My Other Half

by ThInfiniteDarkLord

Harry has a twin named Vera. Both support each other as they overcome the abuse of the Dursleys and take the magical world by storm. They choose not to limit themselves and continuously experiment with magic, learning more and more about the secrets of this power. This is a twincest pairing fic, but without smut - read at your own discretion. !OC !Dark !Scientist Harry and OC

6. Chapter 6: I'm a What?

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

~Parseltongue~

Etymology of new spells I make up will be present at the end of the chapters they are first used in. If not, please review and let me know.

Chapter 6: I'm a What?

Dumbledore was very surprised that both twins were sorted into Ravenclaw. In hindsight, he should have expected that they would be sorted there, from what Snape told him – either Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Thankfully, neither twin was sorted into Slytherin – children and relatives of highly prominent Death Eaters filled that once noble House – something that Dumbledore found quite saddening. Of course, there were some suspicious children in Ravenclaw as well – Estelle Lestrange and Claudius Rookwood. But the twins already had made contact with Ron, who Dumbledore hoped would help them stick firmly on the Light Side.

Also, better Ravenclaw than Slytherin. Filius would be able to inform Dumbledore of any unsettling developments. It was of utmost importance that the twins were courageous and of noble character – beacons, of sorts, that the Light Side could rally behind. Their apparently high intelligence would be an obstacle to maneuver while Dumbledore tried to guide them towards the right path, but this only meant that Dumbledore had to be patient and careful with them – qualities the venerable old warlock had in abundance.

Dumbledore decided to take a little peek in Harry's mind – just to understand the boy a bit better, of course – but he was shocked (literally), when an electrical discharge blasted him out. Dumbledore decided legilimency against Harry was probably not safe – possibly because of the remnant of Voldemort's power left in his scar. He then switched his gaze to Vera. As he entered her mind, he had a horrible feeling of being ripped apart in all directions. Before it was too late, he quickly escaped.

Was it possible that these children knew occlumency? So early on? Did Severus possibly tell them about it? Even so, surely such advanced defenses couldn't be erected in a little more than a month. Of course, dedicated occlumency training under professional guidance for such an amount of time would be enough to ward off Dumbledore's attacks, but was such a thing possible at the age of eleven without guidance? Dumbledore was a little suspicious, but occlumency was nothing to be worried about – simply protecting oneself, that's all.

Ultimately, it would be useful for the plan Dumbledore had for the twins – it was one less thing he needed to teach them. However, he was curious as to where and how the twins learned the art. And why hadn't Severus informed him about it? Surely, he must have tried to access their minds as well, right? Dumbledore's musings ended as he realized it was time for him to address the crowd.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore said, spreading his arms – as if to embrace the crowd. "Welcome, dear students, to a yet another year at Hogwarts. I'm sure that after this year's rather eventful Sorting Ceremony, you are positively famished. Hence, I shall only offer a few words before the banquet starts. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

Everyone burst into applause. This Dumbledore fellow was quite eccentric, it seemed. And with eccentric people – one had to pay extra attention to words spoken by them. They may sound bat-shit insane, but there would have normally been some kind of meaning behind the words that the students (or just them) weren't getting yet.

"What exactly does the Headmaster mean by his words, Mr. Davies?" Vera asked.

"I'm not quite sure of that myself, Ms. Black. He does tend to be somewhat of a 'mad genius.' And please, call me Roger. I suggest the same to your brother as well." Davies said.

"Only if you call us by our first names" Vera grinned. Cementing an alliance with a prefect would do wonders for their credibility.

"Will do," Roger nodded. "Pork chops, Harry, Vera?" Roger offered. The twins' jaws almost dropped at the sheer amount of food that lined the middle of the tables. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs.

Both twins were slightly overwhelmed by the choices available. "A question, Roger," Harry said, causing the prefect to turn to him. "Do the words 'balanced diet' mean anything to the House Elves preparing these dishes?" Harry asked.

"Hahaha! Good one. I get it, this is all pretty rich, but it is a feast. Trust me, day-to-day meals will be more balanced than this." Roger said.

Harry and Vera accepted the explanation, before piling a little of all the meats, as well as roast potatoes, peas, and carrots. Just because this was a feast, it didn't mean they could skip out on eating nutritious vegetables. It was all delicious – even the peas and carrots, as they were full of butter – how unhealthy. The twins decided to run around the Lake for a while before going to sleep.

As they ate, the twins thought about the four words that Dumbledore said – nitwit, blubber, oddment, and tweak. Nitwit meant "idiot". Blubber meant "fat" or "pathetically cry" depending on the context. Oddment meant "oddity". "Tweak" meant "pinch" or "adjust" depending on the context.

Dumbledore said four words – so the twins first thought to the four Houses – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Gryffindor represented courage, Hufflepuff was kindness and loyalty, Ravenclaw was wisdom, and Slytherin was shrewdness and ambition.

After some thinking, the twins realized that Dumbledore was telling the students to be inclusive of their new peers. Ravenclaw despised dimwittedness, so Dumbledore was telling them that even if someone was a nitwit, they should not alienate them.

Gryffindor despised cowardice, so Dumbledore was telling them that even if someone seemed to not be brave (perhaps if they were to cry pathetically – blubber), they should lend them a helping hand rather than excluding them due to their perceived lack of courage.

Slytherins tended to despise non-purebloods, especially if they were poor. However, such "oddments" were sometimes sorted into the House of snakes, and Dumbledore was telling the Slytherins to welcome them into their House.

Hufflepuffs, who were already the most inclusive out of the four Houses, were told to become even more so by "tweaking" themselves to get rid of any biases.

Dumbledore was also preaching that it was okay for a member sorted into a certain House to behave in a way that did not befit the House values from time to time – no one was perfect. A Ravenclaw did not have to be all-knowing and infallible – it was fine if they made some silly or stupid mistakes from time to time, as long as they learned from them. A Gryffindor did not have to hold their fears and other feelings in, in order to appear brave – it was fine if they let it out and cried from time to time. Slytherins did not need to always have a cold exterior that they were known for – they could break character from time to time and relax a little. Hufflepuffs did not need to always help people and be kind to them, even when they were possibly having a bad day – they could have some time to themselves when they needed to, until they were able to "tweak" whatever was wrong.

The twins, while saddened that the message wasn't something they particularly found useful, were very impressed by Dumbledore's ability to say so much with a few words – a skill that possibly took several decades to develop, and it wasn't like Dumbledore didn't look his age – a hundred and ten years was quite a long time.

Harry also noticed one other thing. He saw Professor Snape talking with Professor Quirrell, whose back was turned towards Harry. As Harry's and Professor Snape's eyes connected, Harry felt a numb pain in his scar. That was not supposed to happen – Harry had looked Professor Snape in the eye several times back when he took them to Diagon Alley, but felt fine. Harry focused on Professor Quirrell, whose turban was pointed towards him. As Professor Quirrell shifted and his turban pointed elsewhere, Harry's pain was gone…strange. Harry wondered exactly what Professor Quirrell was hiding in that ridiculous, garlic-smelling turban.

Once the feast was over, Dumbledore spoke again. "Ahem, now that we are all fed and watered, I have a few notices to give you all."

'Damn, Headmaster, we're not fucking animals.' the twins thought.

"First-years should note that the forest at the border of the grounds is forbidden to all pupils, and a few older students would do well to remember this as well." Dumbledore said, his twinkling eyes flitting to a pair of twin redheads at the Gryffindor table – Fred and George Weasley.

'The same forest we walked through with Hagrid? The only reason why that would be forbidden is because Dumbledore is giving a challenge – this is not a rule, it's a challenge. Otherwise, why wouldn't there be some sort of barrier between the grounds and the forest?" Vera thought. Similar thoughts coursed through Harry's mind as well.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors." Dumbledore said wearily. Clearly, he didn't care much for this rule, and was just informing the students because this "Filch" fellow asked him to.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch." Dumbledore said, in a more upbeat voice. It seemed he was a quidditch fan.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Dumbledore finished lightheartedly.

'Another challenge? A simple "out of order" or "under repair" sign, and a bunch of advanced Locking Charms would do the trick, if students were indeed not to enter that corridor. This was a clear invitation for students to investigate. Did no one here ever learn of the Streisand Effect?' Harry thought. Vera was also thinking along the same lines.

"And now, before we go to bed, the school song!" Dumbledore merrily exclaimed.

'Oh, Merlin, no!' the twins thought, remembering the stupid lyrics of Hogwarts's horrible school song from Hogwarts: A History.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and a long, golden ribbon flew out of the end and morphed into the lyrics of the song – an impressive display of Dumbledore's precision when using magic, the twins thought.

"And off we go! Everyone pick a tune and sing along!" Dumbledore exclaimed, orchestrating with his wand.

The twins were mortified by the idea of actually singing this horrid song, so they lip-synced instead. Once the song was done, which took several seconds after the lyrics stopped appearing from Dumbledore's wand (the Weasley twins made the song last as long as possible by singing a slow, funeral dirge – which Harry and Vera admittedly did find funny), Dumbledore announced, "Ah music, the magic beyond all that we teach here!", while wiping his teary eyes. How ridiculous. "Now, bedtime. Off you trot."

The livestock references were getting a little out of hand.

As the students filed away towards their common rooms, Roger and Penelope stood up and turned to the first years.

"Right, all of you please follow us." Roger said.

"We will take you to the Ravenclaw Common Room." Penelope said with a nod.

All the first years followed them. As they walked, Harry called Roger. "Hey, Roger, why are we taking a different path than the others?" he asked.

