Chapter 152: Training Starts, Two Charming People

[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo/AlanL]

The Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, Professor of Transfiguration, sat in her office gazing at the student in front of her, genuinely wondering whether it had been a right decision to hand over the entire organization of an event of such size to a student.

"Did you procure all the permissions, Professor?" asked the body in front of her, "I hope you did because I'm working on short time and deadlines here, so I will really need those permissions as soon as possible."

"... Mr. West, I have the permissions here with me, but I truly have to ask, do you require these many people inside Hogwarts? The Headmaster wasn't happy to have these many inside the castle."

"Of course, ma'am," said Quinn nodding, "I don't have a budget for this, so I need to gain funding some other way. All the people coming are required for me to make my vision possible. Without them, I'll not be able to get anything moving."

"The Headmaster Dumbledore suggested that we got the Ministry involved. They might sponsor the Quidditch tournament just as they are doing the Triwizard tournament."

"I don't think so," said Quinn shaking his head, "They won't give me enough money to sponsor what I'm thinking. They are offering the winning champion a thousand galleons; that's a Junior Auror's starting monthly salary. I get that Auror's job can be dangerous, but fighting a dragon for a thousand galleons? Nah, I don't think so."

"Mr. West... the dragons are a secret," the deputy sighed, "I won't bother asking how you know this."

Quinn shrugged and chose not to tell the lady that at least three champions knew about the dragons.

"It's not like I'm asking all these people to stay at Hogwarts," he reasoned, "I simply want them to come in for meetings and to pitch my ideas. After we are done, they'll leave." He then smiled and put on an alternative, "I can always meet them out in Hogsmeade, of course. But I'd need permission to leave the castle anytime I want."

McGonagall's sigh was all the response both of them needed. She could imagine how much Quinn would use the permission if he was granted it.

"I do have to ask, how did the Headmaster accept after you told him of my plans," asked Quinn as McGonagall was the only faculty he talked to regarding this matter.

"He... was skeptical of it at first. He didn't think it was possible to host it in such a short time," answered McGonagall, pursing her lips, "I was able to convince him, but he still isn't that optimistic about it."

"Then I will just have to show him that it's possible," smiled Quinn, "Even impossible says that I'm-possible."

She slid across the stack of parchments across the table towards Quinn. "These are the permissions. The times and dates are mentioned here. You can't bring them deep into the castle; there is a room prepared for you. When they arrive, you'll have to go and fetch them from the gates; the responsibility for escorting them falls entirely upon you."

Quinn picked up the parchments and quickly went through every single sheet before nodding, "Everything seems to be in order. The next few days are going to be busy for me."

"To be honest, I don't even understand why you are inviting half of those people. Are they all vital for the tournament? We ourselves didn't meet that many people for the Triwizard Tournament," she said.

Quinn replied, getting up from his barstool, "Everyone and everything is crucial, Professor. I am building a clock, and every task I do is a gear in the mechanism. Only when all of them work properly will the big clock function perfectly."

"If you say so. I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do, ma'am. Now, I will take my leave. Good afternoon, Professor."

"Good afternoon, Mr. West."

The boy left, leaving the woman alone in her office, who sighed when she saw the stack of assignments that needed to be checked and marked.

"This Quidditch tournament better be really good."

- (Scene Break) -

Harry Potter's evenings were usually for hanging out and spending time with his friends; he had fun, played around, or simply flew outside while catching quaffles. Today was different, as he had broken away from his daily normality. He was standing on grey stone pebbles, which were littered around a place a distance away from the castle.

"It's good that you three are on time," said the person in front of him. They were dressed in a simple white t-shirt and black cargo shorts.

Harry turned to his right as he heard his sister speak. "What are we going to do today?"

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Hermione also raised her hand, "Are we really going to learn how to fight a dragon?"

He looked at Quinn. The Ravenclaw staring at him with a peculiar look as if expecting something, but... "What?" asked Harry.

"Before we start, I'm going to make one thing clear," said Quinn walking towards Harry, "I am here to teach you, Harry. Your sister and Ms. Granger are getting to watch me teach and nothing else. How much they learn is up to their aptitude. I'm not going to engage with them as much as with you. They're not my priority; these two won't be facing a dragon; these two will be sitting in the stands, watching you—" he poked Harry at his chest "— possibly getting mauled by a fire-breathing beast with a spell-resistant hide. So, the first thing you can do to not get mauled is ask questions. Whatever pops in your mind gets out of your mouth and flows into my ears. Now, how much you follow this advice is up to you."

Quinn stepped back and looked at the three of the Golden squad. To some level, he knew their capabilities, as he sometimes peeled into their matters.

"The goal of this 'training' course is simple," said Quinn, "you need to survive the dragon and not get killed. The result I want to achieve is you not going to Madam Pomfrey after the task to get fixed up. If we can achieve that, this course will be a success. Unfortunately, we don't have time to get you to a level where you will be able to survive a dragon every time you end up meeting one."

