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The fallout from the Dementor incident was not as bad as Darius could have hoped. He thought something like this would be enough to tip the scales and kick Fudge out of his office. Sadly, he managed to wriggle his way out of because the appearance of Pettigrew seemed to give credence to his stance. Also, Lucius' deep pockets and blackmail helped as well. But Sirius was chomping at the bit and it wouldn't take too long to start making changes in the Wizengamot. By no means did he want most of those bigots and doddering old fools in those seats if Voldemort rose back to power.
Darius' relationship with Mione was still going strong. Not much had changed between the two for now. They were still hanging out together almost all the time and practising together in the RoR. Other than the hand-holding and the occasional kiss, they behaved in the same way. But they never grew tired of each other's company and had spent time with each other as much as possible.
Darius was practising in the RoR as usual when he was struck by the headache again. It had already been nearly a month from the Dementor incident and this problem had started a few days after that. He would get sporadic headaches and mood swings every once in a while and could do nothing about it. The only time he was completely free of it was when he was doing his daily Vertentes or he had his occlumency shields at full strength. Mione had realised his problems sometime last week and would pester him to go to the hospital wing every time she noticed it. But he had to be sure of the source first. The effectiveness of occlumency against it suggests that some outside force is behind it and the headaches are not exactly normal.
Instead of suppressing it with Occlumency, he loosened the barriers and let some of the probes reach his mind. He knew it was a risk, but it may also give a clue as to the perpetrator. It would take a highly skilled Legilimens to break into his mind and he could have his shields in place in a jiffy. But the constant pressure was wearing on him and he had to do something about it.
The defences of his mind lowered, he could sense multiple sources for the intrusion. That was a utter surprise, it felt more like a hive mind nudging against his consciousness rather than someone trying to enter his. He further let down his defences and then he felt it.
Happiness, hope, attraction, sadness, anger, fear, love, trust and so much more. It was like a plethora of feelings out there in the void with him in the centre of it all. The emotions were coming every which way and the more he became cognizant of them, the more they seemed to reach out to him. He wanted to raise his defences, but he was unable to, his very mind rebelling against it, as if this was something it was supposed to go through. But at the same time, the rapid influx of emotions and weight of several minds was wearing on his own and was proving to be almost debilitating before a certain limit was reached and his magic just rushed into his brain and got deeply infused into it.
The emotional baptism, if you could call it that seemed to stretch on for hours within his mind and he lost touch with his physical body for the moment. Mione, who was there in the room with him, panicked when he collapsed and rushed to his side.
"Darius! Darius! Wake up! Please don't do this." She was beside herself with worry. Darius had been like a rock to her. Nothing fazed him and he had a solution for every situation. She had never seen him in a weakened state, let alone collapsed like now. She knew it was beyond her and quickly levitated his body and headed to the hospital wing. She didn't forget to disillusion them both though. No point in attracting unnecessary attention by levitating him through the corridors. She rushed in to the medical wing and found Madam Pomfrey just finishing her check up on another student and walking away.
Disillusioning herself she called out, "Madam Pomfrey!"
The matron turned around and gasped when she saw Hermione levitating an unconscious Darius. She quickly gestured her to come over and place him on an empty bed and Hermione quickly did so. Taking out her wand, Madam Pomfrey started waving it in complex motions and various parts of Darius' body lit up in different colours and she nodded to herself as if she understood something from them. The brightest part was a pure white light emanating from his forehead and she seemed surprised by that.
Hermione was frantic. "What happened to him, Madam Pomfrey? He has never collapsed like this before. And what do all those lights mean? Especially that bright white li- "
"Calm down, child. He is no danger at all, at least as of this moment. So, I can answer all the questions you may have. We do need to inform his mother and the Head of House though.
The spell I used was a very advanced diagnostic spell which tells me the condition of my patient. I am not able to tell what is causing the problem but can easily detect what it is. The white light signifies significant amounts of focussed brain activity. It is surprising given that the rest of the body is in a state very close to a deep sleep. But no worries, the activity is entirely benign, whatever it is."
"But what is it? Even if you cannot pin-point the cause, you must be having some idea of what could cause this, right?"
"Well, the increased brain activity would suggest mental magic of some sort. But I am positive he is not experiencing legilimency of any sort at all. He may be employing occlumency but I'm not sure why. Another reason for such an occurrence could be a memory inheritance. They are memories preserved by ancient witches and wizards for later generations with their most prized techniques and knowledge. But that requires a conduit of some sort, an object into which they were sealed, but he doesn't have anything like that. The last I can think of is some sort of bloodline ability. There are mystical abilities that run in ancient families, some of which tend to be mental or spiritual in nature. One of them may be able to cause such a reaction."
"What do you think is responsible?"
"I many not be a master legilimens but I can be nearly certain he is not being mentally attacked and we can write off the second possibility easily, so I would say he is of old blood. Generally, the teachers are aware if heirs of old families enrol in the school, but I knew nothing about him. That tells me that his bloodline may be extremely old, going back to before the time of the founders or he is just from an offshoot branch of an old clan and somehow awakened his abilities and the least likely, that it is a natural mutation and he may be the progenitor of a new bloodline. But I would be able to tell if that last was the case, and it isn't. One thing I should warn you about, do not pry into matters of his families or abilities. Some families hold that information very close to their chest and react badly if they feel someone is trying to spy on them. Continue to behave the same as normal and if he feels like it, he will reveal his secrets to you at the right time."
"Thank you for telling me all this, Madam Pomfrey. And also for the advice, I'll keep it in mind. But you have successfully piqued my curiosity regarding healing. Would you mind telling me some more about the profession, and if I come here occasionally to see you work?"
"Absolutely! I'd love to have more people interested in the healer profession. Our numbers are dropping in recent years and the Healers Association is starting to get antsy about it. Some of the material may go completely above your head but I've heard of your reputation and am sure you can pick up some things here and there."
Hermione blushed a bit at the compliment and turned to look at Darius again. Madam Pomfrey was right, he really did look as if he had just fallen asleep.
Madam Pomfrey called out again, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something? I know the two of you are close, so you are the most likely to know about it. Does he do regular physical exercise? Also does he practice some sort of mystic or shaman arts?"
"Umm…he does do some physical exercises but more often it is high level duelling practice with heavy physical exertion. As for the other two, what are they? I have not come across the two terms before."
"Well, the diagnosis shows an unusually developed body for a wizard. Centuries ago, when wizards were co-existing with the muggles, they often used weapons as well, such as swords and daggers. It went out of use since then and magicals have been increasingly lax with their physical attributes and focus on only their magic. What they don't realise is a healthy body is able to house much more magic and increase it faster as well. His calluses suggest sword practice.
Shaman and mystic arts are old practices which are used to increase or empower one's magic. They are pretty rare nowadays, but his magic core is unusually developed and his magic pathways are pretty strong. I wouldn't be surprised if he is well above student level already. But they are not risk free. If the practitioner is incapable of proper mental focus or strong will, they could lose control and worst-case scenario, end up magically crippled."
Seeing Hermione's worried expression, she hurried to reassure her, "Don't worry! He is in excellent condition. He isn't in any danger whatsoever. And I might easily be wrong about it. There are very few who continue such practises today and I have not come across one to date. It might just be his strong magical lineage and frequent magic practice which has boosted his magic. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it."
Minerva McGonagall was getting some work completed that afternoon as she didn't have any more classes that day when the elf popped up. It was in the traditional tea-cosy emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest, wrapped up like a toga.
"Professor McGonagall, ma'am! Misty is here to bring message from Madam Pomfrey", the elf said, handing over a small scroll to the professor.
"Thank you, Misty. You may leave now."
She was curious. It wasn't often that Poppy sent notes across to her.
Minerva
I've just had Miss Granger levitate Mr Icarus into the infirmary. I thought as his head of house, you ought to know. He has fainted but is perfectly fine physically except for some heightened brain activity. There is absolutely no reason to worry as of now. Miss granger is also waiting by his side. I would like it if she could be excused from classes for the rest of the day, I don't think she would be able to concentrate anyway. I have also sent a message to his mother after getting her information from my medical registers. She will most likely be along soon.
Poppy
That wasn't what she had expected at all. Darius was one of the best and brightest in his year and nothing like this had happened before. The mention of heightened brain activity was telling, and she knew some of the implications of that. She would need to let Hagrid know that a woman may arrive at the grounds seeking entrance to the castle as well. Before she could get to that however, a floo call came from Hagrid. The gentle giant's face in the fire looked somewhat scared, something which was rather rare.
"Professor McGonagall, a woman is 'ere at ta castle gates seekin' entrance. She is mighty pissed off an' releasing tonnes o' magic. She says she is Darius' mother?"
Ah, that was earlier than expected! She must have been in the vicinity. Better let her in quickly. If she is releasing as much of a magic aura as Hagrid is suggesting, she is one extremely powerful witch, not surprising considering Darius' talent. But worse, she is not fully in control of herself and might lose control of her magic.
"You can let her in, Hagrid. Darius is in the medical wing and Poppy informed his mother about it. She must be worried about him, that's all. Guide her straight to the medical wing."
"No problem, professor. I'll get 'er in a jiffy."
Kaela was frantic. When she received the note from Madam Pomfrey, she immediately knew what it meant. How could she not, being brought up in her family. Before her marriage, she held the name of Kaela Invidia Dominus, the clan of spies. Of all the clans that make up the Dominus family, they were the ones with the most intimate knowledge of every clan's abilities and information. A bloodline awakening almost never happened before the maturity of the magical core, generally around 17-years-old. Rarely, with especially talented kids would it happen at sixteen. But her boy was only 14 now! She knew he was talented. She knew he was much stronger than normal. But this was record-breaking, off-the-charts level of talent!
And worst of all, he awakened in one of the worst places an Ira could possibly awaken. Ira magic was generally based around emotions and what place was more saturated with them than a school? The general approach for Ira awakening was a sealed silent room but here, he was on the completely opposite side of the spectrum. The excess might strengthen him to some degree but too much could have crippling consequences on him. Thank God, he was already proficient at Occlumency. She didn't know if he was a Master at it yet, but it would greatly help him if so.
Now the only thing to do was wait for the abilities to manifest completely!
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Darius found himself floating through a myriad of colors in a vast space. It was a very comfortable sensation, as if he was floating on clouds. The last thing he remembered was the massive influx of emotions from throughout the castle and then he had passed out a few minutes later. Thankfully, his skills in occlumency had negated the initial pressure, the worst of it. After that, he seemed to be acclimatizing to it before he finally passed out due to exhaustion.
