The Sun and Moon: Chapter 8

After a particularly long potions lesson, we were left to our own devices. Well, I was at least. Some of the other Ravenclaw's were forced to stay back. Snape had decided that their cauldron brewing skills were severely lacking. Unlike the Slytherins who we were sharing classes with.

Leaving him to inspect our cauldrons rigorously. When he came to mine, he spent a rather lengthy amount of time looking it over before remarking on what I could have done better. Even so, it seemed my cauldron passed a certain level of inspection, so I was allowed to leave.

I was unsure why Tim disliked the man so much. He seemed to be someone pushed his students hard to succeed. Which was something I very much needed if I was going to be the wizard my family needed.

All of my homework had already been finished.

Leaving me with time to focus on something that had been put on the backburner. And with Christmas starting to creep up, it was time to spend more effort on it.

That was of course the main quest my mother had given to me. To find a Dark Lord within Hogwarts. The efforts I’ve spent previously were pretty lackluster and didn’t really come up with anything.

Which meant if I really wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, I needed to bring out the big guns.

So I went to the third floor.

It took several minutes as the staircase kept changing on me, but eventually I was able to do it. From there it was just a hop and a skip to get to the Headmaster’s office.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as easy as I thought it was going to be. As the path to his office was hidden from sight. Despite the teachers having given me directions to his office at the beginning of the year, they seemed to have neglected further instructions.

Hmm…This was indeed the gargoyle I was suppose to stop at. Perhaps it was similar to the Ravenclaw door in that it needed a sort of password? Though it didn’t look like it was going to start spewing out riddles.

Which left me with one choice.

“Magic. Wands. Wand. Gryffindor. Ravenclaw. Slytherin. Hufflepuff. Book. Food. One. Two. Three. Four. Four and a half. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Nine and three quarters. Ten.”

I started to guess what the possible password could be. Labeling off the first things that came to mind. But seeing as this is the headmaster’s office, perhaps the password would be about him?

“Old. Wrinkly. Smelly. Blind. Beard. Big beard. Really big beard. Robes. Eyes. Eyesight. Glasses.”

Hmm…that didn’t seem to work. Ah, what if it was the opposite of the Ravenclaw knocker in that someone had to tell it a riddle or question it couldn’t solve?

“You come across two brothers guarding two different doors. Only one door leads to your goal. The other leads to death. One brother always tells the truth, and the other brother lies. What would you say to them in order to figure out the correct path?”

The Gargoyle said nothing. Perhaps he’s already heard that one?

I started to come up with several more riddles. Each one having the same result as the last. Until finally I decided to switch tactics once again. Unusual problems sometimes required unusual solutions. Or rather, unorthodox ones.

Sometimes the most complicated problems had the simplest solutions.

“…Please?”

The Gargoyle began to move, and the wall next to it began to move. Turning along with it until finally a doorway opened up. Revealing a spiraling staircase upwards.

I started to go up.

After a few moments, I eventually found two large double doors. Likely leading into the headmaster’s office.

So, I immediately opened them and headed inside.

The room was…a lot more boring that I was expecting. It simply seemed like another part of Hogwarts itself. What with all the pictures and books lying around. Though there was a neat looking bird perched up in the middle of the room. It had a dark reddish tint to it and seemed to be observing my every move.

Oh hey, there’s the sorting hat. Huh. I was wondering where they kept that.

“Interested in the sorting hat, are you? Curious to see if it would put you in a different house if given another chance?”

Looking up, I noticed the headmaster who was now addressing me. He stared down from some sort of upper room near the bird.

“Not particularly, sir.”

I stated before turning my full attention towards the old man. He looked at me while brushing his beard with one hand. Of course, it did little considering how long his beard was. His arm couldn’t stretch down all the way to the bottom so he had to give up half way.

“I see. That is good. Very few first years have ever come to see me, and when they do it’s usually about the house they are in.”

Well, he didn’t need to worry about that. The headmaster continued.

“I believe that wanting to switch houses, while sometimes unavoidable, is oftentimes the wrong decision. They seek change, to improve their situations. Yet instead of improving it themselves, they seek to escape the problem entirely.”

I frowned.

“And is that so wrong?”

The headmaster waved his hand.

“No, no…not always. If I can help solve a student’s problem, I will. However, I fear it will only harm them in the long run. If they do not face their own problems themselves and improve, what will they do about the future problems that come their way? The kind that you cannot simply ask help for?”

They’d likely lose then.

“So, you’re saying asking for help is a sign of weakness, and that you should solve your problems on your own?”

I questioned, to which the old man…chortled quietly.

If the room hadn’t been so dead quiet, I wouldn’t have heard it at all.

“It's my humble belief that there is a difference between asking someone to help you, and asking someone to solve the problem for you.”

“How much does someone need to help you until it’s considered solving the problem?”

The headmaster smiled.

“Well…I guess it would depend on how much one grew or could grow as a result.”

I paused at that. My thoughts demanded my attention, causing me to lose focus on the headmaster in pursuit of other ideas. His words resonated with something in the back of my mind. Though whether or not I agreed with it was another thing entirely.

“Ah, but forgive me Mr. Lovegood. I know you didn’t come here to simply talk about such boring things with an old man. What can I do for you?”

Ah right. For a brief moment, I had forgotten the entire reason for this visit.

“Would you happen to know where I could find a Dark Lord within Hogwarts? Or failing that, where you might think a Dark Lord would be lurking?”

The headmaster bent his head back a little before closing his eyes. Rubbing his beard in thought once more as he seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts. After several long moments he opened his eyes. Revealing a strange twinkling in them.

