The end-of-year exams were over, and Quinn was finally free from sitting for tests and giving last-minute lectures the entirety of Ravenclaw's second-year population.
The downside of being the top scorer on exams and being nice to most of his housemates was that people came to him just before exams for help, so Quinn held up court in the Ravenclaw common room and took doubts and questions before every exam.
Now, he sat in his workshop with a small stack of paper plus a manilla folder sitting in front of him.
The title on the manilla folder read,
「Chapter: Vault One (Temp.)」
Quinn categorized this chapter under 「Project: Vaults」.
He had opened this project for the cursed vaults present in Hogwarts. If things went according to plan and he didn't face any unforeseen problems, this project would have five chapters correlating to the five cursed vaults present in Hogwarts.
Quinn waved a hand over the manilla folder, and the writing disappeared.
Picking up his fountain pen, he changed the title on the manilla folder.
「Chapter: Icy Vault」
The once named Vault One was now turned to Icy Vault.
"Let's start," spoke Quinn, picking up a sheet from the stack and started transcribing all of his experience from his first interaction with Friar to this very day.
The document had everything from how to find the wall on the fifth-floor corridor. What charms and spells were used to detect the wall, and what were the exact responses wanted from the detection spells. Quinn wrote in detail about the methodology he used and referenced every technique he used to find the entrance to the Icy corridor.
Next, Quinn wrote about how to open the entrance to the Icy corridor. He gave a detailed description of how to channel magic into the wall in a particular sequence so that wall would give way to the Icy corridor. He explained how his method reacted and triggered the charms in the wall.
The next part of the document detailed everything about the Icy corridor. How the temperature increased as you walked deeper inside, recording the decreasing temperature at regular distances till the end of the corridor where an invisible barrier existed that separated the corridor from the Icy vault region.
The vault region was extensive as Quinn had to write about the temperature, the defensive mechanism, and the magic he has used. The Blood magic was an essential part of the document report as it was the magic that kept a person alive in there, and without it or a suitable alternative, death was guaranteed.
The subtopic in the report mentioned how Quinn used Blood magic and every traditional spell that allowed a person who used a magical focus to replicate his results. Quinn was sure that if he published the Blood magic part of the document, he would gain fame in the magical community for using dark magic and the fascinating theory behind the Blood magic application.
The document continued by explaining the defense mechanism of the vault and went through every part of the rune, charm, transfiguration, and transmutation work that the mechanism employed to create the effects that the operation showed.
There were pages upon pages on how every rune corresponded to the mechanism's function, how the charms operated to keep the system online, and working from the source energy provided by the Absolute Zero material locked in the vault.
With the defensive mechanism came the method to open it and enter the vault. The section was filled with observations on ice and water properties and how to perform transmutation and transfiguration on the snowflake icicle. Quinn theoretically explained the sublimation process of ice into water vapor and why he transfigured the gas into magnesium.
Every tweak required to make the magic work and wrest the control from the defensive mechanism was mentioned; Quinn spun a perfect blend of theoretical and experimental observation to produce a result that worked a hundred percent of the time.
Finally, Quinn mentioned the center of it all, the Absolute Zero in the vault. Quinn didn't dive into details because first, he knew little about Absolute Zero and its alchemic properties, and second, Quinn was going to create another separate record for Absolute Zero.
The presence of Absolute Zero near Quinn was a fortuitous encounter, and Quinn was going to research extensively. The observations and experimental records would be of extraordinary value in the magical research and alchemic community.
There weren't any known instances of Absolute Zero in the current time, so any records from Absolute Zero would be groundbreaking.
It took Quinn a week to complete the document under the Icy vault chapter, and when he finished, Quinn had penned seventy-eight pages worth of material.
The last page of the report was Quinn's personal remarks about the entire experience.
.
[
The exploration of the first cursed vault, which I have named the Icy vault, was a long and arduous process. The experience challenged me time after time to find new methods to solve the numerous problems I faced.
I spent months of my life working on the Icy vault, but despite the difficulties I faced and the time I devoted to it, I am glad that I could experience it and would do it again if given a choice.
I haven't even started to explore the mysteries of Absolute Zero, and yet I have learned so much.
It started me on a new field of magic, Blood magic. I will continue to learn more about this branch of magic. I thoroughly researched the elemental magic of ice and water to aid me in my progress. In the process, I learned so much that I can say that water and ice magic are my strongest suit.
While working on the defensive mechanism, I gained another level of insight into transmutation and transfiguration. The resistance from the defensive mechanism forced me to optimize my magic usage. Now, my efficiency and skill in both these fields are on a different level.
I would laugh at past me if he said that he was good at transfiguration and transmutation.
Looking at the future, I figure that the remaining four vaults would also help me gain valuable experience and lead me to grow as a magic-user. I look forward to the future in the hope that it would be eventful.
Signing off,
Quinn West.
]
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After editing, proofreading, and cleaning up the document, Quinn admired his work before charming every single page of the Icy vault document so that no one else could read it and then sealed all the pages inside the manilla folder.
He walked to the file cabinet in the workshop and dropped the folder inside, finally ending the Icy vault exploration.
