Harry Potter : Bloodraven

Inside one of the classrooms at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, something quite extraordinary was happening.

To an omniscient observer, the classroom would seem completely empty of desks and chairs, leaving only an open space where students stood scattered. Their heads turned in every direction—left, right, up toward the ceiling, and even down at the floor—as though they were seeing something entirely different from the reality in front of them.

And, in a way, they were.

...

"I need all of your attention on me now," Maverick called out, his voice magically amplified to carry across the room.

Only a few students seemed to notice his voice, as the strange scene in front of them had completely captured their attention. He didn't hurry them, and instead allowed time for everyone to process and calm down.

The four professors were calmer than the students, but the admiration in their eyes was hard to miss. He saw them smile warmly as they slowly walked toward him, coming to a stop beside him with expressions of clear appreciation.

"What ingenious magic... Professor Caesar," McGonagall remarked, her smile warm and motherly. "You must teach me the principles behind this. I can already think of so many ways it could be useful for teaching the students."

Maverick had no objections to sharing knowledge with the professors, however, it would be a very weakened version of the spell. With his current mastery and understanding of its principles, he could easily create a simpler version, one that only affected sight and hearing, and not the other senses.

His mastery and knowledge came from the miracle of the system, so he had no worries that the professors could develop it to the level of his real spell. Because the advanced proficiency is a level of understanding which is extremely profound in the recognition of the system, one that cannot easily be achieved simply by studying the spell in one's free time. Not to mention his proficiency is even beyond advanced level.

He smiled brightly at her, showing a hint of shyness. "Thank you, Professor. This spell was developed by me and Teacher Edward, with inspiration from a lot of sources... like the pensive, as I mentioned earlier... and I would be happy to share the notes with you…" He glanced at the other professors as well. "All of you."

The professors nodded in thanks, offering some more praise as they waited marveling at the result of his magic that was unfolding before them. Meanwhile, the students gradually began to calm down, and a few moments later, their excited chatter faded into hushed anticipation as they turned their full attention back to him.

"Well... now that you're all ready, let us continue…"

Just as he thought he could finally move along with the demonstration, several hands shot up eagerly, their owners practically vibrating with curiosity.

Letting out an inward sigh, Maverick gestured to one of the students whose hand was raised so high it looked as though they might take flight themselves. "Yes… go ahead..."

"Professor," the little wizards voice trembled with excitement, "are we really just under a confusion spell… and not actually flying over the school?"

The other students followed nodding vigorously with the same unspoken question. Maverick took a moment to glance around the children, his eyes sweeping over the curious faces before he answered.

"I can assure you, we are still inside the alchemy classroom... if you take a good, deep breath, you'll notice the familiar scent of the classroom is still there. No wind, no open air... just the same old stone walls..."

The students took a deep breath, their expressions changing from doubt to realization as the familiar scents reached them, nodding with their curiosity momentarily satisfied.

"All right, if the rest of you had the same question, I trust your doubts are now clear." He continued without a pause, "Today, in our final demonstration, I will show you some of the principles of science that Muggles have studied and learned to use... on a much grander scale, of course. And at the same time, I will reveal some of what Muggles have discovered about our world."

"To do this," he said, his voice brimming a little, "we will have to take a journey."

The students faces glowed with anticipation as they listened intently to him speak. Even the Weasley twins, who had somehow ended up in this class for some strange reason he doesn't know and whom he had thought might cause a ruckus, were behaving like model students, giving him their undivided attention.

"Now, if you look down," he said, gesturing toward the floor, "you can see our school, Hogwarts... If I had to guess, our current height is about a kilometer above the tallest tower."

The students followed his gesture, their eyes sparkling as they took in the sight of the castle below for the umpteenth time.

"From this distance," he continued, a hint of a smile playing on his lips, "it looks rather small, doesn't it?"

The students nodded, some grinning while others still too awestruck to speak. Now that their professor had pointed it out, the castle did seem incredibly small from this height, more like a toy model than the vast, sprawling fortress they called school.

