{Edited} The Chaotic Traveler - Chapter 13 (Patreon)

AN: Edited chapter do not count toward monthly quota's

Chapter 13: The Thirst Games

Over the next few days, more of the main canon cast began to trickle in and interact with Jin while he helped Hagrid in his teaching role.

However, oddly enough, the Golden Trio was among the few who didn't approach him directly.

'I could have sworn they were staring at me for most of the class.’ He scratched his cheek. ‘Are they just shy or something?’

Jin didn't have an answer and shrugged it off.

Aside from the moments when he gained extreme firsthand experience with a variety of magical creatures that should not in any way be on school grounds, helping Hagrid was quite cathartic.

Each year group from third to seventh had only one class a day, five days a week, and the sixth-year and seventh-year classes aiming for their NEWTs in Care of Magical Creatures were reduced to a dozen students each.

The Puffskein trick only worked for the first week, so Jin had to come up with more non-threatening magical creatures within yoinking distance of the school grounds before Hagrid looked away and got the kids eaten by the adorable murder monsters he loved so much.

It required Jin to step out of the safety of Hogwarts to explore the Scottish Highlands, but he was perfectly fine with that, as he found the massive diamond-shaped valley the school stood in fascinating.

Hogwarts was relatively small compared to the rest of the Highlands.

It sat at the westernmost point of the diamond, backed by a natural barrier of a mountain ridge, on its own plateau.

The Forbidden Forest, located to the north of the school, occupied only around a sixth of the valley, still massive and possibly magically expanded within, according to Hagrid. Still, the rest of the valley was just as interesting.

It was a land separated from the modern world, hidden by wards, crawling with magical creatures, and dotted with small villages where magical families lived openly with magic and a lack of modern Muggle technology.

Open grasslands, tall mountains, deep ravines, rushing rivers, dark caves, forgotten ruins; the valley had it all.

It overflowed with a vitality Jin was happy to soak in as he wandered near the school's outskirts until he stumbled upon a Mooncalf nest.

With no one around, he stalked them until they popped out, stunned a couple, and carried them back to the school.

The adorably big-eyed calf-sized creatures became the next big estrogen focus for the week, their overjoyed wiggles and sounds making even the male students melt.

The teaching gig seemed like the perfect gateway to piercing the barrier many students had when considering approaching Jin.

He was technically a staff member, but his physical size and calm gaze intimidated some. Only when they spoke to him did most students realize how laid-back he was.

When he went for a run by the lake or was seen doing odd jobs around the school, most people kept their distance, as Jin always seemed to be in a rush.

But with Hagrid consistently endangering the students with good intentions, the gratitude coming Jin's way was the best icebreaker he could ask for to blend into his role.

He helped students who struggled with the class, answering their questions about magical beasts using what he had learned in his studies.

As a result, Jin earned a lot of goodwill across the year groups, especially with the NEWT students, because he could easily reference the sources of his knowledge for students to study in the library.

It slowed his studies in Charms a bit, but while he was also trying to keep his cover story solid, Jin found himself enjoying the experience of dealing with various creatures.

His trips into the Forbidden Forest weren't only for the class anymore, but for his own pleasure of seeing magic alive in a way the movies and books couldn't describe.

It was also during that time that he learned that few students, not even the purebloods, actually practiced Occlumency. It was far from unknown; Daphne and Tracey were excellent sources on it.

"It's not widely talked about, of course, but every pureblood family encourages its use.” Tracey commented while playing with a Puffskein.

The rest of the class hovered around a Mooncalf while Hagrid explained its peculiarities, but the Puffskein seemed accustomed to the attention and wandered into the corral on its own.

The brunette giggled at the fluffball wiggling around. "Some don't even let an heir inherit the house until they've learned it to a certain degree.” She scrunched up her face. “It's just annoyingly hard."

"Hmph." Daphne grinned smugly while trying to resist petting the fluffy creature. "It just takes discipline, which the majority lack.” She waved to her friend. “Like Tracey here."

“It’s boring.” Tracey bit back.

“It’s necessary.” Daphne chided.

“Bleh.” Tracey stuck her tongue out.

Daphne's brow twitched at how the Puffskein copied Tracey and also stuck its tongue out at her.

"Anyway.” She shot the two a scathing look and turned to Jin. “It can take a decade for some to reach basic proficiency. It requires the right discipline to meditate nightly in an attempt to discover your mental plane.”

“To find your mental plane?” Jin raised a brow.

“Yes?” Daphne looked at him oddly. “It’s the first true barrier for every practitioner.”

Jin hummed and shifted gears so he wouldn’t give anything away. “Are you sure you should just be telling me that?”

"It's an open secret." Daphne waved dismissively. "Some Pureblood families complain about it, but there are books. Stores just put them on the back shelves so a random muggleborn won't stumble on it.” A scoff of disgust left her. “It's not as if it's expected for people to actually become a practitioner, with how long and difficult it is to gain a foundation."

