(Arcane Tinker) Chapter 20: Steps to Greatness

AN: Like the other AT chapters so far, this isn’t part of the weekly schedule. Tomorrow will be an AWM (EM Vol. 2) chapter, like you guys chose in the last poll.

Chapter 20: Steps to Greatness

7th September 1991, Hogwarts

“I… yes,” he said quietly, then exhaled. “I’m not a pyromancer. That was just an enchanted ring. I’m an enchanter.” At that, McGonagall’s quill stopped mid-word. Her eyes lifted to meet his, sharp and wide. “Explain. Now.”

Dean sat in the Great Hall, slowly playing with his lunch, thinking about his conversation with his Head of House. After the initial surprise, Minerva McGonagall immediately understood his decision to pretend to be a pyromancer, and given the fact that she never actively told him to stop at any point during the meeting, she had all but asked him to continue with the charade.

Most of the meeting had quickly devolved from the standard registration, with a few displays of his personal magic, to a lecture on how to progress in mastering his magic and how to best leverage it for the future.

When she had heard that he could recharge any enchanted object, she gave him a magical wooden box that had protection enchantments, which had faded over time, and he renewed them without any issues at all. She had then asked him if he could enchant something new, and while he had done so before with his mother’s portrait, he hadn’t tried since. She had given him a disappointed look afterwards, which still made him flinch even in memory.

How was he supposed to try to enchant anything with people constantly around him? An enchanter needed privacy and materials at the very least, and he had none of these things. McGonagall had asked him to work on it, and to go to Professor Flitwick if he had any issues or problems, and to keep her apprised of his progress and inform her of any new discoveries, like what his speciality was.

All in all, it wasn’t exactly a bad meeting, just one that showed him that he had barely gotten started using his magic, and he wouldn’t be safe until then. His train of thought was interrupted by Harry Potter, who slumped down next to him, “Hey mate. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been all morning?”

Dean shrugged, “I was with Professor McGonagall. We decided to do my magical registration a bit early.”

“I just finished mine. It took a few minutes at most, not the entire morning.”

“Well, mine sort of took a bit longer. She had me show a bit of everything and had a lot of advice for me. That took a while, because of, you know, the thing,” Dean replied while motioning slightly to the ring on his finger, “I’ve even missed Breakfast.”

Realisation dawned on Harry’s face at the realisation that Dean being an enchanter would complicate things a bit. An enchanter without support was vulnerable, and a vulnerable enchanter would not be a free one for long.

McGonagall had done her job and given him options in the long run, certain brochures from the ministry, while also alluding to the possibility of a sponsorship from old Pureblood families. What Flitwick had neglected to say was that being an enchanter was expensive. You needed materials constantly, which meant that you needed to pay for them. The transfiguration mistress hadn’t said it in words, but it was in her tone. Defending yourself against high-tier magics would require some very high-grade materials, which would cost a small fortune.

Dean really disliked the idea of being under some rich family’s thumb. He had not fought his way to succeed in the Muggle world, to show them all that you didn’t need money or a posh family to get into Eton, all for his mother, only to end up giving in just months after joining the magical world.

Even the brochure with the ministry offers gave him a bitter taste in the mouth. He understood, now, what Flitwick meant when he warned him against signing anything. The brochures looked like they were practically giving gold away, but the moment you got to the fine print, you could see just how horrible these offers were.

‘Guaranteed employment’ in certain departments for years, if not decade’ was advertised as a perk, not a contractual obligation, and the brochure from Gringotts showed that it was barely more than a loan with interest rates that were high enough to beggar most people in months at most, and the only saving grace was the fact that the interest rates would decrease significantly if employed by Gringotts. Apparently, the goblins could be as blatant as wizards in poaching enchanters.

Even then, the competition with Gringotts was minuscule compared to the competition between the departments in the Ministry of Magic, each one promising different perks and comforts, but always at the cost of ‘long-term employment’. It seemed like the Ministry wasn’t exactly a big, happy family.

He'd hidden the brochures in his pockets but planned on throwing them all away. Dean was sure that the ministry had forced McGonagall to give these brochures to every new enchanter, given the way that she hadn’t insisted on taking a look at them.

The muggleborn had taken Flitwick’s warning seriously, but this was just more proof that the half-goblin was telling the truth. Enchanters were worth their weight in gold, and that made things dangerous. He couldn’t risk people finding out about his magic. So far, other than professors McGonagall and Flitwick, only Harry, Sally-Anne, and Lisa knew. Even Jack didn’t know, even if it was because the boy had all but avoided him since they came to Hogwarts.

Dean had seen him a bit during meals, but he was mostly laughing around with his friends at the Hufflepuff table. Maybe he’d read things wrong, maybe they weren’t exactly friends. The older boy had been a mentor to Dean when he first came to the orphanage, but maybe he had his school friends, with whom he liked hanging out more.

He’d talk to him eventually just to be sure.

Dean realised that he had been lost in his head again when Harry tapped him on the shoulder, “You’re really out of it, aren’t you?”

“Sorry, I have a lot on my mind.”

“Fancy a fly?” Harry proposed, “That always calms me down when I have any problems.”

Dean snorted, “Your personal magic is flying.”

“Hey, it’s not flying. I just jump around in the air. Flying is completely different. And I didn’t mean like that. I was talking about using brooms.”

