Hey everyone!
Hope you are having a wonderful Day/Night.
Here’s a chapter for yall to hate or enjoy.
For Halloween Leon put away his detective cap.
His rats would alert him if someone accessed the Chamber of Secrets.
And in the limited time he had left, he knew that he wasn’t going to be cracking the mystery open.
So, he donned his Armor as his Halloween costume, with the helmet stored away.
The armor he’d commissioned only a few months ago was already straining at its enchanted seams.
Between puberty and months of relentless training, he’d simply outgrown it.
The suit he’d painstakingly prepared for the Inferi had reached the end of its usefulness without ever serving the purpose it had been built for.
It was kind of sad to see such a work of craftsmanship relegated to a Halloween costume.
But he figured he’d use it for something before it no longer fit him.
And, one thing he’d discovered, was that without the helmet the suit of Daedric Plate armor looked properly intimidating.
With the helmet… he basically looked like a Chibi Dremora Lord.
Hence the helmet being left in Coldharbour.
Once again, witches and wizards reaffirmed Leon’s long-held belief that Halloween was the greatest holiday ever invented.
The castle was decorated in a proper and delightfully spooky manner.
Enchanted Jack-o’-lanterns roamed the halls trying to jump-scare students.
Bats fluttered around the rafters and occasionally dipped close enough that one could feel the wind pressure generated by their flight.
Halloween carols were being sung all over the castle.
And the costumes were incredible.
Magical costumes were a wonder to behold.
Especially the rather creative ones.
There was one student that was walking around as a pile of trash that genuinely looked like a trash transformer.
Another that looked like a person made of vines.
And Leon was pretty sure that he spotted Sirius Black wandering around in his Dog Animagus form.
But several of them boggled the mind.
Leon wasn’t sure who had come up with it.
But one of the older students, probably a seventh year, was in a costume that seemed painted on.
Highlighting her figure in a way that he was pretty sure was illegal in the presence of minors… if not for the fact that she looked like a living nebula of rainbow swirling smoke.
It danced on the edge of being inappropriate while simultaneously being by far the most beautiful thing that Leon had seen to date.
Even her hair seemed to be part of the costume billowing behind her like she was some kind of alien superhero.
Leon found his friends waiting for him and was immediately disappointed, “Where the bloody hell are your costumes?” he asked.
Harry and Ron both looked a little sheepish, “Forgot to pack it.” “I don’t have one.” They responded simultaneously.
Leon’s mind churned.
This was truly unacceptable.
A moment later he signaled them to follow him, “Come on, I think I have a couple of robes like the costume I wore last year.
But they are back in my dormitory.”
Leon marched them down to the kitchens where he tickled the pear on the painting and told them to wait for him to bring their costumes.
He couldn’t bring them into the common room and leave them there.
And he needed to make a second Bound Robe so that he had two of them, so he couldn’t just bring them into his dorm room while he moved his mind over to Coldharbour to quickly make a second one.
So, the kitchens would have to do.
“Wait here.
I’ll be back in like… five minutes.
Then we can go see Hansle’s Haunted Berry Patch.
I hear it’s amazing.” Leon said as he quickly left and beelined it to his dorm room.
It didn’t even take Leon three minutes to return.
A pair of Bound Robes in his hands.
“Here you go.
You can keep them too.
They should last you a couple years at least.” Leon said as he handed the robes over to Harry and Ron.
Ron took the robes and slipped them on over his casual clothes.
Twisting this way and that as he looked at the Daedric Bound Robes, touching the metallic accents with red glowing Daedric sigils, “You sure you don’t want these back mate?
This thing feels… extremely expensive.”
“They kind of match your armor.” Harry cut in before Leon could reply.
Leon shrugged, which was impressive in plate armor, “I’ve got a theme that I like.”
“And yes, Ron, you can keep it.
Or sell it if you want.
It’s a gift… Now, Let’s Go!” Leon spun around and hurried them up the stairs and into the castle.
“Who makes all this stuff for you?
The wand, the broom, the robes, the armor, the chess sets?
What’s next, a muggle motor bike?” Ron asked.
Halloween was even better this year than last year.
The Haunted Berry Patch was indeed a unique little attraction made by one of the older students.
It was a unique concept that almost reminded Leon of something that he couldn’t quite remember from his previous life.
