Deviations

I'm not sure if I need to say this, but I do not own Harry Potter. Needless to say, if I did, things would have turned out much more differently. Also, I have no idea what to name this chapter.

Beta: Zam Zap

Ch 4:

"Artis."

I observe the fork, nothing happens.

"Artis."

Still, nothing happened. I stare at the fork, trying to imprint its image into my mind. I place my wand down and reach for my cup filled with earl grey.

"What are you trying to cast?" asked Blaise, not looking up from the Daily Prophet. "Oh, and did you know that someone robbed Gringotts? But they didn't rob anything!"

"Yes, I did know that. Gringotts released a statement saying that they emptied the vault in July, also I'm trying to cast the switching charm." I respond as I try to cast it again, only to fail. At my words, Blaise raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize that it's a spell we learn in fourth year?" he said with a touch of incredulous.

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean we can't start learning it earlier," I mumble before I cast it again; 17th time's the charm, they say.

"Artis."

And there was now a spoon where the fork was; now time to scale it up a bit until I can switch myself with logs. Praise the log, after all. Not that switching small objects is useless. I also needed to increase the range at which I can switch items.

Hmmm, would it be possible to switch one of my eyes for an animal's eye? No, that wouldn't work. There are too many problems from size difference to actually seeing from the implanted eye. Maybe there is a ritual I can use to gain non-human abilities? I will have to look into that later.

"-take you on anytime on my own," came Draco's voice from the Gryffindors; again, I wonder if Draco believes he's an honorary Gryffindor himself, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Oh, look at that; Malfoy is challenging Potter with a wizard's duel," I mutter under my breath.

"Tonight? What are you, a wimp?" Ron interrupted, leaving Draco no room to reject it. "Let's do it right now; I'm his second. Who's yours?"

Flustered, Draco looked around for support, finding none. He turned back to Ron and said with a confident tone, "Crabbe. Crabbe is my second." Crabbe looked up at Draco from his sausage in confusion.

"Is there a problem, boys?" came Flitwicks's voice, surprising everyone.

Draco was about to open his mouth when Ron cut him off, "No, professor, Draco here just challenged Harry to a wizard's duel in a couple of hours, and he, of course, agreed." At the mention of a duel, Flitwichs face lighted up.

"Oh, what a joy, we haven't had a duel in quite some time. Would this afternoon, at let's say 3:00 be alright for the four of you?"

Draco reluctantly nodded. Harry and Crabbe still looked confused. Both for different reasons. Crabbe shrugged and went back to eating. Harry looked at Ron for answers. He then proceeds to drag Ron out of the great hall, presumably to interrogate him.

I looked down at my tea with a frown on my face. I realized that my future knowledge might not be accurate. I have been assuming that I was in cannon, completely ignoring an utterly different magic system and actual gods and goddesses existed.

Focusing back on the tea, I notice my appearance; the swirling tea leaves distorting it, but I could still make out my appearance. Black hair held up in a small ponytail, tan skin speaking of too many hours under the sun, dark brown eyes, slightly angular nose, full lips, not quite red, and not quite pink; instead, it was more of a peach color.

"So who do you think is going to win?" asked Theo after witnessing the challenge offered by Draco.

"Malfoy. Potter is muggle raised, so he has likely no knowledge of actual spells to use outside of class. On the other hand, Draco, a pureblood who has known of magic for his entire life and likely knows some spells to use, to me, the winner is obvious," Blaise analyzed. If he had glasses and if this was an anime, I bet he would have adjusted his glasses, making the light blind us all.

"But Potter is the Boy-who-lived, so he surely knows some spells; if not that, then he must be exceptionally powerful," rebutted Theo.

Blaise opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by an obnoxious voice, "Ha, Potter has no chance against me. My father has taught me spells that will allow me to humiliate Potter!" came Malfoys's voice as he sat down several meters away. How is he so loud? I suppose that question is irrelevant when everyone and their grandmas can hear him clearly from across the room.

The rest of the day went by, the air filled with trepidation, and excited whispers steeped into Hogwarts atmosphere. As we entered the great hall, the first thing we saw was that all the tables we eat at were gone. A long white rectangle was made from chalk in the middle, in the place where the teacher's table used to be, with two white circles placed near the ends. In the middle, there was a line, and right behind that, the teachers were sitting.

