Chapter 23: Returning Home, Dueling, and The Request (1/2)
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Quinn de-boarded the Hogwarts Express and peered around the platform, searching for his family. After strolling a couple of steps, he saw a young woman waving her hand overhead with a smile on her face.
Seeing her made Quinn quicken his steps and dart towards her. With a similar smile on his face, Quinn set down his suitcase and hugged her.
”I missed you, Lia,” spoke Quinn into the hug. He felt his sister tighten her hug around him and say, ”Me too.”
After a few seconds, they parted, and Quinn was widely smiling as he looked up at her. ”Did grandfather come?”
Lia shook his head and answered, ”He is waiting for you at home.”
As the two walked to the apparition point, Lia asked Quinn to point out the people he knew.
”Okay, that is Eddie Carmichael, you know my roommate. Oh, there is Marcus Belby, my other roommate... See that girl over there, yeah, that is Katie Bell; I met her on the train...” Quinn sighed at a comment from Lia, ”Yes, yes, she is my first friend... Moving on... There are Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe, also from Ravenclaw, but I don't talk to them much... Oh, those are the Weasley twins I told them about. I don't like them that much, but I guess they are fine. Other than those, hmm... Cedric Diggory, Roger Davies, Penelope Clearwater, Adrian Pucey... they are a year older than me.”
Though Quinn pointed the people out, he didn't introduce them to Lia as he wasn't particularly close to any one of them. Quinn had spent most of his free time in the Library and Room Of Requirement. So, his interactions with people were not extensive. But Quinn had cultivated the reputation as the helpful guy among his acquaintances.
When they reached the Apparition point, Lia took Quinn's suitcase and placed a hand on his shoulder before apparating away from the platform.
After returning home, catching up with everyone, and resting for a couple of days, Quinn returned to learning magic full time. Now that he had possessed a wand and had his grandfather's permission to use it, Quinn made the hall where Lia practiced her magic during her school years his second home. He spent all day long in that hall, and by mid-July, Quinn had finally cultivated the level of magic-focus required to cast seventh-year level spells.
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Quinn stood in the hall and took a deep breath. His magic core thrummed with magic. He looked at the empty space in front of him and concentrated, and the next second, things started appearing in front of him. Near the ground, a wooden base started forming, and seven feet above the ground, small gears, levers, and other delicate parts made from copper, aluminum, and steel popped into existence. With snappy speed, the wood structure built itself up from the ground, and metal parts appeared increasingly faster, assembling themselves to form an intricate mechanism.
Quinn smiled as he saw a longcase clock (grandfather clock) with a pendulum system stood in front of him with all its mechanical glory. A conjuration with so many moving parts; it required both magic and mental focus to conjure out of nothing. This was Quinn's best level of transfiguration/conjuration at the moment.
Feeling confident, Quinn spread his arms, and dozens of butterflies appeared in the air. Another wave of conjuration and dragonflies mingled with the butterflies. Quinn looked at the ground, and squirrels ran around the hall, climbing the clock in the middle of the room. Quinn still had to work on organic conjurations and could only conjure smaller animals.
When Quinn was admiring his work, he heard a knock on the door. When Quinn turned back and saw Elliot opening the door and entering the room with a pitcher of lemonade.
When Elliot looked inside the room, he saw nothing but Quinn standing in the middle of the room looking at him.
”Young master Quinn, it is quite hot today; please drink something,” said Elliot as he poured a glass of lemonade for Quinn. Quinn received the glass from Elliot, ”Thank you.”
Elliot looked around the room and asked, ”What are you doing, young master Quinn?”
While taking a sip from the glass, Quinn raised his fake wand and created a small block of ice on the floor. ”Just practicing some charms.” But then Quinn thought of something and excitedly asked, ”Hey! Would you duel with me, please?!”
Elliot put on a thoughtful expression before saying, ”Alright, but I have a few conditions.”
”Do tell,” said Quinn feeling good about convincing Elliot about having a duel with him.
”No lethal spells,” said Elliot. Quinn nodded and replied, ”Alright, let's specify a list of spells.”
”Disarming spell,” offered Elliot. Quinn nodded and added, ”Sheild Charm.”
”Full-Body bind.” ”Knockback jinx.”
”Fire-making spell.” ”No, not happening” ”Then how about Ice Jinx.” ”Agreed.”
”Smokescreen spell?” ”Only if we add Windy Charm to counter it.”
”How about transfiguring ground into small objects to shoot it each other.”
”Sounds fair, but no pointed objects. The same goes with Ice jinx, no pointed pieces of ice.”
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Quinn and Elliot agreed upon a list of spells and then moved to the backyard for some room to move. They were alone in the house, George and Lia were out for work, Ms. Rosey had no interest in watching them fight, and Polly, the house-elf, was happy doing work around the manor.
Elliot and Quinn stood fifteen (15) meters apart, and both had wands in their hands; well, Quinn had his fake wand.
”Are you ready, young master Quinn?” asked Elliot as he pulled up his sleeves. Quinn nodded and jumped on his toes, ”Yes, I am ready. What should be the signal for us to start?”
Elliot waved his wand, and a conjured feather appeared in his hand. ”I will levitate this feather and then let it go. The moment the feather hits the ground, we start.”
Quinn nodded and took a stance. Elliot levitated the feather to four (4) meters and then let it go. Both of them waited for the feather to touch the ground. Quinn started grinning in excitement as the feather got closer to the ground, and magic started to come to life in his body. Elliot stood calmly in his spot and followed the feather from his peripheral vision.
The moment the feather touched the ground, the two casted Stunning Spell as the first spell of choice. The flying jets of magic canceled each other. Quinn got ready to cast another spell but saw Elliot was one step ahead and had already casted a spell towards him.
”Oh shit!” Quinn used the Sheild Charm (Protego) to block against the spell. An invisible shield appeared in front of Quinn, but the moment Elliot's spell hit the shield, the impact made the shield visible with silverish tremors.
From his spot, Elliot kept on casting Stunning Spell towards Quinn and spoke, ”Young master, isn't it a little too earlier for getting pushed to the backfoot? I heard that the young were aggressive.”
Quinn gritted his teeth, and after a few seconds, canceled his shield, side-stepped the incoming spell, and casted a strong Knockback hex. That prompted Elliot to cast a Shield Charm of his own, but the moment the hex touched the shield, Elliot was skidded back a step.
”Oh ho, that was quite some power behind that young master, ” Elliot spoke as he canceled his shields and deflected the upcoming spells with ease. The next opening Elliot saw, he casted a body-bind towards Quinn's feet, which Quinn dodged by jumping, and casted a Smokescreen spell to shroud the space between him and Elliot with dark mist.
Quinn moved to the right while casting multiple Smokescreens to thicken the shroud. He was waiting for Elliot to cast a Windy spell. The movement of the displaced mist would give Quinn an idea about Elliot's position.
But, as Quinn slowly moved, a jet of yellow and red shot out of the dark shroud and latched itself onto Quinn's hand like a rope, and it almost made Quinn's eyes pop in shock. It was the seize-and-pull charm (Carpe Retractum)