Authors note:
Thanks for all of the support so far all of you, I really appreciate it.
I will try not to go too far with Dio's bad luck; it will be more along the lines of something going wrong whenever it can, instead of him almost dyeing at every corner. He won't always have bad luck however; I will have things go his way many times as well. Depends on the situation, and what I think up first really.
And I agree that the monetary system Rowling set up was whack. But it was never a focus, and it was a series aimed at children, so it wasn't very important. It simply gives me free reign. Because I never managed to find out what broomsticks cost in the series, I'm going with the Firebolt (the broom widely recognized as 'the best') costing one thousand galleons. I've also got plans for the economy that will be mentioned, but I won't focus on it too much as it isn't very important.
Yes, Dio (and family) can be considered rich in this series. The reason that Rover did this is because Dio came from a rich family in his original universe, which I believe I mentioned once, so I will be delving into high society parties and things of that nature. Dio will not enjoy them, but he will know how to act. At the same time, the Trajan's could be considered akin to celebrities, and that will be reflected in how other will treat Dio and Theresa. It can also be seen in how Dio will act; he was raised with the best, and simply because he forwent having Luxuries during his time in Albion doesn't mean he will do the same here, especially when he has money to burn.
This is about a guest review over Dio not learning any form of earth magic. I agree that earth magic has many uses, and I also believe it's the most powerful natural element of all. So I avoid it for a few reasons. One, earth magic can make characters OP, which I want to avoid for now. Two, I believe that earth magic takes the longest time to become proficient in, years in my opinion, which is out of character for Dio as he prefers to be a jack of all trades than a master in any one area. And lastly, there is no precedent for earth magic in either Fable or HP, and I would rather not pull too many things out of a hat yet. He will learn earth magic eventually, but there are simply far more interesting things for him to learn, especially now that he is in the HP world.
Now that it's almost time for Canon to start, I will be more specific with time, such as the month and at times the day of the week. I've purposefully been vague with that up to now.
I will be doing P.O.V.s for many different characters in this story. Lucius is the first, and I'm already coming up with ideas for ones featuring Theresa and Dumbledore. Feel free to request a P.O.V for certain characters, and I will usually mention how each character perceives Dio.
No, I don't enjoy using actual numbers in my story, and I prefer to use their word forms instead. I feel that using numbers breaks the immersion while reading. Just one of my quirks. I will use actual numbers if the situation requires it.
I also want to say that Theresa having her eyes cut out was part of the original story in the Fable game series. It's one of the few things I'll be keeping the same from that universe.
Please let me know what you think of this chapter, and please leave a review while you're passing by. I apologize for the length of this AN, I'm trying to answer as many concerns as I can. I'll try to make them shorter.
I do have one question for you all that I would like you to answer. Does Dio come off as a good guy, a bad guy, or in between? I just want to know if I'm portraying him how I want to. Ash out.
"Speech"= A normal conversation
"Speech"= Thoughts, telepathy.
"{Speech}" = Parseltongue
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry potter or Fable; they belong to JK Rowling and Lionhead Studios respectively. I only own Dio, and I make no money off of this story.
Lucius Malfoy P.O.V.
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"That man is confusing," thought Lucius Malfoy as he watched the enigma known as Dio Trajan enter the Knight Bus outside of his manor.
Like every other politically savvy person, Lucius had indeed heard tales of the Trajan's. From their highlights as kings and conquerors, to the rumors of their machinations behind shadows. The Trajan's were always a family that the rest of the world kept their eyes on, out of fear and admiration. Wandless magic has always been rare, but every child from the Trajan bloodline became proficient in wandless magic. That doesn't mean that every child born to a Trajan was always proficient, as they could have quietly and easily disposed of any who weren't. Equally terrifying was the proficiency the Trajan's manipulated others with; as descendants of kings, more than once kings themselves, the Trajan's lived and breathed politics. A Trajan could always be found whenever monumental events transpired, even when they went under different names; from the French revolution, to the settlement of the colonies in America, the Trajan's always managed to gain a foothold where it mattered. There hadn't been a Trajan in eons that couldn't wreak havoc with a single hand; whether from decimating a battlefield by manipulating lightning, or by ordering entire cities and territories sacked with a single order.
That is exactly why, when Lucius discovered that Dio Trajan Immigrated to the British Isles, he immediately attempted to discover where he was and, if possible, set up an alliance between both of their houses. Lucius knew that the Trajan's were notorious for two things; steadfastly protecting their allies, and decimating their enemies. Trajan's were always slow to anger, but quick to act. Similar to the sea, but you always knew what a Trajan thought about you.
It took Lucius a lot of time and money to discover where Dio Trajan lived at. The Goblins were no help; while they held no love for the Trajan's or seemingly any human, so naturally the filthy beasts refused to help him at all.
Lucius then turned to what he did best; bribing and threatening anyone he could to find what he needed. A well placed sack of Galleons to the Minister of Magic gave him free reign to search through the Immigration papers, which would have Dio's information. However, all that the record told Lucius was that Dio did all of his business by owl and even the Minister had yet to meet him. The Minister, spineless coward that he is, could have forced the Trajan head of house to go to the ministry to file his information, yet he didn't. Not that Lucius could really hold that against the man; the Minister had always been a coward, and he would never have caused an issue with someone from a powerful family like the Trajan's. It was that very characteristic that Lucius used to manipulate the man into becoming his puppet, so he really shouldn't have been surprised that someone else would take advantage of Fudge.
The only other information on Dio's file was the name of a moving company he used to transfer his personal belongings from the Americas to Britain. It wasn't much, but it was more than Lucius started off with that day.
Of course, it couldn't be that simple; Lucius then discovered, through some more threats and bribes, that Dio had tasked the movers with leaving his belongings in the middle of the woods – with some wards to prevent animals and the weather from harming the items of course- and he would pick them up at a later date. While it wasn't much to go on, Lucius had managed to make do with far less information before.
He did know of the Forest the company talked about; it was a small unnamed forest in the middle of nowhere. It was miles from any semblance of civilization, although that mattered little to a wizard. Lucius ordered four of his five house elves to scour the woods, with instructions to notify him of everything they saw and also not to make contact with anyone they saw.