"Ah, a wonderful observation, Harry. The Hat was not wrong to place you in our House. Yes, in order to have a less hectic and emptier path, we are taking a different route." Roger said. "Oh, and mind your step." he added absently, pointing to a step that had just vanished.

"Isn't that dangerous? We are pretty high up." one of the Ravenclaws – Terrence Boot – asked nervously.

"Don't worry, even if you trip because of it, the castle does have protective enchantments to make sure you don't fall." Penelope said.

The Ravenclaw first years (other than the twins) nervously nodded. "Anyways, continuing with what you were asking me, Harry, while this is not the most optimal route to the Common Room, you will get to familiarize yourselves with the castle as time passes. There are also several maps of the general layout of the castle available in the Common Room for your perusal." Roger said, as Harry nodded.

As they continued to walk, the twins noticed a bunch of walking sticks hovering above them. "Peeves," Penelope muttered in annoyance. At the first years' questioning glances, she elaborated. "He's a poltergeist. He has a fondness for annoying people with his idiotic pranks." she said.

"Peeves, leave us alone, or I'll get the Bloody Baron." Roger said daringly.

A comical looking man appeared above the group. He was short, portly, and had wicked dark eyes and a disturbingly wide smile. He blew a loud raspberry at Roger.

"Ooh! Ickle firsties, what fun!" he cackled. As he swooped towards them, Harry whipped out his wand. "Depulso," he said, banishing Peeves to the other end of the corridor. As the walking sticks in the air fell, Vera whipped out her wand, pointed it up, and said "Protego", causing a shield to form and deflect the sticks.

"What?" Harry asked, noticing everyone looking at him and Vera with gaping jaws. "He was being annoying."

"That's not what we…Harry, how do you know a fourth-year spell? And Vera, how did you know a fifth-year spell? Even Roger and I weren't taught that yet. Not that we didn't learn it anyway, but still." Penelope asked.

"I like to read ahead. I'm in Ravenclaw, aren't I?" Harry asked.

"Plus, we do need to learn a bit of defensive magic. There's a whole bunch of people out for mine and Harry's heads." Vera added.

"Well, I guess we can't argue with that. But that was a damn good Banishing Charm, if I do say so myself, Harry. And Vera, that was a textbook Shield Charm – wonderful. Unfortunately, prefects are not allowed to give points to their own House." Roger said.

When they made it to the entrance of the Common Room, Penelope spoke up. "Alright, everyone, to enter our Common Room, you must knock it using this eagle knocker." she pointed to a bronze knocker that was shaped like an eagle. "It will then ask you a riddle, which you must answer correctly to be granted access. If you cannot answer it, you must wait outside until someone gets it right." she finished.

"Isn't that a security risk? What if a non-Ravenclaw answers it correctly?" a girl, Estelle Lestrange, asked. The twins already knew the answer to that from Hogwarts: A History, of course, but they decided to let the prefects answer – no one likes a know-it-all.

"A very frequently asked question." Roger nodded. "If the knocker sees that the one at the entrance is a non-Ravenclaw, it asks them an unanswerable riddle, unless our Founder Rowena's magic sees fit to grant them access." Roger said. The first years all nodded. Penelope knocked with the knocker.

"What coat is always wet when you put it on?" the knocker asked.

"Hmm…tough one. Any ideas, guys?" Roger asked. Of course, he guessed the answer already and so did Penelope, but they wanted to give the first years a chance.

"A coat of paint." Harry and Vera said together, causing the entrance to the Common Room to swing open.

"Well done." Penelope said to them all as she gestured for them to climb inside, one by one. Once they all made it through, Roger and Penelope followed.

The Common Room was a spacious, bright, and airy place, furnished with study tables and wide, cushiony sofas. There was a massive library that took up the entire wall opposite to the entrance and the wall to its left. Hogwarts: A History had stated that it was almost as large as the Hogwarts Great Library, minus the restricted section. The dormitories were on the left of the entrance, and the whole Common Room had blue furniture, walls, and carpet, and was decorated with bronze sculptures – the most prominent one being that of Rowena Ravenclaw herself.

All the first years assembled, and Roger and Penelope addressed them. "Alright, then, all of you. We have a few ground rules here in the Ravenclaw Common Room and the dormitories.

First, in the Common Room, as you can see, there is more than enough furniture to accommodate all of your studying needs. You would also notice the rather large library available to us. It has several books that even the Hogwarts Great Library doesn't have, and if any of you mishandle any of the books, you will be held responsible and charged for the books' replacement or restoration. If you are found responsible for the damage of any of the furniture in the Room, that will also lead to you being charged for it. Curfew is at ten for all of you until you reach your third year." Penelope said.

"Next, your dormitories – each dormitory in the Ravenclaw Common Room is meant for two students. Later, you all will need to pair up and occupy each of your dormitories. Unlike Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin have no gender separation for their dorms, as the founders believed their students and future occupants of the dorms to be responsible enough to respect boundaries and carry themselves in a mature and decent manner. This means you can pair up with a student of an opposite gender. No one really cares whatever you get up to in your rooms, as long as no one is being harmed and the rules of the Hogwarts rulebook are being followed." Roger said.

"Now, for House policies – how we expect you to be during your time at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw has always been a House of lone wolves, but we still do expect you to not allow your competitiveness to prevent you from helping out your Housemates when they need it. You must take academics very seriously, as Ravenclaw does not tolerate grades lower than 'Exceeds Expectations'. We pride ourselves on our academic fortitude, and you all are to perform at the highest level. Extraordinary is the benchmark for Ravenclaws. It's fine if you have a couple of bad days and are less than satisfactory in terms of your academic performance during those days, but you all must aim to be the very best out of all your peers." Penelope said seriously. Suddenly, they all heard muffled footsteps heading towards them.

"Ah, I see you have explained things to them quite well, Mr. Davies, Ms. Clearwater. You may leave now – I will take it from here." a short man with features that were not entirely human said. The prefects nodded and left.

"Hello, first years, I am Professor Filius Flitwick – Head of the Ravenclaw House. I would firstly like to take a moment to welcome all of you to Ravenclaw House. I know the prefects must have put some pressure on you all, and while what they said is true, they are simply trying to get you all to give your best efforts to reap maximum benefits from your education. You being sorted into Ravenclaw was no mistake, and I expect you to prove that the Sorting Hat was right in placing you here.

'Is he pretending to not know about the farce that the Sorting Ceremony is to encourage us?' Vera thought.

"Now, I would like to let you all know that you can depend on me whenever you are troubled, have any difficulties in class, have issues with your Housemates, or anything else. The timings of my availability will be posted on the wall next to my classroom's entrance." Professor Flitwick said with a kind smile.

"Remember, even if you did something suspicious, broke rules, or broke laws, I will keep it a secret and help you correct your mistakes and redeem yourselves. All of us find points in our lives wherein we are driven to commit acts that we know are wrong, due to being coerced by peer pressure, consumed by greed, or other possible reasons. However, this doesn't give you the license to abuse my trust and purposefully do actions that you know are wrong, hoping I will protect you. I will know if you try such a thing." Professor Flitwick said with a serious glare.

"And lastly, as your prefect have informed you, doing well in class is the bare minimum I expect from you all. I encourage you to explore far beyond what it taught to you on your own time, and appreciate the value of the gift of magic that you all possess. You may now line up to collect your schedules one by one" Flitwick said cheerily, producing a stack of parchment sheets.

'What an odd little man.' Harry and Vera thought. He must have some non-human ancestry. Goblin, perhaps?

Once Harry reached the front of the line, he looked at the schedule

Monday

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.: Transfiguration (Gryffindor)

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Herbology (Slytherin)

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: History (Slytherin)

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.: DADA (Hufflepuff)

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: Dinner

10:00 p.m.: Curfew

Tuesday

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.: Potions (Hufflepuff)

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Charms (Gryffindor)

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Herbology (Slytherin)

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.: Transfiguration (Gryffindor)

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: Dinner

10:00 p.m.: Curfew

Wednesday

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.: DADA (Hufflepuff)

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Transfiguration (Gryffindor)

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: History (Slytherin)

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.: Charms (Gryffindor)

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: Dinner

10:00 p.m.: Curfew

Thursday

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.: Charms (Gryffindor)

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Potions (Hufflepuff)

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: DADA (Hufflepuff)

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.: Herbology (Slytherin)

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: Dinner

10:00 p.m.: Curfew

Friday

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.: Transfiguration (Gryffindor)

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Charms (Gryffindor)

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: History (Slytherin)

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.: Potions (Hufflepuff)

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: Dinner

10:00 p.m.: Curfew

*All first-year Ravenclaws have mandatory Astronomy classes with Slytherins of the same year every Wednesday and Friday from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. This is the only exception to the curfew rule.

* All first-year Ravenclaws have mandatory Flying classes with Hufflepuffs of the same year every Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Only first years selected as players of their House Quidditch team (either varsity or reserve)

He nodded, before looking up to Professor Flitwick. "Professor, I mean no offense by this question, but you're not entirely human, are you?" Harry asked.

"Haha! Don't worry, Mr. Potter, your question didn't offend me. Though I must say you are the first to ask me such a question so early on during your time at Hogwarts. And yes, my paternal grandfather was a Goblin." Professor Flitwick said merrily.

Harry wanted to ask the tiny professor to teach him a little bit about Goblin culture and magic, but there were two issues. Firstly, he would have to wait a little longer – earn the professor's trust – before he could get anything useful from the interaction. Secondly, he was holding up the line. So, he simply smiled and nodded as he stepped out of the way.

