Chapter 32

The first thing I did after getting on the Hogwarts Express was to find Hermione and exchange late Christmas Presents. Once again, I gave her a Tebo-Bone Disillusionment Ring and got a book in return. This one was called Skeletons and Mustard Gas by Honorius B. Black and was a historical overview of the Necromancer's War. Of course, Hermione was more rational about getting a ring than most of my other female friends, correctly sussing out that it was a magic item and not jumping straight to thinking it was a proposal. That was a refreshing change of pace from how Daphne, for example, had reacted during the gift exchange at the Greengrass Yule Ball.

That was honestly the most exciting part of the trip back to Hogwarts as we spent much of the rest of the trip hanging out and playing Tarocco Siciliano. I won one of the games, but Daphne and Susan also each won one. I was just glad that my friends seemed to be catching up after five or so months of practice with the game. It meant that I could stop holding back quite so much in games. By the time that we had to change into our School Robes, I was ready for the new school semester. I spent some time reading my new books that evening and prepared for a stretch of extensive training starting tomorrow. Magnus Gamp had said he was going to begin broadening my knowledge base with more obscure subjects.

And I wanted to be rested and ready for that. . .

XXXX

"We'll start off your new term with a couple of lessons on some of the more common types of magic that aren't part of the Hogwarts Curriculum. I'll bet you can name me three. Go ahead, and the Mind Arts don't count, can't make this too easy for you." Began Magnus Gamp.

"Bardic Magic. . .Enchantment. . .Necromancy." I answered between sucking in lungfuls of air.

Magnus Gamp had really decided to ratchet up the difficulty of our spars in order to shake the rust off of my skills from the Christmas Holidays. He'd just spent the past hour or so kicking me around the Hogwarts Training Grounds before settling down to begin today's lectures. It was a humbling experience that proved that while I may be hot shit for a Hogwarts Student, any adult Wizard worth their salt would be more than a match for me as I currently was. Fortunately, I got the feeling that Magnus Gamp had only been that hard on me because of the current tensions between the Ministry and the Goblin Nation over the Gringotts Break-in. If it came to war, not being as prepared to fight for my life as I could would be a problem, after all.

"Correct. There's a number of these types of Non-Curriculum Standard Disciplines. It's something that various other Schools have as part of their Curriculum that Hogwarts doesn't. For example, Bauxbatons has Illusioncrafting and Enchantment Courses as part of their standard curriculum, along with Alchemy and Wandlore as Electives. Ilvermorny teaches Spiritualism as Standard and has Wandlore, and Alchemy as part of their slate of electives. Durmstrang has Standard Classes on the Dark Arts and has electives in Necromancy, Spiritualism, Stormcalling, Wandlore, Enchantment, and Alchemy. Those are just the big ones in the vicinity, there are others too, and several smaller schools tend to focus heavily on a Non-Standard Discipline as a gimmick. The Tara Bardic College, for example, has a well-respected Bardic Magic Program." Explained Magnus Gamp.

"I thought Hogwarts was supposed to be the best? They certainly claim as much." I questioned.

"Don't get it twisted, Hogwarts' Standard Curriculum is the best all-around General Curriculum in the World. The problem is that being a Decent All-Around Generalist Wizard will only get you so far. The Graveyards are full of Decent All-Around Generalist Wizards. Unless you're a once-in-a-generation talent, you're gonna need to learn more specialized disciplines. The Curriculum was meant to be supplemented with extra-curricular study. Students used to be able to ask their professors for out-of-class tutoring." Frowned Magnus Gamp.

"Until Voldemort ruined it, you mean?" I queried.

"You're gonna find that happens a lot in British Wizarding History. Voldemort ruined a lot of things." Responded Magnus Gamp.

"Right. And you're gonna teach me this stuff?" I asked.

"As much as you can understand at this time. We'll start with a bit of something near and dear to my heart." Nodded Magnus Gamp.

"What?" I questioned.

"Bardic Magic. You might not have the Bloodline Power of Dindsenchas, but with your Mind Arts, you can fake enough of it to learn some of the other mysteries." Informed Magnus Gamp.

"You're a Bard?" I queried.