The colors around him seemed familiar, as if he had been here before. But his mind was not working at full capacity and felt oddly sluggish. It took another few hours of floating in the void before it came to him. The tunnel or passage he had passed through before he reached this world, the one his soul crossed, was remarkably like this one, only that one was a lot more structured. That was a startling revelation! If he could get at the bottom of this, he may be able to unravel the reasons behind his transmigration to this world.
The colors seemed to be melding together slowly as more and more of his mental faculties returned to him. He was able to think clearly, and the colors seemed to be losing their influence on him. Seemingly and eternity later, the colors had melded together into a pristine white surface. He was able to focus completely but he was still lost as to where he was.
One frightening thought was he had passed on from the mental overload and this was his version of the King's Cross but that brought another quote to the forefront of his mind.
"Of course, it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
There is a high likelihood that Darius was inside his own head right now. If he could weather the first few moments of the mental onslaught, there was no reason to die later. And the moment he came to that conclusion, the world seemed to whirl and change into a familiar place. The huge town that was the representation of his mind was as familiar to him as the back of his own hand. He had spent hours within his own mind, perfecting the mindscape, increasing its defenses, setting traps for any unfortunate fool who tries to take a walk in his mind.
But something was new! Instead of the colorless sky before, it was the same vivid meld of colors that he was in before. Now that he was back in his normal mindscape, he could feel them clearly. They encompassed nearly every emotion ranging from unconditional love to irrational hatred. It was as if he could tap into their potential at any moment but he was loath to do so right now. His first experience with them wasn't exactly a pleasant one and he wasn't going to go back for a dive into them without having more information at hand. If he wasn't wrong, this should be his Ira blood awakening. He could be classified as an empath due to his powers, bit he could feel it, it was so much more than that. It was time he had a long chat with his mother. But before that, he had to return to his body.
Outside, it had already been over five hours since Darius had collapsed. Thankfully, it was the weekend and there was no DA class either, so his lack of presence was not noticed. Darius' mother was waiting in a small room at the end of the hospital wing along with Hermione. Hermione was petrified at first when she realized that the woman who came in with a formidable aura flaring around her was her boyfriend's mother, but they quickly got along once they got talking. Madam Pomfrey shooed them from Darius' bedside though and they were waiting it out in the small room.
"So, Hermione, how's my son treating you?"
"Wh-what do you mean? We are very good friends. We get along very well." Hermione was extremely flustered and answered in a haste.
"Well, you're the only girl he ever mentions in his letters home and from the way he speaks bout you, I'm pretty sure you are a couple. Aren't you? C'mon, don't be shy, I won't bite. I just want to know the kind of girl my aloof son would go out with. God knows, he never showed any interest in them for the past few years, it was starting to get worrying at this point." Kaela truly was curious about the girl, but she also enjoyed making the poor girl nervous. The poor dear was so embarrassed, her ears were completely red and looked ready to let steam out.
"Well, to tell the truth, we go together just about a month ago. But we have known each other since the last three years. I am not exactly a very people person but somehow with Darius, it feels so easy. I really like him and hope we can stay strong together."
"I am glad to hear you say that. I don't want some floozy going after my son for only his talent or looks or something superficial like that. Like him for who he is."
"I will. By the way, I wanted to ask, what was that aura you had when you entered the room? It was rather constricting and looked dangerous."
"You felt that, huh? Are you doing magic detecting exercises?"
"Yeah, we both are! So that's what I felt? That entire aura was pure magic?"
"Yes, it was. Magic, above all, respects our intentions. It is an energy which can be harnessed, controlled, forced and so much more. But it is truly let lose, when it is directed with purely our intentions and emotional strength. It is like a force of nature, we witches and wizards may think we control it but it is not truly so, we only possess the abilities to shape it. There are even studies towards the sentience of magic. Many believed, especially a few centuries that magic was a semi-sentient force in itself."
"Wow, this is fascinating. I have never heard magic being talked about in this manner. We are always taught about how to control it!"
"I know! And that is indeed what you should be focusing on at your age. There is a difference between letting magic be influenced by your emotions, like I did and letting your emotions rule over your magic. The latter can be particularly disastrous. It leads to the most catastrophic accidents.
Most people don't realize this, but Hogwarts is just the introduction to the magical world. It is not the be all and end all of magical education. It merely lays out the foundation. Any competent magician would choose to research further on their own. There are masteries available after schooling, followed by Sorcerers and Chief Sorcerer levels. Given what Darius has told me about you, it should not be too hard for you to get a few masteries. You can then focus on Sorcery for one or two subjects!"
"We were not made aware of all this at all. Darius did tell me once that there were levels beyond OWLs and NEWTs but not in such detail. I am definitely going to go for it."
Dumbledore was not happy! He was not happy at all! He had just received word of Darius Icarus' stint at the medical wing and he could read between the lines and guess at the causes for it. He was almost certain the boy was at least from one of the families at the Ancient families but that was not what galled him so. In fact, he was pleased about it as it would give him a chance to influence one of the scions of the old families and bring them to the Light Faction. The fact that troubled him was that he was completely unaware of the boy's origins. Oh, he knew about the Icarus line, sure, but this was not the awakening of that family at all. And now, Minerva had gotten the boy's mother into the castle before he could stall her. So, there was no way to get any information from the boy. And he daren't try to get any from the mother. If she knew any of her rights at all, she would have him strung up in front of the Wizengamot for attempting to do so, Chief Warlock or not.
Voldemort, being the last of the Slytherin family, an old family though not as ancient as the Dominus, should have awakened something truly powerful as well but the fact that he mutilated his own soul denied him the gifts that were his by birth right, as a fractured soul would not be able to bear the weight of an old family magic.
He showed up to the hospital wing and spoke to the mediwitch briefly before heading to Kaela and Hermione. The mediwitch, bound by the healer's oath as she was, was unable to give out confidential patient information. But the snippets of information she could give out were enough to give him some clues. Ordinarily a responsible mediwitch like Madam Pomfrey would never do something like this but Dumbledore's image had been cemented for a long while and she didn't think twice before speaking to him.
He headed to Kaela and cleared his throat.
"Ahem, greetings Madam Kaela. It is my great pleasure to have you in our beautiful castle, though sorry that it had to happen under such circumstances. I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of this fine institution. Though I don't recall you from my several years of tenure here at Hogwarts?"
"Greetings, Dumbledore. I thank you for the welcome and I'm sure my son will recover in no time. And you're right, I've not had my magical education in Hogwarts. Contrary to popular belief, not every magical in Britain goes to Hogwarts, as I'm sure you know. I had private tutors brought in by my family."
"Ah, that would explain it. Anyway, would you be able to shed some light on the condition of young Darius?"
"Don't play coy with me, Dumbledore! Anyone with half the experience you have would be able to tell. He is experiencing the awakening of his bloodline. And prematurely, at that. Anything more, is not for anyone outside of the family to know."
"Of course, forgive me. I didn't mean to pry. He is after all, one of the brightest of the generation and I was simply being careful that nothing untoward would happen to him."
"Don't worry about it, Dumbledore. He'll be fine. He should be up in a short while."
"Well, if you say so! I shall be taking my leave than. I wish Darius a fast recovery."
With that said, Dumbledore smartly turned and headed out the door. Kaela knew very well that this was not a mere social visit. Dumbledore was plotting something again and planning to use her son in his games as well. But no way in hell would she allow that to happen.
Hermione was startled at the obvious distaste that Darius' mom held for Professor Dumbledore but upon thinking on it, realized that Darius always had the same expression whenever they talked about the old headmaster. It was a curious reaction to be directed towards the most publicly acclaimed light wizard and she knew there was more brewing under the surface than she realized.
Suddenly, an overbearing mental pressure spread throughout the hospital wing. Hermione recognised it as being somewhat like the mental pressure that Darius used to temper his will and mental strength in the RoR. But she did not panic, because despite the suffocating pressure, she could clearly recognise the mental touch for whose it was. Darius was awake! She rushed towards Darius' bed, his mother hot on her heals and they reached the bed to see Darius awake on the bed, trying to regain his bearings.
"You're awake! I'm so glad you are alright. Both your mother and I were worried about your condition."
"Calm down, Mione. I'm fine." And he truly was. In fact, he was better than fine. His mind was feeling so unfettered and free and his magic felt whole in such a way that it was a wonder how he never noticed the ack before. He had unlocked or rather discovered a part of his magical heritage and his magic resonated with him on a far deeper level.
And although he didn't know it at the moment, he had awakened a compound power instead of the customary single powers, a rarity that happened only once every couple of generations. It was emotional energy manipulation or Patho-ergokinesis, a combination of emotional and energy manipulation. A particularly high-level trait that could enable him to use almost the entire arsenal of Ira powers. A truly prodigious power that truly showed the true strength of his clan.
Darius could feel the aura of every person in the room clearly. It was as if he had gained an extra sense suddenly that he was able to use flawlessly. He could feel the pure relief and joy of Mione, the pride and joy of his mother, mixed with just a smidgeon of worry and the relieved feelings of Madam Pomfrey. He gave them the brightest smile he could and said, "I've never felt better!"
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Darius said it with such conviction that he sub-consciously used his powers for the first time and let them literally feel how good he felt. And for a few moments there, all three witches were able to bask in the sensation of being magically powerful before the power pulled back into Darius' body. It was like an empath feels other feelings but only in reverse, Darius managed to imprint his own emotions for a short while o the surrounding people.
The other two didn't really understand what just happened and assumed they were feeling relieved at Darius' complete recovery. But how could Kaela not understand? She instantly looked at Darius with wide eyes and was stunned silent. Each of the heritage techniques required hours of studying to understand their applications and usage, and here was a young guy, still only 14-years-old, who was able to sub-consciously able to use his power effortlessly. For God's sake, most of the clan kids only awakened their inherent powers in their twenties and thirties. That was not to say no one awakened it at a younger age, but everyone who did so couldn't control their powers and either lost their minds or had to have their powers sealed away for at least a decade. That is why she had rushed to the castle when she heard of Darius' condition, to seal his powers as soon as possible. She didn't know of any circumstance when a person as young as Darius awakened their powers and managed to withstand the mental strain of doing so. It was astounding and she was full of pride for her talented son.
But that is when she realized something. How on earth was she supposed to get the Ira brand for her son? Any branch family member who awakened their powers on their own were fully qualified to demand it as their right but they weren't exactly 14 when they did so. She could clearly see Darius' plight if he returned t the clan now. He would be forcefully pulled in to the main branch before being given the brand on his heart and then mired in the endless politics and schemes that the families played. She might even be separated from him in the name of providing superior training so that they could bend and influence Darius towards their way of thought, without her interference. No way was she going to let him become a pawn in their games.
