Chapter 18
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********************************************
I have a confession to make:
There was suppose to be two chapters yesterday, but I got distracted by two sets of soft, tender pillows, which caused me to be otherwise occupied for the rest of the day. If you are a man you will understand.
So here is a really long chapter to make up for it.
*********************************************
After classes were over for the rest of the day, Harry and Ron went to go see Hagrid for afternoon tea, Hermione went back to the common room to finish the homework that had been assigned during the week, and Nova went into the library to find something to read. As he walked in he was greeted by the librarian, Ms. Pince and then went to the a corner and sat down after pulling out the nearest book and started reading. Now Nova did this often so no one found it strange to see him sitting in the same spot for hours on end, and seeing how it was still the first week the library was still relatively on the empty side. Harry and Ron had asked Nova what he was doing in there and Nova had told them reading. But what was really doing was getting himself acclimated to the world. So far in this first week Nova had gone through much of the libraries content involving the history and cultures of the different races. And even though he had the ability to speak any language, he still spent an afternoon familiar rising himself with mermish, goblin speak, dwarvish, elvish and a dozen of other languages that he found interesting.
When it came time to go to dinner, Nova got up and stretched. He put the stack of books back where they belonged and grabbed a few dozen more that had some relation to the homework that was assigned and the ones he felt would help Hermione out later. He went to the circulation desk and had Ms. Pince take care of the process before storing the books with a wave of his hand into the ring, before walking out.
As he stepped into the Great Hall, he saw some of the teachers were up on the teacher table eating, then when he walked over to Gryffindor's table, he was greeted with the sight of Harry and Ron stuffing themselves, which Nova found strange seeing how they had just came from afternoon tea and cakes. When he looked for Hermione, Nova found that she wasn't present and found that she had already eaten and had headed back.
As dinner ended, Nova stacked his empty plates in front of himself in neat stacks of ten. Which earned him a few pop eyed looks at the amount of food he consumed. When Nova walked into the common room, found Hermione sitting in a corner trying to write a paper on the basics of transfiguration that McGonagall had wanted.
"Need any help? I already finished mine." Nova asked.
"No. I got it." Hermione told him curtly.
"Ok. But I did bring back a few books that I think might help you out." Nova told her while bringing out the stack of books that he had checked out.
"Your the one who checked these out?" Hermione looked up amazed and annoyed at the same time. "I had spent ages looking for them after eating."
Hermione then took one of the books and started to browse through them. At the same time, Harry and Ron walked in.
"What are you two doing?" Harry asked.
"Homework." Nova replied. "Shouldn't you be doing the same?" He looked over and saw Ron taking out a box of figurines.
"I will after a game of chess." he replied. "Want to play?"
"How do you play?" Nova asked.
Seeing that he was interested Ron quickly informed Nova of the rules, "Sounds easy enough. How about a bet to make it more entertaining."
"What kind of bet." Ron asked cautiously.
"Lets see . . . How about if I win you and Harry immediately do your homework, and if you win, I will let you copy my homework."
"Nova! You can't do that." Hermione quickly said as she looked up with a disapproving frown.
"Sure he can Granger. Have you ever played before Nova?" Ron asked.
"Nope. But please don't hold back." Nova said giving a small wink to Hermione.
"Very well, you can go first." Ron said excitedly.
*****************
Seven minutes later
*****************
"Checkmate" Nova said calmly. He then looked at Ron, who had his mouth wide enough to swallow an owl.
"I thought you said, you never played before." Ron said.
"I haven't. Must be beginners luck."
"Nova play me again." Ron said quickly.
Nova just shook his head, "No remember the bet. You said that you and Harry would do your homework. Come find me after you done. If you need any help, I brought some books from the library that might be of some use."
With a huff, Ron sat down, still trying to figure out how he lost.
"Granger, let me see your notes" Ron said after 5 minutes of work.
"No, remember by yourself. You should have taken better notes. But here this book should help." Hermione said as she passed over one of the larger books in the pile.
Nova watched as Ron just turned dead eyed and slowly read through the book and tried not to laugh at Ron's plight.
Nova then got on a sofa and slowly went to sleep.
When Nova woke up, he saw that the common room was mostly empty and aside from Nova and the house elves that were cleaning. Has he stood up, Nova gave a light stretch and then looked at the clock. It was 11. So Nova went and changed his clothing to something a bit more comfortable then the robes, and headed to the Astronomy tower. As he walked through the castle this late at night, he moved along as quickly as he could to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
When he got to the tower, Nova was greeted by a beautiful sight. When Nova walked in the room, he saw a ghost that had a sinful body with hair that reached her waist. The air around her seemed like one of a scholar lost in thought as she floated around looking at the stars and moon. This was the Grey Lady.
