(Arcane Tinker) Chapter 14: Lion’s Roar

Chapter 14: Lion’s Roar

1st September 1991, London

He racked his brain, wishing that he was wrong in some way, hoping that he just hadn’t paid any attention. Yet, the fact was undeniable. Hermione Granger hadn’t come to Hogwarts.

Looking back, the shock of Hermione Granger’s absence shouldn’t have affected Dean as much as it did. He knew that the world that he saw in his vision was different, completely so. People didn’t have their own personal magic. Neville Longbottom wasn’t the boy who lived, and even Hogwarts was different.

And yet, it was a girl not exist like he expected that truly changed things. There was the realisation that there wouldn’t be a golden trio, there wouldn’t be some guiding hand that would help a few teenagers kill Lord Voldemort. Wasn’t that a terrifying thought?

It didn’t help that he had been sent to Gryffindor of all places. For the hundredth time, Dean questioned why the damn hat made that decision, but there was nothing he could do to change it. Nevertheless, Dean vowed to himself that he would try to stay away from Longbottom.

Finally, they were all in front of a moving portrait, specifically, the one with a pretty, obese lady in a pink silk dress. The prefect, a redhead teenager, spoke up loudly, “Good, you’re all here. I know that you’re all excited to be here, but we need to set some ground rules that you will follow. My name is Percy Weasley, and this is Mary Jones. We will be the prefects responsible for you until your third year, with me being in charge of the boys and Mary being in charge of the girls. If you have any issues, you can come to either of us, or just to Professor McGonagall again; she is the head of House Gryffindor. This is the portrait of the Fat Lady, and don’t bother asking her name; she refused to say it for as long as I’ve been here, but you’re welcome to try as long as you don’t bother other people. On the other side of this portrait is a secret passage to your new common room. Curfew starts at ten at night and ends at six in the morning. If you are caught outside the common room at this hour, you will be given detention and will likely lose a lot of points. Speaking of points, on your beds, you will find a small badge with your name on it. Press the badge on your identification runes, and you will be connected to the school’s network. A professor or prefect has the authority to remove your points by just saying it, but if you wish to make a transaction, then you can make one by setting the amount using your identification runes and shaking hands with whoever else. You can exchange points, but only for academic reasons. The prefects do look at your transactions, so abusing this system will result in a severe penalty.”

The female prefect, Sarah, continued for him, “Enough of the boring stuff. Instead, let’s talk about your classes. We’ll start tomorrow with a tour of the castle after breakfast, so please don’t try to miss it. We will go over most of the important places you’ll need to know, and hopefully, you’ll learn the rest on your own. In your first semester, you’ll focus on basic skills, but starting from the second semester, you can choose certain specialised classes if you show the aptitude. You’ll need to have a meeting with Professor McGonagall for that. It’s the same for any school clubs. You will only be allowed to join the second semester, and even then, your acceptance is not a guarantee. So, for the next few months, focus on your classes and getting familiar with the school.”

The younger Weasley spoke up loudly, “So, no Quidditch?”

Dean heard the rest of the crowd whisper slightly, obviously discontent with the concept of not being able to play Quidditch. Thankfully, the prefect answered, “You can play Quidditch if you reserve the field. You’ll need to speak with Madam Hooch for that, and it will cost you some of your points as well. However, you are not allowed to have your own brooms in the castle before passing your flying classes. That is the law dictated by the ministry and the Board of Directors. You can, however, rent the school brooms at the cost of some of your points.”

Dean’s classmates whispered excitedly to themselves, but he knew what that meant, and it was rather clever of them. The school was truly using points as a currency, essentially giving them options as they followed the rules and studied, or removing them if they didn’t. It was rather clever as a way to control magic-wielding teenagers, but there was the glaring issue of the system being very easy to abuse. Students could buy or sell points in exchange for gold, or even just force someone to give them points. He could see that excelling academically could put a target on one’s back, and that this incentivised bullying.

Nevertheless, the elder Weasley waved his hand, and in a burst of fire, a bell appeared. He rang it, and everyone turned silent, “Good. Now, with that done, going to the common room is very easy. For now, you only have to speak the password for the passage to reveal itself. You are not permitted to share the password, even between yourselves. This password is only valid for the first week, after which you will be fully registered in the school, and you will be able to enter using your identification runes. Until then, if you forget the password, you can ask a prefect for help. Soon, you will be sent a letter with an appointment with Professor McGonagall sometime in the next week for your official registration. Don’t worry, this is just for some documentation, things such as your personal magics, and so on… Oh, I got side-tracked a bit, the password is ‘Capus Draconis’.”

The Fat Lady in the portrait bowed, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy round room full of squashy armchairs.

Of course, that was when pandemonium struck. Explosions and fireworks filled the entire room. Brilliant streams of red and gold shot into the air, forming lions that roared and danced before exploding into glittering embers. A cascade of sparks spelt out "Welcome, First-Years!" while a firework phoenix flew in a loop around the ceiling, singing loudly as it burst in a final dazzling display. Gasps and laughter filled the room as the chaos slowly subsided, revealing two identical red-haired boys standing atop a table, grinning ear to ear.

“Fred Weasley,” said the one on the left with a theatrical bow.

“And George Weasley,” continued the other, mimicking him.