A week went by without any news from his elves, even when he tortured them for motivation. He began to suspect that Dio used the woods as a distraction instead of residing within them, not that Lucius could fault him for that, and began to scour the Ministry for more leads. It was during the second week, just before Lucius was going to order his house elves to stop searching the woods, and punish them for not finding anything and wasting his time, that one of his elves, a particularly pathetic and simpering one named Dobby, informed him that he saw a young girl, possibly around ten years of age who had auburn hair and wore cloth around her eyes. Lucius crucio'ed the wretched creature for not informing him sooner, and then began to form plans; he knew that the youngest Trajan, a girl named Theresa, had auburn hair, although he had no clue why she would be blindfolded. He dismissed the notion that the girl being in those woods was a simple coincidence since, when magic is involved, coincidences are rarely coincidence.
Lucius told his house elves to stop searching the woods and began searching it himself, not trusting anyone else not to fuck this up. He disillusioned himself with a spell and removed any noise and smell with another, which would allow him to search the woods without being detected by anyone except for one trained to search for subtle magical traces. He knew that Dio was an accomplished Hit Wizard years ago, but Lucius bet on his skills either having degraded, or on Dio not being proficient in that particular skill. It took Lucius two days of casting searching spells over the forest, but he managed to locate the area that he believed the Trajan's currently lived at; a clearing in the forest that no searching spell could penetrate. The wards could not exactly be called sloppy since Lucius was trained to search for warded houses during his time under the Dark Lords rule, so as such locating and circumventing the wards to the Trajan house wasn't difficult in the slightest to him. Yet he could tell that they weren't professionally done, since basic wards such as an insect-repelling ward were missing. It helped that Lucius could only detect three wards over the whole property. Instead of breaking through the wards, as that would alert the inhabitants inside of his presence and he did not want to risk a fight breaking out, Lucius teared a small opening in the wards that would allow him to send something in; in this case it was a letter he drafted a few evenings ago, inviting the Trajan head of house to a meeting.
Lucius expected a reply within a week or so, which would allow him to properly conceal the illegal Magical objects in his house, but to his dismay he received a reply by the days end, asking if they could meet the next evening. Lucius could not say no without appearing rude, as he was the one who proffered the invitation, so he rushed to conceal the objects in his house. Behind bookcases, in the basement, the attic, and even beneath floorboards, Lucius hid everything he found wherever he could. He ordered his house elves to clean the house from top to bottom, even if they regularly ensured it was spotless. He also ordered them to create a feast with everything and anything they could find in the house and, almost as an afterthought, informed his wife not to torture the elves for the remainder of that day and the day after. It would be unseemly and degrading if his house elves performed anything less than perfection whilst a visitor was at his home, never mind one as important as Dio Trajan.
Lucius spent the rest of his time ensuring that everything would be perfect for the upcoming visit, all the while resisting the urge to split his house elves from head to toe, their high pitched voices grating his ears. Lucius did manage to follow his own orders, for the most part at least; he only kicked his useless house elves down the steps a total of three times, which was undoubtedly a new record for him.
Finally Thursday evening arrived, and Lucius forcibly calmed himself; any show of weakness here could undermine many of his plans, some of which the Dark Lord himself gave to Lucius. He ordered the house elves to keep watch for arriving guests, as he wasn't sure if Dio would arrive alone.
When the Trajan Patriarch did arrive, Lucius instructed Dobby to fetch him and take him to the parlor. He also told Dobby to inform Dio that Lucius would see him in a moment, as he was currently busy. A common psychological attack, meant to impose a sense of superiority on Lucius as he would dictate when their meeting started.
Lucius waited half an hour before meeting Dio at the parlor, but before he entered Lucius spotted his wife, Narcissa, staring inside the room with a look that would not be out of place on a schoolgirl staring at her crush. Needless to say, that was not a look Lucius had ever seen on her. His marriage with Narcissa was one of convenience, a chance to unite the Houses of Malfoy and Black. Narcissa was never the kind and doting wife that Lucius wanted, instead being a powerful and outspoken women, much like her other two sisters. She was certainly more intelligent and powerful than Lucius himself, being two years his senior, not that he would ever admit that aloud. She was also exceedingly beautiful; much like her own namesake, and often times she used her beauty to get what she wanted. It was because of this that Lucius was greatly confused at seeing such a look on her face, it being completely out of character for her.
Lucius and Narcissa were first introduced to each other when they were children, years before they attended Hogwarts. In their first meeting they were informed that they were betrothed to the other, and their relationship began there. They became friends over the years, and eventually married once Lucius graduated from Hogwarts, Narcissa having graduated two years prior. While their marriage was never happy, neither of them hated each other, both understanding that this was something that simply needed to happen. They both supported the other, especially so during the height of the Dark Lords rule, when he became increasingly cruel to his servants. Over the years they each became friends, and they worked together to lift the Malfoy Family name to where it was today. It was a shame they could do nothing to help the fall of the Noble and Ancient House of Black, which became ruined with the death of Regulus and the imprisonment of Sirius.
The one highlight of their marriage was the birth of their beloved Draco, and yet that also presented the largest strain in their marriage; Lucius could no longer the charade he kept for the better part of a decade. For years he struggled with the shame of being attracted to other males, and he hid that facet of himself out of fear of persecution. Homosexuality was never accepted in the wizarding world, out of the fear that they would not produce heirs. It eventually became a stigma, for both males and females, which everyone did their best to hide and ignore. As the Heir to House Malfoy, Lucius at all times had to appear as the prime example of what a Pureblood Wizard must be.
Despite that Lucius could no longer keep up the charade between Narcissa and him. The night they returned back to Manor Malfoy after the birth of Draco, Lucius informed Narcissa of his sexual leanings. He expected her to be mad, to spew accusations and even attack him. What he didn't expect was for her to say that she had guessed as much years ago, and that, while she wasn't happy about it, she wouldn't make a big deal about it. Exposing Lucius would destroy the Malfoy family, which would also destroy her. They were stuck together, and had to make do, like they always had. That night was the last time either of them ever mentioned Lucius' 'issue,' and they both turned a blind eye whenever the other brought a partner to bed.
Narcissa had been a proud woman for as long as Lucius knew her, so he was aptly surprised to see such a look on her face. He approached her to ask what was wrong, but as he neared the parlor he got a good look at who was inside at the moment, and he was floored.