Once Professor Flitwick had left the Common Room, the first years clamored to find their respective roommates, and many were disappointed that Harry and Vera were already together (unsurprisingly). However, they did concede that for most twins, it would be a cold day in hell before they willingly stayed apart.

Claudius Rookwood and Estelle Lestrange also had no choice but to pair up with each other, since they were distrusted by the others because of their last name. While some more compassionate people would feel bad for them and try to start some sort of pity friendship with them, the twins saw an opportunity.

After investigating the histories of prominent suspected and convicted Death Eaters, they learnt that Augustus Rookwood was a former Unspeakable. Those workers from the Department of Mysteries worked with and studied all kinds of obscure magic. If there was a link between Claudius and Augustus that was more than just the fact that they came from the same family, the chance of discovering some of Augustus Rookwood's work would increase manifold.

Harry and Vera also knew about the Lestrange brothers, as well as Bellatrix Lestrange (although she did marry in to the family). The three, along with Bartemius Crouch Jr., were skillful enough to get through the wards protecting the Longbottom Manor and best Frank and Alice Longbottom in a fight. They were also some of the Dark Lord's staunchest followers. It would be in their best interests to acquaint themselves with Estelle Lestrange as well.

The other pairs were Terrence Boot and Michael Corner, Su Li and Isobel MacDougal, and Anthony Goldstein and Lisa Turpin (the last pair, although not minding their roommate status, had no other choice but to pair up as there were no other options).

It was only five minutes to curfew when Harry disillusioned himself and snuck out of the Common Room. He went to an empty classroom silently cast a Homenum Revelio, and checked for any tracking or listening charms. Finding none, he cast a Colloportus on the door to lock it, cast a Silencing Charm around the area he was in, and cast a spell known as Reicier Ingressum – which protected the door from being unlocked by an Alohomora. He pulled out his and Vera's trunk from his pocket, and expanded it to its usual size.

He pulled out Scabbers from his pocket and climbed inside the trunk. Neither twin knew this fact about the trunk, but there was a flaw in its defenses. Animagi, while retaining the mind of their human selves, had their souls changed to those of their animal forms. This made them impossible to detect by means of the Homenum Revelio Charm, which the trunk used to detect the humans that entered them.

Harry, who was none the wiser about Scabbers's true nature, dropped the in a large glass container the size of an aquarium, with holes in the lid for air to get through. The jar was large enough for the rat to scurry around without issues. He then added the Unbreakable Charm (Infragilis) to the jar so that the rat wouldn't be able to escape with any form of magic that it might have had. He opened the lid and put a few dried pineapple slices inside to feed the rat once it woke up and got hungry. He also put in a tiny bowl that was filled with water, and another to collect the rat's litter. He assumed that Ron would have trained the rat to know where to excrete.

Harry then placed the container on a shelf and sent for his spies. Once all the thirty snakes were assembled, Harry spoke up.

~Hello, my dear spies. Today, I give you your very first mission. You all are to comb every inch of the Hogwarts castle – no nook or cranny is to go unexplored. You then must return to me and tell me about all the secret passages, hidden places, and other areas of interest that you find – areas that are not made publicly known.~ Harry said.

~How much time do we have, master?~ one of the snakes, Nugget, asked.

~You all have until this same day the next week, and you must report by nine-thirty p.m.~ Harry said.

~Will you use magic to keep us hidden for the duration of the mission, master?~ another snake, Spike, asked.

~Yes, I will disillusion you all, but Vera and I will be able to sense your unique magics. Make sure you all stay hidden regardless, lest someone more experienced with magic detects you.~ Harry said.

~What about food, master?~ a slightly thicker snake, Chunky, asked.

~I have confidence that you'll be able to find the Kitchens without much trouble. If you don't, however, you have my permission to hunt in the Forbidden Forest.~ Harry said resolutely.

~But the Forest is dangerous, master.~ a smaller snake, Chip, said.

~And you are my spies. Surely you are skilled enough to stay out of harm's way?~ Harry asked.

~Everyone quiet down. Master should not be given a reason to doubt our skill. We accept the mission, master. We will make you proud~ the de facto leader of the snakes, aptly named Queen, said.

~Excellent, now, be ready. I will use the Disillusionment Charm on you all.~ Harry said. The snakes nodded.

'Desillundo,' Harry thought, pointing his Woodcroft wand at the snakes. An illusion formed over all of them, camouflaging them in their surroundings. He then exited the trunk, let all the snakes out, shrunk it, and put it back in his pocket. He then removed the Silencing Charm and the locks on the door. He disillusioned himself again and reentered the Common Room. He then made his way back to his dorm room to rejoin Vera.

"Harry! You left without telling me! Where were you?" Vera asked indignantly.

~Relax, Vera. I just sent my spies to find out the secrets this castle holds. I also put Scabbers in a large tank so that we can study him better later.~ Harry hissed.

"I see. But why are you speaking in parseltongue?" Vera asked.

"Sorry, I was kind of stuck in the parseltongue setting after talking to my snakes." Harry chuckled.

"Should we read Herpo's book to see if there is anything about the contamination now? Or should we rest and find out tomorrow?" Vera asked.

"Might as well do it now. We don't need much sleep anyway." Harry said. This was true. For some reason, Harry and Vera were able to get by with only four to five hours of sleep rather than the usual eight. They reasoned that this was partially due to the abusive environment they had lived their formative years in and partially due to their magical potential.

The thing about Herpo's book was that the information it contained was ever-changing. It wasn't exactly a large tome, but it had a similar number of pages as a muggle textbook for a middle-schooler. When the twins first read it, it only explained the principles behind rudimentary parselmagic. In fact, even after reading the book several times, it only gave them access to the basic parselmagic spells and nothing overly advanced. It seemed to teach them this unique type of magic rather than leaving them a bunch of text that they had to understand for themselves. Herpo wrote the book from a first-person point of view and included several personal anecdotes about his experiments and experiences with parselmagic.

The twins also found that if they needed to find answers to certain questions, the book would change to provide them with the answers, but sometimes when they tried this, the book simply opened to the next part of their lessons in parselmagic – perhaps because Herpo didn't know the answers either.

Harry thought of soul magic and focused on how the magic in his scar felt. He then opened the book.

My dear descendent, the magic you want to learn about is the worst kind of dark magic in existence – at least, as of the time that I live in. I have only recorded some of my knowledge of it in this book so as to help you understand the dangers of performing such magic. I don't want you to endanger your soul by experimenting with what I am about to inform you of. If you do, beware – this book is charmed to remove all your memories of ever reading it. as soon as you opened it, the charm has transferred to you. If you refuse to abide by this demand of mine, or try to undo the charm, it will immediately take effect.

My discovery of this abomination of magic was a result of me trying to make my life's work last permanently. I hated the idea of my discoveries and accomplishments in the field of parselmagic being lost to time. You see, in the era I lived in, I was the first parselmouth to ever exist. Even the name for my kind – parselmouth – was derived from the name of a descendent of mine named Paracelsus.

My situation resulted in my pioneering of the Serpentine Arts, which were seen as dark during my time. It was an obscure magic, and people feared what they didn't understand. My study of this type of magic earned me the label of a dark wizard. Hence, I became a recluse. Everyone who wanted to meet me were either interested in using my knowledge for their own selfish needs, or wanted to kill me because of my supposed "darkness".

My exile from the magical community and my new reclusive nature caused me to become a nomad, traveling to many places around the world as my dark reputation grew. There were skeptics here and there, who thought rationally and didn't feel that I deserved my reputation – especially since I had never harmed humans unless they attacked me.

During my travels, my ability to speak the serpents' tongue led me to discover a species that had never been seen before – the Ouroboros – a creature that had only been referenced in ancient legends, and was the reason why snakes were associated with immortality and rebirth. I was, understandably, fascinated by such a noble creature, and I took it with me to study it further. While paintings depicting this creature had showed it eating its own tail, the Ouroboros did this only when it was close to dying – something I found out only after speaking and interacting with this creature several times. Whenever the tail fully grew back after the head bit it off, the Ouroboros would promptly eat it again, severing its posterior to add a few more years to its life.

I was fascinated when it told me about its indestructibility and invulnerability. I, of course, tested this theory. I blasted it with every destructive spell I knew of, even subjecting it to the heat of a dragon's flame. It never even flinched. I asked it if such a thing was possible to replicate. It told me that no human being could gain such properties. It would never elaborate, saying it was too dangerous to experiment with such magic. However, I was not to be deterred. After managing to successfully kill the Ouroboros (a feat I shall provide you more information on at another time), I started researching several tomes that came into my possession, trying to find out if any items existed that were indestructible.

After looking through several tomes, many of which claimed that the soul was indestructible, I started investigating the soul. What was it? Was it a tangible thing? Did a ghost count as a soul, or was it something else? How much soul did each being have, and how big was it? Was there a specific place it was located in a body, or was it spread throughout? Could a soul be transferred to an inanimate object to prevent it from being damaged?

Souls and soul magic were difficult to find information about, as most magicals considered the act of investigating such areas to be dark. However, after tediously scouring every inch of the places I traveled to, I found something of interest in the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. I had to desecrate the tombs of the Pharaohs to find the information, but to my young and foolish self, only the information mattered. I hastily reset the tombs, but forgot to put the wards protecting the Pyramids back up, hence making the area accessible to muggles.