The trio wandered Hogwarts, exploring all of the different projects done mostly by sixth years.
Apparently, the attractions were kind of a sixth-year tradition.
And Leon was already planning what his would be.
He actually pulled out his notebook several times throughout the night to write down a plethora of ideas.
He still had years before it would become relevant.
But… there was no harm in starting early.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, no rats reported the opening of the Chamber of Secrets over the course of the night.
Whoever had the Diary either didn’t use it very much or Tom was being more cautious than Leon’s memories of canon would indicate.
Variables that he couldn’t account for.
It bothered him, but he shoved down the thoughts that kept threatening to make Halloween less enjoyable.
He did, however, make progress on an unexpected front.
One of the attractions set up by the sixth-years was a special route for Thestral Drawn Carriages.
And Leon, Ron, and Harry ended up waiting in line directly beside Luna Lovegood who was dressed up in a Cornish Pixiee costume that was quite extraordinary.
“I love the costume.” Leon commented/complimented her as they stood in line.
“Thank you!
My father made it for me.
It has butterbeer corks to ward off Nargles built into it.” Luna said rather dreamily, “I like your costume too, they are so happy to be there that I can practically feel it in my bones.
It’s a nice contrast to the scary armor.”
“…Happy?” Leon asked.
“Oh yes!
Your armor’s little gang is practically jumping for joy.
I’ve never seen Spider-taurs before, but it’s easy to see that they are happy.
I’ll have to tell my father about them.
Maybe he’ll run a story about the spider people that love to keep people safe?”
Leon was flabbergasted.
He had seen lots of fan theories about Luna and her perception of the world.
But to think that she could actually see the Daedric souls of Driders bound into his armor was actually astonishing.
“They are actually called Driders.” Leon said after a moment, “I’m not sure that they like to defend people, maybe its just these ones in particular.
The Females are a lot prettier, but they are also bigger and meaner.
So, they are kind of scary pretty.”
“Oh?
I would love to meet them sometime.” Luna said dreamily, “Do they all squish and squiggle into armor and robes like that?”
“No, they don’t.
Most of them run around helping to spread plants, protecting the balance of nature, or enforcing law and order.” Leon listed off the functions that his Arachne and Driders performed in his realms, “They also make really strong silk that Goblins love.”
“They sound lovely!
Are they native to the worlds behind your eyes?
Or did you find them here?” Luna cocked her head to the side.
Leon’s mental faculties screeched to a complete halt at the implications of her words.
Luna’s perception went so far beyond anything that he had anticipated that he was completely stumped.
Stumped for too long, apparently, as he suddenly found himself getting dragged by Harry and Ron into the Thestral Drawn Carraige they had been waiting for.
Unable to reply to Luna’s final questions.
“Why do you look lovestruck mate?” Ron asked, “She’s a Slytherin, obviously you should stay away from her.”
Harry raised an eyebrow at that but turned to Leon, “Do you like her?” he asked.
Leon would have responded, but he wasn’t actually listening to Harry and Ron at the moment.
His mind was going over Luna’s final questions over and over again as he stared off into the distance.
“He’s got it bad mate.” Ron commented to Harry who nodded in agreement.
“Can’t see how though.
She’s only a firsty and she was talking nonsense.” Harry observed.
“Maybe he’s into that?
Look, he’s not even listening to us.
Completely caught in that snake’s coils he is.” Ron huffed.
Leon came back to himself in time to hear, ‘caught in that snake’s coils he is.’ But he had no idea what the context was.
“Who we talkin about?” he asked.
“Oh no one.
Ron was being Houseist as usual.” Harry said with a grin that said he knew something but wasn’t about to reveal it.
“Ah yes…” Leon turned to Ron, “Keep talking about snakes like that and you’ll end up marrying Darcy Malfoy.
Pretty sure most of the Pureblood families are looking to arrange marriages with the Weasleys.
I can tell Aunty Molly that you’re interested if you like?”
“I can imagine it.
Would their kids have pink hair you think?” Harry egged on.
Leon turned to Harry, “Pretty sure that’s not how genetics work mate.
Plus, red and platinum blonde wouldn’t make pink if you mixed them anyway.”
Leon shrugged, “We’ll see what Aunty Molly has to say about that, wont we Harry?”
Harry nodded with a deathly serious expression, “Indeed.
