Chapter 84: First Expedition, and Guiding Growth

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

"I need to rethink my life choices," sighed Quinn as he walked towards the Great Lake.

It was the start of January, and Quinn had just returned to Hogwarts after the Christmas break. The weather was the coldest of the year. Snow was falling almost constantly, and it covered the entire landscape around Hogwarts in white.

In that heavy snow, Quinn was out of the warmth of the castle. He was about to start his expedition to the landlocked, freshwater lake that served as a natural reserve for magical marine creatures.

"Why am I going swimming in January," muttered Quinn to himself as he stomped his foot on the ground. Half a dome of the earth arose from underneath the white snow. "Why couldn't it be April or later, or anytime that is warmer. Then, the water would feel nice."

Quinn removed the many layers of clothes he was wearing and stuffed them into a small string bag with a minor expansion charm cast on it, leaving behind a pair of swimming trunks on his body. He tightened the string to squeeze shut the opening and stuck it to the inside surface of the dome.

With a tap, the half-dome closed itself to form a full-dome. Surrounding snow climbed the earth dome, covering it with white to camouflage it into the snowy surroundings.

"Haah~, this is cold," Quinn breathed the chilly wind and exhaled icy mist. His skin was covered with goose pimples. However, Quinn wasn't shivering, nor were his teeth chattering due to the cold.

Despite not having cast heating charms on his body, Quinn was used to this level of cold because he had suffered worse in the Icy vault. Even though he used Blood magic in the vault, he could still feel an amount of chill, so this wasn't that big of a deal to Quinn.

"Let's do this!"

Quinn rubbed his hands to generate heat as he waded into the water.

"Oh yeah, now this cold," he felt the cold water against his skin, searing as though it was fire and not icy water.

Quinn sucked in a sharp breath when he felt the chill from the water before his condition returned to normal as heating charms worked their charm to warm up his body.

The icy water wasn't cold enough to warrant the use of Blood magic. Blood magic was to deal with cold that could literally kill you within minutes.

As Quinn walked into the lake, water rose and the depth of the lake increased. Just when the water was at his chest level, a bubble appeared on the lower half of his face, forming a mask covering his nose, mouth, cheeks, jaw, and extended down to his neck.

For his first deepwater expedition, Quinn had cast a bubble-head charm that produced a bubble around the caster's face, giving them a continuous supply of oxygen and allowing them to breathe where they could not otherwise.

Submerging himself into the water, Quinn pushed himself off the stone floor and dove into the lake. The bubble-head charm did its work and Quinn was able to breathe normally.

Silence pressed upon his ears as he soared over a strange, dark, foggy landscape. He could only see ten feet around him so, as he swam through the water, new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the oncoming darkness; rippling forests, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud, littered with dull, glimmering stones. He swam deeper and deeper; out toward the middle of the lake. His eyes widened, and he stared through the eerily gray-lit water around him and the shadows beyond, where the water became opaque.

Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when Quinn got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log or a dense clump of weed. Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass.

Quinn was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the darkness... and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of his ankle.

He twisted his body around and saw a grindylow, a small pale-green skinned, horned water demon, poking out of the weed; its long fingers clutching tightly around Quinn's leg, its pointed fangs bared. Quinn sighed under his protective bubble, and a burst of magic from Quinn's foot blasted the tiny water demon away.

A small group of grindylows emerged from the weeds and tried to latch onto Quinn, but they crashed into an invisible shield before getting blasted off like the first one.

The tiny water demons didn't seem to understand the situation from watching their brethren getting blasted off, as more and more jumped out of the weeds, trying to latch onto Quinn. Their target stood still in his spot and continued to eject them far away from him, pelting them with magic as their green skins grew angry red patches.

Quinn didn't run away from the waves of grindylows and just kept shooting at them like it was some fun game, and the tiny suckers kept coming out of the weeds, trying to get their tiny claws on Quinn.

"Haha, this is fun! It's like a first-person shooter," chuckled Quinn under his protection.

He continued to shoot at them for a couple of minutes before the grindylows understood what was happening and stopped attacking Quinn. They retreated back into the weeds and froze, peeking at him with their leafy green eyes.

