From the staff table, Albus Dumbledore watched Julian with a strangely tangled expression.
He had spoken with Minerva McGonagall earlier and learned two things that both impressed and troubled him.
Not only was the boy as naturally gifted in Transfiguration as a Metamorphmagus, he was also cursed with an acute sense of situational awareness.
Most children his age had no idea what Dumbledore's power and influence truly meant. Julian did, and that knowledge clearly terrified him.
The irony was not lost on the headmaster. The boy was frightened of him, while he, in turn, feared the boy's potential.
It did explain a lot about Julian's behavior at Hogwarts. That odd blend of distant, almost cold introversion and bright, charismatic extroversion made more sense now.
Too much awareness of your surroundings and the forces above you was its own kind of curse. It could easily twist into paranoia and make it impossible to relax into ordinary life.
Unfortunately, nothing could really be done about that at the moment. The gap between Dumbledore and Julian was simply too vast, and Julian knew it.
Unless...
Dumbledore's thoughts drifted as he considered possibilities, then he allowed a small smile to touch his lips as the faint outline of a plan appeared in his mind.
...
The next morning, Julian woke at dawn, dressed quickly, and slipped out of the Gryffindor common room, heading straight for a nearby unused classroom.
He had decided it would be safer and far less annoying if he simply avoided Hermione entirely for a while, at least until fate had the chance to pull her and Harry together more naturally.
Besides, it is irritating having to keep hiding what I am reading from her every morning, just to stop her from trying to decode it, he thought as he settled into a chair and opened his book in peace.
He had underestimated how stubborn Hermione was.
When she did not find him in the common room, she traced his movements through the castle and tracked him down in the disused classroom.
"Why are you here?" Julian asked, voice edged with irritation at the bushy haired interruption.
"You were not in the common room, so I came looking for you," she said, as if that explained everything.
"That does not answer my question," Julian replied coolly. "Why did you come looking for me at all? I thought I made it very clear that I am not interested in whatever childish competition you seem to think we are having."
There was no small amount of bite in his tone.
Hermione wilted under his glare, opening her mouth and then shutting it again.
He was right. She was the only one treating anything between them as a rivalry.
She had no proper retort. Her eyes filled with tears and she turned and fled the classroom, clearly upset, while Julian remained seated, wondering for a moment if his long term plans were worth this level of hassle.
At seven, he closed the book. He had not learned anything significantly new in the past hour, only a few small details that had been missing from the modern fundamentals text.
He headed for the Great Hall, took his seat, and ordered grits with pepper jack cheese and bacon mixed through them. A simple, comforting breakfast.
Today's timetable was a little odd. They had three subjects, but two of them spanned double periods. Astronomy, Charms, and then Potions, with only Potions taking up two afternoon slots.
No one seemed thrilled with that lineup.
For good reason.
Astronomy was yet another information heavy session, another cram of facts and names and celestial details. After that came a lighter Charms lesson focused on more practical practice with Lumos.
The real punishment was Potions.
This time, Snape finally caught Harry without the answer and pounced on the opportunity, stripping ten points from Gryffindor for it.
Julian balanced the loss out with yet another flawless potion, this time Wiggenweld Potion.
Snape had once again written a modified version of the recipe on the board, different from the one in their textbook. Julian studied it, tried to see if there was anything to refine, but this time he found nothing to improve. The method genuinely seemed optimal.
"That was bloody awful. I cannot believe the greasy git took points just because Harry did not know which salamander's blood is best for Wiggenweld," Ron fumed as they walked away from the dungeon classroom. "And did you see how he was looking at Harry, like he wanted him dead."
Julian shrugged.
"Everyone knows he hates Gryffindor," he said. "The only reason I think he gives me points at all is so he has an excuse to hand Slytherin even more. No offense, girls."
Neither Daphne nor Tracey took issue with that assessment. It was harsh, but it was also accurate.
Harry himself did not seem particularly bothered by Snape's behavior, which amused Julian. The more indifferent Harry was, the less satisfaction Snape got out of needling him.
"You two going to come along when we visit Hagrid, or not?" Julian asked the girls when they reached the point where their paths usually split.
"I would not mind joining, if it is not a problem," Daphne said, sounding almost hopeful.
"Yeah, what she said," Tracey added quickly.
Julian nodded in understanding and turned toward the grounds.
Beyond the castle lawns stood a small, slightly shabby stone hut on the edge of the forest.
Various plants were growing around it in rough little patches, but the most striking by far were the pumpkins, fat and bright orange, lined up in huge, swelling rows like something out of a fairy tale.
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