Eccentric Wizard Chapter 15: Lune

Beta read

I'm still in the middle of rewriting past chapters. I've finished with chapter 11 (Which I just updated) and will soon be done with chapter 13.

Also, chapter 7 and 8 of Fate Coiling Sword are updated with beta read version as well.

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-Forbidden forest-


Now, I knew there were certain things in life one needed to stay the as far away from. Creepy clowns, white vans, dark alleys in the middle of the night and so on. These things represented a potential danger to anyone encountering them, but it was not guaranteed.


The Forbidden Forest on the other hand… well, my chances of encountering a murderous monster were very lively and grew tremendously the longer I stayed. Was I afraid? Very. 


But I remembered Hagrid's words and made sure to stay inside the 'safe zone' and even checked every single tree near me for any symbols or warnings of any kind. The last thing I wanted was to eaten by a swarm of giant spiders.


Why was I in the godforsaken place in the first place? I had different reasons, from a bit of foraging, getting familiar with the different paths, possibly meeting any non-aggressive creatures and finding a quiet place to practice my magic. But there was also another reason… that skeletal horse from before, a Thestral — I wanted to see it again.


I was curious about the species said to be attuned to death. Only visible to those who have witnessed death and accepted its reality had the ability to see them. I did not wonder why I could see them, the answer was pretty obvious — I just wanted to know why it was attracted to me. Could it see something others could not? Possibly, I wanted to check that theory.


Thankfully, I didn't come unprepared, these creatures were carnivores, loving the taste of meat and bringing most predators who chased smaller game across the forest. I brought a large leather bag with me filled with half a dozen raw chicken and even a cut of beef. I asked Dobby to make sure no odor would escape the bag, as it could attract other predators. My goal wasn't to lure it towards me, as I could easily have something else approach me instead of a Thestral.


According to my research, the ministry classed these beasts in the 'XXXX' category. Which was considered to be quite high and only specialized wizards were allowed to deal with them. The more I researched the more my previous encounter started to look odd. They were social creatures, always staying in a herd in environments such as the one I was trudging through.


"Haa… Haa… I'll need a shower the moment I get back." 


The place was very humid and hot, making me sweat more than usual. Everything was sticky, my skin felt like it was covered in glue and that was just from twenty minutes of walking.


"Goddamn myself, I could have spent my afternoon in bed or just hung out with the boys. But noooooo, my sorry ass had to get curious, get the better of me and pull me in this place!" 


I kept traveling to the northern east part of the forest. According to Blaise, he heard rumors of there being a large empty stable. That was my best chance of finding them, or at least I hoped so.


My legs were killing me after the second hour of walking, I was tired and annoyed that I couldn't get a decent look around. I was starting to worry about what might happen if I stumbled into something deadly, such as a giant spider, or maybe even a werewolf with my luck or some other predators. Just to keep myself distracted from my aching legs, I brought my want to do some magic.


"Wingardium Leviosa." I cleared a small branch from my path, it wasn't anything like a tree trunk which would have been far heavier and difficult. 


"Wands were used by witches and wizards to channel their magic, making their spells more accurate and potent… so technically I can perform the spell without it." 


The idea was plausible and even very feasible. It wasn't like this was a forbidden form of magic that only a selected few knew. Any remarkable wizard could at least perform SOME wandless magic… to a certain degree at least. Of course, there was a high chance for these spells to fail and this method wasn't reliable in the least for people who were used to the want. 


Dumbledore was said to be one of the few who could use wandless magic reliably and with little effort. Even Lucius would close the doors or windows with a sime hand gesture, so it wasn't that uncommon.


"I read somewhere that the magic community in Uganda are more used to wandless magic than people from the European wizarding world." They only started using wands only for a century, while wizards here used them for far longer. So before that, Uagadou thought their wizards wandless magic.


For god's sake, I used to intentionally break tea cups as a child from getting too frustrated or angry! 


"I just need to… focus." 


A small dried out piece of leaf found itself on my path, instead of just walking over it, I stopped and sat down for a bit. My legs thanked me, so why not practice a bit of magic for five minutes?


"So, do I just repeat the same movement and words?"

And so I moved my hands in a similar pattern while repeating the same words, yet nothing happened.

