"Speaking"

Written Word

Foreign Language

~Parseltongue~

Chapter 1

Damon looked at himself in the mirror. He was now eleven years old. His pitch black hair was combed elegantly and his avada green eyes seemed to glow in their sockets. He had a pale, angular face with pronounced cheekbones and a pointed chin. His height was slightly above average. Though he had the lean, regal body of an aristocrat, if you looked closely you could see the rippling muscles underneath. He had three hours worth of combat lessons with hand, staff and dagger every day along with two hours of duelling. These had given him a body that was slightly out of place on an eleven year-old; strong firm arms with noticeable biceps, a flat hard stomach, thin but strong shoulders and strong, long legs. His father had said that he needed to build up his body because the stronger the body you have, the more power you can hold.

He had learned to control his magic; his father had taught him to do this himself. Voldemort, now Cadmus, was a great wizard and Damon's goal in life was to become just as powerful or more so. He could already do lots of things a wizard in his thirties would have difficulties with. His father had conducted a ritual in order to strengthen him in mind, body and magic. It was a very old and complicated ritual, and it had to be performed on an infant. It was hard at first for Damon to control all these powers since he was such a small child, but his training had helped him hone his skills.

Damon had also become exceedingly smart; some would even go so far as to call him a genius or a prodigy. Ever since he could read, he would spend hours every day reading books and trying to learn as much as he could. Damon had also been tutored by Cadmus and several of his inner circle.

As well as learning magic and the theory behind it, Damon had also learned several languages; something which his father told him would come in handy as he got older. He was fluent in French, Italian, Bulgarian, Egyptian, Celtic, Gobbledegook and Latin. He had never considered Parseltongue as a language since he had been able to speak it for as long as he could remember.

As Damon stared at himself in the mirror a small black snake with shimmering green scales poked its head out of his sleeve. The basilisk slithered out and moved up one of his arms until it was lounging around his shoulders. The snake was two feet long and had glowing silver eyes.

"~It's your birthday today Master~" His familiar hissed.

"~I am aware Erebus~" Damon intoned while doing up his robes.

Suddenly, his father's personal house elf appeared with a pop and bowed low. "Master Cadmus requests your presence in his study immediately."

"Of course Nalri," he acknowledged, "and tell Kili to bring Erebus and Nyx some rabbits while I'm gone."

Nyx was the dark phoenix that came to him on his eighth birthday. Dark phoenixes are very rare and powerful dark creatures. In addition to the abilities of regular phoenixes, dark phoenixes had the ability to control both shadows and dark fire. These abilities had been transferred to Damon upon his and Nyx's bonding. He named her Nyx because it was the name of the Greek goddess of night; he thought it fit.

He quickly got ready and exited his room into the hall. Immediately, he was hit by the Cruciatus curse. Damon easily shrugged it off. This happened every time he went in and out of his room. It had started when he was seven as a very weak version and had gradually gotten stronger. The continual exposure had rendered him immune.

Damon strode into his father's study after knocking. It was a large open room with dark wood flooring and an intricate ebony desk. There was a bookshelf and a roaring fireplace that was ten feet high along one wall and a pair of tall double doors along another. The room was decorated with several paintings of various landscapes on the walls and an antique chandelier hung from the ceiling. Basking by the fireplace was a large, green snake, roughly twelve feet long and as thick as a man's thigh. The Malnoaspis Viper, Nagini, was his father's familiar.

Cadmus was sitting in a grand leather chair on the other side of the desk. He had a pale, pointed face with perfectly carved features and cold, crimson eyes. His shoulder-length, jet black hair was pulled elegantly into a low ponytail and secured with a silver snake clasp.

"I trust you slept well?" Cadmus asked his son as he motioned for Damon to sit across from him.

"Yes," Damon said while pulling out the chair and taking his seat. "I knew I would have a tiring day today."

"You are quite right," his father replied as he handed Damon a letter. Damon froze once he saw a letter addressed to him written in green ink. He quickly broke the waxed seal which was the crest of Hogwarts and pulled out the letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock of the Wizengament, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Teneroe,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

"I'm allowed to go?" Damon questioned as he looked up at his father.

"I received this last week and have decided that you may go, at least for the year. I have a mission for you while you are there. However, that is a discussion for a later date." Cadmus then removed a dark green box from his desk and handed it to Damon, "This is for your birthday."

Damon opened the box and removed a beautiful silver runic pocket watch carved with his name and an Ouroboros, the symbol of House Teneroe, that moved as if it was alive. Attached was a delicate silver chain with a snake's head as the clasp.

"If you say ~time turner~ before you open it, it will become a time turner. Also, if you say ~mirror into the inside of the cover, it will become a two-way mirror. All you have to do to contact me is say, "father". Finally, it's an emergency portkey keyed to here that you can activate silently. No one can remove it but you and I," his father explained as he admired his gift. "All you have to do is add three drops of blood and it will be tied to you."

"If you wish to contact anyone else who has a two-way mirror, you simply need to add a drop of blood to their mirror and they to yours. Then you can contact them as you do me; by saying their name. If someone is trying to reach your mirror it will heat up," he continued.

Damon quickly flicked his wrist and removed one of his daggers from its holster. It was a pure goblin silver dagger decorated with runes down the blade. A snake rapped around it forming the grip. The snake held a hollow emerald in its mouth which could hold any type of poison in it. The poison could be dispensed into the dagger at will. The knife was part of a set that used to belong to Salazar Slytherin; his father had gifted them to him on his eighth birthday before he started knife training.

He slit his fingertip and let three drops of blood fall onto the pocket watch. The runes glowed red for a moment before returning to their normal silver.

With another flick of his wrist, Damon returned the dagger to its holster. He pushed his magic through his arm and into his fingertip, instantly healing it. He then fastened the watch chain to the inside of the breast pocket on his waistcoat and placed the pocket watch inside.

"Now, as you are aware, I will be holding a ball to celebrate your birthday and acceptance as heir to House Teneroe tonight," his father's voice broke him out of his stupor. "The guests will begin to arrive at 5:00, dinner will be served at 6:00 and the heirship ritual will be performed at 7:00. All of our associates will be there, as well as a few extras. I have, however, invited the minister; you would do well to make a good impression on him."

"Today is your birthday so you may have the day off. However, stay out of the grand entrance and the ballroom; the house elves are setting up." Sensing his dismissal, Damon exited his fathers office and continued to the dining room to break his fast.