Flitwick was standing in the middle, waiting for everyone to arrive. When the last person entered the great hall, he raised his wand to his throat and cast some sort of spell. "Welcome, welcome, everyone! Today is an exhilarating day, and if you don't already know, Draco Malfoy of Slytherin has challenged Harry Potter of Gryffindor to a duel," at his words, the crowd cheered, Flitwick raised his hand to calm down the crowd, "The rules are as follows. First, wands only, that means no swords and no other weapons. Second, no contact, no physical contact are allowed between both participants.

"To the left, we have Draco Malfoy from the Great house of Slytherin," Draco bowed. We, the Slytherins cheered, gotta show house support and all that, "and to the right we have, Harry Potter from the Noble house of Gryffindor!" Every other house cheered, not that I can blame them; Harry is a much better guy.

Flitwick walked off the stage, "When I blow my whistle, the both of you will walk to the middle bow and walk back to your circles."

He whistled, and Harry and Draco walked to the middle. They then proceeded to do something that resembled a bow, but like they were forced to do it with the imperious curse, and a sprinkle of disrespect sprinkled in there.

When they walked back to their respective circles, Flitwick again got up on the stage and announced, "The rules of defeat are simple, if one leaves their circles, if one forfeits, if one breaks any of the rules, and finally, if one gets knocked out, they lose. Is that clear?" he said to Draco and Harry, they in turn nodded.

"Allllllright on the count of three, you may start."

"One," Draco got into a surfing position with his want held tightly in his hand, pointed to Harry. Harry tried to copy what his opponent was doing but failed as his front foot wasn't facing forward.

"Two," Draco opened his mouth and got ready to cast his spell. Harry kept his steely eyes on Draco, focusing on his every movement, and lifted his wand.

"Three."

"Pello," Draco cast, making Harry take a couple of steps back as if something had hit him.

Harry, quick to recover, cast, "Rictusempra," the tickling charm. Draco grabbed his sides and laughed great bellows of laughter, causing him to fall to his knees.

When he recovered, Draco quickly shot a silver spell while shouting Serpensortia. Why didn't Harry take him out when he was down? I won't understand.

Anyways, as the spell hit the ground a few feet away from Harry, a snake was conjured. It slithered towards the students, only for it to stop when it heard hisses from Harry. At this, the world seemed to still, everyone was quiet, and nobody dared to move.

The snake tilted its head as if it was confused; Snape took that moment to banish it. For a few moments, the crowd was silent, then whispers spread like wildfires.

"Well, that was a plot twist," Theo commented. His eyebrows raised so high; they were hidden under his dark brown hair. Needless to say but the duel ended in a tie.

Blaise looked thoughtful, his brows furrowed in confusion," Yes, who would have thought that Potter was a parseltongue all this time?"

My face was also scrunched in confusion. What would this mean for the plot?

The next few weeks were full of controversy and rumors. One said that Potter was a Dark Lord, another that he was secretly Voldemort's son. But the majority of them had cooled down as Halloween was fast approaching. Giant pumpkins were now around every corner, each of them carved differently. Flitwick had created and charmed skeletons with pumpkin heads, with a soft purple flame where the eyes would usually be. You could usually find them roaming around the pumpkin patches. Sometimes, during dinner, a group of bats would swoop down from the ceiling, scaring some of the students.

Quirrell has also been observing Potter more, well, more than he usually does. Why hasn't anyone else noticed? An older man having that much interest in a pre-teen isn't healthy, even for a man possessed by a dark lord.

On another note, I have successfully been able to shrink and enlarge rats. Soon I will become Antman. Next on the list is to be able to switch animals with other animals.

I have also started to study runes. They are hard. To gain a basic understanding, you need to memorize the symbols (alphabet, as they are pictographic languages) and their meanings of three languages, Elder Futhark, Middle Egyptian, and Classical Sumerian. Elder Futhark is the oldest runic language and has been used for many purposes; therefore, it is a jack of all trades, master of none. Middle Egyptian is the language used to sacrifice prisoners to their gods; consequently, it is primarily utilized for rituals and sacrificial magic. Finally, Classical Sumerian, used in the design and creation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Gates of Babylon it's used to protect and guard.

I have started to memorize Elder Futhark. One rune can mean various things, making it hard to predict an outcome when many runes have many different meanings. However, the position of the runes allows us to decipher their meaning. Most beginner and intermediate runes schemes are in the 2nd dimension; the more advanced are in the third, there is no known rune scheme written in the first or fourth dimension. A rune scheme is multiple runes used to create a spell that is longer lasting and more powerful. The rune scheme's intended outcome will last until the object used to engrave the runes is destroyed.