"It runs in the Bloodline. We'll start with something simple that you can fake with the Mind Arts. The Radharc Oidhreachta, or Legacy Sight. It can be used to get a read on a Person's capabilities, starting with any Bloodline Abilities they might have and moving on to other capabilities." Explained Magnus Gamp.

"Wicked! How do I do this?" I asked.

It turned out that Bardic Magic was focused in one of two ways. Either through stories or through the Bloodline Power of Dindsenchas. Dindsenchas was, effectively, a mystical connection to a library of stories and added power and control to Bardic Magic. Some of it could be copied using the Mind Arts, but I would likely be locked out of the Higher Mysteries of Bardic Magic without having a Proper Dindsenchas Bloodline. In terms of the Radharc Oidhreachta, the particular story I had to focus on was that of Finn McCool and the Salmon of Knowledge, and how Finn Caught the Salmon for his Master during his time as an apprentice. How Finn cooked the salmon over a fire, but when he touched the fish with his thumb to see if it was cooked, he burned his finger on the fish's fat. How Finn sucked on his burned finger to ease the pain and gained the power of Dindsenchas as a result.

By channeling magic through the story via recitation, it would allow me to effectively scan people and Magical Creatures to try and find out their capabilities. There were limits, of course, if someone was more powerful than I was, it would limit the amount of information I could get, if someone was a master of Occlumency it could provide some level of defense, and so on. Likewise, until I could get the spell down to a mnemonic few lines, I would have to recite the whole story as a focus, making the casting take more time than a normal spell, which could generally be cast with a few syllables. However, it was something I could practice in my dreams using Oneiromancy, which had me confident that I could get things down to a few lines as a mnemonic in a decent time frame.

Magnus Gamp worked with me on that for the entire first week of our training, alongside sparring and one other extracurricular piece of magic, that being lectures on Wandlore. It turned out, that Wandlore covered more than just wood types, cores, and so on. Wandlore also covered other Focii such as staves, rings, pendants, and so on, as well as the construction of both Wands and other Focii. For right now, however, I learned the basics of Wands.

Acacia Wood was tricky and temperamental, good for subtle magic but more finicky with its power while Alder Wood was perfect for non-verbal spellcasting, but was stubborn, only truly matching with Wizards that were the opposite of Stubborn, but Helpful. Meanwhile, Applewood Wands would refuse to lend power to dark magic and often bonded with those who were charming and amiable, allowing their bearers to easily pick up languages including non-human ones. Ashwood I already knew about, but Aspenwood Wands bonded well with driven, strong-minded, Masters and were particularly suited to Combat Magic.

These I learned over the course of the first week back from the Christmas Holidays while I tried to get the Legacy Sight down. These lessons were interspersed with spars that had me struggling to keep up with Magnus Gamp. My Tutor seemed to be keeping his skills in our spars to a level just beyond where I could handle fighting him in an effort to get me to sink or swim. Given the ongoing crisis with the Goblins, I couldn't say I blamed him too much. It didn't make the losses I was racking up hurt my pride any less, though. Even though Magnus Gamp was a fully-grown adult Wizard of considerable power in his own right and I was just a Hogwarts Student, it still stung losing constantly.

Hopefully, being kicked about the Training Grounds would translate to victories later. . .

XXXX

Of course, Magnus Gamp's training sessions weren't the only lessons I had. In Herbology, we learned about the Devil's Snare Plant. This was a pair of classes, with this first week being all theory. Next week would be the practical aspects of the lesson, though only on baby plants, as the Devil's Snare was too dangerous to have children deal with when fully matured. Once again, I partnered up with Susan Bones, who I noticed was currently wearing her Tebo-Bone Disillusionment Ring. I nodded at her as we took a desk, giving her a grin which she returned with a bright, cheerful, wave.

"All right dears, settle down. Today we'll be learning about a dangerous subject, so pay attention. I don't want you to get hurt when we do practicals next week so do pay attention or you may find yourselves visiting the Hospital Wing or worse." Called out Professor Sprout as she entered the Greenhouse.

The Devil's Snare, it turned out, wasn't a tropical plant found in rainforests with canopies so thick that the light barely penetrated. I had thought that would be the case and would also be the reason why it didn't like light. It turned out, however, that it was a Swamp Plant, endemic to the Bogs and Fenlands of Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries, and Denmark. Normally, they stayed submerged during the day, emerging at night to hunt with their tendrils, dragging animals into their maw from the shore before submerging again. This version was sensitive to light as well as fire and could be killed with enough of either.