"Beautiful. Isn't it." Nova said as he walked up next to the ghost and stood next to her.
The Grey Lady just hovered there in silence. As Nova looked more closely at her, he could see that she had a sadness in her gaze and from what he could tell she was much older than the other ghost that occupied the castle. As he stood gazing at her the only thing he could think of was that it was a shame that a beauty such as herself could have died so young.
After a moment of silence, "My name is . . ." Nova began to say.
"I know who you are Nova Void. There isn't a being in this castle who doesn't know you." The Grey Lady coldly said. "Especially after what you did to the Sorting Hat."
Nova just nodded his head in agreement, even though nobody said anything to him, Nova could see the intrigue and fear that some people had when looking at him but Nova didn't care.
"That is actually why I am here. Well somewhat of a reason." Nova began to say, "I spoke with Nearly Headless Nick and he said that you might be able to help."
The Grey Lady just continued to look at the moon, so Nova continued, "I am looking for a room suitable for forging and crafting, one that is not easily found so I do not have to be interrupted. Can you help me?"
"I see nothing in it for me and you are not even a student of my house of Ravenclaw." The Grey Lady said, "So I find no reason to help you. Good bye." And turned around to leave. As she started to float off, Nova said, "Now wait a minute. I am in need of your assistance still." And reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him.
*******************
The Grey Lady POV
*******************
When the Grey Lady felt her hand being grabbed, her eyes went wide in amazement and surprise. How long had it been since someone dare reach out and grab her hand. Then it dawn on her, she was a ghost this act of the boy should have been impossible.
"How?"
She then hear him say, "Now I never said that there wouldn't be anything in it for you. Tell me do you miss feeling the warmth of the sun, or the wind blowing through your hair. If not those feelings what about the ability to eat and drink. Or smell the different aromas in the air."
When she heard this, the Grey Lady began to listen to what she was hearing, and recalled her past, remembering the different things that she enjoyed as a girl growing up. She started to panic, she was an educated woman and knew that this wasn't possible.
But she still found herself looking at the hand that was still being held. Upon realizing that he was holding her hand the boy, Nova, released her, saying sorry. The Grey Lady then looked at the boy again trying to see his face only to realize that he had something covering his eyes.
"Why do you ask such a thing?" She asked him.
"What if I told you that if you could provide me with a room like which I asked I could craft you a new body, one that could never die but still have the same functions as a regular human. I can promise you, you would still look like you or change the appearance if you want. Though I personally feel it would be a waste to get rid of such a pretty face."
"No impossible. My mother was the cleverest and most creative witch of my era and even she could not do what you are saying." The Grey Lady said her voice trembling from the shock of his prior words. Such a thing was against the laws of nature, what this boy said was impossible.
"Indeed you are correct. Rowena Ravenclaw was indeed a genius of her time, just looking at what she did to create the Sorting Hat is a marvel in itself. But sadly the hat is just a low level artifact given some wisdom. Though I must say, for her to find and unravel some of the secrets behind the Mark of Four is impressive. Though clumsily used it is still impressive." She heard Nova tell her.
A cold chill washed over her, "Why do you know about that, no one should be aware of such a thing?" The Grey Lady now felt deep despair at what the boy said. For him to know about the Mark that drove her and her mother apart. The Mark that her mother told her she need not worry about. The Mark that she knew would make her as knowledgeable and clever as her mother. Who she so desperately wanted to help and prove she could do so.
"I know a lot Helena. As for the Mark, I suppose I can tell you about it. But I won't go into detail with it. The Mark of Four was simply a mark of power imbued on to certain objects to give them divine sentience. The fact that it exist in this world means that one of the artifact that I had created as fallen into this world. And judging from the way your mother seems to have gotten that smart is probably do to her finding it and gaining its approval."
"No your wrong! Your just a child you can't possibly know all this. This isn't right, no one alive should know what you are talking about. Even that boy didn't know this. What are you?" She quickly started to retreat from Nova. And now floated in mid air outside the tower and continued to move away.
Then she heard, "I told you I was still in need of your assistance. Where are you going?"
Helena turned around to see the boy taking off his shirt. And remembering how he was able to grab her made her feel even more frightened and quickly moved further away. From where she floated, Helena saw a pair of black dragon like wings appear from his back. She was so stunned that Helena stopped moving.
******************
Nova POV
******************
As Nova unfurled his wings, he jumped off the tower and flew toward the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw. Nova wasn't surprised that she acted like she did, as what he told her would probably frighten any person in this realm.
