Harry Potter and the Cataclysm

While Harry and the others were busy searching for Nicolas Flamel, Carnie had already started practicing the Freezing Charm and the Fire-Making Charm. He had made significant progress with ice magic, enough to be considered entry-level, but fire magic remained inconsistent and unreliable.

During this time, renovations and magical wards around the Quidditch pitch were completed, reigniting the school's passion for Quidditch. Harry and Ron, who had been obsessively searching for Nicolas Flamel, were quickly swept up in the excitement and soon lost interest in their fruitless investigation.

Gryffindor's team, now without Harry as Seeker, had replaced him with a third-year student named Bree O'Dea.

They lost.

Carnie sat in the stands, watching the game. The seating was divided into neutral sections, one for each house, and a special section for professors and guests.

Dumbledore was absent, likely still searching for the Horcruxes. It shouldn't have been that difficult to find them, at least in theory.

Aside from Helga Hufflepuff's cup in Gringotts, which required negotiating with a bunch of greedy goblins, and Slytherin's locket in the currently untraceable Black family house, as well as the diary in Lucius Malfoy's possession, the rest should have been relatively easy to acquire.

As the game started, Harry and Ron were thoroughly engrossed, their excitement running high.

Carnie, however, found it dull. He had attended basketball games before—what guy hadn't played or at least been interested in basketball at some point? But even then, watching a game had never really captivated him.

And Quidditch? With all the broomsticks zooming around at high speeds, it was even harder to follow.

After Gryffindor's loss—made worse by Slytherin taking the championship—Harry and Ron were left sulking.

Once the match ended, Carnie headed to Hagrid's hut. He had no choice—he hadn't been able to enter the Room of Requirement for several days now.

He suspected Dumbledore had taken it over. If he was using it to store Horcruxes, it made sense—it was the safest place possible.

With no alternative, Carnie practiced magic in the open space next to Hagrid's hut. It also gave Xiao Hei some room to move around freely. Hagrid's place had fresh food, something the Hogwarts kitchens lacked. Most of the meat served at meals was frozen beforehand—it would be impractical to slaughter hundreds of animals every day just for food.

Carnie flicked his wand. "Glacius!"

The water ball before him shrank slightly before freezing into a solid block, cold mist drifting from its surface.

By now, he had practiced Aguamenti so much that he could cast it nonverbally. It had become second nature. He had also tried wandless magic, but while he could feel the magic gathering in his hands, it barely responded to his commands. At best, it produced a fleeting flash of white light—nothing more. Worse, wandless magic consumed five or six times the amount of magic as wand-casting. After several failed attempts, he temporarily gave up.

For now, he stuck with his wand. He had reached the point where he could successfully freeze water, but incorporating it into combat was still a challenge. His goal was to create a powerful stream of water and freeze it instantly.

That way, he could immobilize opponents quickly, and the technique would be extremely versatile.

But there was a problem. He could only control one spell at a time. If he used Aguamenti to conjure water and keep it flowing, the moment he switched to Glacius, he lost control of the water flow.

This was because both spells were channeled through his wand—once he switched to a new spell, the previous one was interrupted.

He read that advanced wizards could use dual-casting: controlling the water with one hand while simultaneously casting another spell with the wand.

His issue now was figuring out how to maintain control of the water using his free hand. Small floating water spheres were manageable, but in a real fight, how much use would a floating water droplet be?

He spread his left hand, guiding magic to his palm. A series of water spheres hovered before him.

"Glacius!" His right hand cast the Freezing Charm.

The floating water spheres trembled slightly, some dropping as they lost control, but the process was slower than before. His left hand's control wasn't strong enough yet—he needed to figure out the key technique.

Before he knew it, Christmas had arrived.

Carnie planned to go home. Despite writing letters regularly, he had been away for nearly five months.

Harry had nowhere to go—he wasn't about to return to his aunt and uncle's house. Ron was staying behind because his parents were on vacation. Hermione and Neville, however, were both going home.

"Harry, Ron—Merry Christmas!" Carnie pulled his luggage into the Great Hall, where Harry and Ron were playing wizard chess.

"Thanks!" Ron's face lit up—he was clearly excited about getting a new wand.

"If you have so much free time, you could keep looking for Nicolas Flamel in the library," Hermione suggested, already packed and ready to go.

"We've searched everywhere in the library. Who knows, maybe we misheard his name—Nico… Maeller? Or something?" Ron rested his chin in his hand, clearly exasperated.

"Hagrid's been avoiding us lately, too, so we can't even confirm anything," Harry added, looking equally uncertain.

"Alright, we should get going. The train will be at the station soon." Carnie noticed Neville standing at the door, luggage in hand, holding his toad.

"Bye-bye!" Harry and Ron waved before turning back to their game.

Instead of taking boats, they walked a path leading straight to the train station.

From a distance, they could already see the red steam engine waiting at the platform. Most students were heading home for the holidays, but a few were staying at Hogwarts for various reasons. The train had plenty of space compared to the cramped ride at the start of the year. The three of them found seats near the front.

On the way, they chatted about Muggle inventions and games, intrigued by things they had never seen before. After all, they were still kids.

When they arrived at the station, Carnie spotted his parents, whom he hadn't seen in months. Saying goodbye to his friends, he picked up his luggage and ran over.

"Dad! Mom!" He waved enthusiastically.

"Oh, my baby, you've grown taller! But you look thinner…" His mother knelt down and pulled him into a big hug.

"Alright, alright. We're still at the station, and he's had a long train ride. Let's go home." His father, Carter, was much calmer. He took Carnie's luggage and smiled. "You'll have to tell us all about this magic stuff when we get back."

The train had left in the morning, and it was already six in the evening by the time they arrived. The journey was exhausting—Carnie even took a nap on the way.

Dinner that night was far better than any Hogwarts feast.

No matter how extravagant the school was, there was nothing quite like home-cooked meals.

After dinner and a warm bath, he lay in his bed for the first time in months, lost in thought.

It felt like he had forgotten something…

Xiao Hei!

Right—he had left Xiao Hei in his luggage on the train. After reuniting with his parents, he had gotten caught up in conversation and completely forgotten about his pet.

"Xiao Hei!" Carnie quickly opened his luggage.

Xiao Hei slithered out, stretching its body. It had grown to the length of Carnie's forearm.

He had kept all its shed skins—each one marked its rapid growth.

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