Chapter 378 - Friends

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Thank you again.

Now please enjoy the chapter and check the author's note at the end.

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Chris was on the black lake Hogwarts. Not near the lake but on it. While Fergus swam on the lake, Chris floated above water.

Suddenly, Fergus stopped and dived down and Chris was pulled underwater as well. Fortunately, by now, Chris was familiar with Fergus's memory world and she knew that she didn't need to breathe underwater, she wasn't worried. She calmly watched Fergus hold his breath for a long time then swam up and very slowly peeked above the surface. Chris followed him and saw the reason behind Fergus's worry. A boy bȧrėly one or two years older than him was wandering near the lake. For a moment, it looked like he was just taking a stroll but when he looked over where Fergus was, Fergus froze and so did Chris. 

The water around Fergus rippled and Chris realized Fergus used magic to hid himself while Malgino looked on. After a moment, Malgino walked away and Fergus waited for a few minutes before jumping out of the lake, throwing his cloak on, and disappearing inside the castle.

The scene dissolved.

Now Chris was on the Gryffindor tower and Fergus was hiding behind a statue, watching Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff talk.

". . . he is almost ten, Godric. It's time. You have to let him out or else. . ." Helga warned.

"You know perfectly well why I am hesitating, Helga. He is . . ." Godric sighed.

"I know, Godric. I know but closing him off is making him restless day by day. He only smiles when he comes back from his trip to see his mother. This is not healthy for the kid," Helga argued. "You have to take responsibility. I know you are trying to protect him but this is going too far."

"Helga, he is too powerful for his own good. Do you know he can—"

"Do a lot of things even we can't do? Yes, I have seen. That's more the reason why he needs care, you can't lock him up forever. Because if this goes on, he will explode and you know what he is capable of," Helga narrowed her eyes at Godric. "It's not his fault, he is a powerful half-blood, Godric. You can't punish him for that."

"I am not punishing him, Helga. Don't you forget, he is my son. I love him. I do and I don't want to see him used for his unique powers. I will never let anyone harm him."

"Students, this is Fergus, our new student, you all were curious about," Helga Hufflepuff introduced Fergus to her class. She gave ten years old Fergus an encouraging smile and Fergus tried to smile at the students.

"Fergus, which house you are in?" One student asked.

"Yeah, why did we not see you sorting into your house?" Another one jumped in.

"You look so young, shouldn't you get primary lessons about magic first?" A girl asked meanly.

Fergus looked shocked and nervous as he scratched his palms behind his back and Chris saw magic sparks coming out of his fingers.

"Silence!" Helga roared and the class fell silent. "I expected far wiser reactions from my pupils when I invited Fergus to my class for his first lesson."

"We apologize, Madam Hufflepuff," some students muttered and looked down embarrassed.

"I will accept your apology when I see you are worthy of it," Helga said to the class and asked Fergus to go and sit.

But that wasn't the end of it. Throughout the day, in every new class, Fergus attended he noticed students looking at him and whispering among them.

"Who do you think he is?"

"Doesn't he have enough magic to sort into any house?"

"Probably, who knows?"

"If you don't know why are you whispering among yourselves?" Suddenly, a familiar boy asked a group of students gossiping in the corridor. "You don't know anything about that new boy and yet you are making ȧssumptions. Why don't you all mind your own business and leave the boy alone?"

"Malgino, we were just . . ." A girl from the group tried to explain but Malgino didn't listen. He walked past them.

"Don't let them bother you. If you let them step over you once, they will do it again and again," Malgino said seriously as he paused in front of Fergus. 

A very surprised Fergus only stared at him and Malgino walked away.

. . .

Chris was on a tree in the forbidden forest, though it looked a lot different.

It looked less scary and more bright. Fergus sat beside her watching three dragons in the distance. The dragons were asleep and Chris felt a strong urge to pet them. 

"You like Dragons too?" Fergus askes running towards Malgino and the Dragons.

As soon as the Dragons saw Fergus, they left their meat and got nearer to him. Fergus smiled and petted them.

"Who doesn't like Dragons? The question is who they like?" Malgino said watching Fergus intently. "And by the looks of it, they like you."