The major downside to runes is that they take a while to set up; you need to engrave each rune perfectly, you can't just create them in the middle of battle.

"Hey, Jonathan? Can we speak for a moment?" Theo looked around. After seeing that there were still people in the halls, he said, "in private?"

"Sure," I say, but he is already walking to the dorms, "what's up?"

"So, every Samhain, everyone who knows of the old ways, goes and participates in a ritual; it's nothing big, just a small sacrifice to the gods and the dead," he said.

"What are these old ways you mentioned?" I said, masking my surprise that the wizarding world knew about the gods.

"Before St Augustine of the Romans invaded England and brought Christianity with them, the wizards and witches did rituals of four days of the year, Winter Solstice, Beltane, Summer Solstice, and Samhain. Those rituals would bring different results for the different days. For Beltane, a higher fertility rate for humans and the land. Summer Solstice brings a higher affinity with fire and purifying magic. Samhain allows for small offerings to the dead and increases necromancy abilities. Finally, Winter Solstice gives the ability to hunt better, which can mean anything from faster reaction speeds to better tracking. It depends on the person. These effects do not stack, so you can only gain the benefits once over.

"We additionally sacrifice something, like food, to the gods. Different gods and goddesses will have different preferences. If you decide to participate, do not choose any Mayans as your god or goddess to sacrifice. They only accept human sacrifices."

I pretended to mull over what he said, but I had already decided, I just need to clear one thing up, "Can you specify which dead you would like to sacrifice to?"

"Yes, otherwise, what would be the point?" he rolled his eyes, "Anyways, we will be doing the Samhain ritual in the dorm an hour after dinner tomorrow," he said.

"Okay, I'm in."

The next day passed by at a crawl. Just the thought of being able to communicate with her brought relief. On that note, what should I sacrifice? Maybe a doll of sorts? No, I don't have money. Oh shit, I don't have money. Let's add that to the to-do list. Anyways, according to Death Note, the dead, or at least the shinigami, appreciate apples. The forbidden fruit in the bible is widely regarded as an apple. In the Garden of Hesperides, the golden apples signify immortality. Apples are also found in Celtic and Norse mythology. Alright! I shall sacrifice apples.

With the sacrifice decided, I walk to the kitchens. I arrive at the fruit bowl painting and quickly look around to ensure that no-one is around. After ensuring that no one is around, I proceed to tickle the pear. It transforms into a bright green handle.

How does the sensation of tickling what's basically a 2D object transform it into a 3D object? Could I transform people or things into different dimensions? Of course, it wouldn't be a part of the 2nd dimension, as the paint still has some height, but could I transfigure people or things into the 1st dimension, ensuring that it is just a dot. What about transfiguring things into the 4th dimension? Would it even work?

I was brought out of my deliberations as I entered the kitchen. Before I entered the kitchen, I had always thought it would be using a medieval kitchen, but I was wrong. With a great height and massive arches supporting the ceiling, and gigantic towers of dirty dishes, it looks like a mix (ignoring the pillars of dirty dishes and the fact that the elves were cooking over a roaring open fire) of kitchens from the 1800s and the early 1900s. No electricity was used. Instead, the house-elves use magic to cast the fires and to prepare the food. There was an enormous cauldron over the fire, and there was some sort of bubbling soup within it. Some house-elves were occasionally stirring and adding ingredients, and others were tending to the fire.

On the note of electricity, how do cameras work in the wizarding world? From the Daily Prophet to that one Gryffindor muggle-born whose name eludes me, there's a constant use of them. Can electricity really be used, or are those cameras unique in that they feed off of magic instead of electricity. If so, how does the kid's camera work? Did a teacher do something to it? Hmm, questions for later.

I get the attention of a house-elf who was doing its best at tackling the pillars of dirty dishes. Unlike Dobby, these house-elves had actual uniforms. They looked like if the Hogwarts uniform was shrunk and bleached, "Hello, I was wondering if one of you could please leave a basket filled with apples after dinner tomorrow?" There is no harm in being polite, especially with creatures that can kill you in an instant if they wanted to.

"Of course, Mister Booth!" he said. I was caught surprised by the size of his eyes; it was like an anime. How does their skull have that much room? Eh, anyway, I've got to get one of them for myself.

