Chapter 139: Imposter, Delegation, Small Talk (2/2)
”I believe we should start with the coat of arms in order to figure out the location of this school of magic,” The tone of voice and pace of words grabbed the attention of everyone. ”There's a double-headed eagle in the Durmstrang coat of arms. And this eagle was the symbol of the Byzantine Empire. Afterwards, Albania, Austria, Germany, Greece, Russia, Serbia took it, too. Another thing we can see is an onion dome which is associated with the architecture of the orthodox church in eastern Europe. Furthermore, the word 'Durmstrang' is written in Latin and Cyrillic alphabet.”
Almost everyone in the room except Quinn blinked when he started to lay down some history. Some of them, who noticed Quinn's neutral expression, started to wonder whether this was considered common knowledge or not. It didn't seem so to them, at least.
”Even though we don't know the precise location of Durmstrang, a lot of people have tried to locate the school. From all that effort, we have found with hundred percent certainty that the school is in the north of Scandinavia. That much we already know,” quoted Quinn, some knowledge he had gathered. ”Given that they will be arriving by ship, we can deduce -”
”Mr. West, how do you know the Durmstrang delegation will be arriving by ship?” asked McGonagall, as she had yet to reveal that piece of information.
”- I have my sources, Professor,” answered Quinn offhandedly. ”Where was I? Ah, yes. As they will be coming by ship and the fact that the Great Lake is connected to the ocean with waterways, we can assume that the school is near a water body like a sea or an ocean.”
The Prefects and the Head pair looked at each other with questions in their eyes. The Great Lake was connected to an ocean? They didn't know that. McGonagall, who noticed the looks, sighed inwardly. This information wasn't restricted so to speak, but it had been kept secret. This had gotten to the point that, aside from a few students, no one knew about that.
”If we put this information together, I can say with reasonable certainty that Durmstrang is in Svalbard, which is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Everything fits. The archipelago was discovered the same century the school was founded. Moreover, for centuries it had been part of the Russian Empire. That is, until the 1920s, when it became Norway's. The population is partially Norwegian and partially Russian, which explains the cultural hints in the symbols of school. And the lands there— there are mountains and lakes! Also, these lands are almost not populated by muggles, which makes it a great place to hide a school of magic.”
There were no words spoken after Quinn finished, and except a few short claps from the Hufflepuff group, the room was silent for a moment.
”... Mr. West, do you know how to speak Russian?” asked McGonagall.
”Hmm? Ah, no, Professor, I can't speak Russian,” replied Quinn; he wasn't acquainted with Eastern Slavic languages.
McGonagall held back a sigh and took a moment for herself. While the history and theory were fascinating, it wasn't the time for it. The deputy had a lot on her plate, and she needed to finish this meeting quickly so that she could move on.
”Let's get back to the topic. Is there anyone who can speak either French or Russian?”
One arm raised from the crowd, and McGonagall once again held back a sigh, ”Yes, Mr. West. What is it?”
”I can speak French, Professor.”
”... You can?” asked McGonagall, taken aback.
”Yes, Professor. I'm half French from my mother's side,” answered Quinn. ”I can speak French with near-native fluency. I can also speak Latin and Italian at a level where I can hold a conversation with a native without any problems. I'm getting Spanish to that level. Just need a little work on it; I need a speaking partner to get some practice. Finally, I added Portuguese to my repertoire last year, but I find speaking it hard. I will probably become fluent by next year.”
The romance languages were the languages that had evolved from vulgar Latin between the third and eighth centuries. The six most spoken romance languages were Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, and Catalan. Quinn had learned French from his grandfather. Latin on his own because a lot of his books in his library were in Latin. In regards to Italian, he had practiced it together with Lia because their mother spoke it. Finally, he had picked up Spanish and Portuguese because all the Romance languages were quite easy to learn if you knew Latin. As he learned more and more romance languages, it got progressively easier for Quinn to pick them up.
”That's great!” said McGonagall, lethargy disappearing from her face in an instant. ”Mr. West, you will be a part of the French group. Please make sure that they don't have any problem.”
