January 31st, 2011 Ryan's Manor, London, England, 10:00 PM BST
Seras and I stumbled as we came out of the circle. My vampire righted herself quickly and caught me, looking worried. "You alright? That looked…bloody hell Ryan, that looked intense. What the hell happened back there?" Her pupils were pinpricks, and I could see the tension in her body as she tried to resist the urge to fight when there were no enemies.
As she set me down on the couch, I glanced at the stone in my hand. "Someone very obnoxious tried to come back from the dead. Someone I have a score to settle with. Luckily, necromancy is good for dealing with spirits, and he was in a bad position, or I'd have been fucked."
That had been the most frustrating thing. I was STRONG. I should have been able to go head to head with Voldemort (making light of that monster seemed much less comforting now). He was probably about as powerful as me based on what I felt, at least in terms of raw power. But what he'd done with that power…
His soul was a gruesome work of art. I'd seen it during our battle. If we were both one pound cubes of metal, I was iron, and he'd alloyed the living shit out of himself until he was made of fucking titanium or something.
Seeing his spirit like that showed me something else. It was…mutilated. He'd been cutting pieces of it off for some weird reason, and what I'd faced wasn't even half of the whole. I wasn't sure how much different that made power-wise, because the missing pieces weren't gone exactly, more like they'd been replaced by prosthetic pieces of soul made of gnawing hunger and madness.
I was feeling something I hadn't felt in more than a passing sense since I'd become a devil. I was afraid. The depths of his knowledge, of his awful will. Voldemort was a dangerous psychopath. I'd known that already, just from the stories, but what I hadn't known was that he was also a fucking GENIUS.
Forcing myself to calm down, I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply. I heard rustling as my mom came into the room, but I put off talking. I needed to think, and to process.
"Ryan." I heard, as someone shook me. I blinked my eyes open, looking up at my mother in a daze. She shoved something into my hands. "Drink." She commanded. I did, feeling the delicious warmth of the hot chocolate course through my body. As I seemed to liven up, she exhaled in relief. "Good. I wasn't sure what happened, but it seemed a bit like soul shock. Dementors can cause it. I'm glad the chocolate helped. Finish that."
I nodded, draining the rest of the cup with a sigh. I was feeling less…twitchy. I'd been spiraling. I'd seen some shit during that battle, for sure, but I'd strained myself in a way I couldn't quantify while doing it, and I could feel that now as I recovered.
"Voldemort." I rasped, my head still throbbing as I handed the cup back. My intent had been taxed hard during that fight, and knowing that was 'soul shock' was far from encouraging. "It was Voldemort going for the stone. He didn't know my capabilities and I was able to sucker punch him. But even as a half assed ghost he was…scary."
I heard a crack, and my eyes widened as I stared down at my mom's hands. She'd shattered the cup I'd just handed back and was staring at me, her face tight and pale. Not in fear, in RAGE. I'd only seen that expression on my mother's face once or twice in my life.
Calmly, she began picking shards of glass out of her hands. Setting the bloody fragments on the table as her face smoothed into a mask of neutrality. "You don't say. I thought he was dead. How…surprising. If I'd known it was him, I'd have stayed, regardless of giving you your space. You're lucky to have survived." Figuring it was best to get it out of the way I went ahead and filled her in on what happened. She was understandably upset, telling me how stupid I was to take him on like that.
Normally I'd have argued, but after seeing what he'd done to his soul…my necromancy had given me a glimpse at the kind of nutcase he was. He understood magic in a way I just didn't. That spell he'd used hadn't been some kind of outlier. He'd predicted the exact course of the battle and perfectly selected the weapon he wanted to use. The speed of his casting, the skill, I knew if that had been a straight fight at the peak of our powers he'd have crushed me.
Making a few quick motions with her wand, she healed her palms before stowing the focus away again. Then she leaned forward and hugged me tightly. "I'm so glad you're ok." She said softly. "If I'd lost you too…to him of all people." She let go of me and turned to grab a surprised Seras in an equally fierce hug. "You're both idiots."
"I know." I chuckled. "But we're also ok now. Sorry to have worried you. We can't stay though. Dumbledore will be dealing with the fallout of the fight, but Quirrel died. Plus the stone was there and the rumors we started will be followed up on. Fred and George are subtle when they want to be, and the location of the stone was more important that who had it, but someone is going to check on us soon."
