The rest of the week went by without much happening. Sure, I took my time at night to roam the castle for mapping purposes but I didn’t get caught so who cares. Although I must admit that Mrs Norris is one annoying cat. The fluffy thing is damn good at tracking and I am sure it's way smarter than your regur house cat.

  Talking about Mrs Norris reminds me I need to stock up on fish. Why? Well, because if it is smart it can also be bargained with, or more like bribed, so yeah, I have been bribing the cat. I give her fish, she doesn’t track me during my nightly walks, a win-win.

  Funny how that came to be really. One night I was just doing my thing when suddenly I found myself face to face with the cat. Call me crazy but I could see the glint of intellect within those feline eyes so I took a gamble. It just so happens that Mrs Norris is really good at haggling, the damned cat almost emptied my pockets of treats I had stashed. In the end we came to an arrangement. Although I fear for the fluffy thing’s health, bet that by the month's end she will be round as a ball… not my problem though.

  Truthfully I can’t understand how no other student has figured this one out… or maybe they have and didn’t share either way I won’t share either. Who knows what may happen once Mrs Norries gets more treat suppliers.

  Besides that I gave another problem of mine some thought, that being the twins and their map. Afterall, they could very well know where I am at all times within the castle. Sure, for the time being there is no real reason as to why they would track my movements, that doesn’t mean they won’t get one in the future. Not like I can do much about that one.

  Stealing the map is off the books for now and I don’t know enough about its workings to hide myself from it. Sure, I have quite a few ideas as to how the thing works, and I think I can make my own degraded version of it using some of those ideas. Not like I will, no point in it.

  As promised I haven’t attended history css again. As expected nothing of note happened either. From the rumor mill going around I managed to gather that the teachers have a tacit agreement involving that one css. As long as a student doesn’t fail their exams they can do as they please. So, most of the higher years don’t attend it either, go figures.

  Fortunately for me that freed up a few hours every other day for experimenting and whatever else I feel like doing. Unfortunately that is no way near close to the amount of time I had for doing such before enrolling. I went from having around twelve hours a day for experimenting, to having the same amount of hours in a week for it. What this means is…

  “Another failure huh.” I mumbled under my breath as I threw away the bit of burnt enchanted metal. I was trying to make a magical codex. A sort of computer if you will but not really. More like a digital library than anything else. The idea is to have it scan books, store their data, then create a sort of magical hologram with said data.

  “Tch, that is what I get for using recycled materials.” I grumbled as I got back to work. I didn’t feel like asking daddy dearest for stuff nor buy it myself. Afterall, the RoR or more specifically the RoLT had a bunch of free stuff for my use. Sure, there was some very cursed shit in there but my magical senses helped me avoid them.

  “At least I got this working in time.” I mumbled to myself looking down at my hands. A pair of fingerless bck gloves on them. What wasn’t visible to the naked eye was the thin threads of metal stitched into the fabric in a certain set of patterns.

  Here is the thing. I realized I would have trouble using any kind of enchanted item due to my special condition. In the same way my vitality would corrode and damage normal wands it would do the same to other enchanted items. Today being Friday meant that I would need to get on a broom for flight lessons. I very much prefer it not failing while I am a few or a lot of meters off the ground thank you very much.

  These gloves would simply siphon the vitality away from my outgoing magic when activated, like a filter of sorts. Fortunately for me I managed to get them working yesterday so all is good. Unfortunately they weren’t exactly what I wanted. In truth I wanted to turn these gloves into magic foci. In the end I had to abandon that idea due to time constraints. Not like it's fully abandoned. I am working on a new pair with the intention of turning them into proper magic foci.

  What about your wands you might ask, what about them? I will still use them, these are just precautions in case of being disarmed. Not to mention that I am making this with vitality casting as the focus. Besides that I haven’t been able to get all that much else done.

  I did make a few potions, simple stuff really nothing out of this world, just some combat stims and other utility stuff. Unfortunately my study into the animagus ritual has been halted due to time constraints. This is even more aggravating taking into consideration a discovery I made recently.

  The ritual is best performed when the performer is twelve years of age. Numerology being a bitch and all that has a lot to say about this but three being a magical number and twelve being a multiple of it has a lot to do with it. Don’t even ask me how that works because to tell you the truth, I haven’t had the time to figure it out yet.

  What this means however, is that I have a year to figure out the ritual otherwise I will have to settle for a less than perfect ritual and I refuse! So yeah, as soon as I can I will figure out this damned thing even if I have to pull a Tom Riddle and go dive head first into the forbidden section of the library.