He then appeared in front of her and so that she didn't try to float away, wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I give you my word," Nova began to say, "If you tell me where I can do my work. I will craft you a body that would put shame to any goddess of the realms. And teach you the understanding of the Mark of Four."
"Take off the covers over your eyes so that I may see if your speaking the truth." Helena said firmly. She could feel her emotions running wild.
"It is too dangerous to see my eyes. They would damage your soul."
"I am but a copy of my self, I am a ghost my soul is long gone." Helena said firmly.
"Take them off yourself if you can." Nova told her.
**************************
The Grey Lady POV
**************************
When she heard that, Helena had the urge to beat him up. She was a ghost how was she going to do that? Then it occurred to her, if he could touch me why can't I do it myself. Helena then reached up and focused on the feeling that she felt as he held her and copied that feeling into her hands. And very slowly pulled the sunglasses off of Nova's face and what she saw made her gasp. The eyes that looked back at her were the color of a amethyst with bits of an azure mixed in, she had never seen such a beautiful color before. Then she noticed the dragon irises within the eye. And she realized this boy wasn't human at all.
**********************
Nova POV
**********************
Nova was a little surprised to see that she was able to take off his glasses and even more surprised to see that although a little stunned she had not been affected by his gaze.
Though a little shocked, he realized that someone was messing with the laws of the world but didn't know how it had happened. Which greatly concerned him.
"Um is what you said true earlier." Helena looked up at him.
"About forging you a body fit for a goddess. Yes but I need a place to do so." Nova stared at her.
Seeing her go a little opaque in the face from her blush, Nova smiled at her, while she said, "Will this be a problem?" She then moved aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her chest.
"No. I can even fix it for you now if you want." Nova said as looked at the mark realizing she had been murdered in her life.
She nodded in consent, and watched as he moved his hand toward her stopping a few centimeters away. "Tell me about your life and how you ended up like this."
With a small nod, Helena began to tell him about her life, how she was jealous of her mother, and how she wanted to prove herself to her. Helena told him how she stole her mother's diadem to study to the mark that was within the jewels. How the Bloody Baron had been sent to bring her home to her dying mother, and how she hid the diadem away and her eventual demise.
"So do you want me to end the Baron then?" Nova asked.
"No, he is punishing himself for his crimes?"
"And done, what do you think?" Nova told Helena after moving his hand back.
Helena then looked down at where the mark used to be and shed a few ghostly tears.
"Well then if you could tell me what I seek so I can fulfill my end of the deal?" Nova asked her.
"What you seek is on the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet. You need to walk past the section of blank wall three times concentrating hard on what is needed." Helena informed him.
"Thank you." With that Nova released his hand from around her waist and put his glasses back on. He turned around and flew back to the tower leaving Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady, to float out in the open.
************************
The Grey Lady POV
************************
As she watched Nova leave she could help but feel a little lost. And upon realizing what he had told her, she knew that she would be owing him more than he realized. She then looked at his back and whispered, "You are a strange one Nova Void. But I make this promise under the moon, that I will be yours until the end."
Then with a sigh, took one last look at the full moon realizing, for the first time in a millennium, how beautiful it was before floating back to the castle..
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
********************************************
I have a confession to make:
There was suppose to be two chapters yesterday, but I got distracted by two sets of soft, tender pillows, which caused me to be otherwise occupied for the rest of the day. If you are a man you will understand.
So here is a really long chapter to make up for it.
*********************************************
After classes were over for the rest of the day, Harry and Ron went to go see Hagrid for afternoon tea, Hermione went back to the common room to finish the homework that had been assigned during the week, and Nova went into the library to find something to read. As he walked in he was greeted by the librarian, Ms. Pince and then went to the a corner and sat down after pulling out the nearest book and started reading. Now Nova did this often so no one found it strange to see him sitting in the same spot for hours on end, and seeing how it was still the first week the library was still relatively on the empty side. Harry and Ron had asked Nova what he was doing in there and Nova had told them reading. But what was really doing was getting himself acclimated to the world. So far in this first week Nova had gone through much of the libraries content involving the history and cultures of the different races. And even though he had the ability to speak any language, he still spent an afternoon familiar rising himself with mermish, goblin speak, dwarvish, elvish and a dozen of other languages that he found interesting.
When it came time to go to dinner, Nova got up and stretched. He put the stack of books back where they belonged and grabbed a few dozen more that had some relation to the homework that was assigned and the ones he felt would help Hermione out later. He went to the circulation desk and had Ms. Pince take care of the process before storing the books with a wave of his hand into the ring, before walking out.
