Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The steady sound of a grandfather clock rung diligently out for every second passing, saluting time itself.

1 part driscumbell, 2 part elf ear, 1 part nightshade, 1 part wolf's bane.

Stir ferociously in a set cauldron of either silver or mithril, using a broth of fairy blood as a base-

Fairy blood? Elf ear? There must be a substitute for those. Seems a little gruesome, Elly won't get those for me.

I turned off my lantern, and pushed my blanket down past my feet with my legs. The thick, dusty and fragile tome, with lettering on the spine read 'A guide to aromanmancy; spike the drink of your target's thoughts!', was put on the nightstand next to me. I coughed as quietly as possible.

These old tomes, and this dusty room.

If I cough too loudly the landlord this week will notice.

I silently stood, and crept across my small room. Even in the dark, I could see the dingy, faded wooden table set, and the dirty, moth-eaten rug beneath it. I made my way to the only thing I actually paid attention to; the fairly large bookcase I was provided for my learning materials. I clicked the lantern's switch in my hand, and brought it to the first row of books.

Necromancy for the nubile, No hope; using and controlling fear-

Look lower.

Second row, third row, fourth oughtta be it.

I bend my knees, and look and come face to face with a large, meaty rat. Its glowing eyes frozen in the light of my lantern.

It cocks its head to the side.

I seem to have a reputation amidst the vermin.

I brush it aside and it scampers away dejected at losing it's meager scrap, which appears to be a dead bug of some sort. Substitutions of the scandalous.

Perfect.

I gingerly take it, and quietly, yet quickly, leap to my bed. Pulling up the covers, I spend a few hours looking through the book for the alternatives.

The noises of the night fade out. The clock grows silent, the wind dies quickly, and all that remains is the task at hand. Even as the sun rises, the cocks crow, and the sounds of the other few tenants waking echoes out, I continue searching for them.

Elves ear apparently can be supplanted with a sourdough ball mixed with raw vinegar and sprite dust, but it looks like fairy blood's only alternative is pixie bile, and that's just as violent as-

The door opens and I nearly fall out of my bed in surprise, I catch myself, and my eyes meet the wall clock.

10 AM.

Reading for eight hours straight?!

"You missed breakfast again, Evrus."

I look up to meet the eyes of my main caregiver, Elly Shortswiller.

Long, flowing auburn hair is neatly and effectively tied up behind her pale-skinned head. Her green eyes are accented by plentiful freckles, but as my stomach grumbles and hunger carves its way up my throat, I'm more interested to see in her glove-covered hand, a freshly baked sweetcake.

She lays it down on the table in the center of my small room.

She sighs, and looks down at the book I was devouring.

"'Substitutions of the scandalous?'" She says curiously. She quickly lunges for the book and before I can react, has already grabbed it and raised it to her dutiful eyes.

"Fairy's blood?" She says in shock, and lays the book against the front of her jeans.

"Evrus, what on God's green earth do you want with fairy's blood?"

I collect myself and rise to sit on the bed.

"I was obviously looking for alternatives."

"Very coy. What kind of panacea requires fairy's blood?"

I avoid her gaze.

"I was studying aromanmancy."

"Aromanmancy? That's pretty broad. What particular tincture were you planning on brewing up?"

"None in particular..."

She sighs once more.

"I haven't got the time for this. Have you found any good replacements?"

"Just like that?" I said, suspicion peaking out of my voice.

"Evrus, I have to make my monthly report to the Minister. I can't sit here and lecture you all day. Do you want your reagents or not?"

Giddily, I spend the next few minutes highlighting the only viable replacement for the elves' ear, but hesitated on the fairy's blood substitute.

"Well?" She says impatiently. Her hands remain on her hips, waiting for an answer. I glance up and take in once more my caretaker's appearance.

Despite her obvious Irish heritage, Elly was no-nonsense, and her clothing suited that. A short, blue cloak covered her shoulders, while she wore a plain, white blouse and jeans, with dark knee-high boots.

"Pixie bile was the only reputed replacement."

