The Three Broomsticks, where I was currently going to be staying, turned out to be a large Country Pub in the exact center of Hogsmeade. I say Country Pub, because even though Hogsmeade was a large town by the standards of Wizarding Britain, the town still only had around twenty thousand people living in it. From what I've been told, that isn't even that unusual. The Magical Population in the British Isles is apparently only just a hair over a million Sentient Beings. That isn't just wizards either but includes Hags, Centaurs, Merfolk, Werewolves, and various other Magical Beings.
Notably, it didn't include Squibs, Goblins, or House Elves, the former because many squibs wound up joining Muggle Society and thus weren't the Ministry's problem, and the latter because of ancient privileges of the various Wizarding Nobles dating back to the medieval period. Apparently, at some point prior to the Statute of Secrecy, the Nobility managed to wrangle concessions from the King which included immunity from some census procedures involving slaves. Apparently, it was to avoid having non-free populations being counted against them for tax purposes and the Ministry has since decided not to revoke such things for fear of even more civil strife breaking out.
As for the Goblins, apparently they had their own underground Kingdom which reminded me a bit of how Native American Tribal Bands worked in the Muggle US. The Goblins are apparently sovereign within their underground realm and such is enshrined in Wizarding Law, similar to how reservations work back in the US. It meant they had their own census and everything, currently overseen by King Ranrok the Twelfth's Master of the Muster, Grathok the Silverhand. Accordingly, they weren't counted in the Ministry Census.
This all meant that two percent of the Magical Population lived in Hogsmade. That was in the same ballpark as the population of New York City percentage-wise compared to the population of the whole US. Only one population center was larger, Diagon Alley and its associated streets had thirty thousand magical beings living in it. The only reason it wasn't counted as the largest wizarding population center was that it was sandwiched inside of London, meaning that it was an enclave inside a much larger Muggle City.
Regardless of interesting tidbits about the demographics of Magical Britain, though, the Three Broomsticks retained its Country Pub aura. Racks of various antlers and horns from animals both mundane and magical were mounted on the wall. The building itself was a half-timber construction of rough stone and wood, with the interior being the sort of wooden decor and exposed timber beams you'd expect to see in places like Faerun. A sign over the bar proudly proclaimed it to have been established in fourteen-fifty-two, just shy of a century prior to the Statute of Secrecy being established, in fact. With its medieval construction and candle-lit interior, I could definitely believe that.
The owner, Madam Rosemerta, was a fairly attractive older Witch. Honey-blonde with jade green eyes and a shapely figure, she dressed in the sort of robes you would expect a stereotypical Druid to wear, all earthy tones and fur trim. She also appeared to be no older than her late forties. With Wizards and Witches, though, that sort of youth could be deceiving. Dumbledore, for instance, was over a hundred and ten years old, yet he was still fairly sprightly and appeared to be in his mid-seventies. Aging worked oddly on those with Magic.
"Welcome tae th' Three Broomsticks! What'll ye have?" Questioned Madame Rosemerta, Scottish Brogue coming out. Born and Bred in Hogsmeade by the sound of it.
"A room and some information if you don't mind. I'm Jan Kowalski. I believe Dumbledore mentioned I'd be stopping by?" I answered.
"Aye. Yer th' Lad lookin' fer his lost tower, then? Ye dinna look auld enough to be mucking aboot on yer oan like tha'. What're ye, early twenties?" Frowned Madam Rosemerta.
"Looks can be deceiving, especially with Wizards." I shrugged.
"Aye, but I'll wager I'm no wrong in this case." Grinned Madam Rosemerta.
"You're not. It's a long story, though and I'm on a deadline of sorts." I admitted.
"Tha's a shame. It's no often we get th' sort o' long tales tha' dinna end in tragedy." Shrugged Madam Rosemerta.
"So, have you or any of your regulars noticed anything out of the ordinary lately?" I queried.
"Ye'll have tae be more specific. If ye mean have any o' me regulars noticed a great stonking tower jus' appearin' oot o' thin air, th' answers no. Mind, Professor Dumbledore mentioned tha' ye thought tha' tower o' yours was on th' coast east o' Hogwarts. There's a few locations ye might wanna check fer tha'." Offered Madam Rosemerta.