The three 'students' gazed at Quinn as he talked like meeting a dragon was common.

"Thus, we are going to optimize this course to suit the first task," said Quinn.

"You know about the first task?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, the first task is retrieving an egg from a dragon's nest." answered Quinn, briefly glancing as once again it wasn't Harry who had asked a question, "There is a catch, though. The dragons aren't going to be just any dragons; they are going to be nesting dragons."

"Nesting dragons!" gasped Ivy.

"It seems you know about it. Yes, nesting dragons," sighed Quinn, "Mother dragons are ferociously protective of their eggs, so they will be extra nasty to those who try to get close to their unborn progeny. The four champions who will be tasked to retrieve an egg will face their wrath. All of this just makes the task harder."

He clapped with a smile, "Now that you know all of this, what do you think is the best course of action for the completion of the first task safely?"

The three trainees sunk into thought, trying to conceive of an answer.

"Don't go near the mother dragon," said Hermione.

"Don't attack the mother dragon," provided Ivy.

"Er— don't attack the eggs?" spoke Harry, taken aback by the tiny amount of time his friends took.

"Let's see," started Quinn and first pointed at Hermione, "Staying away from the mother dragon is a smart decision. If you can get that egg while keeping away, then there is nothing better than that. It keeps you away from a direct jet of dragon fire which is always a plus point."

He pointed at Ivy. "Your statement is a little iffy. Any spell cast against the dragon is an attack; the possibility of not trying to shoot spells at the dragon isn't realistic. I can think of some situations and… well, now I can think of some of them. Okay, we will talk about them later."

"Finally, Harry," said Quinn, "Your point is of utmost importance. The last thing you want is to harm the eggs. Do that, and your job will get exponentially more challenging. The dragon will turn from a protective mum to a breserking monster."

"Now, I will tell you how I would've answered the question," he said, "My action plan is to get in, move swiftly and get out as quickly as possible. The less time you're in front of a dragon the less the chances of you getting burned."

His bouts with the Kraken hadn't ended quickly as he was suggesting now because the Kraken wasn't trying to kill him, but the dragons were different; they would definitely try to kill him if he walked in front of one.

"Decrease your movements to reduce the danger, huh," commented Ivy.

"Exactly," smiled Quinn, getting the reference from their time-travel chronicles.

"But how do we steal the egg without getting close to the dragon?" asked Harry.

"There are a few options, and in the upcoming days, we're going to go through all of them," replied Quinn and peered intently at Harry, "and Harry? I'm going to cover some of the methods, so you better practice your best until the next session, when I'll teach you another one. If I don't see progress, you won't like me very much. It can be the barest of progress, but I need that progress."

Harry nodded in response, ready to do whatever was needed from him.

"Excellent," spoke Quinn in acknowledgment, "Now, let's actually get started. We're going to go learn one of the methods that will suit the first task. This method is a simple enough spell that every wizard should know; the summoning spell."

The gears in Harry's mind turned, and with sparkling eyes, he answered, "I'm going to summon my broom and then ride it. The dragon will follow me, and after the diversion, I will grab the egg and exit the stadium."

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"Sure, you can do that if you want," said Quinn. He knew that was the method used by the original Harry Potter, "but I wasn't talking about using the summoning charm to pull the egg towards you. Not only will you be at a distance, the speed of the summoning —after you practice it— will be fast enough for you to get the egg before the dragon comes after you or breathes fire."

Hermione raised her hand and questioned, "The rest of the champions are all sixth or seventh year. Wouldn't the judges know to charm the egg against the summoning charm?"

"Astute observation, Ms. Granger," he smiled, happy with the observation, "There exist charms that disable summoning charms. Many upper mid-range and above wizarding goods sold as of the 20th century and early 21st century come pre-enchanted with an Anti-theft charm to keep them from being summoned by anyone but their rightful owners. Thus, you're correct; most probably, the egg will be charmed against the summoning charm."

"Then what's the use of learning the spell?" asked Harry.

"Well, you can do your broom thing," replied Quinn, "or you can wrap something like cloth around the egg and summon the cloth tugging the egg along with it. The anti-summoning charm will be bypassed with simple strategy."

"How do I get a cloth around the egg with the dragon guarding it?" asked Harry.

"Let's see... see that rock right over there?" Quinn pointed at a rock nearly the size of a dragon egg, which was a fraction bigger than an ostrich egg, "We are going to assume that it's the dragon egg."

As Quinn took out his fake wand, Ivy spoke up, "Are you going to transfigure the piece of clothing? It will be tough with the dragon there—"

The sentence died as Quinn pointed his fake wand at the stone, and at a laser beam speed, a blue spell light shot out, zapping the pebbles near the rock in an instant. Within a split second, the pebbles merged together and transfigured into cloth which jumped at the rock, wrapping around it. An upwards wave of his fake wand and the stone was tugged along with the cloth, zooming into Quinn's hand at rocket speed.

