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Hogwarts
–Damian Hawthorne–
"Get off me, Ron," He watched as Harry and Ron struggled to stand up after having tracked down Hermione to this spot. He had been roaming the halls as well, but from a distance and always in a way that neither they nor he could see each other. In that way, he could maintain plausible deniability just in case Dumbledore was tracking them in real time using some bastardised version of the Marauders Map, which still boggled his mind by the way.
Not the map itself, mind you. At this point, he could make it without any issue, so long as Hogwarts did not tattle on him, but him being able to make it and a bunch of teenagers being able to create it were two very different things. The Marauders really were prodigies, to be able to become Animagi on their own and create something as complex as the Marauders Map.
Just glancing at them, he moved on, making sure all of them were within his reach, just in case something happened, but were also out of visual range, just in case Dumbledore came barrelling down the hallway in search of his Golden Boy.
The precise bursts of magic from Harry were unexpected, as was the use of said magic to propel him forward without having to worry about banking while running full tilt. It was such a wasteful way to spend their magic, atleast for most people, since they did not have a way to do that wandless and also did not have the added benefit of having all that willpower and emotion behind the action.
Sure, most wizards could do it, but that was contingent only on the fact that they could do it normally. If they couldn't do it wandlessly on demand, they would not be able to boost their output with their emotions, and even if they did, it would not be helpful at all.
Harry here had the unique combination of being able to use rudimentary wandless magic, likely because Dumbledore taught him some tricks in case he lost his wand, and had insane willpower for his age, not to mention the strong emotions of worry for his friend.
He heard Hermione burst out crying once more, with Ron sputtering and Harry remaining silent, as the Golden Trio probably hugged it out in front of a Girl's bathroom in a mostly abandoned corner of the Castle, with no one around them, as far as they knew anyway.
That was when he felt it. A magic so subtle, a disturbance that he could not have sensed if it had not just passed him. Something invisible had just crossed the area in front of him, and had it not been for his other senses being stronger than normal, he would not have been able to sense the slight rush of air, and the very noticeable change of light around the corner.
It was only when he focused on that disturbed area that he felt it. Magic. Someone was hiding under a magic so potent, it almost managed to fool him, and he knew of only one artefact that could do that right now. Something that was in Dumbledore's hands.
The Invisibility Cloak.
He supposed that even an artifact of death, supposedly, could not bypass basic laws of physics or just take its user out of phase with the dimension, creating true stealth. Instead, it was just masking their scent and their magic to a great degree, on top of the invisibility as well.
Smiling, he slowly began stepping back, his job done. He did not know where the Troll had attacked, but if the Headmaster had enough time to put on the cloak and follow Harry here, then maybe Quirell was lying or Hogwarts had taken care of the troll problem before it could spiral further.
Either way, his job was—
He paused mid step, his entire being lurching at once as he felt it once more. Unicorn Blood. No, the essence of Unicorns. He knew that without even having felt it once beforehand. It was as if that knowledge had been hard coded in his mind before he even knew of it. He took a step forward, magic barely controlled beneath his skin as he so desperately wished to unleash his destructive spells in one go to destroy whatever abomination had been conjured in front of him.
It was only his recent meeting with Newt that flashed through his mind, something that made him calm down, as if someone had poured ice cold water all over his head, making him snap out of the rage that had been induced in him. Shaking his head slightly, he took in deep breaths, ignoring Hermione's scream with only a little difficulty as that was also accompanied by bursts of magic and shouts of what little offensive spells were taught to first years, which were basically zero.
He repeated the scene of Newt and his zealous proclamations about the world repeatedly in his mind to help himself understand just what that path would lead to, if he lost himself to the rage that he was sure was being introduced in his system from outside. It was just so frustrating that he could not get rid of that, but he could do the next best thing.
Not let it control his mind.
Which is why, after the third second of fighting against his own mind, he opened his eyes and stepped forward, ready to tackle whoever it may be. The magic signature felt weird, but he had no frame of reference for what Quirell's magic might feel like when Tommy boy had taken over that weakling's body.