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- (Scene Break) -
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Late at night, Quinn walked with Recon floating in front of him. The corridors of Hogwarts were silent and dark, most of the portraits were sleeping, and Quinn was making sure that no one saw him, so he was alone and unseen.
He took a turn and finally found the one he was looking for. Quinn smiled and decided to dramatic. He ramped up his magic and started to freeze his surroundings. Thin sheets of ice emerged as the surrounding temperature dropped.
The floating ghost was looking at the night sky, felt something. He turned to see Quinn standing at a distance from him, with ice surrounding the floors and walls.
"Follow me, Friar, you gave me a quest, and I have completed it. Come with me to witness a first in the thousand-year history of Hogwarts," said Quinn to the Hufflepuff ghost who gave him the quest to open the cursed vaults.
Friar's ghostly eyes widened as he heard Quinn and saw the ice. He knew the signs.
"You... you opened it?" asked Friar as he floated towards Quinn.
The two walked in silence as they made their way towards the fifth-floor corridor. Friar eyed Quinn suspiciously. He didn't believe that Quinn had opened the vault. He wasn't even sure that Quinn had opened the entrance.
It was too soon. People had tried and failed time and time again.
Living and dead reached the fifth floor. To the place that both knew was the entrance of the Icy corridor.
Quinn placed his hand on the wall and smiled towards Friar. Friar's eyes widened as he saw the bricks shake and the wall give space to reveal the Icy corridor.
Friar followed Quinn, still stunned to see the progress Quinn had made in less than a year. He had seen others take several years just to open this wall.
"You know, this vault gave me a lot of problems. I almost died the first time I entered, and it was pure luck that I survived. My magic really came in clutch," said Quinn as he put on his usual cold clothing.
Friar looked at Quinn and warned, "Are you sure that you opened the wall? It won't do any good from bragging. Don't enter there if you aren't ready. I have seen better men die by descending those steps."
Quinn smirked as he repeated, "Better men? You must not have chosen them carefully. Let me show you how it is done."
Friar stared as he saw glowing veins appeared on Quinn's face.
"What is that magic," questioned Friar, moving closer to Quinn, but stopped when he got closer to the steps.
"This? This is the answer," said Quinn as he descended the steps, entering the vault region.
Friar watched, scared that Quinn would die, but his eyes widened as he saw Quinn turn around and raise his arms.
"This is how it is done. I don't brag, Friar. Everything I saw I can do, I can deliver," laughed Quinn.
Quinn turned on the spot and thrusted his hands towards the snowflake icicle.
Friar looked away from Quinn and towards the vault gate. He saw the snowflake icicle shake. With every passing second, the trembles become more pronounced.
'Did he really accomplish it?' though Friar, his faith in Quinn increasing.
Friar's gasped when he saw the snowflake turn into water vapor, but it wasn't the end, he watched as the gas collected itself, and in mid-air, it turned into a lump of metal. The lump of metal fell to the floor with a thud.
Quinn waved his hand, and the gate opened. Like usual, spears of ice came shooting out.
"Be careful!" yelled Friar, trying to warn Quinn.
Quinn stood with his hands behind his back and watched the spears close on him, and the second they came near him, the spears turned into water, and the water parted. Not a single drop touched Quinn.
Quinn turned to face Friar and smirked, "Well, do you believe me now?"
Friar nodded as he stared at the blue light he could see in the vault. He pointed at it and asked, "What is that?"
Quinn looked inside the vault and answered, "That is Absolute Zero."
Friar looked at Quinn, confused, "What is that?"
Quinn shook his head and spoke, "Don't worry about it. Just know that it is freezing. Much colder than where I am standing. It is the reason behind all the cold in the vault."
Both stared at the blue light.
The dead because it was something that the ghost had wanted to see in a long time, but it took centuries, and now Friar had finally seen it.
The living because it reminded him of the time he spent here and the future of new findings.
After a while, the pair left the Icy corridor and went back to the fifth floor.
Friar looked at Quinn and spoke, "I believe congratulations are in order."
"Thank you," replied Quinn.
"Now, let me tell you about the next vault," said Friar, but Quinn shook his head and said,
"No."
Friar frowned and asked, "What do you mean, no?"
Quinn sighed and answered, "I spent a lot of time this year on this vault and would like a break. If you tell me the clue to the next one, I will end up thinking about it. So, for now, hold that clue. When I return next year, we will continue." Quinn didn't want to take on another vault clue and then spend his summer break contemplating on it.
Friar watched Quinn before speaking, "Alright. I respect your decision. I will give you the vault clue next year when you return."
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- (Scene Break) -
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After talking to Friar, Quinn spent a week going to sleep early and didn't break curfew. He just relaxed and read some books for light reading.
And, in that week, one day, Quinn went to the Great Hall for breakfast. His eyes fell upon the High table, and he noticed Quirrell wasn't at breakfast.
Alarm bells rang in Quinn's mind as Quirrell had been punctual at eating breakfast in the Great Hall. Quinn looked at the Gryffindor table and saw that Ron, Hermione, and Ivy were sitting close to each other and were talking in hushed voices. Harry Potter was missing from the group.
