Next day came, and Richard woke up refreshed. It was a new day, a brilliant day. There was a fresh feeling, like he had gotten rid of a hidden soreness that he had for months.
He was chipper. He even sent Tonks a mail he had kept with him as a Christmas present. A series of attacking, restraining and healing wandless spells he had been working for some time using many many available books in the library along with his imagination. They were all tested and confirmed by himself making the book as valuable as any heirloom in a sacred family. He even added a note saying good luck, which was unusual for a person like him, but he felt that there was a need to spread his cheer. He was a good man in that way.
He went to all his periods diligently, paying attention to all the lessons. Why sleep in class and study later when you can learn everything when a professor is painstakingly teaching everything in detail?
Soon it was his time for detention. Richard stealthily picked up his books and slipped away from the students who were moving to Lockhart's class and moved to a corridor that connected them to a path to the second floor. He was already on the move when someone pulled on his robe.
"Where do you think you are going?"
Oh, richard knew that voice very well. "Hello Hermione. " He turned around greeting the small wizard who looked livid.
"Don't think I don't know what you are up to Richard. You are skipping Professor Lockhart's classes again, aren't you? Even after detention from Professor McGonagall? You should be ashamed of_"
"Now hang on a minute!" Richard had to stop her before she goes off into a full blown rant. "I'm not skipping classes here. I'm going for my detention."
"Detention? For skipping Lockhart's class?"
"Yeah"
"And this detention is very conveniently at the same time during Professor Lockhart's class?" Richard could feel the scepticism of her tone. But he didn't argue. Instead he compromised.
"Look, I'm getting late, so how about this? Why don'tyou come with me and make sure I'm going for my detention so you can go to Lockhart's lessons merrily."
"I think i will" she replied stubbornly, making Richard shrug, before continuing his way to the second floor. He didn't want to be late for his first day at detention.
They quickly made their way to the room, and from behind, Richard could hear a few voices. Richard took a step forward, ignoring Hermione's death glared and knocked on the door a couple of times, then turned the door handle.
In the room were some familiar, and some not so familiar faces. But the face at the front was one Richard knew very well.
"Mr Cloverfield, you are on time. Take a seat."
"Thank you professorMcGonagall. "
"As for you, Ms Granger, " McGonagall noticed Hermione near the door. "I'm afraid I will have to ask you to proceed for your next classes, unless you intend to ignore them?"
"Of course professor." Richard noticed her face reddening, but decided to hold his tongue and close the door before walking in and talking a seat in the middle next to a boy who looked a year or two older.
"Hey, I'm Cedric. Cedric Diggory. Nice to meet you."
"Hello." Richard greeted back. "Call me Richard. Richard Cloverfield. "
"Less chit chat in the back." Professor McGonagall raised her voice. "We'll start today's session of the transfiguration club with a practical assessment. Everyone, I need to see your skill, so do your best presentation."
"You must be a second year right?" Cedric asked, making Richard nod. "Don't worry and do your best. McGonagall has an eye for people, so you should do fine. Don't worry about results."
Then with an impressive wand movement, he began changing the table next to him into something quadruped.
'Nice'
Richard looked at Cedric's transfiguration, which was already begining to resemble a horse. Then he looked at his desk. He was about to wave his wand, when McGonagall called him out.
"Mr Cloverfield, as i said, impress ."
Richard placed the wand back in his robe. Well then, he had to do it the harder way. Richard pushed the heavy wooden table a bit far away from Cedric, then placed his hand on the table.
Structural identification
Made of pine wood, five years old... Richard didn't care about the details. He moved onto the next step.
Alteration
He increased the weight on the table and it collapsed like it was made of cardboard. The legs sprawled at different direction and the table top crumpled in like paper. Ignoring the reaction of people around, Richard picked the heavy table up, then twisted the legs together as if they were made of metal wire. Then pressing the top under foot, he pulled the twisted legs, and the wood extended as if it was made of play dough. Turning it downside up, Richard moved onto the table top, bringing the four corners together like folding paper before crushing it into a ball. Then he began peeling it. Using his nails to find nonexistent seams, he pulled the wood open like petals. It took him a several minutes, but by the time he was done with the table, he could take a step back and tell what it was clearly. A rose. A fully blossomed rose made completely out of wood.
'Clap clap clap'
Richard turned to see professor McGonagall clapping. "Very impressive Cloverfield. Very impressive piece of wandless transfiguration for a student your age. Now care to tell me how you did it?"
"Well.... I have a theory. Not a baseless one. But it isn't exactly proven either. I call it the magic circuit theory..." Richard took out his notes. Power made people famous, but that alone isn't enough. Power will fade with time and become legends, and facts will become fiction. If he wanted to be a person who truly defined an era, he had to share something much more valuable. Knowledge. Then everytime that knowledge is used, his name , his influence, his fame will be established, leaving an indelible mark in the annex of history along with names like Merlin