The first thing Lucius noticed was the silver hair, which reached past it's owners shoulders much like Lucius' own. The hair brought attention to the owner's face, whose beauty made Lucius' blood boil. High cheekbones, pale skin, and Ruby red lips adorned his face. And yet, the look in his eyes made Lucius' blood run cold; they gleamed with mirth, as if everyone played a game only he knew the rules to. It was the same look Lucius saw in the eyes of the Dark Lord, of Albus Dumbledore, and every time he looked in a mirror. He bit back a curse at the knowledge that his plans became much harder with a new player to the board, even if he expected as much.
Lucius took a second look at Dio, idly noticing Narcissa head off in the direction of the bedrooms. The Trajan Patriarch wore robes that gleamed as they moved, denoting them to be made out of Acromantula silk, befitting of one from a family like his. However, instead of covering his body with the robe as was the custom here, Dio had chosen to cover only the left side of his body, exposing the right side, which was oddly dressed. Most wizards dressed in all black, yet Dio had on a white shirt, which drew attention to his well-defined body, as most wizards aren't physically inclined.
Lucius then noticed what was occupying Dio's attention, and nearly had a heart attack; Dio was writing in a small leather bound book, much like the one the dark lord entrusted to him years ago. He scrambled to take the book back from Dio, who returned it without an issue, and noticed that none of the pages showed any sign of writing. Dio's excuse of the book 'calling' to him sounded like bullshit, but Lucius decided not to call him out on it; Lucius had no idea how the Dark Lords book worked, so Dio may have been telling the truth. And Lucius had no desire to antagonize someone who had already found one of Lucius hidden items in the half hour he spent in his house. Under constant watch. He and his house elves needed to have a small conversation.
The rest of their time was spent in idle conversation. Lucius asked about the reasons behind Dio's immigration here, how long he planned to stay in Britain, and then endeavored to teach him about how society here worked. Lucius found Dio to be both charismatic and charming, but those were both traits anyone could train in. No, what garnered Lucius' surprise was how stable Dio seemed to be. The Dark Lord may have been a genius but he was deranged, anyone could see that. Madness slowly gripped him as the years passed, and he became increasingly paranoid, causing him to lose his temper more often. Albus on the other hand, was the opposite. He always made you feel as if you were a small child with your hand caught in the cookie jar, which always managed to infuriate Lucius.
Instead, Dio seemed as normal as any other person Lucius would find in the street. There was no fire in his eyes, seemingly no drive to spur him on. Either he had accomplished all he wanted in his life, or he simply had no goal.
Regardless, Lucius eventually got to the crux of the matter; a partnership between both of their houses. The Trajans have no seat in the Wizengamot, but their word still carries much weight behind them due to their ancient bloodline. If Dio was seen openly supporting any decision that Lucius wanted to pass along, it would make things much easier for Lucius. And with the backing of the Malfoy's, Dio would have the political clout to move around without issue.
Dio agreed to their partnership, with his only stipulation being that he reserved the right not to support Lucius with any political bills that he disagreed with. It was a sensible thing to ask for, and Lucius agreed without any hesitation. Not much of note went on in their meeting, as neither asked about the others families or of each other. Well, not besides the obligatory pleasantries required in a meeting.
Lucius personally escorted Dio out of his house after their meeting was over, determined not to allow him to find anything else hidden in the house. He noted that instead of apparating away, Dio called on the knight bus of all things for transportation. Why he did that was beyond him, as the knight bus was well known for being extremely uncomfortable to say the least. Most influential families wouldn't be caught dead riding the trash heap.
After watching Dio leave Lucius set off to find and discipline his house elves, since they failed to ensure his belongings didn't stay hidden. He passed by his wife's bedrooms to check on how she was doing, and raised an eyebrow at what he saw inside. If the clothes scattered in every direction and the loud moans weren't enough indication as to what she was doing, the sight of her with her back arched and her hands between her legs on the bed was clear enough. Lucius closed the door, wanting to give her a sense of privacy. Masturbation was a common act with both of them, as they stopped sleeping together years ago, and finding suitable bed partners wasn't always easy. Although he thought, Dio wasn't married. A partnership between their houses would be much stronger with the inclusion of a relationship between Dio and Narcissa. He doubted his wife would object to that, if the actions inside her room were any indication. Now the only thing needed was how to suggest it to Dio.
Dio's P.O.V.
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The meeting with Lucius had gone exactly as I expected; Lucius would never pass up a chance to garner more power, and the support of the Trajan house would boost his already large power base immensely. While my family lacks a seat in the Wizengamot, they are old blood, which can be considered to be the most important quality to have in the British Wizarding world. Our reputation of peerlessly wielding wandless magic has always brought unwanted attention on us, and here it will be no different. I have no doubt that the other Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot will descend on Theresa and I like a swarm of vipers, and I'll have to do everything I can to ensure they're unable to take advantage of us.
The next few months passed in a feverish haze. I threw myself into my studies, intent of mastering as many skills as I could. I forewent learning the Ghost Sword spell, not trusting a weapon that acted outside of my control. The risk of it rebelling, or someone 'hacking' my spell and turning it against me, would always be present. Instead, I focused on forming different weapons out of ice, although I did experiment with the other elements, and used my telekinesis to direct them. My control was, without a shadow of a doubt, abysmal. I could not control more than two weapons, and even controlling two was inefficient, as I could not maintain a constant focus on both weapons. The tiniest distraction would disrupt my concentration, causing my spells to fail. I started off with a single weapon at first, which yielded results quickly. I could not wield a blade with any sort of skill like this, but I could easily fend off most opponents for s few seconds, granting me enough time to dispatch them another way. And yet by the end of the first week I began practicing with two weapons, my blood boiling with dissatisfaction at my slow rate of growth.
And yet I stubbornly persisted in training that skill, determined to master it. It not only provided me yet another form of combat, it also accustomed me to divide my attention, which would be an invaluable tool in a fight with multiple opponents. My magic sight, the form of seeing through magic Theresa and I both used, granted me a three hundred and sixty degree line of sight, so I could attack an opponent without having to face them. I didn't limit myself to only weapons of course. I could easily manipulate a bolt of lightning or a blade of wind, but that isn't where the true brilliance of this form lied. I could not truly miss an attack, since I could always redirect it to curve back and hit my target. I could, theoretically at least, combine elements when attacking. I could soak an area in water then conduct electricity through it, or start a fire and feed it with wind. While I could already do those things, I could now do it at a further distance than before, or even from behind cover. I'm no longer limited to what I could see with the naked eye, an advantage most of my foes will lack. Nor would I have to expose myself to danger when fighting, since I could conjure a wall of ice, transfigure it into a tougher material, and then fight from behind it.