The entire process registered under four seconds.

"— near the egg..." finished Ivy, watching the rock in Quinn's with utter amazement. The reaction was mimicked by the other two.

"It doesn't matter if a dragon is guarding it," said Quinn nonchalantly, dropping the stone on the ground with the de-transfigured pebbles scattering, "if I'm this fast, it won't have the time to react. I'm not asking you to become this fast. But if you're able to distract the dragon, a fast enough version of this will work for you during the first task."

He put a hand in his trousers' pocket and lazily waved his other hand towards the trio. "Now try to practice this same thing till the end of the hour."

Quinn walked backward and sat against a stone, watching the three take out their wands.

"Oh, I almost forgot it," he spoke up before they started, "the chant for the summoning spell is 'Accio.' Listen carefully, it's ah-kee-oh. Not 'see', nor 'she,' but 'kee.'"

Harry nodded, but the other two girls glanced at Quinn, realizing he hadn't voiced the spell out while casting.

'Nonverbal casting,' thought both simultaneously. On the other hand, Quinn hadn't noticed that as he never used verbal casting in his life.

The hour passed with Quinn half working with the three, half concentrating on his occlumency.

After all, he had no time to waste.

- (Scene Break) -

With all the responsibilities Quinn had taken, dinner time at Great Hall was the only time Quinn was actually free. From six in the morning when he woke up to one after midnight when he went to sleep, every single movement was spent working, practicing magic, and studying.

Even now, while he put a piece of bread into his mouth, he was thinking about what he needed to complete before going to sleep.

'Tomorrow is going to be a long day; I need to prepare for that,' he thought as he ate a spoonful of Lancashire hot pot.

Eddie, who was sitting beside Quinn, felt a pat on his shoulder and turned his head to look.

"Can I sit here," asked the person.

"Huh, hell no —" said Eddie, answering with his instincts, but when he saw the person, his eyes widened, and his lips parted ever so slightly.

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Eddie slowly nodded with a dreamy smile on his face. He gladly got up from his seat, allowing the person to sit in his place. The person smiled, and Eddie felt his world brighten, as if he had been in a shadowy world and it was the first time he was walking under the glorious sun.

"You can go now," the person said in a voice that seemed melodious to Eddie.

Eddie frowned a fraction, not liking the request, and when the person noticed it, she too frowned, not expecting the resistance. But then she smiled and requested again with a smile, "Please?"

"... Okay, if you say so," nodded Eddie, still not happy. Nevertheless, he followed the request.

With Eddie gone, the person placed her chin on the back of her fair hand, which was resting on the table, and looked at Quinn, who was oblivious that Eddie had left his side, to be replaced by someone else. She raised her other hand and tapped his shoulder with one dainty finger.

Quinn, feeling the light tap, came out of his thoughts and turned. Immediately he came face-to-face with a curious Fleur Delacour. He blinked, and even though the allure wasn't affecting him, Quinn noticed it gliding over him.

"Ms. Delacour? May I ask where did the boy who sat here go?" asked Quinn, dabbing his face with a napkin.

Fleur laughed, showing him her pearly smile, "He went away."

"You mean you sent him away."

"Something like that," she confessed, "though surprisingly, it took a lot of my allure to affect him. Are all your friends like that?"

"Of course not; Eddie is just a tad bit stubborn," he then paused for a bit, "actually, if you met him in different and certain circumstances, you would've been more surprised by him."

"And what about you? Why can you resist my allure? What's the story behind that," asked the veela, placing her hand barely an inch away from Quinn's hand.

Quinn, seeing what she was doing, decided to humour her. He shifted to face her and charmingly smiled, "Hmm, maybe it's because my own charm is so strong that I'm not affected by yours."

Fleur giggled, and the world seemed to get more vivid and lively at her every movement. Those who sat around the two were now staring at Fleur with unblinking eyes.

"Maybe you're right. You're certainly very charming, Quinn," She leaned towards Quinn ever so slightly.

"Thank you for the compliment, Ms. Delacour," smiled Quinn, not pulling away and flirting back, "your beauty too has no bounds. You're absolutely stunning if you ask me."

"Aren't you quite the flatterer, Quinn?"

"It isn't flattery if it's the truth."

Across from them, Marcus stared between the two.

"Huh..."

Around the Great Hall, a certain few people from different house tables also gazed at Quinn while he chatted with a giggling Fleur.

Quinn West - MC - The Wests… have a certain charm. Quinn West? He has an abundance of it.

Fleur Delacour - Veela, champion - This is more fun than I thought.

Minerva McGonagall - Deputy Headmaster - Doesn't yet understand the scale of Quinn's plans.

Harry Potter - Fourth Champion - In-Training.

Eddie Carmichael - Status: Allured - Wait a minute… something doesn't feel right.

FictionOnlyReader - Author - Let's have them flirt a little.

AlanL - Editor - My wish is coming true~

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