Chapter 4 – You are a half-devil, aren't you?
Vergil didn't remember much of his mother. A few things here and there, a smile, her appearance though the image did get blurry with years. One thing did stick with him, a phrase she had when things got bad, which often happened while he still lived with her. 'Devil took off with fun.'
He didn't know why the words so suddenly popped into his head but it was fitting considering he was in Snape's office and fully aware that his sclera turned red.
Devil took off with fun. 'Looks like dad took off with fun and as usual left a whole lot of trouble.'
~X~
It all started about two months before the exams on one DADA class Slytherins fifth years had with Ravenclaws. Professor Quirrell made the classes absolutely ridiculous, it was Gemma's fifth year and she felt like she was in her third. The man sort of showed them a few simple spells but every time he would have to talk about something remotely threatening, he'd turn into even more of a nervous wreck.
"T-T-Today we w-will talk ab-out d-d-d-" for some reasons he had even more trouble this time around.
"Dragons?" Oliver Wood couldn't hide his excitement at the idea, and neither could most of the students. Dragons were interesting to study, to say the least. Though Gemma would prefer to never encounter one herself.
"D-De-demons and d-d-d-d-d-devils," just from saying that Quirrell looked like he was about to faint. "Now! What can you t-tell me about the d-d, the latter?" he sounded positively jumpy, as if expecting one to jump out of nowhere and attack him.
As usual it was Weasley that raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Weasley," Quirrell nodded to his student.
"Devils are a race of humanoid demons most known for their yellow eyes and black slit shaped pupils. They can't use magic, but are somehow able to control things like fire or earth, the nature of this ability is yet to be uncovered. Devils are generally bloodthirsty, aggressive creatures praying on those to weak to resist, especially muggles."
It was nearly word for word summary of chapter on devils. Gemma felt sick as she thought back to descriptions of brutalized victims. She did read up on them, finding the idea of human-like intelligence interesting, at that time she wanted to learn more, figure out why the creatures were so feared. She found out and whole-heartedly agreed when she found out about numerous expeditions to the Demon World that ended with remarkably long list of those killed in action; most of the bodies were never recovered. The most recent one happened seventeen years ago led by promising new Auror, 24 years old Eirene Verloren, yet as promising as she was not a single person returned.
"I would l-like you all t-to write an e-essay with your th-thoughts on one of these c-creatures. By the next w-week, please," the timid professor mumbled and stuttered, all the while Gemma resigned to her fate, she would need to get this done.
~X~
When Vergil came back from library he saw Gemma, deep in her thoughts sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a book in her lap. She seemed to be struggling with whatever she was reading. Without much thinking he went over to her and glanced at the pages she was reading. "Devils?" he spoke up before his brain could properly register what he saw.
Gemma looked up from the book, a small tired smile appeared and she patted the spot next to her. "Back from study session with your Gryffindor?" she asked nonchalantly.
Vergil rolled his eye at the use of 'your', Hermione was his friend, and she was a Gryffindor, but she was definitely not his Gryffindor. "What's the assignment about?"
"Blasted devils, there's nothing to talk about that others, or at the very least most, won't mention," Gemma grumbled, narrowing her eyes and glaring at the book.
It was the stupidest idea he could come up with. It was a mistake, but he wanted to help her. "I had contact with a devil, maybe I can help you," he offered after a few moments. The shocked look on Gemma's face that quickly shifted into horror made him realize just how bad the idea was. "It was fine, not nearly as bad as you think. They aren't all as bad as you think."
Gemma remained silent and he felt like she was studying his every move, trying to find whatever she was looking for. "Alright, what can you tell me?"
Vergil mentally deflated, she wasn't asking for more details. "Did you know devils have their own mythology in a way?"
That made her blink a few times and she pretty much dropped the book. "Like muggles have or something?"
Vergil shook his head thinking back to all the times he spent hearing about the mythical creatures devils cherished. "No, not exactly. Mythology maybe isn't really the right word either, I guess. Devils believe there were once seven souls, Perun, Morana, Zhiva, Horz, Mokosha, Volos and Stribog they were children of Svarog and each held one of the seven basic elements: lightning, darkness, light, fire, air, earth and water. They travelled the world, teaching devils and gaining supporters, less skilled but still capable warriors. Jarovid, Fulgora, Varpulis to name a few. Devils had cities built in their honor and every year they would hold tournaments to celebrate the powers seven souls gave them," he liked the stories, especially the ones about lightning soul, Perun. Looking at it now he felt it was the biggest joke he was a part of, to have that name hovering above him. He didn't wish for such burden, not that he had a choice in the matter.
Gemma quickly wrote it down, the idea of some belief being present in devil kind began shifting her perspective, it was no longer a bunch of monsters. Sure, they were still monsters, but they were starting to sound like some sort of society. "Is there more to that story?"
Vergil chuckled. "It's a bit funny, really. While the idea of seven souls existed long before devils and humans interacted, they were just nameless beings. You see all seven names were taken from Slavic gods, apparently a group of devils visited this world many centuries ago, stumbled upon the stories of Slavic gods and liked it. When they came back they sort of sold the people some story of ancient texts they found depicting the tales of the seven souls."
Gemma looked baffled and then began laughing. It was ridiculous and Vergil knew it, in fact it was so ridiculous he didn't believe it at first. The way a handful of devils could convince everyone of this was pretty unbelievable but Grom told him about it and Grom had access to all the information about it.