"Which locations?" I asked.
"Th' South Sea Bog fer one. It's a bit o' bogland on th' coast South o' th' Hogwarts Valley. Then there's th' Coastal Cavern southeast o' th' Bog. If tha' dinna turn up yer Tower, ye might want tae check oot th' Poidsear Coast southeast o' th' Cavern an' Marunweem Lake southeast o' there. If tha' dinna do it, then ye'd best check oot th' Manor Cape, Cragcroftshire east o' th' Manor Cape, an' th' Clagmar Coast south o' Cragcroftshire. Ye shouldna need tae go further than th' Clagmar Coast tae find yer Tower." Explained Madam Rosemerta.
"Seven locations. Not exactly an exhaustive list, but that's a good thing." I mused.
"Aye, an' while yer lookin', ye might wanna check oot th' various ancient trials and vaults set in th' area. Auld Man Aberforth said some o' them've been reawakened an' have become accessible again. Loath as I am tae trust th' word o' that auld scoundrel, I found th' one tha' was near Falbarton Castle meself, along with th' Treasure Vault east o' Hogsmeade. Only some o' them're active an' accessible, though. Fortunately, Aberforth sold me a map he's made o' th' active ones. I'll sell it tae ye fer a hundred galleons." Informed Madam Rosemerta.
"That's five hundred British Pounds, yes?" I questioned.
"Aye, but it'll be worth it. After completin' th' Falbarton Castle Merlin Trial an' openin' th' Treasure Vault east o' Hogsmeade, I found th' range an' weight limit o' me Accio spells increased, an' even managed tae grab these from th' treasure vault." Grinned Madam Rosemerta, pulling a pair of silver, wire-frame, spectacles out of a robe pocket. My third eye told me they contained a powerful anti-venom enchantment that would make the wearer practically immune to poisons.
"All right. I can see how that'd be useful." I nodded, fishing out a hundred Galleons from my bag of holding and handing them off to Madam Rosemerta.
She took them with a grin and produced a rolled-up, leather, map. Checking it, I saw that the locations of twenty Merlin Trials marked out in blue and fifteen treasure vaults marked out in yellow around the areas of Hogsmeade, South Hogwarts, South Seas Bog, the Coastal Cavern, the Poidsear Coast, Marunween Lake, Manor Cape, Cragcroftshire, and the Clagmar Coast. Nodding, I tucked the map away into my bag of holding before I looked back at Madam Rosemerta.
"How much for the room? I'm guessing I'm likely to be here a few days." I asked.
"Room's paid fer. Professor Dumbledore said ye helped him oot with somethin' important. He paid yer room an' board himself." Answered Madam Rosemerta.
"Great, in that case, I'll probably be by for dinner." I shrugged.
"Aye, ye'll no want tae miss me Shepard's Pie." Smirked Madam Rosemerta.
With that, I made my way out of the Three Broomsticks and headed for the three Merlin Trials highlighted around Hogsmeade that my map said were active. The First was just north of Hogsmeade about a fifteen-minute jog at just beyond peak human speed. It was situated up a dirt path along the side of a cliff. When I reached my destination, however, nothing was there to my regular sight. It took opening my Third Eye to spot the invisibility effect that hovered over the open meadow at the top of the path.
A quick pulse of magic, an arcane gesture, an effort of willpower later, and the wandless, wordless, casting of the Revelio Charm revealed a trio of large, rune-carved, stones lying in and around the meadow. With another twist of magic, effort of willpower, and arcane gesture, I fired a wandless, wordless, Confringo spell at each of the boulders, destroying them. As the blasting curse demolished the first boulder with a burst of flame and an explosion of rock, a soft blue light glowed for a moment before shooting up into the air. The second boulder produced a similar effect, its mote of blue light joining with the first. The third produced the same light as the first two, but as soon as that was done, the conglomerated light shot straight into me.
