HP: Spirit Talker

The room was silent for a moment. The girls looked at the Chinese woman with astonished eyes. Few European families have crossed the millennium barrier, and in the United States, such people are only found among the Native Americans, so they are completely unknown to society. So the silence is understandable to me, especially since the Delacour family is a little over six hundred years old, but that is enough for respect in society.

It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of the girls when they find out the age of my lineage, which comes from the main branch of the Lan family that founded branches far and wide. But even without that, the Hoshino came to Japan over a thousand two hundred years ago.

If you think about it, that's just a frightening number for an ordinary person to comprehend. Uh-huh, and I hadn't really thought about it before. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Elizabeth's angry voice.

— Now, are you going to answer my questions or do you want me to beat you up?

— Don't. — I smiled at the girl's intonation, for she was angry that I had not told her about the duel and not about something else. — The official version of the duel is that I challenged him to a duel because of the constant insults and humiliation I received from the potionist. This is true, but not the whole truth. — A short break for a juice. — Severus Snape was one of Albus Dumbledore's closest confidants, who caused a lot of activity around me, even trying to send spies into the production, but Tony caught them. In addition, Dumbledore supported the idea of establishing a guardianship over me, using local non-magical laws that I don't obey. — Another short pause to moisten my rapidly drying throat. — I don't know or understand Dumbledore's motives, but he's given me a serious headache, so destroying his handmaiden is my answer to him.

The reason I told Lan and Delacour is because it's easy to find out if you want to, it's just a matter of money and time to find out who to pay. I think Yusheng himself already knows, as do Fleur and Gabby's parents. But in this case, it's better to play it straight and win trust points with everyone involved, including Lizzie, who didn't know any of this information. But there's another level to my plot.

It would have been better to keep Snape alive for a while longer, but if I had the chance, I wasn't going to miss it. All right, about the plot. There are many strange traditions in Europe, including a fine tradition of conquest, subjugation, and the right to trophies. Snape had something that no sane, rational, magical person would turn down. Having obtained the Potions Master's head, I am entitled to his property.

All of it, including his inheritance. Recently, a few days before the champions were to be determined, I received a letter from a private detective. An Irishman by nationality, he hates the English, so he gladly accepts jobs like mine. For ten thousand gold galleons, the detective fully confirmed some suspicions from the past life, and also dug up something from above, which earned him a bonus. Too bad he refused to work for me permanently.

— The honor of the family should be protected by a good husband. — Lan added seriously, but I could see something else in her eyes. — But he must also take care of himself and leave the legacy behind him. — The woman's gaze became slightly heavy. — Why did you have to hurt yourself like that? I know what you're capable of.

Well, that last part is debatable, because I've evolved, but I won't say it out loud, it's clear enough. Why such an open and direct question? I don't have to answer — I have the right to, but I don't know the woman's motives. What if she, as a master of combat, was offended by my behavior in the duel and wants to summon me herself? I don't know how "special" logic is in Asia. Or is this an attempt at a hit-and-run? Lan's behavior during dinner was more than appropriate. No, I won't tell you the whole truth, but I can tell you some of it.

— According to the terms of the duel, I couldn't use blades, and I'm just learning the magic of fighting with a staff, and even then, as you saw, dear Mrs. Lan, I used paper seals in battle. Besides, the enemy was also well prepared: numerous potions, battle alchemy, magic storages, rune armor made of dragon skin. And Snape himself was known as a strong fighting dark wizard.

Silence again. Again everyone ponders over my words and the known information. Lizzie, by the way, my duel was shown to Anthony by the Cup — I asked him to do it myself just yesterday. Hmm, Lan's slight eye-rolling is understandable: she's a shabby woman who clearly suspects that I've left something out. Or even guessed most of it. Why did I fight like this?

Because I had decided to keep as many personal trump cards as possible that neither Dumbledore nor the aristocrats would find out about beforehand. You could have used some of Raijin's god-style, his incarnation of "Raiko", or "Raiden" — that would have been enough to defeat the Potions Master in a few minutes.

But why, to show off? And then the enemy will be ready for your strong techniques, and possible friends will have more information than they need. And so I showed myself to be strong, but within certain limits of concepts, I have weaknesses, and so on.

This is better for proper perception than a full-blown thunderbolt that splits the earth. No, when things get tight, I'll use whatever it takes, but in the duel, I had everything under control, well.....relatively speaking.

If I wanted to, I could even create an embodied Spirit Blade at the very beginning, jump in with Flickering Step, and finish the whole thing in seconds. But on the other hand, "Step" is a serious trump card that I'd rather hold on to. Besides, I left an astral marker in that clearing, and if I'm strong enough, I can look into the past and copy the magic Snape used. That's a pretty good win.

— Well, I've actually come to offer the services of my healer. — Break the silence, Yusheng Lan.

— There is a witch doctor here, and she's a good one. — Gabrielle spoke suddenly, blinking suspiciously.

— Child,' Yusheng smiled miserably at Gabby. — Your healers cannot cure the effects of curses and sorcery. And this boy, — the woman nodded her head at me. — That's exactly the kind of help he needs.

— Why would you help Sora? — Gabrielle squinted at me even harder than usual.

— Because I'm interested in a fruitful, long-term relationship with him, so it's in my best interest to help him. — The woman grinned mischievously. — Don't worry, it is our policy to kill in secret, but not to seduce.

I finally agreed to the healer, especially since the price was another dinner, but not only with the woman, but also with her girls.

The Chinese healer saved me a week of time before the first competition and a lot of energy that I would have had to spend on fixing my energy on my own. I spent that week getting back to my normal form and recovering hard. Also, as a member of the tournament, I was allowed to skip classes to prepare for the trials, which I took advantage of. I minimized my contact with students, except for Luna and Gabrielle.

Everyone else I came in contact with either chose not to interfere with the preparations or went about their business, as did Fleur, who had been taken in by the Baroness. I had only seen her once in the carriage, and only briefly, but my impression was clear: a man in a skirt. In general, it was impossible for me to know the reaction of the Hogwarts students to the death of the Potion Master: Luna has little contact with anyone, and Gabby spends her time either with me, or in the carriage, or next to her.

The girl was allowed to wait here for the first competition to support her sister, and then she will fly through the portal to each stage with her parents. This moment surprised me, and a lot: if Gabby was not at Hogwarts all the time, and only came with her parents for the trials, how could she have been "kidnapped" for the second round?

Having spoken to the Delacour family, I can say for sure that the parents would tear anyone apart with their bare hands for their daughters, and they would never let the youngest fidgety girl go to play the role of bait. Conclusion: The kidnapping was real, and the whole showdown was left out of the canon. Question: Who is so infallible and authoritative that he could pull off such a thing without fear of "getting hurt"?

No, of course there is the possibility that it was all arranged, maybe even the parents themselves cast spells. But I don't think so. And I've heard other thoughts about it in this life, as if the Code of the Goblet of Fire is not as simple as it seems, and was written by those ghouls of legislation and crookedness.

By the way, curious fact: no one bothered to give the official representative of the British School of Magic a clue about dragons. Of course, I have already seen these "dragons", actually wyverns, but are none of the politicians worried about the authority of the state? Or is he, like Dumbledore, secretly hoping that I'll die on the way to the cup and save them a lot of trouble? Anyway, there's a much more interesting issue here.

After Samhain, it turns out that I'm going to get my new gift a lot faster than I expected, and that's interesting. And the wyverns? I don't give a damn about those animals! If Europe is so afraid of these creatures, it's only their problem, in China and Japan dragons have always been honored and respected. And they knew how to deal with wyverns. I'd better get back to work.