It seemed that Egyptian royalty had been obsessed with finding the key to immortality since ancient times. They hypothesized that splitting one's soul and tethering a piece of it to an inanimate object would prevent the soul from being claimed, as they believed only whole souls could be claimed. They had succeeded, but they only managed to extend their lives for a few hundred years, as the soul fragments would reattach to each other. I thought that this was, perhaps, due to the fact that this magic was performed without using the language of the Ouroboros.

The steps to create a soul container were gruesome and disgusting. The wizard or witch first had to kill an innocent soul (a child) without remorse. They then had to consume a potion made from every part of the corpse's body, along with a few other ingredients that I will not mention. After that, they had to prepare a runic array out of a paste made from their blood, flesh, and excrement in order to conduct a ritual, which I refuse to elaborate on. Whatever inanimate object they chose to use for the ritual would become the soul container. The soul fragment would be destroyed only when its container was destroyed.

I could not fathom the idea of killing without remorse at that time, so I foolishly embraced my moniker of a Dark Lord, and experimented with the darkest magics I knew of. I killed, raped, and tortured mercilessly. I always felt remorse, which caused me much agony, but I felt it was more important that the knowledge that would be preserved as a part of my soul container made this pain worth it. Hence, I continued to willingly and knowingly corrupt my soul through my actions. It matters not what you think of me because of the actions I engaged in, my descendent, but it's important for you to understand my mistakes so that you don't repeat them.

One of my learnings during my corruption was that there is no light or dark magic – only intent. It accomplished the same end whether or not I killed with a Severing Charm or a Blood Boiling Curse. Even curses that were labeled as dark had beneficial uses. Organ-Liquefying Curses, for instance, were used to efficiently remove organs that were damaged or infected beyond repair, so that they could be transplanted. Since intent is relative – what may seem beneficial to me might be harmful to others, the spells themselves had to be labelled as light or dark depending on what purposes they were more frequently utilized for.

True dark arts – those that need dark intent to use – they are what I categorize as black arts. They are the darkest of the dark, and I would include the making of a soul container in such a category

After using magic with a dark intent for enough time, I was finally able to kill in the way described. I killed a muggle orphan girl, and choked down the potion made with her remains. Due to the tomes indicating that the object used would become indestructible, you might have guessed which object I used for the ritual – yes, the book you hold is my soul container, and this is why you won't be able to remove the charm I mentioned before I make it remove your memories of this book.

I named my creation the "Horcrux" – a container for my soul. I started to test if I could destroy it. I tried every spell in my repertoire, but was unable to damage a single page. This was perfect – a book containing my knowledge that would never be destroyed. My hypothesis that performing the ritual by incanting in parseltongue was correct – I lived in my human body for another nine hundred years, constantly updating the knowledge in my book, before having myself killed. The itch – the feeling of being incomplete – the feeling of living a cursed life – it became too much for me.

Of course, I am still alive as a Wraith, and once I have imparted all my knowledge to you, you are to destroy this book and my Wraith. I will give you explicit instructions on how to find my Wraith once it is time. I have been bound to the mortal plane for far too long.

I cannot reiterate often enough how much I don't want you to experiment with something like this. I had become deranged enough after creating a Horcrux. It would be horrible if, Merlin forbid, someone else did the same, or even created more than one.

"Oh, Merlin, I knew it was evil, but this?" Vera said incredulously.

"I never would have thought that this book itself was related to what the Dark Lord did to me." Harry said, gently lowering the book and closing it.

"How do you feel, Harry? This must be difficult for you." Vera said with concern.

"Not good…not good at all. I will try my best to find a way to remove the soul, without me dying in the process. However, the Dark Lord's Horcrux in my head is still useful. I need to learn as much as possible from it, before we destroy it." Harry said.

"I will do the same, Harry. This has now become top priority." Vera said.

"I can't believe how much we lucked out stumbling upon this book." Harry said incredulously.

"Same. Shall we sleep on this now, Harry?" Vera asked. "We can discuss the topic in more detail after school tomorrow."

"Please…stay with me tonight." Harry said, his voice quivering. He and Vera had used and experimented with dark magic before, but what they found from Herpo's book truly shook them – especially Harry. Knowing that he had a piece of the Dark Lord's soul in his scar made him feel violated. After learning how the soul was split, Harry was truly disturbed by what he contained.

"Very well, Harry. And remember, no matter what happens, I will never abandon you again. Even if you distance yourself from me, hate me, wish me dead, or even try to kill me, I will always be on your side." Vera said, a tear sliding down her cheek.

Harry grabbed her face. "Don't you dare think in that way. I am willing to put what happened before behind us, so please, Vera, do the same!" he begged.

Vera looked into Harry's eyes searchingly. She found a tiny amount of resentment and doubt – understandable, after what happened – but there was mostly love and trust.

Vera choked a sob, obviously still drowning in guilt. She sloppily slammed her lips onto Harry's – a test to see if his feelings for her were as real as hers were for him. Of course, he had every right to pull away and reject her, but it would alleviate much of her guilt if Harry reciprocated her affections.

Harry gave in to the kiss, his hands gently stroking her back as he expressed as much of his love as possible through the contact. Vera's heart melted. While her brother didn't forget what happened, he clearly did forgive her and was willing to take another chance with her. It was up to her to do the same.

Vera wrapped her hands around Harry, pressing herself into him. After a turbulent (physically and emotionally) make-out session, the twins tiredly climbed into Harry's bed and promptly fell asleep.

That night, Harry dreamed of himself and an older version of Vera getting married. She was, what, seventeen? Eighteen? As he looked at her, his breath hitched at how beautiful she was. The girl – woman – in front of him stood at a height of around five feet seven inches. She had flowing red hair like lava from a volcano – the luscious locks piling on one shoulder and continuing till it reached the area below her ample bosom. Her dark amber eyes shined with adoration as her soft pink lips softly smiled at him. She had high cheekbones, a slender nose, and a smooth, defined jawline. She was quite muscular, but not overly so – it added to her aesthetic. Her tantalizing curves were still visible and defined in her white wedding dress. The plunging neckline was not so exaggeratingly revealing that it would be called "slutty", but it was just enough to give Harry a slight tease of what was underneath.

Some would argue that Harry was too young to care about a woman's breasts and overall figure, and they would be right. However, both Harry and Vera had read about reproduction and studied enough theory to understand how the exact mechanics of the procedure would work – a source of much embarrassment and bashfulness when they conversed about the topic later. The twins also knew the desirable characteristics of a woman that would optimize her ability to nurture a child – purely from an academic standpoint. Wide hips would ensure greater ease of delivery during childbirth. While breasts didn't need to be overly large, sufficiently sized breasts would have mammary glands large enough to carry sufficient milk to breastfeed the baby. This was why the hourglass figure that Vera had was so desirable and perfect. While Harry wasn't yet hormonal enough to feel lust for Vera, he knew that her figure was perfect.

As the dream continued, Harry and Vera finally kissed. It was short and sweet – for the sake of appropriateness. Harry was too lost to pay attention to the cheering crowd. He loved Vera so much – so much that his chest actually felt constricted. As Harry woke from the dream and opened his, he realized that this constriction was actually because Vera was lying on top of him. He chuckled a bit – of course his chest couldn't be constricted because of love, what a silly notion. Love was an emotion, not a physical feeling.

Harry kissed Vera's delicate lips to wake her up. She was quite embarrassed that she found herself on top of him but calmed down as Harry hugged her tight. As both twins ambled out of bed, a Tempus Charm revealed that it was just past five a.m. They brushed their teeth, drank some water, and went for a run around the Black Lake. They had some fun playing with the friendly Giant Squid. They wondered if the Giant Squid was actually a Kraken, and decided to bring their copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them along with them next time so that they do a side-by-side comparison of the Giant Squid's tentacles and those of a Kraken.

They returned, showered, and changed into their robes. By this time, it was seven a.m., so the twins took a map of Hogwarts and made their way to the Great Hall for an early breakfast. They were relieved on seeing healthy options available. Harry took scrambled eggs, baked beans with pulled pork, wholewheat toast, and a fresh fruit salad (kiwi, berries, and pineapple). Vera took porridge with honey and fresh fruit (banana, berries, and apple), black pudding, sausages, and tomatoes. They shared their breakfast with each other, wanting to get a little of all the foods they picked.

As the other students started filing in at about seven-thirty, they saw the twins sharing their breakfasts. 'What a cute couple,' a few of them thought, before remembering that they were siblings – twins. Many found it odd that they did not look more alike each other – and that they were twins at all. In fact, the only aspect that they somewhat shared was their personality. Normally, when a witch birthed twins, they were identical, meaning they were the same gender, and born because of the same egg splitting into two zygotes on fertilization. There were no fraternal twins in the magical world, as magic made it physically impossible for a woman to release two eggs during ovulation.

As Harry and Vera were about to leave, they sensed two people directly behind them. As they sensed the pair's magic start to build, Harry quickly turned and grabbed a wrist holding a wand, twisting it to make the hand drop the wand, earning a yelp from the attacker. He knocked the boy down and pinned him to the ground.

As the other boy tried to pull out his wand, he felt an arm hold him in place and a wand pointed at his throat, causing him to gulp.

"What were you two trying to pull?" Harry asked the boy he pinned, pointing his Ollivander wand to his head.

"Really, mate, we were just trying a prank spell on you both! That's it! I swear!" one of the boys, either Fred or George Weasley, answered.

"Yeah, Harrykins, you gotta believe us!" the other twin Weasley said.

"Why should we? And how would we know if you were trying to attack us or prank us?" Vera asked.

"You're being paranoid! Even if we didn't like you, d'you think we'd be dumb enough to attack you in a school full of teachers, students who adore you, and Albus fricking Dumbledore? I mean, we would if you attacked first, but you get what I mean." the pinned Weasley twin said.

