During the week, people noticed a difference in Christian's behavior. He was no longer as excited or passionate about magic as he had been, which worried some of his teachers. He said he was under a lot of stress, but only he knew it was because of the constant pain. His leg injury had healed, his mind had settled, but his shoulder had become his worst nightmare. He even reduced the time spent training at night because of it.
So, while constantly being in pain, he had no interest in most things and only wanted to sleep.
Friday, after potion class:
"Now, I know something is wrong," Hermione told him after class.
"What are you talking about?"
"You didn't say anything to Snape despite him acting like his old self."
"Yes, what's up with that?" added Ron. "Is it because he's only bullying Harry and not Neville? We're your friends too, so stand up to him for us."
Ever since Snape found the necklace Christian gave Harry as a Christmas present, he's been a little unhinged and has become harsher.
"I'm not in the mood to fight with him," grunted Christian; he was constantly in pain and cared little about Snape. "And you guys can also stand up to him."
"He's way too scary," said Ron.
"He only takes away points when I try to do it," added Harry. "And I can't argue with him as you can."
"He just ignores or calls me Miss Know-it-All," said Hermione.
"I'll see what I can do," said Christian, walking away. He needed a distraction, and one came knocking on his door. He walked toward the Charm Classroom, where Flitwick and McGonagall awaited him.
As soon as Christian entered the room, he asked, "Is it true? Is the spell done?"
"See for yourself," said Flitwick, pointing his wand before moving around and uttering, "Cognitum Oppressus." Christian immediately felt a heavy burden on his mind as gravity increased, but only to his mind.
"Excellent, but does this feel weak?" he asked.
"I can increase the intensity," Flitwick replied before demonstrating. However, only after the professor used his maximum effort did Christian feel its negative effect.
"You're really a freak."
"Don't say that," berated Professor McGonagall.
"My Occlumency is excellent; that's why," replied Christian. As he previously speculated, Occlumency was a shield of the mind, which also worked for this spell.
"Let's try the final product," suggested Professor McGonagall, and Christian agreed. They ensured the door was properly closed before bewitching the Duel Disk with the last enchantment.
"I'll try it first," said Flitwick, making McGonagall roll her eyes. "How about a duel?"
"It's my pleasure," said Christian before facing each other. "Link."
"Link," said Flitwick.
Before every duel, this word will be used to form a connection between the Dueling Disks.
"I summon Dark Magician, place two cards face down, and end my turn."
A hologram of the Dark Magician appeared before Christian, followed by two large face-down cards.
"Interesting," said Flitwick, feeling like his favorite character in the Mukasa comic — Jaden Redrook. He's half-human and half-goblin, just like him, who was not accepted by either human or monster society. Regardless, he confronted the bigotry and discrimination in Elysium against 'half-breed' and forced them to accept everyone. Jaden created an accepted magical community for people like him and is one of the best duelists in the comic.
"For my first card, I summon the Eye of Truth, which allows me to see all your cards."
A floating eyeball appeared before shining. Then, Christian's Dueling Disk — enchanted to have some level of intellect or consciousness — accepted this card's ability and displayed a hologram of all Christian's cards.
"Well played, professor, but you've activated my trap."
One of his face-down cards rose up to show what it was: the Exchange Card. Five card holograms appeared before Flitwick, and Christian chose one on the left. Then, his Dueling Disk activated the Summoning Charm to take his chosen card from Flitwick's hand.
"With my second trap card, I can sacrifice all my cards to summon a monster of my choice. Come, Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
As soon as the creature appeared, the surroundings seemed to have changed. Flitwick bore the brunt of the pressure.
"It's like I'm facing a real Duel Monster," he commented. "So mighty, noble, and ancient." He laughed before continuing the duel. Christian was the winner, but that was not important. After him, Flitwick and McGonagall had a duel.
Her favorite character is Maya Santos, the no-nonsense female duelist with a brief romantic history with Joey Winchester. She's the strategic mind of the Rebellion and Joey's right-hand woman. McGonagall's deck was created based on hers.
"So far, there seems to be no issue," commented Christian. The disk could do everything he wanted, including keeping track of points and making the Duel Monsters as realistic as possible.
"I suggest giving people a choice whether to activate the [Spirit Pressure]," said McGonagall. "I don't think everyone will be able to handle it."
"That's a fair point. You might also consider having difficulty levels, and the higher settings will face greater pressure."
"That's an excellent idea," nodded Christian. "Oh, and before this thing is released, my mother will send a contract for your share of the revenue."
"No, no, no, we don't want any money," said Professor McGonagall immediately.
"That's right. We only wanted to help you."
"And I appreciate that dearly," replied Christian. "But your contribution to this invention is apparent. Without your help, I would never have finished it."
"Listen to me. This is a matter of principle. If the comic sales are any indication, this will be very profitable," explained Christian. "And it will be even more when I start organizing professional tournaments. You worked a lot for this project and deserve a share."
"But we don't really have much need of money," said McGonagall.
"Then invest this money in the school. Maybe there are things you wanted to do but could not do due to a lack of funding from the governors or the Ministry of Magic. Now, you don't have to worry about it."
"Fine, if you insist," said Flitwick.
"Thank you," replied Christian, feeling relieved. He would not be unhappy if they refused the money. The three discussed further improvements for the disks before it was time to separate.
"Christian, I'm glad you're back to your old self," said McGonagall, and Christian could only smile wryly. He was distracted, which is why he felt no pain. But now that she reminded him, it was returning to him like a runaway train.
Christian walked out of the room, deep in thought. 'I need to act like my usual self.' He already had this plan as he detected an invisible being secretly following him after coming from the Room of Requirement, and he suspected it was the headmaster.
His destination was his room, and he encountered Nearly Headless Nick acting suspiciously. Christian realized all the ghosts had been acting odd since the start of the semester, but he never noticed them because of how rare their presence had been.
'It's probably because of the Inferno Emberwort,' he thought.
"Sir Nicholas, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, Christian. I finally found you."
"You're looking for me?"
"Come." Nick led him to a room with no one present before saying, "We are very close to acquiring the 'pepper' and would like to invite you to participate in the experiment."
"We? How many ghosts are we talking about?"
"Everyone in the UK, and even some people abroad."
Christian gave him a thumbs up; he did not expect things to blow out of proportion to such a scale.
"So, what do you say?"
"I am intrigued, but my concerns remain. This is a dangerous experiment, and you should invite powerful wizards and witches to supervise it."
"We cannot trust anyone not to stop the experiment."
"You can invite Dumbledore."
"He's open-minded, so he won't stop you, and in an emergency, he's the perfect person to consult."
"Hmm, you have a point. I will relay your message, but the decision is not mine."
"If he says yes, tell me, and I will gladly participate."
Christian returned to his room and called his mother on the non-emergency mirror.
[AN: I haven't played Duel Monsters or watched Yu-Gi-Oh in a while, so forgive me for any mistakes I made regarding the game's rules.]