Harry Potter and the Cataclysm

"Hey, Hermione, when are we going to the library?" Carnie leaned over and asked.

Hermione had initially wanted to confront him about deceiving her—pretending to be clueless when he was clearly capable and intelligent. She suspected he had been deliberately holding back in Transfiguration class. But before she could say anything, she realized that it wasn't just him. Harry, Ron, and Neville had all gathered around as well, making it inappropriate to vent her frustrations.

"It's still early before lunch, so let's go now," Hermione said before turning around to lead the way.

"Well, Carnie, you were right," Harry said. "We really were late today. If only we had an alarm clock in the dormitory."

Harry's usual wake-up call had always been Aunt Petunia banging on his cupboard door. Now, without that, he had overslept.

"Carnie, Neville, why didn't you wake us up?" Ron grumbled.

"I woke up at seven. Are you sure you would have wanted that?" Carnie replied.

"Seven? But class starts at nine! Never mind," Ron quickly backtracked.

"I did try to wake you up, but you wouldn't budge," Neville said helplessly.

"Wait a minute," Hermione interrupted, stopping in her tracks. "What does an alarm clock have to do with this? Weren't you two late because you got lost?"

"Yes, they got lost in their dreams," Carnie said with a perfectly straight face. "Right?"

"Right!" Harry and Ron immediately caught on, putting on equally serious expressions. "It was a terrible experience."

"Being late for your first class is bad enough, but you also lied to Professor McGonagall and said you got lost? I'm sure she didn't believe you at all," Hermione scolded. "You're just lucky she let it slide. Otherwise, Gryffindor would have lost points on the very first day."

"But she didn't take any points away," Ron muttered under his breath. "We even gained some…"

Remembering that the one responsible for those points was standing right in front of him, Ron wisely shut up.

Hermione gave Ron a sharp look but decided not to pursue the matter any further.

"She sounds just like my mum," Ron whispered conspiratorially to Harry and Carnie. "Mum always lectures me like that at home. I was starting to get sick of it. Thankfully, now that I'm at school, my ears can finally catch a break."

He was whispering because he didn't want Hermione to hear and go on another rant.

After weaving through several corridors, they finally arrived at the library. The room was already bustling with students browsing bookshelves or working on assignments. The library was divided into three sections: the reading area, the general collection, and the Restricted Section.

"Wow, this place is huge," Ron remarked.

"Let's get started. Find whatever books you need—I'll be off now," Carnie said before disappearing among the bookshelves, intent on finding spellbooks. Hermione and Neville also went in search of books that interested them.

"Harry, let's just wander around and see what we find," Ron suggested.

"I want to check out books on Quidditch," Harry said. "That's what I'm most interested in."

"Silence in the library!" came a sharp voice from an old, thin woman who resembled a malnourished vulture. "Or you'll be asked to leave."

Harry and Ron wisely shut their mouths.

Carnie scoured the shelves for some time. Many book titles were flashy and impressive, like The Strongest Spells, Ancient Magic, and The Mysteries of Spells. At first, he thought he'd hit the jackpot, but after flipping through them, he found that they contained nothing but introductions—just spell names, descriptions of their effects, and historical accounts of their discoverers. There were no actual instructions.

Completely useless.

After searching high and low, the only books he found that might have some practical value were Standard Book of Spells, Intermediate and Standard Book of Spells, Advanced.

In other words, just higher-level textbooks.

Of course. He should have known. If there were truly valuable spellbooks in the library, then why did Harry only ever use the same few spells against Voldemort? Why wasn't Hermione, who practically lived in the library, that much stronger? The only really useful book she ever found was that powerful potion book.

Leaving the borrowing section empty-handed, Carnie noticed that Neville, Harry, and Ron were already seated in the reading area, looking through their books. Neville had borrowed several books on Herbology, while Harry and Ron were flipping through books about Quidditch.

Strangely, Ron would occasionally nudge Harry, point at a passage, and widen his eyes in shock.

"What's with you two?" Carnie asked curiously.

"They got warned by the librarian," Neville whispered. "She told them if she caught them speaking loudly again, they'd be banned from the library."

"...Well, you better be careful. You'll need to come here for assignments sooner or later," Carnie advised, lowering his own voice. "Where's Hermione?"

"She finished borrowing her books and left with Lavender," Neville said. "We were waiting here for you."

"Lavender?" Carnie asked, puzzled.

"She sits behind you in Transfiguration," Neville reminded him.

"Oh, right." Carnie felt a bit awkward. To be honest, Gryffindor's first-year class only had about a dozen students, but aside from Harry and the others, he had only remembered Seamus.

"Let's head to lunch now," Carnie suggested.

It wasn't until they exited the library that Harry and Ron started talking again.

"Carnie, didn't you find any books you wanted?" Harry asked.

"Nope. I was hoping to find some spellbooks and learn a few new spells, but there was nothing useful," Carnie said, shrugging.

"Besides the Standard Book of Spells we use in class, you won't find spellbooks just lying around," Ron explained. "Wizards guard their spells like treasures. They put a lot of effort into creating them, so they're not about to just share them with everyone. Old wizarding families have private libraries filled with ancient magic and spells they invented. Some families even have bloodline magic passed down through generations."

"If you found something like that, it'd be a miracle," Ron added.

Now that Carnie thought about it, Ron actually knew a useful spell—the Slug-Vomiting Charm. It was an advanced jinx with no known counter-curse. And he had used it in second year. That was impressive. Even though the Weasley family was considered somewhat fallen in status, they were still an old pureblood family.

That explained why he couldn't find any of the spells he vaguely remembered from his past life. One that particularly intrigued him was the Serpensortia spell Malfoy had used in the dueling club—the spell that conjured a snake. Carnie had looked everywhere for it but hadn't found a single mention. It must have been a Malfoy family spell.

"Ron, does your family have spellbooks?" Harry asked. "What about you, Neville?"

"I'm not really sure," Ron admitted. "Dad never lets me mess around with his things, but I think we must have something."

"I remember there's a room at home that my grandmother never lets me enter. That's probably it," Neville added.

"You're so lucky," Harry said enviously.

"Harry, you might have one too," Ron said before suddenly realizing something. "Oh… sorry."

"It's okay. I'm used to it," Harry said with a small smile.

Carnie didn't say anything, but he was already starting to piece some things together. Information on powerful spells wasn't freely available. If he really wanted to expand his spell repertoire, he would have to get creative.