Harry Potter and the Cataclysm

"Hermione! You don't have to work this hard," Carnie called out as he watched Hermione heading toward the library again after saying goodbye to Hagrid.

"You work so hard yourself, and now you're telling me not to? I'm going to catch up to you!" Hermione shot back without much thought.

Harry and Ron, of course, had no idea what she was talking about.

"-_-/// When have I ever worked hard? I chat and nap in class, and after class, I just play around!" Carnie said innocently.

"You disappear every afternoon! Who knows what you're up to?" Hermione retorted.

"Yeah, Carnie, where do you go every afternoon? And why don't you take us with you?" Ron and Harry chimed in.

"Uh...(⊙o⊙) I was practicing magic. My talent is lacking, so I had to work hard, or else you'd all laugh at me, haha!" Carnie scratched the back of his head.

"You? Lacking talent? Oh, come on! You're amazing at Transfiguration," Ron said, clearly not buying it. "I showed George and Fred what you did, and their jaws almost hit the floor. They kept asking me for your secret."

"Did you tell them?" Carnie asked.

"Of course not! I want to show off to my mom first before I tell them."

"You should charge them for it!" Carnie suggested.

"Hey! That's a great idea! Would you charge us?" Ron asked.

"Nope!" Carnie grinned. "But I will accept gifts!"

"Anyway, it wasn't working in class, so I went off to practice on my own! I didn't want to fall too far behind," Carnie said seriously.

"Then what about that Lumos spell? You say you lack talent, but your casting was stronger than mine," Hermione was starting to forgive him. After all, he was one of the first friends she made—no, the second. The first was Neville.

"Oh, that? I don't know what happened. I just kept thinking, 'make it brighter,' and it did! But I was completely exhausted afterward!" Carnie explained.

"'Make it brighter'?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, just grip the wand tightly and focus on channeling power through it," Carnie said. "It seems to boost magic output, I think."

"Lumos!" Without hesitation, Hermione pulled out her wand and tested it right there on the path, her whole body tensing slightly.

Sure enough, the light at the tip of her wand shone significantly brighter. Harry, Ron, and Neville all took interest and began practicing as well.

"Hey, it really works! Since we can't feel the magic in our bodies yet, our magic output is all over the place. But now, it feels more controlled!" Harry said, excited.

"Alright, I misjudged you!" Hermione admitted, her cheeks turning red. "But don't forget, you still owe us a story tonight!"

She hadn't forgotten, and after saying that, she quickly ran off.

"Where are you going?" Carnie called after her.

"To find a good place to practice spells, of course!" The top student was already eager to start training.

"I know a place! I go there all the time. Want to come?" Carnie called out to Hermione, then turned to Harry and the others.

"Of course! You can't leave us out!" Ron said.

"Yeah!" Harry and Neville nodded eagerly.

Eighth Floor Corridor, Hogwarts

"This is it?"

"There's no door—just a wall!"

"You just have to walk past this wall three times while thinking about the kind of room you need, and it'll appear," Carnie explained as he demonstrated. Soon, a large black door materialized on the wall.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Harry exclaimed.

"So this is where you've been hiding every afternoon!" Ron said. "No wonder we couldn't find you."

"This is the Room of Requirement," Carnie said as he pushed open the door.

Inside, the room was just as it had always been for him—an empty space perfect for practice. This time, there were a few chairs and tables as well.

"I've read about the Room of Requirement before, but I never knew where it was or how to enter it," Hermione said, slipping into her know-it-all mode. "The Room can appear anywhere in Hogwarts, and no one can track it. Even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to find someone hiding inside."

"This is where I practice magic. That glass wall over there can show the strength of our spells. Plus, magic seems to recover faster inside this room," Carnie said as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

Harry and the others immediately started trying out all the spells they knew.

Carnie had adjusted the glass wall with his imagination—it could now quantify spell power and display numerical values above it.

But they hadn't learned many spells yet, so before long, the three newcomers were exhausted and sat down beside him.

"It's still too early for you guys to focus on offense. You haven't learned any attack spells yet," Carnie commented.

Hermione soon gave up as well. "Then why are you coming here every afternoon? Don't tell me your Transfiguration is as explosive as Seamus's?"

Seamus had accidentally blown up his matchstick that day while attempting to turn it into a needle. Luckily, it was a matchstick and not a cherry...

"I haven't been practicing Transfiguration. I've been working on my own spell!" Carnie said proudly, his nose lifting in the air, lips curling into a smug grin.

Come on, ask me about it! You know you want to! Ask me already!

"…Oh," the four of them said, staring blankly at him.

-_-/// Not the reaction I was hoping for…

"Ahem. Anyway, I have a ton of homework to do, so I won't be training today. I'm heading back to write my essays," Carnie coughed.

"Oh, right. Snape assigned a ridiculous amount of work. I'd better get started. See you later!" Hermione hurried off, patting her head as if just remembering.

"Alright, let's go! Back to the common room to wait for our chance to copy homework!" Carnie announced.

"I'm not letting you copy mine!" Hermione's voice rang out before she even left the room.

"But I still have to organize my stories to tell you!" Carnie sighed dramatically. "I guess the storytelling will have to wait a few days…-_-///"

"You can't do that! Homework and stories are separate matters!" Hermione turned to glare at him, her cheeks turning red.

"╮(╯▽╰)╭ That's why I have to finish my homework before I can tell you stories," Carnie said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Hermione~!" Harry, Ron, and Neville all chimed in. For them, being able to complete their assignments while also getting a good story was a win-win.

"Fine! But just this once!" Hermione finally gave in, though she looked deeply conflicted about it.

Gryffindor Common Room, That Night

Carnie, looking completely satisfied, sipped on a cup of porridge-like cereal while writing his Transfiguration and Potions homework.

Hagrid had worked fast. By dinner, he had already ground his rock-hard biscuits into powder and sent them some packages.

With one essay being copied by four people, even Neville—who originally planned to write his own—eventually caved under the workload.

After finishing, Carnie picked a long story to tell.

Hmm, Journey to the West is pretty long, and tragic love stories won't be very useful right now…

"And so, a long, long time ago, on top of a tall mountain, a giant stone suddenly shattered…"

"Alright, that's enough for tonight. I'm off to cultivate my immortality!" Carnie stretched.

"But you haven't told us whether Sun Wukong defeated the Buddha yet!"

"Yeah! Just finish this part first!"

Carnie just smirked. Hook, line, and sinker.