No, that wouldn't work. Instead, I decided to try a different method. As I focused, I began to visualize the process of moving the leaf. Every time I tried to move it, I imagined myself doing it physically. A lot of people mentioned that they didn't understand how magic worked, I was not sure, but I believe it was because they never truly tried to visualize the process with the proper amount of concentration and dedication.


"Okay, let's start…"


I closed my eyes and went into the visualization. "Wingardium Leviosa." I pictured myself picking up a piece of paper using only the power of my mind. This was easier to do since I was already familiar with the concept. I lifted the leaf, then placed it down gently and moved on to perform a few more times.


"Yeah, this isn't too bad."


Granted, it wasn't that impressive, but it worked. I was able to do it without much trouble, though I did feel like I was cheating a bit. But if I wanted to learn how to cast a spell without a wand, it was going to take time and effort. After five minutes, it stopped working for some reason.


"Huh? Did I reach my limit or something?"


This was expected, I should be practicing for at least a few hours every day. If I wanted to master wandless magic for such a basic spell, I would need to be disciplined enough to dedicate a good chunk of my time.


"Fuck me, I'm not a professional wizard yet. I still need to study! Who cares if I'm lazy? Me, of course!"


No one was going to hold my hand in such things, the professors helped but I couldn't become reliant on them for everything. Magic was dangerous without guidance, true, but I needed to take that risk if I ever hoped to become strong enough to defend myself against those monsters.


I stood up and continued my way. Thankfully, I didn't encounter any monsters, but that was probably due to the fact that I was sticking to the main path, which was just a simple dirt road. While I walked, I practiced some more spells with my mind. I was trying to replicate the feeling of casting a spell without using my wand.


"I can do this, I'm sure!"


Unfortunately, practicing any other magic which required more from me ended up failing. I accidentally broke a small rock into pieces—just like how I used to break those cups as a child. I still needed to master basic wandless magic spells before going too far.


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After that, I continued walking through the forest, probably for another half an hour.


"Where is the damn stable?"


I was beginning to doubt my own thoughts, but I knew the place existed. The problem was I couldn't find it anymore, I was lost and had no clue where to go next. I didn't notice a bundle of suspicious looking leaves in my path. And without seeing anything, I stepped on it.


Woosh!


"What the—!?" I cried in surprise as a rope closed itself on my ankle and hoisted me up in the air. Leaving me dangling around without control.


"It was a trap!" I yelled while I struggled. "What is this shit?"


Who the hell would install this thing so far in the—"Hagrid!" I smacked my forehead as I realized the truth. I didn't expect for him to lay a trap so far away from his house! How would he know something got caught? Maybe he checked these things before nightfall.


I tried to grab my wand in order to free myself, but to my horror, my holster was empty! Looking around in panic, I found it on the ground just near the now open leather bag. I tried to reach for it, but was too high up and my hands couldn't reach for it.


A sigh escaped from my mouth.


"Of course this is how things end up for me..." I whispered, while the leaves swayed in the wind.


…


Once again, I was left alone in a completely unfamiliar place. The sky had already turned into a deep orange color, making it obvious that I was running out of time and night would soon fall. My stomach growled loudly, making me realize just how hungry I was.


"I ate lunch," I mumbled to myself. "But I've been walking for hours, so it made me burn through a lot of energy... Damn, I'm gonna be hungry for days after this."


Creak!


I heard something. It sounded like a rustling sound. There was a slight breeze blowing past me, but nothing else was moving, especially not leaves or branches. Slowly, I turned my head to the direction of the noise, hoping to find whatever was causing it. I looked to my right, there, a distance away from me was a dark approaching shadow of a creature.


"I really hope that it's Hagrid."


The closer it got, the bigger it became until it took form. At first, it was hard to tell what it was. But with the familiar horse-like shape with giant leathery bat wings... I knew I was in trouble.


"A Thestral..."


Of all things, I didn't expect for the creature I was searching for so long to just walk up to me like this. Maybe the pain of getting all the way here was worth it.


It came closer, pushing away the bushes and branches on its way. I couldn't make out the details at first, but as it got closer, I could clearly see the creature. It was huge! Bigger than a horse and had the same beak-like mouth I saw from when I came with Hermione and Hagrid. Dark reptilian scale instead of fur, white soulless eyes that had no pupils and that eerie atmosphere around it.


