to be accurate. After all, she clearly had it in for me. Secondly, I was pretty sure that I was just cursed when it came to Magical Creatures and wouldn't be able to make use of any of those books' contents without being viciously attacked by whatever Magical Creature I was trying to handle. Of the others, Arithmancy, Alchemy, Ancient Runes, and Enchantment were all things I already had a damn good handle on, though the books that some had brought looked interesting enough to study anyway. However, it was the Ancient Studies and Magical Theory books that I was really interested in, especially the latter. Creating your own spells was dangerous without a guidepost, and this could be that guidepost for me.

Unfortunately, I just didn't have time to study any of them after having to teach all the guests the four Fourth-Year Spells that I knew. I only really had time to learn the aforementioned Causticus Imbre Acid Spray Curse from Worthington, which was honestly the least robust contribution that had been made compared to everyone else offering whole books for trade on subjects most of us wouldn't even begin to learn until next year. It was a time crunch.

Everything else would have to wait until we returned from the Christmas Holidays. . .

XXXX

Aside from all that, there was personal training time to do. Here, I focused primarily on learning the aforementioned Aqua Eructo and Arresto Momentum, while keeping my normal focus on Occlumency and Leglimency. Aside from that, I also took some time to pick up Hindi with Xenoglossy so as to be able to communicate with Padma and Parvati's folks in their native language if I ever had to. Finally, I found a heat-reducing spell in the Hogwarts Library to learn. It had been in the restricted section, because of course it had. All the stuff that would actually be tailor-made for attacking a Basilisk had been moved to the restricted section, so nobody got a big head about what they'd learned and rushed off to slay the damn thing, only to be petrified or killed. That was easily bypassed with my Family Concealment Cloak, though.

It had the incantation of Calor Pallium and the wand motion of a spiral before pointing the tip of your wand at your own body. When properly cast, a slight chill would cling to you, like you would feel if you'd stepped outside in the dead of winter, or maybe more accurately, given what I intended to do with it, a meat locker. Either way, it seemed to work well enough, not that I could do a whole lot to confirm it. However, it was in the Hogwarts Library, so I figured it had to work well enough to be put in there.

All told, it was a fairly jam-packed eight or so days. Every night, before collapsing into bed, I would drink my Bluemoon Grass Elixir, shower, and change into my Pajamas. The Bluemoon Grass Elixir would finally reach critical mass at the beginning of next month, allowing me to finally begin learning some of the more esoteric stuff out of the Azarinth Healer's Treatise. It would be a hell of a Saturnalia Present to myself. Of course, these were far from the only things I did. I also socialized whenever I had a spare moment, usually at dinner or in quiet moments in class or clubs.

It clearly wasn't good enough, because when Daphne handed me my invitation to the Greengrass Yule Ball, she frowned at me and told me it would be all right if I just wanted to take the Holiday to rest. She wouldn't blame me. I, of course, told her I would be there and that I was fine. She walked away unconvinced, but it was nice to know my friends were worried about me running myself ragged, even if I was fine. After all, it could be a lot worse. I could be petrified by a basilisk right now.

Speaking of which, the night before we were set to leave for the Christmas Holidays, I found myself garbed in my Family Concealment Cloak, with both Sona Inferior and Calor Pallium cast on me, as well as Snape's Scent-Masking Potion in effect. I had taken up a position near the fourth-floor entrance to the hidden staircase between the fourth-floor corridor and the Fat Lady's Corridor. Parvati would be making her way through soon, and then would be jumped by the Basilisk and be petrified. At least, according to the extremely detailed vision I had received after engaging in the Ritual of Prometheus' Gaze earlier in the month, that was what was going to happen if I didn't intervene.

The plan, therefore, was simple. Intervene. And hope that I could manage to both save Parvati and get away from the Basilisk without either of us being hurt too badly. It wasn't the best plan, but I'd stacked the deck with every advantage I could think of to acquire or learn beforehand.

Hopefully, it would be enough. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. It's another timeskippy chapter covering the second part of classes, tutoring, clubs, and whatnot for December of Second Year. It's been a very busy year for Blaise so far, and his friends have seen that. Daphne is worried, but Blaise is determined to train and learn as much as he can. After all, you know what they say, he who sweats more in training, bleeds less in battle. With Voldemort scheduled to return in just two years, Blaise wants to make sure that he's able to hang with the big league spellcasters by that point.

At any rate, the next chapter will include Blaise trying to save Parvati from the Basilisk and foil the vision he'd been shown during the Ritual of Prometheus' Gaze. Then everyone goes home for the Christmas Holidays, and I'll have more interludes showing various people's holidays before returning to Blaise for Saturnalia and the Greengrass Yule Ball.

Stay tuned. . .