"So, devils weren't always out to get humans is what you're trying to say, right?" Gemma asked for clarification.
Vergil nodded. "I'm alive, so that's the proof," and his father wasn't exactly the friendliest towards humans in general.
Gemma grinned and ruffled his hair, again, it used to annoy him, now he just grew desensitized to the idea. "It's kind of cheating, but what else can you tell me?"
About an hour later Gemma looked considerably happier, her essay was completed with plethora of information varying from devil society to bits and pieces about the powers devils could use so she was pleased with her work. Or at least as pleased as her pride would let her, since she got help from first year student. "Anyway, are you making any friends aside from your Gryffindor?"
Vergil scowled and leaned back against the sofa. "She's not 'mine'," he did say that, but he didn't meet Gemma's eyes.
Gemma raised her hands. "Come on, I'm just yanking your wand, after all you still think girls have cooties," she reached out for her book, it was about time she packed her things.
"What are cooties?"
The older Slytherin blinked a few times at that. "Wait what?"
Vergil tilted his head to the side. "What are cooties?"
"You don't know?"
"Obviously."
"You really don't know?"
And he was officially getting irritated. "Why else would I ask?"
"Every kid knows that," she was trying to suppress a laugh.
"Guess I'll ask someone else," Vergil decided and stood up only to be yanked back down. "What's your problem?!" he whined at the abrupt use of force.
A few students glanced at them and Gemma chuckled uncomfortably. "Just making sure he does his homework," she rubbed the back of her head while secretly keeping Vergil's mouth shut with her other palm.
"My homework? Really?" Vergil scoffed once she allowed him to speak again. "So what are those cooties anyway?"
She rubbed her chin, likely thinking about how to answer him. "Hmm, let's see. Kids your age usually think opposite sex has cooties, a disease so to speak, and that keeps them from hanging out with the opposite sex. Something like that anyway," she quickly put a finger against Vergil's mouth. "It's not real, trust me."
Annoyed Vergil swatted her finger away. "That's stupid."
"So is your attitude towards the rest of your classmates."
Vergil raised an eyebrow at that. "How come?"
Gemma subtly nodded towards Malfoy and the a few others from his year. "You think they are wrong and don't want to give them a chance until they change. It's not that easy to reject everything your family believes in, especially for no reason."
"I did," Vergil boldly stated.
Gemma gave him a 'yeah-right' kind of look. "Did you really?"
"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here," he sounded so certain, so confident in the truth he believed in.
"If you say so," yet Gemma wasn't buying it. "So that gave you the right to decide what's wrong? The right to know who is right and who is wrong?"
"I decide on my own, no matter what those around me think," Vergil persisted in his claim.
"All the time?"
"Yes."
"You've never been influenced by anyone else?"
"I…" he was stuck there, it felt wrong to say he wasn't, he knew he was, his mother, Grom, even Snape, hell even Raum, his commander at the start of the war did affect his decisions. "I was."
"Think about it Vergil, try to see it from the other perspective as well. I'll see you later kid," kid, in the end that's what he was.
~X~
A week later everything started falling apart. As Vergil made his way outside the castle he saw Merlin, quickly moving through the portraits.
"Get to DADA Professor's classroom, he called Farley and I have a bad feeling it's about the essay. Get there and fix the mess you made," Merlin's words struck Vergil like lightning, for a moment he stood there frozen, trying to understand exactly what the old man was telling him, he didn't even care to wonder how Merlin knew about the essay. Quirrell was incompetent, he was… he was the one whose killing intent he felt at the start of the year. "GO!" Merlin roared at him, pulling him out of the stupor he was in and Vergil took off sprinting up the stairs.
It looked like the castle was trying to stop him, the stairs began moving just as he was about to reach the floor where Quirrell's classroom was. Narrowing his eye he leapt forward barely reaching the stairs and though he heard gasps from other students at the reckless move he didn't care. Just get there, just get there before whatever Merlin was worried about happened. He turned around the corner and made a beeline towards the door. Empty corridor was his saving grace as he likely would have done the same thing even if there were dozens of students around him. Electricity crackled around his right hand and he thrust it forward, sending a bolt of lightning directly at the doorknob. The lock was blasted into smithereens and the doors flung open.
"Gemma!" Vergil yelled and rushed into the classroom, there she was, sitting in the front row with Quirrell at his usual spot. Both of them looked at him in utter surprise, shock even. Vergil looked at Quirrell, everything looked normal, aside from the malicious look in his eyes, the look easily concealed by the rest of his nervous body language.
"M-Mr. Leonidas what a-are you do-doing here?" Quirrell asked and then pointed a shaky finger at the damaged doors. "A-And that is school pr-property you just d-damaged."
"How did you do that? First years don't learn spells like that," Gemma asked incredulously.
Vergil honestly wasn't sure what to think, he fully expected to fly straight into a fight with Quirrell but nothing was happening. "I, well- some idiot may have tricked me…" damn that old man, damn his own stupidity for falling for the trick.
Gemma looked different, nervous and her usual smile was missing. "If I ask you a question, will you answer it honestly?"
Vergil's eye widened at that. "Gemma? What are you-"
"Will you answer it honestly?" she was being more forceful than ever, her voice filled with as much authority as she could muster.