It looked at me, staring long enough for me to feel uncomfortable. I was panicking, I couldn't move nor free myself from the trap, not knowing what such a creature would do with me sure was terrifying.


"Hagrid!" I yelled out loud, hoping he would hear me above the breeze.


'Calm down, shouting is a bad idea!'


The creature seemed to be confused by my sudden outburst, it didn't show any kind of reaction, just continued to stare at me with those soulless eyes.


It started to approach me, slowly coming closer and closer. I don't know why, but I didn't want to make it panic, I was more afraid of acting like an idiot and pissing off the beast. So, I waited patiently, hoping that Hagrid would be able to arrive in time before the Thestral decided to eat me. So I did the only thing I could, which was closing my eyes.


With my eyes closed, I could still sense the creature standing next to me. Its massive wingspan was blocking out a lot of the light, making me feel as if I were in a cave. In all honesty, It felt like I was in a dream. Was I dreaming? Or worse, did I pass out? Was this really happening?


I squinted my eyes open, just to see what it was going to do.


Suddenly, the Thestral opened its beak wide enough for me to see inside. I looked down, seeing that it was full of sharp teeth. I knew it wasn't just a dream, it was real. But I couldn't react to it like I wished to, since I was still stuck in the trap.


The creature stared at me once again, taking a step forward, its beak-like mouth exhaling a disgusting odor as it leaned towards me. I could feel the warm air touching my face from its breath, making my hair stand on end. What the hell was it planning to do?


But to my surprise, it did something I never expected in my life.


A slimy tongue touched the side of my face, 


"Waaaaaah? Ewww!"


The tongue was hot, strong and rough. The sensation felt like I was being licked by a giant cat. If it tried to do it again, my skin would definitely rip off.


'Oh, no, I'm getting eaten alive here!' I thought. 


I was still trapped, unable to move, I could only watch in terror as the Thestral continued to lick my face, "Ouch! Hey, stop eating my hair!" I read these things were carnivores, so the fact that it nimbled my hair like it was grass was weird.


Fortunately, it stopped.


Wait, why was it licking me? I never knew these things would be that friendly.


I turned my eyes and saw the creature looking at the leather bag filled with food. It ignored me and when to eat everything I brought with me. With a single chomp, it managed to swallow an entire chicken without any issue. Given how quickly it ate the first one, the four were devoured in a blink of an eye along with the beef as well.


After eating everything, it went and laid down on the ground next to the tree. It stayed still, it was completely calm, almost as if it was sleeping. It occasionally made a low humming sound. 


"That's the strangest thing I've seen today." I said. "At least you aren't interested in me, with everything I put on my skin and hair, I would have tasted horrible. If you're still hungry for human meat this time, I'd suggest going for Theodore, that boy smells like fish on a good day."


The beast didn't respond, it just continued to relax on the ground.


"Well, can you be a good... Boy? Girl? You know what, be a good creature and please snap this rope around my ankles, please? My head is throbbing with all the blood rushing to it."


Unfortunately, it was listinening and was in the middle of dozing off. Desperate to leave this place before nightfall, I started making a lot of clicking noises to catch its attention. And my plan worked at the creature turned its head towards me in curiosity.


"Oh, you understood me? Do I speak Thestral?" 


It exhaled loudly, wiggling its head around as if to say no.


"You could try to get up a bit and pass me ol' wand over here." I said while pointing at my wand. The Thestral looked at my wand and back at me, even though those eyes were pure white, I could still sense some confusion coming from the skeletal horse.


"Yeah, I know, I wanted to give my wand a name but never came to a final decision with it yet — but I'm still going to do it one day when I'll think of the perfect name. Like I care what others think about it... At least Draco doesn't mind it. But for now, I guess I call it Johnathan? I know, doesn't sound right." 


I smiled awkwardly at the mention of my wand's name. The horse didn't seem to understand what I meant by that, it just continued to look at me curiously.


I wondered how someone would react to this scene. A hanging Slytherin kid talking to a chilling Thestral in the middle of the forest while it was soon about to go dark. For all I knew, wannabe Pegasus was probably waiting for the herd to come by and eat me together.


