Chapter 24 - Goals of the year and Nott

Me and my fellow first year Ravenclaws were guided by the 5th year Prefects to the Ravenclaw tower after the feast. After solving the riddle asked by the door, we entered the Ravenclaw common room where the head of the house Professor Filius Flitwick gave a welcoming speech. I saw the statue of the famous Rowena Ravenclaw with the tiara above her head and the famous Ravenclaw library in the common room. We were told the rules of the house which contained nothing important and then guided by the prefects to our respective rooms.

I found my room and went inside. It was small and cosy same as my room in the orphanage and I was satisfied with it. The room also had a window which gave me a good view of the grounds of the castle. I found my trunk waiting for me on my bed.

I called Sherry and she helped me decorate and increase the size of the room as per my liking. Then I unpacked and started to go through the goals for this year as I was too excited to sleep. I had four years before the dangerous years of Hogwarts began and I had to use this time to become as strong as possible. I need it to make sure that I can face any situations that was thrown at me during those years.

I had to acquire the marauder's map from the caretaker's room. If I could replicate it within a year, I could place it back for the Weasley twins next year as I did not want to change the plot too much and this map was an important part of it. My coming here has already changed the future and I did not want to bring more changes since I liked having the prophetic advantage.

Finish the subjects till OWL level that were not in Hogwarts syllabus like duelling, healing, etc.

Use Room of requirements to train new spells and practice to effectively use the trained spells in battle.

Read up on the most efficient method of animagus transformation and practice it.

Be an Outstanding student in all subject in theory but score acceptable in practical. It would make me less of a threat to all parties. Scoring low in theory would cause people to suspect I was faking so I need to score the top marks in it.

Stay as far away from Dumbledore as possible.

After thinking about things for some time I felt tired and fell asleep.

Early next day I woke up and completed my daily exercise routine. I did not go for the morning jog as I did not know the way around the castle. It would have to wait for a few days but doing martial arts exercises was enough for now.

After a shower and getting ready, I went to the great hall. There were only a few people in the hall eating their Breakfast. After eating, I was wondering what to do when my head of house came and gave me my class schedule. The schedule was of okay. 6 hours of classes each day. Mostly with single subject classes of 1 and half hours. In some classes like in potions we had double periods of 3 hours. Most of the classes were with Hufflepuff and Slytherin and only the Charms class was with Gryffindor.

When I left the great hall after the breakfast, I was met with the trio of Nott and his cronies in the corridor.

Nott came up to me and said, "I am Terence Nott. I heard that you grew up in a muggle orphanage, Falken. So you must not know anything about our world. I would be happy to introduce you to the workings of our world."

I smiled and replied, "You don't have to worry about me Heir Nott. I know a lot about the workings of the magical world. It seems it is you who has to be introduced to Wizarding Etiquettes, Heir Nott."

He faltered due to the way I greeted him as he was not expecting it but then due to my mocking he got angry and said, "I am superior so I do not have to greet you in that way Falken. I know wizarding Etiquettes very well."

I asked, "Is that so? How are you the superior one Heir Nott? From what I have read, I am a pureblood and Heir to a Most Ancient and Noble House while you are heir to an Ancient and Noble House only. It seems you have confused me with someone else like you did on the train."

Nott replied, "You are not truly pureblood but i am and with our political allies, I have greater status than you politically. And I am superior to you as I have been brought up in a magical home with coaching in subjects for 2 years while you were rotting away in the orphanage. I am much stronger than you."

I still kept my smile and said, "It says on the paper that I am pureblood and that is enough for me and coming to strength I don't believe you have advantage over me as you had your magic core stabilised on your 11th birthday too. So that means both of us are on equal starting ground. You are only ahead in theory which with my intelligence I can catch up in no time."

Nott smiled and said, "You think we both are on the same level with spells? I think you need proof that you are inferior. Do you dare to duel with me Falken?"

I smiled and said, "Are you challenging the Heir Falken to a formal duel, Heir Nott?"

He smiled and replied, "Yes I am. Why? Are you afraid? You can still back out?"

I shook my head and said, "Tell me the time and location and I will be there. Do you need a second to help you in the duel Heir Nott?"

He scoffed and said, "I don't need a second. The time and location is tomorrow night at midnight in front of the trophy cabinet. You can't chicken out of the duel now Falken."

I replied, "Same to you Heir Nott and I will be there on time."

I then turned around and left for my first class which was Herbology with Hufflepuffs. I knew Nott was trying to play the classic first year duel prank on me like Malfoy played on Potter and he would inform Filch about me so that I would be caught and punished. It was very easy to tell from his expressions. But I was going to go to the designated duel because when Nott was challenging me to a duel, I spoke in the formal way and he unknowingly challenged me to a legit formal duel. If he fails to appear at the time of the duel, he would be forfeiting a real duel and not a fake one as he presumed. This was the advantage of knowing the laws very well.

Now if he had shown up and lost, then he will lose only what we bet during the time of the duel but if he fails to appear and forfeits the duel, he will be losing a lot more and he will regret it later.

The time passed quickly and soon it was time for the duel. The only thing I prepared was a spell to hide my scent. It would help me remain undetected from Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris. I disillusioned myself, applied the scent hiding spell, went to the designated place and waited for the designated time to pass while still invisible. At around midnight I saw Filch and Mrs. Norris coming to my location. They looked around for some time and after not seeing anyone, Filch cursed Nott for playing a prank on him. The words he spoke were truly enlightening. I waited for extra 10min and since Nott was still absent, took out my wand and then said in a low voice, "I Heir Falken declare that Heir Nott has forfeited the duel which he himself declared on me. I demand just compensation for this insult."

There was a small light at the tip of my wand signifying that my request was valid. I waited to see what I will get but even after some time, nothing showed up. That's when I remembered something and hit my head with my free hand. Since the duel was a formal one and I was underage, whatever I gained will be stored in my family vault. I will not be able to check it till I have access to it. I was disappointed as I will not be able to check what I had won for another 6 years.

I went back to my room and went to sleep without feeling any joy as I could not shove whatever I gained in the face of Nott tomorrow. I really wanted to do that.