"Darius, honey, I need to talk to you about some things now, in private. If the two of you wouldn't mind leaving us for a moment?"
Hemione and Madam Pomfrey tactfully left the bedside table. They were pretty sure this was about the awakening and trying to listen in could be construed as Magic theft, a capital crime by Family Magic Laws.
"What is it, mother?"
"First of all, I want to say how proud I am for your achievement. I don't think there has been such an early awakening in the family for generation. But this same cause for celebration is also cause for worry. I know you are wise beyond your years, so you should be able to understand some of the motives behind this. You will become a pawn for the family elders if they ever get to know about your talent. I have no desire for you to enter that den of vipers until your old enough to protect yourself properly and have a good head on your shoulders."
"But why would I want to go back to the clan. I have no desire to meet any of them. They did not help you in your time of need. What makes them think we might want to return to them?"
"While I appreciate your chivalry, you do have to go back if you ever want to get your full inheritance. Each awakened member of the clans of the Dominus family are given their clan brand over their hearts. The brand imparts the knowledge of most of the clan techniques to the person. Now you have two choices, either go back and get caught up in the clan politics to get the brand or forego the brand to carve out your own path. There have been a couple of people who choose to do that every generation and they have achieved varying levels of success. The mediocre ones suffer from the lack of proper techniques and stunt their potential, but the more powerful ones invent such amazing techniques that they were begged to come back to the clan at high prices and contribute to them. It is purely up to you. But know that I've the utmost confidence in both your raw talent and ingenuity.
Darius thought it over and found that it was a fairly simple decision in the end. Why place yourself under the thumb of another when you have even the slightest chance of rising far above them? He was not like the rest of the magicals with their stagnant thought processes and lack of ingenuity. There was barely any significant advance in the magical world for the past several decades. And he had a treasure trove of ideas from all the books he had read in his previous life. Clan magics were more intent based than incantation based and did not require verbal spells for most of them. With a clear visualization of the process backed by a strong will, it might be possible to exploit the powers to an incredible level.
"You know what my answer will be already, don't you, mom? I am going the solo route. The powers our clan wield are incredible and I'm sure I can gain a high degree of proficiency with them. I will start putting in some time to start developing those skills, but I suspect this will be a long-term effort."
"Of course, I do! I have raised you for your entire life after all. You have always been fiercely independent and sought to advance your magic by your means. And you have my blessings to do so. I know that you might have a bit of a tough time at the beginning, but the rewards are worth it. But before you get to that, we must accurately categorize your power. There have been instances where an incorrect categorization stunted the potential of very talented people by not letting them grow into their full potential."
"Sure mom, what do I need to do?"
"First test for an Ira, release your outermost mental shields and tell me what you feel?"
"That's easy enough."
Darius released his outer shields and relaxed. The outer shields were only the first line of defence into his mind. Releasing them was of no danger to him but it did open him up to the flow of energy around. He instantly noticed the emotions of all the people in about a 50m radius. The baptism of emotions he had had in the beginning prevented the pressure from getting too overwhelming and allowed him to keep himself grounded. But the next thing he noticed were the auras. The shimmered and flickered around the figures of his mother and Madam Pomfrey and Hermione over in the next room. This time it was a much shorter radius, merely about 10m or so.
"I can feel the emotions of everyone in about a 50m radius, their emotions, feelings, desires and the like. But that is likely not its limit by far. I caught snatches of emotions from further away and am pretty sure I could feel Mione and your worry from before. That was a particularly strange feeling. Also, I-"
"Oh my! You're a Clairempath! A person who can sense and perceive emotions and feelings across time and location. It is a highly regarded skill in the clan. They only appear every couple of generations or so. It will be an extremely useful skill to have."
"That's not all, mom. I can also see and feel the aura of everybody nearby. I can't accurately read the auras yet but believe I'll be able to do it with time."
"An Aura master then. While it is not a particularly rare skill, there are about half a dozen every generation, but trained properly, you can take it to great heights. But the incredible thing here is you awakened two of them simultaneously. The last patho-ergokinecist born in the clan was about twelve generations ago, I believe. Such people are able to sense and manipulate both emotions and energy.
Never mistake magic and energy. Magic is a narrow component of energy, the more spiritual and mystical one. The auras you see are the physical component of it, based on your vitality and life force. Energy manipulation encompasses both of them. You should have a far easier time of learning wandless casting and magic sense now."
Wow, this is so broken, its ridiculous! How would anyone be able to face up against this."
And one sharp bonk to the head was given. Darius almost didn't see the hand before it slammed on his head.
"Darius, you get a big head about his, and I keep hitting it till it returns to normal. That's what happened to the last patho-ergokinecist. He went out looking for adventure and died out there because he got cocky. You may have special skills far beyond most people, but you are sorely lacking in the experience department to back that up. And there are other families just as old as us with fairly powerful skills as well."
"Yes, yes, I understand. I just caught up in the moment there. Don't worry I won't let up on my training at all."
"I'm glad to hear that. Now we are almost done but there are a couple of things left. One, don't reveal your skills to anyone you don't trust a hundred percent. That sweet girl waiting outside seems to be one such person but think deeply before letting her know. Second, train as far as possible in your powers. They are time-consuming ones and the earlier you start, the easier path you will have."
"I will keep that in mind, mother! You don't have to worry about me slacking off during training mother. In fact, it is the other way around. There simply isn't enough time during the day to train. I am simultaneously working on learning more spells, improving dueling, improving transfiguration, perfecting the mind arts, research projects and more. I will need to actually need to set up a timetable to juggle all of this over the entire week, so that I don't fall behind in any of them."
"I see! Its great that you're putting in so much effort into it. Most other kids have to be dragged to do the bare minimum but also make sure not to go overboard. Training has to be tempered with relaxation or you'll be worn thin. And make time for your friends as well, especially that girl outside, I quite like her."
"Mooom! Don't embarrass me. But yes, I agree to what you're saying. And anyway, we spend most of our time together. She also trains together with me to improve her magic. She's got a drive to learn greater than I've ever seen before."
"Very well but take care of her. And now that you are fine, I need to get back to what I was doing."
"Ah, that reminds me, what were you doing that you managed to get here that quick?"
"Well, it was meant to be a surprise, but I might as well tell you now. I was in the middle of renting a house in Hogsmeade village for the both of us. I know how much you loved staying here when you were younger and thought that it would be nice if we shifted back here. You could also easily visit me on Hogsmeade weekends."
"Wow, that's great, mom. I'll definitely visit. And it would be great to live here again. Are you going to be working at Pippin's potions again?"
"No, I don't plan to work at any shops anymore. I might do some contractual work, like making so many bottles of so and so potion. But it'll mainly be work from home."
"That's fine. We don't need any more money anyways. And with my latest research, as soon as its successful, we'll be rolling around in mounds of gold."
"Oh? And what's this new invention of yours? I already told you to give up the idea of making those emergency escape portkeys and healing accessories. Both of them are too valuable in the eyes of those in high society. They would try to find any means to either get that information from you or entrap you into making it for them forever."
"It not that, mom. I didn't make any more of them after making one each for you and me. Though now that I think of it, I should make one for Mione as well. Anyways, the new research should be completed before the end of the year, so I'll show you during the summer break."
"Fine, I know you like your surprises. But I got to go now, the realtor must be waiting for me and I really want to get that cozy looking house with the garden."
"Bye, mom. Thanks for coming by. I hope I'll see you at the next Hogsmeade weekend."
"Bye, son. Love you."
"Love you too."
Darius' mother swept out of the room and Mione and Madam Pomfrey entered soon after.
Madam Pomfrey performed the diagnostic again and observed the results. "You are absolutely fine now, Darius. Your brain is still functioning at a higher than average rate but nothing outside acceptable parameters, must be a side-effect of your clan trait. You may leave now, but I want you coming back to the hospital the instant you have any problems whatsoever. Got it?"
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey, I will. But I don't think there will be any further problems anyway. Let's go, Mione."
The duo left the hospital hand-in-hand under Madam Pomfreys tender gaze. Mione had had a major fright when she had seen Darius collapse and it was reassuring to see him back to his normal self. And she had managed to have a successful first meeting with his mom as well. She hoped she had made a good impression!
c 64
Things went back to normal after that incident. Luckily, it had happened during the weekend and Darius' absence had not been noted. He had a whole new power to get used to and had so many new ideas he wanted to try. But he also knew that he could not be rash about it. When he still wasn't awakened, the initial influx of emotions had knocked him out and though he didn't believe it would be quite as bad as the first time, there was no reason to risk it.
Mione was still worried though. She was always hovering around, likely trying to make sure he didn't collapse again but finally started to behave normally after a few more days. They continued their RoR practice as well.
It took a few days to learn the initial parts of his powers. The Clairempathy allowed him to sense the emotions and feelings of any sentient beings, including ghosts. He was mighty surprised when he was trying to feel the emotions of the students around him on the way to the Great Hall, when he detected the strongest wave of self-hatred and regret that he had ever felt. He looked around to identify the person and found the Bloody Baron passing by. Darius knew about his story of course and could understand the reason for his feelings.
But occlumency seems to prevent his senses partially. For instance, he knew Snape hated teaching. The man was a Master Potioneer and a genius at that but that didn't mean he liked to teach. But he still didn't get any such negative feelings out of the man during the classes.
But even more amazing were the abilities associated with being I an Aura Master. Just a little bit of magic sent to his eyes would allow him to see the Aura of everyone around him. The sending magic to the eyes bit was a bit tricky but his natural instincts for the skill helped him in achieving it. He had to prepare his magic as if he was going to cast a spell and then direct it to his optic nerves. The magical energy allowed him to see beyond the mundane and gave him a view of Auras. He was still a novice at reading them, but despite that they were a great help in understanding people.
Mione had an amazingly ordered Aura, it was a smooth and gentle flow, though it did get excited every time she encountered books! Harry's aura was also unique, the innermost part was a beautiful glowing aura, but the outer parts seemed to swirl and flicker all the time. The horrific part though was the remnant aura his scar held. Despite the horcrux being removed there were still trace amounts of an extremely malevolent aura, though it did help Darius in identifying the Dark Lord's aura. The teachers at school all had stupendous auras, particularly Dumbledore and surprisingly Lupin. Dumbledore's was like a blazing fire, Darius was sure he could recognise it even from a mile away. Lupin's was also surprisingly strong, the werewolf within him must be the cause of it. But without a single doubt, the greatest aura in the school was Fawkes. That magnificent bird's aura would be visible for miles, it was that powerful. The only thing Darius knew for certain, was that the bird was bonded to Dumbledore, but he was sure the bird must be much, much older that the old wizard.