Besides that fighting form, I also focused on the magic styles of the Wizarding world. Transfiguration became a godsend, once I managed to ignore the 'logistics' behind it at least. I could easily conjure structures from ice, and then transfigure them into whatever material I require. While I can only make basic Transfigurations permanent, my current transfigurations last for an average of an hour. I avoided dabbling in conjuration, as that Branch of magic carried its own rules and is almost needlessly complicated, with the books all requiring complicated wand movements and a large amount of time that would not be present in a fight.
Charms on the other hand, became my second favorite branch. The branch is exceedingly similar to enchanting; any item could be enchanted to take on additional properties. I charmed the doors of the house to automatically open whenever someone stood in front of them, much like the doors that can be found in a store. An item could also be given a command, although most items could only hold one, and then require a new one to be 'installed.' Dishes could clean themselves, and clothes could fold and pack themselves. In combat I could create a large hammer and command it to chase a target, attacking it whenever it got in range. A bow could be charmed to shoot automatically, provided enough ammunition was present.
None of this was useful in a real fight yet, as an experienced opponent could deal with my weapons before they get close enough to attack. Theresa on the other hand, did not fit that description. She was the perfect test subject for me to practice this ability on. This was for her benefit as much of mine of course, since she would get experience dodging and blocking attacks. We both wielded wooded swords I whittled from branches from the surrounding trees, and practiced using those. Once Theresa became accustomed to the weight of a weapon she quickly learned how to fight with one.
It actually surprised me, and frightened me a little, at how dedicated she became to training. When we first started I had her swing a sword until she could swing it for a while without her arms hurting. For the next two weeks she would wake up and, go to the backyard, and begin swinging. By noon she became a quivering mess on the floor, too tired to even get up. Then she would spend the rest of the day sleeping to recover her energy. Then she would do the same thing the same day. I had to tell her to rest more often than not to prevent her from causing any actual harm to her muscles.
Our actual training was nothing more than the two of us flailing at each other, and failing most of the time. My control over the weapons was still amateurish at best, and using them would probably get me killed before helping me. And Theresa lacked the muscle mass to properly stop a sword mid swing, so most of her attacks missed. After we finished us would both run around the forest, both to stay in shape and to patrol the woods. Luckily enough no wolves roamed these woods, although we did find a bear once. A large ice spear propelled from afar dealt with it easily enough, and we proceeded to skin and butcher it. I learned that Theresa had prior experiencing butchering animals, having been taught by her mother in her village. It was the first time that she voluntarily mentioned her village, and I watched to see her reaction. She smiled when she talked about her family, and it was the first carefree smile I had ever seen on her face. She was always so careful, so guarded around me, and at times I wondered if she was afraid of me. She never acted like she was, yet she always acted distant. It was for that reason that I was surprised when she hugged me after she began to cry near the end of her tale. I was at a loss for what to do, never having dealt with a crying woman before, so I settled for patting her on the back.
I expected us to become closer after that, yet she acted the same as always. She never disobeyed me and was always nice, sometimes exceedingly so. Yet she never made a joke, and avoided asking me personal questions. I would have thought she disliked me and was only around because she had no other choice if it wasn't that she spent as much time as she could around me. If I didn't expressly ask her to leave, for whatever reason, she would stay around me. I attributed it all as being a coping mechanism of hers, so I dealt with it. The only thing that annoyed me about Theresa was her lack of manners.
A country bumpkin would be the best comparison for Theresa, a fact I often forgot because of the girl's intelligence. Having lived in a backwater village all her life Theresa was never taught how to act in high society, and her manners would be barely passable around normal people, let alone nobles. Her table manners left much to be desired, although she did give an honest effort in trying to fix them. I'm not sure how much of our current situation she understood, but I did explain the basics to her. She took the knowledge of a parallel universe well enough, and while she did panic a bit at first the knowledge that we could return to her home universe did placate her. I'm not sure how she took the knowledge that we are now siblings, since all she gave me was a nod when I told her. But the knowledge that we were now basically nobles seemed to fill her with a sense of dread.
That didn't surprise me really; I heard stories of nobles during my time in Albion, and none of the stories were good. The nobles in Albion treated the common folk as trash at best, and as animals at worst. Every few weeks a new rumor would arise about some noble abducting someone who struck their fancy, with those people never being seen again. It's a small wonder that Theresa would be afraid of people like them, even I'm afraid. Nobles are like a plague that constantly hovers around us, seeking to exploit the tiniest crack in our defenses. It's the reason I Irene constantly drill the "family" history into both Theresa and I, to make sure we don't say anything stupid. It greatly helped that our ancestors were meticulous note takers; otherwise the whole ordeal would have been much more difficult.
Potions was a subject that I did not focus on much. I made sure that I could brew standard potions, but since most could be bought from the Apothecary in Diagon alley I did not bother brewing often. I quickly learned that following the rules in potions could only take you so far; the truly useful potions such as Felix Felicis required both a natural talent at potions, along with years of practice in the subject.
The only two spells I dedicated myself to learning were the Patronus charm, and Apparation. Disappointingly enough I was only successful in learning how to apparate. The small notebook I retrieved from the Trajan vault was what taught me how to apparate. Apparently the turning on your heel is not necessary; it's simply a trigger to activate the magic, much like a wand movement. The process was much simpler than the books made it sound; all that is necessary is to cocoon your body with mana, visualize the location you want to arrive at, and then imagine yourself traveling there. The last part is the most difficult, since it will be unique to everyone and can't really be explained. I imagined the process as traveling through a wormhole, or at least what social media had described it as being. I managed to apparate on my third day trying, and I proceeded to slam into a tree because I was left unbalanced after I landed. The process was extremely uncomfortable, since the space around me went pitch black and pressed down as if it was attempting to crush me. For a complete second I could not move, breathe, or see, which is a far more terrifying experience than it sounds like. But before I could panic the pressure vanished and my senses were restored, along with the pain of tripping and slamming my face into the nearest tree.
It took me two more tries to replicate the process, but once I became accustomed to it I could apparate wherever I wished. I limited myself to the surrounding forest as I didn't want to risk being seen. Through continued use I discovered that Apparation was far more comfortable than the teleportation the Heroes Guild used, since it lasted less time and did not leave me disoriented. I was confused at how many people complained about the difficulty and annoyance of Apparation, since this experience isn't that bad. Maybe everyone else was doing it wrong?
