"What happened, Professor McGonagall?"
Seeing that Professor McGonagall, normally known for her stern calm, was now trembling ever so slightly, both Lynn and Harry immediately realized how serious things were.
"Just now... someone found a petrified student on the staircase." Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, her voice dry. "It was Colin Creevey."
"Colin?" Harry cried out, his face turning deathly pale at once. "He was just taking pictures of me. During the celebration feast. I have to go see him."
Harry started to rush out, but a hand settled firmly on his shoulder.
"Calm down, Harry."
Lynn’s composed voice came from behind him.
"But Professor! Colin, he..."
"I know you’re worried about your friend," Lynn said, looking into those anxious green eyes, "but sometimes, you need to make sure you’re safe first before you’re in any position to help anyone else. If you charge over there now, all you’ll do is hand the attacker a second victim."
Harry froze.
He looked at Lynn’s calm, almost water-like expression, and the impulsive heat in him slowly ebbed away, leaving behind only helpless frustration.
"Professor Gray is right, Harry," McGonagall said, regaining some of her composure, her voice stern again. "Now go back to Gryffindor Tower at once. Do not linger. I’ll be informing the other Houses to return to their common rooms as well."
After watching Harry’s somewhat unsteady figure disappear down the stairs, Lynn turned to McGonagall.
"Take me there."
...
Hospital Wing.
Colin Creevey lay on the bed frozen in the pose of someone lifting a camera. His eyes were wide open, full of terror, and his body was as rigid as a marble statue.
Madam Pomfrey was anxiously circling around him, but this clearly was not the sort of petrification any ordinary potion could cure.
Through Lynn’s lenses, Colin’s condition was the same as Mrs. Norris’s before: Basilisk Petrification, meaning he had succeeded on the save against instant death after seeing the Basilisk’s eyes, and the result had been reduced to petrification.
Faerûn also had basilisks, and their gaze could petrify as well. There were two known ways to treat it.
The first was by using the 5th-circle spell Greater Restoration, which Clerics, Druids, and Bards could all learn.
The second was to refine oil from the stomach acid or glands of a freshly killed basilisk and apply it to the stone body. For lower-level parties, or groups without a healing class, that was the only option.
But as things stood, Lynn could do nothing with either method.
As an 11th-level Wizard, his magic was extremely strong in almost every area, but its single greatest weakness was his lack of healing.
If only I had a Level 9 healer on hand... Lynn thought. I wonder what level Hagrid and Snape are by now.
For the moment, the only option was to wait for the Mandrakes to mature so a restorative draught could be brewed.
Half an hour later, Great Hall.
All of Hogwarts’ staff had gathered there, and the atmosphere was grim.
"The Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened," Dumbledore said from the head of the long table, looking around at everyone present. "This is the second time such a thing has happened in fifty years."
"And who was it this time?" Professor Flitwick’s high voice was full of worry. "Fifty years ago, a student died. This time..."
"If the culprit isn’t caught soon, a death is only a matter of time," said Professor Sprout, still with dirt on her robes, clearly having rushed straight over from the greenhouses. "But the Mandrakes have only just been planted. It’ll be months before they mature."
"Do we close the school, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked, her lips pressed into a thin line.
All eyes turned to Dumbledore.
"If the situation continues to worsen, that may be the only choice left," Dumbledore said with a sigh.
"I object to sitting around and waiting."
One voice broke the silence.
Lynn was seated in an armchair off to one side, turning his wand idly between his fingers, his gaze sharp.
"Close the school? Send the students home? And what about the culprit? Let them roam free? Or wait for them to continue attacking people off campus?"
"And what do you propose?" Snape asked coldly.
"Since danger has already come to us," Lynn said, rising to his feet, his voice growing firmer, "then the least we can do is teach the students how to respond to it."
He turned to Dumbledore and made his proposal.
"I suggest we establish a Dueling Club."
"A Dueling Club?" Flitwick’s eyes lit up. "That’s an excellent idea!"
