Chapter 198: Harry's New Advert, the Elemental Rune Loan
Standing on the dazzling golden stage, Harry held up a sleek, silver-sheened pair of "goggles" in both hands. Fine runic lines pulsed across the surface, flaring and fading as though they were breathing.
"Curious how I did it?"
Harry's voice carried clearly throughout the Great Hall.
"Thanks to Leonardo's help and his invention, I want to introduce you to the Magic-Sight."
He lifted it higher, turning so that as many students as possible could see.
"Are you still struggling because Defence Against the Dark Arts has ground to a halt? Still baffled when a spell won't come out the way it should?"
Harry's tone was stirring, almost practised.
"We all wish we had a teacher who could guide us at any moment. With Magic-Sight, you can duel a virtual opponent whenever you like. It records your movements, analyses flaws in your incantation and technique, and can even recreate famous duels from history, letting you cross wands with the masters themselves…"
"And during the promotional period, you'll also receive a complete Defence Against the Dark Arts tutorial set, first come, first served…"
Off to the side, Lockhart's mood could only be described as complicated.
The enthusiasm Harry brought to advertising a product felt, unpleasantly, a little familiar.
No, worse than that. Back at the book-signing over the summer, Harry had practically stolen the spotlight right out from under him.
Just thinking about it left a sour taste in Lockhart's mouth. The fame of the Boy Who Lived, one casual gesture and the public's attention, the headlines, all swung his way.
And the more Lockhart envied Harry's reputation, the firmer his resolve became about his secret arrangement with Tom.
Watching Harry's performance, Leonardo gave a small nod. Not bad. Harry was getting smoother with these adverts.
At the very least, he'd stopped stumbling over the lines, and his face no longer went bright red. Excellent.
Once the final version of the Eastwind broom was complete, Leonardo planned to make a trip out and refresh the products in the shops beyond the school as well.
After Harry's pitch, the Great Hall erupted.
Faces all around were lit with astonishment and longing. They hadn't even tried Magic-Sight yet, but Harry and Malfoy's duel had been the best advertisement possible.
Who wouldn't want to pull off that sort of crisp, decisive casting?
Aside from a few spells, most of what Harry and Malfoy had used were charms and jinxes many students had at least encountered. The difference was that nobody could produce them as smoothly, or choose the right magic at exactly the right moment.
And there was another crucial point.
If Hogwarts's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor were, well, normal, then the hunger for Magic-Sight wouldn't be quite so fierce. At most, it would be a novelty, a useful extra.
But as it was…
A great many students couldn't help sneaking looks at Lockhart. The image of him being blasted into the wall by Snape's Expelliarmus was still painfully fresh.
Honestly. The official Defence Against the Dark Arts professor flattened by the Potions Master?
Was that really acceptable?
Some students, who had previously assumed Lockhart simply preferred not to display his true skill, were now full of doubts. Tonight's "demonstration" hadn't reassured them. If anything, it had felt like he'd slipped up.
"Magic-Sight sounds brilliant. Are you going to buy one? He said there's a group discount!"
"If you buy one, it's basically the same as me buying one. Getting two is a waste."
"How does Leonardo even make these magical items? We take the same classes, don't we?"
"Honestly, Leonardo's invented so many strange, clever gadgets… do you think he takes commissions?"
"What, you want him to make a potion that makes people fall in love with you?"
"Yes. And when I get it, you'll be the first one I try it on…"
Harry looked out over the churning, excited crowd and knew the "advert task" Leonardo had given him was complete.
Nearby, Malfoy came down from the stage still simmering. Slytherins weren't blaming him for losing; if anything they'd praised him to the skies.
Most clustered around him were younger students, first-years to third-years, who'd watched his performance and knew perfectly well they couldn't have done better.
Slytherin was practical like that. They chased glory and power, wanted to be strong, and respected strength.
Malfoy shot a glance back at Harry, irritation biting at him. If he'd won, he'd be the one soaking up all this attention.
The Duelling Club genuinely sparked the students' enthusiasm.
In the days that followed, talk of duelling was everywhere, and so was talk of what Harry and Malfoy had shown that night.