"Okey," he said, his voice rising slightly, "we shall go higher now... And again, do not be alarmed because you think we are ascending, but this is just an illusion... think of it as moving pictures, not your actual selves."

With a graceful wave of his hand, the scene around them began to shift once more. The ground fell away, and the students felt as though they were soaring upward, higher and higher, until the castle was nothing more than a speck below them. Despite his reassurence, some of the students instinctively grabbed onto their closest neighbor as their bodies reflexes kicked in.

The scene darkened as they passed through a wispy cloud. A few yelps of excitement or fear escaped the children as they rose higher still, until they were floating in the vast emptiness of space, the Earth hanging below them like a brilliant blue-and-green painting.

Maverick stopped their ascent and gave the students a moment to take it all in. They stared down at the planet, their faces a mixture of awe and wonder, murmuring to their friends in hushed voices as if speaking too loudly might shatter the illusion.

After a moment, Maverick spoke again, his voice amplified slightly to carry over the murmurs. "Our world's atmosphere is divided into several layers," he explained, "and as you go higher, the air begins to thin until, eventually, there's nothing left to breathe. We are now above the atmosphere, in a layer Muggles call the thermosphere—about 500 miles above the surface, which, if this was real, you would die in moments."

With another wave of his hand, the illusion shifted once more, showing the Earth half in daylight and half in darkness. The students watched, transfixed, as the sun set on one side of the planet, casting half of it into shadow.

"As you can see," he said, "the sun has set on this side, leaving it in darkness, while the other side remains bathed in light."

A witch near the front raised her hand, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Maverick nodded, gesturing for her to speak.

"Professor," she asked, her voice trembling with curiosity, "what are those glowing lights on the dark side?"

Maverick smiled, pleased by the question. "An excellent observation... but before I answer, let me ask you this... can any of you spot Hogwarts from here?"

The students peered down at the Earth, their eyes scanning the surface. After a moment, they shook their heads, though a few pointed vaguely in different directions, their guesses wild and hopeful.

"The correct answer," Maverick said, his smile widening, "is that you cannot. From this height, Hogwarts would be smaller than a grain of sand. But those lights you see—those are Muggle cities and towns. Because Muggles use electric lights to illuminate their streets and homes, the sheer number of them makes it possible to see their settlements even from here."

Even the professors standing beside him were no exception, as this kind of perspective was a first for them as well in their entire lives.

"Unfortunately," Maverick continued, "wizards rely on lanterns and flames for light. While charming, their glow isn't bright enough to be seen from such a distance. And because our settlements are smaller and more scattered, they remain invisible from here."

The students glanced back and forth between Maverick and the Earth below, their expressions slowly changing as they processed the information. For many of them, it may as well be the first time they had truly considered the scale of the Muggle world—and the sheer number of people who lived in it.

"It's rather amazing, isn't it?" Maverick said softly, his gaze fixed on the planet below. "Even from this distance, we can see that the world is alive, bustling with civilization. And for that, we have the Muggles to thank."

The students all nodded in unison. In the face of undeniable facts, there could be no arguments, unless one wanted to make a fool of themselves.

For a moment, no one spoke. The only sound was some soft murmurs as they stared down at the Earth, their perspective forever changed.

Suddenly, a sharp yelp broke the silence, cutting through the awe-struck murmurs.

"Professor!" a voice cried out, trembling with alarm. "What is... that? Something's coming our way!"

All heads turned in the direction the student was pointing. In the distance, a small object was growing larger as it hurtled toward them. Gasps rippled through the group as the object rapidly approached, its metallic surface glinting in the sunlight.

"That," Maverick said, his voice calm but amplified to carry over the rising chatter, "is what Muggles call the International Space Station."

As he spoke, the massive structure zoomed overhead, its speed faster than anything that had ever seen. The little witches and wizards ducked instinctively, their faces a mixture of shock and wonder as it passed just above them. Maverick couldn't help but chuckle at their flustered expressions.

(Authors Note: ISS was launched in 1998, but here I've made changes to the timeline of its launch.)