"Pixie bile? That's disgusting, Evrus."

"But a few sources in here indicate that troll snot mixed with satyr urine can be an equally feasible replacement!" I said desperately.

"We'll try that, then. Even if it's just as vile as the pixie bile."

She flashes a rare smile at me.

"Eat up, Evrus. Can't live empty-stomached. I'll pick up the reagents on my way back from the report meeting."

She deftly lays the book back down on the nightstand, and leaves just as abruptly as she entered.

I take a few seconds, but then hungrily jump to the table and ravenously destroy the sweetcake, scalding its way down my throat into my gullet. I look back at the clock in disbelief at the time.

I'd better get on with my chores.

The next few hours, I spent slogging through my daily chores, washing the dishes, cleaning the cauldron, sweeping the floors of the kitchen and hallway to my room. All the meanwhile I repeat the recipe.

-Using a broth of fairy's blood as a base, leave the cauldron to bubble and froth over, and only when the bubbles begin to burst should you silence the fire. Don't dare to let the mixture cool. Quickly bottle as many needed, up to 6 or so sips in each vial ought to be sufficient. Now, when you desire to loosen the lips of your target, dab the mixture on the nearby surfaces of where you intend to have the conversation, make sure that you don't do more than a bottle, as if it's too strong, the subject will most likely respond with cognitive recognition of the aroma, and that is exactly what an accomplished aromanmancer does not want to happ…

In the midst of sweeping I bump right into Lord Vevictus, this week's landlord.

Short for a grown man, he wears a stupidly oversized mustache aboard his face, and wears a pompous suit fit for a butler, and wears a constant look of disappointment on his face.

"Master Evrus!"

I jump at his prickly voice, and realize I'd been whispering to myself while sweeping the kitchen's pantry entryway.

"Yes, Mister Vevictus?" I say as respectfully as I could manage.

"Quit your bellyaching and mumbling! I've got a job for you."

I internally groan. The prospect of what of Victus's 'jobs' greys my otherwise perfect day. He always expects me to do some wizardly chore. Victus has yet to realize that despite my alchemy studies, I have no experience with magic whatsoever. Even after Elly told him multiple times that I had no practical training, he shrugged it off and said "It's in his blood."

Whatever that means.

"Er, mister Vevictus, I don't suppose you could wait until Elly gets back?"

"Nonsense boy. Come."

He motions for me to follow.

I lay the broom aside, and walk sheepily behind the demanding middle-aged man.

He takes me further into the manor, and I find myself in the sections Elly refers to as the "noble quarters".

This must be where Vevictus lives.

It certainly seemed prissy enough. There were gold accents on the royally red rugs, paintings of stuck up nobles on the walls, some moving (I'm still not used to that) and interacting within their painting's surroundings. We came to a door, which led into some sort of private study. It was obviously more for show, as it had meager bookshelves in place of massive statues of griffins and dragons. As if Vevictus has ever even seen one. He walked up to a dark, mahogany desk, which had shelves galore with silver, polished handles, a few books on top of it, but what drew my eye was a small black pillow, with a case on it, and within that case was a vicious looking snake pen.

"This.."

Vevictus lifted the case gently, and brought it eye level to me.

"Is an ancient heirloom of the Slytherin line."

Slytherin?.. As in, Salazar Slytherin?

"What is it?" I said, and I curious raised my hand to touch it, and Vevictus snapped it shut, almost taking my fingertip with it.

"It's a bloodpen. An artifact that allows one to write with their own blood."

I looked at Vevictus, and he answered quickly.

"Yes, yes, a macabre and simple thing, but it will only take those that meet the oh-so-ancient Salazar's expectations."

"Forgive me, sir, but how is that possible?"

At this, Vevictus looked positively confounded, and almost insulted.

"Possible? My boy, it's like you've never heard of magic at all. Really, what the ministry's done to you is a shame, a shame indeed."

I lowered my head back down at the case, which though it'd been shut, had a glass overhead, which allowed me to look at the dark and metallic snake that adorned the bloodpen.