"Yes, I will. What's wrong?" he had a feeling it would be about what he told her, maybe something went wrong, maybe she thought he tricked her.
"You are a half-devil, aren't you?"
She knew, he didn't know how but she did. The only thing he could do was nod and as she stood up, said goodbye to Quirrell and just walked out, making sure she was nowhere near him, he just stood there, looking at the floor.
"Mr. Leonidas," there was no stutter this time around as Quirrell spoke up, far more confident then Vergil ever saw or heard him before. "For destruction of school property I'm taking twenty points from Slytherin and you will be notified of your further punishment. You may leave now."
Vergil looked at the turban wearing professor, it was a trap, everything was a trap and he walked right into it. "How did you know?"
"I said you may leave," Quirrell reminded him coldly.
Well, it's not like it mattered. It won't be long before everyone knew what he was. It didn't matter how Quirrell figured it out. Leaving the classroom he made his way to where Snape was. Everything looked blank, empty, void of life as the realization of what happened truly dawned upon him. He reached out and knocked on the doors, a few moments later he was inside with Snape. His right hand grabbed the bandages and he pulled them off, looking at the man with both of his eyes.
"Gemma knows what I am, Quirrell found out and told her."
Vergil watched as Snape abruptly looked at him once again confirming the gravity of the situation.
Wordlessly the man took his wand and began walking forward.
"What are you going to do?" Vergil asked, his voice nearly monotone.
"I'll erase her memories related to your identity before she can tell anyone else," the words tipped him over the edge.
Vergil didn't remember much of his mother. A few things here and there, a smile, her appearance though the image did get blurry with years. One thing did stick with him, a phrase she had when things got bad, which often happened while he still lived with her. 'Devil took off with fun.'
He didn't know why the words so suddenly popped into his head but it was fitting considering he was in Snape's office and fully aware that his sclera turned red.
Devil took off with fun. 'Looks like dad took off with fun and as usual left a whole lot of trouble.'
"No."
His voice, there was just a bit of echo in it.
Snape stopped, right in front of him, looked him straight in the eyes and glared.
"If you make her forget you'll have to kill me to make me stop," bits and pieces of his words were disembodied, he was desperate, he would not let this happen.
Snape glared at him. "Kill you? You really think – that you can – resist to that point?"
He was being mocked. "I have devil blood flowing through my veins, do not underestimate me!" his voice finally went from normal to fully disembodied, he could feel his blood boiling. And for the first time Snape seemed taken aback by what he was.
"Calm down," it was an order but what good would that do right now? Why should he listen to his orders?
Vergil growled, his anger spiked up at the human's demeanor. Lightning crackled and he barely kept it under command. How dare he think of messing with someone's memories?! "Don't you understand how important the memories are?! How much damage you'll make?!"
"And you don't understand what – the consequences are," Snape snarled, he clearly got over the initial shock.
"I do not care!" Vergil clenched his fist, swallowed hard and shut his eyes tight. "I do not care…" he needed to calm down.
He heard Snape sighing. "Vergil, calm down," this time it didn't sound like an order and thus it was something his rage poisoned mind could digest properly.
"I can't let you, she's not guilty of anything," slowly, his voice began shifting between disembodied and normal.
Snape sat down on one of the chairs next to Vergil, he kept his posture nonthreatening. "Something needs to be done."
Vergil shook his head. "No. I'll deal with what happens; I'll deal with what Gemma decides to do," and like that his voice was back to normal. He dropped down to his knees, he didn't meet Snape's eyes and instead focused on the cold floor. "Please, just don't do anything to her," he didn't move a muscle, he didn't do a single thing as crackling lightning vanished into thin air.
The silence was deafening and it felt like eternity passed before Snape replied. "Headmaster will decide," it was better than what he had hoped for. "For now act normally."
Vergil could only muster two words. "Yes, sir…"
~X~
He had no idea how many days passed, two or five, it made no difference. He was waiting for the inevitable, sooner or later Gemma would tell someone, or everyone.
"Hey Vergil," Tracey Davis greeted him as she and Daphne Greengrass sat down at the table.
Keep acting normal, that's what he's been telling himself over and over again. "Hey," normal, at least that's what he thought was normal. Was he supposed to try having a conversation, go for classic small talk or wait for someone else to start conversation with him? What was normal anyway? A year ago he would be cleaning his weapon, he would be back from his shift and likely exhausted and injured from the night before. No one his age wanted to spend their valuable rest chatting about the weather.
A few minutes later the owls arrived with the letters. A small barn owl landed in front of him, disposed of the letter and flew away. It was the information about his detention.
Vergil raised an eyebrow at that, there weren't any details of his punishment, just to meet up with Filch. Something wasn't right, even now he could see it. Quirrell… "Where was that stuttering back then?" he mumbled into his chin; Gemma didn't say anything yet, otherwise he would notice some changes, Snape didn't mess with her memories because he was avoiding him like a plague so that likely meant she wasn't going to say anything until he crossed some line she made up. Whatever Quirrell was planning Vergil wasn't about to go down without a fight. "Let's see what you've got, bastard professor," he turned to glare at the man for a moment, just a brief moment, he didn't need anyone to notice it.
Vergil stood up and made his way towards the door. He still needed to study.
"Good to see you're back," Davis suddenly told him.
