6 Chapter 5 - The Magic Chef (1/2)

”You fought Snape?!” Hermione exclaimed causing the Gryffindor table to become silent as they listened in, ”What did you do?”

”I blew up his office,” Vincent said rubbing his forehead while eating, Harry and Ron looked at Vincent like he was a dead man, ”man that last spell hurt.”

It was early in the morning and the school was all gathered for breakfast. Vincent noticed that the moment he woke up people were giving him looks while whispering.

”Good on ya mate!” Fred and George came by and both wrapped their arms around. Vincent, ”we should have done that, right George.”

”I know, what a way to go, got the schools attention,” George said while walking off with Fred

”Got the schools attention?” Vincent asked confused

”Whatever, so did you actually give Snape that bruise on his face?” Harry asked excitedly, it was no secret that Harry didn't like Snape

”Yeah, I threw a rod and it connected with his face,” Vincent explained as he took out a rod and showed them, ”it went through Snape's defence spell somehow and was able to deflect spells.”

”Really?” Hermione took the rod and studied it, ”you said Dumbledore made this right? Then it must have been a charm of sorts that allowed it to do such things.”

She tried swinging it only to yelp as it she dropped it.

”It shocked me!” Hermione exclaimed nursing her hand.

Ron tried and it did the exact same thing, ”Blimey, that stings,”

”Probably another of Dumbledore's charms,” Hermione said as Vincent took back the rod, ”it can only be used by Vincent, probably to avoid any thievery.”

”You ok?” Vincent grabbed Hermione's hand which she was nursing

He gently looked for any signs of injury before letting out a sigh of relief, ”Well, at least it doesn't leave a mark.”

Vincent then realised that he was still holding her hand. He quickly released it and scratched his head in embarrassment.

”My bad Hermione,” he apologised, he realised that it was highly inappropriate to hold a girl's hand unless they were close

Hermione was blushing a furious red, ”It's fine, it's fine.”

For some reason Ron felt a little annoyance, something that didn't go unnoticed by Vincent.

”You want me to check your hand as well Ron?” Vincent asked

”Oh, bloody hell no!” Ron exclaimed drawing his hand far away from Vincent, ”I'm not gay man.”

This earned a few laughs from the group.

”Ok so what do we have next?” he asked quickly

Before anyone could answer, Professor McGonagall walked up to them.

”Mr Wong, Professor Snape requests your presence immediately, he also asked for your pixie to follow as well.”

”On it.” McGonagall nodded before walking away.

”You break a record every second staying here,” Ron said grimly, ”Don't break the record of being the first muggle to die in Hogwarts.”

Vincent gave a nod before leaving the table.

”So, for funeral arrangements, I was thinking—”

Vincent nearly fell over when he heard Fred and George discuss his supposed funeral.

”I'm not dead yet guys!” he felt like crying as he walked to the dungeons

...

”Your what?”

”Are your ears full of dung Mr Wong?” Snape said glaring at Vincent, ”I am going to be your teacher for Potions and combat. From here on out, I Severus Snape take you on as my apprentice.”

”So, I'm not in trouble?” Vincent asked hopefully

”Your act of breaking into a teachers office and personal property is enough for you to be put in detention for the rest of your school days.” Snape growled still feeling annoyed about last night's events, ”However, your skills in battle along with your potion making skill has caught my attention. That particular potion you made was rather unique.”

Snape pulled out a glass vial full of the potion that Vincent created.

”The mixture you made was of potions that increased strength and endurance. Simply putting the two different potions together would normally cause the potion to fail.” Snape glanced at the pixie who was sitting on Vincent's head, ”however, with that pixies help, you managed to perfectly balance out the two solutions and create an entirely new potion.”

”New potion?” Vincent asked curiously

”Combining potions doesn't mean that the new one will have both effects.” Snape explained, ”the strengthening solution does increase your overall strength, but combined with the girding potion which increases stamina, your potion gave an extraordinary strength to a person's legs, which enabled you to jump so high last night.”

”So as for combat, what's that about?” Vincent asked curiously

Snape gave a smirk, ”I've been given permission by the headmaster to train you against wizards. I also understand that your night activities in London gave you valuable experience against hand to hand combat, but you had yet to actually engage in battle against a wizard until last night. Tell me, what did you observe?”

”I gave you a bruise to the face,” Snape's expression twitched, ”and I didn't know beforehand that I could deflect spells.”

”Once a day, we will focus on your potion making skills before sparing,” Snape said glaring at Vincent, ”even if your pixie can assist you, it is entirely up to you to create the potion.”

”Yes sir,” Vincent gave a mock salute causing a vein to twitch in Snape's forehead

”Oh, I am so going to enjoy this,” Snape thought, even if there was no punishment for what Vincent did last night, Snape made sure to pay him back during their lessons

The next few days would be one of the most painful memories that Vincent would ever have. Everyday Vincent would wake up extremely early to 'exercise' with the Whomping Willow for an hour before heading to breakfast. He would then attend his classes before having to go to Snape's remedial classes before dinner where he would spend a good two hours brewing potions or sparring.