This wasn't the only variant, however. There was also the Cave Devil's Snare, which was endemic to the Mountainous bits of Scotland and Norway. This was a hardier version which was more resistant to sunlight and had to be killed with fire. They preyed on Trolls, Juvenile Giants, Hippogryphs, and other Mountain Dwelling Magical Creatures and Beings. It was even rumored that the Goblins had a breeding program, attempting to breed a fire-resistant version of the Cave Devil's Snare to help guard the Vaults of Gringotts and the entrance tunnels to their Underground Kingdom. I wasn't sure if that was true, of course, but I'd believe it.

"Now, because of how dangerous these plants are, you won't be dealing with mature plants. It's juveniles for you, dearies. Thankfully, you should all have the Fire-Making Spell down now, so there shouldn't be too many issues. I'll be on hand just in case, however." Intoned Professor Sprout.

"Do you think someone'd be enough of a doylem to get caught up in a Juvenile Devil's Snare?" Questioned Susan.

"Doylem?" I queried.

"Slang from back home. It means an idiot." Informed Susan.

"Oh. Well, you never know. Better to be prepared." I shrugged.

"Well, if I get tangled up, you'll help me out, right?" Asked Susan.

"Of course, we're Mates. Mates have each other's back. You'd do the same for me." I agreed.

"Right." Nodded Susan.

That was for next week, however. This week, I still had Transfiguration, Astronomy, Clubs, and the Cross-House Study Group. In transfiguration, we learned the Grass to Rope Transfiguration. It was a Transfiguration that, as the name suggested, transfigured a basket of grass into a length of rope. I managed to get it done in one day, but not before Parvati got it first. Tracey was right on my heels as well. It was the one class where my skills weren't putting me at the top of the rankings by default. Tracey and I were neck and neck, but Parvati was just ahead of both of us. Regardless, I earned five points for Slytherin for helping others out.

Meanwhile, in Astronomy Class, we focused on finding Jupiter this week. I partnered with Terry Boot this week, as his usual partner, his Mate Anthony Goldstein, was sick with Dragon Pox. The disease was a lot more survivable than it had been just eighty years ago, but it meant that Anthony would be missing class till he was over it. Terry was a touch distracted by his friend's illness, as he seemed to have missed Jupiter with the telescope twice in the fifteen minutes we'd been looking for it. I mentioned this as I steered him back on course. His response was telling of how close he and Anthony were.

"Tony and I are Mates. In fact, he's been my partner for classes for most of the year. I guess I'm a touch off my game without him here to help me out." Admitted Terry.

"Well let me help you out, Mate. Can't have you distracted till he gets out of Saint Mungos, yeah?" I offered.

"Thanks, Mate." Nodded Terry.

For the rest of the class, I helped Terry out. It turned out that Terry wasn't so good at Astronomy. In fact, if he'd filled out the questionnaire like I had, I'd be tempted to say he would have taken whatever version of my bad with Care of Magical Creatures Drawback existed for Astronomy. I mean, I didn't remember there being an option like that, but the point was that Terry was really bad at Astronomy when he wasn't being actively helped out by someone else. I had to help him correct his notes on the Ritual we were learning a couple of times. He mixed up the steps once and got the components wrong once as well.

The Ritual in question was the Ritual of Zeus' Protocol. It was, effectively, a cheat that would allow a certain level of Cultural Adaptation for the polite society of a Culture not your own. It was usually used by travelers, businessmen, and ambassadors who needed to have meetings with nobles, business people, or officials from foreign cultures without making any social faux pas. It required the sacrifice of a bull, an invocation to Zeus, and the burning of a cultural item from the culture you wanted to adapt to, all while Jupiter was in the night sky above. Then, for up to a week afterward, you would be granted the knowledge of the Cultural Norms requested.

"No, Terry. A bull is a specific sacrifice. It's not the same thing as a cow. Also, the invocation comes before the sacrifice, not after." I reminded, glancing over at Terry's Notes.

"Right. Sorry." Muttered Terry, correcting his mistake.

