After announcing the miscellaneous other benefits for the champions, Ariana started making several more announcements.
But Lucas was deep in thought.
Becoming Ariana's apprentice is a great opportunity.
It can directly elevate him to the big leagues.
He won't have to fight minor skirmishes all the while being scared of getting routed in one fell swoop.
The other reasons were secondary.
The secret (and main) reason he wasn't participating in the Tri-wizaed was becoming it could land him in under the radar of Voldemort.
But. If he directly becomes Ariana's disciple. Is the trade not completely fucking worth it?
Not to mention he would also have the option of apprenticing under his mother. Though that does not seem necessary since can also get closer to his mother by becoming Ariana's apprentice.
While he was absent looking in his mother's direction, he actually ended up catching her gaze, instinctively looking away as if caught doing something wrong.
But he looked back immediately, seeing the surprise in her eyes.
She nudged Lily Potter, pointing in his direction.
Lily was also surprised, but then she actually glared at him for some reason.
She then mouthed the word contract, making the reason very clear.
Lucas had given them the amazing idea and disappeared, after which the attack and Tri-wizard happened, leaving them no room to discuss it.
He had actually planned on writing to Lily after arriving here, or getting her connecting mirror contact from Harry (Yes he had bought one too). But he didn't expect to meet her so easily.
It seems Lucas can expect some pocket money very soon.
And there were many plans it could help him with.
...
Late at night, Lucas sat in his bed, waiting for everyone to fall asleep.
He needed to practice.
The only question was: Where?
The castle was currently being patrolled by Aurors, not to mention the wards.
With the high amount of Death Eaters in both guest countries, they were only allowed to enter the castle during day time, making all the places inside castle useless.
'Forbidden forest?'
Cause where else could he practice without getting caught?
Having no choice, Lucas could only venture into the dangerous forest.
'This is… quite inconvienient.'
Lucas decided a secured base for practice was needed. But for now, he'd made do.
Drawing his wand, he aimed his chest and cast the disillusionment charm.
"Disillusio Harmonia."
The disillusionment charm is a widely used spell that makes a person or object blend into their surroundings, like a chameleon.
But when cast by Lucas, it was unevenly distributed and scarce in quantity, concealing only a few parts of his body.
He spammed the same magic on himself 4-5 times more.
And then,
[Absorb]
His body became visible as the magic was swiftly absorbed, temporarily giving him completely control over it.
Lucas then recast the absorbed Magic, covering himself evenly in a very strong disillusionment charm that would be hard to dispell or discover using ordinary means.
Exiting the carriage through one of the windows, he landed on the soft grass of Hogwarts grounds.
The air was cold, mist dispersing with each exhale.
Lucas quietly crept over to the edge of the forbidden forest, stopping in front of a small opening.
This opening trail seemed to be the best way in, since it would be too dangerous and dense to venture on an unexplored path.
Not far away, he could see residual smoke coming out of Hagrid's chimney.
'This is it.'
He plunged into the forest, soon only seeing complete darkness around himself.
But still, he did not light his wand.
That would be an effective way of inviting all the existence within this darkness to the only sources of light.
He strained his eye, using the enhancement magic.
His pupils expanded, letting more light enter in his eye.
Thing slowly started to become slightly visible, just enough to avoid obstacles. It wasn't night vision, just enhancement of his eyes to be able catch even the faintest of light.
After reaching a sufficient depth, he set up the tent he had had brought, cast other precautionary spells and entered the tent, starting his training.
The first spell he tried was the Disillusionment charm. Yes, the one he had just used.
Because this spell was far from mastery.
In order to cast the Disillusionment charm successfully, three conditions are necessary.
1. You need very strong intent, will, and visualization, which have been trained for years in order to produce this magic.
2. Then you need precise control. It's like breaking an egg over one's head with the goal of the covering the hold body evenly in one swoop, which is not as easy as it sounds.
3. Then, the degree of concealment depends on how strong your spell and your magic is. If its really strong, the magic could seamlessly change colors to match the changing background, making you near impossible to spot.
Lucas only possessed the first point: the will, intent, and visualization strong enough to actually produce this magic.
But once he absorbs this spell, he can get complete control over it for a small period of time.
So, by casting multiple spells and absorbing them, he was able to achieve the other two requirements: control and power.
"Disillusio Harmonio!"
Lucas cast the spell again, being almost invisible this time, but showing distortion upon movement. A slight improvemen.
'Not enough.'
But even then, Lucas wasn't satisfied.
Disillusionment charm is mostly used in emergency situations. meaning it is supposed to be instantaneaous and chantless, dissappearing someone in the blink of an eye.
After practising for a while, he switched to another spell: Protego Maxima.
Yes, he was playing with big spells now.