Vergil halted and then grinned. "Was I gone?"
She winked at him. "Just a bit absent."
In the end he wasn't acting all that normal after all.
~X~
Time passed and the night of detention came upon the ones involved. Vergil and Malfoy went to the entrance hall to meet up with a way too eager Filch. The Gryffindor trio was running a bit late and Vergil couldn't help but feel annoyed at the look the man had on his face.
"You sure seem to enjoy yourself," Vergil commented as he leaned against the wall.
"Disrespectful brat," Filch muttered under his breath, but aside from that he didn't remark on anything else.
Before Vergil could further continue the conversation he heard the trio approaching. Hermione, Potter and Neville. He nodded to greet the three of them and watched as Potter's green eyes widened slightly.
"Leonidas?" he questioned sounding just as surprised as he looked.
"I got caught up in a few things," Vergil smirked not in the least bothered by the detention, in fact he was eager to see what Quirrell had planned for him. Now that he saw Potter he was even more eager to see where this night would lead.
"Why didn't you tell me you'd be here?" Hermione was more curious than anything else.
"I didn't really get a chance."
"Never mind that, I'm glad you're back to normal," she smiled and Vergil felt the urge to slap himself.
Instead he just chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah, back to normal."
"Quit blabbering and follow me," Filch interrupted them. He lit a lamp and began leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he was leering at them. "Oh yes, hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me. It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out – hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep them well-oiled in case they're ever needed."
'I'm officially disturbed,' and for a good reason, devils could be cruel, sure but not even the more sadistic ones would resort to that kind of punishment.
"Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do," and to make matters worse it sounded as if Filch wanted things to get worse for them. He sure tried his best to scare them and it worked as Neville kept sniffing.
"Sure gives a 'caretaker' a brand new definition. Really puts emphasis on 'care', wouldn't you agree?" Vergil snarled earning a snicker from Malfoy.
"Quit making this worse Leonidas," Potter berated him.
"Nothing I say will make this any worse," Vergil grumbled as they walked through darkness, their only light source being the lamp and the moon partially obscured by clouds. He could make out the shape of a hut. It didn't make any sense, why would they serve their detention out here?
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want to get started," a voice Vergil recognized from their first night at Hogwarts spoke up. It was none other than Hagrid and apparently that eased Potter's mind.
Filch noticed that and immediately went to inform them of the punishment. "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy, it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."
Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped before quickly moving a bit closer to Vergil, apparently Vergil being calm made Malfoy feel safer.
"The forest?" Malfoy repeated. A hint of fear was evident in his voice. "We can't go in there at night, there's all sorts of things in there, werewolves, I heard."
Similar to how Malfoy moved closer to Vergil, Neville also sought some comfort in his fellow classmate. He clutched the sleeve of Potter's robe and made a choking noise.
"That's your problem, isn't it?" Filch really enjoyed himself, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, a large dog right at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder. "Abou' time, I been waitin' for half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"
"I wouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," Filch once again interfered with the conversation rather coldly. "They're here to be punished, after all."
"That's why yeh're late, is it?" Hagrid frowned at Filch taking a surprisingly protective attitude over them. "Been lecturin' them, eh? It's not yer place to do that. Yeh've done your bit, I'll take over from here."
"I'll be back at dawn, for what's left of them," Filch spoke nastily and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.
Malfoy turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest."
Vergil could clearly hear the panic in his voice.
"Yeh are if you want to stay at Hogwarts. Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got to pay for it." Hagrid replied strictly. As protective as he seemed it was clear that rules were rules and punishment was punishment.
"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this-" but he was quickly interrupted.
"-he'd tell yeh that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that to anyone? Yeh'll do something useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think your father would rather yeh were expelled, then get back off to the castle an' pack. Go on."
Malfoy was furious, but he didn't move, he just glared at Hagrid but eventually dropped his gaze.
Vergil looked up to the sky, no complaining would get them out of this, though he did find it ironic that a punishment for breaking a rule involved breaking another rule. Sure, they were accompanied by Hagrid, but still… One thing was certain, this would be an interesting night.
Albeit a bit chilly, especially given the time of the year as the group of five first year students followed Hagrid and his dog.
"Right then, now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment," Hagrid led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees.
A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest; the ominous feeling it gave off sent slight shivers down Vergil's spine, his instincts were screaming for him to stay alert.
"Look there, see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by something. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have to put it out of its misery," Hagrid explained their task.
"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy asked, he was unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yeh're with me or Fang," Hagrid seemed quite sure of that. "An' keep to the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in different directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."
Vergil looked at the trails of blood. The devil side taking over he found himself kneeling behind the group and looking at the blood. He touched it… dry… it was probably too late for the animal. If whatever wounded it was still in the forest anyway.
"I want Fang," Malfoy was quick to decide, mostly because of Fang's long teeth. "And Vergil!" he quickly added.
"Leonid- ah whatever, it's not like you listen," Vergil gave up on correcting him.
"All right, but I warn yeh, Fang's a coward," Hagrid agreed with the plan. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Vergil, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get your wands out an' practice now," it was a simple spell so none of them had any troubles with doing it.
"That's it, an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find you, so, be careful, let's go," Hagrid took lead into the silent forest.