"You know, I was curious at first when you came to see me last time. Even now, you don't act like how the books described you, so it makes me even more curious about what's going on here. But for now, I wish to go back home more than anything else."


In the far distance, I heard the shrill screech of some sort of bird or avian creature. For all I know it could have been anything else. This place was not safe, at all.


"If you help me out, I promise to give you THE best food money can buy. Heck, I'll even feed ya dragon meat... Or a possible basilisk in the future." It was surprisingly common to find dragon meat on the market, as most bought them for easing the pain of the injuries like cuts and bruises. People also ate it, though it apparently gave them bad breath.


Finally, the Thestral stood up and flapped its large wings. The wind generated was so strong that even the rope couldn't take it and to my surprise—it snapped!


"Wah!" 


Crash!


I tumbled on the ground, my face hitting the trunk of another tree nearby. An intense amount of pain came from nose as I felt something break.


"Ah, ow, fuck, my nose!"


Holding my hands up, I saw my hands stained with my own blood. Looking down at the ground, I noticed that my wand was right next to me. Still in the grass, the beast landed on the ground and remained still, it was probably waiting for me to do something.


I grabbed my wand and destroyed the rope still attached to my ankles. Finally sighing in relief from getting freed from the trap. I picked myself up and took a couple steps backwards.


"So... That's what you wanted from me?" I asked, still in shock from the whole experience. "You were waiting for me to agree to give you more food?" 


"Hmhmhm," replied the Thestral with a hum.


"How cunning of you... I don't care." With a bleeding nose and a severe case of headache, I didn't even have the strength or desire to feel angry at the creature in the slightest. "Haa… Hogwarts is an hour away from here if I keep running. Given how I ain't a marathon runner and with my sore legs, I doubt I'll survive the journey." I was most likely to get jumped by some monster or get shot in the head by a centaur. Who knew, maybe I would find Quirrell having a meal in the woods and we could have a pleasant conversation before went for the kill.


I didn't want to camp out here in the dark at all. 


I nearly jumped in fright when the Thestral came closer to me and touched my shoulders with its beak-like mouth. Nudging me around and flapping its wings again, lifting up the dust around me.


"You… Can you give me a ride back to Hogwarts?" I asked, unsure of its intentions.


Without hesitation, it grabbed onto my uniform and threw me up on its back. It was much stronger than I expected, but then again given its size—it could probably throw even a full gown adult around with ease. I was still in the body of an eleven year old child, so I was not that much of a hassle to the beast.


"Holy!" 


I barely had enough time to hold on to its neck before the Thestral ran across the dirt path like a speeding car. Its wings started to flap vigorously as we were then lifted off the ground in a matter of seconds! 


"Yikes!"


We were now airborne. My arms still wrapped onto the Thestral's neck tightly as I looked below us. We were flying through the air at such a high speed that my eyes couldn't even focus properly anymore. It felt like we were soaring right over the clouds! 


This was crazy!


I could hear the wind whistling loudly in my ears while the cold air made me shiver. I held onto the creature's neck more tightly than ever as I tried to keep myself warm. But I knew that wasn't going to work for long. After all, we were still moving at an insane speed!


"Woooooooooooo!" Flying over the trees, I felt the wind blowing against my face and neck. It was exhilarating, but scary as well.


Looking down, I could see the ground rushing underneath us. I could see the sunset perfectly from up here, it was beautiful. If I could have taken any picture, this would be the perfect moment for it.


After a few minutes, I calmed down.


A thought emerged in my mind.


"Hey, you know, I just realised I don't have a name for you."


There was no response from the Thestral, instead, it just kept flying straight into the darknening sky. 


"We just met, but you still saved my skin from getting devoured by werewolves or sucked dry by spiders... So I owe you this much. Right?"


It didn't answer me, but it did continue to fly.


This was truly a nice experience, I felt like I was flying in a hot air balloon or something. The Thestral was carrying me above the clouds and there I could see the stars shining brightly in front of me. It was like living in heaven itself.


'Maybe it's tired of hearing me talk,' I thought. 'Or maybe it's just ignoring me.'