But I suppose we should start planning your marriage too.
We should tell Aunty Matilda about your crush.”
Leon blinked, where had him having a crush come from?
He hadn’t even asked them about his suspects yet.
He scanned his memories quickly but couldn’t figure out who they were talking about, “I think I would know if I had a crush.
And if I did, I would tell Mother myself.” He responded.
The rest of the evening flew by with multiple bouts of teasing and enjoying the various attractions around the Hogwarts Grounds.
When Leon finally returned to the common room and entered his dorm room for the night, he was very pleased with the way Halloween had gone this year.
The next day it was back to the grind.
But something interesting happened that Leon had not quite predicted would be a thing.
During History of Magic Class, they were covering the most recent Rebellion in the 1890’s.
Leon asked a question of Professor Binns who answered politely and then was about to continue his monologue when Leon asked a follow up question.
Starting to dig into the subject matter.
Leon was attempting to piece together where the protagonist from the Legacy game had disappeared to.
All anyone knew about him was that he was male, had been a fifth year in Hogwarts, and he’d nearly singlehandedly crushed the Goblin rebellion.
But other than that, he only got the barest mentions of his presence.
The more that Leon asked questions and dug into the topic, the more animated and genuinely insightful Professor Binns seemed to become.
The Ghost eventually launched into a rather animated and detailed story about a battle that had occurred in the Forbidden Forest, involving a dragon, a poacher’s ring, and goblin forces wielding unknown magical artifacts.
The story that Binns launched into was genuinely interesting.
And for the first time, history class felt fun.
Once Leon ran out of questions though, the class returned to its normal boring atmosphere.
But his fellow students seemed to have picked up on what had just happened.
He noted several individuals taking notes who usually just slept through the class.
Aside from that one deviation from normal, the days passed by quite quickly.
Broken up only by Leon taking time to paint the portraits of his Dremora and their D&D stat sheets for the Weasley Twins.
Drawing and Painting had definitely been worthwhile skill purchases.
His paintings were almost so real to life that he had to tone it down and pick an art style to give the portraits a more gamey feel.
When Leon delivered the set of paintings and their stat sheets the twins their expressions were priceless.
“You could make a lot of money painting portraits for people.” Fred said as he admired the Arachne portrait.
“I’m not really that concerned about money.” Leon waved off the comment, “Making a good painting takes too much time and I have other things to concentrate on.
How’s the other art coming along?”
“Very well.
We’ve run into a couple of issues here and there.
But we are on track to have at least the prototype finished during the Christmas break.
There were a lot of technical issues to work out.
We had to change up som-” Fred smacked George in the back of the head.
“He doesn’t need to know all the details.” Fred turned to Leon, “We think this is going to be a big hit.
It’s not finished yet and we still get caught up in it.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to the prototype.” Leon said earnestly, “Once you two have the process down, how hard will it be to make enough to sell?”
“Oh, not hard at all.
Maybe fifteen minutes per unit?
If we hire a few helpers, we could easily cut that time down to a more reasonable level.” George said.
“Would House-Elves work?” Leon asked.
Fred and George paused at that and looked at each other before looking back at Leon, “No idea mate.
Maybe?”
“Once you’ve got it all working, I’ll have Gasket give you a hand.
If that works.
I’ll buy three or four of them and you two can teach them how to make our products.
Then we’ll just need to figure out a storefront.” Leon said.
“You do realize that it would probably take like… twenty years of sales to cover the cost of that many house elves, right?” Fred said in disbelief.
“I have Birdperson.” Leon pointed up into the rafters where the Phoenix was perched, “And he’s a bit of a drama queen.
Cries an awful lot.
A few vials of tears cost me nothing and will probably fetch me at least a House-elf or two.”
As soon as Leon finished speaking, Birdperson flew down and started pecking at Leon’s leg, the Phoenix’s eyes welling up with tears.
“See what I mean?” Leon said, gesturing toward Birdperson, who was now tugging furiously at his pant leg.
Tears leaking onto the floor.
Fred and George looked at the spilled tears on the floor like someone had just murdered a puppy in front of them.
But they seemed unable to form words.
“Well, now you have the paintings, I’m off.
Got a lot to do.” Leon said, spinning around and hurrying off, Birdperson refusing to let go of his pant leg getting dragged along with an indignant squawk.