Chapter 42: Phantom Touch.
(Double Update Biatches!)
If Hogwarts wasn't his second home, the room of requirement would take the title.
Magnus spent much of his time there in the seventh floor in the company of the ever entertaining ser Barnabas. Be it to avoid pesky classmates and demanding teachers, attempt dangerous and probably illegal spells or just have a good night sleep when his room in the tower felt too suffocating.
This time, it wasn't comfort he was seeking.
Almost on autopilot, he headed toward the left corridor and walked back and forth to summon the come and go room. Obviously, he was disillusioned, a mistake in his third year taught him the virtue of discretion in safeguarding his reputation.
Then again, he was a Black, so half the school believed he was barmy.
'I want to enter the Room of Hidden Things.' He thought all the while.
As always, a door appeared and as always, the room provided.
"Lumos." He cast wandlessly, closing the door behind him.
Magnus coughed, the dust in the air irritating his eyes and lungs alike. It was to be expected, this room contained centuries worth of old things.
There were golds and coppers and silvers, stolen pouches and long rotten food. He saw more than one skeleton, belonging to creatures as diverse as nifflers, dragons and even a couple wizards here and there.
It wasn't his first time here, his early days of plunder saw to that. But he would never get used to just how disturbing this particular room felt, it was by definition everyone's skeleton in the closet.
"Point me, Ravenclaw's Diadem." He cast one of his most unreliable spells.
Surprisingly, it did end up leading him to Ravenclaw's diadem. Many times, in fact. It simply wasn't the one he was looking for.
'What's up with Ravenclaws and silver tiaras?' He thought, throwing away yet another piece of useless jewelry. 'Let's try something else.'
He put out his Lumos and restrained his magic, only this time he focused outward to feel the arcane in his surroundings.
He could sense the wards of the room, and the complex seemingly infinite layers of spellcraft Rowena used to design her chamber. He felt the ever strong power in the dragonbones, the ritualistic dread in the human remains and the many, many enchantments everywhere.
It all felt like candles to his mind's eye.
All except one.
Amongst the trash and secrets, there was an inferno sealed within a single piece of mage bound silver. It rivaled the room itself in complexity if not in purpose.
But deep inside it was corrupt.
A spiritual leech was bound to it by magics most evil. That was a presence Magnus knew all too well, a testament to how far magic could be taken, a cautionary tale for people like him.
'Tom Riddle.'
He opened his eyes, and before him laid the tainted diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw and with it came the temptation.
He simply couldn't help it. An artifact of such value, such power was his to claim. The diadem was said to bestow its wearer the wits beyond measure of Hogwarts brightest founder, and Magnus found it.
Riddle was a madman, but Magnus could succeed where he failed. With the diadem, nothing would be too much. He would conquer all magics, learn all there was to learn and discover the secret of immortality.
His key to the philosopher's stone was within reach.
'Wait…' He thought, only now realizing he was about to grab the cursed crown. 'Something's wrong.'
Carefully, he cast a few diagnostic spells on the diadem trying to scry whichever curse Riddle left along with his soul.
'Nothing.' He raised his brow, that was unlike Tom to leave his treasures unprotected. 'I'm not buying that.'
So he kept casting and casting, eventually using magic so obscure it would give any ministry official a heart attack.
By the end of it, he had conjured a chicken from one of his estates to sacrifice in a minor ritual, yet it availed him nothing.
The less results he had, the more certain he was of foul play.
Until he did find something, it just wasn't what he expected.
"A Geas…"
That wasn't dark magic, nor did it have Riddle's signature.
It was a simple contract type spell; it worked as a condition that needed to be satisfied, but unlike other more intense vows breaching it had no particular consequence beside losing that which you bargained for.
A straight deal, as far as magic was concerned.
"Nocht Cosan." He pointed his wand, and the oath revealed itself.
"Too much bloodshed this crown has caused, its destruction shall be a worthy cost." He said. "If you can take but would not scheme, then my diadem is yours to keep."
"…"
Destruction, Morals, Honesty?
This wasn't Riddle.
"..."
"It doesn't even rhyme." He tried picking it up, but as expected it felt like touching a ghost.