"She's not wrong." Tracey added. "All those non-pureblood hidden geniuses, or more likely lucky blokes, are probably gobbled up by the Unspeakables or foreign research groups to make up their numbers.” She rolled over the grass and held the Puffskein up with a laugh. “I stopped caring when I realized how much time and effort it takes. So not my thing."

That was the gist of it, as far as Jin could confirm from others.

Still, Jin toned back how knowledgeable he was after the girls shared that nugget of information about Occlumency with him.

'Just enough for my cover, not enough to really stand out.’ He tapped his pipe to clear it out. ‘Once the tournament starts, I can be much more open with everyone focused on a bigger distraction.'

0000

And like that, September flew by.

During the day, Jin continued to cement his public image in the students' minds as the assistant COMC teacher.

A well-liked, knowledgeable, if slightly gruff, bloke on the subject, often seen working out around the Black Lake, entering the Forbidden Forest, or doing the odd job around the school with his iconic pipe puffing blue smoke.

By night, he continued his endless pursuit of progress, devouring books in the Room, expanding his Charms and Arithmancy knowledge base, practicing his magic, continuing to expand his wandless magic hotkeys, and pushing himself to the breaking point only to wake up and do it all over again.

The long nights, however, drained him fiercely. Forcing him to take at least a day or two off per week.

Jin used that time to give Shadow attention, explore the school, or hang out with Hagrid on the big guy's trips into the Forbidden Forest, where Jin learned about various bushcraft tricks from the experienced half-giant.

Having Hagrid as a guide through the forest was invaluable, not only because he taught Jin ways to hunt game, but also because he warned him away from dangerous areas.

“See that white stuff?” Hagrid pointed. “Don't be going in there, ya hear? Nothin good for anyone that way.”

Jin followed Hagrid's finger to an extensive tree line full of spiderwebs. "Acromantula?"

"Mhm." Hagrid smiled momentarily before frowning. "I used to talk with the king, raised him myself, I did, but he's been strangely silent for over a year now.” His expression shifted to sadness. “The spiders won't let me in anymore."

Jin hummed and patted the guy's arm. “What do you think happened?”

"I'm afraid my old friend Aragog might have passed on.” Hagrid sniffed. “When he was small, he was always moving around, cute little bugger. Still, once he got too big, he'd always said he had trouble movin, always stuck in his tree, and never greeted me with his full body."

Hagrid sighed at the end. "Just wish I coulda seen him one last time.”

Jin didn’t know what to say to the admission and just continued patting the guy’s arm. “I’m sure your friend is in a better place.”

Hagrid nodded gruffly. “Yeah. I hope.”

The walk out of the forest was melancholic, but Jin brought up the following week's classes, and Hagrid brightened right back up.

The half-giant seemed to genuinely love teaching and sharing his passion for magical creatures with the younger generation.

The two stopped by a den of Kneazles, and with his own experience with Shadow playing a role, Jin managed to coax a pair of the wolf-sized cats to come with them.

“Yer good with these fellas.” Hagrid commented as Jin was forced to carry the curious felines over his shoulders. “The wild ones never sit still.”

"I guess I've got a thing with felines." Jin shrugged and playfully booped a big orange cat's nose.

It snapped its paws at his hand and successfully stole it.

The two cats seemed interested in Jin's scent, but while Jin thought it was coming from his Animagus side, that thought was thrown out the window when he went home and got mauled by his adorable feline, Shadow.

“Ow! Baby why?!” Jin tried to protect himself. “Not the face! No, not there, go back to the face!”

It turned out the two Kneazles from earlier were just being spiteful to the scent of the Kneazle who claimed Jin as her hooman.

It took many hours of petting and treats to appease his fluffy companion, a time in which Jin was amazed to find his Animagus form might have been affecting his body more than he realized as he watched his scratches slowly heal.

‘My cuts are closing up?’ Jin marveled.

It took a few hours, and the scratches weren’t more than skin deep, but the dozens of marks were indeed closing at a phenomenal pace.

Jin couldn’t help but wonder. 'Is this the power of magic or my animal form?'

During the third week of September, a few of the more daring seventh-year female students approached him for help with their studies in other subjects, making excuses to lean against him, flirt, and otherwise be a nuisance, despite Jin having clearly stated that he had not graduated from a magical school and wasn’t an expert.

"I'm having trouble with my Transfiguration essay; could you reference something for soft to hard changes?” A ginger-haired Ravenclaw stopped him in the halls and made her request while poking the inside of her cheek with her tongue.

"You're pretty good at working out; do you have any tips for how to loosen up?” A Gryffindor Quidditch player suggestively asked while pulling on her top as she stopped him during his daily run. “I wouldn’t want to get a cramp.”

“You’re pretty tall, I bet you could pin down a Puffskein with a single hand." A barely five-foot-three seventh-year Hufflepuff with a stacked rack shot him a smirk after class.

