Hidden Slytherin

Chapter 21 H-E-DOUBLE-FUCK-YOU

The next week seemed to speed by. Their group still studied in the library but had to retreat back to the Slytherin dorm several times when Max went out of her way to see them. All it had taken was a shake of their head and a whispered word for Racheal to nod in understanding. Jane had noticed that Racheal had made friends with some Hufflepuffs. One in particular seemed to stick close.

Classes had gotten more intense, blending into each other. Jane devoured the information quickly. Even as she worked, the tension was eating at her. Only when she was in the Slytherin common room or when she had wards up did she feel relaxed. In her Flying lessons, Professor Price pulled her aside to question her about whether she had upset someone or whether she was having problems. When Jane asked why, Price revealed that the broom Jane had used was examined further and had been hexed.

"Just a harmless prank, I'm sure. Don't worry about it. If anything else happens make sure to tell a teacher or your Head of house, ok?"

Jane had nodded along and gone back to practicing flying. She found that, even knowing this one wasn't hexed, she couldn't seem to completely trust it. She remembered her levitation project and promised herself she would get on that as soon as she got some time.

Astronomy was particularly bad. Every time she entered the Astronomy tower, her instincts yelled at her to get out. Her muscles would be screaming at her from tension by the end of class. That didn't mean she let anything show. Her Slytherin mask was firmly in place and she was unendingly polite.

By the time Friday rolled around Jane was dad on her feet. Her family had sent back responses which ranged from surprised belief to stunned to confusion. Some things like 'how could you know this' to 'how didn't we know this.'

Jane lay in bed that morning. She had managed to fall asleep the night before but ended up waking up at four in the morning. She had worked on some notes, fiddling with a few spells that weren't quite right yet but eventually abandoned it for stare into space. She wondered if she should go bug someone or just wander before rolling over.

Jane pulled a book off her desk. She knew it was a smarter idea that didn't have the potential to get her in trouble. She started to read, flipping through the pages. It was one of the ones she had gotten from Room of Requirements that dealt with the theoretical study of magic. This one was considered controversial, suggesting that there was no such thing as a muggle, only those with incredibly low magical aptitude and a high threshold for magic. It was hypothesised that magic wasn't a supernatural phenomenon, that everything and everyone had magic to some extent. The more magical the creature, the more naturel the ability to harness magic and that humans relations with such species had created wizards. They compared this with lore the author had gathered from different races. Jane had checked the year it was written, and realised that the theories in this book had been written several hundred years ago.

They probably hadn't been very popular, owing as to why they seemed to be forgotten. She flipped through the pages, coming across a section for theories of magic and overview. Skimming it,, she saw the pure blood ideals, and separatist ideals represented but also a few others.

Jane flipped through to a chapter called practical use for theoretical practice. It detailed how harnessing pure magic may allow better understanding. Basically meditation to allow you to feel your magic. It argued that as spells and wands were used to help with visualization and actualization, they acted as a sort of support system.

This was followed by the argument posited by another theory. This one stated that, like the Fae and Elven folks understanding, all magic came with a cost. It was the infamous 'deal.' That magic was easier to do with a wand and spells because the use of them was a trade in order to use the magic. Similarly, the large the spell the more preparation that was needed, the more that had been completed the better the outcome.