Usually, it takes years of training for witches and wizards to be able to even produce the magic of NEWT level spells.
But Lucas was able to do it with just 2 months of relentless practice.
Even the many OWL spells he has learnt, like the summoning charm or the exploding charm, aren't something that can be mastered in just two months for young wizards.
Then why can Lucas do it?
After reading many books on magical theory and spell casting, he has deduced that the reason for his higher speed of learning spells is not related to his special constitution.
The actual reason is his past life.
Since he has his past life memories, his mind is adequately matured to cast the spell.
He also survived through a chronic illness his whole life, which forged his will into iron. He did not give up even when his previous body would always protest against survival, always tempting him to just take the easy way out and die.
And to make that body listen to him, every normal action needed a much strong intent and focus.
Compared to all that, casting magic really is a piece of cake, only needing a huge amount of practice, something he actually enjoyed.
Of course, just being able to produce the magic has not given him the ability to control that spell, or make it powerful or effective.
While that could be achieved through absorption, most of the times Lucas would not have that much time in most cases.
The good news is, he is gradually improving, both in terms of magical power and control.
'Should be enough.'
After having trained enough, Lucas dismantled the tent and began trudging his way back.
Once outside the forbidden forest, he began to wander around a little, feeling a strange tranquility in the quiet night under the starry skies.
But, this state did not last long.
When he passed by the Black Lake, he saw light coming not far away from him.
'The heck?'
Still under disillusionment charm, Lucas also added a silencing charm on himself before slowly trudging through.
On the shore, no far away from the Durmstrang ship, he could barely make out two silhouettes facing each other.
'....'
Lucas realized that he might not be the only person with the plans of sneaking out.
He got on his broomstick and slowly hovered over, completely covered in disillusionment charm.
"-is not going to work."
Soon he was close enough to make out their conversation.
"We might not get a chance after this. Failure is unexceptable."
"How long can the Dark Lord's body hold out?"
"Not for long. Things aren't looking good. That's why we have to succeed."
"But will this host really fit?"
"A Dumbledore, in his prime age, and a talent unseen so far. Aiden is the best choice."
"Then when should we do it?"
"Definitely during the Trials. That would be the best opportunity."
Suddenly, one of the hooded figures looked around, as if having sensed something.
Snapped his hand, drawing his wand.
"It's not safe. We cannot talk like this. We'll continue the contact using the agreed means."
Then, the hooded figure cast a spell that made Lucas run away.
"Homenum Revelio."
But Lucas had already flown far out of range before that happened.
But even after escaping, be felt a lingering fear.
Fighting would have been completely futile. The ship was very close and it still have figures guarding the deck. Not to mention it would have been a diplomatic disaster.
After returning, Lucas was unable to sleep for a long time, his mind racing.
It seems that the Dark Lord, meaning Voldemort, needs a body. Most likely to somehow inhabit it.
Now that he thought about it, he hasn't seen or heard of Voldemort taking action personally for a long time.
This must be the most likely reason.
It seems that his body is not faring well. And its not that surprising, considering that his age is already above 70.
But he must have a way of changing bodies.
And Aiden Dumbledore as the new host.
During this time, Lucas has read various books and articles about the Dumbledores, and he had seen a few Dumbledores in action.
And the only thing he has to say about it is that the Dumbledores are broken, whether due to modifications and rituals or natural talent.
And he saw it during the fight against Obscurus at World Cup.
An obscurus is an existence that even Prime Albus Dumbledore and Prime Grindlewald would have struggled against. (fantastic beast movie series)
Especially since both light and dark magic (including patronuses) don't work on it.
But it was stopped by his mother, Adeline, and Aiden, all the while defending against the barrage of around a 100 death eaters.
And then, Ariana arrived and stopped it once and for all.
Aiden, especially, had played an instrumental role. He could create reinforced transfigured wall like nothing, send out highly destructive wide area attacks, all the while help out Adeline and Aurora in defense.
It is safe to say that the 3 Dumbledores might have been the last ones standing had Aiden not been so adept.
And if this body falls into Voldemort's hands, it can only be imagined how dangerous a no-nosed Aiden might become.
The next day, Lucas went to the Great Hall with dark circles under his eyes.
"You look sleepy," Gabrielle observed, walking beside him.
Fleur and the other Triwizard contenders were already off for training, arranged by Hogwarts for the contenders.
The rest of the students were supposed to attend classes with the Hogwarts students, including Lucas and Gabrielle.
"I'm fine. Which house do you want to have classes with?"
"Wherever you go."
"Fine. But you have to make friends with others this time."
Even back in Beauxbatons, Gabrielle had opted to follow him since the selected students weren't required to attend classes in order to prepare for their activity.