This was the type of bullshit Dumbledore would pull, but Magnus knew very well that particular old goat had nothing to do with this. Even that lunatic had no reason to set up a trial over a damned Horcrux, and by now he should have learned much from the ones he sent him.
Regardless of who did it, it didn't serve Magnus's purposes.
Schemes were a pretty big part of him, the will to power another. Not wanting to get the diadem for himself went against his nature, and so he had to find an alternative.
Finding loopholes was easy for him, how hard could this possibly be?
Two hours wasted trying to blitz through the Geas were enough to teach him that it would indeed, be a pain in the arse.
'Time to do some research.'
Off to the library he went, the restricted section should have a few things on how to get away with oath breaking.
"Magnus we were wondering if..." Padma said, her twin sister in tow.
"Not now, I'm busy."
E+S
Days turned into weeks, and Magnus had yet to make any progress.
It didn't help that he had to prepare for his owls, keep up his work in Enchantment and advanced transfiguration while also regularly improving his animagus transformation.
He did try to make more time, skipping lunch and breakfast in favor of nutritive potions. Using the mind arts to cheat in any way he could, never going to his history of magic lessons…
It wasn't enough.
"Magnus…."
Maybe if he changed his sleep schedule, he could cram in a couple more however of occlumency fuelled studying?
"Magnus?"
No, he was already stretched too thin. Any further loss in energy would hinder his cognitive capacities, trading quality for quantity was against his policy.
Not to mention that each time he entered his mindscape, he would waste an inordinate amount of time enjoying the memory of a certain blue eyed girl….
'No, bad Magnus.' He chased the thought from his mind, now wasn't the time for useless pursuits.
He had a horcrux to destroy, exams to prepare and...and
"Now I've had enough of this, young man." He barely heard, but what he did hear was the buzzing of a charm about to reach him.
He felt the irrational need to laugh, and so he did. He giggled and laughed like a madman, even if he wasn't amused at all.
Such was the power of the tickling charm, and Professor McGonagall was putting it to very good use.
By the end of it, he was left panting on his sofa, barely able to breath. She was kind enough to give him a moment to get his bearing, knowing just how much he hated losing himself.
"Now, shall we talk?" She asked, lips pursed.
"Alright." Magnus said, he sighed. "I guess I deserved this one…"
She lifted her cup, drinking some tea while he raised his barriers to quench the last bits of laughter within him.
"I'm sorry." He said, and he meant it. "I spaced out."
"You seem to be doing it a lot these days, should I be worried?" the teacher said.
"No, of course not."
"If it is about your owls there is no need to be hasty…" she started but he interrupted her.
"It isn't about that." Magnus said, he closed his eyes and tried to become one with his seat. "It's…."
"Complicated?" McGonagall smiled.
He nodded, eyes still closed. They stayed like this for a while, enjoying a comfortable silence while he put his thoughts in order, eventually he opened one eye and snatched a chocolate pastry.
"Professor, have you ever faced a problem you simply couldn't solve, no matter how much time and effort you put in? It feels like...like I've hit a wall."
Admitting it hurt, for someone like him, there was nothing as shameful as utter helplessness.
"More times than I care to remember." Minerva said, she put down her cup and gave him all her attention.
"And how do you deal with it?" He asked.
"It's simple." She said, smiling. "You don't."
"Excuse me?"
"You don't."
Great, now he was not only tired, overworked but also majorly confused by the wisest person he knew beside that one grandma he met on a bus stop…
"Minnie, I feel like a Horntail built a nest in my brain, flames and all. Now is not the time to walk me through your thought process." He said bluntly. "Explain it to me like I'm five years old."
She chuckled, picking up a scone while she dispensed what little wisdom time had taught her.
"Sometimes...many times, you will find yourself in a spot where advancing is nearly impossible, and retreating too shameful to consider." She said, a faraway look in her eyes. "In those times, the correct answer is often waiting, going with the wind until magic opens a new way."
"So, just go with the flow?" He asked. "I can get behind that."
No he couldn't, he was a first class control freak with issues, lots of issues. But he could and would try, for the sake of what's left of his sanity if nothing else.
"Just try not to have too many regrets, Magnus." She chuckled, "The rest will work out on its own."
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