As the light slammed into my chest, I suddenly felt my magic strengthen considerably and I knew that the Revelio Charm could now be used on a wider area to reveal more than just hidden objects, but people as well. I grinned as I realized that I hadn't just been fed a bunch of bullshit by Madam Rosemerta and this was in fact a real thing. I moved to my next location, east of my current location, apparating to my target with a crack.
I came out of my Apparition at the base of a ridge, with the map saying the Merlin Trial was on top of the ridge. It seemed like my problems with Apparition meant that I was in for a climb. Fortunately, I had the superhuman physical abilities that I did, and so a two-hundred-meter climb up to the top of a high ridge was nothing for me. Mind you, I also had a broomstick, but I was just more comfortable climbing right now.
A short while later, I found myself atop a cliff, surrounded by three, bronze, runic, braziers. I understood that I would need to cast Incendio to light each brazier in order to complete the trial. Three wandless, wordless, castings of the fire-making spell later, and three more motes of soft blue light conglomerated themselves together before shooting for me. This time, when the power slammed into my chest, I felt it upgrade the Incendio Charm to burn hotter and shoot farther.
My next target was behind a locked gate just west of Falbarton Castle, up another, sloping, cliffside. A wandless, wordless, casting of the Alohomora Spell saw me inside the area, while I climbed up the sloping path up the cliffside, jumping over the small, rune-lined, depression in the ground. At the top of the slope, a boulder stood that was inscribed with runes and perfectly round. I realized I had to get it down into the rune-lined depression through whatever means I could. That would normally mean using the Banishing Charm, but I decided to conserve my mystical energy by shoving it with my enhanced strength.
The boulder began rolling down the sloping, winding, pathway like a marble in a chute. Eventually, it reached the depression in the ground and slotted inside of it with a clunking noise. There was a flash of soft blue light and an orb of light shot for me out of the boulder. It slammed into my chest and I realized that my ability to use the unlocking charm had grown. I was now capable of using it on locks that were sealed shut with magic. Normally, you needed a more powerful version of Alohomora to unlock magical locks that were shut with anything more than a simple Colloportus Spell, which wasn't covered in any of the spellbooks I had been given by Dumbledore. I could now do that, though specially-made runic locks were still out of my reach.
Once that was done, I headed for my next target, the first of three Treasure Vaults in the Hogsmeade Valley. It was away to the Northwest, practically to the Forbidden Forest. In fact, my apparition technically landed me just inside the forest bounds and I had to run a bit to the east at superhuman speeds to avoid being attacked by any of the various gribblies in the forest that might have picked up my scent.
This required me to take a stone, runic, cube from a hill using a wandless, wordless, Wingardium Leviosa spell and place it on a platform in front of a cavern that was shut with a portcullis. Once there, I hit the stone cube with an Incendio spell to light it on fire. The spell was absorbed by the runes on the cube and the cube flashed a soft golden yellow. The portcullis raised and I entered into the cavern. Inside, I found a locked chest, swiftly opened with Alohomora, and inside that was a powerful pair of gloves. The black and grey leather, reinforced with rune-scribed bronze on the knuckles and back of the hand were really more like gauntlets than gloves.
Opening my third eye revealed that not only would these enhance the power of all my offensive spellwork, but they would also greatly enhance the damage of any cutting spells I cast, not just the Severing Charm, but my non-Potterverse cutting spells as well. In terms of my severing charms, they would now be able to be used as shield-breakers. Furthermore, I could already tell that although the gloves were at the limit of what could be done with this universe's magic, I could in fact add other non-Potterverse Enchantments on top of them once I was able to get back to my tower.
After that, the next two Treasure vaults were a piece of cake. The first required a Revelio to enter as the entrance to the cave it was in was disguised by an illusion showing a smooth cliff face. Revelio dissolved the illusion into motes of golden light and inside was another chest. This was easily opened with Alohomora, and inside that was a padded cloth outfit reinforced with dragonhide leather etched with mystic designs that would enhance the power of my defensive spellwork. In fact, it would greatly enhance the power of all of my shielding spells, not just Protego, but also my non-Potterverse shields with my Protego now being able to stand up to Shield-breaker spells. Once more, my out-of-context enchanting powers would be able to enchant this further, even if Potterverse magic couldn't.