The Patronus charm however, I still have had no luck in casting. The spell was fairly simple to cast; simple imagine your happiest memory and say the incantation, 'expecto patronum.' Yet despite the inherent simplicity of the spell it would not work for me. I went through every happy memory I had, from the time I lost my virginity to the first sincere compliment I received from my parents when they complimented me for graduating college. Yet none of these memories worked, which worried me as I had no desire to be at the mercy of a Dementor. I began to wonder if instead of a happy memory, all that the spell required was the intent and emotion behind it. I began to fabricate a memory to try out my theory, using the instance when my dream became a reality.
Occlumency was also a branch of magic I needed to learn, but I simply did not have the luxury to learn it. I found many notes in my ancestor's journals about Occumlency and other mind related arts such as thought partitioning, but every branch required both a large amount of time to learn and would require me to disregard other branches of magic I'm currently studying. Between my experiments with Transfiguration and Charms, learning my family history, creating plans to deal with the Wizengamot and others in power in Britain, training with Theresa, and my training controlling my telekinesis, I simply did not have the luxury to learn a time consuming task like Occlumency, no matter how useful it is.
It took three months for me to be satisfied enough at where I was in all of my experiments to drop them for a few days and take Theresa to Diagon Alley. Before the five of us subsisted on the meat that we hunted from the forest, which was fairly easy for me to get due to my magic sight and telekinesis, and with the same vegetables I brought from my farm back in Albion that I planted near the house. While I had made a few other trips to Diagon Alley with Irene, mostly to find new research material, I had yet to take Theresa there, nor really take a look around. She was apprehensive about going, but curiosity about a whole new world eventually got the better of her.
The trip to Diagon Alley was certainly eventful. The sheer amount of magic in Diagon Alley gave Theresa a headache, because she had to use her magic sight throughout the entire trip to see, which lasted half of the trip until she got used to it. For the first time since I met Theresa I got the chance to see her act like a normal girl her age. She was excited and filled with energy, and we visited every single shop in order, with Theresa asking questions about everything they sold along the way. The entire trip actually took us two days, since we simply could not visit every single shop in a single day. Theresa's two favorite shops were Madame Malkin's and Florean Fortescue's Ice cream Parlor. Like every girl her age, Theresa was delighted with the wide diversity of clothing in Madame Malkin's, and we bought her a large selection of robes, dresses, and other female unmentionables. And having never tasted ice cream before, since it was never invented in Albion, Theresa quickly decided Florean's shop was her favorite. She also experienced a brain freeze for the first time but continued eating ice cream as if her life depended on it, which Florean, the owner of the shop, decided was a personal challenge to see if he could produce more ice cream than she could eat. Theresa once again shocked everyone watching, and by now we had once again drawn a crowd, at how much food she could eat.
The only two shops I avoided taking Theresa to were Gringotts and Ollivanders. The former I still could not take her to as we still had not performed the blood adoption ceremony, since I still was unsure if I had enough of her blood. The ceremony to summon the sword of Aeons required the death of a descendant of William Black, and I'm hoping that with more blood than a person can carry in their body at once I will be able to bypass that requirement. Ollivanders I avoided going to since I had plans for a different wand caster and I also wanted to wait until Theresa was enrolled into Hogwarts before I took her there. I still had not spoken to her about attending Hogwarts since there were things that needed to happen so I could also attend with her. I would be a fool not to be at Hogwarts, since all of the momentous events always seemed to happen there.
I took the opportunity to buy some more supplies during our trip to Diagon Alley, since I did not know when I would have the opportunity to return. I also made sure to buy a broomstick, a Cleansweep 7, to get used to them before I had to ride one in front of others. The two of us drew a large amount of attention during our two day trip, Theresa for her blindfold and I for my physical features, and the daily prophet two days later successfully identified us as Dio and Theresa Trajan. While I had no clue how they managed to find out who we were, it made everything much more difficult since we would now be harassed now that people had a face to go with our name. I began to patrol the woods periodically in case we were ever followed, but apparently my rampant paranoia paid off since I never discovered anyone. However I knew that would not last, so I secluded myself once more until the next time I saw Rover.
It was two more months before Rover decided to visit us, and I feared I had already missed my chance since it was already Thursday on the second week of June. I asked Rover to tell mw the exact date and time that this year's event would happen, and he assured me I still had an entire week to plan, since it would happen next Saturday. He also informed me that, by having told me that information, the scales had been tipped and he would have to take action to fix that. I expected as much, so I simply nodded and began to prepare. I refused to tell Rover what I had planned, simply telling him to wait and see. He pouted and tried to convince me but I refused to tell him, and not simply for the fact that my plan still wasn't complete; it was also revenge for all of the times he annoyed me. The next eight days passed in a flash, and almost panicked when Friday night came since I still wasn't sure how today would play out. I guess I would just have to wing it.
-Skip-Clip-Rip-Dip-
I told Irene, Theresa and Ellamine that I would not return for an entire day, but if I was not back by noon on Sunday to assume I was in jail. I did tell Irene where I was going and what I was looking for, and she agreed that finding this item was worth the risk. She stayed behind to take care of Theresa, who I could tell was not happy that I wouldn't tell her where I was going. Ellamine on the other hand had full confidence that I would succeed, and even asked me what I would like to eat when I returned. My house elves confidence reassured me a little, and I began to think that maybe I could pull this off.
I packed some supplies into my backpack, mostly a day's worth of food and a change of clothes. The only other supplies I packed was a steel knife into my boot, a jar of paint, a small music box, handcuffs, and an invisibility cloak I purchased at Borgins and Burkes, since any other weapons or water I could always create. I brought along two different wands in case I was caught, since using magic without one would be a dead giveaway to who I was. I cut my hair short and used magic to dye it and my eyes black, as further precaution to remain anonymous. While I hated having to do this, I knew I could easily reverse the changes and grow my hair back. A full black body suit along with a mask would –hopefully- prevent anyone from identifying me. Satisfied, I apparated away.
I appeared inside a stone circle between two buildings, thankfully unseen as there were no other residents in sight. I extended my magic in all direction s to see if there was anyone hiding, but only discovered a few rats and other small animals. I crouched and covered myself with the invisibility cloak, since I was too tall for it to cover me completely while standing, and set off.