My ability to teleport through the Hogwarts wards was invaluable for keeping our noses clean in the eyes of others. Being able to pop up into my room without notice was a priceless advantage. I'd be teleporting back into my enclosed dorm, and Seras had her bedcurtains closed. The Hufflepuff dorms were more communal, but they had enchanted drapes on the beds for privacy.
"It'll take him a bit to examine the scene." My mother said after a moment to collect herself. "But I can see in your eyes this isn't going to be the end of things. You're not going to let this lie. What are you going to do?"
Grimacing, I blew out a breath. "I can't let it go. He tried to kill me. He DID kill dad…I think." I glanced at her in contemplation. "You never actually told me how dad died. Not the details of it. Neither did the portrait." I wasn't sure WHAT killed my father. Had it been the mirror master, had it been Voldemort? Some unknown third thing I hadn't even heard about yet"
"Because I don't know." She said simply. "Reggie left me long before he died. He was looking for a way to treat you, which he apparently found, but his actual death is a mystery to me. I only found out about it from Andi, who heard it from Narcissa. One of the few times she's willingly contacted her sister. Word was that Voldemort killed him personally, but I don't know the truth of it."
It didn't matter. My dad being gone…it had been an old wound, had been something I'd moved past. But all this. Meeting the family. Meeting HIM even via portrait. My family was a fucking mess, no doubt. The Blacks wrote the book on dysfunction. But I deserved to have my dad here teaching me this. Deserved to see him be a part of the nonsense. And not having that…it made me angry.
Maybe it was wrath. Maybe it was pride. Maybe it was just daddy issues and I was blaming it on the evil pieces unfairly. I didn't give a fuck. Voldemort had taken from me. He'd tried to kill me, and given the chance he would try to kill my friends. Tracey and Hannah were half bloods, anathema to his little club. My mom was a muggle born, which meant I was a half blood myself, and I just didn't want to let it go.
"I'm going to kill him." I decided. "I won't rush things. Me and the others are coming here over the summer, and I have no clue where he even is. But I have friends, resources, people I can ask for help. Now that I know he's still around I'm going to find him and tear his bullshit mutilated soul into pieces. Will you help me? Help us? I won't force the others to be part of this, but I at least want them to be prepared just in case. I'm going to be using the evil pieces on them."
She looked torn between pride and terror. This would be dangerous, I knew that. I just couldn't care. I was scared, and deep down, part of me wanted to just let it go and back off. But if I did that I'd never be the devil I wanted to be. I'd never be a real power in the world. I had an enemy, and I needed to see him destroyed.
"Fine." She said after a minute of silence. "Fine, I'll help. But I'm not going to be letting you all walk out of here with the half assed education I've been allowing up to now. I'm going to train you as hard as I can. You're going to leave here as master duelists, or as close as I can get you."
I nodded with a laugh as I stood up, stepping forward to hug her. "I'm counting on it. Once they whip their magic into shape, they'll be able to learn quickly. Not just that either. I'm going to contact Skulduggery, Tanith, and Val. Aside from helping with training, they can also help us keep an ear out for sightings. They have connections."
Shaggy, D.B, and Scooby would be coming too. I was going to offer Shaggy a position as a Knight, and the other two spots as Pawns. With Tracey, Blaise, Theo, Suzie, Hannah, and Daphne all accepting pawns, that would be all of my weaker pieces taken.
I had some ideas for the stronger ones too. Tanith as my other Knight, Skulduggery as a Bishop, maybe Val too, though something about her made me think she could do more. Be more. Whatever the case, I could fully fill out my peerage sooner rather than later. I'd been reserving my pieces for some hypothetical perfect match, but with this most recent fight showing me how stupid that was…
I'd still have at least one Rook and possibly a Bishop or Queen. That would be enough if I found someone strong. But the earlier I picked, the stronger I could get them all before the next year. Until then…we'd have to just be careful.
Seras and I said our goodbyes, leaving the stone with mom as she started working on making more elixir of life. I told her to take some, and she hesitantly agreed, though she was going to put together some glamorous and a temporary aging potion or two just in case. Wouldn't do to let people notice her getting younger.
When I reappeared in my room, I stripped down and slipped into bed first thing. I wanted to think, but if anyone arrived I needed to make it convincing to think I'd been here all night. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, there was a click and my door swung open. I was up and levelling my wand at the door in a blur.
