"WHAT WAS THAT?" Bobby and Ragnar were alarmed.
The entire region of the dark side, at least a major part of it looked lightened up as if it was under the sunlight. It lasted for a few seconds and then abruptly returned to darkness.
Just then Magnus returned, the two rushed to help up back in, close the hatch and pressurise the unit. Soon, Magnus opened the helmet and burst into mad laughter, "Hahaha... who would have thought... who... this changes everything."
"What happened?" Ragnar shook his body.
Magnus stopped, "You know, we were wondering if Magic can work in space? It doesn't just work in space,"
"What?" Bobby exclaimed, it was bad news then.
But Magnus had more to say, "IT WORKS EVEN BETTER HERE! I used a simple Lumos and that lightened up the entire dark side of the moon, I used a reparo to fix the landing leg and it fixed the entire rocket, even the missing paint magically appeared.
"Do you know what this means? The true origin of magic is actually in space, it's some sort of an invisible particle that gets thinned out when it reaches Earth due to the atmosphere. This is the reason in some locations there is a higher intensity of magic. THIS IS BIG!"
Ragnar and Bobby had similarly shocked faces as soon as they heard this, both looked at Magnus, who was probably already the strongest wizard to have ever existed, "T-then... how strong does that make you?" Bobby asked.
Magnus had no idea, he just looked at his hands, "I have no fricking idea, and honestly, I'm scared, I am like a god when up here,"
"But what is this invisible particle you are talking about? How do we find it? If what you said is right, then this magic should be available across the entire universe, does that not mean that its origin is the Big Bang?" Ragnar asked him, referencing his limited knowledge.
"I have no idea what particle this is," Magnus shrugged.
"I KNOW!" Bobby exclaimed, his face looking as if a bulb lit up, "Fritz Zwicky, in the 1930s. I studied it when I was in the US. If my theory is right, the invisible particle is one of the building blocks of the universe that exists everywhere, yet we can't see it. It has already been detected and theorised, it's said that a higher concentration of it exists near the centre of the Galaxy,"
"What are you talking about? What particle?" Magnus asked him excitedly.
Bobby didn't make any suspense, "Dark Matter, it can not be detected by anything other than its effect on gravity. It also makes sense that it's less on Earth's surface due to the atmosphere. Magnus, this is truly big."
Magnus clapped, "Then, Rag, remember the 1st year's first Slug Club? The question was about the origin of magic. I proposed a theory that magic is in the air and only a small population got mutated to sense and use that magic. I think it was true, the small human population got mutated to sense and utilise this Dark Matter, how it happened, I have no idea. My guess is, it was said that magic came after something fell from the sky in Africa. What if it was some sort of cluster of Dark Matter and it mutated whoever was living close by. Then humanity migrated everywhere, spreading magic?"
"The theory makes serious sense, Mag." Ragnar also fell into deep thinking.
"Let's land first, everyone. Mag, try your theories on the ground as well. And if what you said is true, then I think the portkey will also work." Bobby got back to work.
The three quickly took their positions. Bobby, having the most experience and time training, was the one to ensure the landing happens properly. Although there was a computer system that was going to help tremendously, still, computer power was not so far ahead that it could replace a human.
Magnus took a position at the distance scale machine and guided Bobby. "50 metres"
"40 metres"
"20 metres"
"10 metres, slow down,"
"Thrusters," Ragnar pressed the button. This was the most crucial phase as the rocket needed to be steady. Bobby did it masterfully.
"CUT!" Ragnar stopped the engines, all sounds started to subside slowly.
They looked at each other's faces, big smiles plastered on them. Magnus hugged them, "Welcome to the moon, brothers,"
"Okay, let's toss to decide who steps out first," Magnus took out a coin. However, the other two didn't accept. Bobby patted his shoulder, "You go first, it'd make a bigger headline if the first British man on the moon was also the King. Rag and I will toss a coin."
"Thanks," he gratefully said and started to dress up. They had a lot to do and had come to the Moon to stay for at least 5 days. During this time they will conduct a lot of research and also build the first moon base, an enclosed cabin space for the living of 4 people, all including a bathroom and also a water tank. They were yet to see if they could make water from minerals on the soil, but magic could help until then.