Vincent found that Snape was extremely hard to fight against. Snape was not as foolish as he was that first fight and constantly deflected his rods with other objects instead of spells due to the rod's immunity to magic attacks. Whenever a rod grew close, Snape would always use another object such as a chair or sort to deflect it.

”Get up!” Snape ordered as he once again beat Vincent, ”I said get up Mr Wong, or do you want to go back home?!”

They were currently in an empty classroom with all the chairs and tables stacked up against each wall leaving a large open space. Vincent grit his teeth as he stood up before picking his rods up. He sighed as he got back into position.

”Ready sir!”

Snape nodded in acknowledgment. Even he couldn't help but acknowledge Vincent's determination. He was actually impressed with the boy's progress in the past few days. His potion making skills were on the level of fifth grade students. While the pixie was indeed a great help, it was Vincent who was deciding factor in the potion's outcome.

With combat, Vincent was even more terrifying. To make sure Vincent gets the most out of the exercise, Snape didn't allow any potions. Even though it didn't seem like it, Snape accounted his injury from their first fight to the potion that Vincent made. He believed that without it, Vincent wouldn't be able to hurt him.

Vincent proved him wrong where even without the potion, he was a terrifying opponent. Even though Snape won every fight, it was extremely close.

”The moment I pull my wand out, we start.” Snape put his wand away leaving him and Vincent to stand in silence

The moment Snape's hand pulled his wand out, Vincent was already a meter away from him. He went to strike at Snape's head but was blocked by table. He clicked his tongue before jumping backwards to avoid an incoming chair. He felt a rush of wind behind him as he realised another was coming at his back.

Vincent ignored his aching muscles and did a backflip, narrowly avoiding a chair. He landed in a kneeling position breathing heavily, but Snape didn't let him catch his breath.

Vincent rolled to the side avoiding a table before making a dash at Snape, who smirked as he flicked his wand downwards.

”Oh, come on!” Vincent thought as tables and chairs came raining down onto him

He weaved left and right dodging as much objects as he could.

Snape stared directly at the struggling Vincent. If he was at his peak, then Vincent would easily be able to dodge the objects. Now that he was exhausted, Snape decided to use this method to bring an end to the fight.

While Snape was contemplating, a bright glare of golden eyes caught his attention. He watched as if in slow motion as Vincent dodged every single object with minimal movement before throwing a rod. What Snape didn't get was that it wasn't aimed at him but at the ceiling.

”Is he surrendering?” Snape thought before hearing a clang from above

His eyes widened as he watched the chandelier on the ceiling fall towards him. Vincent noticed that the lights were held up by magic, so the moment his rods connected, the magic was negated making it fall to the ground.

Snape stopped the decent of the chandelier before feeling something cold against his neck.

”My, win,” Vincent said triumphantly before passing out

Snape stood there in shock before sighing. Vincent's progress was astounding in the field of combat. After just one week, he managed to achieve one win. While others could say that Snape dropped his guard or that Vincent was lucky, Snape acknowledged his loss.

”Hmph, ridiculous,” he muttered, ”he pushed himself to exhaustion, what a fool.”

Having been around the boy for a week,

If anyone was around, they would have been shocked or creeped out. Snape, for the first time in a long while, gave a genuine smile at the sleeping boy.

...

”I think Snape's going too far!” Harry said, ”he's practically treating Vince as a punching bag!”

The whole group were currently doing their homework in the Gryffindor Common Room. When the group heard that Vincent was going to be Snape's apprentice there was a lot of responses. The main response was that it was a terrible idea. When Vincent brought up that it was Dumbledore who gave permission, they all reluctantly gave in.

That is until they constantly saw how exhausted Vincent every day was. He would often come back extremely exhausted and bruised. Harry couldn't take it anymore when he saw the bandages on Vincent's head.

”I beat him once today.” he said bringing silence to the table, ”so I think I'm making progress.”

”Well, tomorrow is a rest day,” Hermione said, ”why don't you use it as an opportunity to recover?”

”Hmm,” Vincent thought before seeing Hermione give him a glare that was meant to be scary, Vincent however thought that it was rather adorable, he sighed, ”alright fine, can't resist that face anyway, I'll rest tomorrow.”

”What face?” Hermione asked confused

”That glare of yours, it's way too adorable to resist.” Vincent muttered as if defeated

The rest of the night, Hermione wouldn't even look or talk to him. When she got back to bed, the only thing on her mind was Vincent's words.

”It's way too adorable to resist.”

”He can't mean it right?” she thought as she pulled her blankets up, ”I mean, I'm a bookworm, I'm not even that attractive right?”

She sighed as she lit up her wand and did some late-night reading, ”Well, it's no use thinking about it, he's way too honest. I'll just do some studying-?”

She noticed a couple of feathers around the dormitories. She picked one up and examined it.

”Are these chicken feathers?” she questioned herself, ”Who would leave them here?”

She looked around a bit before shrugging, ”Well, it's none of my business, I guess I'll go back to bed.”

If Hermione had looked around closer at the other girls' beds, then she would have noticed that one was empty.