"I'll try." Gabrielle hooked his arm with hers, skipping with every step.
They reached Great Hall where the Goblet was placed promptly in front of the Professor's table.
As he was going for the Ravenclaw table, Lucas easily spotted the Golden Quartet, and coincidentally, Hermione and Adeline were also looking right back.
Hermione waved her hand, inviting him over.
"Do you know them?" Gabrielle asked.
Since rejecting would be too impolite, Lucas made his way over to the Gryffindor table along with Gabrielle, who had already become much more well-behaved after enter the Great Hall.
"Yeah, we met during the World Cup during the match. They are friendly." Lucas filled her in just as they reached the Quartet.
…..
On the other hand, Adeline gave Hermione a look. "Why did you call him?"
"Didn't you want to thank him?"
"Yeah, but he completely ignored me yesterday. I don't think he actually wants to hang out."
Aside from wanting to thank him, Adeline was also slightly curious about Lucas. Last time, during their long walk, she had ended up talking about herself the whole time under his lead, leaving a lot of her questions about him unanswered.
But after she saw him at the dinner table yesterday, eating, chatting and joking around with 4 beautiful girls, she just felt… maybe he might not want to associate with two nerds like them.
"Oh come on, its not that deep. He just wanted the dish."
"Morning, ladies." Lucas had already arrived by this point, taking the space Hermione had made by moving her books.
"Good Morning! I was so surprised when I saw you yesterday! Weren't you supposed to be homeschooled?" Hermione asked before they even finished sitting down.
Hermione was like that. As long as she has something to ask or something to say, she is not at all scared of talking to strangers. Adeline has always admired this about her.
The only reason this bushy haired girl has low number of friends is because she is always blunt and straightforward.
"Well, I was indeed homeschool until recently due to a physical ailment. But since I'm already fine now, I joined Beauxbatons with her connections," said Lucas pointing his thumb at Gabrielle.
"This is Gabrielle Delacour, I told you about her, didn't I?"
"Hi…" Gabrielle smiled slightly, looking cute and shy.
"Hi!" Before the Hermione or Adeline could say anything, Ron, who was sitting across the table, blurted this out, before shutting hit mouth and turning scarlet.
Though Adeline was exasperated at Ron's lack of self control, but with Ron being Ron, he couldn't be blamed.
This Gabrielle Delacour was… perfect. She was very beautiful, but at the same time, very cute. Adeline could clearly remember that Lucas was living in a veela household.
"Ron!" Harry elbowed him, looking second-hand embarrassed.
"And these two are your friends, I suppose? I saw them at the Quiddictch World Cup."
"Yeah, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley," Hermione introduced, pointing at them before casting an apologetic look to Gabrielle.
"Please don't mind Ron. He's harmless," she said, looking embarrassed as well.
"It's alright, I'm a quarter veela, so I get that a lot," said Gabrielle with a cute look, insta-killing all the boys staring once more.
"So, about the World Cup night, I heard your family was attacked? Is everything alright?"
Adeline suddenly snapped out of her internal thoughts as Lucas actually addressed her directly for the first time.
She nodded, trying to think of what to say. "It was alright. I mean my family is fine."
But she bit her tongue. 'It was alright?! Seriously?! All those deaths were 'alright'?'
"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me to ask, it must obviously be traumatizing. I just found it a bit surreal. I escorted you that afternoon, stating it was not safe, and the next thing I heard was you were actually attacked."
"Yeah, I never got to you thank you for that."
"Oh, that was nothing. I honestly just wanted to talk a bit longer at the time," said Lucas, scratching his head.
"No, I might have been attacked earlier if I was alone. I can still remember passing by some very suspicious groups. And I still remember you deliberately shielded me from their view when we passed by them."
"So, thankyou. Please let me know how to pay you back."
Adeline now felt lighter, finally being having said this. She had actually given him a free pass. Since she's a Dumbledore, there are endless amount of things he can ask from her.
She decided she will agree even if his demand is slightly excessive.
Lucas paused, thinking.
"Now that I think about it, there is indeed something I need help with."
As expected.
"Fire away."
"Well, Gabrielle and I are still required to attend classes and we're not very familiar with anyone here."
"So, do you want to attend classes with us?!" Hermione asked excitedly, cutting to the chase.
"Yeah, is that okay?"
Adeline was surprised, and slightly exasperated. Was that okay? It was great. But what kind of compensation is this? Is this the best he could come up with in exchange for saving her from trouble, even if it was coincidental?
"Hey mate, You know that tall girl, right? Can you invite her here as well?!"
But before Adeline could even say anything, Ron spoke up excitedly, pointing at Fleur who had just walked into the Great Hall along with other champion candidates.
…..