Quinn's brows raised, and he thought, 'Oh, damn. Harry did in Quirrell, didn't he? I missed it, huh.' Quinn leaned onto the table and rested his upper body on it, arms crossed.
'Well, whatever, nothing to do with me,' thought Quinn. He lost interest in the Philosopher's stone after his failed attempt to get a look at it. He realized that even if he was present at Quirrell versus Harry, he wouldn't have been able to swipe the stone.
In the books, Dumbledore had gotten there just when Harry had cremated Quirrell into ashes, and Quinn didn't want to take the risk of being there at that moment. He wasn't confident in hiding from Dumbledore. So, Quinn had given up on getting the Philosopher's stone.
'But, I would have loved to meet Nicolas Flamel,' thought Quinn. He was very jealous of Lia when she told him that Flamels gave an annual lecture at Beauxbatons, and she had gotten to talk to the alchemist and his wife during her school days.
Quinn gave a last look to the Gryffindor table and thought, 'Maybe I should go visit the hospital wing.'
Eddie looked at Quinn and asked, "What is up with you? You have been weirdly loose and relaxed for the past few days. It is creeping me out."
Quinn turned his face towards his roommate and raised his hand. His hand went behind Eddie's ear, and when he brought it back, he had a chocolate ball in his hand.
"Carmichael, you worked hard for the exams. You deserve sweets for breakfast. Go on, have this chocolate," said Quinn.
Eddie took the chocolate from Quinn and exclaimed in awe, "How do you that?! Making things appear from nowhere. Did you learn some advanced conjuration spell?"
Quinn lazily smiled and said a single word, "Magic."
"Hey, I want a chocolate too," said Marcus from across the table.
Quinn smiled and spoke, "Check your right pant pocket."
Marcus put his hand in his pant pocket, and his eyes widened as he pulled out a chocolate ball, "Now, how did you do that?!"
"Like I told you, magic," was all Quinn said because a magician never revealed his secrets.
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- (Scene Break) -
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Quinn's mood had improved considerably, and he danced his way into the hospital wing. In his hand was a small crate with numerous vials of various potions.
"Madam Pomfrey, I have come to visit~," said Quinn, looking for the matron.
The medi-witch poked her head from one of the curtains and sighed, "What is it, Mr. West? I am busy."
Quinn grinned as he walked towards the matron, "Madam Pomfrey, you always say that. We don't talk anymore. It is like you are avoiding me..."
Quinn's voice trailed at the end as he saw that Madam Pomfrey wasn't alone. On the bed laid one Harry Potter, and on his bedside sat Professor Lily Potter and her husband, James Potter. On the other side of the bed, Ivy Potter stared at him.
"Uuuu..." uttered Quinn. He looked at Lily and greeted, "Good afternoon, professor."
"Good afternoon, Mr. West," greeted the older redhead.
Quinn felt a gaze on him and looked at the source to find Ivy Potter staring at him. Quinn tilted his head and did a barely noticeable shrug as if telling her, 'I told you so.'
He looked at Pomfrey and said, "I bought some potions and was thinking we could have some afternoon tea, but it seems you are busy, so let's do that later." He lifted the crate slightly and asked, "Where should I put these?"
"Put them beside my table," said the matron.
Quinn nodded, and with a last cursory glance at the Potter family, he left.
After Quinn left, Lily looked at Pomfrey and asked, "How do you know Mr. West?"
Pomfrey sighed as she checked on Harry, "He was in an accident and had to stay here for a while. From then on, he comes by every week pestering me on Healing magic." She once again sighed and said, "That child talks a little too much for my taste."
She still remembered how Quinn talk to her while admitted here. When she said that his loud voice, while she worked, was disturbing other patients, he started to use magic to deliver his sound directly to her ears.
She, on multiple occasions, had to face weird looks from other patients and questions about why she was talking to herself. She had to take away Quinn's wand to stop his talking.
"What about those potions?" this time, the inquiry came from Ivy Potter. She was extremely curious about the person who knew about the restricted area.
"That child brews potions for the hospital wing every time he comes for a visit. It is his way to thank me for answering his questions," replied the matron.
"Potions? You are saying that he is brewing medical potions? He doesn't look much older than Harry or Ivy," asked James Potter.
"Mr. West is great at brewing potions. His potions stand up to standards, so there are no problems with the quality of the potions," revealed the matron.
Quinn, who knew nothing about the conversation, walked to the A.I.D office while humming a happy tune.
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[
A/N [1]: We have reached 1 MILLION views. Hell yeah! This week, we averaged around 25th position on the power stone ranking (fanfiction category).
*
A/N [2]: I got an excellent response in the last chapter. I will be sure to feature the use of Absolute Zero, or more specifically cold. Theories and uses derived from Absolute Zero.
]
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Quinn West - MC - Relaxed, Chill, Happy.
Friar - Hufflepuff ghost - Excited for the coming year.
Poppy Pomfrey - Matron - Likes Quinn even though he is noisy.
Ivy Potter - Potter Princess - Slightly suspicious of Quinn.
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