"Fair point," Harry grudgingly admitted, releasing his Weasley twin, but keeping his wand pointed at him. "Without meeting you before, I wouldn't know how smart or dumb you were, so my paranoia, and Vera's as well, is perfectly justified."

"You don't trust easily, do ya? The Hat placed you well, even if the Sorting Ceremony's a farce." Vera's Weasley twin said, as Vera released him.

Harry and Vera simply smirked, although keeping their wands trained on the Weasley twins.

"You can point your wands down now." one Weasley twin said.

"Here, see, our hands are up." the other said, as both raised their hands.

"We can't attack you now." the first said.

"I see why people are thrown off by our twin talk, Harry." Vera said.

"Yes, it's like watching a ping-pong match." Harry said and he and Vera lowered their wands and sent them up their sleeves with identical wrist flicks.

"So, will you tell us your names?" Vera asked.

"Right. I'm Gred Weasley." the first twin said with a smirk.

"I'm Forge Weasley." the other said with an identical smirk.

"Haha, real funny. Now, one of you is Fred and the other is George. Which is which?" Harry asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Fine, fine, jeez, no one appreciates our jokes anymore." the first twin said.

"I'm George, and he's Fred." the other twin said.

"Right. Thank you, George. And Fred, I'm sure that joke would have been funnier with the proper timing, and more context." Vera said.

"Yeah, I guess you guys aren't in the mood for jokes right now." Fred drooped.

"But, say, Fred, there is still half an hour left before classes…" George said.

"…you thinking what I'm thinking?" Fred asked. George emphatically nodded.

"Harrykins, Vera, let me present to you…" George started to say.

"…our improved rendition of the popular game Exploding Snap…" Fred continued.

"EXPLODING SHITES!" the Weasley twins shouted out together, causing many of the students seated to look at them incredulously, before breaking into raucous laughter, imagining people playing such a game.

"Care to join us for a game?" George asked, elbowing Harry while raising his eyebrows.

"Gentlemen, as much as I would love to join, this game would cause us to ruin the professors' first impression of us." Harry said.

"Yes, raincheck on playing such a ridiculous game." Vera agreed, a smidge too eagerly.

As they were exiting the hall, they heard a bang behind them. Both Weasley twins, as well as a slew of students around them, and interestingly, Professor Snape, who had just entered the hall, were covered with feces. Professor Snape looked positively murderous.

"Messrs. Weasley! You moronic baboons! How dare you experiment with this…filth in the Great Hall! Fifty points from Gryffindor…each!" he roared, stomping out of the hall to, presumably, Scourgify himself. His sullied robes billowed behind him as he marched.

Harry and Vera chuckled as they made their way to the first class – Transfiguration with the Gryffindors. As they entered, they saw a cat sitting on the table. What was the cat doing in the classroom? As far as they knew, Professor McGonagall seemed too strict to allow her pets in the classroom. However, they looked closer, and saw the rectangular markings around the cat's eyes. They remembered Professor McGonagall's rectangle-rimmed glasses and the fact that she was a registered Animagus. They easily put two and two…and two together.

"Good morning, Professor McGonagall." both said at once with small smiles. The cat looked shocked – it really was quite comical to see that expression on a tabby cat, which transformed back into the strict professor.

"How did you know?" Professor McGonagall asked in surprise.

"Multiple reasons. Firstly, you seemed too strict to allow a pet in your classroom." Vera said.

"Secondly, the rectangular markings around the cat's eyes were reminiscent of your glasses."

"Thirdly, we never saw a cat sit so still." Vera said.

"And fourthly, we remembered seeing your name in the list of registered Animagi, although we didn't remember your form." Harry finished.

"All very astute observations, Mr. Potter, Ms. Po – Black. Take ten points for Ravenclaw." Professor McGonagall said, correcting herself when addressing Vera.

"Thank you, Professor. What will we be learning today?" Vera asked.

"We will be transfiguring matchsticks to needles, after learning an introduction to the subject and a little basic theory." Professor McGonagall said.

"Very well then." Harry said.

"Might I ask, what prompted you both to come to my class so early?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"We figured it would be nice to get to talk to the professors for a little while before each class started." Vera said

"Also, this castle is easy to get lost in." Harry added.

"We wouldn't want to cut it too close or be late." Vera explained.

"A fine mentality. Punctuality is important, after all. But why such eagerness to talk to us. Not that I'm complaining, but I'm just curious." Professor McGonagall said.

"It makes you all more approachable, when we interact with the humans behind the strict facades." Harry said.

"If we ever need a professor's help or guidance, it would be easier to ask for it." Vera said.

"Very smart of you. Although such shrewdness and forethought are more of a Slytherin behavior, it is not unexpected of Ravenclaws. Clearly, you two have been sorted in a suitable House." Professor McGonagall said.

Soon, the students started filing in, and the class started. Harry and Vera, obviously, were the first to transform their matchsticks into needles, earning ten points for Ravenclaw each. Hermione looked at them in awe as she mournfully turned to her matchstick, which was only silver and pointy, but not metal. However, she still did earn five points for her progress, which was ahead of what the other students were able to do.

Harry and Vera, bored with practicing matchstick-to-needle Transfiguration, started turning their needles back to matchsticks, and those back to needles repeatedly. They started getting carried away when they non-verbally animated their needles and matchsticks to pretend to be a headless stickman walking around.

Professor McGonagall was giving Hermione advice when Terrence pointed out what the twins were doing. Professor McGonagall was gob smacked to see Harry and Vera animating two headless stickmen to fight against each other in a kickboxing match.

"What are you both doing?" she asked.

Harry and Vera, cursing the fact that they got carried away, immediately stopped animating the figures.

"Nothing, Professor, we were just –" Harry started to say, but Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"Twenty points to Ravenclaw for such an advanced display of magic. But ten points will be taken for endangering the other students. Those needles, even matchsticks, can take someone's eye out if you lose control." Professor McGonagall said.

"Thank you, Professor, and sorry, we –" Vera started to say, but Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"And stay back for a few minutes after this class, please." Professor McGonagall said.

After the class was over, Professor McGonagall walked over to them. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Black. How were you both able to do such advanced animation?" she asked.

"I don't know, Professor, we just wanted to animate the matchsticks and needles and it just…happened." Harry said, looking down with a guilty expression on his face. Vera had to admit – Harry was an amazing liar. They did have intent-based magic, but it was a bit more complex than just wanting something to happen.

Professor McGonagall was stumped. Never before had she encountered such a thing. "Are you being truthful?" she asked searchingly, earning a nod from the twins.

"I see. I must admit, my interest is quite piqued by your strange ability. Would you mind meeting me in my classroom at four-thirty p.m. today? I have a few tests to give you involving more advanced Transfiguration. If you pass them, I might even allow you both to accelerate your education in my subject." Professor McGonagall said, tempting the twins.

As for the twins, this was the best possible outcome of the situation. They mentally kicked themselves for childishly getting distracted from the situation at hand, and swore to themselves that they should be more careful I future. At least they didn't reveal their wandless magic – that would be catastrophic. "We accept, Professor." they said together.

Professor McGonagall smiled. "Very well. You are free to leave for your next class now. Oh, and by the way, ten points to Ravenclaw each for that impressive display of advanced magic." she said. The twins thanked her and left to prepare for the next class – Herbology with the Slytherins. As they exited, they bumped into Hermione.

"How come you didn't tell me you were so advanced?" she asked in a hurt tone.

"Sorry, Hermione, we thought it would be fun to keep it a secret – what with how people would react." Vera said.

"Fine, I'll forgive you if you teach me." Hermione huffed.

"Hold your horses, missy. We will teach you the first-year curriculum, but we will teach you much more than that if you give us something more than forgiveness in return." Harry said, deciding to throw her a bone to earn some of her loyalty. She was intelligent, definitely, meaning she would be difficult to manipulate, but she was similar to the twins in the fact that knowledge was her weakness. She was not at the point where she would break rules to obtain it, but she definitely would be tempted if offered the chance to learn more.

"You know more than the first-year curriculum? How?" Hermione asked.

"We are actually in the middle of fifth-year curriculum in the theory part of all the core subjects, plus Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures." Vera said. This was true, as they only did the practical work for the subjects other than Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.

"Amazing! It's nice to see that others have the appreciation for the gift of magic that I do!" Hermione said passionately.

The twins' eyes lit up. If they trained this one well, they could probably have her work for them as a researcher. "You have no idea how happy we are to hear that." Harry said pleasantly. 'No idea,' he added in afterthought, inwardly smiling a bone-chillingly terrifying smile.

"Really? That's nice. So, what arrangement shall we make for you both teaching me?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"We will contact you Sunday night to give you the details." Vera said, in a tone that screamed "non-negotiable".

"Right. See you next class, Harry, Vera!" Hermione said with a wave, briskly walking away to catch up to her classmates. The twins waved back and went off to meet Professor Sprout. It was only nine-forty so far, so if they made it to the Greenhouses in five minutes, they'd have roughly ten minutes to talk to Professor Sprout before other students started coming in.

When they reached the Greenhouses, Professor Sprout was standing there reading a book on growing Gillyweed. "Oh! Hello, Mr. Potter, Ms. Black, I didn't expect to see you here so early." Professor Sprout said happily.

After explaining the same reasoning that they gave to Professor McGonagall to Professor Sprout, they discussed for a while about some magical plants they knew about, like Shrivelfigs, Mandrakes, Venomous Tentacula, and so on. Professor Sprout was very impressed with the knowledge they had already.

