By the time we were standing on the boards and our fans had thrown large towels over our shoulders, the judges had announced their decision: there were no winners in the second round due to the failure to complete the task, but all four of us had proven ourselves worthy of our schools as champions, so it was decided to award ten points to each of us. Frankly, I didn't care, because the main thing was that Krum hadn't seen anything, and Potter had gotten lost somewhere along the road of life and had come when the song was finished, and I didn't allow him to start a new one.
So by the time he appeared, most of the wildlife had disappeared into the darkness of the deep, the octopus was lurking in a cave, and the spirits had returned to their normal non-physical state. We all went back together, taking the girl from Durmstrang with us — it was a shame to leave her behind, even though we knew she could be pulled out with the port key.
I heard some indignation from Karkarov about the violation of the "most likely to win" rule, but I didn't pay attention to that either, answering congratulations, accepting praise, and answering questions from those who just couldn't wait.
Soon enough, however, the pressure from the more emotional fans, who were obviously bored on the cold boards, subsided, and then they were pushed away from me by the Gryffindors from the last year, who winked at me surreptitiously. Well, that's more support than a polite "Good luck" from down the hall. By now we had Gabby, who wouldn't let go of her sister, Granger with a trace of fear on his face that he was trying to hide, and Ron and Neville.
The others who couldn't be ignored stayed at a distance, but were in no hurry to leave. Well, the local climate wasn't conducive to long walks outdoors at this time of year, so I whispered in Fleur's ear to draw her parents towards me, and accompanied by the griffins, I moved towards the Schrodingers, who had arrived in the company of people I didn't know.
— Good day. — I smiled openly, looking around at the familiar and the unfamiliar. — I confess, I did not expect your visit, Rudolf, Alexandra.
— Fall down, mortals! — demanded the parrot sitting on the girl's shoulder in an important tone. This remark attracted even more attention than the fact of our conversation. And the bird's appearance was quite... provocative, so many people stared at Alexandra, but she just ignored it or took it as something natural.
— Alex suddenly wanted to see if the locals could arrange something interesting, or if their humor was just as bad. — Rudolph shrugged his shoulders, who had arrived without a fiancée or a husband. — So she convinced not only me and my grandfather, but also our good friend from sunny Poland. By the way, this is Erwin Schrödinger, our grandfather and the first person in our family to have a normal sense of humor. — the guy pointed to a gray-haired elderly man with a mischievous look on his face.
— Nice to meet you, sir. — We shook hands, and at the moment of touching, blue and purple electric sparks fell from the old man's hand, which did no harm to me, but made the man smile broadly.
— It's a pleasure. I've wanted to meet the young man who created such a wonderful joker for a long time. — Erwin nodded to the parrot with the crazy eyes.
— Grzegorz Jablonski, of the Jablonski family, a very inquisitive young magician, a fan of science like everyone in his family. — Rudolph continued the introductions.
— Sora Hoshino. — Responded to the handshake, a normal one this time.
Simultaneously with the introductions and greetings, I studied the two men. The master of Spatial Magic, Transfiguration and Necromancy was clear from the start: he wasn't very powerful in terms of pure power, but his gifts were another matter, especially if he had grown them according to the rules and put a lot of effort into it.
I can clearly see that Erwin managed to acquire the gift of spatial magic himself — it can be seen in some peculiarities of his spiritual bodies, but in his grandchildren this gift is already established, that is, both Alexandra and Rudolf received it at the moment of the first heartbeat.
But changing the world, that is, transfiguration, as well as necromancy — these gifts are old ... very old. At first glance, I can't even determine the true age of the genus, or other details that can't help but be interesting. But I can see something clear and distinct: this family took the name "Schrödinger" not so long ago — three, maybe four centuries ago, and before that they were called by another name. Strange, very strange!
What can I say about Yablonski? Well, against the background of the Schrödingers, he looks like an LED against a spotlight — that's the very first comparison that came to my mind. You can see that he comes from a family of magicians, there are no curses, but the gift, only one, feels strange, weak, I would say. No, it is still there, but the direction is not clear at all, and there is no pronounced power, and without it it is rather difficult to determine the direction.
The same Greengrasses or Bulstrods have a distinct breath of life, though tainted by birth curses, like a soft, warm heartbeat. These sensations are actually an extremely abstract matter, since they are only sensations, and the eyes see only colors and patterns in the spiritual bodies, auras, and "circles" that differ from those of any magician. Schrödingers give a kind of "Rubik's Cube" feeling... I agree, a strange comparison, but that's how I perceive it: something with a clear logic, correct and measurable, but at the same time capable of rapid change.
In Yablonsky I met a strange gift, which I cannot define even by external signs and sensations, because I have never met anything similar before, i.e. I do not have enough information to analyze it.
On the other hand, if I use the method of elimination, I can immediately rule out elemental mages, black and light mages, necromancers, demonologists, and chaosites, but it is even more difficult because there are shades of life, movement, order, and much more. Well, we can deal with that later.
— Forgive me, Mr. Hoshino, for asking such a tactless question, but I couldn't help but be interested in your methods of magical operation. — The Pole finally expressed his interest, and I was worried that the guy wouldn't burst into tears. And yes, he's still quite young, seventeen to eighteen at the most. — The Observation Amulets may be your family secret, but the way you pulled off that vortex is absolutely amazing! — Yablonsky's eyes glowed with the familiar fire of a scientist, a maniac for science.
— Which compensation algorithm for the interaction of charms did you use? Kruspe-Mejic or Boyle? — Delacour and the teenagers, as well as Junko, Elizabeth, and Kiriko, who were also present, had approached our group by the time the question was asked. Afiri stayed at home, because I don't want to make the girl too public yet, or what if someone smells her "talent" and starts a hunt?
— I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have no idea what you're talking about. In this case, I listened to what my wand was telling me, and then I used magic to make my thoughts come true.
— But how! — The Pole was not confused, but rather unable to believe such a lie. — According to Cleopatra Valenstein's theory, such energy-consuming spells could not be controlled without a well-founded verbal formula. Otherwise, the weaving pattern closes on the last command and begins to operate in an autonomous mode until the energy invested is completely exhausted. — Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the look on the face of a girl who was quite famous at Hogwarts, and I liked that look very much.
And the next moment I felt that I had fallen sharply into the spiritual plans of the world, everything around me was covered with a thick fog, and only right in front of me the darkness shrank to a milky canvas on which several images appeared. They were uneven, like movie frames torn from a tape and jumbled together, then shown in random order.
Several flashes in a row showed almost exactly what I'd once seen in a movie: images of teenagers in various situations at Hogwarts, in Hogsmeade, or elsewhere. There's Ron hugging Lavender Brown, smiling at each other and then kissing, and then there's Hermione hiding sharply around the corner, her shoulder pressed against the stone wall, her downcast face hidden by a curtain of curly brown hair.
Ron and Lavender, sitting side by side on the couch, embracing, are engaged in a noisy classmate conversation, and Hermione is leaning over another library book, absorbed in the description of some complicated Transfiguration spell.
Many more such scenes flashed before my eyes until I saw Ron and Hermione appear on the stairs, covered in cracks and splintered masonry, embracing and looking down at each other. But then there was something else, something completely different, something I'd been striving for, even if I took my time and didn't try too hard.
I don't know how long I had been looking at the alternative, but I had picked up some important details from someone else's possible future story. Yes, this option is definitely much better than what was shown in the movie, and it is worth a little more persistence to bring it to life.