“And together, we’re your friendly neighbourhood fire hazards.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” the prefect asked loudly.

Fred cupped his ear. “Is that Percy?” he asked, eyes twinkling. “Our noble, stick-in-the-mud prefect of a brother?”

The prefect turned beet red. “That’s quite enough! We will speak of this later.”

Before more chaos could unfold, the prefects clapped their hands and ushered everyone toward their dormitories. The first-years reluctantly shuffled up the staircases, laughter and embers still lingering in the air. Sarah shuffled the girls to their dormitories, while Percy Weasley, his face still red, showed them to their own dormitory. Dean waved Sally-Anne goodbye, as they were essentially pushed up the stairs.

Their common room was a large round room with poster beds hung with curtains. Their trunks were already near their bed, and Dean saw a small badge on his bed, which had his name on it, and an odd rune. He palmed it, wondering how he was supposed to use it, only for the rune to glow and disappear into his palm, leaving an ordinary shield behind.

Dean made a fist, and a hologram appeared with his details, only there was also a few details underneath under a section called ‘Hogwarts’. Inside it was his year, his house and how many points he had, which was zero. He thought of his points and immediately, the rune responded, showing that it wanted to begin a transaction. He made a fist once more and the rune deactivated.

It was far more organised than he expected, but he should have expected it. When he had seen his identification runes during his visit to Diagon Alley, he thought of the potential it had. Dean could imagine a way for it to be a lot more useful, and the school obviously had a similar idea.

He watched as the rest of the students did the same and stayed in silence. Oddly enough, it was Ron Weasley who spoke up first, “Sorry about Fred and George. They think they’re funny or something. They’re both enchanters, each with a specialisation in fire and explosion. My parents think it’s nice to have enchanters in the family, but they’re set on opening a joke shop of all things.”

Dean could understand the bitterness the boy must have felt. The twins had gotten the jackpot. From what he could gather, Enchanters were extremely in demand, and they could really help a family. For a boy whose magic is to conjure smoke from his hair, this had to be a tough pill to swallow.

It was Harry who spoke up next, “No worries. I lived with my dad all of my life. A few pranks aren’t going to phase me much. And this was fun.”

Longbottom finally spoke up for the first time, “Harry Potter, right? I think we met before.”

“We met when we were younger, I think. I don’t remember much of it, if I’m honest.”

They both nodded awkwardly, and the Irish boy spoke up loudly, “I’m Seamus Finnigan. I’m from Ireland, and my magic is making the things I touch explode as long as I can hold them with one hand.”

They all looked at Dean expectantly, and he rolled his eyes. “My name is Dean Thomas. I’m from London and a muggleborn.”

He didn’t mention the orphanage or anything like that. He didn’t see the point, really, but Harry did give him a confused look. Neville, though, seemed unsatisfied with his answer, “And what’s your magic? Mine is controlling plants, making them grow and listen to me.”

Dean would admit that it was a rather powerful ability if the other boy learned to harness it properly. Of course, it depended on the sheer size and flexibility of the magic, but it would be foolish to say that out loud.

Seeing that the other boys seemed interested as well, Dean simply waved his hand, channelling the magic into the ring, which made a ball of fire appear in his hand. He snuffed it quickly enough, and he noticed that most of his housemates, other than Harry, of course, had gone back slightly.

He heard Seamus whisper slightly, “Blimey…”

This time, Neville’s voice was wary, “You’re a pyromancer?”

Dean simply shrugged and sat down on his bed. He heard Ron mutter something about muggleborn pyromancers being too dangerous, but he ignored the redhead. Harry walked up to him and whispered, “Why did you lie?”

“I didn’t,” he simply replied.

“You’re an enchanter. We found that out on the train.”

“I am, and I never said that I was a pyromancer.”

Dean saw the realisation appear on his new friend’s face, before he grinned, “That’s funny, but you do know that they’re scared of you now.”

“Good. They’ll tell people, and word will spread. They’ll be wary of me, and no one will try to attack me.”

“This is about the points, isn’t it?”

Dean gave him a careful look. “What are you on about?”

“Dad told me about people being hexed into giving points and stuff, and to be careful with the older students.”

“Well, they won’t if they think I can burn them alive.”

Harry snorted in amusement, “I suppose you’ll be my valiant protector.”

“Sure, whatever you say. Now, let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted.”

The other boy released a yawn as well, and they both changed into their pyjamas. As Dean opened his trunk, he looked at the miniaturised painting of his mother smiling at him, and tears appeared in his eyes.

It had been months since his mother’s death, and the wounds were still fresh. He wanted to speak with her, to tell her all about Hogwarts, and yet all he did was stare at it. Neville Longbottom would save the world, defeat Dark Lords, and so on, but Dean vowed that he would find who was responsible for the attack that took his mother from him and make them pay.

That was his last thought as he fell asleep, staring at his mother’s kind eyes, hoping that they were real and not a painting.

AN: Like the other AT chapters so far, this isn’t part of the weekly schedule. Tomorrow will be an EM (or AWM for the new title) chapter, like you guys chose in the last poll. There will be a new poll soon so that you can decide on the new upload schedule.

As for this chapter, it was surprisingly hard to write, but I’m finally excited for the magical learning to start. I know that there was a lot of info dump, and I promise that I'll try to minimise it in the future. As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this depending on your feedback, so as usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.