As he stepped into the Great Hall, he saw some of the teachers were up on the teacher table eating, then when he walked over to Gryffindor's table, he was greeted with the sight of Harry and Ron stuffing themselves, which Nova found strange seeing how they had just came from afternoon tea and cakes. When he looked for Hermione, Nova found that she wasn't present and found that she had already eaten and had headed back.
As dinner ended, Nova stacked his empty plates in front of himself in neat stacks of ten. Which earned him a few pop eyed looks at the amount of food he consumed. When Nova walked into the common room, found Hermione sitting in a corner trying to write a paper on the basics of transfiguration that McGonagall had wanted.
"Need any help? I already finished mine." Nova asked.
"No. I got it." Hermione told him curtly.
"Ok. But I did bring back a few books that I think might help you out." Nova told her while bringing out the stack of books that he had checked out.
"Your the one who checked these out?" Hermione looked up amazed and annoyed at the same time. "I had spent ages looking for them after eating."
Hermione then took one of the books and started to browse through them. At the same time, Harry and Ron walked in.
"What are you two doing?" Harry asked.
"Homework." Nova replied. "Shouldn't you be doing the same?" He looked over and saw Ron taking out a box of figurines.
"I will after a game of chess." he replied. "Want to play?"
"How do you play?" Nova asked.
Seeing that he was interested Ron quickly informed Nova of the rules, "Sounds easy enough. How about a bet to make it more entertaining."
"What kind of bet." Ron asked cautiously.
"Lets see . . . How about if I win you and Harry immediately do your homework, and if you win, I will let you copy my homework."
"Nova! You can't do that." Hermione quickly said as she looked up with a disapproving frown.
"Sure he can Granger. Have you ever played before Nova?" Ron asked.
"Nope. But please don't hold back." Nova said giving a small wink to Hermione.
"Very well, you can go first." Ron said excitedly.
*****************
Seven minutes later
*****************
"Checkmate" Nova said calmly. He then looked at Ron, who had his mouth wide enough to swallow an owl.
"I thought you said, you never played before." Ron said.
"I haven't. Must be beginners luck."
"Nova play me again." Ron said quickly.
Nova just shook his head, "No remember the bet. You said that you and Harry would do your homework. Come find me after you done. If you need any help, I brought some books from the library that might be of some use."
With a huff, Ron sat down, still trying to figure out how he lost.
"Granger, let me see your notes" Ron said after 5 minutes of work.
"No, remember by yourself. You should have taken better notes. But here this book should help." Hermione said as she passed over one of the larger books in the pile.
Nova watched as Ron just turned dead eyed and slowly read through the book and tried not to laugh at Ron's plight.
Nova then got on a sofa and slowly went to sleep.
When Nova woke up, he saw that the common room was mostly empty and aside from Nova and the house elves that were cleaning. Has he stood up, Nova gave a light stretch and then looked at the clock. It was 11. So Nova went and changed his clothing to something a bit more comfortable then the robes, and headed to the Astronomy tower. As he walked through the castle this late at night, he moved along as quickly as he could to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
When he got to the tower, Nova was greeted by a beautiful sight. When Nova walked in the room, he saw a ghost that had a sinful body with hair that reached her waist. The air around her seemed like one of a scholar lost in thought as she floated around looking at the stars and moon. This was the Grey Lady.
"Beautiful. Isn't it." Nova said as he walked up next to the ghost and stood next to her.
The Grey Lady just hovered there in silence. As Nova looked more closely at her, he could see that she had a sadness in her gaze and from what he could tell she was much older than the other ghost that occupied the castle. As he stood gazing at her the only thing he could think of was that it was a shame that a beauty such as herself could have died so young.
After a moment of silence, "My name is . . ." Nova began to say.
"I know who you are Nova Void. There isn't a being in this castle who doesn't know you." The Grey Lady coldly said. "Especially after what you did to the Sorting Hat."
Nova just nodded his head in agreement, even though nobody said anything to him, Nova could see the intrigue and fear that some people had when looking at him but Nova didn't care.
"That is actually why I am here. Well somewhat of a reason." Nova began to say, "I spoke with Nearly Headless Nick and he said that you might be able to help."
The Grey Lady just continued to look at the moon, so Nova continued, "I am looking for a room suitable for forging and crafting, one that is not easily found so I do not have to be interrupted. Can you help me?"
"I see nothing in it for me and you are not even a student of my house of Ravenclaw." The Grey Lady said, "So I find no reason to help you. Good bye." And turned around to leave. As she started to float off, Nova said, "Now wait a minute. I am in need of your assistance still." And reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him.