Snape stared at me grimly. "Black." He said with a nod, like he hadn't just busted into my room in the middle of the night, then he shut the door and walked away. I stared after him, perfectly able to see in the pitch black but still having no clue what the fuck was happening around me. Then I shrugged and climbed back in bed. I'd deal with all this shit tomorrow.
February 1st, 2011 Hogwarts, Scotland, 6:00 AM BST
"So…what do you think?" I asked Suzie as we stared out over the school grounds. The Astronomy tower was always abandoned during the day, but it was a great place to watch the sunrise.
She smiled at me sweetly. "Does it matter?" She said with a shrug. "You know I support you. If you think this is best I'm happy to follow along."
I shook my head. "I can't keep doing that." I said firmly. "This isn't some kind of chess game, evil pieces be damned. No matter what piece you end up with, you're not a pawn. I need you with me, and what's more, I need you to tell me when I'm screwing up. My big plan to sucker punch Voldemort almost got Seras and I killed. I was too cocky, and pride isn't a sin I can monitor."
She frowned at that, but eventually nodded. "I can understand why you would worry. How much do your sins really control you? At least as far as you can tell."
Pondering, I thought about how much I'd changed since I first got my powers. How differently I did things. Seras's parents were only one of the mistakes I'd made. Punching that bludger, setting a trap for Voldemort, in retrospect I could see how things like wrath and pride had pushed me to those, but at the time they just seemed like good ideas.
"I'm not sure." I admitted. "It's so hard to tell. These are all a part of me. Will be a part of you too once you join my peerage. But I…I trust you. Your heart. You're the kindest of us Suzie. The strongest. If It's you, I know you'll be able to see past this bullshit, and that when the time comes you can help me make the right choices. I know it's a lot to ask, and it isn't fair."
A pair of soft lips pressed against my cheek, and I turned to give her a confused look. She was…crying. But smiling too. Happy tears, still fucking weird.
Laying her head on my shoulder, she put her arms around me. "It's not much to ask at all. I've been so scared you wouldn't need me anymore. That you'd abandon me or get bored. You're so amazing and I'm so…me. Just goody goody Susan Bones. But you need me. Really need me. I'm so happy I can be of help to you Ryan."
Putting a finger under her chin where it rested against me, I raised it so she was looking in my eyes. "Hey. You're not some sex toy. And you're not my conscience. You're my girlfriend. You're amazing, and kind, and strong. You're the best person I know. I NEED you, because I'm scard I might lose myself if I don't have you to keep me on the straight and narrow, or at least point out when I'm being an idiot. But even if I didn't need you for that, I'd want you around. You make everything better when you're here."
It broke my heart she needed to hear that. My mind was so often clouded by lust, or pride, or even wrath. Luckily those seemed to be my main sins, and I wasn't getting uber jealous or hoarding food or sleeping all the time. Still, it was a lot to handle, and knowing Suzie was taking the brunt of that hurt.
She was special to me, to all of us. Her confidence was basically nonexistent because of her isolation and her habit of constantly comparing herself to her war hero aunt. I was supposed to be helping with that, this was a two way street. Instead I'd been using her as a sex doll cheerleader and it fucking sickened me.
Hearing Daphne's doubts and fears about her place with me had opened my eyes to a lot of things I'd done wrong. I wanted to change, to be better. I was never going to be a goody goody like Suzie was, I was morally ambiguous even when I was human, but I'd become MORE morally ambiguous, and I needed to get a handle on it. Power corrupted, and I had a shit ton of it.
Snuggled against me, looking up at me with pure adoration, I knew that I had to protect Susan and that she could do the same for me. But I didn't know what that looked like. She leaned up and kissed me, softly and tentatively, then pulled back with a watery smile. "Then…I think your plans are a good idea. Making our little family bigger isn't a bad decision."
I winced. "Even if like half the reason is how bad I want to fuck Val, D.B, and Tanith?" I was ashamed to admit how much their beauty factored into my decision to offer them evil pieces. It was so hard not to constantly think about sex. I was lucky I'd had enough restraint not to try to reincarnate Lavender.
"Is it the ONLY reason?" She asked sternly. "Because I don't think it is. You could have offered those pieces to anyone. Tanith is a powerful fighter, Val is a strong and independent girl with a lot of power, Shaggy is faster than almost anyone I've ever seen. Scooby Doo is the sweetest creature on this planet, and D.B is an intelligent, driven woman. Even just considering the women, ignoring your lust, do you think you would regret having them with us?"
