It was a misty cold Sunday with frost crunching under our shoes as we piled onto the thestral pulled carriages. Thestrals were strange beasts that could only be seen if you had experienced death before. I don't mean actually dying either but seeing someone else die and fully understanding what happened. Their bodies looked like dark skinned skeletal horses with black bat-like wings and reptilian beaks. Saying they were evil looking wouldn't be wrong at all as if you saw one you'd think it should have starved to death with how thin they were.-
Despite their appearances and carnivorous diet the creatures were basically totally peaceful, friendly even. Terry and Mike gave me strange looks as I ran my hand along the rough scaled gray skin feeling the subtle warmth the creature put out. The trip back to the castle was a different one than when we first arrived but that was because the process was no longer necessary. Instead we rode the carriages around the lake before departing them and entering the castle proper. I didn't mind the cold of the grounds but Terry and Mike were glad for the warmth of the halls with their torches and braziers.-
Most people returning from the christmas break went straight to their common rooms to show off their presents or just relax for the last day before classes started up again, but not me. I instead headed for the library. Thanks to absorbing Grindelwald's skill stone I had the fuzzy sort of cognition of what books he'd read and mastered the contents of. In order to digest this knowledge I needed to follow in his footsteps. Madam Pince was not super pleased to see me but then again she didn't like any student in the library so that was hardly a surprise.-
I chose two books from my cognition and got to work. My learning speed with these books was dreadfully fast as I'd torn through the two books in the time it took for dinner to approach. At dinner itself when everyone was piled into the great hall Dumbledore stood up at the podium and made a speech.
"Good evening children! It is my most sincere hope that each and every one of you enjoyed the holiday. But the time for that draws to a close and school work once more calls you. There have been concerns brought to my attention about the disappearance of Gellert Grindelwald. Concerns that he might come for me and by extension, you. These concerns are perfectly valid of course but unnecessary. Despite his many atrocities Gellert Grindelwald loathes the wasteful shedding of magical blood more than anything, doubly so that of our youths. You are safe at Hogwarts, truly. Now please eat and catch up with friends!" he said before standing down and moving to the staff table.
'Oh? I wasn't expecting the news to be made public but I suppose given who exactly we are talking about here doing so is rather prudent.' I thought before digging into the feast.
Honestly I didn't really care either way as in the end that old man wasn't even in this world anymore. They might panic for a while but once nothing happens they'll probably write him off. The fact Dumbledore was staring at me with an appraising look made it pretty clear he thought I was involved with the old man's "escape" but couldn't prove it. To be fair I DID leave behind some evidence in the form of that lightning strike I used to slip past Nurmengard's detection ward but that was hardly conclusive evidence.-
Time flew by quickly after that as classes started up again and my skill with magic rapidly began to shoot up under the cognition of Grindelwald's skill stone. By the time my next search attempt with the system was available my magic skill's level had rose to five putting it just below my abilities level. What this meant in reality was that I was now operating on a level only just below that of the professors, at least on the whole. I wouldn't dare say I was that close to the fields they held true mastery over.-
One thing worth mentioning was that I flat out stopped hiding my skill and power. There was no point anymore. It drew attention, like a LOT of attention. But as of this moment I was too powerful to just casually mess with. I even earned a place on the front page of the daily prophet as somehow my shown skill had reached that paper. Probably through rumor followed by Rita in her bug form if I had to guess. I didn't really care much but the looks I got changed overtly. -
Many sought to suck up to me hoping to ride my coattails while others were unsure how to act around me anymore. Terry and Mike fell into this category unfortunately. Before they saw my genius and chose to just treat me as a normal person since it wasn't too exaggerated. Now though it was like we weren't even the same species anymore and they weren't sure how to deal with that. I tried telling them that i'm still me in the end but it barely helped. It wasn't a matter of personality anymore but fear. I scared them now, not by any active attempt but through sheer skill and power, like a bomb sitting on a shelf.