*******************
The Grey Lady POV
*******************
When the Grey Lady felt her hand being grabbed, her eyes went wide in amazement and surprise. How long had it been since someone dare reach out and grab her hand. Then it dawn on her, she was a ghost this act of the boy should have been impossible.
"How?"
She then hear him say, "Now I never said that there wouldn't be anything in it for you. Tell me do you miss feeling the warmth of the sun, or the wind blowing through your hair. If not those feelings what about the ability to eat and drink. Or smell the different aromas in the air."
When she heard this, the Grey Lady began to listen to what she was hearing, and recalled her past, remembering the different things that she enjoyed as a girl growing up. She started to panic, she was an educated woman and knew that this wasn't possible.
But she still found herself looking at the hand that was still being held. Upon realizing that he was holding her hand the boy, Nova, released her, saying sorry. The Grey Lady then looked at the boy again trying to see his face only to realize that he had something covering his eyes.
"Why do you ask such a thing?" She asked him.
"What if I told you that if you could provide me with a room like which I asked I could craft you a new body, one that could never die but still have the same functions as a regular human. I can promise you, you would still look like you or change the appearance if you want. Though I personally feel it would be a waste to get rid of such a pretty face."
"No impossible. My mother was the cleverest and most creative witch of my era and even she could not do what you are saying." The Grey Lady said her voice trembling from the shock of his prior words. Such a thing was against the laws of nature, what this boy said was impossible.
"Indeed you are correct. Rowena Ravenclaw was indeed a genius of her time, just looking at what she did to create the Sorting Hat is a marvel in itself. But sadly the hat is just a low level artifact given some wisdom. Though I must say, for her to find and unravel some of the secrets behind the Mark of Four is impressive. Though clumsily used it is still impressive." She heard Nova tell her.
A cold chill washed over her, "Why do you know about that, no one should be aware of such a thing?" The Grey Lady now felt deep despair at what the boy said. For him to know about the Mark that drove her and her mother apart. The Mark that her mother told her she need not worry about. The Mark that she knew would make her as knowledgeable and clever as her mother. Who she so desperately wanted to help and prove she could do so.
"I know a lot Helena. As for the Mark, I suppose I can tell you about it. But I won't go into detail with it. The Mark of Four was simply a mark of power imbued on to certain objects to give them divine sentience. The fact that it exist in this world means that one of the artifact that I had created as fallen into this world. And judging from the way your mother seems to have gotten that smart is probably do to her finding it and gaining its approval."
"No your wrong! Your just a child you can't possibly know all this. This isn't right, no one alive should know what you are talking about. Even that boy didn't know this. What are you?" She quickly started to retreat from Nova. And now floated in mid air outside the tower and continued to move away.
Then she heard, "I told you I was still in need of your assistance. Where are you going?"
Helena turned around to see the boy taking off his shirt. And remembering how he was able to grab her made her feel even more frightened and quickly moved further away. From where she floated, Helena saw a pair of black dragon like wings appear from his back. She was so stunned that Helena stopped moving.
******************
Nova POV
******************
As Nova unfurled his wings, he jumped off the tower and flew toward the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw. Nova wasn't surprised that she acted like she did, as what he told her would probably frighten any person in this realm.
He then appeared in front of her and so that she didn't try to float away, wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I give you my word," Nova began to say, "If you tell me where I can do my work. I will craft you a body that would put shame to any goddess of the realms. And teach you the understanding of the Mark of Four."
"Take off the covers over your eyes so that I may see if your speaking the truth." Helena said firmly. She could feel her emotions running wild.
"It is too dangerous to see my eyes. They would damage your soul."
"I am but a copy of my self, I am a ghost my soul is long gone." Helena said firmly.
"Take them off yourself if you can." Nova told her.
**************************
The Grey Lady POV
**************************
When she heard that, Helena had the urge to beat him up. She was a ghost how was she going to do that? Then it occurred to her, if he could touch me why can't I do it myself. Helena then reached up and focused on the feeling that she felt as he held her and copied that feeling into her hands. And very slowly pulled the sunglasses off of Nova's face and what she saw made her gasp. The eyes that looked back at her were the color of a amethyst with bits of an azure mixed in, she had never seen such a beautiful color before. Then she noticed the dragon irises within the eye. And she realized this boy wasn't human at all.
**********************
Nova POV
**********************
Nova was a little surprised to see that she was able to take off his glasses and even more surprised to see that although a little stunned she had not been affected by his gaze.
Though a little shocked, he realized that someone was messing with the laws of the world but didn't know how it had happened. Which greatly concerned him.
"Um is what you said true earlier." Helena looked up at him.
