AUTHOR'S NOTE

hi again! this will be quite a long note so i apologize in advance

i've decided the result of the polls. i also write The Slytherin Magus on two other sites so naturally i had to get their opinions as well.

third-POV won on webnovel, first-person POV on r*yalr*ad and Scribblehub was roughly 50/50. i also have a say in the polls as well.

the conclusion i came to is this, for everyone's opinions to be inclusive and also to ease my strain (it was harder than i expected to suddenly switch POV's)

i'll continue to write in first POV and any scene without the mc will be narrated in third person. There will also be a third addition which is the (A Different POV) chapters, there'll be a number of these scattered across the book to give the readers a different viewpoint every now and then. (There'll probably be 2 of them every 50 chapters).

thanks to everyone who expressed their opinions and thanks for reading.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

 

Audric woke up reluctantly, not only was it another Thursday, but he had also slept late the night before.

He decided to stay behind after Quidditch practice for Animagus training and he had snuck back into the dorms well past midnight again.

Becoming powerful was such a pain in the ass.

He made his way down to the Hall for breakfast with Blair and Tanner in tow.

The disadvantage of losing a day's worth of school work was that their work on other days increased.

"We have potions this morning right?" Blair asked forlornly, her hair was left down today.

"I call dibs on sitting beside Audric." Tanner threw an arm around his shoulders.

Blair couldn't even work up the energy to smack him. "We're stuck in our respective groups, remember?" She sighed miserably. "Thank God I wasn't stuck with you, I'd be worse off than I am right now."

"Blair?" Tanner exclaimed, heartbroken.

"I wish I was in Audric's group instead." She ignored his misery. "They're all smart."

"Having issues with the Garish Pink Blended Potion?" Audric asked dryly.

"Yes!" Blair wailed. "The ingredients are so many and after this, we have to brew up the antidote, it makes me want to jump into my cauldron and become a potion myself."

Tanner snorted at this, earning a glare in his direction.

"Let's get to breakfast, I'll explain things better at the table." Audric offered, increasing his pace.

He had been distracted mostly by the thought of the Daily Prophet coming that morning.

Would there be a mention of the dragon attack in the papers? Or would it be covered up like Jon's skirmish?

There was only one way to find out but the Paper owls couldn't come quickly enough.

Audric was distracted the entire time while he was explaining how the Garish Pink Blended Potion worked to Tanner and Blair.

The Paper owls eventually made an appearance, the hall flooding with owls of all colors and sizes.

Audric looked up, catching a glimpse of blue skies, soft clouds, and sunlight on the ceiling.

He paid the required fee for the delivery and snatched up the paper, scanning the first page.

'DRAGONS CAUSE A RUCKUS AT HOGWARTS!'

All three of them shared a look but then Blair pushed the papers to the side with a plaintive expression.

"You can read the papers anytime but we have Potions first thing this morning." She bargained.

Audric easily gave in, Blair was right, he would be able to read the papers anytime. Plus, his curiosity had been sated for the time being.

Professor Slughorn might not be the strictest teacher but there would still be problems if they couldn't get their potions brewed right.

They were his friends, it didn't hurt to help. Also, he was just flaunting the assistance of the System, it was the sole reason he was able to keep up with the curriculum.

Audric put away the newspaper article for the meantime and went back to explaining the potion steps.

"You're the best, Audric!" Blair waved happily after breakfast, dragging Tanner behind her as she hurried to the dungeons to prepare for the class in advance.

Audric slowed down, taking his time to get there. There was no need to hurry.

He brought out the article as he made his way down to the dungeons, scanning through it. It was just as he guessed.

The Daily Prophet had an uncanny knack for being well informed, especially when it involved these weird attacks that seemed to have no pattern or reason to them.

He got to class still deep in thought, Hazel and Weston were not there yet even though he had taken his time coming to the classroom.

Like his thoughts summoned them, Weston came walking through the door of the classroom, pulling Hazel behind him.

He sat down right beside Audric. "I told you he was already here."

"Audric? Did you see the papers?" Hazel shot at him, leaning forward on her chair to get a better look.

"Of course he did." Weston muttered.

"Someone is definitely feeding the media with information." Hazel added.

"And they're being very specific about it too." Weston noted.