  “Come Silver, hurry up or we’ll be te!” A rather energetic Sophia pulls me out of my musings. Yes, I had been lost in my thoughts for long enough for me to leave the RoR and get back to the common room without even noticing.

  “Coming.” Shaking away my distracting thoughts I began walking, or more like power walking behind Sophia. Our early csses had gone by and now we had the aforementioned flight css.

  Fun thing about the flight css is that it's not obligatory per se. You are heavily encouraged to take it but your grades wouldn’t dip if you didn’t. Afterall, knowing how to ride a broom wasn’t exactly necessary per se. In reality the css would culminate in the students receiving provisional riding licenses in their first year. This is also the reason why first years students weren’t allowed personal brooms. Legally speaking, they couldn’t have one without a license or they would incur a fine.

  Anyway, the riding css was only “obligatory” the first two years of school, after which a student would receive their full license. After that, it became an elective, or it should have. Since almost no student took it the thing fell off, afterall, only those in the quidditch teams would take it and they already had their training hours anyway.

  I was brought out of my musings about the css when my eyes settled on the courtyard we would be using for the css. A bunch of ratty brooms neatly aligned in two rows for the students. Said students, currently chatting in groups at the sides while they wait for the professor.

  “Come on, let's stand besides our chosen brooms.” I spoke to Sophia while approaching said broom. All of them were in alright condition despite their obvious age and use. Some however were in better condition than others.

  “Why?” Judging by the tilt of her head and the fact she followed me anyway I could tell Sophia asked due to curiosity more than anything else.

  “Some of these brooms are in better condition than others. Choosing those in better condition will facilitate our handling of them.” I expined nonchantly as I stood besides one of the better ones. I of course pointed to another broom nearby in a simir condition to my own.

  It was then that Madam Hooch entered the field. Seeing us ready by the brooms while not interacting with them made the woman raise an eyebrow before giving us a small nod. It didn’t take long for the rest of the students to notice her.

  “Good afternoon.” And so it began. It didn’t take long for Madam Hooch to get the students situated besides their respective brooms.

  “Move your wand hand over your brooms.” Funnily enough, there were a few left handed students that had stood to the wrong side of their brooms making their attempt to follow instructions quite funny.

  “What are you doing? if you are left handed then stand on the right of your brooms instead.” A bit of reshuffling ter and the css continued.

  “Now and this is very important, you need to command the broom onto your hand by saying up. Do keep in mind that a controlled and firm tone of voice is necessary. We will continue once all of you complete this step.” And so everyone started commanding their brooms to rise, well everyone except…

  “Well done Miss Malfoy.” Yeah, it just so happens that I didn’t even need to vocalize the command. The brooms work more by intent than anything else. The vocal command works as a sort of mental focus but me being me, it wasn’t necessary at all.

  “How did you do that?” Sophia to my side asked with a bit of awe. After all, her first few tries resulted with the broom jumping about half way before falling back down. Harry, just like in the movies, managed it in his first try.

  “It's about the intent, don’t think of it as a question, instead it is a command, one that has to be followed, no questions asked.” After my little expnation Sophia tried again, still having a few more failed attempts each one worse than the st. It was obvious she was having trouble being assertive.

  “Sophia, look at me.” Not being able to withstand seeing her continue to fail I opted for a far more direct way of helping. However, despite my commanding tone the girl averted her eyes.

  “Sophia, Look, at, me. Straight in the eyes.” I put a bit more force in my voice which made her finally look me straight in the eyes. They were a bit misted over, tears about to form in her eyes.

  “Do it.” I once again commanded. If she couldn’t do it by her own will, then I would lend her my own.

  “But I-” I interrupted her before she could make excuses. I refused to let her degrade herself. Throughout the week I had caught her more than once underestimating her own value, a clear sign of low esteem, one I am sure was born from abuse.

  “No but, just do it.” I made sure to apply just the right amount of pressure to force her yet not break her. She is a strong girl, I know this, all she needs is a push and that's it. I am more than willing to give her that one push.

  I had to control my expresion. I had to try really hard to not smile fondly once her worried anxious expression changed to one of determination, like that of a soldier heading to war. In a fluid clear motion Sophia pced her hand over the broom once more. In a commanding tone, one extremely simir to my own Sophia spoke.

  “Up.” Instantly the broom shot up onto her waiting palm. The little frown on her face disappeared into wide eyes of wonder as her expression turned into one of joy and accomplishment.

  “See, I knew you could do it.” I said softly, the edge in my tone having disappeared, repced by a caring tone. One that made her smile turn even wider as her eyes twinkled in glee despite her cheeks turning a bit rosy.

  “Thanks Silver.” I just smiled trying with all my might not to coo at the adorableness of the girl besides me.

  “Any time.”