Hogsmeade was a quaint little village, full of cottages and shops. Walking through the village felt much like walking through Bowerstone again, only with far less people and lacking the smell of shit and piss. I could only spot a few villagers outside of their homes and shops at this time, since most are sleeping at midnight. If I was lucky my target would not be sleeping, or else getting to him would become much harder. A silencing charm prevented any sounds within a foot of me to be heard, although I still had to be careful not to leave tracks or other traces where I went.
Finding his shop was not difficult; the giant hog head on display announced its presence throughout the village. I walked up to the pub and waited near the door, close enough where I would be able to enter the pub as long as someone opened the door to it. After ten minutes passed with no one entering or leaving the store, I lost what little patience I had, which was already frayed by nerves, and decided to cause a scene.
I waited until the next passerby entered my sights range, which by now is roughly one hundred and eighty feet in every direction, before acting. It's times like these where I'm truly grateful that I can manifest most of my magic within my range, since 'sight' is all that is really needed.
"Imperio." The poor passerby, who turned out to be a middle aged wizard, was not expecting my spell, and thus had to way to fight against it. I experimented with two of the 'unforgivable curses' extensively in the forest, and discovered quite a bit about them. The imperious curse for example, worked much better when the subject had no clue it would be used against them. It's hard to fight back against a curse that influences your thoughts if you don't know that it is happening. The diary from one of my ancestors, an Egyptian witch named Nenet, went into extensive detail on the Imperius curse. She described the curse as imbuing the target under a dense fog, and then layering a command over the fog that superseded all thoughts. The target would be more than a mindless slave, since they would be capable of acting normally as long as any actions taken did not go against their prime directive, which would be decided by the castor.
An unknowing target would rarely offer any form of resistance, since they would believe the invasive thought to be their own. However, the targets that knew the spell was cast would be able to fight back. Even if they could not overcome the curse they could slip up for moments, and would act in a way completely out of habit for them because of the conflicting battle between the invasive and original personality, such as temporary short term memory loss, or moments of inactivity. There would also be an extra mental burden if the order given went against a person's nature; a normal person told to kill would more easily realize the intrusive thought than a sociopath would. Those were the signs the British Aurors used to root out targets under the Imperius during their first civil war. I was just lucky that Nenet wrote her notes on the Curse in English, or that someone later translated it. I practiced the curse extensively on the animals I encountered in the forest, and was slightly disturbed at how easily they were subjugated. I could ask an animal to remain standing on a burning surface or slowly impale themselves on a blade, completely bypassing any and all survival instinct. I had yet to practice the spell on a human, and due to its complexity it's one of the few spells I preferred to cast aloud to minimize any complexities.
My poor target had no clue that he would fall victim to one of the most powerful curses to date, but few ever do while on a casual stroll through a deserted street at midnight. A small hitch in his pace was the only visible indication that my spell worked, before he abruptly turned around and headed towards me. I did not ask him to do much; simply go inside, but open the door wide so I could enter. The poor sap cheerfully entered the pub, and I slipped in before the door could close.
The inside of the pub lived up to its reputation; a thin layer of dust and grime coated the entire visible surface, as if the owner made a half-hazard attempt at cleaning before giving up. Dozens of cracks littered the floor, and the tables and counters weren't in much of a better state. I looked around the bar and only found two other inhabitants; a vagrant looking man seated at a mangy table, and the barman behind the counter polishing a wooden cup with a filthy rag.
I looked at the man under my curse, who by now stood a few feet from the entrance deciding what he wanted, and released him from my control. Releasing the curse was much easier than casting it, since you simply command the curse to stop affecting your target. Before the man could react I put him under another Imperius, this one commanding him to purchase a bottle of alcohol and then leave. I felt it important to remove an Imperius Curse before subjecting a target to another, in order to prevent any possible issues with conflicting orders.
The sap went over to the counter, ordered and paid for a bottle of Firewhisky, and left, presumably to go home. An Imperius on the other sap sitting at the table, as a 'suggestion' that he drank enough and should leave home, also got him to leave. All that was left now was the barman.
I looked at Aberforth, and was disappointed; this was the younger brother of Dumbledore, who was too stubborn and pigheaded to do anything with his life. He certainly must have had some measure of talent since he was part of the first Order of the Phoenix, yet he chose to squander all of his talent and live in this filthy tub. He is the type of person I hate the most; someone too cowardly to live to their full potential, complacent in living a mediocre life. That knowledge made what I would do next much easier.
I used an Imperius curse on Aberforth after making sure there were no witnesses around, but as I expected it did not work immediately. He went rigid and dropped the mug he was cleaning, but thankfully since it was carved from wood it didn't make much noise when it impacted the floor. I could see the strain on Aberforth's face as he endeavored to fight off my curse, so I poured more mana into the spell in an attempt to overpower him. When that didn't work I went with a more direct solution. A Silencing charm rendered Aberforth mute, and I was thankful that the charm worked; while I had practiced it extensively on the animals in the forest, it did not always work. The spell was immensely difficult until I realized that imagining the absence of sound while casting it produced a much larger effect, but lasted less time before it had to be recast. My current limit with the spell was one minute, which was more than enough time for this to work. I canceled my Imperius and used a freezing charm, which would prevent Aberforth from thrashing around.
"Crucio." Out of the three 'unforgivables," the Cruciatus curse remained the one only one I had never practiced. The thought of deliberately causing pain on random animals simply to test out a curse was an action that did not sit right with me, and even now I only used it because it's the fastest way to get what I need. The only indication that my spell affected Aberforth is the frantic shifting of his eyes, the sweat that pooled on his skin, and the random muscle spasms that coursed throughout his body. I maintained the spell for twenty seconds, using the hate I felt for my parents as fuel for the spell. Everything that I read about the spell indicated that you had to mean to use it, to desire causing your target pain. I simply substituted Aberforth with my parents in my mind, and imagined it was them I was torturing.
After twenty seconds I released both spells, and Aberforth's limbs splayed while small groans came from his mouth. Before he got a chance to recover I used the Imperius on him again, which seemed to work. I first stepped over to him and relived him of his wand, which would render him practically useless. Then I commanded Aberforth to get up, hang a sign outside of his door saying the pub was now closed, and then lead me to the portrait of his sister, which he did, staying silent and slightly stumbling the entire time. He led us both through the kitchens into a room filled with miscellaneous items, but what I was truly interested in was the large portrait of a young girl hanging on a wall.