"I must admit, Mr. Potter, Ms. Black, I didn't expect you both to take to my subject so well. Your parents never seemed to have much interest for it. Of course, they weren't rude about it, but I could tell by their demeanor in my class that their interests lied elsewhere." Professor Sprout said with a smile.

"We feel that all subjects are important, Professor Sprout. Even if we don't study Herbology further after Hogwarts, knowing about certain plants can save us from imminent danger." Harry said.

"We can also identify good-quality potion ingredients and the components of different potions if we have a good grasp on Herbology." Vera added.

Neither mentioned the possibility of using magical plants for biological warfare – no need to seem too suspicious. There were so many applications of Herbology in this area. One idea was dropping a wailing Mandrake into the enemy's stronghold – the number of enemies that could be taken out before the Mandrake was silenced would be extraordinary. Imagine the Dark Lord dying, not from a legendary duel or some sort of mutiny in his ranks, but by the cry of a Mandrake. That would be equally disturbing and hilarious. The good thing about such use of Herbology was that everyone was affected equally. Their magical prowess did not matter – if they were caught off guard with such weapons, they would be done for.

"Very smart of you both. Clearly, you were sorted appropriately. A point to Ravenclaw. And five points to Ravenclaw for coming to your first class prepared" Professor Sprout nodded approvingly.

"Thank you, Professor. Speaking of our first class, what will we be doing?" Harry asked.

"We will be working with Puffapods, Mr. Potter. You all will need to wear the masks handed to you, as breathing in the pollen of these plants will induce dizziness." Professor Sprout said, not elaborating further.

The class, while uneventful, was quite stress-relieving. There was just something about plants that made them so relaxing to work with. Professor Sprout explained the uses of these plants in potion making and their ability to ward off some magical creatures like trolls. The twins earned quite a few points for their exemplary handling of the Puffpods, while Slytherin lost a few when Draco groaned about being forced to do peasant labor. The twins gave him much grief about the whole situation, of course, but still helped the albino boy out.

While Harry and Vera were not offered to be taught the subject at an accelerated pace, Professor Sprout did lend them a few tomes she had about some rare magical plants, which they were immensely thankful for.

The real letdown of the day was the History of Magic class. Harry and Vera entered the class excited to learn about various magical discoveries and wars of the past, but their conversation with Professor Binns was as dry and boring as stale bread.

The class was a downright disappointment – as dead as the ghost who taught it. It turned out that Professor Binns didn't really care about what the students did, so no one really took notes, Harry and Vera used Arithmancy tables to come up with incantations for the intent-based magic spells they created.

It was quite a fun activity – they were able to come up with two new incantations. One was for a spell that shot lightning out of their hand or wand, for which they came up with "Fulgur". The tricky thing about elemental magic was that the theory had no instruction on spell work. It was up to the user to come up with spells and incantations. The books on the field only provided guidance.

The second was for the type of transportation they came up with – Flickering. They had to embed the "Verto" incantation for the Switching Charm in their new incantation. They came up with "Euverto" for this. They were very excited to test these spells out. They would have to use someone else to test out Euverto, as the spell involved them. After all, it would not do for them to hurt themselves because the charm failed. Perhaps they could find some petty thug in Knockturn Alley and Imperious him into testing the spell for them.

They exited the History of Magic class and went to the Great Hall for lunch. Harry and Vera very much enjoyed the Shepherd's Pie, Cornish Pasties, Haggis, Irish Stew, and Fruit Custard.

Meanwhile, in Dumbledore's office, the old Headmaster was holding a pen stand to his mouth like a microphone. "One more time…" he sang, as Fawkes chirped along.

The Headmaster twirled along gracefully as he held out a hand for Fawkes to perch on. "A beautiful day, a magnificent destiny…" he continued. "Another child of fate for the Light to guide…"

Fawkes trilled a jaunty tune. Dumbledore briskly walked forward in long strides as he continued to sing. "The Dark Lord's wrath shall obstruct his path, but overcome he shall, this time, everlastingly!" Dumbledore loudly finished, letting himself fall to his knees and skid to his office's entrance. Fawkes unleashed a loud peal to finish off the song.

"Ah, Fawkes, my graceful companion, thank you for joining me on this musical adventure!" Dumbledore said happily. "It warms an old man's heart that there are still some who appreciate the magic that is music." he cried. Fawkes let out a soft trill. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh no! Fawkes, quick! Back to the perch!" Dumbledore said. Fawkes gave a questioning look, but obeyed. Dumbledore quickly dusted off his robes and rearranged them before returning to his seat. "Come in!" he said, setting his half-moon glasses straight.

McGonagall walked in. "Headmaster, I have some amazing news for you!" she said, marching towards the desk.

"Ah yes, Minerva, what is it you would like to inform me about?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly, unaware that there were still a few of Fawkes's feathers embedded in his hair and beard.

"First of all, what were you doing?" McGonagall asked, just noticing Fawkes feathers. Fawkes started whistling the tune of the verse he and Dumbledore had just sung. Dumbledore glared at the bird.

"I…see." McGonagall said exasperatedly. This was not the first time she almost walked in when Dumbledore and Fawkes were performing a duet. Once, the Headmaster was even caught doing some bizarre version of ballroom dancing with the bird – his hand on Fawkes's back and other hand holding a wing, while Fawkes's other wing rested on Dumbledore's shoulder. Their relationship was very odd. McGonagall just hoped the Headmaster wasn't doing anything untoward with the bird – well, more untoward than usual.

Seeing McGonagall's expression, Fawkes let out an indignant squawk, his judging beady black eyes glaring at her.

"Anyway," McGonagall said, ripping her gaze from the bird. "Mr. Potter and Ms. Black have demonstrated a most amazing ability in my class today. They are able to use magic by manifesting their intent."

"Incredible…are you positive?" Dumbledore asked, his jaw almost gaping. Intent-based magic was a very ancient ability that was lost with time. Wizards and witches like the Founders, Herpo the Foul, and the Warlords of Asia were rumored to possess such abilities. The true reason why Voldemort pursued immortality was to be able to learn enough about magic to stand against such talent. Even Dumbledore himself could only manage the simplest of spells with purely intent.

McGonagall nodded, causing Dumbledore to take a deep breath. Clearly, this was another power that the Dark Lord knew not. But how could this be? Love was the power that the Dark Lord knew not, right? However, Dumbledore then realized – the exact line of the prophecy was "but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…", which meant that it wasn't necessarily just one type of power. Dumbledore nodded his head at this realization.

The fact that Harry and Vera had such a high potential honestly scared Dumbledore – the idea of that kind of power in the hands of two people was terrifying. People that powerful were too likely to go rogue and become Dark Lords. It happened with him, it happened with Grindelwald, and it happened with Voldemort. There was a reason why people depended on him during the wars against both Grindelwald and Voldemort – because he was the only one who could match that kind of power. Had Ariana's death not slapped some sense into him, he would have become just like them. Dumbledore had to be careful where he treaded when guiding the twins to become paragons of light.

"This is quite a fascinating discovery, Minerva. I suggest that you nurture their gift – teach them more advanced Transfiguration. But be careful – powerful wizards and witches tend to seek more power, which can lure them to the dark arts. From past experience, I can tell you that the more you restrict someone from doing something, the more they want to do it. Hence, if they have any questions about some darker magics, answer them patiently and honestly, but warn them about its dangers to the user and those around them. But don't tell them anything about these magics if they don't ask you. And make sure you teach them nothing that would make them ask such question." Dumbledore instructed.

"Got it, Headmaster." McGonagall said, pursing her lips in thought. "Will you ask the other professors to accelerate their education as well?"

"Just the ones I trust, Minerva. By the way, can you inform young Harry and Vera to meet me after dinner – say, around eight-thirty?" Dumbledore asked with a smile, and McGonagall's chest puffed out slightly in pride as she nodded. Oh, how easy it was to manipulate – no, persuade people into doing what you want by claiming to trust them. Of course, Dumbledore did trust that McGonagall would not betray his confidence, but there was something so satisfying about how devoted people were to him.

Dumbledore shook his head. No, that was not a good way to think – such a train of thought led Dumbledore to almost become a Dark Lord, together with his lover Gellert Grindelwald. Dumbledore stopped his musings as he dismissed the Transfiguration Professor from his office.

Back in the Great Hall, Harry and Vera had just finished their lunches. It was now time for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Harry informed Vera about his suspicions of Professor Quirrell. She and Harry both wondered if Professor Quirrell was a Horcrux, like Harry, and were curious about what was hidden in his turban.

They both went to the class, about twenty minutes early. As they entered, they saw that Quirrell had just finished wrapping up his turban – seriously, what was he hiding there? "Oh, h-hello, Mr. P-Potter, Ms. Black. Y-You're quite e-early." Professor Quirrell squeaked, nervously adjusting his turban.

Now, this was very suspicious. Not only was the stutter very fake, but Professor Quirrell was acting as if he was scared or extremely unwilling to let people know what was in his turban. The twins filed that away for later, and pleasantly gave Professor Quirrell the same reasoning they gave the other professors.

"T-That's very w-wise of you, M-Mr. Potter, Ms. B-Black. The H-Hat placed you w-well." Professor Quirrell stuttered out. "D-Did you know th-that I myself w-was a R-Ravenclaw at Hogwarts?"

"Really? Fascinating…" Harry said. It truly was fascinating that Professor Quirrell was sorted into the House of wisdom. Perhaps the twins had judged him too quickly – or Professor Quirrell was sorted into the wrong House due to the quota system.