Quinn swam away, and after swimming for a while, he turned full circle in the water, the silence pressing harder than ever against his eardrums. Quinn knew he must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed.

'I am lost,' thought Quinn and decided to swim to the surface to gain a sense of his location.

Swimming up to the surface, Quinn saw he had swum further to the south and away from the castle. He had moved towards the Hogsmeade train station and the dock from where the first-year students boarded their boats to get to the castle.

"I need to swim westwards," said Quinn, moving his hair out of his face. Quinn had observed the Kraken's tentacles, and he was able to deduce that the Kraken's main body hung out somewhere to the castle's west.

Quinn had given the giant squid being a Kraken theory a thought while he was home.

True giant squids (genus Architeuthis [1]) were deep-sea-dwelling creatures and can not live in freshwater, such as inland lochs in Scotland. It would not be able to stand the sunlight, pressure, salinity (or lack thereof) of the water, the space, or the lack of food. At one point during the books, it was fed bread, which it could not digest. Giant squids also had very tender skin that would break if touched, but the cephalopod giant living in the Great lake could push out children who fell into the lake.

This meant that the Hogwarts giant squid was of a magical species, and the Kraken was exactly the creature that would match the magical counterpart of the non-magical giant squid.

'Lucky that this one isn't a violent ship sinking monster but a semi-domesticated, peace-loving school pet that loves to chill,' thought Quinn as he dove back into the water and headed west.

This time around, Quinn swam a bit higher over the weed to avoid any more grindylows that might be lurking there. He swam on for what felt like at least thirty minutes. He passed over vast expanses of black mud now, which murkily swirled as he disturbed the water.

'Ugh, this is getting tiring,' thought Quinn. He started to feel tired. He had already been swimming for over fifty minutes.

'I need to learn magic that makes swimming easier, or at least I need to make some diving fins,' thought Quinn. Then, he stopped swimming for a second and looked at his feet; the next second, he conjured a pair of swimming fins on his feet. 'Alrighty, that was easy. Good job...'

Another ten minutes and Quinn finally caught a glimpse of the Kraken's tentacle. The giant and long tentacle laid on the lake's bottom floor and covered a large surface area.

He swam up to create some distance between him and the tentacle and slowly swam forward, watching as the tentacle got thicker and thicker.

'Merlin's beard... what I saw outside of the water was just the tip of the iceberg, wasn't it?'

As Quinn felt amazed by the side of the Kraken's tentacle. The end of said tentacle slowly rose and crept in the water, moving towards the tiny human who had gotten deep into its territory. And just when it got near Quinn, the tentacle sped up and moved in for the grab.

"WHAT! THE HE-!!"

Quinn, who was busy being amazed at the Kraken, suddenly was in the tip of the tentacle in his peripheral vision. The Kraken was trying to wrap its tentacle around him: it was trying to trap him.

On instinct, Quinn released a magic force field shield which covered him three hundred sixty (360) degrees.

At first, the tentacle wrapped gently around the shield, but the next second, Quinn felt a tremendous force exerted from the tentacle as it tried to tighten its wrap around Quinn's safeguard.

"...s-h-I-T!"

The force field shield strained as Quinn pushed more magic into the force field shield, trying desperately to maintain the structural integrity.

The Kraken, who had spotted a tiny human in its territory, wanted to grab him, but it was confused because something was stopping his tentacles from reaching him. It took the Kraken a few seconds to realize that the tiny human had magic around, so it stopped trying to reach the human.

What felt like an eternity of struggle to Quinn was just three measly seconds before the squeezing force vanished.

Quinn opened his tightly shut eyes with heavy breathing and he felt himself move. Afterwards, he saw that the tentacle wrapped around his shield was lifting him up.

'What is it doing? Where is it taking me?'

The tentacle took Quinn out of the water. The force field, which was still active, trapped the lake water inside the force field. From outside, it looked like the tentacle was holding a sphere of water with Quinn inside.

'I need to get away,' thought Quinn.

He immediately deactivated the force field, and immediately Quinn dropped down towards the water: the tentacle was holding on to the force field, so when Quinn released the magic, the water inside with Quinn slipped away from the tentacle's grasp.