I locked the door with the strongest locking charm I knew, hoping it would be enough to deter anyone from opening the door. I then took off my cloak and secured it inside my pack, while commanding Aberforth to step in front of the portrait. Her portrait began to move and smiled brightly at Aberforth, and I stared, fascinated, at the first moving portrait I encountered. Aberforth's lack of reaction seemed to confuse Arianna, if the tilting of her head was any indication, and her confusion became more pronounced once she noticed me standing next to her brother.
I conjured an ice blade and held it to Aberforth's throat, while also commanding him not to move.
"You have two choices," I told the portrait. "You can open and let me through into Hogwarts, or I can kill your brother and blast you open. Decide quickly." Various emotions played throughout her face, from shock, fear and anger, to resignation. Behind Arianna exists a tunnel that would transport me directly to the Room of Requirements inside Hogwarts through some form of space distortion, which is the easiest and safest way for me to enter the castle now that Dumbledore was away on business.
Without much of a choice, Arianna decided to open up, revealing the tunnel behind her.
"I'm glad we're on the same page," I told her. "I'll take your brother with me; if you alert anyone about our presence here I'll kill him, understood?" A nod from the mute girl was the only assurance I would get, which was enough to satisfy me. "Great, then close the tunnel behind us. You'll have your brother back by tomorrow. If we are discovered I'll kill him, so don't try anything." I commanded Aberforth to walk through the tunnel first, in case any traps presented themselves, and I walked in after him. We were incased in darkness after the door closed behind us, but I created a magelight which stationed itself above my head and moved where I did. It took us ten minutes to reach the end of the tunnel, and I became increasingly paranoid every second I spent in there. Finally I could see a light in the distance, and I rushed towards it. The light turned out to be a candle above a closed door, which gave me an idea to try out. I stood in front of the door and walked past it three times, reciting what I needed it to turn into inside my head. I had Aberforth open the door and walk inside it, and I gave a small cheer inside my head when I saw that it worked.
Thousands of items littered the room forming mountains; from broken furniture to scattered books, anything and everything could be found inside here. While I want nothing more than to sift through the room for hours and uncover whatever lost items were inside, sadly I'm pressed for time. I found a nearby cabinet and commanded Aberforth to stay inside there until I came for him. I put the handcuffs on him and gagged him, then closed the door and locked it. I took out the jar of paint and left a trail from Arriana's portrait to the cabinet, then another trail towards the exit of the room. The exit could always be seen from inside the room, with the items being placed in a way that insured the exit was always visible, no matter where you were. Before exiting the room I put on my invisibility cloak once again, and also recast the silencing charm around me.
Once the door opened I was greeted with the sight of a large empty hallway, along with a large moving portrait of an idiot attempting to teach two trolls how to dance. I ignored the portrait and left immediately, not wanting to risk any portrait reporting a door opening by itself. Besides, I would now be presented with the hardest part of this mission; finding where to go.
I could feel excitement bubble inside of me as I explored the ancient castle; I'm inside Hogwarts of all places! How many people imagined themselves as students here while reading the books? And now I'm actually walking the halls. I used every ounce of willpower to squash down the feeling of running around and exploring every nook and cranny; I didn't have the time to do that, and I would definitely get lost. More than once I had to backtrack my steps because I couldn't remember where I came from. The moving steps certainly didn't help in that regard; at times I wasn't sure if I came from the left or the right of a hallway since most of the hallways looked the same. I tried to leave paint marks at the corners of a hallway to leave traces of where I should go through, but when I walked back to a hallway I marked I discovered that the paint was gone. I walked back further and discovered that all of my other traces were also gone. I don't know whether the castle cleaned itself or the house elves did it, but it certainly made the entire mission much harder; I was forced to rely on my memory to navigate the castle.
My heart almost leaped my chest when I heard footsteps approaching. I hid against the wall and stopped breathing until they passed. Thankfully whoever it was did not enter my hallway, and I continued to search for the third floor. Why one set of stairs didn't connect all of the floors I'll never know. Then when I encountered a patrolling student, a prefect I believe they are called, I had an idea. I mentally kicked myself for not thinking of this sooner and making things needlessly difficult. I used an Imperius on the patrolling girl and commanded her to lead me to the forbidden corridor on the third floor. Since the girl already knew the castles layout she was able to quickly take me to the room I needed, then I dismissed her.
I got a clear view at a Cerberus once I opened the door. The creature was an enormous mass of muscle, with three heads that are all larger then I am. While the creature could not see me, it could definitely smell me as I still had not learned a charm to remove smell. The creatures body rose and I could see its noses flare as it smelled an intruder. But before it could locate me I took out the music box from my pack and it began to play. Immediately the creature began to droop, and after a minute it was already asleep. I opened the trap door and jumped down, making sure the door closed behind me.
Once I landed I felt vines begin to coil around me. I conjured small wisps of fire around my body; enough to force the devil's Snare to retreat, but not enough to destroy it as I did not want to leave any traces of my presence here.
The next room held a swarm of flying keys, but my magic sight quickly spotted the correct one, as it was shaped differently than all of the others. I used Telekinesis to bring it over, and then opened the door. The next room held a giant chess set, but instead of beating the game I simple used a flash step to cover the distance to the next door. The chess pieces never stirred at my passing, so I continued. A troll guarded the next room, but my invisibility cloak prevented it from seeing me. The stupid creature was gnawing on a slab of rotten meat, and it never noticed me passing it. The last room was a chamber with black flames guarding the exit, and seven potions sitting innocuously on a table. Purple flames erupted at the door behind me, but I disregarded them. I cloaked myself with a force field and used a flash step to go through the black flames.
The final room was circular, and contained a single mirror. I used my magic sight to search for traps, but the only thing I found was an indent on the far end of the wall that looked suspiciously like a secret room. I approached the mirror, noticing the inscription carved on its dais.
As I approached the mirror I noticed murky figures taking shape inside of it. My own reflection began to morph, and soon a young child stared back at me.