"About forging you a body fit for a goddess. Yes but I need a place to do so." Nova stared at her.
Seeing her go a little opaque in the face from her blush, Nova smiled at her, while she said, "Will this be a problem?" She then moved aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her chest.
"No. I can even fix it for you now if you want." Nova said as looked at the mark realizing she had been murdered in her life.
She nodded in consent, and watched as he moved his hand toward her stopping a few centimeters away. "Tell me about your life and how you ended up like this."
With a small nod, Helena began to tell him about her life, how she was jealous of her mother, and how she wanted to prove herself to her. Helena told him how she stole her mother's diadem to study to the mark that was within the jewels. How the Bloody Baron had been sent to bring her home to her dying mother, and how she hid the diadem away and her eventual demise.
"So do you want me to end the Baron then?" Nova asked.
"No, he is punishing himself for his crimes?"
"And done, what do you think?" Nova told Helena after moving his hand back.
Helena then looked down at where the mark used to be and shed a few ghostly tears.
"Well then if you could tell me what I seek so I can fulfill my end of the deal?" Nova asked her.
"What you seek is on the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet. You need to walk past the section of blank wall three times concentrating hard on what is needed." Helena informed him.
"Thank you." With that Nova released his hand from around her waist and put his glasses back on. He turned around and flew back to the tower leaving Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady, to float out in the open.
************************
The Grey Lady POV
************************
As she watched Nova leave she could help but feel a little lost. And upon realizing what he had told her, she knew that she would be owing him more than he realized. She then looked at his back and whispered, "You are a strange one Nova Void. But I make this promise under the moon, that I will be yours until the end."
Then with a sigh, took one last look at the full moon realizing, for the first time in a millennium, how beautiful it was before floating back to the castle..
********************************************I have a confession to make:There was suppose to be two chapters yesterday, but I got distracted by two sets of soft, tender pillows, which caused me to be otherwise occupied for the rest of the day. If you are a man you will understand.So here is a really long chapter to make up for it.*********************************************After classes were over for the rest of the day, Harry and Ron went to go see Hagrid for afternoon tea, Hermione went back to the common room to finish the homework that had been assigned during the week, and Nova went into the library to find something to read. As he walked in he was greeted by the librarian, Ms. Pince and then went to the a corner and sat down after pulling out the nearest book and started reading. Now Nova did this often so no one found it strange to see him sitting in the same spot for hours on end, and seeing how it was still the first week the library was still relatively on the empty side. Harry and Ron had asked Nova what he was doing in there and Nova had told them reading. But what was really doing was getting himself acclimated to the world. So far in this first week Nova had gone through much of the libraries content involving the history and cultures of the different races. And even though he had the ability to speak any language, he still spent an afternoon familiar rising himself with mermish, goblin speak, dwarvish, elvish and a dozen of other languages that he found interesting.When it came time to go to dinner, Nova got up and stretched. He put the stack of books back where they belonged and grabbed a few dozen more that had some relation to the homework that was assigned and the ones he felt would help Hermione out later. He went to the circulation desk and had Ms. Pince take care of the process before storing the books with a wave of his hand into the ring, before walking out.As he stepped into the Great Hall, he saw some of the teachers were up on the teacher table eating, then when he walked over to Gryffindor's table, he was greeted with the sight of Harry and Ron stuffing themselves, which Nova found strange seeing how they had just came from afternoon tea and cakes. When he looked for Hermione, Nova found that she wasn't present and found that she had already eaten and had headed back.As dinner ended, Nova stacked his empty plates in front of himself in neat stacks of ten. Which earned him a few pop eyed looks at the amount of food he consumed. When Nova walked into the common room, found Hermione sitting in a corner trying to write a paper on the basics of transfiguration that McGonagall had wanted."Need any help? I already finished mine." Nova asked."No. I got it." Hermione told him curtly."Ok. But I did bring back a few books that I think might help you out." Nova told her while bringing out the stack of books that he had checked out."Your the one who checked these out?" Hermione looked up amazed and annoyed at the same time. "I had spent ages looking for them after eating."Hermione then took one of the books and started to browse through them. At the same time, Harry and Ron walked in."What are you two doing?" Harry asked."Homework." Nova replied. "Shouldn't you be doing the same?" He looked over and saw Ron taking out a box of figurines."I will after a game of chess." he replied. "Want to play?""How do you play?" Nova asked.Seeing that he was interested Ron quickly informed Nova of the rules, "Sounds easy enough. How about a bet to make it more entertaining.""What kind of bet." Ron asked cautiously."Lets see . . . How about if I win you and Harry immediately do your homework, and if you win, I will let you copy my homework.""Nova! You can't do that." Hermione quickly said as she looked up with a disapproving frown."Sure he can Granger. Have you ever played before Nova?" Ron asked."Nope. But please don't hold back." Nova said giving a small wink to Hermione."Very well, you can go first." Ron said excitedly.