Vergil kept his eye on the road, noticing subtle signs of movement, the only downside was that he couldn't tell if they were made by the unicorn or not. A little way into it the forest they reached a fork in the earth path and split up.
"Be careful," Hermione whispered and rolled her eyes when Vergil simply smirked at her.
Vergil, Neville, Malfoy and Fang took the right while Hermione, Potter and Hagrid took the left.
The moment they separated from Hagrid things went downhill. Fang was, as Hagrid said, quite a coward and he walked down the path with his tail between his legs. Neville, having lost Potter, felt scared out of his mind. Desperate he inched a bit closer to Vergil.
Vergil closed his eye, his senses sharpened. He heard a faint sound and concentrated on it.
"What's the matter Longbottom? Where's that Gryffindor courage you guys are boasting about?" Malfoy taunted despite being in a rather similar position as the boy he taunted. He failed to see Vergil's annoyance at that. "I thought so," Malfoy said smugly when Neville remained silent.
Another sound got Vergil's attention, it was closer this time and he could somewhat identify it. A sound of something slithering over dead leaves… It was getting closer.
"Shut it," Vergil hissed his voice dangerously low. Fang growled at the halfling but piped down when he too noticed something.
Neville and Malfoy got closer behind the him as he slowly reached out for his wand. His eye was fixated to the direction of the sound and his pupil widened, taking in as much of light as possible to clear his vision. A figure moved through the trees, close to the ground, perhaps even moving on all fours, hidden by the bushes and the darkness. "Stay here," Vergil said and took a step forward.
"V-Vergil-" Neville began making Vergil raise his hand.
"Just taking a look, stay quiet," Vergil crouched down, slowly as to not disturb the nature around him. The wind was blowing into his face, meaning whatever it was it couldn't smell him that easily, he on the other hand smelt blood and… garlic…? 'What in the world…?' he couldn't help but wonder as he saw the creature stopping, this was dangerous, if it saw them beforehand then it would notice that he was no longer with the others.
A drop of sweat slid down his chin and he wiped it off before it could fall to the ground. As silently as he possibly could he reached out for a branch of a tree. The branch was dry, which of course made it easy to crack and alert the creature. Much to Vergil's surprise the creature moved swiftly. Vergil's eye widened and he turned to the others. "Make a circle, quickly," he took the basic control over the situation just like how he was taught back in Thanatos.
The three boys stood with their backs turned to one another, their wands out.
"Vergil…?" Malfoy breathed out, feeling terrified and anxious even over the wind that caressed his skin.
"There's something around here," Vergil muttered and the dog barked.
"A werewolf?" Neville asked fearfully.
Half devil felt eyes on him, but he couldn't pinpoint the location of the enemy.
"A human. Or something human-like," Vergil said, feeling fairly confident in his conclusion despite having little to no knowledge on magical creatures. "It's light on its feet; it doesn't look heavy and well… I'm not an expert on magical creatures but I'm positive it's something similar to a human, if not a human," if it came to a fight they didn't have much going for them, at least they didn't. Vergil was certain he could put up a fight using the devil abilities he had. But the killing intent that filled the air made it clear to him that this was serious.
Suddenly everything stopped.
The moment he looked to his left his blood red eye clashed with a pair of eyes about fifteen feet ahead. The forest hid the creature, making sure Vergil couldn't further identify it. He nearly jumped back and the shock was the only thing that kept him from doing so. A flock of birds took flight through the night and the creature slipped deeper into the darkness, leaving the trio and the dog alone…
"Where is it?" Malfoy had to ask.
"Maybe I was seeing things, it's dark after all," Vergil lied, his heartrate dropping back to normal. there was no need for them to be more scared then they already were.
"Nice one Vergil, really," Malfoy snarled; sarcasm and irritation dripping into his voice. He was trying to cover up insecurities with faked act of control; one that Vergil blatantly ignored.
"H-He was just being careful," Neville spoke up timidly.
"Let's just get back to the search," Vergil sighed, he was still being cautious, but his posture relaxed at least on the outside. He needed to keep an eye on everything. Vergil led the group further down the path, he completely concentrated on their surrounding thus he made a mistake of letting both Malfoy and Neville stay behind him.
A terrified scream and an instinctive firing of the red sparks notified him of the mistake he made. The half devil turned around abruptly to realize what just happened… Malfoy…
The blond laughed loudly at the terrified round faced boy.
Vergil narrowed his eye and then felt mischief overtake him for a few moments. He concentrated on creating a small couple of sparks right behind Malfoy. Nothing dangerous but it certainly would give him a bit of a startle. He smirked and moved the sparks, thus directing them into his fellow Slytherin.
Malfoy jumped and screamed, though it wasn't a scream caused by pain, but rather by fear. Neville's eyes widened and he fearfully looked around looking for the cause of whatever startled Neville. He turned to Vergil who was whistling innocently.
"Verdimillious," the white haired boy grinned. "We should probably wait, you already alerted the others," Vergil decided to sit down.
"My father will hear about this," Malfoy threatened and Vergil found the way his cheeks went completely red to be very amusing.
"Do you want me to tell him? I'd be happy to really," Vergil smirked. "Suck it up. You pulled a prank, I returned the favor."
A minute later the sounds of Hagrid's large form approaching them became apparent.
"What happened?!" the man asked the moment he realized there was no harm done to the boys in front of him, in fact the white haired one was just kinda sitting there with his legs crossed and a grin on his face.
