Тейлор Поттер и философский виал / Taylor Potter and the Philosophical Vial: Глава 11. Николас Мантон, Квиддич и день Святого Валентина.

Chapter 11. Nicholas Manton, Quidditch and Valentine's Day
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Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 11:14

Lisa slapped her hand on the tablet screen.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:34

"Exactly! It all fits together!"

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:34

Amy and Taylor, playing Quidditch chess (a standard game of chess in which each piece and pawn gains a random superpower, after which, when "captured," the pieces and pawns fight each other), looked at Granger in surprise. Lisa looked at her friends disapprovingly: the sofas they were sitting on, the table between them, even the floor, were strewn with candy wrappers, empty cake boxes, cans and bottles of soda, and various juices.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:36

"Okay, okay, we'll clean it up... later," Amy grumbled, putting the tablet aside.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:37

"I shouldn't have hacked the delivery line," Lisa sighed. "You'll get fat and clumsy!"

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:36

Taylor immediately lifted her top, revealing her skinny stomach and protruding ribs.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:37

"Okay, okay, no need to show off your skinny charms," Lisa waved off Amy.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:55

"So, what did you find out?" Taylor asked.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:56

Her first thought was about classes. After all, tomorrow was a new semester, new assignments, the end of such a wonderful, satisfying, and lazy vacation.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:38

"Professor Nicholas Manton, the discoverer of the effect named after him," Lisa paused and added meaningfully, "led the first expedition to the Tunguska meteorite!"

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:38

"How old is he?" Taylor wondered. "So, it's 2021 now... and that was 1908..."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:33

"He's a hundred and fifty years old, don't worry about it," Lisa giggled. "He worked with Headmistress Dumbledore on superpower research, then left for family reasons. Rumor has it he created the Philosopher's Stone, aka 'liquid power from the test tube,' aka 'the recipe for immortality,' aka 'absolute power,' aka..."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:34

"Wait, wait," Amy cut her off. "There is no such thing as absolute power!"

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:35

"It is," Lisa grinned. "I'll give you a hint: Eidolon possessed her pathetic imitation."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:40

"Are you saying that Professor Manton has discovered a way to gain any power at will?"

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:40

"Ah-hah," Lisa clicked her tongue, "if the rumors are true. But that would explain how he survived so long, and why no one has been able to find him, despite many attempts. It would also explain the numerous cases of so-called 'mutations' early in the formation of the Cape community."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:41

"Volunteers who want to gain power from a test tube?" Taylor asked.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:42

"Exactly. That may be why Manton 'retired,'" Lisa gestured with her fingers, making quotation marks. "And that's why 'test tube powers' are banned, and any research into the matter is punished, let's say, very severely."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:42

"Well, let's say," Amy said. "What does a three-headed dog have to do with it?"

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:43

"It's very simple," Lisa smiled. "Professor Manton isn't a fighter, despite his superpowers, which is indirect evidence that his powers were artificially acquired. Therefore, he entrusted the fight against the Dark Cape to Headmistress Dumbledore, with whom he worked. He handed over a Philosopher's Vial containing absolute power, or more precisely, the power that allows one to gain any power. There simply couldn't have been a better bait for the Dark Cape, who had fallen and lost his power after meeting a person we knew (a smirk in Potter's direction). All that was left was to cleverly lure him to Wormwarts, orchestrating a leak of information, as if by accident. This is where our familiar Rachel Hagrid enters the picture."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:45

"What about Rachel?" Taylor snapped.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:48

"Hush, hush, no one's blaming her," Lisa replied immediately. "On the contrary, only Rachel could be trusted to transport something like the Philosopher's Vial. Well, judge for yourself, what Cape could resist the temptation of absolute power?"

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:49

Amy licked her lips, Taylor thought.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:49

"That's it!" Granger continued. "Sent to Ellisburg Bank for safekeeping, information leak, and Dark Cape is on the trail."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:51

"Stop!" Taylor interrupted. "Why did Headmistress Dumbledore even let him into Wormwarts? Should they have called in the Hunter teams, restrained him, or whatever they do when they arrest him?"

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:51

"I don't have an answer to that question," Lisa admitted reluctantly. "But there's a theory! What if the Dark Cape hasn't lost all its power? And can counter Headmistress Dumbledore's plans? For every plan, a counterplan, and so on ad infinitum? That's why they needed a mutant dog—one that can't be fooled, talked into, intimidated, or blackmailed."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:53

"So it's Snape?" Taylor asked gloomily.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:53

"I don't know," Lisa said, throwing up her hands. "But the very fact of installing a complex lock is a telling sign, isn’t it?

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:56

The three of them, their hands bound, walked to the door on the third floor, but couldn't get through. The sophisticated electronic devices and scanners had disappeared, replaced by a complex mechanical lock, and the standard white door had become a steel slab.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:57

"But what if Dark Cape gets here and finds a way past Fluffy?" Taylor worried.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:58

"I think it's a question of trust in Headmistress Dumbledore," Lisa narrowed her eyes. "And the trap, don't forget about the trap, you don't think they just showed it to you, do you?"

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:59

"You're sounding like our dean now," Amy grumbled.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 06:59

But since there was nothing that could be done now anyway, she and Taylor returned to the game, and Lisa, with a sigh, opened the file "Mysteries of the Dark Capes: Ups, Downs, Theories and Hypotheses."
*

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 09:49

“Are you scared?” Quirrell asked.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 09:49

"Yes," Taylor nodded. "I'm... afraid I can't handle it, afraid I'll let the team down. We defeated Eidolorin thanks to surprise and luck, but Legendpuff will be ready."

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 09:49

"Don't worry," Jack replied, "breathe deeply and evenly, that's it. Your fear is natural; it's inherent in all of us, because no one likes to lose. Focus on your fears and push them aside."

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:50

"But how?"

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:48

"Tell me, Taylor," the DPTS teacher said, smiling, "what is the main advantage of your power?"

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:49

Potter thought for a moment, then answered cautiously.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:48

"I can do many things at once with the help of insects."

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:47

"That's right," Quirrell nodded, "you're a team unto yourself, and that's what makes you a natural-born Tactician, destined to win. To defeat any opponent, no matter what. That doesn't mean you should relax and rest on the laurels of past success, understand?"

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:46

“I understand,” Taylor replied in a tense voice.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:46

"But in any situation, there's always a chance to win, remember that. Don't give up, strive for victory, wrest it from your opponent's grasp, and then you'll overcome your fears."

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:46

"Thank you, teacher," Taylor bowed.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:45

Jack watched the girl skip away and grinned into his beard. Those who have tasted victory at any cost will not hesitate to pay that very price when the time comes.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:45

Lessons dragged on, teachers assigned more and more homework, and the students quieted down somewhat after the holidays. The evening squabbles in the hallways faded, replaced by verbal altercations at the dinner table. Taylor spent more and more time on the Quidditch field, much to the chagrin of Lisa, who required an invisibility band for excursions into the forbidden corners of Hogwarts.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:40

Lisa excelled in Flitwick's classes; no one in the Herofindor first-years was better at planning than her. Amy excelled in Sprout's classes, creating whatever she wanted with plants. Taylor, meanwhile, discovered that McGonagall's weapon assembly and disassembly training went more smoothly if she planted flies on each piece beforehand.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 18:40

"The Forbidden Forest is a biosphere built by the talented Tinker Alan Gramm," Missy Sinistra explained enthusiastically.

Camrad_RIP 04.01.26 в 16:54

"There's no one around," Taylor whispered to Lisa.

Camrad_RIP 05.01.26 в 09:50