Some students pestered Lockhart about when the next Duelling Club session would be held. When they were told it wouldn't be until just before the Christmas holiday, disappointment spread fast.
But now there was more than one path.
Plenty of students began turning up at the Seventh Workshop to ask the twins about Magic-Sight's release date, desperate to start practising Defence Against the Dark Arts and proper duelling technique as soon as possible.
Harry, returning from the library, was developing a headache because…
"Harry, could you tell me how you feel about winning that duel? Who helps you most when you're learning magic? What spell are you best at, or love the most…"
Colin Creevey, the first-year Gryffindor who adored taking photographs and adored Harry even more, was staring up at him with a notebook and quill, practically vibrating with excitement.
The rapid-fire questions made Harry's scalp prickle. Colin had been attacked only a few days earlier. After being found Petrified and taken to the hospital wing, he'd been revived the very same night, thanks to the plentiful antidote brewed from the Mandrake supply Leonardo had provided.
By Colin's own account, he'd been wandering the castle as usual, searching for interesting things to photograph, when he'd suddenly gone rigid and lost consciousness.
The Headmaster and professors had hoped Colin's camera might have captured the attacker's true form, but the film had been completely ruined. The camera itself was damaged as well, and even a repair charm hadn't been enough to restore it immediately.
"Colin, are you sure you're feeling all right after being Petrified?" Harry tried, desperately, to steer the conversation elsewhere.
Colin shook his head so hard his fringe bounced, eyes shining. "I'm fine! Madam Pomfrey kept insisting I wasn't well enough and made me stay in bed for days. Days, Harry! Missing lessons doesn't matter, but I missed the Duelling Club. I missed your duel. Everyone's been talking about it, about how brilliant you were, and I wasn't there to take a single photo!" He clutched his notebook tighter, words tumbling out. "I could've got loads. You on the platform, you casting, the whole Hall cheering… and my camera still isn't fixed. It's killing me…"
"And it's such a shame I didn't get a picture of whatever it was that Petrified people. I wanted to send it home to my dad. The wizarding world is amazing!"
Leonardo, who'd been quietly watching from nearby, had to swallow the urge to mutter something. Being attacked and Petrified didn't frighten the boy at all, he only mourned the lack of photographs. And he wanted to send them to his father.
It was a good thing the basilisk's gaze had destroyed the film, or else…
Still, it did raise an interesting thought. If there were a way to record the basilisk's eyes safely, could that be turned into something useful?
After a draining amount of smiling and deflecting, Harry finally managed to send Colin away. The moment he was gone, Harry let out a long breath.
"Leonardo… I feel like this year's going to be another chaotic one. But I asked older students, and they said Hogwarts didn't used to have massive trouble like this all the time. It's like the moment I arrived here, strange things never stopped happening."
Leonardo glanced at Harry. So the kid was finally noticing the pattern.
"Harry, there's an old saying: people meant for great things have to go through hardship first. Do you understand?"
Harry nodded slowly, thinking. Then he said, seriously, "I think I get it. So if you go through these tests, Leonardo, you'll become some huge figure in the wizarding world, right?"
Leonardo blinked. "I… what?"
But Harry was only gathering steam. "It makes sense. Last year Quirrell and Voldemort tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and you stopped them and ended the whole crisis. This year the Heir of Slytherin's controlling a monster and attacking people in the castle, and you provided the Mandrakes for the antidote."
"Leonardo, as long as you keep using your unbeatable magic and your brains to defeat enemies, we'll have world peace. When we graduate from Hogwarts…"
Leonardo pressed a hand to his forehead. Harry's conclusion was truly something.
Was it possible that the one who attracted disaster never realised it?
Leonardo cleared his throat and cut him off. "Right. What I meant was that those hardships might be coming for you. Have you forgotten who Voldemort has always been fixated on?"
Harry's words died in his throat. He scratched his messy black hair and pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Oh, and speaking of that, I'm still furious. Last night I went to the loo and a house-elf popped up right in front of me. Dobby, the one I told you about. He tried to warn me again that Hogwarts might be dangerous for me and that I should leave."
"Dobby even said he was going to control a Bludger to hit me, and he apologised and begged forgiveness for ages. That explains the sudden cold feeling I got during the match…"
Leonardo listened. So Dobby had still sought Harry out in the end.