"I'm more worried about the pattern that Witter mentioned before." Audric mused, lacing his fingers. "From Boggarts to Dragons, there's a high chance the attacks are only going to get more dangerous."

"There's also no limit to where the attacks happen, last night was on the castle grounds…" Weston noted.

"And the attack before that happened inside the castle." Hazel completed.

Audric's eyes darkened. "The school seems to not be taking it seriously too."

"Or maybe they just don't want to alarm the students." Hazel shrugged, ever the positive one.

"Or they just don't know what's going on." Weston countered.

"Good morning class, I hope we're ready to move on from the pink poison because I have no plans of delaying the class for the slow ones." Professor Slughorn swept into the class with urgency, getting right to business.

This cut short their conversation but not for long as they were first to complete brewing the potion.

"Splendid potion work as usual. 20 Points to Gryffindor, 10 points to Slytherin." Professor Slughorn judged after checking on their work table. "If the rest of you would get to this point as well, you're not making Wolfsbane."

The rest of the class had barely gotten halfway through their potion so they would be there a while.

"We could try spying on Professor Esme." Audric spoke quietly when Professor Slughorn was far away.

They were allowed to talk amongst each other because they were basically done with their class work for the day.

Hazel and Weston, turned around slowly at this, shock expressive on their faces.

Audric shrugged. "It's the only lead we have."

Weston looked thoughtful, blond locks falling in his green eyes. "Audric might have a point."

Hazel was the only one nervous about the entire deal. "And how do you propose we do that?"

Audric shrugged again. "It was just a suggestion, it might turn out to be a waste of time." He leaned back in his seat. "It would just be best if we keep an eye out, nothing drastic."

Weston's response was a scathing scoff. "You say something like that then tell us not to think about it too much."

"I'm just saying that it might backfire." Audric deadpanned. "If we can think to tail Professor Esme, what are the chances that she isn't already doing the same?"

"Maybe that's why she's so mean to you?" Hazel suggested hesitantly.

"It's just Audric though, not all of us." Weston pointed out.

Audric raised a brow. "Then she doesn't regard you both as a treat."

Weston shot him a cold look. "Then you'll have to leave the tailing to us." He pointed out.

Audric gritted his teeth, they had a point though. If he tried to tail Professor Esme himself it would be like holding a neon sign on his head because she had it out for him.

"There's no need to fight over this." Hazel cut in nervously. "Audric is right, spying on Professor Esme might be nothing but a waste of time."

Weston held dark gazes with Audric. "But it's still our only lead so we have to do it."

Hazel sighed, knowing that she was fighting a losing battle.

"What do you have after this?" Weston tossed at Audric.

"Transfiguration." Audric answered, the word leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

"We don't have anything after Potions and we can skip out on the rest of our classes, we'll keep watch on her for the rest of today." Weston decided.

Audric glanced at Hazel with concern.

"It's fine, I don't mind." She reassured him.

It was a solid plan, especially if Professor Esme wasn't expecting it.

"I'll help out." He blurted out, a plan coming to mind.

Weston shot him a look. "How?"

"Simple, I'll be the bait." He shrugged.

Hazel and Weston exchanged a look.

"I just have to remain in plain sight, if she knows where I am, she would be less cautious."

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan." Weston agreed grudgingly.

"Alright!" Hazel cut in. "We'll go with this instead, West and I will be on the lookout while Audric will distract her." She suddenly looked stern. "And this is the only day we'll indulge in this unless, of course, we find useful information. Deal?"

"Deal." The boys grudgingly agreed, still covertly glaring at each other.

After potions, the three of them separated. Audric heading away alone.

"You don't have to pick a fight with him over everything." Hazel reprimanded, walking beside Weston.

"You always take his side, so it doesn't matter." Weston's response was cold.

He had no personal issues with Audric, if anything he respected him now that he had gotten to know him.

It just stung how he felt like the third wheel when it was the three of them.

"Audric…"

"We have a mission to get to." He cut her off. "We should hurry."

They all met up again after dinner, Weston's eyes were even colder this time.

"Well, that was a waste of time." He muttered grimly.

Audric shared the same sentiments after Hazel and Weston gave a detailed report on how their tailing went.

Professor Esme had been a bore to tail, she did nothing fun. Plus she was quite sharp so they had to work extra hard to hide the fact that they were tailing her.