One late night in mid-October.
Inside the Gap World.
Maurise sat comfortably on the ethereal roof of the Hogwarts Great Hall, happily manufacturing gap energy crystals.
"Energy Convergence!"
Within moments, a small, pearl-white bead materialized in the palm of his hand.
Lately, he had noticed a fascinating phenomenon. Continuously using Energy Convergence would significantly deplete the density of the silver fog surrounding the castle. However, if he simply waited patiently, the mist would gradually replenish itself.
He had formed a solid hypothesis regarding the nature of this white fog. It had to be some specific, highly concentrated form of magical energy.
Maurise slipped the newly condensed bead into his robe pocket, joining the dozen or so crystals he had already accumulated. The soft, glassy clinking of the beads was the only sound that dared to interrupt the profound silence of this dimension.
Maurise absolutely loved the terrifying stillness of this place. As long as he was here, he felt an inexplicable, profound sense of tranquility. It was incredibly comforting.
"That should be enough for tonight."
Maurise let out a satisfied breath and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he was back in his dormitory in the physical world.
The hands on his wall clock pointed to 2:00 AM. Outside the window, the world was pitch black, with only the faint, distant hooting of an owl breaking the quiet night.
Maurise glanced down at the vial of Draught of Living Death resting on the floor beside him.
This time, he had entered the Gap World without relying on his usual crutch. He had finally grown so accustomed to that specific, trance-like sensation of "death" that he could now manually guide his consciousness into that state without the aid of a potion.
It was an incredibly bizarre sensation. Even he could not fully explain the mechanics behind how he was doing it.
Now, all he had to do to enter the Gap World was set up the magical transportation array and manually trigger it with his mind. When the array's energy depleted, it would automatically yank his consciousness back to his body.
Not needing the Draught of Living Death was undeniably fantastic news. The ingredients required to brew that specific potion were outrageously expensive. This new development was going to save him a small mountain of Galleons.
After securing the newly forged energy crystals inside his trunk, Maurise summoned the Book of the Magi.
"Summon Skeleton?"
A new entry had finally materialized on the long-dormant pages.
It appeared to be a conjuration spell. It allowed the caster to construct temporary, animated skeletons using pure magical energy to assist in combat or execute simple commands.
Maurise immediately set to work constructing the mental spell model.
As he began piecing it together, he noticed something intriguing. The spell model for this new magic was remarkably similar to Bone Calling. From a structural perspective, this spell felt like an advanced evolution, or perhaps a direct expansion, of his very first magic.
Fascinating.
It took Maurise two solid hours of intense concentration to perfectly construct the complex spell model within his mind.
"Kruk... Skar... Vhul!" (Summon Skeleton!)
The instant the incantation left his lips, dark, chaotic energy surged into the empty space in the center of his room. The light rapidly intertwined and solidified.
In a mere three seconds, a complete, towering humanoid skeleton, roughly six feet tall, stood before him.
Its bones were stark, bleached white, and two pinpricks of eerie, dancing flame burned deep within its hollow eye sockets. It stood in perfect, absolute silence, waiting for a command.
Unlike undead creatures formed through necromancy, this skeleton was an entirely artificial construct woven from pure magic. The moment its internal magical reserves depleted, it would vanish into thin air.
Maurise slowly circled the skeleton, inspecting his handiwork critically.
It felt like something was missing.
Ah. Yes. A weapon. It could hardly scratch an opponent to death with bare phalanges, could it?
Maurise chanted softly, "Kruk... Tak... Gûl! (Bone Calling)"
Instantly, a massive, wickedly curved scythe forged from solid bone materialized in the skeleton's grip.
"Now that is much better," Maurise nodded in approval.
At the very least, it looked incredibly intimidating.
It was genuinely fascinating how fundamentally different the magic from the Book of the Magi was compared to the magic native to this world.
The magic of this world relied heavily on emotional resonance and willpower. The spells from the book, however, completely ignored emotion, demanding absolute, surgical precision over mental energy and structural visualization.
Both systems possessed their own unique charm, yet at their core, they were fundamentally identical: the manipulation and release of internal "energy" through specific, structured methods.
Maurise decided it was time to test the actual combat capabilities of his new skeletal minion. He figured a little interactive game with his housemates would be the perfect testing ground.
---
The next morning, inside the Ravenclaw common room.
The early morning sun streamed through the arched windows, casting bright, dappled patterns across the plush blue carpets. A few early risers trickled into the room, yawning and stretching, fully intending to collapse onto the sofas by the fireplace for a few moments of peace before breakfast.
Instead, they collectively froze in their tracks.
In the open space at the center of the room, two figures were pacing back and forth.
They were towering, bleached-white, humanoid skeletons.
One gripped a bone scythe with an exaggerated, terrifying curve, while the other rested its hands on a massive bone hammer that was nearly as tall as it was.
"What in Merlin's name... are those new decorations?" one boy stammered, instinctively taking a large step backward.
"Are they... alive?" another student asked, his voice trembling as he lowered it to a whisper.
At that moment, Maurise casually stood up from a nearby armchair, a small notebook resting in his hand.
He immediately recognized one of the paralyzed students. It was his friendly neighbor, Roger Davies. Roger was the older student who had kindly repaired his dormitory wall during his first year. He was a decent bloke.
"Good morning, everyone," Maurise greeted them with a perfectly natural, cheerful smile.
Roger cautiously stepped forward, his eyes darting between Maurise and the undead constructs. "Black? Did you summon these? I know Halloween is coming up, but isn't it a bit early to start decorating?"
"Oh, these are not for Halloween," Maurise chuckled. "I conjured these myself using a bit of specialized magic."
"They look terrifying," Roger admitted, a note of awe creeping into his voice.
"I am currently testing their structural integrity and combat strength," Maurise announced, his tone dropping into something far more enticing. "If any of you can completely dismantle one of them within five minutes, you will win a spectacular grand prize."
A grand prize?
That instantly grabbed the attention of every student in the room. All eyes snapped eagerly toward Maurise.
"What kind of prize?" Roger asked, unable to hide his curiosity. The others leaned in closer.
"An entire, exceptionally delicious, double-fudge chocolate cake," Maurise declared proudly, pointing to a small table nearby where the cake rested. He had taken a quick trip down to the kitchens at the crack of dawn specifically for this purpose.
The moment the words left his mouth, the intense interest in the room vanished like smoke.
That was it? Furthermore, eating a heavy chocolate cake first thing in the morning was completely absurd. It was hardly worth risking life and limb against two armed skeletons.
Boring.
Anticipating this exact reaction, Maurise calmly reached into his robe pocket. He pulled out five gleaming, heavy gold coins and stacked them neatly on the table right next to the cake. "Consider this a small, complimentary bonus."
The atmosphere in the common room instantly reignited, practically burning with heat.
Who in their right mind could possibly refuse cold, hard Galleons?
"One chocolate cake and five golden Galleons," Maurise restated the terms, a sly, challenging smile playing on his lips. "Dismantle my skeleton, Davies, and it is all yours."