The one after that was hidden away behind a locked gate shut with Colloportus Maxima, something that my newly enhanced Alohomora could deal with. The gate opened in a burst of golden light and inside was another chest. I opened it with a second, wordless, wandless, Alohomora spell. Inside was a charcoal leather duster, embossed with silver runes that further enhanced the power of all of my offensive spells. Furthermore, it greatly enhanced the power of my fire-based spellwork, not just Incendio, but also my non-Potterverse flame spells. For Incendio, it was now white-hot and could even catch my opponents aflame if they did not take pains to douse themselves. Once more, this too could be further enchanted with non-Potterverse enchantments.
Continuing on, I hit four more Merlin Trials around the South Hogwarts Area, using Apparition to make my way around. The first required Accio to pull three, rune-lined, stone spheres onto three rune-scribed, altars. When the blue light hit me, I found my summoning charm enhanced to the point where I could summon heavier objects from further away than before. Next was a rune-scribed boulder atop a cliff that had to be knocked into a rune-lined crater with the banishing charm. Once it filled the crater, the blue light shot at me and upgraded my banishing charm to be capable of banishing heavier targets further away. The one after that required a blasting curse to destroy five, rune-scribed, boulders. The blue light from this upgraded my blasting curse to fire more powerful explosions. The last one required me to use Lumos to attract butterflies to me and then set them on rune-scribed stones. The blue light from this last trial upgraded my Lumos to be able to dial the intensity of the light produced up and down from blinding to night light level.
After that, I hit three more treasure vaults. The first was accessed by using a blasting curse to destroy a rock wall in a burst of golden light and flames. Inside was a chest that contained a Goblin-Silver Helmet that enhanced the power of my defensive spellwork. It also was inscribed with powerful protective runes against Necromantic spells and energy and would be capable of being further enchanted with Non-Potterverse Magic. The next required me to use Wingardium Leviosa to levitate a runic stone cube onto a runic stone altar, then blast it with a Confringo. Once I did that, the nearby stone wall vanished in a burst of golden light, revealing a treasure chest that contained a charcoal scarf with burnt umber runes on it that greatly enhanced the power of all offensive spellwork along with increasing the damage of all my offensive spells, including non-Potterverse spells. It would also be able to be further enchanted with Non-Potterverse magic.
It was the last of the treasure vaults in the South Hogwarts area that was the first bit of real trouble I'd had today. My Alohomora got me into the locked gate that was sealed shut with Colloportus Maxima in a burst of golden light, but once inside, I swiftly discovered the reason why the gate was shut with a spell. A groaning corpse bedecked in ancient, rusty, armor lay slumped against the treasure chest, gray, parchment-thin skin stretched over emaciated bone. An Inferius sat vigil over the treasure of the vault.
As soon as I entered the chamber, however, the corpse sprang to life and leaped at me blindingly quick. If I wasn't superhumanly fast its claw-like fingers would have latched onto me. As it was, I managed to sidestep its mad charge, lashing out with my fist to smash it backward as it landed in the spot I had just vacated. The Inferius was blasted away by my punch only for two others in similarly ragged, rusty, armor to emerge from deeper within the chamber, forcing me to turn my attention onto them. I kicked one back, diverting the other's claws with a telekinetic shield using the Force before lashing out at the initial one.
Wandlessly and wordlessly casting Incendio, the initial Inferius caught aflame with the white-hot fire, burning with the concentrated heat of my upgraded spell. I leaped away from the second charging inferius superpowered strength carrying me across the chamber as I conjured a water whip that tripped that inferius up and froze it to the ground as the whip turned to ice. A second wandless, wordless, Incendio flashed into the stuck Inferius, burning it and melting the ice. A casting of Bombarda Duo lashed out and exploded both burning Inferi while they were vulnerable from the flames only for the last Inferius to smash into me from the side, knocking me back with undead strength.
Had I not been supercharged to be superhumanly tough from all my gear, the Force, and my Chi Enhancement, that would have been it. Any normal human, even a Potterverse Wizard, which tended to be hardier than normal humans, would have had their skull smashed in at the temple by the blow. Not me, though. Instead, I summoned up the telekinetic might of the Force and pinned the Inferius to the chamber wall before hitting it with another of my wandless, wordless Incednio Spells. As it burned, I took hold of it with the force, and crushed it with the power of Force Crush, rendering it completely destroyed.