Practising either of the two skills was not easy at all, they were right up there with wandless magic as far as the level of difficulty was concerned. Only the preliminary abilities were somewhat easy to use but he was sure that there was much more hidden underneath the surface. Just the Aura master abilities had the potentially branch out into game-breaking abilities. Patho-Ergokinesis was a prized awakening skill for a reason!
The time went by swiftly with nothing amazing happening and was overall a calm few months. Darius' attempts at learning his powers were coming along but at quite a slow pace. The greatest asset he had now, was that he was instantly able to identify people by their auras, this meant there was almost no chance of anyone sneaking up on him, whether disillusioned, invisible or disguised. He was also able to get a better handle on his clairempathy and was quite easily able to tell truth and lies apart now.
Darius and Mione' relationship was going on just fine. They were doing all their practice together, he helped her advance far ahead in her schoolwork and they just loved each other's company. They had gone on another date the next Hogsmeade weekend and enjoyed it just as much. She had also taken to use magical remedies for all the small problems she had, based on Darius' advice of course. She had always hated her buck-teeth and bushy hair and it took just some persuasion from him for her to acquiesce to magical help. After Madam Pomfrey's two-minute cure, she was no longer so sceptical and made good use of the Owl Order pamphlets from the Owl Post at Hogsmeade to order some custom-made hair potions. The interested looks she got from the others after that almost made Darius wish she hadn't done so in the first place. Almost! She looked gorgeous and was the ideal girl with both brains and beauty.
Harry and Daphne were getting along swell too. Some of the Slytherins were enraged when they first found out and tried to come after Harry. Too bad for them, Harry was one of the premier members of the DA. They were taken down without even realising what happened and then shoved into the nearest broom closet. It was a tight fit for the four hulking Slytherins and quite an embarrassing position to be in when they were finally discovered a couple of hours ago. They attempted to retaliate though, the keyword here being attempted. Darius set the Weasley twins on the Slytherin's case and they were only to happy to test their entire arsenal of new products on the offending Slytherins. There was merry laughter in the hall on that day, when half the Slytherin house turned into chickens when they began to eat their breakfast.
Neville and Hannah were arguably the most similar couple. They got along swimmingly and were seemingly the perfect couple. She had helped a lot with the remainder of his self-esteem issues and he had brought her out of the shell she was in and made her more open with everyone.
The teachers had also started coming down hard on the students. OWLs were one of the most important examinations in a witch or wizard's life and everyone was working at a feverish pace to ace it. Darius had no worries about it though, as usual. The fortis memoriae was the single most useful spell for any student to learn. Even Mione, for all her disgust at cheating, acknowledged the sheer usefulness of the spell. She was able to devote much more time to learning practical magic now and was still able to go through more books than she did before.
Darius had also brought in some of their friends in the DA in the secret. No reason why they should waste time learning academics by rote when there was such a convenient alternative. Fred and George, Harry, Daphne, Neville, Hannah, Susan, Luna and Lee were the only ones Darius taught the spell to, and even that after they took a wizard's oath not to divulge it to any outsiders without his explicit permission. The twins and Lee were especially overjoyed since they also had the OWLs right around the corner. Though Darius did suspect that the twins might not put it to use for the exams. They were geniuses in their own right but still got minimal OWLs in canon and he suspected that it was to escape the clutches of their harpy-like mother and not end up in a ministerial job.
For some reason the Thestral herd had grown even closer to him once he had unlocked his powers. The came up to him as soon as they noticed him and started cosying up to him. Darius suspected it was due to his aura master abilities. With the awakening of that particular ability, his own aura had shot up in strength and power. It had also imbibed the dual nature of his core and exhibited a perfect mix of life and death, rather similar to the Thestrals.
One surprise was that the Buckbeak incident was still taking place. Hagrid was not in the crosshairs like last time since Malfoy didn't actually get hurt but they were still going after the hippogriff. Darius made a visit down to Hagrid's hut at least once a week and got to know about this the earliest. Hagrid was a very kind soul and really loved his little monsters, so Darius really felt for the poor guy. Hagrid had taught Darius a lot over the past few years, in fact more than most of the other teachers. Whatever the other teachers taught Darius, he had generally learnt it long ago so he didn't really learn much from them. His main source of knowledge was self-study and the RoR.
But Hagrid was different. The man had selflessly taught Darius all he knew about various beasts and it was much more than he could have learnt otherwise. The man had encountered nearly every known magical beast. It was a less known fact that Hagrid went on a different trip nearly every summer break to see a different animal. He had been groundskeeper since his expulsion and every knut he made went into these trips. The man was a veritable walking talking monster library.
"Hagrid, you needn't worry about it at all. They don't have a case against you at all. Buckbeak is in a bit more precarious position but I'm sure we can get him out of it. No poncy gits like the Malfoys are going to harm such a magnificent creature."
"Thanks fer tha' Darius. It does me good ta hear that. And thanks fer all the material ye got fer me. It should be much easier to figh' his case wit' this."
"Don't worry about it, Hagrid. I like the Hippogriffs as well. Though I got to admit that I like the Thestrals better!"
"To each his own. An' it is nice that at leas' some one likes those poor misunderstood beasts. They are extremely useful animals, once you can get pas' the superstitions."
"I know. And flying on them is also an exhilarating experience. But back to Buckbeak, you needn't worry so much. Even if you lost the case, it won't be too difficult to sneak him away to someone who can care for it. I know someone who has ample space in their mansion to house a hippogriff."
"Really? Thanks a lot, Darius. I am feelin' a lot more relieved since we have some other arrangements."
"No problem, Hagrid. By the way, how did you like your year as a teacher?"
"It was great. I loved ta teach all the kids abou' all the differen' animals. I was really worried afta' the Buckbeak incident though. If something serious had happened, I would hafta teach about Flobberworms for the rest of the year. But thanks ta ya, it all got sorted out."
"Well, I have been wondering for the past few days. Since you have so much experience in CoMC, why don't you apply for OWLs in it? Hogwarts is not the only place you can give OWLs, y'know? You can give it in the Ministry as well. Though there is the restriction of being only able to appear for it once in our entire life. But you never gave it before, so you should be able to appear for it."
"Are ya sure? I would love ta give he exam. But won't it be awkward?"
"Absolutely sure. The Ministery offers OWLs, NEWTs and Mastery exams to anyone who is interested. You just need to apply by owl post and go to the Ministery on the assigned date. I am confident that you can easily get your Mastery in CoMC. And it would be a lot easier for you as a teacher if you got a mastery. At least snobs like Malfoy wouldn't be able to kick you out easily."
"Mastery? I canna do that Darius. I appreciate the vote o' confidence. But how on earth am I prepared fer Mastery?"
"You are more than qualified, Hagrid. You just don't have the self-confidence to take the examination. I promise you, you are more than capable enough to take them and ace them as well. Go on, go for it."
"Ver well, I'll try it ou' this summer. And I really appreciate the help, Darius."
"It was no biggie, Hagrid. Just trying to get you to live up to your potential. But I gotta leave now. See ya."'
"Bye, Darius."
Darius had since helped Hagrid a number of times to learn some more of the theory bits. Hagrid didn't need help with the practical portion at all, he was as good as the examiners who would conduct the test. Darius also sneakily placed an overpowered Fortis Memoriae on Hagrid every time he visited, to help Hagrid learn the theory quicker. His OWLs were at the same time as the rest of the students but within the Ministry ad the NEWTs a week later. The Mastery would be about a month later, in the middle of the summer break.
Darius knew this was a major change to the timeline, but he couldn't help but help his friend. It hurt him to see Hagrid not utilizing the immense potential he had in the field. Plus it shouldn't vreate a vast change in the future. Hagrid would also get much better treatment in society with his status as a master, not to mention a raise in the pay scale.
Unfortunately, the case went the same way as in canon and Buckbeak was sentenced to execution. Darius found it suspicious though. He had provided Hagrid excellent material, which should have definitely got Buckbeak off the hook. There must have been some major strings pulled for this to happen. But he couldn't understand the purpose, even Malfoy Jr wasn't pushing so hard for it this time around. Someone else was also there on the field and they had their own agenda!
c 65
The exams were just a couple of months away and people were already starting to get back into the study mode, particularly the OWLs and NEWTs students. The novels didn't do any justice to the OWLs preparation at all. Students were literally putting their lives on the line in the months preceding the exam. After a grueling day of classes, where each teacher would try to push them to do their very best, they would have to return to their common rooms to further study on their own. Darius saw students study till late at night and then get up early in the morning to continue. It was crazy!
He was a bit tempted to just let them know about Fortis Memoriae but finally decided against it. The spell was too useful to just be given out freely. There were applications beyond academics as well. Plus, he didn't want to reveal the cards in his hand so early. Too many people would find a teenager self-creating a spell to be worth looking into and he didn't need that kind of attention right now.
He himself utilized all the time to do his research and practice his dueling. His research was coming along just fine and the RoR was an absolute goldmine in that regard. The dueling was coming along fine as well, though it would be much better if he had an actual opponent to practice with. There was only so far you could go with dummies. Though the Soul Grimoire was proving to be extremely helpful in that regard. Turns out, the book didn't only have magical knowledge but also a lot else. For instance, dueling skills as well as spell creation. In fact, several of Voldemort's dark spells were self-created. He had travelled after he finished schooling and learnt a lot from it. Building on knowledge from old Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Greek curses, he created and altered new spells. That was one of the reasons it was so dangerous to fight him head on. Several of his spell were far beyond conventional dueling spells.
Darius himself learnt a lot from the books and began to extrapolate it into his own work. Dark spell truly were just more powerful spells, it was only the intent behind them that made them seem evil. The blood boiling curse, sanguis inflammare could keep someone dying of the cold and hypothermis long enough to get help but in the wrong hands, cause a most painful and prolonged death. He also found most of them to be vastly ineffective. Voldemort may be one crazy lunatic, but he had the right idea about the Avada Kedavra, that spell would put an immediate end to the enemy rather than giving them time to get back at you.