“A…dark lord, you say? Well…some students believe there to be one lurking in the dungeons, but I do not think that is who you are looking for.”

I shook my head in the negative.

“Oh, no. That’s just Snape.”

The headmaster huffed a bit in amusement before slowly shaking his head.

“You are quite right. Then…I do not believe I know where any dark lords might be lurking, I’m afraid to say.”

Unfortunate. If not even the headmaster knew…well, my work was definitely cut out for me. That’s for sure.

“May I ask what brought this question on?”

I considered telling him about the system, before quickly deciding against it. No one else could see the notifications, which meant that mom hadn’t made it for others to know about.

Who was I to say otherwise?

“No.”

I settled on, which got the headmaster to hum again. Oh right, I’ve never been this close to the headmaster, have I? I wonder…

Observe.

[THE EMPEROR]

[ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE]

…He had a really long name.

“I see…before you leave then, would you like a lemon drop? I would hate to at least not give you something after seeing you spend quite a lot of time and effort cracking the password to my office.”

Whatever that was I had no idea, but it sounded good, so I’d take a few.

*~o~*

Seeing as I still had some time, I decided to continue my search around the castle. More or less coming up with nothing. Even trying to obtain help via the ghosts of the castle or the portraits didn’t help. They just gave me funny looks.

Leading to me eventually winding up in a familiar place near the west tower. I wasn’t quite at the owlery yet, but I was close to it. And since I was so close, I might as well pay Artemis a vis-

The sound of sparks and static got my attention immediately. Causing me to run up the stairs and find that a battle seemed to be taking place. On one side was three Slytherin boys, all seeming to be different ages but definitely on the younger side, and the other side...

Oh hey, it’s Marie.

Strange, weren’t they both in Slytherin?

[QUEST DISCOVERED!]

[HELP DEFEND MARIE CORINNE LE BLANC AGAINST THE BULLIES!]

[QUEST REWARDS: AN UPGRADE HAMMER, AN UNCOMMON DROP, +2 STR, +1 END.]

[ACCEPT?]

[YES/NO]

Ah, I see. This was bullying. Which made sense, seeing as Marie didn’t look like she was fighting back much. Mostly just cowering behind a wall and occasionally firing back with her wand as the Slytherin boys slowly approached.

Personally, I didn’t really care much at all, but the fact that I was getting a quest for this meant my mom did care. Ah, that’s right…I do remember her saying something along the lines of a good man protects those in need.

It seemed mom wanted me to be a good man.

“Sleep.”

I stated while pointing my wand towards the three boys. They looked up with surprise before one of them promptly fell over onto the ground. The other two were surprised, but also seem to recoil slightly.

The one on the left seemed to be shaking his head constantly while looking up at me, and the other started to blink rapidly before lightly slapping himself in the face.

[SPELL FAILED! DROWSY DEBUFF HAS BEEN APPLIED. WHILE UNDER THE EFFECTS OF THE DROWSY DEBUFF, ENEMIES ACCURACY WILL BE LOWERED. THEIR STATS WILL ALSO BE DECREASED BY 20%]

Oh? Interesting. It seemed that the sleep spell wasn’t as full proof as I had previously thought. But even when it failed it seemed to make people sleepy. It at least still had some sort of effect.

My surprise attack only lasted a few seconds, and due to being surprised myself that the sleep spell didn’t fully work, I was left open to attacks. The two boys quickly began to sling silent spells at me. Showcasing a level of familiarity with them. Second years or third years then.

One of which hit me. Causing me to wince as pain started to blossom in my upper right arm. Despite them throwing several more spells, none of which hit the mark. Their aim was rather poor, despite this being a straight hallway.

Leaving me to capitalize on it.

“Petrificus totalus.”

Immediately the one on the left froze up before falling over and slamming into the shoulder of the last remaining bully. He didn’t fall over, but the unexpected impact was enough to force his wand out of his hand, leaving him wide open.

But before I could hit him, he was flung back and into the nearby wall instead. With what seemed like the knockback jinx, if I had to guess. Turning my head, I noticed that Marie had come out of her hiding spot in order to help.

Though she seemed rather angry as she stepped towards me.

“What do you think you’re doing!?”

She demanded, leaving me to blink in confusion. I thought for a few seconds before finding an answer.

“Helping you?”

I offered, but was quickly rejected by Marie. Who simply scoffed and crossed her arms.

“What, am I some sort of damsel in distress now? Just because I’m French doesn’t mean I’m any less of a witch or wizard, thank you very much!”

I nodded my head.

“You’re welcome.”

Marie made an offended noise before stomping her foot on the ground repeatedly. Taking her anger out on the carpet. After watching her continue on for several minutes, I decided to try and cheer her up.

“Would you like a lemon drop?”

She turned to look at me with a frown, as well as confusion when I offered her one of the treats I had taken from the headmaster.

“…A what?”

She asked angrily, yet confused.

“Some sort of candy the headmaster had in his office. I took a few.”

I pulled out the sack in my pocket and shook it. Showcasing the jiggling of lots of lemon drops. Leading to Marie giving me an incredulous look.

“He…let you have all of those?”

“He never told me to stop.”

After a few seconds, Marie’s frown broke into a smile as she started to laugh. Not the pretty kind either, the hard kind where it was hard to breathe and she’d start to snort.

After Marie finally calmed down, she took the offered lemon drop before popping it into her mouth.

“…Thanksh.”

Marie stated weirdly, causing me to give her a nod. Before leaving, I grabbed a handful of lemon drops from the bag before tossing them into my mouth.

I should continue the search for the Dark Lord.