The Halloween Draw

Edmund returned to his seat as though he had completed an ordinary classroom exercise.

The other club members remained fixed on the wreckage. They had expected a one-sided contest, just not in Edmund's favor.

Bulstrode was among Slytherin's strongest Transfiguration students. His family belonged to the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and generations of magical education had given him every possible advantage.

Yet he had just lost to a first-year who had been studying magic for less than two months.

None of the students present could confidently claim to be far better than Bulstrode. That made Edmund's victory distinctly uncomfortable.

Professor McGonagall began to applaud.

"Very good, Mr. Gaunt. Your command of Transfiguration is considerably more advanced than I anticipated."

Her expression held unmistakable approval. Had Hogwarts allowed such things, and had Flitwick been willing to surrender his most promising student, she might have tried to bring Edmund into Gryffindor herself.

His rescue of Hermione had certainly been reckless enough for the House.

McGonagall put the thought aside and returned her attention to the meeting.

"Now that Mr. Gaunt has completed his assessment, we will turn to today's subject: Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration."

The room settled into attentive silence. Edmund listened as closely as the senior students did. His practical ability might be advanced, but McGonagall's explanation gave structure to his knowledge and exposed weaknesses in his foundations.

What challenged the older students was still foundational material to him, but foundations mattered.

...

Two weeks passed after Edmund's first Transfiguration Club meeting. Halloween was now seven days away.

Quidditch practices had become more demanding. Most evenings, Edmund helped Cho work the exhaustion from her shoulders after training. Between the team and her assignments, she had begun cursing Roger Davies at least once a day.

Edmund had no complaints about the arrangement. The massages came with certain... compensations.

Today, however, he had skipped practice.

His savings had finally reached ten thousand coins, and a limited Halloween draw had appeared.

[System]

Limited Rate-Up Pool: Always - Severus Snape

Duration: 7 days

The first Legendary card drawn from this pool is guaranteed to be Always - Severus Snape.

Character Card: Always - Severus Snape

Potions Talent: 7

Dark Arts Talent: 6

Defence Against the Dark Arts Talent: 5

Spells: Omitted

The card had arrived at exactly the right time.

Snape had taken a personal interest in testing him. Edmund's assignments in Potions were rarely the same as everyone else's.

While the class brewed Pepperup Potion, he was assigned the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. When they worked on a Deflating Draught, Snape demanded a Beautification Potion from him.

Those potions were normally studied years later.

At the rate Snape was escalating, Edmund would eventually find a request for Felix Felicis waiting at his station.

His present Potions talent was five: excellent by ordinary standards, but not enough to keep pace forever. One more level would buy him time, and an Epic Potions Knowledge card from the draw would make the result even better.

"Spend all ten thousand coins on one hundred draws."

Edmund softened his voice instinctively, then remembered that the System had no intelligence to charm.

"All at once."

He closed his eyes.

A rapid succession of chimes filled his mind. When the final sound faded, Edmund looked at the cards suspended before him.

Three of them shone gold.

x

x

x

If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:

https://www.patreon.com/cw/auroraclairevale