Once that was done, I dropped the crushed remains of the Inferius and moved to the chest. Inside were a pair of glasses with tinted, smoky, black, lenses that greatly enhanced the power of my defensive spellwork. Furthermore, it greatly enhanced the power of my illusions. This not only included things like disillusionment but also my various glamour and other non-Potterverse magic. Speaking of disillusionment, it reduced the shimmer of disillusionment to be barely noticeable by anyone who didn't have heightened senses, eliminated any shadow cast by my disillusioned form, and even muffled sound while under disillusionment.
With that done, I moved to try grabbing one last area of Merlin trials and treasure vaults before heading back to Hogsmeade. It would also give me a chance to scout the South Seas Bog for my Tower. Here, I was forced to destroy nine, rune-scribed orbs on nine, rune-scribed plinths with Bombarda Trio, taking them three at a time. Doing so, had another burst of soft blue light that slammed into me and upgraded my Bombarda Trio into a version that caused a trio of massive explosions akin to those caused by Bombarda Maxima. The next one required me to freeze a section of deep, watery, bog with Glacius in order to reach an islet so I could place a rune-scribed orb on a rune-scribed plinth. The blue light that infused me from this trial didn't so much as enhance my Glacius as it gave me a secondary version that acted similarly to the cursed ice found in the Vault of Ice from Hogwarts Mystery, not only freezing the initial target but also freezing anyone that touched the frozen target solid.
The last treasure vault required me to destroy a rock wall with Confringo in a blast of fire and golden light to enter a cave. Once inside, I found a treasure chest that was opened with my wandless, wordless, Alohomora. Inside that was a single wand. It was a combination of blackthorn and ebony with a Thestral hair core, inscribed with runes carved into its length. At twelve inches and rather rigid, the thing was more a blasting rod than a wand. I took it and gave it a wave. The sparks it produced practically scorched the cave wall black from the power.
With that done, I exited the treasure vault and noticed the sun beginning to dip below the Horizon. Frowning, I took a deep breath and delved back into the core of my being in a meditative state, looking for the connection I shared with my tower. As I found it and traced it away, I realized that it was still a ways further to the Southeast. Opening my eyes, I consulted the map that Aberforth gave to Madam Rosemerta and that I'd purchased. This would put my tower due southeast of Clagmar Castle, on an island just off the Clagmar Coast. Mind you, the map had nothing there but a few rocky shoals. I suppose that's the magic of interdimensional travel for you though.
Regardless, I made my way back to Hogsmeade via Apparition, landing on the roof of the red wood and brown stone form of Zonko's joke shop instead of in front of the Three Broomsticks. With a sigh, I leaped down into the alleyway next to Zonko's, landing in a crouch. I really needed to get better at Apparition. I made my way across the street to the Three Broomsticks and resolved to go further south tomorrow. Before I turned in for the night, I ordered some of the Shepard's pie and a lemonade. Both were made in-house and both were very good. Then I turned in for the night. Tomorrow I would travel through the other parts of the local area on the way to my Tower. I had no way of knowing this, but I'd run into a snag tomorrow that would force me to cut my exploration short and head for my tower as fast as I could.
Bellatrix Lestrange would be hunting me. . .
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AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.
All right, here we have the first part of the search for Jan's Tower. I've taken the idea of Treasure Vaults and Merlin Trials from Hogwarts Legacy, along with the local areas around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. In-story, some of them have reactivated after close to a century of dormancy that they entered into after the events of Hogwarts Legacy.
Also, since Madam Rosemerta is apparently from Hogsmeade and Hogsmeade is apparently in the Highlands of Scotland, I've given her an accent in this fic. It didn't make sense for that to be the case in canon and for her not to have one. Let me know if the accent is too much and I'll tone down any accents going forward.
At any rate, the next chapter will be the second part of the search for Jan's Tower featuring a sudden appearance by Bellatrix Lestrange.
Stay tuned. . .