Quinn took out an A.I.D. card from his pocket, held it with his finger, and with a flick of his wrist, the black card went flying across the room, arching beautifully in mid-air before gracefully landing on the Professor's Podium.
”Way ahead of you, Professor.”
McGonagall picked up the card. It was the familiar black card with golden text, but her eyes widened a fraction when she noticed the language. It wasn't English.
”This is...”
”French, Professor,” said Quinn. ”The Russian cards will arrive here by the end of the week. As I said, I'm not fluent in Russian, so I had to ask a Russian translator to translate the text. The Russians cards will arrive here before the delegations, so we're good.”
”I-I see...” said McGonagall. She could almost see it. French and Russian students taking the modified cards and finding the A.I.D. office to solve their problems. ”... Mr. West, you... you aren't going to charge them, right?”
Quinn smiled, ”If they ask me something that enters in the role of being a Prefect, then no. If they ask the owner of the A.I.D. I'm sure we can work something out. It's just a matter of the services they require, Professor.”
”Please make sure to inform them, would you, Mr. West. I don't want complaints from their side,” said McGonagall.
”Of course, Professor. Always absolute professionalism.”
The meeting ended after McGonagall divided the Prefects into groups. The French delegation with Quinn in it would be led by the Head Girl from Hufflepuff. They had a small meet of their own, before the Prefects would be free for the day, except their routine patrolling.
Quinn was getting out of the Transfiguration wing making his way to his office when his name. He turned to see Cedric Diggory jogging his way towards him.
”Diggory, what can I do for you?” asked Quinn. He and Cedric were acquainted well enough for him to talk to Cedric twice or thrice a week.
”I was going to the fourth floor and wondered if you would walk with me,” said Cedric, his patient calm, yet charming smile on his face.
”Of course. There is no need to ask,” replied Quinn as Cedric fell into step with him. ”So I heard you're going to participate in the tournament.”
Cedric was in his sixth year, but since his birthday was after September, he joined a year later and was already of age, making the Hufflepuff seeker eligible to participate in the Triwizard Tournament.
”Wha-! How did you know? I haven't...” asked Cedric, genuinely feeling shocked that Quinn knew about his decision.
”I've my ways, Mr. Diggory,” said Quinn with a hint of a smile on his face. ”Have you thought it through? From what I've found out, the tournament is going to be dangerous. Are you confident in your abilities?”
Cedric recovered from his shock and nodded with confidence. His body language was screaming that there was no doubt about his participation.
”Yeah, I'm sure.”
”Hmm… Well, right now, all I can do is to wish you luck. The chances are strong though,” said Quinn. He took out an A.I.D. card and held it in front of the Hufflepuff.
Cedric was about to politely refuse —as he already had a card with him— but then he saw that it had a new design, so he took it.
”If you ever need anything, anytime, contact me, and I will sort it out,” said Quinn as he joined his hands behind his back. ”If you get selected as the champion, then you'll get a massive discount. I would help you out at dirt cheap prices. Practically free, I say.”
Cedric grinned at those words. He had been to A.I.D. a couple times, and not once he had been disappointed. ”I will probably come to practice my spells against you. Who knows, maybe I'll win.”
Quin laughed at the statement. Cedric was talented and knew his magic, but his chances were infinitely low in front of him. ”Let's keep them private. I don't want my record to be tainted. Need to keep it at sixty-nine, can't have it go to seventy, can I?”
The sixty-nine streak had been paused because of his Lust-infected brain, but Quinn was trying to get over it now.
If Cedric knew the significance of it, then he didn't show it and simply nodded. They separated on the fourth floor, with Quinn climbing up to the fifth floor.
'I need to keep an eye on him,' thought Quinn. The events had changed, and Quinn was sure that what happened in the books wouldn't happen. But... 'There's no harm in keeping an eye out for all of them,' thought Quinn; he was going to be very observant this year.
He needed to be.
There was only one week until all parties arrived at Hogwarts.
The clock was ticking.
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Quinn West - MC - Romance language enthusiast.
Alastor Moody - Barty Crouch Jr. - Has his own plans.
Minerva McGonagall - Deputy Headmaster - The busiest she had been in Decades.
Cedric Diggory - Hufflepuff - Champion candidate, prefect.
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