The Essence of Magic

§= Parseltongue

Previously

Harry hesitantly stepped into the white orb, suddenly feeling a great rush of power flowing through him as he entered. It was incredibly painful. His mind began buzzing with long lost knowledge and his magical core began soaking up more and more power. Just as the pain became unbearable, it stopped, and the Essence of Magic echoed in his head, "Wake up, my champion. Wake up, and be prepared…"

With that, Harry awoke with a start.

Now

The first thing Harry saw when he woke was a pair of massive yellow eyes. He had a feeling that he knew the creature that owned said eyes, but he was curious as to why he wasn't dead. If this creature was indeed a basilisk, then he should have died the second he looked into the serpent's eyes.

"§ I wonder if this is the being the Essence spoke of. §" The snake in front of him hissed to a different serpent.

"§ I do not know, but it's a good thing we have our inner eyelids containing our death stare, because if he is indeed the being, then he would have died. §" A different one answered, then sniffed Harry, "§ He smells funny. §"

That knocked Harry out of his stupor and he immediately tried to defend himself. "§ You smell funny! §"

The two serpents staring intently at him seemed even more intrigued than before. After a few more sniffs and once-overs, the first basilisk finally hissed, "§ Oh good, he's a speaker. That will make things a whole lot easier. §" The snake seemingly grinned at its counterpart, "§ Greetings, human! Welcome to the most ancient nest of basilisks in all of existence. You are the first outsider to come into our nest, so you should feel honored. Now, first off, who are you? §"

Harry stiffly turned his head to take in his surroundings before hissing back, "§ I am Harry Potter. The Essence of Magic has given me the task to bring balance to magic once again. It has seen the atrocities wielders of Light and Dark magic have committed over the millennia, and has decided to put a stop to it now that the Essence is awake.

"§ I was told by the Essence to obtain help from all magical creatures, including the basilisks, which is why I am here. I was told that this would be my base of operations for destroying those who have abused magic. The Essence is currently rounding up other magical creatures and Gray families for the upcoming war against the Dark and Light. So, I humbly request that you allow me to stay here, and also aid me in the war that is to come. §"

The two serpents looked at each other and nodded in an unspoken agreement. The second looked Harry straight in the eye, "§ We will aid you in your coming battle against your enemies. The Essence of Magic has told us of you. It said that you are the only way for all magical creatures to live equally amongst each other. While we basilisks here in this nest have not been hunted, we are concerned for our other brothers and sisters. We are well aware that your kind kills us for sport and for our venom and skin. I even smell a little bit of basilisk blood on you, however, the Essence has already told us that you were given no choice, as our dear sister had gone insane due to the terrible things she was forced to do. For freeing her, on behalf of my brethren and I, we thank you. You have given her her well deserved peace. Now, about your base of operations, we are perfectly fine with you having it here so long as you do not attempt to harm any of us, or our young ones. Our young ones are curious and will more than likely stalk you. While their gazes can kill, they will not affect you, as the Essence of Magic has given you immunity to our stare. As you know, we are only a few of the many magical allies you will have. However, some other magical creatures may oppose you, as they may have gone insane from the millennia of mistreatment. The Essence has told us that the Dementors of 'Azkaban' are on their way to our nest to join us. Now follow me. §"

With that, the basilisk turned and slithered away with a confused Harry trailing shortly behind. Why would the Dementors help us when they've already sided with Voldemort? He thought to himself.

"Because, child, they simply seek fair treatment, and until you came along, Voldemort was their best option." A voice reverberated in his head.

Woah! Who are you? Wait… Are you the Essence of Magic? He thought back.

If voices in one's mind could make faces, Harry was sure the Essence was smirking… Well, if it has a face that is. "Yes, child, I am. Also, I do not have a face, but if I did, I wouldbe smirking, thank you very much."

Yeah, ha-ha, very funny. I'm laughing so hard I fell off my dinosaur. Harry thought back sarcastically.

"I thought it was," the Essence thought back, making a sniffing sound to act like it was offended by Harry's comment. "But that's not important. Pay attention to the tour or you'll end up getting lost and eventually killing yourself."

You don't have much faith in me, do you?

"Nope."

Thanks, I feel the love. Harry replied sarcastically before coming back to himself and taking in his surroundings. He was surrounded by incredibly tall trees with massive trunks and all varieties of regular snakes slithering about them. So, I've been thinking, what other magical creatures will be on their way to help?

"Succubi, dragons, goblins, centaurs, basilisks, giants, trolls, vampires, werewolves, some demons, acromantulas, Dementors, and more. Also, a promising ability that you might want to know you have now, is shadow magic, so technically you can be called a shadow mage. Shadow mages can do many things, but the most prominent are controlling beings that are shadow related, Dementors, and then you can also shadow travel, which can take you anywhere in the world, as long as there's a shadow. With Dementors being shadow beings, you can talk to them as a shadow mage, but you could already do that since I picked you to purge the magical and muggle worlds. Now pay attention to your hosts, or I'll take a physical form just so I can smack you upside the head."

Violent much, are we?

"Very, now pay attention."

"§ It is in your best interest to get a familiar. We suggest a basilisk that is fully grown, because bonding with your familiar will cause a growth spurt for it, and if it is a fully grown basilisk, it'll be even bigger than the most ancient of our species. We also suggest that you take scales from our shed skins to make yourself some robes out of them, that way you're more spell resistant, and once the dragons get here, they will allow you to take some of their scales as well. After that you will have to request some silk from the acromantulas if you want your robes to actually be comfortable. Finally, the Dementors will give you one of their cloaks, not that it's necessary, but it would make you look completely badass. §"

At that, Harry broke into a fit of laughter, causing all of the nearby serpents to look at him like he was insane. "§ What is so funny, pink-skin? §"

"§ Oh, nothing, just the fact that I never thought I'd hear a snake, much less a basilisk, say badass. §"

"§ Oh, ha-ha-ha, very funny pink-skin. §" The basilisk who made the badass comment replied, very sarcastically, one might add, while also rolling its slit eyes.