"Also, if it's not too much to ask, I was wondering if you could also send two bars of chocolate with the apples. One dark, and one milk." I miss chocolate. It is one of my favorite desserts.

"It is no problem!" the same house-elf said again.

I left the kitchens and went to the great halls as it was time for dinner.

After dinner, which consisted of a scrumptious chicken soup, I decided to take a walk around the lake. As I step outside, I immediately wrap my robe around me as the crisp October air flooded the warm insides of my robe. When I make it to the lake, I take a seat, reach into my pocket, and grab a loaf of bread I took from dinner. Splitting it in half, I toss one half into the lake. Right as it was about to hit the water, a massive tentacle rose and caught it. It gave me a little wave before it sunk once again into the abyss. Giving a weak laugh, I gently wave back.

With a sigh, I layed back on the grass and stared into the sky. As I try to identify the different constellations and stars, I wonder when my life got so crazy. I mean, I got transported into a completely different universe, at a completely different age, with magic and gods of all things, and I just accept it. Well, I suppose after the car crash, I have been pretty blasé to most things, with the exception of a few. I wonder if I can go back home? I raise my arm, almost as if I am trying to steal the stars, only for my hands to clench at nothing. I let gravity take control of my arm and, with a frustrated sigh, let it gently hit the grass. I can feel tears forming in the corner of my eyes, my views of the stars begin to blur. It looks like one of those time-lapses of the stars where the stars look like they are nothing more than bright lines.

I close my eyes only to see myself in a car, driving. I immediately know what's going to happen. I have relived this moment countless times. I turn around to take a look at her, Annabeth, and the next thing I know, my head is snapping forwards, only to be caught by the airbag. I hear squealing wheels and a young child scream; my stomach churns and feels like it's on a roller coaster. I feel glass cutting my arms and cheeks. When the car finally stops rolling, the only thing I know is that I am upside down and that there is something inherently wrong.

I hear the sounds of an ambulance or a firefighter; I can't tell the difference.

I then feel strong hands grabbing me and pulling me from the car wreck. I take a look around and see a pool of blood forming in the seat right behind mine. With a scream, I gain a sudden burst of strength and break free from the arms holding me. I scramble to where I know Annabeth is. Her wheat-colored hair is now stained with a red substance that I instinctively know is bad. I turn her head around to see if she is gone.

Right as I was about to rotate her head, I felt something shaking my shoulder. I turn around to see that there are no flames, no firefighters, no car, and I remember it was just a nightmare. I snap out of my half-asleep state and see that I am in a completely white room, with several other beds next to and surrounding me. I turn my head around again and see an old woman with kind gray-blue eyes and grey hair hidden behind a piece of white cloth. My mind connects her image with Madam Pomphrey.

"A-Ah, what am I doing here?" I stutter; no matter how many times I relive it, the crash always gets me.

"Professor Vector was patrolling and found you were sleeping outside," she muttered with a disapproving tone.

"I see, but what am I doing here?" I say, emphasizing the last word. Trying to blink out the last bits of sleep, I sit up and lightly stretch.

"I need you to drink this." She smiled then handed me a vial filled with a peach-colored potion, but it sadly smelled nothing like peaches. I lightly shuddered. The smell was truly horrendous.

I sighed. No pain, no gain, right? Hmm, that doesn't seem applicable in this situation. I grabbed the vial, closed my eyes, and chugged it. The moment my taste-buds register the taste, my eyes shoot open. If I thought the smell was terrible, well, the taste was worse. Also, doesn't flavor come from your sense of smell?

Madam Pomphry promptly handed me a goblet of water. Kudos for that. The taste was immediately washed away.

"W-What was that?"

She once again smiled as if she knew my pain, "Well, it just tells me if you contracted any diseases, good thing you didn't!"

I looked at her warily, "What would have happened if I did contract a disease?"

"Ah well, you would have vomited."

That made sense, well, kind of. That doesn't mean I have to like it. After all, just because you are right doesn't mean you are correct! A certain hero of justice said that, and I completely agree.

Ah, the Type-moon series, truly an enjoyable franchise. Though I would have named all of its series Fate/Depression When.

"Now, if you're quite done, it's time to discuss your punishment," came a smooth voice from behind me. I turned around to see our resident fish hook.

"Ah, Professor Snape, funny seeing you here, eh? I chuckled nervously.