Darius didn't bother too much with the negative side of the dark arts. Not only did they have a corrosive effect on your psyche, they also unnecessarily attracted the wrong kind of attention to oneself. If he really did have to kill someone, a severing charm to the arteries, or a bludgeoning hex to the head would work just as well. He was hoping he wouldn't have to do that but this world might not prove to be that accommodating. That was one of the reasons he was so focused on his occlumency over Legilimency. The occlumency shields could help him filter the emotions and shock if he had to kill someone and not cause him to freeze up in the moment. Though he was getting a lot better with Legilimency after his Animagus form changed.
Darius had tested his new Wampus cat form and found it to be exceptionally powerful. Most spells would not ne able to even get past his hide, let alone affect him. His Legilimency powers in that form were very powerful as well. He hadn't had anyone to test out the hypnosis as of yet, but he was sure that they would prove to be just as formidable. He could also run faster than almost every known creature. According to Sirius, he was a nearly invisible blur when he was going at top speed. The only thing he had to work on now was the speed of his transformations. If he could do it fast enough, he would be able to incorporate it into his battle tactics. For instance, he could fire off a spell as a feint, transform and race towards the enemy's blind spot, transform back and then let off another spell at the unaware opponent. Unless the opponent had unnaturally fast reflexes, there was no way of countering this combo. But the problem lay in the fact that he would be partially vulnerable when he was transforming. Sirius had got it down to mastery, he was able to transform on the fly at a moment's notice. Darius had to reach a similar level before he could safely use it in actual combat.
Darius was sure he was already at the apprentice levels for most of his subjects. In fact, his potions level was approaching Mastery. As a subject which required a great deal of theoretical knowledge, the Fortis Memoriae was particularly helpful. Though it was very doubtful whether he would ever go beyond that level, that required an almost instinctual understanding of the subject that was possessed by the rare few like Severus Snape and Lily Evans.
Charms, Transfiguration, DADA and CoMC had a much more hands-on approach and he could do much better there. Transfiguration particularly was proving to be his strongest suit. By now he was effortlessly able to transfigure large objects with exquisite detail. His conjuration was also up to par. The battle applications of it may not be readily apparent but it was far more versatile than any other field. While charms may have a much larger variety of spells, they were all geared towards a single task whereas a single transfiguration spell could be used for a great variety of tasks.
Hagrid's Ministry hearing had gone much the same way as in canon. The decision was already made even before he had gone into the courtroom. Hagrid had presented his case well though and not stumbled at all. But it was all for naught, Buckbeak was sentenced to execution. The sentence would be carried out in a few days and Hagrid was down in the dumps all the time. Darius had already written to Sirius but hadn't received a reply yet. Their monthly run had not come by yet or they could have met in person. Darius was sure he would agree though. He didn't explain the plan to Hagrid though. The half-giant may be a gentle soul and the kindest man around, but he was absolutely lousy at keeping a secret. Darius just told him that he would take care of it.
Just the day before the Ministry executioner was due to arrive, the letter from Sirius arrived. He said he would be glad to take care of a Hippogriff. CoMC had always been one of his favorites and he was very good with Hippogriffs. Darius had to plan this out carefully, the timing had to be just right if they were to ensure that Hagrid was not made into a scapegoat.
The next morning, Darius went down to Hagrid's hut bright and early. He had his plans ready but he wasn't a hundred percent sure whether it would work. First thing, he looked around and saw that there was no one around and quickly transformed into his Wampus cat form. Padding up to the Hippogriff, he stared at the beautiful creature. Buckbeak seemed to sense his gaze and turned to look at Darius. He tried hi first plan and opened a tentative connection using Legilimency. The Hippogriff resisted for a couple of seconds before finally allowing him in.
It could not exactly use words to communicate. So, what it dd was to communicate using mental images and sounds. It was not an exact art but with the skills of a Wampus cat, he was able to manage. It was simple enough, Buckbeak was to go to a certain house in London and stay there when he was told to do so. Darius sent the location of 12, Grimmauld place via mental images and pictures till he was sure that the Hippogriff understood his plan. Buckbeak was inordinately smart for a beast and got it in just a few tries. The knowledge that Darius was more than powerful enough to eviscerate it must have helped the speed along.
After that, it was time to play the waiting game. Darius had no clue when exactly the executioner would arrive but he knew it would be some time in the morning. He had already pilfered food from the kitchens that morning and he proceeded to lay down and rest after casting a disillusionment charm on himself. He had gotten quite good at the spell after frequent usage. Darius drew inspiration from the words that Dumbledore had once spoken to Harry, "I do not need an invisibility cloak to make myself invisible." The words may be simple but served to illustrate the heights a single spell could reach once you had high proficiency in it. The entire area looked absolutely serene with no disturbance and Darius simply slept off. It was late in the morning, close to noon in fact, when Darius woke up because of some loud voices.
Professor Dumbledore was leading the group that was walking down the lawns. Behind him was the tall form of Macnair and an elderly man holding a sheaf of parchments. The elderly man must be a ministry worker or an official from the Committee for Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Darius had also made it a point to learn as much as possible about every Death Eater, pardoned or not. Things like their workplace, residences, magical skill, fighting abilities and more. Macnair was one of them and it was easy enough to recognize his face. But the worrying bit was the absence of the Minister of Magic. According to canon, Cornelius Fudge should have been here as well, but he was not. So clearly, there had been a change in the events.
They were let into the hut by Hagrid after they had seen Buckbeak chained up in the paddock to finalize the details. Darius wasted no time and rushed towards Buckbeak after casting a wandless muffliato at his feet to prevent any accidental noise. Buckbeak already knew the plan ad was waiting for him. He quickly disillusioned the Hippogriff and then sent him flying after a hard pat on its hindquarters. Darius didn't know what Macnair was playing at here, even the Malfoys weren't so vested in it, but he intended to get Buckbeak out of the way before it escalated further.
"Good luck, Buckbeak! Fly high, fly fast and may you have a safe journey!"
With one last affectionate nudge, Buckbeak took off into the skies at a blistering pace and was soon out of sight. Good deed for the day done, Darius started to trudge back to the castle when he felt it. The slight vibration in his pocket that told him he had an emergency on his hands.
When Darius had first started the DA, he considered using the Protean charm and mimicking Mione's work with the DA galleons. But the DA being a legitimate club, there was no reason to sneak about surreptitiously and hand out secret messages. But he found a new use for it. They were designed to work as a sort of SOS signal when someone was in danger. Darius had handed it to his closest friends and told them about its usage. The coin he held now showed Neville's name along with the words DA Hall.
Darius threw caution to the winds and moved to the DA Hall as fast as he could. He used one of his newest spell creations, ventus. Ventus gave him an amazing wind-assisted speed that was nearly twice of his normal one along with minimal exhaustion. It was designed to be a combat speed to help him even out the odds against duelists with far better reflexes or more experience than him. But it could be used to cover ground faster as well. He skidded in front of the enchanted doors less than 10 minutes later. The doors were only able to be opened by a password that the DA members knew, when it was not in use.
"Strength in numbers!" He shouted and immediately the portrait swung open. He headed in with his wand drawn, on the lookout for any enemies. He saw Neville, Hannah, Harry and Daphne standing around a single person, all of them with wands drawn. The four of them were some of the most dedicated members and often spent their weekends together in the hall while training. Mione and him used the RoR, of course.
The person bound and gagged in the center had a familiar look. It was the traitorous rat, Peter Pettigrew. He looked to be in a terrible condition. The arm that had been severed by Madam Bones was still not healed and he had a small stump remaining. He was dressed in beggar like garbs and looked to not have had any rest forever. He was knocked out for the moment, so Darius turned to the others. Neville had a small slash on his arm and Harry was looking a bit tired but that was all.
"Alright, seeing as you have this piece of shit bound up here, I know why you called for an emergency. Now, someone explain to me what the hell happened here?"
Neville began first, "Well, Harry and Daphne were already inside by the time we came. Hannah and I were going to enter after we spoke the password but a sudden force flung us forward and we lay sprawled on the floor. The door closed behind us with a bang and we turned to see Pettigrew standing there. He must have been under an invisibility cloak or a disillusionment charm and stepped in the moment someone used the password to open the door."
Harry took over after that. "Daphne and I were dueling when this happened. By the time we turned around, Neville and Hannah were on the ground and the rat bastard had a wand on them. I remembered the incident with Oliver and saw red, sending off half a dozen spells at him in quick succession. That was enough to distract him and for them to get their wands back into their hands. Then all four of us dueled him. He may be a traitor and a coward, but he knew his way around dark spells. Too many of the spells he used were unknown to us and could prove to be potentially lethal, so we played defensive. Daphne then tripped him up with a quick bit of transfiguration and Neville knocked him out with a stunner."
"Well done, all of you. You kept you heads in the fight and didn't take any unnecessary risks. And bringing down a veteran Death eater is no joke, even if it is the weakest of them, so congratulations on that. I hope this illustrated my point that we have to be prepared all the time. But now, it's time to interrogate this traitor and find out what exactly are his goals.
c 66
"Ennervate!"
Pettigrew woke up slowly from the effects of the strong stunner and looked up to see someone directly n front of him with their wand directly pointed at his forehead. He was also bound up in conjured ropes and there were four more people arrayed around the first with their wands pointed at him as well. He blinked to clear his eyes and his vision came into focus to see the students around him. He immediately recognized Darius, Harry and Neville, he had lived in the Gryffindor tower before, after all. But he wasn't too sure about the other two girls. They had the yellow and green trimmings in their robes which showed they were of the Hufflepuff and Slytherin houses respectively.
He was in a bad situation now. Being in the castle was dangerous enough, being caught would see him handed over to the dementors post-haste. But he had a task and he had no choice but to do it or suffer the wrath of Lord Voldemort. And he knew of Darius. Ron had complained about the boy often enough, about how he was supposed to be the best friend of the boy-who-lived and his place had been snatched away by Neville and Darius. But Pettigrew saw past that for what he was, he was one of those geniuses that came along once in a while, like James and Sirius had been. He had been so jealous of their innate skills and knew exactly how Ron felt. But now was not the time to reminisce or remember old grudges. Darius was a dangerous opponent and he had already been divested of his wand, he could only hope that he would be able to turn the situation around.
Darius saw the twitchy little traitor and had to hold himself back from striking him mercilessly. This rotten coward was the reason two brave people had lost their lives to a maniac and a little boy was left orphaned. But he had to shelve his hatred for now and get answers.
"So, Pettigrew, you know how this goes. You have been captured and are our prisoner. So, fess up on everything you are trying to do, or we get it out of you the hard way."