*WOOSH*
The hatch was opened, they pressed the button to take out the mechanised lift. The height of the rocket was too high for them to descend from the ladder. (See the image of the rocket)
All three got out and descended down on it, but didn't step out. Ragnar instead lifted the camera and pointed it at Magnus back. "It's connected, live,"
As soon as the green signal came, Magnus stepped out taking a short jump, walking on the moon was hard. His boots left a few marks on the fine grey sand. Then, he took out two different flags, first, he placed the flag of the United Kingdom, then the flag of Earth, both side by side, but the national flag was a step behind the Earth Flag.
Then he saluted at the camera with the words, "The view is magnificent, the place is deadly, but mankind will keep moving forward steadily."
Then Bobby stepped on the moon surface, followed by Ragnar, both fell down however and it was funny. Magnus teased, "You two look like two toddlers,"
"Shut up, we know you secretly trained for this in the Ministry," Ragnar barked as they were not connected to Earth at the moment.
They walked a few hundred metres to their destination, it was the giant crater called Peary Crater on the north pole. This was going to be their main target, they were to enter it, test the ground, find if there is ice and if everything is fine, it will be the main location of starting the colony.
Soon enough, they stood at the edge of the 79 kilometres wide and 1.5-kilometre deep crater. It was an overwhelming experience, to look inside the pitch darkness, not knowing what was in there.
Ragnar shivered, "This feels damn scary, I feel like a monster will come out at any time and bite me."
"Huh, say thanks, we're not beside the Aitken Basin of the south pole. That one is 2,500 kilometres in diameter and 6-8 kilometres deep." Magnus added.
"I know. It's scarier for me actually, at least you two can save yourself with magic if you fall in there," Bobby said.
"Don't worry, Bobby. I gave you the portkey to get safely to me. Besides, now that we know about the gravity here and have experienced it, can't you make something like a jetpack?" Magnus asked him.
This got Bobby thinking, "Actually, I think we can make it. We can absolutely make it,"
"You know what, I can't wait, let me look down there, Lumos momenta!" he sent a flare of magical light into the crater. If it could lighten up the dark side with a normal spell, then the weakest should be enough for here.
Soon, they had the entire view for themselves. As far as they could see, there were small dots on the surface of the crater, there were also some spikes here and there. There were craters inside the crater. But they were very small.
"LOOK! That shiny sand, I think that's ice," Bobby pointed.
"Let's go and check it out then, hold me," Magnus apparated straight to the site where they saw the shining sand.
Once they arrived, they didn't find straight-up chunks of ice, but instead ice crystals that seemed like fine snow, they were not so much that they'd feel like snow. Bobby quickly took out a few tools and dug the soil. *TING* The Shovel hit something.
Bobby quickly stood up, "Quick, let's head back, staying here is very dangerous, this area is one of the places sunlight never reaches, hence it stays very cold. I think I hit a block of ice, we don't know what's under it, it could be more ice, the ground or... a deeper darker part of the crater. I will have to use x-ray and geo-sensing drones to check the bottom. Once I map everything, we will know how deep it goes."
Magnus nodded, Ragnar had also done his work by taking a few soil samples. Then they apparated back to the edge of the crater.
"We should have gone to the South Pole, there is supposed to be more water there," Magnus suggested.
"No, we can't go there yet. The south pole is a much harsher region with craters much deeper, that place is absolutely uninhabitable and unreachable. Let's first set base here and expand, once we have more experience, we will move to the south," Bobby quickly corrected him. He had researched on the level of a muggle. Of course, for Magnus and wizards, living on any part of the moon would not be hard, but for muggles, space-exploring was much more dangerous.
Magnus sighed, "Fine, baby steps. You two, let's head back to the rocket and unload the items. At the same time, I will do what we came here for. The moment of truth is here,"
They gulped and looked at Earth in the distance at the same time. "Be careful," Ragnar worriedly muttered.
Magnus nodded, "If everything goes right, I will be back in a minute. I will try to apparate home first, then return with the portkey."
The last thing he did was a simple salute to them and placed the return Portkey on the ground. *POP*
He vanished from his place. Ragnar and Bobby stayed still, they would be biting their nails if they could right now. They waited... and waited. A minute felt like a day to them.
*POP*
"AAAARGH... I'M BACK! FUCK, I DID IT! But, do not try apparition, I felt like a constipated poop coming out of a contracted rectum." he was back, on one piece, thankfully.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Bobby and Ragnar were alarmed.