"And what do you think, Harry?" Leonardo asked.
Harry's answer came without hesitation. "I'm not leaving. Running away only works for a while. I told you, I want the strength and courage to face Voldemort. I can't learn that at my aunt and uncle's. I have to stay at Hogwarts, learn from the professors, learn from you."
"Actually, Leonardo, you said you were going to start teaching us the Shield Charm properly. Isn't that something fourth- and fifth-years usually learn?"
Harry's steady gaze and firm voice made Leonardo nod slightly. Good. That's the spirit.
"The reason it's taught later isn't just difficulty," Leonardo said. "It's also the current teaching philosophy. Practical combat spells, unless you're training for something like becoming an Auror, most people don't master them deeply…"
Trunk World.
Alchemy Workshop District.
Leonardo was making the final adjustments to the East wind broom. The wind-and-thunder sound that once seemed to coil around it was growing softer, but that didn't mean the broom's performance was weaker. It was more like the stillness before a storm. Only when it was truly pushed would the roar of wind and the crackle of thunder burst forth alongside its speed.
When the last thread of electric arc and air-current was drawn into the broom's internal structure, Leonardo felt it settle into a complete whole.
The East wind was finished.
[Ding!]
[Loan Triggered: Beginner Elemental Lightning Rune, Weekly Loan]
Hearing the system's prompt, Leonardo didn't stop moving. He finished calibrating the final steps first, then turned his attention to the loan details.
[Loan Name: Beginner Elemental Lightning Rune, Weekly Loan]
[Repayment Deadline: 7 days]
[Loan Content: Gain the Beginner Elemental Lightning Rune. Increases the host's affinity with the lightning element. Speeds up learning of lightning-element magic. Increases the power of lightning-element magic by 10%.]
[Loan Task: Prevent a storm.]
That immediately caught Leonardo's interest.
Lightning affinity? The increased learning speed didn't matter much, given his current talent. He wasn't exactly slow.
But a flat 10% increase in power sounded genuinely useful.
"System, does this power increase apply to all lightning magic? Whether it's a simple basic arc charm or something higher-tier?"
[Applies to all lightning-element magic.]
Leonardo's expression warmed with quiet satisfaction. The more universal the boost, the more valuable it was long-term. Ten percent sounded small, but for spells that were already potent, an extra tenth in force could be significant.
And this was only beginner level.
Clearly there were higher ranks of elemental lightning runes, with stronger amplification and more dramatic enhancement.
If there was a lightning rune, there were probably other elemental runes too, fire, water, wind, and so on.
Elemental magic hit hard and offered a wide range of worthwhile directions to pursue.
"System, beyond the beginner lightning rune, there are higher levels, right? And do the other elements, fire, water, wind, have their own runes too?"
[Yes. After beginner come intermediate, advanced, master, and grandmaster. All elements have corresponding enhancement runes.]
So elemental magic really did have a future.
Unfortunately, weekly loans and above were closer to random triggers. Drawing the right elemental rune would take a bit of luck.
"System, if I take the elemental lightning rune loan, can you trigger more related ones later? If I borrow and repay properly, that should be healthier for both of us, right?"
[Given the host's excellent credit, the system will accommodate such a request.]
Leonardo almost wanted to give the system a five-star review, if only there were somewhere to do it.
Either way, he was taking this loan. The task wasn't hard. He could spend a few days crafting an alchemical tool that amplified weather-calming charms, or he could have Aether do a bit of work. A thunderbird could call storms, and it could scatter them too.
"System, I'm taking the Beginner Elemental Lightning Rune loan."
[Ding. Loan application successful.]
[Note: Collecting all elemental runes will yield a surprise.]
A surprise?
What, become some sort of Elemental Lord, commanding the elements with a flick of his hand? Or an elemental body, impossible to kill?
Leonardo shook his head, then looked down at his right hand.
On the pad of his thumb, a faint silver lightning-shaped mark had appeared. Within it, thin violet arcs occasionally threaded through, almost imperceptible. The branching ends split into tiny jagged forks like real lightning, calm at a glance, yet carrying a hint of restrained violence.