Pettigrew paled a bit at Darius' smirk and but managed to hold himself together. "I will say nothing. What are you going to do, a mere student, to a death eater in the service of the Dark Lord. You better let me go if you know what's good for you. Otherwise he will come after you, your families and all your loved ones and kill them all."
"What a brave front you have put up! But we all know the cowardly scum you are. But it seems your fear of Voldemort lets you ignore the immediate threat in front of you. Well, no matter! There are other ways to go about it."
Darius knew he had to be careful with his next steps. The information he would get from Pettigrew might prove far too important not to take a risk though. He silently placed a muffliato in the surrounding area. He had already instructed the others to keep a distance of at least a few meters, so that they could move to capture Pettigrew if he tried to escape.
"Somnus!" He placed a low powered sleep charm to get Pettigrew to be drowsy and lower his mental defenses. It would be much easier to do the next step then.
"Legilimens!" He may not be an accomplished Legilimens in terms of skill but due to training under mental pressure in the RoR, he was easily able to brute-force his way into Pettigrew's mind, especially considering his defenses were already down.
"What is your aim here?"
Images swum around in his mind and came together to show Babymort giving the rat instructions to get the blood of Harry Potter against his will. He had been given an unbreakable phial with preservation charms to get it back for Voldemort.
Damn!
"Do you know why?"
Pettigrew's memories showed the procedures his master made him do to start creating a potion. He said he will resurrect himself and return to his full power with a secret ritual he knows. Harry Potter's blood is one of the needed components of the ritual.
"Is there any one else involved in the plan?"
Macnair had come today as backup for the rat. He was supposed to be distracting Dumbledore along with the other member of the Committee for Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, who was under the Imperius. After he is able to separate from Dumbledore, he would wait for Pettigrew near the edge of the Hogwarts grounds.
"Anybody else?"
At least, according to his memories, no one else is involved. Thank god for small mercies.
"Where is Lord Voldemort and is there anyone else with his right now?"
Pettigrew's memories seemed to be growing hazy as he tried to find out the answer. He delved deeper and deeper but to no use. There seemed to be no way to get the information of Voldemort's location from Pettigrew. Either the information had been shielded by Voldemort himself by placing some sort of mental blockade or more likely, the place was under the Fidelius.
As to the person taking care of Voldemort right now, a shiver went down Darius' spine. It was Fenrir Greyback. Voldemort had promised Greyback something, Pettigrew didn't know what. In return, Greyback had sworn an unbreakable Vow, to serve and protect the Dark Lord till his eventual resurrection. This was not good, not good at all. Having that psychopath on Voldemort's side this early in the game was unacceptable.
This was too early. Why on earth was this happening already. Darius desperately needed to delay this plan. He wouldn't be able to protect him all over the year. Sooner or later, one of his lackeys might be able to get their hands on his blood. Pettigrew escaping early has caused a shit load of problems. With no information from Bertha Jorkins, he couldn't even come up with the abduction plan. And that is when it struck Darius. He had the ideal patsy right in front of him. But it would take great resolve on Darius' part.
He realized it quite early, that this life of his will not be as peaceful as his previous one. That someday, he would be faced with the death eaters and he would have to put them down. He was not an idealist like Dumbledore, he understood that in war, it was either your side or the other side. Using stunners and disarmers was beyond foolhardy when going up against people who are likely to send a killing curse at you the very next second. The Order of the Phoenix suffered heavy losses in the first war because of that. But he was still not a cold-blooded killer and it wasn't an easy transition. At least he would do it in an indirect manner this time.
It was time to put his impromptu plan to the test.
He looked around and saw that the other four were still alert and had their wands pointed towards Pettigrew, ready to strike him down if it was required.
"Confundo!"
"Serpens Agonia!"
The dark curse hit Pettigrew and the man immediately started to shake in pain. Darius quickly followed up with a weak wandless bombarda at the ground between Pettigrew and himself, blowing up that small area and creating a smokescreen. Pettigrew took the chance to transform, as Darius knew he would and scarpered away as fast as his three limbs could carry him.
"Incendio!" The stream of fire burst out from the end of Darius' wand and spread out in the area in front of him rapidly, sending the temperature in the room up by a few degrees near instantaneously. He was careful to keep it a foot above the floor though. This way, Pettigrew escaped in the confusion and the other four students couldn't come close enough to see through the trick.
"All of you, Pettigrew had a backup wand and managed to escape by using a distraction. I don't know if he escaped or not, so be wary. Neville, Daphne and Hannah, please hurry to the Headmaster and inform him that Pettigrew was sighted within Hogwarts premises. Also, he and Macnair are here on a covert mission given to them by Lord Voldemort."
The girls made to run out of the room when Darius remembered something.
"Wait!"
He quickly drew out the Marauder's map and looked at it to find Dumbledore's name. The headmaster was currently in his office and he also spotted Pettigrew racing out of the school wards. Good, that part of the plan was successful. The confundus charm made him forget to meet Macnair and escape back to Voldemort on his own.
Macnair was still waiting a few meters away from the school gates. This was an excellent opportunity to ambush him.
"Daphne and Hannah, head to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore is currently located there. Go! Go! Hurry up!"
The girls rushed off in a hurry and Darius turned to face Harry.
"Harry, there is another death eater on the grounds right now. Want to come with me to take him down?"
"Another one!? Let's go now. God knows what might happen if we delay."
The two of them took off immediately. Darius led Harry through a couple of secret passages to shorten their route by a lot and they were in front of the castle doors in no time.
Darius placed a disillusionment charm on both of them and a muffliato on their feet as well. They rushed towards the castle gates and stopped near a small copse of trees nearby. Macnair was not visible anywhere nearby, so Darius took out the map again. The map showed his location to be less than five meters away, just on the other side of the trees.
He must be under an invisibility cloak, just waiting for Pettigrew to come to the assigned place with the vial of blood. There was only one thing to do, flush him out.
Darius pointed his wand at the approximate position of Macnair and let loose.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
The entire area blew up and a badly mangled body flew out of the patch and landed on the ground a couple of meters away. Of course, this was all a play for Harry's benefit. Darius already knew that Macnair was there by seeing his aura. Only a cloak like Harry's would be able to hide from his aura sight. But there was no way he was letting one of these racist, bigoted, maniac terrorists get away. Even if Voldemort was taken down, these people would be there to destroy whatever peace was made. The more of them got taken out early, the better it would be for everyone. But it would not do to just let this one bleed out just like that.
"Harry, go back to the castle and let Dumbledore know about this guy as well. He looks to be alive still but won't be for much longer."
"Yeah, I'll do that. But keep an eye on him, he might not be out for the count yet."
Harry rushed back to the castle and Darius headed towards the body lying on the ground. Just as he was a few meters away from it, he saw the aura of the person spike up and quickly threw up the strongest shield he could.
"Protego Maxima!" And he was just in time too.
A wicked looking purple spell came flying towards him and hit his shield with a bang and gave off multicolored sparks. Darius noticed the shield beginning to give away and quickly rolled out of the way. The shield shattered a moment later and the spell went past where his chest had been just a second ago.
Macnair had gotten up by now, but he was in a sorry condition. His robes were tattered all over. His left hand was blown clean off his shoulder and lay on the ground a meter away. He was bleeding profusely and by his paling skin, looked ready to pass out any second.
Quickly buffing himself with a strong ventus, Darius began running in a semi-circle around Macnair, trying to block off his escape route out of the castle.
"Bombarda! Reducto! Incendio!"
Macnair managed to shield the first one but the second one blew a hole straight through the shield. Darius was quite powerful as it is and to add on that, Macnair didn't even have half of his normal fighting capacity. The fire managed to reach him and set him alight.
Macnair screamed in pain and managed to put of the flames with an aguamenti charm.
His whole outfit was smoking, and the wounds looked in an even worse condition. His shoulder wound got burnt though and stopped bleeding for the moment.
Darius banished him with a strong depulso and he flew through the air and landed further within the Hogwarts wards. Darius had gotten in between him and the Hogwarts boundary by now and he couldn't escape unless he managed to get by Darius.
Macnair got up to his feet unsteadily and noticed that his wand had blown even further away and was at least a few meters away.
He huffed a little bit and managed to wheeze out. "You're a scary kid, you know that! Say what, come with me and I'm sure the Dark Lord can find some use for someone of your talents."
So, he was trying to tempt him to switch sides? A final ploy to save his life. Darius was sure, Voldemort would sooner Crucio him for destroying his plans than welcome him into their ranks, not that he was eager to join their terrorist group anyways.
"Thanks, but no thanks!"
"Petrificus Totalum!" And Macnair keeled over, stiff as a board.
Darius knew he was in a dangerous position now. He may have lost his head in the midst of all the adrenaline rush, but he was able to come back to himself in short order. He had just attacked and lethally wounded a ministry employee and a pure-blood with no provocation whatsoever. The Wizengamot would have taken no time at all to give Darius the worst possible punishment.
He did not have Pettigrew in custody and neither did he have a memory of Pettigrew's confession since he got all the information through Legilimency. So, he had no proof to back up his claims. But it shouldn't be too hard to get it now.
"Confundo!" He placed the strongest confundus charm he could.
Darius once again resorted to the confundus charm to trick the opponent. Especially with the wounds he had and his mental state at the moment, Macnair should be completely swindled by it.
He quickly disillusioned himself and spoke in the best imitation of Voldemort's voice that he could manage.
"You failed, Macnair. And you know that I don't like failures. Speak, Macnair! What was your mission in Hogwarts? Tell me every one of the details."
Macnair fell over himself to prostrate on the ground and laid out every part of Voldemort's plan. About how Macnair was supposed to play his role, where he was supposed to rendezvous with Pettigrew, about how Pettigrew was to get the blood of Harry Potter and everything else he knew. Now, he had a complete confession from him and the memory to back it up. What happened to him was no longer the concern of Darius. The man had one foot in the grave already.
As he watched Macnair taking his final breath, he spied five silhouettes make their way across the lawn speedily towards him. As they came closer, he made out his four friends as well as Dumbledore rapidly making their way across the lawn. As he saw Dumbledore's enraged face, he could truly appreciate the power this man must have wielded at his peak. His aura had changed from the gentle flow it normally had to a raging inferno around him. He might not like Dumbledore's schemes much, but you got to give the man credit for his power.