'Zelretch, damn it.' Jin punched a wall in frustration.

While he could have thrown them around like he did with the younger set, some of the older students pressed hard and made Jin realize he was only a man. The Hufflepuff girl hinting at enjoying being dominated did not help.

He stared into the distance. ‘I think I have a kink.’

But the moment he was about to give in to a seventh-year's advances, Jin felt a stare that could give a dragon pause, and he turned to find McGonagall staring at him from a window, not unlike a territorial cat.

Every. Single. Time.

Eventually he took the hint. 'Hogwarts students are off limits, got it.'

Boss Bitch’s warning aside, that didn’t stop the attention that tempted Jin something fierce.

Whether it was walking in front of him in magically shortened skirts and accidentally dropping a quill, or eating rod-shaped snacks while giving him provocative looks, or sending him charmed envelopes with risqué pictures, the magically adult women wouldn’t give him a moment to rest.

If anything, his constant denials only fueled the horny seventh-year students into being the first to 'win’.

In the end, Jin was forced to bribe Luna with visits to see her friend Jeffery as long as he could use her as a shield.

Thirty seconds of open communication with Luna made even the most determined seventh-year student pause in utter confusion while Jin beat a hasty retreat.

And if Jin casually offered to walk Luna back to the Ravenclaw tower one day, where he conveniently happened to come across Professor Flitwick, the head of the house, and share his concerns about some of the comments Luna had made during his class, well, let's just say that the half-Goblin professor did some immediate house cleaning.

Let no one say that Professor Flitwick’s Goblin blood had gone cold.

In other news, Luna silently hugged him with a bright smile the next time she saw him, happy that her shoes had magically found their way back to her.

Jin took it as a win and patted her head.

‘Too adorable. Must protect.’

By the final week of September, his reputation for not being tempted was set in stone.

And while some refused to give up, especially a certain Hufflepuff, Jin was able to breathe a bit easier as the majority had backed off.

He kept the students from dying while internally laughing his ass off at Hagrid's stunts when he knew the creatures were contained, and internally cursed Zelretch's name when things were most definitely not contained.

Jin had to become the personal chew toy of whatever horror Hagrid unleashed until one or both of them managed to get it away from the students.

But with danger came opportunity, as Jin was interested to discover.

The first thing he discovered was that his Charms learning curve did, in fact, work on healing magic with the Episkey Charm.

‘I’m glad I waited on trying this one.' Jin wiped the sweat from his brow.

He had come across numerous mentions of the Charm in theoretical texts, describing the best ways to use it and how improper usage could result in disfigurement.

Jin looked for other spells, but was dismayed to realize that healing magic, in general, was a branch of magic intentionally kept from the public.

An international pact barred healer hopefuls, requiring apprentices to swear a host of magic-bound oaths to learn from another healer, who was also magic-bound to teach only a sworn-in student.

‘It’s not like I don’t get it; it protects the profession from being abused to make flesh abominations and who knows what else.’ Jin grumbled at the books. ‘Still, I’d appreciate a better Charm than the Episkey Charm.’

The extended cut from a beast’s claws along Jin’s stomach was sealed with the tip of his wand running along it, the line far from the cleanest it could have been.

'I need to concentrate if I don’t want this to scar.’ He frowned at the mark. ‘If I’m ever stuck in an emergency, I’d end up looking like someone ran a burning weld over my skin.’

Jin didn't mind scars as long as he earned them for a reason, but he saw causing them while trying to heal a wound as a weakness in his spellcasting. 'I can do better; I just need to practice.'

And practice he got as the classes continued.

How the half-giant could just show up one day with a Manticore was beyond Jin's sanity to contemplate.

Doubly so for why he brought it to a school.

To teach children.

Even while the thing was chained up, the scars from where the Manticore's spiked hair pierced Jin’s thigh were not going away anytime soon.

But Jin digressed.

The other benefit of the experience with magical creatures was that it pushed Jin's Animagus instincts into overdrive, helping him instinctively learn how to stare down some of the less aggressive creatures and calm them.

It helped Jin train his instincts far more effectively than meditating on them could, as he built confidence and an aura with each passing day.

Hagrid had commented that he heard Jin growling at the beasts, but the big guy didn't ask questions and kept his mouth shut whenever anyone else was around.

For that, more than anything else, Jin appreciated the big guy who trusted Jin to do his job and watch his back.

The more in tune Jin became with his animal side, the less he felt it fighting him, which came in handy when the two foreign schools arrived during the first week of October, considering one of them brought a deadly, man-eating, moody, pampered, French magical creature with them.

And Jin wasn't referring to the Abraxan. 

Chapter End.

AN: Hope you enjoyed! Lots of moving pieces through this chapter, some may pick up on more than others.

Next up is an interlude chapter for our courageous Golden Trio, and then the competing schools shall arrive the chapter after.