"I know for a fact that you have magic running through your veins, boy. Your lack of training is irrelevant. This pen, when used to write certain words, and chanted aloud, can cast spells without a wand!"

Without a…

"Wait, you're saying you want me to do this?"

"Yes, I am. A simple thing, no?"

"No!"

He frumpled his brow at this.

"And why is that?"

"I'm not allowed to use magic, you know that! Elly gets in trouble for letting my practice alchemy, for God's sake!"

"Elly isn't here, nor is the ministry. I am. And I expect you to cast a simple spell."

I gulped down as much fear as I could.

"Mister Vevictus, this isn't right, I could get in serious trouble for-"

He opened the case again, and I looked at the strangely alluring pen.

"Just one spell, a simple one at that."

"How simple?"

"A light spell, you simpleton! Lumos."

"Lumos? As in, literally light?"

"Yes, as in light."

"And that's it?"

I bit my lower lip. It'd be interesting to feel magic flowing through me, wouldn't it?

I moved my hand closer to the pen, and could feel Victus's anticipation boiling.

I grasped it, and all of a sudden, the snake morphed and twisted alive, and sunk its fangs deep into my hand.

But where there should have been pain, there was a simple prick, and a slurping sound.

"How does it feel, my boy?"

I looked, ever perplexed, as the snake continued to siphon my blood, and it continued to feel not pain, but an absence of said pain.

"It's...sucking my blood? And the fangs don't hurt?"

"They didn't hurt? That's marvelous!"

I'd never seen such a wide smile on Vevictus' face.

"It is?"

"Yes, yes, it is! Even He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was reportedly hurt excruciatingly when he attempted to use a Slytherin bloodpen."

"What happens to someone who isn't at all to Slytherin's standards?"

His smile didn't vanish at all, only accentuating his fervor.

"Oh, the poor blooded? They die viciously."

Suddenly thoughts raced through my brain.

Certain venoms don't cause pain, do they? And many of those are fast-acting deadly ones at that. Does that mean?..

All of a sudden, the slurping noise stopped.

"Well?"

"Well what? It's stopped sucking my blood."

Victus hurriedly rushed, grabbed a parchment, and laid it before me.

"Marvelous! Now write Lumos clearly on this page.

I hesitated, but decided in for a penny, in for a pound.

I painstakingly carved into the thick parchment the letter S, and watched as they burned alight into the parchment with a ghostly blue glint.

"How utterly marvelous!"

Victus was practically jumping for joy at the result.

"Now chant it aloud! Lumos!"

I swallowed the last of my resignation, and said clearly, and slowly aloud.

"Lumos!"

And as quickly as it appeared, the wording faded back into the parchment. Anticlimatic at first, the parchment quickly frumpled and crunched together, flew up, and burst alight with a pale aqua aura. I could feel the energies flowing around me, and in that moment, I smiled joyfully at the result of that simple leap.

What I couldn't know, was that the same spell that had gotten my mother caught years before, was monitoring my current manor, and a quick, subtle flash of magical energies was detected, and that warranted a quick and visceral response. A squad of Aurors was dispatched, even as I returned to my duties around the manor, I couldn't help but feel the energy flowing around me vividly, and couldn't stifle the joy I felt in my heart, that I'd finally realized that I was, indeed, a wizard. A joy, that the Aurors would not feel the same about.

I was keenly aware of the magical energies surrounding me now, as though I'd been wakened from a stale, shallow slumber. It was an incredible feeling, it was as though the world itself could be grasped, and I could feel how utterly minuscule I was in the grand scheme of things, but I felt no despair, instead, I felt pride at my cog working to establish its pecking order in the hierarchy of the world.

I returned to my room, and simply sat in my bed, closed my eyes, and for a lack of a better term, meditated. I felt the prickling sensation of a disturbance in the energies around me, and it alarmed me.

This sixth sense could be playing tricks on my mind.