He turned to see Macnair's chest collapse as he passed away and heaved a deep sigh. He sat down on the lawn, not out of physical exhaustion but mental. He had taken two lives today and he knew he might have to take even more. Thank god this unexpected confrontation went their way! But he also knew that he could not let up in the least and would have to continue to get stronger if he wanted to come out of this alive.
c 67
Pettigrew collapsed to the floor as soon as he appeared. Voldemort was having his concoction of potions and Nagini's venom when he suddenly popped into existence. Pettigrew's face had started to turn purple and his entire body was convulsing painfully. Most of his skin surface had blackened and blood had started to come out of all his orifices. It was amply evident he had either been dosed with an extremely strong poison or hit with a dark curse.
"What happened, Wormtail? Did you get me the blood or not?" Voldemort's high voice rang out in the room. It was amply clear that he did not care one whit for his servant's life. Greyback was present there as well but he made no effort to help the dying man, he was just sitting hunched over on one of the armchairs in the corner.
Pettigrew tried to open his mouth but to no avail, the curse had breached his respiratory system and he found it hard to breathe, let alone speak. He could only plead with his eyes but that didn't hold any sway with Lord Voldemort.
"Since you are unable to speak, I might as well rip it from your mind."
Voldemort knew that Wormtail was dying and didn't have long to live. If he had an actual body, he might have been able to brew something or cast a spell to keep the curse at bay, but it was beyond his capabilities for now. He may have been able to manage a counter-curse if he knew what spell this actually was, but he didn't have enough time to examine him. So, he could only resort to getting the information by ripping it from Wormtail's mind.
"Legilimens!"
Voldemort scoured through Wormtail's memories, but the process was very difficult. The memories seemed extremely clouded and sluggish. Voldemort thought it may be due to Pettigrew's approaching death, but the truth was that the confundus charm used by Darius as well as the mental barriers placed by him played a far more important part in it.
Voldemort saw that he was unsuccessful in getting the blood and also failed to rendezvous with Macnair and was enraged. He still persisted in going through the memories and found the knowledge of the Triwizard Cup taking place next year, conveniently placed there by Darius. Voldemort didn't have the time to verify the truth of the matter but that was all the better. It would mean he could verify the information himself and then build up his plan himself without realizing he was being manipulated into doing so.
"Did you manage to learn something, master?" Greyback spoke up in his rasping tone.
Both the werewolf and his master paid no more attention to the corpse lying on the floor beyond Voldemort telling Nagini to have her fill in Parseltongue. Nagini had been an unexpected and fortuitous find in the Albanian forests. She was by far one of the cleverest and most intelligent serpents he had ever encountered, on par with the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. There was something unique about her. He had even suspected she was an animagus at first, but tests had proven that it was not so.
She also provided the venom that kept this homunculus form alive. He had had Pettigrew abduct a pregnant woman from one of the small settlements near the Albanian forest and made himself this unnatural body using her unborn foetus and dark magic. It was barely adequate, but it would have to do till he managed to rebuild his body again. Nagini's venom was once again a vital component in the ritual and he used the murder of the mother to fuel the process of creating another Horcrux.
Voldemort thought for a whole longer and then slowly replied after gathering his thoughts. "Of course, I did. And I learnt some interesting things too. I wonder how Wormtail came by this information. Though it is unconfirmed, I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult to confirm the veracity of the information.
The information is that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place in Hogwarts the next year. I will be the ideal opportunity to get to Potter. It seems I have been too hasty with my plans when there was such a golden opportunity just waiting for me. If only I could have had some insider Ministry information, things would have been much simpler."
"Why don't you meet Lucius, my lord. He is ideally placed in the Ministry and well-connected enough to get you all the information you may desire. For that matter, Snape would have had an easy time getting the blood of the Potter boy."
"You know my condition, Greyback. True, I have built myself a rudimentary body through my deep knowledge of the dark arts, but it is still not enough to truly display my power. They may even turn on me, the one they pledged allegiance to, if it would help their cause. I find myself having doubts in the loyalty of my followers, after their renunciation of my group. I will meet them, but only when the time is suitable."
"As you wish, master. But when will you fulfill your accord with me?"
"All in good time, my follower. You shall have your chance to bite as many younglings as you wish but all in good time."
Dumbledore was enraged like the students had never seen him before. Harry and the other felt their scalps prickle as they could literally feel the palpable aura he was sending out. All five of them rushed to the copse of trees where they could see Darius and Macnair fighting. They saw Darius fire off one final spell when Macnair was barely steady on his feet, which all of them recognized as the full body-bind curse, and the Death Eater collapsed to the ground. Darius also sat down and begin to rest just as they all reached him.
Dumbledore looked over Darius once to ensure he didn't have any lethal injuries before rushing over towards the Death Eater to check his condition. Macnair had already passed away!
"Darius, my boy, we should get you back to the castle as soon as possible. I do not think you have any serious injuries but I want you to rest under Madam Pomfrey's care for the meanwhile. The rest of you can accompany him but do not pressure him. He had had a difficult fight and needs to rest."
Dumbledore then conjured a pair of stretchers and after loading both of them onto the stretchers, began to float them towards the castle. He was very worried about Darius. The boy, whether intentionally or not, had taken a life today. Such a deed does not go by without leaving a mark on one's psyche. And he couldn't just let one of the brightest minds of the generation succumb to this.
It was a pity that Macnair had passed away, they may have been able to get some valuable information from him. But the main thing now was to handle the fallout from this. It was not very reassuring to parents when two Death Eaters manage to make their way into school premises, where their children are located.
The next couple of days, Darius spent his time twiddling his thumbs in the hospital wing. He did have a bit of a difficult time coping in the beginning but Mione was by his side for most of the day, and that helped a lot. He had not held back and frankly let her know that a man had died by his hand. Better coming from him than from someone else. She already knew the ins and outs of the matter though, the other four had let her know.
Dumbledore was oddly accommodating this past few days. Guess he didn't want Darius to end up a cold-blooded murderer. He had immediately ordered a seal on the entire incident. Not the fact that it happened but what the actual series of events were, and the people involved in it. Of course, you can't hide the death of a Ministry official on Hogwarts grounds, but Dumbledore was able to head them off from Darius and the other students' direction. None of the students wanted the additional fame this would bring them, Harry in particular.
They all collectively asked Dumbledore to cover up the incident and take credit for the discovery of the two Death Eaters. He seemed happy to do so, he was very satisfied that none of us had gone after fame and just kept our heads down. Fame wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. And guess keeping Harry out of the limelight had been a great motivation for the old man. The staff had to be told what happened, of course and most of them were very impressed with our acts. Though it was touch and go there with Professor McGonagall, on whether she would award us points for valor or dock them for risking our lives.
But the incident finally got out into the open. The Daily Prophet got a front-page article on the matter though the truth was obfuscated a bit, as was usual with the Daily Prophet. Darius didn't know if this was a decision on their part or they were pressured by the Ministry but there was no mention of the fact that he was a Death Eater or what his plans may have been. Darius had given Dumbledore a full accounting of the incident as well as the memory to back it up, so he had the full confession of Macnair on hand. But that wasn't enough to tie the incident to Lord Voldemort in the eyes of the Ministry. They didn't want the society to panic and pressed the information, merely saying that Macnair was up to something dangerous and was stopped in time by the Headmaster.
The general public behaved like sheep, as expected of them, and lapped up the bogus story and had another reason to revere their respected leader of the light. But the more powerful players in the game knew that this was a dangerous sign. Death Eaters don't suddenly become active after more than a decade for no reason whatsoever. The Ministry just wanted to stuff its head into the ground, as usual and hope the whole mess blew over and was nothing more than a blip in their stability.
Though the Ministry did catch a lot of flak for allowing someone deranged be on their payroll, it wasn't enough to knock Fudge of his seat. If Fudge had accompanied him to Hogwarts like in canon, the situation might have been different. But in the present situation, he just washed his hands clean of the whole debacle. Lucius and his cronies took a hit to their reputation as well, they were well known acquaintances and it reflected poorly on them. Besides, Lucius and the others status as ex- Death Eaters was the most poorly kept secret in magical high society, and they only got away with it by using their gold and influence.
Harry, Neville, Daphne, Hannah and Mione were impressed though, very impressed. Darius had just taken down a full adult, one who was a Death Eater and had knowledge of Dark spells. Mione was the only one who knew exactly how much time he put into training and even she was impressed. You don't see a mere 5th year, who is actually one year younger than the rest of the class, take down a Death Eater all that often. Mione had taken a lesson from all this though. Darius had already told her that the magical world was not all that peaceful, and this incident drove her to put in even more effort into her training. She had always been skilled, but she was growing by leaps and bounds. Despite all the advantages he had, she may be able to catch up with Darius' present level of skill in less than two years, at least with focus casting. She was still far behind as far as natural casting was involved, but at least she was working on it.
The incident blew over quickly enough, though the four students present on that day started working almost as hard as Mione did. It was a positive effect and Darius encouraged it as much as possible. With all the ordeals coming our way, they needed to be prepared. Though Darius would do all that he could to make sure things didn't go that way.
c 68
It had been a couple of months since the Death Eater incident and judging by the lack of any more attacks, Voldemort had shifted to his tournament plan. It would be much easier to counter his plans if the timeline was closer to the original. Darius was glad that the trick he had tried worked, at least as far as he could tell. Pettigrew's mind was ridiculously easy to tamper with, must come with being as weak-willed as he was. Voldemort could have no doubt figured out that it was planted information if he had more time but with the deadly curse on Pettigrew, there was no way he would live long enough for that. The curse was the same necrosis inducing venom spell which Voldemort had placed on the Gaunt ring. There were only a couple of spells that had even the slightest resemblance to it, so I'm sure Voldemort was able to identify it but that didn't mean e could heal a deadly curse that had been cast for such a long duration, not even sure whether he would bother to do it even if he could.
The OWLs were here. The first exam that decides your life. The students in the 5th year were going absolutely bonkers with the pressure. It was common to see frazzled and frustrated students lounging around the common room with heavy tomes in their hands. The library was as silent as a graveyard and everyone inside was feverishly studying to make up for all the slacking off they did in the earlier years. Unlike the NEWTs, which were much more selective in their approach and only tested the advanced knowledge of a student, the OWLs were known to have questions on obscure topics taught in the first year. It was not much of a problem for Darius, what with his cheat-like Fortis Memoriae, but it was hell on earth for the others. Darius meanwhile was using his time efficiently and was furthering the gap between him and his peers even further, as if the situation now wasn't enough already.