"At a time like this, you want to teach students dueling?" McGonagall hesitated. "Wouldn’t that only encourage them to go looking for trouble?"
"It would teach them survival, Professor McGonagall," Lynn corrected. "Practical experience is always the best teacher."
Dumbledore considered it for a moment, then nodded.
"Very sound reasoning, Lynn. I approve the proposal. The arrangements will be entirely in your hands."
"All right. That concludes tonight’s meeting. I hope not only the students, but all of you as well, will exercise extreme caution."
Dumbledore waved a hand, signaling that everyone was free to go.
The professors left in groups of two and three, all of them looking deeply troubled.
Lynn had only just stepped out into the corridor when a black figure blocked his path.
"Gray."
Snape stood in the shadows of the hall, those empty black eyes fixed on Lynn.
"Is there something you need, Professor Snape?" Lynn stopped. He was not particularly surprised that Snape had come after him.
"What you said before... about Clerics." Snape kept his voice low, as if speaking of some taboo. "I’ve already started practicing according to the book you gave me. But..."
"But?" Lynn raised a brow.
"I can feel that power, but I can’t master higher-level divine magic as quickly as you described." Snape sounded irritated. "Tell me how to raise that damned ’level’ quickly. How long will it take before I can use... Resurrection?"
Snape pulled a sheet of parchment from inside his robes. It was an Adventurer Profile. After Lynn finished creating them, he had deliberately given one each to Hagrid and Snape.
Watching Snape point his wand at the parchment and recite "Adventure begins" was so unintentionally ridiculous that Lynn had to suppress the smile tugging at his mouth. Then he looked at the contents:
[Name: Severus Snape]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Cleric, Life Domain]
[Level: 6 (99%)]
[Attributes:]
[Strength: 11]
[Dexterity: 12]
[Constitution: 12]
[Intelligence: 15]
[Wisdom: 17 (+2 Level)]
[Charisma: 10]
[Feats:]
[Actor] (highly skilled at imitation and performance)
[Dark Wizard] (proficient in Dark magic outside the spell system; casting it does not consume spell slots)
[Potion Mastery] (expert in brewing all kinds of magical potions)
[Channel Divinity: Preserve Life] (can channel divine power to heal severe injuries)
[Destroy Undead] (deals additional radiant damage when attacking undead)
[Blessed Healer] (healing spells also restore the caster)
When Lynn saw Snape’s panel, his heart skipped.
Level 6?!
How long had it even been? Less than a month, and Snape had gone from a wizard who knew nothing of divine magic to a Level 6 Cleric by brute force. He was only 1% away from Level 7, which meant unlocking 4th-circle divine spell slots.
That rate of progression was absurd. Lynn himself had spent ten years grinding in the forest just to reach Level 11.
So this is what the top-tier wizard of this world are like... Lynn thought, quietly rattled. Iwonder what level Hagrid’s Druid class has reached by now. And Dumbledore, who was probably Level 15 or higher to begin with...
"Well?" Snape pressed impatiently when Lynn did not answer right away. "Is it that difficult to answer?"
"No, Severus. Your talent... far exceeds anything I imagined."
Lynn looked up again, his tone turning earnest as he regarded the man before him, who was pushing himself to the limit for the sake of one uncertain hope.
"You asked me how to level quickly. Reading, contemplation, practice... yes, all of those can earn experience. But..."
"For any classed individual, combat is always the fastest path, because it combines every factor at once. Only when you’re on the edge of life and death, with your magic in violent motion, can your full potential truly be forced out."
"Combat..." Snape repeated under his breath.
Then, something strange appeared on his gloomy face.
A smile.
"If that’s the case..."
Snape suddenly lifted his head, and his voice was full of fighting spirit.
"As the one proposing it, you’ll need someone to demonstrate with in the Dueling Club, won’t you?"
Looking at Snape’s face, which might as well have had I want to hit something and level up written across it, Lynn could not help laughing.
"Of course, Professor Snape."
With perfect elegance, Lynn gave a slight bow and accepted the challenge.
"Then let’s give the students a vivid demonstration."
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