I gathered myself to my feet, and was about to open the door, when the door opened of its own accord, and in the doorway stood the intimidating Auror I had grown to fear, known as Guffry. Guffry was a tall, average build man who wore the scars of the first Wizarding War with a beguiling grimace. He wore a dark attire that did nothing to disguise his horror-filled demeanor. He wore a small pair of small, circle-shaped manacles that covered little of his bulging, seething eyes. Behind him was one of the housekeepers, and of course, Mister Vevictus.

Guffry soundlessly stepped passed me and began to search my room without a single word to explain his presence. To my knowledge, he only appears when the ministry wants to punish me for something. When I first practiced alchemy, he appeared, and every so often he returns to search for illegal or immoral reagents that Elly procured for me.

Good thing we learned early on to replace any troublesome materials with less controversial subtitutes.

Finally, he came upon my alchemy tools, and a common-seen sneer appeared on his face.

"I see Miss Shortswiller is still humoring your dangerous hobbies." He said, as he he brushed the crushtable's surface, and brought his gloved hand to take a whiff of it's contents.

As Victus prepared to speak up, Guffry interrupted without a care in the world.

"Wolf's Bane? Nightshade? What are you, a werewolf hunter?" He said as he glared at my table viciously.

"They're not illegal ingredients Miste-" I spoke timidly, but was interrupted, as was the norm when he came to question and interrogate.

"Illegal, no, suspicious, most certainly. Nightshade can be especially suspicious considering its potent poisonous properties. Planning an assassination are we Gaunt?"

Victus, with a fury that seemed to throw itself more of patronage than snobbery, walked past me and snatched a potion bottle from his hand.

"This is preposterous! How dare you rifle through my tenant's belongings? It goes against several laws of the ministry, and I know you're on thin ice already, Guff!"

As Guffry prepared to retort, Victus raised his hand.

"Your ill-mannered bigotry of the boy is born not of true investigation, but pure superstition! You accuse him of murder? He's barely old enough to ride the trolly by himself, let alone commit a crime!" He looked wholeheartedly furious, and I had a rare moment of appreciation of Victus.

I had no idea he had felt so strongly about me.

"Unless you have some sort of legitimate reason to be here, I suggest you leave, Guffry, or I will inform your superiors of your absolutely outlandish claims." He said, and planted his hands defiantly on his hips.

Guffry slowly looked to me, and began to drawl as though nothing at happened.

"Why, yes, Vevictus, I do indeed have a reason to be here."

He strolled passed Victus, and came within a few steps of me and looked at me, boring his veteran eyes as much as could be allowed.

"You see, the arcane scrying has revealed-"

A gasp came from Victus.

"Arcane scrying? That was outlawed nearly 7 years ago! It's a blatant misuse of war-magic to spy on citizens!"

"Regardless of the illegal nature of it, the ministry felt it prudent to cast it on any dwelling of the Gaunt boy to make sure that he remained nice and docile."

He paused for a moment to consider his venom-laced words, and continued.

"But as I was previously stating, it revealed that a burst of his own magic, signature and all, originated here in this house."

He must be talking about the lumos I casted in Victus' study!

As soon as this was said, all my tells sprang to give my nervousness away. My arms ached to itch my ears, my eyes refused to make contact with Guffry, and I sidestepped anxiously on my heels.

Victus saw this, and promptly began his defense.

"That's nonsense, the boy's been in his room all day aside from his chores. Unless you prefer him in bonds 24 hours a day?"

"It'd be a start, wouldn't it?" Guffry responded promptly.

A struggle appeared in the doorway, and past the housekeeper came a mane of red, unkempt hair, and a pair of green eyes that marked safety.

I dashed to the doorway, and embraced Elly.

She looked softly down at me, and then back up at Guffry.

"I'm in charge of the keeping of the Heir. I wasn't notified of any prompt housecalls. Is there a good reason for this?"

Guffry sighed.

"Agent Shortswiller, your ward was caught using magic of an unknown and undoubtedly dangerous variety."

"Caught? By whom?" She said and stepped pass me to face Guffry.

"Not by whom, but by what!" Victus snapped, and then impatiently stepped past Guffry to get closer to Elly.