The entire region of the dark side, at least a major part of it looked lightened up as if it was under the sunlight. It lasted for a few seconds and then abruptly returned to darkness.
Just then Magnus returned, the two rushed to help up back in, close the hatch and pressurise the unit. Soon, Magnus opened the helmet and burst into mad laughter, "Hahaha... who would have thought... who... this changes everything."
"What happened?" Ragnar shook his body.
Magnus stopped, "You know, we were wondering if Magic can work in space? It doesn't just work in space,"
"What?" Bobby exclaimed, it was bad news then.
But Magnus had more to say, "IT WORKS EVEN BETTER HERE! I used a simple Lumos and that lightened up the entire dark side of the moon, I used a reparo to fix the landing leg and it fixed the entire rocket, even the missing paint magically appeared.
"Do you know what this means? The true origin of magic is actually in space, it's some sort of an invisible particle that gets thinned out when it reaches Earth due to the atmosphere. This is the reason in some locations there is a higher intensity of magic. THIS IS BIG!"
Ragnar and Bobby had similarly shocked faces as soon as they heard this, both looked at Magnus, who was probably already the strongest wizard to have ever existed, "T-then... how strong does that make you?" Bobby asked.
Magnus had no idea, he just looked at his hands, "I have no fricking idea, and honestly, I'm scared, I am like a god when up here,"
"But what is this invisible particle you are talking about? How do we find it? If what you said is right, then this magic should be available across the entire universe, does that not mean that its origin is the Big Bang?" Ragnar asked him, referencing his limited knowledge.
"I have no idea what particle this is," Magnus shrugged.
"I KNOW!" Bobby exclaimed, his face looking as if a bulb lit up, "Fritz Zwicky, in the 1930s. I studied it when I was in the US. If my theory is right, the invisible particle is one of the building blocks of the universe that exists everywhere, yet we can't see it. It has already been detected and theorised, it's said that a higher concentration of it exists near the centre of the Galaxy,"
"What are you talking about? What particle?" Magnus asked him excitedly.
Bobby didn't make any suspense, "Dark Matter, it can not be detected by anything other than its effect on gravity. It also makes sense that it's less on Earth's surface due to the atmosphere. Magnus, this is truly big."
Magnus clapped, "Then, Rag, remember the 1st year's first Slug Club? The question was about the origin of magic. I proposed a theory that magic is in the air and only a small population got mutated to sense and use that magic. I think it was true, the small human population got mutated to sense and utilise this Dark Matter, how it happened, I have no idea. My guess is, it was said that magic came after something fell from the sky in Africa. What if it was some sort of cluster of Dark Matter and it mutated whoever was living close by. Then humanity migrated everywhere, spreading magic?"
"The theory makes serious sense, Mag." Ragnar also fell into deep thinking.
"Let's land first, everyone. Mag, try your theories on the ground as well. And if what you said is true, then I think the portkey will also work." Bobby got back to work.
The three quickly took their positions. Bobby, having the most experience and time training, was the one to ensure the landing happens properly. Although there was a computer system that was going to help tremendously, still, computer power was not so far ahead that it could replace a human.
Magnus took a position at the distance scale machine and guided Bobby. "50 metres"
"40 metres"
"20 metres"
"10 metres, slow down,"
"Thrusters," Ragnar pressed the button. This was the most crucial phase as the rocket needed to be steady. Bobby did it masterfully.
"CUT!" Ragnar stopped the engines, all sounds started to subside slowly.
They looked at each other's faces, big smiles plastered on them. Magnus hugged them, "Welcome to the moon, brothers,"
"Okay, let's toss to decide who steps out first," Magnus took out a coin. However, the other two didn't accept. Bobby patted his shoulder, "You go first, it'd make a bigger headline if the first British man on the moon was also the King. Rag and I will toss a coin."
"Thanks," he gratefully said and started to dress up. They had a lot to do and had come to the Moon to stay for at least 5 days. During this time they will conduct a lot of research and also build the first moon base, an enclosed cabin space for the living of 4 people, all including a bathroom and also a water tank. They were yet to see if they could make water from minerals on the soil, but magic could help until then.