"To put it simply a prank," Vergil bluntly stated without a single care in the world. "Where are the other two?" he suddenly got serious, that creature was still somewhere around here and no matter what those two had no chance on their own.
"On the path. I came to get yeh," Hagrid said, clearly restraining his anger. Vergil understood him, this was the last thing they should have done, in fact he was impressed Hagrid was keeping his cool.
"Let's go then," Vergil jumped to his feet. If that thing got to Hermione and Potter just because of the stupid prank he'd never forgive himself.
~X~
Hagrid was busy with the trio, which meant that Hermione and Harry were on their own. The two looked at each other, scared out of their minds, now all they could hear was the rustling of the leaves around them.
"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" Hermione whispered.
"I don't care if Malfoy and Leonidas have, but if something's got Neville... it's our fault he's here in the first place," Harry replied.
"Vergil wasn't with Malfoy, remember? He's not that bad," she wasn't sure how else to pass time until Hagrid came back.
Harry huffed. "Yeah, but he's a Slytherin and he's helping Snape. That's bad enough for me."
The minutes dragged by. Their hearing was sharper than usual and they were picking up even the slightest sounds around them. Hagrid was taking too long… At last he returned, fuming, yes, but with others nonetheless. Hermione was just happy everyone was fine.
"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you three were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups, Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' these idiots," Hagrid made the new arrangements and they were set to go once more.
~X~
Half an hour of walking later the three boys delved deeper into the forest; in fact the path became nearly impossible to follow because the trees were quite thick. Speaking of thicker, the blood Vergil noticed was getting thicker as well. And there was more of it.
He stopped and Potter stopped Malfoy.
"Look," Potter murmured as he held out his arm.
Something bright white was gleaming on the ground in the clearing. They inched closer. It was the unicorn, a dead one at that. A familiar sound of slithering reached Vergil's ears and he pulled Potter back. The boy clearly wanted to turn back to face Vergil but the sound, which was now clear to him and Malfoy as well made him freeze.
A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered...
Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground just like some stalking beast. Potter, Malfoy and Fang were transfixed as the cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.
"AAAAARGH!" Malfoy let out a terribly loud scream and bolted along with Fang, leaving the frozen Potter and Vergil on their own.
The cloaked figure raised its head and looked right at the duo; unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. Vergil reached out for his wand, his mind racing for some spell that could be even remotely used as an offense… The figure got to its feet and came swiftly toward them.
"Run," Vergil muttered but then realized the boy was paralyzed with fear. "Great," Vergil hissed. He took a closer look at the quickly approaching figure; it looked familiar for some reason. He heard hooves behind them, galloping. Something jumped over them and charged at the figure. They were safe but this would be for nothing if he didn't get any information out of this. "Get Potter out of here!" he yelled at the newcomer, hoping that it wouldn't be a mistake to leave Potter with whoever this was, and bolted after the figure.
Barely a few moments passed before he realized he made a mistake, not with actions concerning Potter, but with what he was doing. He was in a forest he didn't know, with something he knew nothing about and who knows what other creatures he also knew nothing about. "I'm a genius," he had to compliment himself but this wasn't time for sarcasm.
He raised his hand and reached out for the bandages covering his right eye. A sound of slashing made him stop abruptly and jump back.
Blood dripped down his right hand and he took a brief look at a cut on the back of his wrist. That would have been his neck if he hadn't jumped away. Staying in one spot was a rookie mistake, one he didn't plan on repeating. But running blindly could be fatal, instead he concentrated, feeling the killing intent directed right at him me made a feint by jerking to the right and then abruptly heading to his left side. A decent move seeing as the area where he would have been had he taken the right route was hit by an explosion.
The boy jumped into the bushes and grabbed a dried branch, he needed to make a counterattack. The wind was blowing into his face, but he didn't know if it was carrying his scent to his enemy. He assumed that was the case because he couldn't smell blood. His heart drummed against his chest as he threw the branch to the side. He rushed forward behind a tree and watched as the branch got cut in half reminding him of the cut he was gripping, desperate to prevent any noises from alerting the enemy he gripped at his cut wrist.
The robes were annoying him, preventing him from moving properly. He slipped out of them and put them over the tree. He took his wand, whispered the spell's name and made a motion to cast Verdimillious over the robes making them slightly electrifying. If he was silent enough it could be a bit of a distraction as well.
Slowly Vergil stepped away from the tree and moved around the area, he walked backwards with wind constantly hitting his back. That way he hoped he'd smell blood behind him and see if the enemy was approaching him. His breathing was calm, contradicting the way his body reacted, contradicting the way his heart skipped a beat when he smelt the blood and darted to the side as quickly as he could. He hid in the bushes and observed as the figure walked by just about five feet away from him. It was definitely someone familiar, but he still couldn't recognize them.
"Wingardium Leviosa," he muttered under his breath and manipulated his robes to move slightly. The creature moved toward them making Vergil smirk. He wasn't going down without a fight. Slowly he pushed his body up. The attacker got right by the robes when Vergil directed them to cover the creature.
He'd be stupid if he thought that would be enough, to hell with Verdimillious doing the job it was supposed to, he wasn't going in for that, he just needed a diversion. "Flipendo!" he roared and the creature formed a sort of a shield solely based on the direction from which Vergil's voice came. Yet the knockback never reached the shield. He didn't have one, but two diversions. He lunged forward and slammed his fist into the figure, right in the side of the head.