"Did you know the ministry allowed an Arcane Scrying spell to be cast upon my house, Swiller?"

A look of understanding spread across Elly freckled face.

"I see," She began, before turning to Guffry, "The scrying detected an outburst of arcane energies? Isn't that normal for a boy his age?"

"It would be," Guffry retorted, "If the magic wasn't unidentifiable and most damning, subtle."

"Subtle? Subtle how?" Elly asked.

"Subtle as in it was so light in it's presence that it was, with a calculation by our scriers, 95% most likely an intentional design of whatever spell was cast." Guffry answered.

"95%? That is pretty suspicious," Elly agreed, and turned to me. "What of it Evrus? Did you cast this mysterious spell?"

I looked to Guffry, then Elly, and finally Victus. Despite his bravery earlier, I could see Victus was beyond scared of being found out. But I quickly looked back into the eyes of Guffry and knew that a lie would only make me suffer more.

"I casted lumos." I said, head hung in shame.

"Lumos? Why?" Elly questioned dutifully.

"No doubt looking for an escape route." Guffry said, and restarted his thorough search of the room by kneeling down on his knees to look underneath my bed. "Now only to find that, and the wand, and I'll bring the boy before-"

Vevictus interrupted the inquisition with a single sentence. "I made the boy do it!"

Guffry quickly rose to his feet with a look of confusion on his face, and Elly looked at him, perplexed.

"Why on earth would you do that?" Elly asked, beyond baffled.

"More importantly, where is your wand? I need it for evidence." Guffry continued.

"No wand, Guffry. And for you information," Victus said, raising a finger to Elly, "I told you the boy could do magic! I had him use a bloodpen."

"A blood pen?! (A blood pen?!)" Both Aurors resounded out.

"Where did you get such a vile item of such repute?" Guffry said, reaching for his wand in evident paranoia.

"It was a completely legal purchase from a muggle, thank you very much. The boy casted lumos so I could prove to this pompous ass of an Auror, yes, you, Elly, that the boy was more than ready to start his teachings." Victus explained, pointing at Elly during his insulting of her.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Evrus isn't allowed to use magic, he's forbidden from it! Who knows how the pen could have reacted regardless?" Elly shouted indignantly.

"The Pen did more than accept him, it revered him! The boy says he felt no pain, meaning Salazar himself has recognized the boy's latent potential!" Victus said excitedly.

"Making him all the more dangerous. But regardless, I'm taking you in, Vevictus. Knowing you, you'll get a slap on the wrist, but God as my witness the Gaunt will never get you as a landlord again!" Guffry said, pinning Victus' arms behind his back and leading him out of my room, and no doubt, out of the house.

The hours waned on, and I sat quietly in my room, pondering the entire situation. In a sudden burst of needing something to distract myself, I opened my nightstand's top drawer and pulled out the newspaper that had been haunting me.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, conquers a masquerading Dark Wizard by the name of Quirrel, yes, that Quirrel!

The headline drew me in, as I heard people talk constantly about the 'Boy Who Lived', but when I found out exactly what that meant, I was determined to meet him.

He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was supposedly a relative of the Gaunts, which means he's the reason the ministry has me in lock and key. And this Potter ended his reign of horror.

The more I dwelled on it, the more I realized that aromanmancy was too important to give up on. Since I couldn't wield magic legally, I have to rely on the more subtle approach.

The minister is coming to visit in two weeks. I have 14 days to perfect the brew. If I don't, I'll stay locked up in this coffin until the day I die.

And with that, my resolve couldn't be broken.

Elly returned the next day with the reagents.

"Lumos huh?" She said, as she laid the grocer's bag down on my dining table, and looked at me worriedly.

I groaned in response.

"Victus would never have let it go! I just wanted to move on with my day." I said, with no conviction in my words.

"Uh huh," She said, just as unconvinced as myself. "And which part of that do you want me to believe?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, it felt good...it felt, great, in fact," I confessed, "But I wouldn't have done it if Victus hadn't made it such an ultimatum."

She stared at me with that same look. The look that told me that she was worrying incessantly about the outcome of this debacle.