*WOOSH*
The hatch was opened, they pressed the button to take out the mechanised lift. The height of the rocket was too high for them to descend from the ladder. (See the image of the rocket)
All three got out and descended down on it, but didn't step out. Ragnar instead lifted the camera and pointed it at Magnus back. "It's connected, live,"
As soon as the green signal came, Magnus stepped out taking a short jump, walking on the moon was hard. His boots left a few marks on the fine grey sand. Then, he took out two different flags, first, he placed the flag of the United Kingdom, then the flag of Earth, both side by side, but the national flag was a step behind the Earth Flag.
Then he saluted at the camera with the words, "The view is magnificent, the place is deadly, but mankind will keep moving forward steadily."
Then Bobby stepped on the moon surface, followed by Ragnar, both fell down however and it was funny. Magnus teased, "You two look like two toddlers,"
"Shut up, we know you secretly trained for this in the Ministry," Ragnar barked as they were not connected to Earth at the moment.
They walked a few hundred metres to their destination, it was the giant crater called Peary Crater on the north pole. This was going to be their main target, they were to enter it, test the ground, find if there is ice and if everything is fine, it will be the main location of starting the colony.
Soon enough, they stood at the edge of the 79 kilometres wide and 1.5-kilometre deep crater. It was an overwhelming experience, to look inside the pitch darkness, not knowing what was in there.
Ragnar shivered, "This feels damn scary, I feel like a monster will come out at any time and bite me."
"Huh, say thanks, we're not beside the Aitken Basin of the south pole. That one is 2,500 kilometres in diameter and 6-8 kilometres deep." Magnus added.
"I know. It's scarier for me actually, at least you two can save yourself with magic if you fall in there," Bobby said.
"Don't worry, Bobby. I gave you the portkey to get safely to me. Besides, now that we know about the gravity here and have experienced it, can't you make something like a jetpack?" Magnus asked him.
This got Bobby thinking, "Actually, I think we can make it. We can absolutely make it,"
"You know what, I can't wait, let me look down there, Lumos momenta!" he sent a flare of magical light into the crater. If it could lighten up the dark side with a normal spell, then the weakest should be enough for here.
Soon, they had the entire view for themselves. As far as they could see, there were small dots on the surface of the crater, there were also some spikes here and there. There were craters inside the crater. But they were very small.
"LOOK! That shiny sand, I think that's ice," Bobby pointed.
"Let's go and check it out then, hold me," Magnus apparated straight to the site where they saw the shining sand.
Once they arrived, they didn't find straight-up chunks of ice, but instead ice crystals that seemed like fine snow, they were not so much that they'd feel like snow. Bobby quickly took out a few tools and dug the soil. *TING* The Shovel hit something.
Bobby quickly stood up, "Quick, let's head back, staying here is very dangerous, this area is one of the places sunlight never reaches, hence it stays very cold. I think I hit a block of ice, we don't know what's under it, it could be more ice, the ground or... a deeper darker part of the crater. I will have to use x-ray and geo-sensing drones to check the bottom. Once I map everything, we will know how deep it goes."
Magnus nodded, Ragnar had also done his work by taking a few soil samples. Then they apparated back to the edge of the crater.
"We should have gone to the South Pole, there is supposed to be more water there," Magnus suggested.
"No, we can't go there yet. The south pole is a much harsher region with craters much deeper, that place is absolutely uninhabitable and unreachable. Let's first set base here and expand, once we have more experience, we will move to the south," Bobby quickly corrected him. He had researched on the level of a muggle. Of course, for Magnus and wizards, living on any part of the moon would not be hard, but for muggles, space-exploring was much more dangerous.
Magnus sighed, "Fine, baby steps. You two, let's head back to the rocket and unload the items. At the same time, I will do what we came here for. The moment of truth is here,"
They gulped and looked at Earth in the distance at the same time. "Be careful," Ragnar worriedly muttered.
Magnus nodded, "If everything goes right, I will be back in a minute. I will try to apparate home first, then return with the portkey."
The last thing he did was a simple salute to them and placed the return Portkey on the ground. *POP*
He vanished from his place. Ragnar and Bobby stayed still, they would be biting their nails if they could right now. They waited... and waited. A minute felt like a day to them.
*POP*
"AAAARGH... I'M BACK! FUCK, I DID IT! But, do not try apparition, I felt like a constipated poop coming out of a contracted rectum." he was back, on one piece, thankfully.