...

”So, about what I said last night, I lied,” Vincent said to the pixie who was currently gobbling down some grapes, ”I mean, I just managed to defeat Snape, that means I can't stop improving right?”

Vincent was currently sparring against the Whomping Willow, he woke up extremely early as to avoid confronting Harry and Ron, not to mention Hermione as she would probably curse him to sleep. The thought of it gave Vincent shivers.

”Oh yeah,” Vincent ducked under a branch before doing a back flip out of the range of the tree, ”I still haven't giving you a name have I?”

The pixie stopped munching and glared at Vincent who chuckled nervously, ”My bad, I shouldn't have neglected you like that, tell you what, I'll make something yummy for you to eat as an apology. After this we'll head straight to Hagrid's ok?”

The pixies eyes started glowing as it threw it arm in celebration.

”Now, what should I call you?” Vincent said as he wiped the sweat of his head, ”Hmm are you a girl?”

The pixie nodded its head, ”Huh, then how about Delia?”

It shook its head.

”Rose?”

”Ava?”

”Lin?”

”Well I'm running out of ideas you know?” Vincent gave a wry smile at how picky the pixie was, he sat there thinking while the pixie continued to finish her grapes, ”Hmm, what would be a good name for you?”

”How about Nyx?” said a voice to his left

Vincent turned to see a blond-haired girl with a near white skin and silver like eyes.

”Luna Lovegood,” she said holding her hand out

”Vincent Wong,” Vincent gave her a handshake, ”I like your eyes.”

”T-thanks,” Luna was taken aback for a moment before smiling, ”Yours are quite beautiful as well, such a pretty gold colour.”

Vincent rubbed his head in embarrassment, ”Thanks, I guess? What brings you out here?”

”I was curious and wanted to talk to the first muggle in history that has attended Hogwarts,” she said as she approached the pixie who tilted its head at the newcomer, ”I overheard you talking about names, how about Nyx?”

”Nyx, as in the Goddess of the night?” Vincent only vaguely remembered the name

”Pixies are known as pests in the wizarding world,” Luna said earning a squeak of defiance from the pixie, ”Nyx is a Goddess that can either be helpful or harmful to mankind, just like pixies which are known to be an annoyance, yours however is the helpful kind.”

”Nyx eh?” Vincent turned to the pixie, ”what do you think, Nyx?”

The pixie looked at Luna before looking back at Vincent. It nodded its head as if pleased with the name.

”Ok then, Nyx it is,” Vincent gave a small chuckle, ”Thanks Luna, that was a lot of help.”

Luna blanked out for a moment, in her whole life people have called her weird, creepy and loony. This was the first time she had heard the words thank you from someone else other than her family.

”Um, Luna, you ok?” Vincent asked in concern

Luna snapped out of it before giving a bright smile. Vincent thought that this was the first genuine smile she truly gave. She was smiling before, but it all paled in comparison to the one she was giving now.

”Yeah I'm fine.”

They chatted for a bit before the pixie, now Nyx, grabbed Vincent's ear before pointing him towards Hagrid's place.

”Huh, looks like the little one wants to go now,” Luna said amused at the sight

”Well I did promise to make something for her to eat,” Vincent said, ”Well, it was nice talking to you Luna, you have a lot of interesting things to say.”

Luna's eyes widened before she gave a smile, ”If it's alright with you, I'd like to talk with you some more, not every morning, just every now and then.”

”Sure, anytime,” Vincent picked up his hoodie before giving a wave, ”Well I'll see you around Luna.”

”Goodbye,” Vincent heard that dreamy voice from behind as he walked to Hagrid's hut

”She's a nice girl don't you think Nyx?” Nyx huffed slightly as it gave a pinch to his cheeks, ”Ow, alright, alright, let's go and eat.”

...

”Oi Vincent!” Hagrid said as he continued eating, ”I really despise ya right now.”

”Oh, why's that?”

”Yer food is way too good, can't eat anything else withou comparin it to this,” Hagrid said accusingly, ”Give me some mor O that smoothie to make up for it.”

It was sometime after the second day Vincent had started attending Hogwarts. Right after Vincent's daily exercise Vincent went to visit Hagrid who invited him for breakfast. Vincent back then stared at the truffles and sweets that Hagrid had given out. Vincent felt like his teeth were going to break after that first truffle and proposed that he could perhaps cook something up as thanks.

Hagrid agreed without any inhibitions and immediately regretted it an hour later. After eating a single bite of Vincent's meal, he couldn't eat any other breakfast at the grand hall. It all felt dull compared to the meal that Vincent cooked up. Not to mention, that it was incredibly healthy. From then on, Vincent would turn up every two or so days just to make breakfast for Hagrid who would often wake up extremely early just to see if Vincent would turn up. Vincent felt a small pang of disappointment when he didn't discover any magical types of ingredients. He wanted to know what dragon meat tasted like or see how sweet magical fruits are.

What Vincent made today were spinach and ricotta crepes along with a honey and banana milkshake to go along with it.

”Hello, my good dear Hagrid!” Hagrid's face fell as he recognised that voice