"It's ok. You're worried about Tony, I get it. Just focus, yeah?" I nodded at him.

"Yeah." Agreed Terry.

And like that, my classes for the week were finished. I'd earned another ten points for Slytherin by helping Terry out. Apparently screwing up a ritual invoking Zeus like Terry could have there was a great way to insult the King of Olympus and get yourself hexed from the Aether. Since nobody wanted that to happen, it gave me double the points I'd gotten for helping out others in Transfiguration. Meanwhile, the Potions Club was canceled for the week, as Slytherin was playing Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw, meanwhile, was hoping to avenge their loss to Gryffindor before the Christmas Holidays, which meant Snape wanted his team rested. As Terence Higgs was the Slytherin Seeker, as well as President of the Potions Club, that meant canceling the Club for the week.

This left me with just Dueling Club and the Cross-House Study Group. Unfortunately, Dueling Club was a bust as well this week, since I was caught out by Professor Trelawney finding an excuse to assign me detention. I had no idea that the diminutive woman could be so petty and vicious, but she was, somehow. Regardless, I spent the time that I would ordinarily spend at Dueling Club washing the suits of armor lined up along the moving staircases by hand, not allowed to use magic to speed up the process. The task was calculated to take just long enough that I missed my Club meeting, which had to be calculated.

Fortunately, the Cross-House Study Group was more productive. I spent some time learning a few spells from the Grimoire of Dueling Spells Millie had gotten me for Christmas, or Saturnalia in my case. The first of which was the Oil Slick Spell, Oleum Lubricum. It was meant to cause your opponent to slip and fall by coating a patch of ground in slippery, grease-based, oil. The best part was that it could be combined with an Incendio to set the area aflame, as the oil in question was combustible. Following that was Ventulus, the wind-making spell, which had been previously used against me to clear the field of a smokescreen I'd laid down with Fumos. Ventulus conjured a strong gust of wind to clear dust, smoke, and other obstacles.

I figured, however, that Ventulus could also be used to fan the flames of an ignited Oleum Lubricum spell into a massive conflagration. That chain would provide me with some much-needed large-scale firepower in the future. Sometimes, you just needed that kind of bang to win a fight, after all. Unfortunately, that was all I had time to learn, as I was immediately grabbed by Harry, Ron, Hermione, Susan, and Daphne, who had seen the big plume of fire from where they had been practicing Alchemy and demanded I teach them what I'd just done to make such a fireball. That ate up most of the remainder of my time in the Cross-House Study Group for that week.

In terms of Self-Study, I mostly focused on the Mind Arts, though I also continued training the Radharc Oidhreachta as well. It helped that I could train Oneiromancy and the Radharc Oidhreachta at the same time, as I had begun dreamwalking. At the moment, I could only dreamwalk into the dreams of people within a few rooms of where I was. That was enough for me to reach the dreams of Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott in the Dorms near mine. Draco, of course, was dreaming of himself on top of the world, seated on a golden throne and sneering down at the peasants. Theo Nott's dream was more horrific. He was dreaming about learning the Cruciatus Curse from his Father. The screams were excessive even for the Crucio, largely a result of dream logic.

However, pushing past those dreams and scanning them both with the Radharc Oidhreachta revealed that Draco had a couple of Bloodline Talents. First, as a Malfoy, he had a Minor Bloodline Affinity for the Dark Arts. However, as a Black, he also had a Bloodline Affinity for Transfiguration. It wasn't quite to the level of a Metamorphagus, but I was willing to bet that Draco could become an Animagus with ease if he wanted to. Meanwhile, Theo's Bloodline Affinity for the Dark Arts was more pronounced than Draco's, but he didn't have a secondary Affinity.

I spent six nights of the week doing that, dreamwalking into various dreams and scanning my housemates with the Radharc Oidhreachta. I learned that Crabbe had a Minor Bloodline Talent for Strength, while Goyle had a similar one as well. Both boys could, if they wanted to, bend a fireplace poker into a U-shape or turn a horseshoe into a straight bar of iron. Both boys also had Minor Bloodline Talents for size. That was likely why the Malfoys had snatched them up as retainers, they were essentially the perfect goons. Meanwhile, Marcius Pike apparently had a Moderate Bloodline Affinity for Necromancy. It was less than Draco and Theo's Primary Affinities, but not by too much. Lastly, Oliver Rivers had a pair of Minor Bloodline Talents, One for Charms and One for Enchantment.