*****************Seven minutes later*****************"Checkmate" Nova said calmly. He then looked at Ron, who had his mouth wide enough to swallow an owl."I thought you said, you never played before." Ron said."I haven't. Must be beginners luck.""Nova play me again." Ron said quickly.Nova just shook his head, "No remember the bet. You said that you and Harry would do your homework. Come find me after you done. If you need any help, I brought some books from the library that might be of some use."With a huff, Ron sat down, still trying to figure out how he lost."Granger, let me see your notes" Ron said after 5 minutes of work."No, remember by yourself. You should have taken better notes. But here this book should help." Hermione said as she passed over one of the larger books in the pile.Nova watched as Ron just turned dead eyed and slowly read through the book and tried not to laugh at Ron's plight.Nova then got on a sofa and slowly went to sleep.When Nova woke up, he saw that the common room was mostly empty and aside from Nova and the house elves that were cleaning. Has he stood up, Nova gave a light stretch and then looked at the clock. It was 11. So Nova went and changed his clothing to something a bit more comfortable then the robes, and headed to the Astronomy tower. As he walked through the castle this late at night, he moved along as quickly as he could to avoid any unnecessary trouble.When he got to the tower, Nova was greeted by a beautiful sight. When Nova walked in the room, he saw a ghost that had a sinful body with hair that reached her waist. The air around her seemed like one of a scholar lost in thought as she floated around looking at the stars and moon. This was the Grey Lady."Beautiful. Isn't it." Nova said as he walked up next to the ghost and stood next to her.The Grey Lady just hovered there in silence. As Nova looked more closely at her, he could see that she had a sadness in her gaze and from what he could tell she was much older than the other ghost that occupied the castle. As he stood gazing at her the only thing he could think of was that it was a shame that a beauty such as herself could have died so young.After a moment of silence, "My name is . . ." Nova began to say."I know who you are Nova Void. There isn't a being in this castle who doesn't know you." The Grey Lady coldly said. "Especially after what you did to the Sorting Hat."Nova just nodded his head in agreement, even though nobody said anything to him, Nova could see the intrigue and fear that some people had when looking at him but Nova didn't care."That is actually why I am here. Well somewhat of a reason." Nova began to say, "I spoke with Nearly Headless Nick and he said that you might be able to help."The Grey Lady just continued to look at the moon, so Nova continued, "I am looking for a room suitable for forging and crafting, one that is not easily found so I do not have to be interrupted. Can you help me?""I see nothing in it for me and you are not even a student of my house of Ravenclaw." The Grey Lady said, "So I find no reason to help you. Good bye." And turned around to leave. As she started to float off, Nova said, "Now wait a minute. I am in need of your assistance still." And reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him.*******************The Grey Lady POV*******************When the Grey Lady felt her hand being grabbed, her eyes went wide in amazement and surprise. How long had it been since someone dare reach out and grab her hand. Then it dawn on her, she was a ghost this act of the boy should have been impossible."How?"She then hear him say, "Now I never said that there wouldn't be anything in it for you. Tell me do you miss feeling the warmth of the sun, or the wind blowing through your hair. If not those feelings what about the ability to eat and drink. Or smell the different aromas in the air."When she heard this, the Grey Lady began to listen to what she was hearing, and recalled her past, remembering the different things that she enjoyed as a girl growing up. She started to panic, she was an educated woman and knew that this wasn't possible.But she still found herself looking at the hand that was still being held. Upon realizing that he was holding her hand the boy, Nova, released her, saying sorry. The Grey Lady then looked at the boy again trying to see his face only to realize that he had something covering his eyes."Why do you ask such a thing?" She asked him."What if I told you that if you could provide me with a room like which I asked I could craft you a new body, one that could never die but still have the same functions as a regular human. I can promise you, you would still look like you or change the appearance if you want. Though I personally feel it would be a waste to get rid of such a pretty face.""No impossible. My mother was the cleverest and most creative witch of my era and even she could not do what you are saying." The Grey Lady said her voice trembling from the shock of his prior words. Such a thing was against the laws of nature, what this boy said was impossible."Indeed you are correct. Rowena Ravenclaw was indeed a genius of her time, just looking at what she did to create the Sorting Hat is a marvel in itself. But sadly the hat is just a low level artifact given some wisdom. Though I must say, for her to find and unravel some of the secrets behind the Mark of Four is impressive. Though clumsily used it is still impressive." She heard Nova tell her.A cold chill washed over her, "Why