Unfortunately for Quinn, the Kraken was one step ahead of him: another tentacle was waiting for him in the water.

The second tentacle rose from the lake's surface and captured Quinn in one of its suction cups. Because of the sheer size of the Kraken, the suction cups lining its tentacles were huge. Quinn was swallowed inside the suction cup; he was trapped to his neck inside the suction cup.

"Fu-! Argh!"

Quinn struggled against the Kraken's bounds.

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He wanted to get out of here and was really tempted to use magic to tear through the Kraken's flesh. The only thing holding him back was because even though the Kraken had trapped him, it was only trapping him and not choking him out. Plus, the Kraken's reputation for decades was one of a friendly and peaceful creature.

The Kraken's tentacle moved in the air and stopped right over the lakeside. The suction cup holding Quinn released its hold and unceremoniously dropped him onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

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Quinn immediately stood up and vigilantly stared at the retreating tentacle. He was sure that the tentacle gave him a wave as it returned inside the water.

"... What in the world just happened?"

He wasn't sure what happened; Quinn had swum for close to an hour, and just when he finally reached the Kraken, Neptune's Bane, he was caught and ejected back to the land.

Looking around, Quinn found he was on the lakeside, which was near the herbology greenhouses.

"... My clothes bag is in the opposite direction," grumbled Quinn as he peered at the opposite bank of the Great lake. "I don't want to walk. I am so tired."

With slumped shoulders, Quinn dried himself off the lake water. He conjured clothes over his body and started the long walk towards the other side of the lake to get his clothes back.

'Damn it, that was humiliating,' thought Quinn as he walked. He was thinking about what to do next.

From today Quinn had understood that if he got too close to the Kraken's body, it would eject him out of the lake. If he wanted to get to the vault, then he would have to get past the Kraken.

"I need to be faster," he thought based on today's events.

"First, I can't spend half an hour just to get near the Kraken; I need to find a way to get there faster than before. Second, I have to gain control while I am inside the water. The Kraken has too many tentacles, but I have the size advantage. I'm shorter, so I can evade him. To do that, though, I need to gain speed and nimbleness in my swimming."

The gears in Quinn's mind turned as he pondered what magic would help him out in this situation.

"Water magic is definitely a plus; nothing better than water magic inside water. I could probably use it as jets to increase my speed so I can move much faster. It will also improve the things I can do while I'm under the water. As long as the Kraken doesn't have water magic capabilities, then I will be able to outmaneuver past him."

He brushed a hand through his hair and prayed.

"Let's hope that whatever the vault is, it's inside some kind of building or room because I don't want to work on the vault while continuously evading the Kraken trying to get me out of water."

The next part of the problem was Quinn's surviving under the water. A human being like himself wasn't meant to stay in the water for extended amounts of time. Sure, he was athletic enough to swim for a long time, but if he was going to stay deep beneath the surface, then it would become dangerous.

"The bubble-head charm is not durable enough; it might break if I'm not careful. I can't take that kind of risk," speculated Quinn and cracked his neck as he continued to walk. "I need to find another source of oxygen; this one will need to be more durable and needs to last as long as I need."

Quinn had some ideas on achieving the solution to the oxygen problem, but it would need some study and research because his method required some finesse and delicate magic work.

"This is going to be a fun year."

- (Scene Break) -

It was late at night inside Quinn, Eddie, and Marcus's dorm room, and all three residents were ready to go to bed.

"Quinn, do you have any idea about the ministry notice?" asked Marcus from his bed. "I heard someone talking about a notice. Do you have any idea what it is about?"

Quinn, who was reading a book on transfiguration from the Caribbean region, closed his book and turned his face towards Marcus.

"It's about Hogsmeade. The attack by the Novellus Accionites triggered the ministry, so they are taking some precautions," answered Quinn. Then, he got up from his bed.

He walked to his study table in his dorm room and opened a drawer. He took out a sheet of paper.

"This is a copy of the notice," informed Quinn as he walked towards Marcus' bed to hand him the paper.

Elliot had sent him the copy of the notice by the MagiFax installed at the West manor. The ministry notice was accompanied by a letter. The letter advised that if Quinn wanted things from Hogsmeade, then he should preferably get them by mail-order, and if he absolutely needed to visit Hogsmeade, he was to keep his visits short as possible.