'Black hair sat atop the head of a child, while equally black eyes happily peered up at the two figures beside him. A blonde woman bearing similar facial features to the child kneeled beside him, with her arms around him and staring at him in delight. A man with the same hair and eye color stood behind the child, with a single hand on his shoulder and staring at him with evident pride. It was a picturesque image of a content and happy family, and more figures began to appear from behind the trio, each of their details becoming clearer as-'
Before I could see any more of that lie I shot as much fire and electricity at the mirror, hoping to destroy it for daring to show me that. How dare it! How dare it even begin to think that I would want any further relationship with those people! I spent years under their neglect and abuse, and I learned quickly that neither of them, for they did not deserve the honor of being called my parents, cared about me. I ignored the slight pain near my heart after seeing those images, refusing to acknowledge that it affected me in any way. I stopped trying to impress them years ago, knowing that no matter what I did I would never earn their recognition. After a while I even told myself I didn't want it, as at that point I would be just like them.
I reluctantly stopped trying to destroy the mirror once the drain on my mana reserves began to dip to dangerous levels, and once the flames and electricity died out I noticed that the mirror looked exactly the same as it did before, as if my attack didn't even faze it. I squashed down my growing irritation since destroying the mirror would defeat the purpose of the entire trip here, and looked within it once more.
I ignored all of the figures and stared at the young child, until all of the images began to fade away and the child aged before my eyes. The child, now a man in his twenties, stood alone inside of a large room aimlessly walking around. Alex then stared back at me, but his eyes passed over me as if he no longer recognized me. I felt satisfaction well up within me, before I once again noticed I was falling prey to the mirror. I decided that the mirror would not give me the stone, but I was prepared for that since I did want to use it for myself. I went over to the indentation in the wall and poured mana into it, and it eventually opened up. A small corridor with spiraling stairs appeared, and I then sat down on the floor and took out some food, knowing that I would have to wait.
I never knew that a single day could pass so excruciatingly slow. I did not have any way to measure time, so I sat on the floor for what felt like an eternity and waited. Looking back, I probably should have brought a book with me or something else to distract me with. But I never expected to find the room as quick as I did, so now I had to suffer in silence. After a few hours I remembered that House Elves could apparate within Hogwarts, and almost banged my head on the wall at not thinking of that sooner. I called for Ellamine, and she appeared after a few seconds. She was overjoyed that I was ok, but dismayed at my lack of 'proper' food and the conditions I was in. She went back to the house to prepare some food and bring me some books. I thanked her and asked her to return every hour so I would know what time it was.
Hours passed as I studied and made notes before anything happened. It began with my magic sight detecting a single person entering the room on the other side of the door. As I was 'inside' the wall the intruder would have no way of detecting me without using a searching spell specifically aimed towards the tunnel. Apparently the thought of hidden intruders never occurred to the figure, as they strode directly to the Mirror of Erised. Although my magic sight could not make out the details of his face, as unlike Theresa I did not keep it active at all times because I found it distracting, I could make out the persons clothes, specifically the turban he wore. Quirrel stood in front of the mirror seemingly talking to himself, although I knew it was with Tom who he was conversing with.
Before long I watched as Harry walked into the room and was restrained by Quirrel, then I watched as their fight broke out. Once Quirrel's skin began to boil from contact with Harry I moved into action. I watched as the stone flew out from Harrys pocket once he fell unconscious after Tom's shade came into contact with him and I rushed out to grab it. Before I left I looked at Quirrel and felt a stab of pity for him; his flesh was partially melted around his arms and face, and the rest of him was covered in painful looking boils which seemed to spread before my eyes. His eyes seemed unfocused and small whimpers of pain escaped his mouth while his body spasmed; he's probably delirious from the intense pain. With Tom no longer possessing him Quirrel would slowly die, and I doubt that the Unicorn blood that he drank would help him out much. I decided to do something ethical today and decided to put Quirrel out of his misery.
"Avada Kedavra." Quirrel's body seemed to absorb the green orb, and all of his movements stopped. I felt better that I put him out of his misery instead of leaving him to slowly die, and I immediately hauled ass out through the secret tunnel. I knew Dumbledore would be arriving soon, and I had no desire to be caught by him; I held no delusions that I could defeat the old man, and I wasn't going to be caught after accomplishing what I came here for.
The spiraling stairs in the secret tunnel led to a door, which opened up into a random hallway. A patrolling prefect whirled around to face the opened door, but stopped short once they failed to see anyone. I wasted no time in casting the Imperius, and soon the prefect led me to the seventh floor. I squashed down the feeling of success I felt in favor of watching every corner; I fully expected to see Dumbledore bearing down at me with wand halfway through a lethal spell. While the prefect may not have known where the Room of Requirements is, he did know where the portrait of the idiot teaching two trolls how to dance is. Once we arrived there I commanded the prefect to leave, and entered the room.
I followed the trail of paint that I left to the cabinet that I left Aberforth at, and stunned the man once he began to struggle at the sight of me. I hefted him over my shoulder and opened the door that led to Arianna's tunnel. I rushed down the tunnel, resisting the urge to madly cackle at my success. Soon I saw another light at the end of the tunnel, and under the matching candle I saw another portrait of Arianna. She broke out in visible relief once she saw her brother, and I jumped through the doorway and emerged at Aberforth's pub. I dumbed Aberforth on the floor and threw his wand on him, then walked out of the pub after locking the door to Arianna's portrait again. Before Apparating away I snapped the wand I was using and dumped it in a nearby barrel. I Apparated four times before I was satisfied that no one would be able to track me, using a flash step to cover some distance from each point of Apparation before Apparating again. On the fourth Apparation the Trees of the forest I lived at became visible, and I could no longer resist the urge to cackle; I laughed at the top of my voice that my mad venture actually succeeded. I fell to my knees once the pain in my sides became too much to handle, yet I continued to laugh. I took out the ruby colored gem from my pocket, dozens of ideas of how to use it soaring through my head.
AN:
This chapter is extremely late, and I apologize. I was recently hired at a new job, and I've been busy dealing with that.
I'll answer some questions now.
Lucius was able to find Dio's house through a mixture of his personal skills and Rover manipulating events from behind the scenes. And as for the scene where he broke through Dios wards, remember that Dio had only spent half a year in the HP world at that point. That isn't enough time to learn how to do something as complicated as creating wards easily, especially since each ward requires a completely different process.
Dio finding the prefects and Dumbledore being delayed, because in the books Dumbledore arrived at the chamber as soon as Harry fell unconscious, was due to what Rover told Dio; he would have to release his chaos powers to influence what happened. I did state that the results would not always be against Dio, and this time it was in his favor.
Feel free to ask any other questions, and please leave a review.