He had managed to bring down the time taken to complete his animagus transformation to less than a second and it was now a viable addition to his combat strategy. Having an incredibly fast, near invincible animal form you could switch into in the middle of a fight was a great trump card. The highly magic resistant hide of the Wampus cat allowed him to shrug off all but the most potent of curses and spell, i.e., if they cold hit him in the first place. Most wizard couldn't possibly match the speed he could attain in his Wampus cat form and that was a great advantage to have.
His spell work had also grown dizzyingly fast and he cold fire off spell at a very high speed now, though at the cost of slightly reduced power and accuracy. The stationary dummies at RoR offered no challenge any more and he had started with the moving ones. It had done wonders for his spell work. There was absolutely no use having a vast repertoire of spells or a great deal of power if you couldn't even hit the opponent. Most wizards were not at the level of their full physical potential. As wizards naturally have higher body specs due to the magic coursing its way through the body, they never really bothered to improve upon it. Even so, Darius maintained his rigorous schedule constantly and maintained a high level of physical fitness. With the addition of the Vertentes, he was head and shoulders above the rest of the people. What most wizards don't realize is that stamina plays just as important a role in a duel as magical power, many wizards get taken down because they were unable to keep up with the physical exertion rather than getting magically exhausted.
The examiners were here! Omg, they were finally here. Darius was starting to get a bit testy with the atmosphere in the castle. It was like someone was coming to take them all to the gallows for execution. The somber mood was totally killing his mood and it was a great relief when he saw the examiners walk into the hall. Of course, the rest of the students acted as if they had just seen their executioners walk in and the hall was pin-drop silent. Even the lower years seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and seemed to be silent for once. The examiners were led by a wizened looking witch, presumably Madam Marchbanks, the head of the W.E.A. or Wizarding Examinations Authority. There were a gaggle of examiners following her, though Darius didn't bother to count. The students had already been given their exam schedules and exams were to begin in another couple of days.
Darius' timetable was as follows-
Monday Charms (Theory)
Charms (Practical)
Tuesday Transfiguration (Theory)
Transfiguration (Practical)
Wednesday Herbology (Theory)
Herbology (Practical)
Thursday Defense against the Dark Arts (Theory)
Defense against the Dark Arts (Practical)
Friday Ancient Runes (Theory)
Monday Potions (Theory)
Potions (Practical)
Tuesday Care of Magical Creatures (Practical)
Wednesday Astronomy (Theory)
Astronomy (Practical)
Thursday Arithmancy (Theory)
Friday History of Magic (Theory)
Darius had all the subjects except two, Divination and Muggle Studies. Divination was a crap subject for anyone who did not actually have the gift of the Inner Eye and Muggle Studies was so outdated it wasn't even funny. Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and History of Magic were purely theory subjects and CoMC was only practical. The rest of the subjects had both theory and practical examinations. The advanced classes for Arithmancy and Runes in the NEWTs level did have some practical applications but not at the OWLs level.
The night before the first exam, the students were freaking out and studying till the last moment. Just to be on the safe side, Darius also went through the entire syllabus once, with the Fortis memoriae spell activated of course. Mione was even more nervous about his OWLs than he was, despite knowing about the Fortis Memoriae. It felt nice to have someone so concerned anyway and he reassured her that he would do very well in the examinations.
The next day dawned and Darius left his Vertentes early and headed down to the Great Hall for a hearty breakfast. Charms was up first, and Darius didn't want to perform anything less than his best.
The crowd cleared out as breakfast got over, though the exam students still milled around. At half past nine, the students were let into the Great Hall and told to take their seats. The arrangement was just as it had been described in the books. Four long rows of single seats meant for a single individual. All the students bustled about taking their seats. When the hubbub finally settled down, Professor McGonagall gave the customary warning regarding cheating and then distributed the exam sheets to us with a single wave of her wand.
As soon as the hourglass was turned, beginning the start of the examination, Darius put his head down and started on is paper. It was extremely simple for him and he went about it diligently. There were a vast number of questions though. Darius wasn't sure what the requirement for an 'O' was, but he was pretty sure that answering about 70% of it correctly should have been more than enough.
The questions ranged from levitation charms, all the way up to the Patronus charm. Color charms, cheering charms, summoning, banishing, severing and everything in between. By the time Darius finished the paper, there was only about half an hour left, but he was well satisfied with his attempt. Unless he was very much mistaken, and he didn't think he was, he must have broken the record for the Charms written examination.
The exams were followed by lunch, where Darius had to spend half the time trying to calm a hyper Mione before he got to having his lunch. The other students, at least those outside the DA, were practicing all the spells in whatever little time we had left.
He got called in pretty early and walked up to the only free examiner, a certain Professor Ember. She was a relatively young witch, only in her mid-thirties or so, and gave a bright smile as he approached.
"Hello, Darius Icarus, right?"
"Hello ma'am, that's right."
"Now, I want you to relax and take it easy. Too many people make mistakes they wouldn't otherwise make just because they are too tense. Now, first I would like you to levitate these five feathers and make them do a circle of eight in the air."
And so it began. We moved from levitation to color changing, then size manipulation, summoning and banishing, utility charms and more. It was a pretty thorough exam.
"Well, Darius, I have to say your performance was commendable. In such extraordinary cases we allow students to perform their best spell, for a better grade?"
Well, he didn't know that's how it worked, or he would have thought it through earlier. This must be how students can achieve the coveted O+ grade. His repertoire of charms was not expansive as his dueling spells and only one thing came to mind. Harry may have used it to get an O in DADA, but technically, it was a charm.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The ocelot Patronus burst out of the end of the wand and zipped around the place like it owned it. Thank god there weren't any DA members in the room at the same time as me, or we would be having a whole herd of Patronuses going around the place. Ember gave a wide grin when she saw it and clapped twice.
"Impressive, very impressive! The Patronus charm is a NEWTs level charm and even most of them don't know it. That's going to be a big boost, Darius. Very well, you may go now Darius, and keep up the good work."
After that, Darius was led out through a side door and asked to return to his common room. This was done to prevent the people who have completed their exams from disclosing the contents to their friends. Darius headed back to the tower, a bit exhausted, but exceedingly pleased with himself.
Transfiguration the next day went much the same way. The theory was much more difficult due to the complicated spell formulae and the complex theories behind transfiguration, not to mention the endless variations of its applications. At least in charms, each spell stuck to doing what it was supposed to do, in transfiguration a single spell could be used for multiple effects or in multiple scenarios.
The practical was a breeze as well. Darius managed to complete everything flawlessly and impressed the examiners there as well. For the extra spell, he chose not to use the Aegis. Beyond impressive though it might be, especially for an OWLs student, it was as of yet not complete. He chose to show conjurations, a NEWTs level technique, and conjured a multitude of objects of varying complexities. McGonagall was watching from one end of the hall and Darius noticed her giving a very self-satisfied smile from the corner. He couldn't have been prouder.
Herbology theory was a joke for Darius. He just needed to answer the material given in the textbooks word for word. It did not even require any application like the previous two papers. The practical in the afternoon on the other hand was quite decent. He got a particularly stubborn Snargaluff and had to struggle with it a bit but that shouldn't stop him from getting an 'O'.
Defense against the Dark Arts was, unsurprisingly, the easiest of the lot. He had read books on the subject till the mastery level and spent hours in the RoR reading up obscure books on the subject. He had personally taught various kids the subject and taught them well at that. Even if he didn't have the cheaty Fortis Memoriae, he would have absolutely aced this exam. He had a ready answer for every question and the various scenarios described in them.
The practical in the afternoon had Professor Tofty, the very same professor who took the exam for Harry Potter in canon storyline. The test had been all to easy. There was an obstacle course, similar to the one Lupin uses for the third years, some tests for counter-curses and hexes and a test on spell proficiency of a variety of basic defence spells. The examiners must speak amongst themselves, Darius' reputation had already preceded himself and Professor Tofty had already cleared an area for his extra demonstration. This time Darius was already ready for the show. He performed a series of spells which he had already done, only, they were all done non-verbally. He could have a done a number of them windlessly as well, but that might have been a bit too much, plus he didn't want to expose every card in his hand. He finished off with a demonstration of spell swatting, Professor Tofty very willing to act as the partner for the demonstration.
Ancient runes was just too easy. He was already thorough with the theory. It would have been a different story if there was a practical part but fortunately there wasn't one. Runes were very versatile, and with there endless combinations they could be a nightmare for practicals.
While Potions was not his strongest suit, he wasn't too shabby at it either. His theory was perfect, as usual. The practical in the afternoon was not as easy. The Draught of Peace came out perfect though the Invigoration Draught, not so much. It was more than acceptable enough but if the exam was to be graded solely on that potion alone, he would not end up higher than 'EE' grade. But based on the other potion and the written test, he should be able to scrape an 'O' easily. He had realized it before as well, but this just struck it home. He was more than a decent Potioneer and could get by easily, but he didn't have that sheer talent or feel for potions that took people beyond the level of Mastery. He would be able to get till there at least but that would be the end of his road as far as potions were concerned.
CoMC went the same way as the Herbology practical, it was near perfect except for a small singe from the fire crab. Though with the speed at which he repaired his clothes and healed himself, Darius didn't think the examiner had even noticed him among the multitude of students present. Nevertheless, it was an excellent showing.
Astronomy was a cinch. He already memorized everything in the book down to the smallest detail, so the theory was not a problem at all. The practical, he cheated on it just a bit. They were to be held at night, so he used the miniature planetarium he had bought form Diagon Alley to see the night sky. It cost a hefty amount, but it was worth it. It could be synchronized to the movements of the celestial bodies and it took but minutes to memorize the whole thing. When he went to the practicals, he just had to mark everything in the star chart and he was done. He was finished in less than half the time required.
Arithmancy was the toughest of the theory papers he had had. Not only did it test the knowledge of the student, it also tested the comprehension of it to great detail. Luckily, Darius was actually quite good at the subject and didn't have much of a problem with it. Taking apart spell models and reverse engineering them was another hobby of his and he wouldn't have been able to create his memory fortification spell without it.
History of Magic was easily the dullest paper of the lot. All Darius had to do was to write down whatever he had read in the book word for word.
All in all, the exams went fantastically well. Unless he was very much mistaken, and he didn't think he was, he was bringing home 10 OWLs. The entire mood of the castle had lightened up after the OWLs were over and the near visible pall of pressure which was present on all the students was finally lifted. The only thing remaining was about a week's time before the end of term feast before they set off for their homes. He spent the remaining time snuggling up with Mione on the Hogwarts grounds and enjoying life. No studies or practice for a week, after all it is good to rest once in a while. Also, he had managed to complete the project he had been working on for over a year, so he was pleased as punch.