On the seventh and last night of the week, I rested, not using any Oneiromancy and simply allowing myself to dream naturally. Unfortunately, my dreams would once more be hijacked by the Sight for a portent of Doom. It was one I'd seen before, detention in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid when Harry and I were attacked by a Vampire. Once again, Hagrid left to go check something out, leaving myself and Harry to be assaulted by a Dark Magic-Wielding Vampire. There was a crackling sphere of black energy tossed our way and once again, I woke from my dream at the moment of my presumed death.

"That felt more urgent than last time." I muttered as I rubbed my face.

Looking over at my alarm clock revealed it to be four in the morning on Monday the thirteenth of January. It was way too early for me to be up, so I tried to go back to sleep. However, I spent the next hour or so tossing and turning before finally giving it up as a bad job. There was just some instinct, something in the pit of my stomach, that wouldn't let me go back to sleep. A premonition was something to listen to when you were a Seer, so I eventually threw off the covers of my bed and got a jump start on the day. As I passed my trunk, something niggled in the back of my mind, giving me a feeling that I ought to take the time to brew up some potions. I did so, spending the next four hours on a batch of Antidotes to Uncommon Poisons, Burn Salves, Wiggenweld Potions, and other restorative. I would wind up being thankful I did.

I bumped into Professor Trelawney on the way to Breakfast, almost bowling over the usually distracted Woman as I did so. I managed to stop my momentum before we collided, but the damage was done. Trelawney had already taken several excuses to assign me random detention, but this time, she had something that would appear entirely legitimate. Her face screwed up, looking at once owlish and pinched. Then the haranguing began.

"Mister Zabini! How dare you not watch where you're going near the moving staircases! People have been crushed to death for such things, I'll have you know!" Hissed Professor Trelawney.

"Sorry, Professor. We're on the Ground Floor, though." I pointed out.

"That is no excuse! The cheek of it! I see normal detentions have not improved your sense of respect! Perhaps you would care to Join Hagrid on this Weekend's Patrol of the Forbidden Forest? Maybe that as a detention will scare some sense into you and teach you to respect your elders!" Snapped Trelawney, jabbing my chest with one, bony, finger as she punctuated her rant.

"Yes, Professor. When Professor?" I grunted, grimacing.

"I believe his next patrol is scheduled for Saturday Night. Unfortunately, you'll have to miss that Study Group of Yours, but if that's the case, then so be it!" Smirked Trelawney, Triumphantly.

Then she stalked off, the volumes of bangles and other jangling pieces of tat she wore shaking from the motion. I could only grimace in frustration at her back as she retreated. It seemed my vision was going to come true sooner than I'd thought. I'd be face to face with a Vampiric Wizard before the week was out, apparently, with only Harry for backup. It was a daunting thought. I wasn't sure if I could handle that sort of opponent yet, even with the Boy Who Lived watching my back. There was only one thing for it. If I wanted to survive, I would have to train my ass off. As I headed to breakfast, I mused that I had six days to train enough to be able to beat a Vampire Wizard.

I'd get cracking on that as soon as I had some toast, eggs, and tea in me. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see the first week back at Hogwarts. Things are starting to accelerate with the upcoming detention in the Forbidden Forest being a plot-relevant event not even two weeks after returning to Hogwarts on the Fifth. Likewise, there's a lot of stuff to train and not a lot of time to do it in. Meanwhile, there's a few things going on in the background. One, you'll note that Harry met Fluffy over the Holiday Break. You'd better believe he's looking into Cerberus'. Another is that Quirrelmort has been making attempts on the stone over the break as well.

These will collide to rush things into the endgame of Year One ahead of schedule. Expect the plot to wrap up around early April, leaving the rest of the year for Blaise to head to deal with the Metamorphing Mandragora infestation as his own personal end-of-year adventure. Of course, he'll also get mixed up in the Voldemort Plot thanks to being Geased into things by the CYOA and his friendship with Harry, but we already knew that.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the week leading up to the detention in the Forbidden Forest.

Stay tuned. . .