Chapter 38: Ice, Cold Ice, and More Freezing Ice. (2/2)
”Ice?” she asked. McGonagall thought of something and asked, ”Mr. Quinn, didn't you fell into a cauldron of freezing potion?”
Quinn made a sour look, ”Yes, Professor. I was on bed rest for around ten days.”
The Professor folded her hands and said, ”Do tell, what do you want to know about ice?”
Quinn waved his wand and conjured a chunk of ice, and immediately levitated it so that it didn't McGonagall's desk.
”Now, when I turn the ice into water,” with another wave, the ice chunk slowly turned into water. A little stream of water emerged from the ice chunk that traveled left and formed an increasing blob of water. Quinn made it slow for demonstrative purposes.
”The ice I am working is charmed such that anything detached from it would immediately turn back to ice and join the main structure.” He waved his wand, and all the water rushed to the ice chunk and turned back into ice.
Quinn didn't want to reveal the Icy vault and the mechanism placed inside it, so he just made up a charmed ice scenario.
He looked at McGonagall and asked, ”This is what I am trying to accomplish.” The ice again turned into water, but this time the entirety of ice turned into water. And, with another swing of the wand, the water turned into a metal pipe.
”I want to Transfigure the water into something else so that it won't go back to the ice,” explained Quinn.
”How do I do that?”
McGonagall stared at the floating metal pipe, staying silent for a while before asking, ”Have you tried to take out small pieces of ice and individually transfiguring them till you go through the entire ice block?”
”I have tried that, but the internal temperature of the ice is surprisingly low,” he waved his hand in frustration, ”Targeting small chunks is met with extra resistance.”
Quinn didn't tell her that targeting small chunks prompted the mechanism to decrease the temperature of the ice more, making Quinn's job harder than it already was.
”I see,” said McGonagall, putting down her quill that she had been holding till now. The problem that Quinn had put in front of her had now intrigued her.
”The conversion of water into ice is faster than the time you need to change the ice into water and in turn into another substance.”
Quinn nodded in reply. This was his current problem.
”How about changing ice into vapor and then transfiguring the vapor into another material?” she offered.
Quinn shook his head, ”No, I can't even change ice into water fast enough, forget about changing ice into water and then water into vapor.”
”Mr. West, I am not talking about changing ice into water into vapor. I am talking about changing ice directly into vapor,” said McGonagall as she looked at Quinn.
Quinn stared at the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts without blinking. He stood up from his chair and started pacing around the office.
”So, you are saying that I should skip the liquid state altogether,” asked Quinn.
”Yes, and do you know the reason behind this suggestion,” said McGonagall, trying to make Quinn think about the answer.
Quinn stopped pacing and answered, ”Gas is harder to control than liquid because the water is much loosely packed. The loosely packing arrangement makes it harder to spread magic and get every particle under control.”
”And...?” asked McGonagall.
”I would have the initial control over the vapor because I am changing ice into vapor. That would give me a slight edge over the charm placed on the ice. My chances to Transfigure the vapor into another substance would rise because of the increased time needed for the charm to work.”
McGonagall smiled, ”Exactly, and now you have the answer.”
”But, how do I go from Solid to gas without going through the liquid phase,” asked Quinn. It was the same problem as before; Quinn had the idea but lacked the execution.
McGonagall took out her wand and waved it to form a massive chunk of ice, much larger than Quinn had conjured.
”Usually, to turn ice into water vapor, you would give the ice heat so that it would melt into water and the water would evaporate into vapor.”
Quinn watched as the ice floating above McGonagall's desk melted into water, and then the water started to boil, slowly turning into vapor. McGonagall was masterfully controlling the water vapor so that it would not leak around the room.
”But, you don't need to supply ice with heat to change its state. You can supply any kind of energy that can break the bonds between the particles. Magic can break the bonds holding the bonds that hold the ice together.”
The vapor turned into water, then into ice. The next moment, the ice poofed directly into water vapor. [1]
Quinn stared at the floating vapor, thinking about the implications of this knowledge. Cogs turned in his brain, speculating the plausibility of this method. It worked here on ordinary ice, but the snowflake icicle was anything but ordinary; that was some super ice.
”Thank you, Professor... I will try using this approach,” said Quinn as he turned his eyes away from the cloud of vapor and looked at McGonagall.
McGonagall saw Quinn wasn't paying attention to her and was lost in thought, so she decided to tell him to leave and don't disturb him, ”Alright, you can leave, Mr. West. Have a good day.”
”... You too, Professor,” said Quinn, blankly, as he walked out of the office.
He came to himself, looked around, and found himself standing in front of the fifth-floor corridor wall that held the entrance to the Icy corridor.
”How in the world did I get here,” said Quinn as he looked around.
”Well, whatever.”
Quinn placed his hand on the wall and channeled his magic into the wall, causing it to open.
He walked inside to the Icy corridor, and when he reached the end to the opening of the Icy vault. Quinn slipped on the layers of thick snow clothing and charged his blood with Blood magic before stepping into the vault region.
”Aww, this sucks as much as ever,” said Quinn as he strolled to the snowflake icicle, feeling the cold.
Quinn raised both of his hands to the snowflake and closed his eyes. He concentrated and focused his magic, channeling it to the snowflake, reaching every branch, and when it was enough, Quinn commanded his magic to break the bonds between the particles.
His magic started work and filling the snowflake with energy, and just when Quinn felt that the ice was about to turn into water, Quinn pushed more magic into the ice.
He opened his eyes and watch as the snowflake icicle vibrated violently before half of the icicle mass sizzled and turned into water vapor, and then saw it turned back into ice. But this time, it was a tad bit slower.
Quinn raised his hands and yelled, ”Hoho! It worked... it really worked!” Quinn jumped up and down in front of the now whole snowflake.
The result might not have been much different, but Quinn saw and felt the difference. It took more magic than his usual approach, but Quinn saw a lag in regeneration, and he also felt that if he worked hard, he could fight the mechanism for control.
.
.
.
Two months had passed since entering the Icy vault had passed, and Quinn had made significant progress. Quinn could now convert all the ice into vapor; he was now working towards Transfiguring the vapor into metal, in this case, magnesium.
It was like a fight for control between the mechanism and Quinn, both sides trying to wrest control of the vapor; Quinn trying to Transfigure it while the vault mechanism was working to regenerate the snowflake icicle.
Quinn retrieved a bottle from under the workstation and took a sip from it, but nothing came out as everything inside was frozen. He sighed and began heating the iced water inside.
”Yup,” said Quinn, with popping the 'P' sound, ”this place sucks.”
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Quinn West - MC - ”You stupid! Hahaha,” says a particular author.
Penelope Clearwater - Ravenclaw Prefect - Received a twelve-case of butterbeer at her dorm step. - Worries how Quinn got it above the girl's dormitory stairs.
Minerva McGonagall - Transfiguration master - Lifelong Hogwarts Quidditch Obsession.
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