Chapter 10: Learning the Oath
Hermione's POV
In the weeks following Valentine's Day and leading up to the Spring Break, time seems to rush by. Her nights are spent in one of three ways: making potions, working with some of the other students, or studying with Ayumu. Several times she finds herself having very serious conversations with sixth and seventh year students who are trying to decide what to do with themselves. Rabastan Lestrange has already decided that he would prefer to remain neutral, his problem being the fact he is already promised to Riddle, leaving him in a bind.
During one of her visits to see Ayumu, she broaches the subject with the Keeper of Gates, hoping the older woman will be able to assist.
"Ayumu?" she inquires as she finishes with her practice for the night.
Yes? The white-haired woman replies, mildly distracted by something.
"Is there a way to insure loyalty that will not interfere with other oaths per say but still keep them in line?" she asks her mentor, voice full of curiosity and concern.
Ayumu turns her gaze towards her, a thoughtful look crossing the older woman's face. Indeed there is, however it requires that balance must be maintained. Why do you ask? Is one of the younglings considering your offer bound by another?
She nods, sighing and responding, "Indeed, a few of them are expected to submit to Riddle, and while some of them can avoid it, others have too many family members to do so."
Smiling in understanding, Ayumu replies, It is not an issue. I will teach you a perfectly useful oath that will work towards your goal. It will maintain the balance while insuring that they remain loyal. Focusing, the older woman remains silent for a moment before starting to etch the runes in the air. Ayumu seems dissatisfied with the first set and clears them away with the wave of her hand. Do you have a name for the group already?
Tilting her head, she considers it for a bit before answering, "I was thinking of something to do with stars since they are good examples of neutrality."
Ayumu nods thoughtfully, Well then, how about this, Order of the Cosmic Star?
A slow smile splits her face as she considers the implications. Cosmic for everything within nature, star for the neutrality that she seeks. She doesn't wish to be like Riddle with his speeches of hate and anger, prejudice and fear, a man who promotes evil even as he tries to hide it as good. She doesn't want to be like Dumbledore with his false promises that good is best and always wins, because she is quite sure that is not true. Both pure good or evil upset the balance that she is quite sure nature enforces, which is why both sides win from time to time before the other side rises back up. If things are kept in better balance, there probably wouldn't be as many dark lords as there has been.
This is the spell I suggest., It's a bit longer than most, but each line is represented by two glyphs each. The spoken spell does not have to be said in tangent with it or you can have them swear in their native tongue to the oath. Ayumu explains calmly, before showing her each of the glyphs.
Stele de foc, de ardere lumina.
Ne harul în noaptea mistuitoare.
Promisiune cosmică mă căuta.
Adevăr, neutralitate toate, dar blând.
Jur să fac pentru a susține echilibrul.
Pentru toate actele fel, crud trebuie să urmeze.
Cruzimi adevăr și bunătate să fie.
Acum, până la acest jurământ să fie eliberat.
Eu, prezinte acest jurământ să aibă loc.
After Eu have them state their name, binding them within the oath, the magic will still accept it even if they give a false name and bind it to them, it will just recognize them by that false name. For instance if the one you call Snape is to swear the oath and say his name is Harpy, the spell would consider him named Harpy forevermore and you could summon him using that name.
With that example in mind, she cannot help but chuckle because she has told Ayumu of his behavior in both timelines and Ayumu had likened him to a Harpy, intelligent but with a bite that it takes lots of effort to get past.
I must caution you: this can be used on anyone willing to take it, whether they have magic or not. It will affect them accordingly. In mages, there will be a strong compulsion to maintain balance, so if your youngling does something unspeakably cruel, the magic will compel him to do something of kindness that will make him balanced. Pausing, Ayumu looks thoughtful as if debating what else to say, eventually she continues to speak. I will say that it is not appropriate to try and punish someone with this oath riding them. After all, it will force penance for crimes committed far better than anything a mortal could think up. I must also say that a good person who starts to lose balance with nature will be forced to rebalance themselves either in doing something evil or by not being able to do anything good and only able to be neutral.
She listens carefully, nodding and replying, "I understand."
For the next several hours, she spends her time in the garden practicing the runes until she can do them with her eyes closed, one hand behind her back, and either hand. She also practices the words in the oath until she can repeat it everytime without fail in English and it's original Romanian. Once she feels comfortable with the runes and spell, her mind turns to the rest of that conversation. She will be able to summon a person who've sworn the oath? How? Is it similar to how the Dark Mark can be used to summon a person? Best to ask.
"Ayumu, how can it be used to summon a person?" she inquires curiously as she repeats the runes with her left hand absently, finishing the last practice run.
Blinking, Ayumu glances over at her in surprise, That is simple enough. For those with magic in their blood, they know to go to the person calling for them, you can make a physical representation of the bond on them in either the form of a tattoo or a piece of irremovable jewelry. That representation can be used to call them to your location. Or for the time you will be gone, your seconds. Though you will have to decide who that second will be before then.
Pulling up the memory of the only time she had seen the Dark Mark at the end of her fourth year, she inquires, "Like this?"
Ayumu takes a quick look into her mind, observing the Dark Mark and nodding slowly. Exactly so. That one is made using the dominate blood paths. Yours will be through the soul paths instead. Truthfully, the soul paths are far stronger than the blood paths. I believe that Riddle ties his blood paths to the recipients magic, which is a minor part of the soul.
She stares at the immortal in shock. Mind carefully replaying and comprehending exactly what Ayumu means. Did the immortal know all of that from the shared memory or did the immortal look into Riddle's history using their shared memory? Does Ayumu see everything through a vision or is there some other way that the Keeper of Gates knows everything that she does? It's something for her to ask about at some point in the future, but not today. Today she focuses on the current lesson, and the information it brings with it.
Eventually she nods in understanding.
Whom do you plan to swear to you first? Ayumu inquires as she cleans up for the day.
"I was thinking either Jacob or Rabastan, possibly both at the same time or back to back." Giving a shake of her head, she sighs and remarks, "This is going to get harder I think, from here on out."
Indeed. It is good that you realize that now. The white-haired woman praises her. Continuing on to suggest helpfully, I suggest that your first bindings be under the light of a full moon or new moon as both represent balance in one way or another.
Again she nods, giving Ayumu a small smile as she bids the older woman farewell for the evening. A moment later she uses the pendant to return to the school. She definitely needs to work on the safe zone. There needs to be at least one safe house up and running before the school year is done. There needs to be at least one place where they can go and just be, one place where they are not forced into roles they may not want. One place they can take 'victims' to make them vanish without actually having to kill them.
Sighing, she heads back inside and to her bed.
On the way there she can't help but chuckle dryly. If this was her original timeline, Snape most likely would have caught her long before this. None of the current night watchers are as diligent as him.