Marcus received the paper and read the ministry notice.

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「

——— BY ORDER OF ———

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

We have the duty to inform you that, until further notice, Dementors from Azkaban will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown.

This measure has been put in place for the safety of the Hogsmeade residents and will be lifted when the Ministry brings the terrorist group going by the name of Novellus Accionites.

It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall.

Happy and Prosperous New Year.

」

Eddie also got curious, so he got up from his bed and walked over to Marcus's bed. He took the notice paper after Marcus was done reading it and read it.

"Are they serious?" Eddie asked as he dropped the notice on Marcus' bed. "They are putting Dementors in Hogsmeade? Isn't that a little too much? What is wrong with appointing some Aurors in the village?"

"I guess they were thinking that if Dementors patrolled Hogwarts, then why not Hogsmeade," speculated Quinn, shrugging as he spoke. "It will not be good for business, though."

Marcus, who heard Quinn's answer, asked a question in response.

"Do you think the ministry is still restricting the DMLE? By placing Dementors at Hogsmeade, are they trying to keep the Auror's away from the case?"

Marcus recalled the talk he and Eddie had with Quinn regarding the friction between the ministry and the DMLE. This situation, to Marcus, that is, allowing Dementors to patrol Hogsmeade, seemed like the minister's faction was still trying to restrict Auror's office's movements.

Quinn plopped himself down on Marcus' bed and said, "I'm not sure if this is because of politics or because of the Dementors themselves."

"Dementors? What do they have to do with this?" asked Eddie, confused. The situation was because of the minister's faction and the DMLE; he couldn't see how the Dementors fit into this situation.

"The Dementors feed off from the positive feelings. I don't know their level of sapience, but it is clear that they are sentient enough to taste and sense fear, as they are drawn to it and the promise of positive memories," continued Quinn.

"They obeyed the Ministry of Magic for years because, in guarding Azkaban, they were provided with the sustenance of any remaining hope or happiness from the prisoners. But now a lot of them are away from their food table; Azkaban. And Dumbledore doesn't allow them inside the castle, so they must have been growing restless for some time... furious at his refusal to let them inside the grounds. So I suppose the ministry is trying to appease the Dementors by allowing them to patrol Hogsmeade at night."

Marcus rubbed his temple and sighed, "This is all so confusing."

Some of the conversations that Marcus, Eddie, and Quinn had this year were politics-related, and those conversations made both Marcus and Eddie increasingly involved in politics. Both of Quinn's roommates had started to think about the ministry and what was happening around them.

Quinn personally had seen both of his friends exchange thoughts on articles they had read in the newspaper and talk about things they hadn't addressed before. And the divide in the ministry due to the Novellus Accionites was at the forefront in many of their conversations.

"Why don't you write letters to your parents? Write to them asking what they think about the current situation," suggested Quinn, while trying to provide them a way to gain more insight on the topic. "Of course, I'm not saying to follow whatever they say. Just hear whatever they have to say and think about how you feel about it. Look up for more facts and get a complete picture. Maybe, then, you will be able to get a clear picture that would erase any confusion."

Quinn was trying to make his friends people with critical thinking; people who weren't like the sheep that abounded the British magical society. He wanted them to be freethinkers, and, given the situation, having them form their own political views was a good start.

People like Albus Dumbledore had an image in the public's mind that bordered worship; it made people trust him without giving it a second thought.

And one thing George had taught Quinn was that blind trust was just like nails; the longer you have them, the more dangerous they get.

Quinn didn't want his friends to become like the sheep that was everybody. He didn't need 'yes-men' around him who just followed whatever he said. While that sounded good in a way, Quinn wanted the people with whom he interacted to be winners and not losers who couldn't think for themselves.

Eddie and Marcus nodded at Quinn's suggestion of writing to their parents, and that brought a smile to Quinn's friends.

It was a start.

Quinn West - MC - Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.

Eddie Carmichael - A thinking Ravenclaw - On a path that will set him apart.

Marcus Belby - A Ravenclaw, seeking answers - Sheep, he will never be.

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