“I never learned to ride a broom, and I don’t even think we’re allowed to do that in school without passing Madam Hooch’s flying class.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “The Weasley Twins told me that Hooch keeps the brooms in a closet that can be unlocked with a simple Alohomora and if you only take them for a couple of hours, the security charms don’t get activated. I think it’s because of how old they are.”

His friend might think that he was getting one over the professor, but there was no reason that any professor wouldn’t put more enchantments to protect school property. If Dean had to guess, it was essentially a polite way to lend students brooms to practice without having to admit that they don’t own brooms of their own, which was a pretty considerate thing to say.

Still, Dean wasn’t going to have his first time on a broom without a professor ready to help in case something happened, “Maybe later, when I’m a bit more confident on a broom.”

“Come off it, I’ll teach you far better than Hooch could. My dad always says that I’m the best flyer he’s seen.”

“You’re a natural, but we don’t know if I am. Do you know any charms to catch me in the air if I fall or protect me from breaking every bone in my body?”

Harry looked away sheepishly, and Dean continued, “It’s fine, mate. We’ll go flying later. We have a flying class next week, and we’ll see after.”

His friend gave him an appreciative look, and Dean found himself lost in his thoughts once more. The main issue hadn’t been solved, even if he was thankful for the distraction. Why couldn’t the school provide him with help like they had for flying class? He could easily go to one of the empty classrooms, but they tended to be far in the castle, and he had no idea where to even get started.

He had tried to look in the chaotic mess of books that they called a library, but had found very little, only words that it was supposed to be an instinctive thing. He hadn’t wanted to look for books on enchanting too frequently, given the fact that people paid attention to what he was doing there. He hadn’t even taken out a book, since the sheet was public for anyone to see, in case they needed a specific book.

He could either have the information he needed or hide his personal magic, but not both.

What he needed was a secret place where he could find information about enchanting and practice magic.

An idea sparked in his mind. Could it be?

“I’m such a fucking idiot!” Dean muttered to himself.

Harry froze at the curseword, probably unused to swearing, but quickly regained himself, “Are you alright, Dean?”

“Yes, I’m perfect. I just forgot about something really important, and I just remembered it.”

“Anything I can help with?”

Dean gave the boy a wide smile, “Oh, you’ve helped me enough. Thanks, Harry. I’ll see you at dinner.”

If it weren’t for his excitement, Dean would have laughed at the expression on Harry’s face as he ran out of the Great Hall.

Often, Dean thought that he was smarter than most boys and girls his age. Even before the visions of his alternate, which helped him learn a lot, he’d been more mature than they were. It was something his mother praised many times, and which still warmed his heart to this moment.

Then, there were moments where Dean remembered just how thick he could be.

How could he have forgotten about the Room of Requirements?

If it functioned like the room in the stories from his visions, then it would be a perfect place to learn his enchanting without anyone knowing about it.

Dean didn’t like relying on his visions for information about the world, especially given how different it was, but there was no harm in trying to find something that would help him immensely. The most he would lose was a few minutes of his time.

Now, he needed to remember where it was again. He was pretty sure it was on the seventh floor and that it was near a tapestry of trolls dancing or something. He decided to get to the floor in question first before doing anything else.

He reached the seventh-floor staircase faster than he expected, practically skipping steps. His heart was hammering in his chest. If the room truly existed, if it worked even half as well as the one from his dreams, then this could be the answer to everything. He wouldn’t need to ask for help, wouldn’t need to risk people finding out about his magic. He could learn at his own pace, in secret, just as he liked.

After minutes of searching, each of which made him feel even more dejected, he froze at the sight of a tapestry, where trolls in tutus, smashing each other with clubs. It was kind of funny, but Dean was too exhausted, practically running all over the floor.

Okay, now what? He remembered something about walking three times and focusing on what he needed. So, he did.

I need a room to practice enchanting. I need a room to practice enchanting. I need a room to practice enchanting.

He could feel his heart beating in his chest loudly, and Dean could feel his hope rising each time, and finally, to his relief, a door materialised on the wall opposed to the tapestry. It wasn’t exactly anything grand, just what seemed to be a normal wooden door.

Dean slowly entered the room and gasped, “Bloody hell…”

It was perfect. Shelves of books were around the wall, each one involving charms or enchanting in some way. There was a workbench in the centre, with wooden balls of different sizes on it. There was a book open to a page, but Dean didn’t really read it. Instead, he looked at the balls that seemed to emanate a familiar feeling that he had during charms class. He touched the smallest one, and the damn thing practically jumped away with immense speed the moment he had touched it.

It kept bouncing around like a demented miniature Buldger, which he instinctively grabbed as it almost bounced onto his face. The damn thing still tried to escape his grasp before he left it back where it used to be, where it calmed down.

Finally, he looked at the page opened in the book.

It was handwritten, the ink a deep blue, almost glowing slightly under the enchanted light above. The title at the top read: On the Art of Channelling. The text explained that before one could hope to enchant anything new, one must first master the act of channelling magic to activate enchanted objects with enough control. It made sense, and for the first time, Dean had proper guidance towards learning what it meant to be an Enchanter.

When he left the room an hour later, he still had a wide smile on his face that nothing could shake off.

AN: Like I said above, this isn’t part of the weekly schedule. Tomorrow will be an AWM (EM Vol. 2) chapter, like you guys chose in the last poll.

As for this chapter, you probably noticed that things are going to move a bit quickly from now, especially since I think I did enough world exposition and get to the meat of things. As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.