"The International Space Station," he continued, "is a massive mechanical structure built by Muggles and launched into space to study various scientific phenomena... It's about the size of a Quidditch pitch and orbits the Earth at a speed of…" He paused, his eyes twinkling, "17,000 miles per hour... To put that into perspective, at that speed from this distance, you could travel halfway around the world in less than an hour."

Hands shot up immediately, most of them from students with no Muggle background. Maverick scanned the room and pointed to a witch with short, spiky hair and dark, curious eyes.

"Yes, Miss…?"

"Tonks, Professor," she replied, her voice eager. "Can you explain how Muggles send such a huge thing all the way up here? And how does it move so fast?"

Maverick studied her for a moment, briefly recalling the name and some memories. Without showing no outward expression to it, he answered, "Well, Miss Tonks, the full explanation would take quite a while, but I'll give you the short version... Muggles invented a machine called a rocket."

With a wave of his hand, a three-dimensional projection of a rocket appeared in front of the class. The students leaned forward, their eyes sparkling with fascination.

"Unlike the aircraft we discussed earlier, rockets fly straight up into space. Attached to these rockets are parts of the said International Space Station. Muggles send multiple rockets into space, each carrying different sections of the station, and then they assemble it all together like a giant puzzle. What you just saw flying past us is the result of their efforts."

He paused, letting the information sink in before continuing. "As for your second question... why it moves so fast... that's due to the laws of gravity and motion, among other scientific principles."

He glanced around the room and saw their expressions perk up with curiosity.

"To explain gravity in simple terms, think of it as the pull between two objects. For example, when an apple's stem weakens, it falls to the ground. That's gravity at work. It's what keeps us grounded on Earth. Without it, we'd float around aimlessly, drifting in all directions—up, down, left, and right. Muggles have studied this fundamental law, along with many others... and used them to understand and manipulate the motion of objects, like the Space Station."

He smiled warmly. "For those of you in Muggle Science, we will delve deeper into these concepts later. For now, just know that what you're witnessing is the result of centuries of Muggle ingenuity and discovery."

The students all nodded, looking thoughtful. Tonks gave a small nod of understanding, though he knew that just this simple explanation wouldn't clear her doubts completely.

"Now," Maverick said, his voice taking on a more adventurous tone, "our journey is just beginning, children." He turned and pointed toward a glowing orb in the distance. "Look that way. What do you see?"

"The moon!" several students exclaimed in unison.

"Correct," he said, his eyes gleaming. "Now, relax and... just enjoy the experience."

With a graceful wave of his hand, the illusion changed once more. To the students, it felt as though they were moving again, this time toward the moon. Gradually, the lunar surface grew larger, its craters and plains becoming more distinct as they drew closer.

Maverick turned to face the class, showing an expression of quiet excitement.

"From this side," he said, gesturing toward the moon, "you can see it growing larger as we approach. But if you look behind…" He paused, allowing the students to turn and gaze back at the Earth. "You'll notice that our home is growing smaller."

The students gasped, their eyes darting between the moon and the shrinking Earth as they turned their heads back and forth. The sight was utterly mesmerizing, a view, quite literally, out of this world and beyond anything they had ever imagined.

"We are now traveling incredibly fast," Maverick continued, "even faster than the International Space Station you saw earlier... Because the distance between the Earth and the moon is nearly 400,000 kilometers... To give you a sense of scale, you could fit about thirty Earths in that gap."

One of the students, unable to contain his excitement, blurted out, clearly not even registering what he had just said. "Professor, are we really going to the moon? This is so... so cool! I can't believe this is happening!"

Maverick chuckled, his eyes crinkling with amusement. "Yes, we are going to stop by the moon... but very briefly," he said, his voice warm and reassuring. "This journey will take us much, much further... and let you see the true majesty of the universe we live in."

The students erupted into excited murmurs, their faces alight with anticipation. Maverick cast a quick glance at the professors beside him and saw that they, too, were equally thrilled, if not more curious about what was to come next.

The journey was far from over, and the wonders of the cosmos awaited.

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Author's Note:

Just a quick update — up to Chapter 108 is already available on P AT r30n!

PAT r30n [.] com / RyanFic