They tried to discuss some of the things they learned with Professor Quirrell, but the man clearly knew barely anything about his own subject. Harry did a surface scan on his mind with legilimency, but left when he found quite well-developed defenses. So, why the stutter? An act to seem pathetic enough to avoid suspicion? The twins definitely thought so.

The class was quite silly – Professor Quirrell, for some reason, showed them an iguana – a non-magical, totally not dangerous, iguana. How ridiculous. However, Harry and Vera did have a good time meeting with Aaron and asking about his experience in Hogwarts so far. Truthfully, neither twin cared much about his answer – they just wanted to seem dependable enough for Aaron to trust them more than he already did. They liked their cousin now, but that didn't mean they weren't willing to exploit him.

Harry and Vera were on their way to the Transfiguration class when Harry felt a snake slither up his arm. ~Snert? What are you doing here?~ Harry hissed quietly.

~Master, I know you asked for us to report by next week, but we first found a place riddled with parselmagic – some sort of basement deep below the castle.~ Snert said.

~What? Tell me more.~ Harry hissed, holding his sleeve close to his ear so that he could clearly hear Snert.

~We entered it by telling the entrance to open, but once we entered, we sensed the presence of the emperor of our kind, master.~ Snert said.

~What do you mean? What is the emperor of your kind?~ Harry asked.

~We do not speak his name. However, he is as deadly as snakes can get, master. I urge you to not go exploring there.~ Snert pleaded.

~I will consider your warning, Snert. However, I will investigate further into this matter before deciding whether or not I should heed your warning.~ Harry said.

~I suppose that's the best I can expect from you, master." Snert said with a sigh, before slithering away.

"What did Snert have to say?" Vera asked.

"Something troubling. I will tell you when we get back to the dorm." Harry said stiffly. Vera nodded.

They both entered Professor McGonagall's classroom and greeted her. "Hello, Mr. Potter, Ms. Black. Are you ready?" Professor McGonagall asked. The twins nodded.

For the next hour, Professor McGonagall had them transfigure beetles to buttons, small rodents to goblets, mice to snuffboxes, and so on. After the twins succeeded in every Transfiguration that she asked them to perform, she was shocked.

"How were you able to do all that with such ease?" she asked.

"We just channeled our want to transfigure the objects and it worked." Vera said.

"Amazing…" Professor McGonagall said. She then moved on to Conjuration. The twins were able to perform the Vanishing Spell – transfiguring and object to air – with ease, but they started to struggle with Conjuration. Conjuration was quite complex – air had to be supercharged with magic to make it match the mass of the object conjured, and the internal structure of the object itself had to be perfectly matched.

Conjuration of simple inanimate objects and animate objects with simple structures was easy, but conjuring intricate inanimate objects or complex animate objects was where the challenge lied. This issue did not exist with the basic Transfiguration that Professor McGonagall had them perform, as they had always had a preexisting mass to work with. With conjuration, they had to guess how much the object's mass was, as air weight next to nothing. With complex objects, it was more difficult to account for the masses of the structures that make them.

Professor McGonagall decided to start them off with transfiguring objects of different masses to each other. This was the step below Conjuration, and would allow the twins to get a feel for correctly guessing the masses of different objects and their mechanisms.

"I will start making you practice the type of Transfiguration we have decided to work on from next class. You may leave. Oh, and Mr. Potter, Ms. Black, before I forget – the Headmaster would like to meet you at eight-thirty p.m. tonight. He adores Lemon Drops." Professor McGonagall said, as Harry and Vera confusedly nodded and left.

After a scrumptious dinner of Steak and Kidney Pie, Lamb Chops, Yorkshire Pudding with Chicken and Vegetables, and Trifle, the twins roamed around Hogwarts for a bit before leaving for the Headmaster's Office. When the Gargoyle guarding the entrance asked for the password, the twins remembered Professor McGonagall's words. They already knew of the Headmaster's strange obsession with the muggle sweet from their interaction with Professor Snape, but to use it as a password? That was next level.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was seated at his desk, nose deep in some rather private pictures Grindelwald had owled him several decades prior. "Ooh, Gellert, you naughty boy!" Dumbledore said excitedly, his cheeks tinted with a faint red. Fawkes screeched in disgust on his perch. He was turned away from his depraved companion, his wings covering his eyes. The bird had never cursed his rather large range of vision, until his companion revealed his nasty habits.

"Lemon Drop," Vera said, as the Gargoyle hopped aside and the wall split into two. The twins stepped forward onto the spiral escalator, which led them to a pair of gleaming oak doors with a brass knocker shaped like a Griffin. Harry knocked three times with the knocker, as they heard an "Enter!"

The twins entered to see a hastily rearranged desk, a nonchalant-looking Headmaster, and a disgruntled phoenix that was glaring at the bearded man.

"Good evening, Headmaster, is this still a good time?" Harry asked.

"You seemed busy with…something." Vera said.

"Ah, yes, it was just a bit of trouble with some item that Mr. Filch had confiscated from the Weasley twins. The boys seem dead set on creating their line of feces-related games. First it was Gobshites, and now it is Exploding Shites." Dumbledore lied smoothly, disappointedly shaking his head for added effect. Fawkes squawked in protest, glaring at Dumbledore. How dare he subject such a majestic creature to that…filth? Oh, if only Fawkes could speak English…

"I see…" Harry said, eyeing the bird carefully. The Phoenix looked like he wanted to blow something up.

"Relax, Harry, Fawkes won't hurt you. Say, you and your sister are among the few students who are unsurprised by the fact that I have a Phoenix." Dumbledore remarked.

"We have read a lot about you, Headmaster, and most sources claimed you had a Phoenix." Vera said.

"I must say, it is much more enthralling to see such a regal being in person." Harry added.

"Though I am confused as to why you named your Phoenix 'Fox'." Vera said, as Harry nodded in agreement.

"Oh, the name is not spelled the way you think. His name is Fawkes – F-A-W-K-E-S." Dumbledore said with a chuckle. Fawkes hissed in frustration. He hated that name. How could someone name a Phoenix something so similar to a common dog…thing?

"I don't think he likes his name very much." Harry noted.

"Well, we all go through that phase…" Dumbledore said, his eyes glinting in mirth as he looked at the scowling bird – well, whatever passed for a scowl for Fawkes anyway.

"Ah, where are my manners?" Dumbledore said suddenly. "Care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked.

Both twins accepted the sweet and sensed for any enchantments and smelt for any potions. Finding none, they popped theirs into their mouths.

"I won't try to poison you both." Dumbledore chuckled jovially, popping a lemon drop into his mouth as well.

"You can never be too careful," Vera smirked.

"Anyways, what have you called us her for, Headmaster?" Harry prompted.

"I just wanted to have a little chat with you two, that's all. May I call you Harry and Vera?", Dumbledore asked.

"Of course, sir." Vera said.

"Excellent, excellent. I want to know how you are finding Hogwarts, and your general transition to the magical world." Dumbledore said.

"With all due respect, Headmaster, why isn't Aaron here as well? He has also just learned of this world." Harry asked suspiciously.

"Ah, yes, Aaron Evans. Professor Sprout did inform me that he was getting along quite well with his Housemates, and was friends with several of them. However, Professor Flitwick said that you both barely know your Housemates and aren't making a move to interact with them. I was merely concerned." Dumbledore said. "Besides, I was quite a good friend of your parents, and I do have a personal interest in how their children are doing." He admitted, seeing that the twins were about to retort.

This explanation was good enough for Harry and Vera – who responded. "We are finding Hogwarts quite interesting." Vera said.

"We are currently trying to find some of the secret rooms and passages in Hogwarts." Harry elaborated. Dumbledore inwardly beamed with happiness – they did have some sense of adventure after all! Perhaps they would encounter the tests of character he had set up for them sometime this year.

"Wonderful! Although I must say, that is quite an ambitious project. I feel as if even a lifetime at Hogwarts is insufficient to find out all of its secrets." Dumbledore mused. "Now, how do you feel about your classmates? Are they being nice to you? Is anyone giving you any trouble?"

"Nothing problematic so far, Headmaster." Vera said.

"Zacharias Smith is a little annoying, but we pay him no mind." Harry said.

"Good, good. It's nice to see that you're getting along well with most of your classmates. Your teachers today gave me glowing descriptions about how you both performed in their classes, well, except Professor Binns, of course, but I'm sure you know how he is." Dumbledore said.

"Why is he even a teacher, sir? Why not hire a replacement?" Vera asked.

"Ah, for that, I'm afraid a petition is needed. The students' guardians need to convene and sign a petition to remove a teacher from a school. Only if more than twenty percent of parents agree, this is possible. So far, no one has vested any interest in doing such a thing." Dumbledore said.

"Perhaps we can try after building more of a reputation." Harry said.

"Don't you already have enough as the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's the issue. People here only know me by that stupid hyphened epithet. I want to gain a few accomplishments of my own before trying something like that. Many would refuse to sign the petition as they would see it as the 'Boy-Who-Lived riding on the coattails of his title to get what he wants'." Harry said.

"Hmm…I suppose you make sense, Harry, my boy. I am curious about one more thing, though." Dumbledore said. "Vera, dear, how did your surname change to 'Black'?" Dumbledore asked.

"We inherited the titles of Heiress Black and Heir Potter at Gringotts." Vera said. The twins wouldn't be able to lie about this – it would raise too many questions.

"I see. I was initially averse to you doing such a thing until you were of age, since I didn't want you flaunting your status. But it seems you are mature enough to not do so." Dumbledore said.