do you know about that, no one should be aware of such a thing?" The Grey Lady now felt deep despair at what the boy said. For him to know about the Mark that drove her and her mother apart. The Mark that her mother told her she need not worry about. The Mark that she knew would make her as knowledgeable and clever as her mother. Who she so desperately wanted to help and prove she could do so."I know a lot Helena. As for the Mark, I suppose I can tell you about it. But I won't go into detail with it. The Mark of Four was simply a mark of power imbued on to certain objects to give them divine sentience. The fact that it exist in this world means that one of the artifact that I had created as fallen into this world. And judging from the way your mother seems to have gotten that smart is probably do to her finding it and gaining its approval.""No your wrong! Your just a child you can't possibly know all this. This isn't right, no one alive should know what you are talking about. Even that boy didn't know this. What are you?" She quickly started to retreat from Nova. And now floated in mid air outside the tower and continued to move away.Then she heard, "I told you I was still in need of your assistance. Where are you going?"Helena turned around to see the boy taking off his shirt. And remembering how he was able to grab her made her feel even more frightened and quickly moved further away. From where she floated, Helena saw a pair of black dragon like wings appear from his back. She was so stunned that Helena stopped moving.******************Nova POV******************As Nova unfurled his wings, he jumped off the tower and flew toward the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw. Nova wasn't surprised that she acted like she did, as what he told her would probably frighten any person in this realm.He then appeared in front of her and so that she didn't try to float away, wrapped his arm around her waist."I give you my word," Nova began to say, "If you tell me where I can do my work. I will craft you a body that would put shame to any goddess of the realms. And teach you the understanding of the Mark of Four.""Take off the covers over your eyes so that I may see if your speaking the truth." Helena said firmly. She could feel her emotions running wild."It is too dangerous to see my eyes. They would damage your soul.""I am but a copy of my self, I am a ghost my soul is long gone." Helena said firmly."Take them off yourself if you can." Nova told her.**************************The Grey Lady POV**************************When she heard that, Helena had the urge to beat him up. She was a ghost how was she going to do that? Then it occurred to her, if he could touch me why can't I do it myself. Helena then reached up and focused on the feeling that she felt as he held her and copied that feeling into her hands. And very slowly pulled the sunglasses off of Nova's face and what she saw made her gasp. The eyes that looked back at her were the color of a amethyst with bits of an azure mixed in, she had never seen such a beautiful color before. Then she noticed the dragon irises within the eye. And she realized this boy wasn't human at all.**********************Nova POV**********************Nova was a little surprised to see that she was able to take off his glasses and even more surprised to see that although a little stunned she had not been affected by his gaze.Though a little shocked, he realized that someone was messing with the laws of the world but didn't know how it had happened. Which greatly concerned him."Um is what you said true earlier." Helena looked up at him."About forging you a body fit for a goddess. Yes but I need a place to do so." Nova stared at her.Seeing her go a little opaque in the face from her blush, Nova smiled at her, while she said, "Will this be a problem?" She then moved aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her chest."No. I can even fix it for you now if you want." Nova said as looked at the mark realizing she had been murdered in her life.She nodded in consent, and watched as he moved his hand toward her stopping a few centimeters away. "Tell me about your life and how you ended up like this."With a small nod, Helena began to tell him about her life, how she was jealous of her mother, and how she wanted to prove herself to her. Helena told him how she stole her mother's diadem to study to the mark that was within the jewels. How the Bloody Baron had been sent to bring her home to her dying mother, and how she hid the diadem away and her eventual demise."So do you want me to end the Baron then?" Nova asked."No, he is punishing himself for his crimes?""And done, what do you think?" Nova told Helena after moving his hand back.Helena then looked down at where the mark used to be and shed a few ghostly tears."Well then if you could tell me what I seek so I can fulfill my end of the deal?" Nova asked her."What you seek is on the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet. You need to walk past the section of blank wall three times concentrating hard on what is needed." Helena informed him."Thank you." With that Nova released his hand from around her waist and put his glasses back on. He turned around and flew back to the tower leaving Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady, to float out in the open.************************The Grey Lady POV************************As she watched Nova leave she could help but feel a little lost. And upon realizing what he had told her, she knew that she would be owing him more than he realized. She then looked at his back and whispered, "You are a strange one Nova Void. But I make this promise under the moon, that I will be yours until the end."Then with a sigh, took one last look at the full moon realizing, for the first time in a millennium, how beautiful it was before floating back to the castle..