"They do. All creatures are my friends," Fergus said looking at the red Dragon, who Chris guessed was a Chinese fireball. "So you know, you shouldn't lie to me. Because I have dangerous friends."

Malgino gave a boyish grin and folded her arms in front of him.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why were you following me after you came to Hogwarts?" Fergus turned to Malgino looking serious. "And don't lie. I know you were."

"I was curious," Malgino replied looking relaxed like he had nothing to hide. "To be honest, I love mysteries and you, my friend was one of the biggest mysteries of Hogwarts. So I tried to solve it."

"What did you find?" Fergus asked trying to look brave but in reality, he was nervous.

"Nothing out of ordinary. I discovered you are one of the kids who got bullied by non-magical humans and have a hard time with magic and people, right?" Malgino explained.

Fergus was surprised by Malgino's ȧssumption but quickly nodded not to arise his suspicion.

"Since your mystery was solved. I decided to move on to the next one. You know, Hogwarts has no shortage of mysteries," Malgino smiled.

. . .

Fergus was following Malgino, both of them looked a little older. Chris followed them and after a while, she realized, where they were running through the Seventh floor. 

All of a sudden, Malgino stopped and turned around. Fergus had no time to stop and he almost ran into Malgino.

"Two weeks. Why?" Malgino asked.

"What do you mean?" Fergus looked embarrassed and out of breath from running.

"You know, exactly what I mean. Why are you following me for two weeks, Fergus? At first, I thought it was a coincidence," Malgino looked serious. "Look, I know I saved you from the other students a couple of times but that doesn't mean, I allowed you to follow me everywhere."

"I wasn't –" Fergus tried to protest.

"You are a good student, Fergus. You are really good with your magic. You got the highest score in the first year. Also, I have seen Genevieve has a soft spot for you. She treats you like a young brother. You will manage on your own. You don't need my help anymore. So stop following me."

Malgino turned around about to leave when Fergus spoke.

"It is not about helping. I don't want your help. I just thought you were looking for your next mystery of Hogwarts and I got . . . curious."

Malgino looked back at him and laughed.

"You want to join me for my Hogwarts adventures?"

"No, I mean I don't think I will much use of you. I am not allowed to use magic without any teachers' supervision," Fergus blurted out and immediately regretted it.

But to his surprise, Malgino nodded.

"I know."

"How?"

"Helena told me," Malgino said and Fergus wondered how Helana knew it, considering only the teachers and Genevieve knew it. However, when Malgino noticed Fergus's confused face, he misunderstood it and started to explain. "It's because of your condition of difficulty with magic, Fergus. Magic is a dangerous thing if not used properly and oppressing it can result in a destructive problem. If you were oppressing your magic because of the non-magical people then it can still get out of your control, so it's important to have teachers' supervision."

"You know, a lot about magic," Fergus said in awe.

Malgino laughed again at his reaction.

"Thank you. Now, are you going to join me or?"

"You will let me?" 

"Hogwarts is your home too, Fergus," Malgino smiled at Fergus and he gave a big smile back. He was happy.

"So I heard there is a secret room here on this floor," Malgino told Fergus as they started walking.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Madam Helga built it, I heard."

. . .

And that was the start. Chris watched as snippets of memory passed in quick motions. Malgino helped Fergus again and again and stood up for him, involved him in deep magic discussions, made him feel useful. Fergus was so happy to finally found a friend who treated him as his equal and respected him. Malgino was the first person in Fergus's life who didn't want to protect and hide Fergus, but he inspired him to go out and face the problems. With Malgino, Fergus's magic improved as he felt free and comfortable enough with himself.

Finally, Chris realized why so many smart people got fooled by Malgino.

In these memories, Malgino didn't look scary or someone who wanted to rule the world, someone evil. He looked like a normal good-looking brave, intelligent and curious boy. This was the boy that impressed the founders, the boy everyone in Hogwarts admired, the boy Helena loved, the boy who respected Fergus, and the boy who just loved magic.

Chris still got no clue about destroying Malgino, but she realized that if she had met this young and interesting Malgino, she also would have been friends with him. Because he was a lot like her.

⟦To be continued⟧