"Even so, it wasn't your call to make." Harry said.

"I know, Harry. Please, would you both forgive me for keeping this from you?" Dumbledore asked.

"It was not much of an issue, so we forgive you, but I hope you can tell us all about things that involve us now?" Vera asked. Dumbledore nodded.

"Very good, then, could you tell us why the Dark Lord targeted us?" Harry asked. Dumbledore was shocked.

"How would you know such a thing?" Dumbledore asked slowly.

"Dreams, Headmaster. I dreamed that he told my mother to step aside – repeatedly – so that he could kill me. We were the ones he wanted. Why is that?" Harry reiterated.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you, Harry, Vera." Dumbledore said solemnly.

"What was it that we just agreed on?" Vera asked frustratedly.

"You must understand, both of you, you're too young! I don't want to ruin your childhood with this information! You could be put in danger!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

"Is it better if our childhoods are ruined, or we don't live to see adulthood, Headmaster?" Harry asked morbidly.

"It's not just that! Voldemort can rip the information about the prophecy out of your minds!" Dumbledore insisted.

"So, it is a prophecy? Tell us, sir. I assure you – our defenses are more than capable of handling him." Vera said.

"Prove it." Dumbledore demanded. Harry and Vera showed their defenses in spectator mode to Dumbledore.

"Amazing – you both are immensely talented at the mind arts! A spectator mode of occlumency to show a legilimens what your defenses look like – that is unheard of!" Dumbledore exclaimed, before sighing. He really looked his age now.

"Alright. I believe I can trust you with the prophecy then. Remember – what I am about to reveal cannot, under any circumstances, leave this room." Dumbledore warned, and the twins nodded.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…" Dumbledore said grimly.

The twins thought for a few moments before nodding their heads. "Thank you for your honesty, Headmaster. We would like to sleep on this information now, if that is okay with you." Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded his head. "I hope you keep your word, Harry, Vera." He warned.

"We will, sir. Oh, and before we forget, we learned from Professor Snape about your, I quote, 'inappropriate infatuation with cheap muggle candy', so we bought you some assorted sour candies as a little peace offering, if you will." Vera said, fishing a small plastic packet out of her robe pocket. Dumbledore's demeanor brightened immediately. "Hope you enjoy them" she finished.

"Ah!" he exclaimed in delight, holding out his hands for the candy like a child on Hallowe'en.

"May we leave now, Headmaster?" Harry asked, as the Headmaster quickly dismissed them, eager to try out all the different candies he was given. The twins chuckled as they made their way back to their dormitories.

"That was quite a lot to take in, wasn't it?" Vera asked, as Harry solemnly nodded.

"Wait, by the way, what did Snert tell you?" Vera asked, changing the topic. Harry's eyes widened as he remembered. He explained everything to Vera as they both went into the trunk to retrieve their new favorite source of information – Herpo's book. As they focused on what they wanted to know and opened the book, words formed on the pages.

"As the years passed since I came into possession of the Ouroboros, the magnificent specimen of a serpent developed a deep desire to die. It felt like it had roamed the earth for way too long. It was the first snake to ever exist – bound to the Earth for almost a hundred and thirty million years. I asked it a very reasonable question. Why didn't it simply stop eating its tail if it wanted to die? It answered that it would feel intense agony every time its life was about to end, forcing it to bite its tail to alleviate it. Several times, it tried to bear this pain, but it never succeeded. It explained that it was a creature that Mother Magic herself had created to warn selfish magic users of the dangers of pursuing immortality – how they would feel if they became immortal – it would be like an itch they couldn't scratch; a pain they couldn't alleviate; a madness they couldn't curb.

I asked it if it would like me to kill it, but it said such a thing was impossible – even by means of the strongest destructive magical substance in existence – a dragon's fire. However, this was a challenge for me. I delved deeper into my field of study, discovering secrets of evolution. I learned that reptilian creatures like snakes, dragons, alligators, lizards, and so on were the interim species between amphibian creatures, like frogs, toads, and salamanders, and avian creatures, like fowls, ostriches, and crows. I wondered if I could create a snake so powerful that it trumped even the mighty Ouroboros when it came to its venom and its strength. The mightiest, most evolved snake in terms of offensive power.

My reputation was already at the lowest of lows, and I had nothing to lose if I chose to commit some evil acts, so I killed several dragons of different species, claimed their corpses by right of conquer, and studied them to find their bodies' distinguishing features. I also killed several other reptiles, amphibians, and aves to study their structure and features. After years of experimentation, I was able to come up with a rudimentary evolutionary order from amphibians to aves:

Frog - Toad - Salamander - Lizard - Alligator (and similar) - Snake - Dragon - Crow - Phoenix - Fowl - Ostrich

I first experimented by interbreeding different reptiles with each other. I was convinced that if the type of snake I wanted to create could be made by interbreeding different types of snakes, it would have happened already. However, for the sake of a complete research, I worked with snakes first. The Ouroboros refused to cooperate, as it was a female, and it didn't fancy becoming an egg-laying factory for my, I quote, "silly pet projects". In hindsight, I cannot believe I never asked for her gender once ever since she was with me.

When the snakes failed to produce favorable results, I moved to other reptiles. As powerful as I was, even I could not coerce a Dragon to lay eggs for or inseminate another species. They were just too proud. So, I killed several more and harvested their sperm to use it to breed other reptiles. I made sure to preserve the samples using runic arrays that would keep them in stasis. However, all my experiments with the reptiles failed. I them started to attempt breeding reptiles with aves, as well as reptiles with amphibians. The gametes of reptiles couldn't form functional eggs with gametes of aves or amphibians, so I hatched reptile eggs under amphibians or aves, and hatched ave eggs under reptiles. Amphibian eggs were too small to hatch under reptiles.

I hoped that the decades of work that I had put into this project would yield results I was approaching the age of a century already – almost half my life had passed, and I had so much more I wanted to learn about serpentine magic. However, I simply couldn't leave this experiment be – there was an itch that forced me to continue it until its completion.

Even after this step, none of the creatures produced fulfilled my expectations. All the experiments with Dragon sperms produced new species of Dragons, but their flames never quite surpassed their ancestors' flames in terms of their magical potency. My other experiments produced a slew of new magical species – Fire Salamanders, Runespoors, Ashwinders, Augureys, and Chimaera. All were named by me, their creator. Several were highly dangerous and powerful, but none worked as intended.

My first hint that I would soon be successful came with the creation of the Cockatrice. I had created it by hatching a red junglefowl's egg under an adder. Its breath contained a venom that was as potent and fatal as that of the Ouroboros, but it needed to be stronger than that. Of course, I was immune to the Ouroboros's venom, as I had willingly consumed it and purged it with Phoenix tears. Hence, the Cockatrice's breath had no effect on me.

The Cockatrice was too avian to be called a snake species, though it could be communicated with using parseltongue – making it a more dangerous version of the Occamy, which came as a result of hatching a red junglefowl's egg under a python. Besides its venom, the Cockatrice had a deadly stare. I first did not notice this, but once I had fitted its beak with a muzzle and showed it to my lover, whom I had met during my travels in Siam, where I found the red junglefowl, he had died from looking into its eyes. I had realized that it was perhaps my being a parselmouth that protected me. Of course, this resulted in speculation that I was a Dark Lord across the world.

I almost killed the Cockatrice in my anger. However, it was the way that it looked at me that stopped me. I was a father to it, and it was still a baby. The Cockatrice itself started crying and apologizing after what had happened. After calming down enough to coherently think, I realized it was as ignorant about its abilities as I was. I simply couldn't end its life knowing all this.

Being in a dark place after the love of my life, Kasem's death, I captured a bunch of people, both mundane and magical, and subjected them to the Cockatrice's stare. All of them died. I mourned and grieved the loss of the man who I had fallen in love with. What did I know? There had never been a creature in existence (as far as I knew) that could kill by a look in the victim's eyes. How would I predict that my Cockatrice would be able to do such a thing? But I had to set aside my turbulent emotions now. I still had work to do. Despite its personal nature, I was not one to abandon my commitments.

I went a step further and started interbreeding amphibians and aves, hatching ave eggs under amphibians. As red jungle fowl eggs yielded the most promising results, I started off with them. Once I had hatched the egg of the red junglefowl under a common toad, I had done it – out of the egg came a regal-looking snake – its skin a poisonous green that shined like a thousand emeralds. It was quite large for a baby snake – a foot long. Even as a baby, its fangs were sharp and dripping with venom. Its glowing, yellow eyes told me that it had the same fatal stare of the Cockatrice.

I collected some of its abundant venom, and tested it against that of the Ouroboros. My new snake's venom completely purged it – I couldn't be more pleased that my experimentation had finally yielded fruit. I had the Ouroboros ingest this snake's venom, and after a few minutes, it thanked me and apologized for doubting me, as it closed its eyes and crumbled to dust. I named this snake, which had produced the venom capable of conquering the great Ouroboros, possessed scales as resilient as dragonhide, and was capable of killing those not blessed with the ability to speak the serpentine tongue with a single stare. I named it the Basilisk – a fitting name for the new King (Basileus) of Snakes."

Harry closed the book as he and Vera took a deep bread to process this new information. They slowly turned to each other. "Well, shite." they huffed simultaneously.

End of Chapter 6

Reicier Ingressum: Reicier = Reicio (Reject) + Nier (To Deny), Ingressum – Entry

Desillundo = Désillusion (Disillusion) + Abscondo (Conceal)

Fulgur = Fulgur (Lightning)

Euverto = Eu (Me/True) + Verto (Swap)