Vergil knew his punch wasn't going to be enough, but he lost the element of surprise, all that for minimal results. Still going like this, risking this much without any information. He reached out and pulled his robes off the man. His eyes widened when he recognized the man. The scent of garlic made sense now. "Quirrell?"
"Yes, me," his voice, he sounded tired, but confident. This was in no way the stuttering Quirrell Vergil knew. "You do understand that you are at my mercy here, don't you?"
'Like hell I am!' this man somehow found out what he was, this man actually dared to ruin one friendship he had within his house. Instead of running Vergil remained staring down at the Professor. Wind brought a scent of blood to his nostrils and he narrowed his eye. His own blood dripped onto the ground where he stood and it was the only sound out of place in the forest. He didn't even bother with raising his wand, he had nothing to counter Quirrell, nothing human and so he dared Quirrell to attack. His glare was sending a clear message, 'come at me, if you dare' and as foolish as it was that was how he felt.
"Join us, Leonidas, with Him guiding you, you could do great things," Quirrell made an offer that honestly surprised and more importantly angered the half devil.
"Join? After what you told Gemma?" he growled, feeling his anger fuel his soul.
"That is a 'No' then?" the professor asked for one final confirmation.
"Hell yes it's a 'No' you bastard!" Vergil roared at the top of his lungs.
"Pity," Quirrell sighed and before Vergil could react he made a quick move with his wand.
Vergil froze, he felt a pressure crushing him, squeezing him almost like a snake that wrapped its' body around its' prey. He couldn't take even the smallest breath in and he felt like some of his bones were close to cracking. 'No, not like this,' just for a moment his sclera turned red and a single word escaped his throat. "Perun!" with the eruption of energy the pressure vanished and Vergil leaned forward, his arms hanging limply. A blade shone in the moonlight, a seemingly common shashka, a very slightly curved sword without a guard with black grip and blood red hexagon shaped pommel.
A deep breath later Vergil jumped back his sword raised and ready to slice at Quirrell. "Your move," he was focused, feeling the power of his Devil Arm, Perun, strengthening his senses and his eyes widened. 'What the hell is wrong with his soul? It feels contaminated…'
"You can relax, I've been ordered not to kill you," Quirrell assured him and pulled the cloak over his head.
Vergil didn't want to stop him, quite frankly he felt relieved that Quirrell was leaving him alone. Now he only needed to get back to his group. He kept Perun out and began sprinting through the forest. His mind was racing, Quirrell was a professor regardless of what he did. Vergil figured something was going on when Snape was wounded like that on Halloween, but this… He ran back to where the clearing was; from there he could find his way out of the forest. The blood soaked his hand, he made the wound slightly worse by throwing a punch like that and Perun wasn't making things easier for him, but he'd survive.
The only real question he had in mind was who he could trust. Only one name popped up. Snape. He was the only one Vergil was willing to trust. Not too far from where he was he saw the small clearing and Perun dissipated in a small burst of lightning. The others were right there.
"Vergil!" Hermione was the first to notice him.
"Hey," he sounded and looked breathless. Hermione ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Not the neck," he groaned and she immediately dropped her hands lower.
"Where were yeh?!" Hagrid roared at him, half worried half angry at the first year student he was towering over.
"No idea. I got separated," Vergil tried to explain but his mind still wouldn't let him think reasonably.
"What were you thinking running off like that?" she was trembling slightly and even her voice was shaky. She pulled back and looked him over. "Where are your robes and-" she noticed the cut on his wrist. "Your wrist. How did this happen?"
"Hermione it's fine. There's nothing to worry about," he assured her, though he'd lie if he said he wasn't feeling a strange mixture of annoyance and warmth because of her worry. Annoyance was understandable, at least to him, but warmth, that was a new one. "I fell," he added when she didn't look satisfied with his answer.
"What happened to your robes?" Potter asked.
"Mind your own business Potter," Malfoy spat before Vergil could reply to Potter.
"No one asked you," the tension between Potter and Malfoy was apparent.
"And I don't see why you'd be concerned about my robes, Potter," Vergil grew agitated, the boy was acting all brave now, but when the moment to really be brave came he froze in fear.
The one to stop all the tension was Hagrid who had enough of them fighting. The night was finally coming to a close and quite frankly no one had any complaints about ending this detention a bit earlier than they were supposed to.
~X~
A bit later Vergil and Malfoy finally entered the Slytherin common room and pretty much dragged themselves to their room.
Their roommates were soundly sleeping and Vergil pretty much tossed himself onto the bed, too tired to even do that task properly.
"Hey, hey Vergil," Malfoy muttered.
"Leonidas," Vergil corrected weakly.
"That thing we saw," Malfoy ignored the correction.
"Yeah?"
"That's what you saw before, right?" Vergil's eyes widened slightly at the question. He found himself slightly surprised, but figured that Malfoy was smart enough to piece two and two together.
Vergil sighed. "It was," there was no point in lying.
"How could you stay so calm…?" Malfoy had to ask.
Vergil remained silent for a few moments, causing Malfoy to believe he fell asleep.
