Wands and Warframes

Change of plans

Change of plans

On the first evening meal after the end of the Easter break, Minerva sits at the top table serenely as Albus stands up, "Good evening everyone. I have a last minute announcement to make. This morning I was informed that Mr Hagrid has taken a leave of absence to pursue a unique opportunity at a Dragon Sanctuary in Norway as part of gaining his Mastery in Care of Magical Creatures. By all reports he should be back in time for next year, until then Professor's Kettleburn and Sprout have agreed to take on the management of the Forbidden Forest. For our NEWT students, I have been told this may mean you have a more hands on lesson occasionally."

As he's talking, Minerva uses her main chassis to scan all of the students in the school and upload their details to the small AI inside her redesigned trap, sorry defence of the stone, so that it won't kill any students brave enough to attempt to navigate it.

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Albus opens the door to the third floor corridor and stops in horror as he spots the empty room. Turning back to Minerva he growls, "Minerva, where's Fluffy?"

Minerva smiles sweetly, "He's back in the forest where he belongs, and maybe if he'd been there all the time we'd still have a herd of unicorns."

Albus flinches at that dig, as he's already started getting enquiries about when they're next going to have unicorn hairs in stock. "Fine, but he was also here to stop the students from being put in danger."

Minerva laughs, "You think that would stop them? Even I worked out that Fluffy wouldn't even slow them down if they did any sort of research. Especially given that I know for a fact that a couple of first year Gryffindor's were told directly by Hagrid, and now my entire house knows. I just added a more comprehensive locking charm to the trapdoor instead."

Albus sighs as he has to run through a few unlocking spells before he identifies the particular charm Minerva used. As the trapdoor lifts he sends a light into the darkness, followed by a softening charm. Jumping down he passes through the devils snare, the second deterrent against the students.

Marching forward, a quick conjuration and a switching spell gives him the key to the room of keys and allows him to pass into a small metal room with an 8 foot tall glass wall directly in front of him. Directly in front of the wall is a pillar that holds an illusion of some description, and past that he can see another room with a metal pillar rising from a 6 foot deep pit and up a shaft so tall he can't even see the top when he leans against the glass.

While he's looking around, Minerva touches the illusion and the ground lurches underneath them and his stomach feels like it's being pulled into the floor. A few seconds later the feeling stops as they rise up through the floor of another room.

Looking around Albus can't help but be impressed, especially when he sees the large window at other end of the room, "I suppose that was some form of lift, though I didn't see any ropes and pullys."

Minerva nods as she walks over to another pillar with a similar illusion, "Something like that, in the same way that the levitation charm is like a flying carpet. Come on, I'll show you the authorised route and demonstrate how the exit will be protected if an unauthorised person is detected."

Albus shakes his head and walks over to the large window, before gaping as he looks down at a large four story tall tower made from glass that stands in the middle of an open space that could easily double as a decent sized plot of land for a wizarding family. "Minerva, what in Merlin's name is that?"

Minerva smiles, "That, is a ventilation tower designed to prevent invaders from being able to enter the room at the bottom without a guard noticing them. It also allows for emergency ingress in the event of a power failure. I've got my chess pieces walking around as guards, and they will trigger a lockdown if they detect any unauthorised people."