"I get it, Evrus," She stated, "Magic is forbidden to you, so it calls to you"

"But you gotta remember, it's for a reason."

I narrowed my eyes in frustration.

"Because I'm a Gaunt?"

She sighed.

"Precisely. The Ministry doesn't even acknowledge there's a surviving Gaunt left. They want the line to have died with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named."

"Was he really a Gaunt?" I asked earnestly.

"Only He and Dumbledore would have really known."

We sat in silence, each thinking of what was said and what needed to be said.

"Does it really matter if I'm a Gaunt?" I questioned, more to myself then to Elly.

"Not to me, or anybody worth their wand. But the ministry's never been one to take half measures or chances for that matter."

She paused, and then continued.

"Listen, just get some rest. It's already late. I'll fix some bacon and eggs in the morning for ya'."

I smiled, and Elly rose and left.

As if. I've got to start the first brew now, or I'll never get the perfect brew done in time!

And so it was that I spent the rest of that week brewing 3 batches of Odorem of Endearmentis. Meticulously, I watched as the bubbles froze in midair, cooling to the outside air, and bottle the mixture one after another until my cauldron was as empty as possible. After it was done, I looked at the warzone of my efforts. Powders there, clippings here, it was a sight to behold.

Odorem of Endearmentis is a grade S+ alchemical mixture. Even the masters of Alchemy at the Ministry would do a double take. But I'm not going to second guess what I've been working as since I could speak. If I know ANYTHING it's my way around an alchemy table. When the Minister comes for his monthly interview…

Knock, knock, knock.

?!

"Who's there?" I said wearily, rubbing my eyes.

To my surprise, I was greeted by a landscape of red fur, and steaming plate of griddlecakes. Instinctively, I glanced to the clock, and found it to be 6am.

"Heard you working. Figured you were near done with the slowing up all that grinding and whirring. Here's breakfast, Sevrus." Elly said, and put it down. Syrupy and steaming, the Griddlecakes brought my stomach to life, roaring hungrily.

I pounced on the Griddlecakes, and meanwhile, Elly walked over to my table. With all the different reagents, it was no doubt a sight. She then laid eyes on the 3 bottles of Endearmentis in all their purple-pink glory.

"Wow, all this. What'd you brew? Eternal youth?"

Her genuine question made me laugh, and nearly choke on a bundle of griddlecake.

"No, nothing so stupid."

"Stupid? Who wouldn't want to be young forever?"

"Those potions just make you age inside twice as fast. Sure, you'll look good on your deathbed but you'll be dying at age 30. They're not practical."

"Oh? Then what'd you brew?"

I knew this was coming.

"Odorem of atrocity."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm tired of people interrupting my studies. It's a complicated potion that when doused on my door, will make people consciously avoid it. Privacy to study at my leisure."

"And avoid your chores?"

"No." I said, wiping my mouth on my sleeve. "Doesn't work like a spell. It can't force people away. So if you're 100% sure you want to go in my room, you can, it's just those that aren't won't."

"Smart." She said, and ruffled my black-as-night hair. "Well, I'm off to the Ministry to make my rounds. Try not to get into any trouble. Oh, and even if Vevictus isn't around anymore, make sure to sweep and do some of your chores. Last day 'til we move again."

"Course, Elly. I'll be sure to clean up."

Elly's an adept. She knows what an Odorem would look like. It's a good thing I haven't shown off my Odorems of Atrocities before, she'd spot the difference.

For the morning's part, I spent my time cleaning up and rebottling the Endearmentis. Afterwards, a shower, and then some of the less bothersome chores that Vevictus had assigned to me when we had arrived Sunday night.

Tomorrow, no doubt, the Minister would come to check on the last surviving member of the Gaunt species. By then, I'd have doused my Endearmentis in my room and gotten ready. I'd have to do a test run, no doubt, and probably on Elly, too.

A tinge of guild burned through my gut, but I swallowed it. I had no choice. Elly wouldn't like being manipulated but I had to test it.

And then, then I would be free.