"We'll swap stories some other time, rest now," Vergil said and raised his right fist, his wrist was bandaged just before they made their way back to the castle. He pointed it at Malfoy and turned to smirk at him.
Malfoy's eyes widened at the gesture. He had never done anything similar to what Vergil was initiating right now, slowly he curled his fingers and formed a fist. Cautiously he raised it and moved it toward Vergil's.
Vergil pushed himself a bit out of the bed and bumped his fist against Malfoy's.
"Vergil then?" Malfoy assumed.
Vergil's smirk shifted into a grin. "Vergil," Malfoy was a bit of a spoiled brat, a bit of a bully. But underneath all that, Vergil saw something else. And he'd be damned if he didn't give this a try.
"Good night, Vergil," Malfoy said.
"Yeah, good night Draco," Vergil finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.
~X~
The first thing in the morning, before other students were even up Vergil was outside of Snape's personal room. Knocking on the doors and waiting for the man to come out.
Despite being early in the morning Snape was already in his regular attire. He took one look at the child in front of him and motioned him to come in without a single word. Vergil was tired, but more than anything he was uncertain of what to think.
"Talk," that one word was enough for Snape to get Vergil to do exactly what he had requested. Snape listened carefully as Vergil told him about what happened, about Quirrell, the unicorn blood, the offer Quirrell made… he didn't leave a single detail out, well aside from using Perun, Snape didn't need to know about that.
"Why unicorn blood?" Vergil asked once he finished the story.
"The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but, at a cost of, a cursed life," Snape explained making Vergil sigh.
"That explains why Quirrell couldn't kill me back there," Vergil realized, the man did try to kill him before he pulled Perun out so there was that.
What he didn't notice was the way Snape looked at him, the man seemed just a tiny bit more relaxed than usually. Perhaps after a year of teaching Vergil the potions and all the contact they had the older man grew to feel somewhat relieved due to the brat coming out of this alive.
~X~
The time for exams came and Vergil honestly didn't worry too much, he dealt with written exams and then he had some practical exams as well. Such as, Professor Flitwick calling students one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox.
Snape's was the easiest to Vergil as he easily made a Forgetfulness potion. Over the course of the year the only subject Hermione wasn't the best at were the Potions, the title of the year's best potion student belonged to Vergil. Everything else was about average or slightly above average.
A week passed and the end-of-year feast was upon them. When Vergil walked in he saw the Great Hall decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver, his house had won the house cup, seventh year in a row as well.
Dumbledore arrived and the silence enveloped the room as the students looked at their Headmaster.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were; you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts," Vergil had to grin at that, the man was eccentric, that was for sure but Vergil kind of liked the man because of the attitude he had. "Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-seven."
Entire Slytherin table erupted in cheers. Draco even banged his goblet on the table. Vergil celebrated as well, he raised his goblet and let out a cheer, for once acting childish.
"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin, however, recent events must be taken into account," the room went very quiet and Vergil had a feeling he knew where this was heading. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little. "Ahem," began Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes... First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Gryffindors began cheering and it was a prelude to the fall of Slytherin.
"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Yeah, it was over.
"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter," Dumbledore caused the room to go deadly quiet. "For pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."
The score was now only five points apart. "Wait for it," Vergil muttered and cursed Quirrell for taking those twenty points from him.
Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent. "There are all kinds of courage," Dumbledore was smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
Vergil let out a sigh, Draco next to him looked absolutely horrified, the victory slipped out of their fingers…
"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause. Even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin. "We need a little change of decoration," he clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place.
"Well, whatever," Vergil leaned against the table. For the first time it was truly clear to him how much the Slytherin house was on one side while the other three were on the other one. The entire school was celebrating their downfall.
~X~
Vergil stood with Snape at the side of the train station. Kind's Cross was as crowded as always.
"Come on," there was only one meaning behind those words and he saw it in Snape's eyes. He'd spend the summer with Snape. He was going home in a way.
"Yes sir!" Vergil gave him a small salute and followed.
Philosopher's Stone – Finished
Well this didn't come out nearly as quickly as I wanted it to. Before I get to answering reviews, I'd like to take a moment to give a bit of a recommendation.
If you'd like to read a story about Grindelwald's grandson (OC) I wholeheartedly recommend you check out NewName1500's story 'A Grindelwald's Tale' I haven't caught up to it yet, but I did enjoy what I read and the writing is most definitely improving with each chapter. And if you're still not convinced I can also tell you it doesn't feel like yet another OC that doesn't change a thing in canon story and if you like Slytherin this is definitely story for you. So give it a try.
Now, answers on reviews:
Guest – Thank you.
josephguy217 – Thank you.
Badger10 – Thanks, while this chapter didn't move too far from the original version, aside from additional scenes I can tell you the next book is getting some very big changes.
Guest – And now it's back again, after… a long time.
Falcodude – Glad you do. As I mentioned there weren't that many changes in this particular chapter but I feel it's at least a bit better than the previous version if I can say so myself.
DepressedNinja75 – I've already answered the questions via PM so I'll just say thanks.
Lady Keiko Niwa – I completely agree with you, it is annoying and quite a hassle for me as well. Trust me, whenever I went back to a chapter I was like 'This again, great…' so as annoying as it is to the readers that found the story long ago it's even more of an annoyance for me. I do appreciate the critique though.
Guest – Thank you.
Next Book – Chamber of Secrets