This felt different compared to riding a broom. It was hard to explain it, but just the speed alone of this beast surpassed anything the current fastest brooms could acheive. It moved around seemlessly, taking turns and doing manoeuvres I could only dream of doing. I doubted I would ever enjoy riding a broomstick as much after experiencing this.


"Blackjack?" I proposed, it didn't like it with how it shook its head. 


"Wait, I never checked. Are you a male?" It didn't react. "Or a female?" A loud shriek escaped its mouth as the beast.


Ah, so it was a she...


Looking at the rising Moon, an idea came to my head. 


"You know, why don't I call you Lune? It suits you, I think. Given how your white eyes do match the celestial body in the sky and to commemorate this beautiful sight."


It took a few minutes until the thestral finally responded to my name.


"Hmhm," she answered with a humming, seemingly to enjoy the name.


She continued to fly, but this time slower and more carefully. She flew around the edge of the forest, making sure to avoid any possible dangers or sightings. The castle appeared in front of my eyes, the familiar structure standing proudly on top of the hill. As the sun set, the moon rose up high above us.


"You're a lifesaver, Lune." I said, patting the side of her neck.


She only snorted, still flying until we reached the same area I entered the forest from. In a place secluded enough for us to land on the open field without being spotted, Lune glided down slowly on top of an empty hill.


"Thank you, Lune." I said before hopping down from the back of the Thestral. "I'll stay on board with my promise, come by tomorrow, I'll make sure to have a feast prepared for you! You can meet me at the same place Hagrid took both Hermione and I a month ago… don't know if you'll remember that." 


Lune hummed, making me feel as if she remembered the area perfectly. She sure was smarter than anything I would have thought.


I thanked her before rushing back to the entrance, dinner was about to start and I was starving to death. But first, I needed to get my nose patched up before heading to the hall looking like I came out of a grinder.


{Break}


-Hogwarts-


On my way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, the decorations were already placed all over the place. Halloween themed music playing in the back, floating Jack-o'-lanterns and spider webs all over the ceiling.


I went to my seat, attracting the gaze of many as they stared at my bandaged nose and my messy state in general. I ignored them, feeling too hungry to care and sat on my seat on the Slytherin side.


"Did you get into a fight with someone?" Hermione asked me quietly.


"Yeah," I answered, looking up to her as I rested my head on the table, "A magical horse smashed me against a tree."


"Oh? What do you mean by that?"


"Basically my luck sucks. I should have brought my broom and get myself a better holster."


She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more about it. Instead she asked me if I would be okay with attending the feast, given how I looked like I crawled out of a pit. I shrugged, "I'm fine."


"Still, where were you? I was looking for you the entire afternoon." 


"I was hanging upside down."


Hermione slapped my shoulders, "Be serious!" 


I sighed.


"Look, it's a bit hard to explain the entire story without going into the details. But I promise to show you just what happened tomorrow, okay?" 


"Fine," she relented. "Do as you like."


"By the way, Hermione, how good is your wandless magic?" As soon as I said that, she went completely still and slowly moved her head toward me.


"H-H-How did you know? I was sure that I kept my practice a secret!" 


"Eh? I was just going to ask you if you're willing to work with me. I tried using a bit of it and got some success in the beginning, so I'm hoping to see how others do it." I said with a grin, seeing her grow embarrassed over her little slipup. "Why are you even embarrassed about it? It's not like I'll rat you out to McGonagall or Snape."


"But it is against the rules to practice wandless magic without proper supervision, especially as first years."


I waved her worry away.


"You're a Slytherin, a bit of sneaky practice here and there is not that big of a deal."


"If you say so…"


A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.


I immediately went for the baked potato, not even bothering to use the silverware and just gorging everything up. 


Draco was disgusted by the sight.


"Slow down, brother. The food won't run away."


"Shuf uf." 


Unfortunately due to everything I went to this afternoon, I completely forgot a crucial detail about today's feast.


Bam!


Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Trooooooollll! Troll in the dungeons!"


Dumbledore stood up from his chair along the rest of the professors.


"I thought you ought to know." he fell on the floor, 'unconscious'.


"Can you pass me the chicken?" 


"Waaahhhh!!!!"


Chaos ensued in the hall.