Harry Potter: I Cast

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I whistled as I walked across the seventh floor corridors, studying a painting of Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach ballet to eight trolls. The trolls kept stumbling over their massive feet while Barnabas waved his arms frantically.

Though the moving painting was interesting enough, I couldn't find anything particularly special about its magic. After staring at it for a bit I thought the painting was kind of pointless, I mean it was fun to stare at but it would have been more interesting to actually make the trolls learn.

I know Barnabas had failed but that didn't mean he had to keep repeating the same mistake for centuries on end in this painting right? Besides I'm sure that giving the trolls and Barnabas sentience would be much more interesting in the long run, as I mulled this over I began to walk away.

I finally reached the end of a corridor and checked my watch - 7:43. The sheer size of this place was mind-boggling when you considered how few students actually attended this place.

There were only 300 students, and from the different classes I had counted and if there was a similar number in the rest of the floors Hogwarts could satisfy a little over 1000 students probably four or five times what it had now, though there would have to be more teachers if that was the case plus I hadn't accounted for club rooms, so it may be a little less or a little more counting the towers.

I was about to turn back and explore another floor when I heard something behind me. Spinning around, I found myself face-to-face with a massive bronze gargoyle that definitely hadn't been there before. It was impressively ugly, its bronze surface gleaming dully in the morning light.

"You there, what are you doing?"

It speaks - another sentient object to add to my growing list of magical curiosities. I'd already encountered three now: the Sorting Hat, the eagle door knocker at Ravenclaw Tower, and this gargoyle.

The paintings were something else entirely, their magic working differently. Still it was cool how many sentient objects were in Hogwarts, I wondered if there were more hidden around.

"I'm roaming the castle," I replied honestly. No point in lying to a magical artifact, actually there was no point to lying in general, if you had to lie that means you got caught and I wasn't going to get caught now was I, though the cat thing was pretty close, seriously who was that dude.

The gargoyle spoke. "How did I get here? I should be on the third floor right now?"

I shrugged, more interested in studying it than answering questions, I know hypocritical but I also didn't know how it appeared here. The fact it knew where it was supposed to be was fascinating though - some kind of location-based enchantment maybe? "So what are you?"

"I'm obviously the magnificent stairwell gargoyle."

Looking around the conspicuously stairwell-free corridor, I raised an eyebrow. "There isn't a stairwell here though?"

Unable to contain my curiosity, I approached the statue and placed my hand on its cool surface. Beneath the bronze coating, I could feel carved stone. How did they manage to give these objects sentience? Programmed responses would be one thing, but this was something far more complex and fascinating.

My fingers traced the carved patterns as I searched for it's own magic, a hypothesis I had come up with, similar to what I'd sensed in the Sorting Hat. My thought process was simple, they were given their own magic and therefore given sentience similar to how transfiguration worked when turning objects into animals, the important question was how they kept that magic and how the magic was their own.

"I'm being assaulted help!! I did not consent to this! Students help this precious gargoyle!!" it wailed dramatically, though it made no move to stop me. For something claiming assault, it sure wasn't trying very hard to prevent it.

Then I felt it - the magic, hypothesis correct. It wasn't as strong as the Sorting Hat's, but definitely present, flowing through the stone in patterns, following the carved stones like a magical circuit in a cycle. 

Without warning my magic surged forth traveling from my finger tips and into the statue and they began to intersect without warning I fell.

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"Seriously why does my head hurt almost every single day."

My eyes hazedly opened up, then I realized I couldn't move. I looked down at me, I had turn into the gargoyle.

"Oh great."

Still this could be a good time to feel exactly how the magic worked in here though as I looked around, I realized this wasn't the seventh floor it was somewhere else.

Just as I was thinking this, I felt a sound of footsteps come this way. I quickly shut up until I saw who was in front of me. The most powerful wizard alive, Albus Dumbledore.

"Hello Stairwell."

Words that weren't mine came from my stone mouth. "Hello Albus. Password?"

"Acid Pops."

A candy for a password? That seemed oddly whimsical for such an important security measure. Did Dumbledore choose it himself? Why use sweets at all? Though I guess no one would expect the most powerful wizard in Britain to use candy names as passwords.

My stone body shifted aside, revealing what lay behind me - a magnificent circular office filled with windows and portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses. Delicate silver instruments whirred on spindly tables, puffing out small clouds of smoke in various colors. I wanted to get my grubby little hands on them, when I thought of this a new thought soon took over.

Was I a magic kleptomaniac?

Books lined the walls - hundreds of them, maybe thousands, their spines practically begging to be read. A phoenix sat in a golden cage nearby, its feathers glowing like embers. But what caught my attention was the Sorting Hat, sitting innocently on its shelf. I felt my gargoyle-face stretch into what must have been a terrifying smile just before everything went dark again.

I woke with a gasp, my head pounding like someone was using my skull for drum practice. The gargoyle stood against the wall just as before, while I slowly picked myself up off the floor. My legs felt wobbly, but hey visions did that to you.

"Hey student, student, STUDENT!"

"What!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just feel a little woozy." Understatement of the century - my head felt like it was going to split open.

Looking at the gargoyle an idea came to mind. 

"I could probably use some sugar. Do you have Acid Pops?"

Worth a shot, right?

I looked expectantly at the gargoyle but it never turned to the side, it just stood there a befuddled look on his face.

The gargoyle just stared at me, looking thoroughly confused. "Uhmm no I don't."

"Tsk."

I checked my watch - 7:57. Time to head back, I had to get back to Ravenclaw tower - my first Charms class was starting soon, well in an hour but I didn't wanna get late. Professor Flitwick was supposed to be brilliant at charms and dueling so maybe he could teach me something that wasn't in the books.

"Well then thanks anyway, bye Stairwell."

The gargoyle's bronze eyes widened at the name, but I was already walking away.

But I didn't pay attention to that, my mind was already racing with plans to enter the office. The password hadn't worked when I'd tried it, but I'd felt the surge of magic inside the gargoyle when Dumbledore had spoken it, allowing me, it? to move out of the way.

Either it had to be him specifically, or the password changed regularly. If it did change, I'd bet anything it would still be some kind of sweet - time to research magical candies. Honeydukes probably had a catalog I could reference.

You might think this was an awful lot of effort just to get my hands on a hat, but I needed to know what it had meant when it called me a Scribe. Plus, the hat itself was fascinating - how often do you get to study an artifact that can read minds?

Though I'd have to be careful - the gargoyle probably wasn't the only security measure protecting the Headmaster's office. I'd need time to prepare and plan properly, but hey I had the whole year to plan my heist. Now it was time, time for prep time.

As I walked along the corridors thinking, I spotted three girls in wizard robes, immediately recognizing Bell among them. I jogged over, tapping her shoulder gently. My head was still throbbing but seeing a friendly face made it a bit better.

She spun around with a lightning-fast backhand that I caught just in time before she could hit me in the face and twist my face ninety degrees. Bell and her companions turned to face me as I quickly whined and mouthed while releasing her hand.

"Damn Bell why did you have to hit so hard."

I began to blow on my hand, and move it frantically up and down. It hurt okay!!

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