Still under his stealth spell, he turned around the corner and paused, seeing an actual troll in front of him, with no sign of the Invisibility Cloak on its body. He could also not sense any more disturbances around the area. In hindsight, it was kind of scary just how close the invisible person had come without him noticing it immediately. Just goes to show how he could not let his guard down, ever.
He remained standing, waiting for that person to show himself, because there was no way a mere troll would have slipped past his senses, without the Invisible Cloak of all things.
Or maybe, it wasn't that?
He peered closer to the troll and its nature, as it began smashing its club into the ground, breaking tiles and spraying shrapnel everywhere, something that Harry handled admirably, using the Protego charm to shield himself and the others.
Damn. A sixth year spell being used by a firstie, that too nonverbally? Dumbledore must have been really invested in Harry's repertoire of magic. Harry then took one of the shrapnel pieces lying at his feet and after a little transfiguration that made it far sharper than before, sent it flying towards the troll, which was not a troll at all.
No, he had sensed it just now. It was not a troll but a conjuration. A conjuration so advanced that it was just a step away from the real thing. Even the conjuration thought like a troll, using its club and its physical advantages in the worst possible way.
Somehow, Quirell, or rather Tommy boy, had gone ahead and likely used the essence of the Unicorns to supercharge the conjuration, giving it stealth that was far beyond what normal magic could do, and make it as close to as a troll as possible.
Despite the rather precarious situation in front of him, he found himself smiling, as he looked at the troll and tried to peer past its working, to see if he could find anything worth learning.
Say what you will about Tommy boy and his propensity for self soul mutilation and casual murder bordering on genocide, the man really was a genius, or at least, an avid reader and collector of esoteric magic for him to be able to use Unicorn essence in such a way.
Obviously, he was going to die for this. If not by his hand, then by someone else's. Mother Magic really did not take kindly to someone hurting the pure ones, and it was widely known that doing anything to Unicorns that was not done voluntarily on their part was just inviting ruin upon themselves and everyone around them. To figure out such a method of using magic while being cursed, probably repeated due to the very nature of experimentation, was nothing if not a show of perseverance.
Spreading out his senses, he felt no one around him, which would have been fine except for one small thing.
Hogwarts.
Hogwarts' presence was something he could feel at the back of his mind for as long as he had been in Hogwarts. The only way he could feel her influence wane away was when he used the underground sewer system to get out of school, so to speak.
Otherwise, she was pretty much omniscient in all of Hogwarts. Right now, he could not feel her, watching everything, and ready to jump into action just in case someone was harmed. No, she was absent, and that made him a little uneasy, he had to admit.
Could it be that Tommy boy had targeted Hogwarts and its ward matrix as well? Using Unicorn essence to maximise stealth could get him past most of the defences that Dumbledore might have installed, but how would he even get to the Ward Matrix. No one alive, aside from Dumbledore, had any idea of where or even what the Ward Matrix was.
It could be a random brick behind the chandelier for all they knew. Only the Headmasters were privy to that information and the only one alive right now was Dumbledore.
Which meant that something else was afoot here. Maybe Dumbledore himself had ordered her to stand down? Even then, he would have felt her watching. It was one of her core functions.
Meanwhile, the battle was picking up heat in front of him. Hermione and Ron were both just frozen, not knowing what to do. The best Hermione could do was levitate pieces of the shrapnel and let Harry send them flying to the troll, but aside from that, Harry was doing the heavy lifting here.
They had pulled the Protego down and were being pushed back as the troll did what trolls do, destroy everything around it while slow walking to its prey.
Harry's attacks, while fast and dangerous, did nothing to the troll, which was a magical construct far beyond the ability of Harry to handle.
It would seem that it was time for their Lord and Savior to step in.
If you would like to read ahead 12 chapters ahead, you can head to my P*treon.