Hogwarts Hermitober

Doc considered himself a few things; a great beater, a good prefect, an O student. But above all he took pride in his ability to find certain glitches in magic.

Yes, that’s right. Magic has glitches. And he took it as his job to exploit it as much as he could.

That’s also how he found himself picking flowers, poppies to be precise, in the Hogwarts gardens. He had done some reading (some) and found another glitch ready to be exploited. Apparently when you did some things (he isn’t gonna tell anyone what exactly he did) there would be a way to transport a bunch of the same object all the way to his trunk without using any kind of spell.

So when he picked another poppy, it immediately disappeared from his hand.

He had been doing this for a while now and that was unfortunately very visible looking at the garden.

“Ay Doc! Fancy seeing you here,” someone shouted from behind him. He immediately recognised the slightly muffled voice as the one of the headboy; Xisuma, who was still wearing his mouth mask. Seemingly just having finished his shift in the hospital wing where he had been aiding Madam Poppy (the irony) for a while now.

Smiling, he turned around, the poppy still in his hand. It was slowly starting to wither, that meant he had to go back soon and enchant the others in his trunk.

Muttering a quick “arescentes subsisto” and the flower came back to its full glory.

“Hello Sisuma,” he smiled and gave them a poppy that he magically glitched from his trunk.

“Gee thanks! I guess I know where all the poppies have gone then?” they sighed. “Ah, nothing a bit of magic can’t fix. Papavere!” Xisuma did some fancy swirling with his wand that Doc found absolutely unnecessary and all the poppies regrew, giving the gardens a red tint.

“May I ask what you’re planning to do wif’ them?” X questioned and Doc laughed a bit.

“Don’t ask and I will tell you no lies,” he said mysteriously, “But yeah, this was just an experiment to be honest. Greater things than poppies to come.”

“I don’t know if i should be proud or concernt? I’m assuming it’s another glitch then?”

“Most certainly.”

“Of course,” the headboy sighed. “Well I guess I’ll let you go on your way then.” That’s what Doc loved about Xisuma, the headboy knew him well enough to know when he was actually causing trouble and when it was just something playful.

They first met in Doc’s 3rd year, when he had gotten injured in a Quidditch match. He didn’t play, nope, but some stupid Gryffindor chaser missed the goals and hit his face instead.

How the chaser mistook his face for a gigantic iron pole he did not know. What he did know is that the chaser needed a pair of glasses, which he gave him the week after the match. Him and Biffa, the chaser, ended up as pretty good friends after that. Unfortunately, Biffa graduated two years ago, but the start of their friendship was one that he wouldn’t ever forget.

X was there in the infirmary to help him get patched up. The young Hufflepuff wanted to be a healer and helped Madam Pomfrey where and when he could. It were his kind words that helped him come down from the shock and reassure him that he was okay. It was also X who convinced him not to kill Biffa, but that wasn’t important.

Anyway, he and Xisuma go way back and he’s the best friend he has. X inspires him in a way no one else can (except maybe Cleo, but that's more an inspiration to run). It gives him the assurance that everything is possible if you work hard enough for it.

An important life lesson everyone.

He waved X goodbye and began making his trek down to the dungeons, passing some third years who were most definitely up to no good. Two of them were attentively staring at the clocks in the hall, taking notes in the process, while the other looked at them in despair.

He chose to ignore them, like X had done with him, and continued making his way back.

Hogwarts was a strange place.

He came to a halt in front of the portrait of Salazar Slytherin and quickly murmured the password (parseltongue), he had places to be. Said place was his trunk where, upon arrival, it was stuffed to the brink with poppy’s. All in perfect form.

He grinned, this was extraordinary news, he had to inform the Hivemind about his findings! And so he ran back again, this time to the Owlery, his mind full of ideas centred about this new exploitation.

He passed Xisuma again who yelled after him confused. He vaguely registered something about not running in the castle, but he knew that he would not be in trouble because let's be honest; X is a sap.

It was only after he had sent Monster, his owl, out in the wilderness that he took a breather and let it all sink in as he stared out of the window. What he had just achieved would break the game entirely; teleportation without the active use of magic.

Oh boy, wait until Etho hears about this!

But that would have to wait another day, because he was spent. Apparently drinking tons of coffee has its disadvantages and he felt like he was about to crash down.

Luckily for him X had been following him out of curiosity and concern for his friend. He knew how obsessed Doc could get over one of his, quote on quote, experiments and had picked up Doc countless times after a caffeïne crash. So it was no surprise to Xisuma that he found Doc leaning against the windowsill of the Owlery with gigantic bags under his eyes.

He sighed fondly and slung an arm under his shoulder to help him get upright. “When are you gonna learn that caffeïne has its negative side effects, my friend? One day I’ll not be here to pick you up okay? You’ve gotta take care of yourself.” But he knew it fell on deaf ears. And to be honest, it was worth it to see the delirious smile on Doc’s face.

X helped Doc walk all the way back to the dungeon and guided him into the Slytherin common room, which he was allowed to enter as he was Headboy, and to Doc’s chambers where he laid him down on his bed. He was just about to walk away when Doc spoke.

“I’ve managed to do it, Sisuma.” X spun around. “What do you mean?” Doc laughed deliriously.

“Teleportation without any active magic.” Doc said, like it was the simplest thing in the world (which it was not, I can assure you). X stood still for a few seconds, not speaking.

“Aha, I see,” X struggled with his wording, “So the poppies, are they here?” Doc nodded over to his trunk that was overflowing with the red flower. “That’s- you know what, I’ll ask another time. You, my friend, have got to sleep. My goodness, non magical teleportation. If you’re not careful, you’ll be stuck at the Ministry after Hogwarts.” X teased and Doc’s grin fell as he began to repeatedly shake his head.

“No no no no no n- no no. Never at Ministry. Not funny.” X gave Doc a grin of his own and walked out of the chambers, giving Doc his well deserved rest.

Doc slept well that night, his dreams filled with poppies and friendship.