I mulled that over. It was hard to push through the surge of lust when I thought of them, but considering things from a different angle…no. I shook my head. "I don't. In fact, I think considering things from that direction makes a decision I've been thinking about more reasonable. I think I want to make Val my queen."
She raised an eyebrow. "That's a big move. Why do you think she's suited?" It was strange seeing her so analytical and focused. She was clearly taking her new duties seriously, and it warmed my heart.
"For one thing, she's been trained in magic by Skulduggery, and in combat by Tanith." I said, slowly piecing out my logic as I said it aloud. "She's apparently very talented, but sorcerers have their 'surge' around twenty five. It locks them into one kind of magic. As a devil, she'll be able to continue pursuing her studies in elementalism and necromancy both. But more than that…"
She smiled encouragingly at me. "Go on. Finish your thought."
"She feels…special." I said slowly. "Not in a romantic way. More like she's got a lot of weight in the grand scheme of things. I can't explain it better."
"Then don't." She said with a shrug. "In the end this is your call. It seems like you put a lot of thought into things. You're not being blinded by lust or pride here, not that I can tell. I think you need me less than you might like to believe." Her voice sounded sad as she admitted that.
Putting an arm around her, I smiled. "I need you for lots of reasons. But this isn't all about me. I've been talking about you being worth more than some advisory bullshit to me, then I went right into unloading my problems. What do YOU want, Suzie? I want to do something for you. Or with you. Nothing sexual just…tell me what would make you happy?"
"Being here with you." She said softly. "Sitting here watching the sun rise over the forest. It's all I could wish for."
I laughed, but shook my head. "Nope. None of that. I'm already doing that and enjoying it. I demand you be more of an imposition. Put me out. Make me work for it. You're making me look bad and I won't stand for it." I made sure she knew from my grin I was teasing, but I still raised an eyebrow and waited for her to respond.
Her cheeks heated. "Well…" She bit her lip uncertainly. "There is one thing. When I was younger, before I came to Hogwarts, Hannah was my only friend. But there were a bunch of girls who lived nearby who she would hang out with. She always brought me along, and they always treated me like I was boring. They weren't mean, Hannah wouldn't have allowed it, but they just looked at me like I was pathetic."
"Well, well, well…" I drawled. "Is our sweet little Suzie asking for vengeance? That doesn't really seem like your style."
She blinked in surprise. "No!" She said hurriedly. "Not at all. It's just…" She muttered something so low even I couldn't hear it, and I gave her a look letting her know I had no clue what she'd just said. Her face turned redder. "I want you to come have dinner at my auntie's house so they can see you!" She almost shouted, trying to get the words out in a rush.
"Wait…what?" I said with a laugh. "You just want to show me off? That's all?"
"You're so fit." She said in an embarrassed voice. "And charming. And charismatic. I still can't believe I'm with you. They'd be so jealous and I think I'd like to see that. If it's not too much trouble. Maybe. If you want. Actually forget it, it's a stupid id-" I cut her off with a kiss, this one longer and slower than the others.
Pulling back, she blinked at me in a daze. "I would LOVE to be your arm candy." I laughed. "What's the point of dating a hot piece of ass like me if you don't get to flex? Parade me around in front of those bitches as much as you want. I'll even wear a suit and actually bother styling my hair. Though I don't like you implying I'm too hot for you. You're fucking adorable."
"But it's so PETTY." She whined, burying her face in her hands. "I shouldn't care what they think. What kind of person shows off someone they care about just to get a reaction?"
I snickered. "The human kind, hon'. I hate to break it to you, but amazing person or not, you ARE still human. You're not a saint, and no one expects you to be. Even if you were aiming for that, I'm 90% sure that half the things you let me do to you in bed disqualify you for canonization."
She snorted and smacked my shoulder lightly. "Ryan!" She said shyly. "Do you always have to tease me?"
Rather than doubling down and mentioning how sexy she was and how I couldn't resist…I paused. "No." I said finally. "You're right. Sorry. I didn't need to take it there, and that's not what this conversation is about."
Widening her eyes, she waved her hands frantically. "No! That's not what I meant. I like how attracted you are to me." She blushed and looked away shyly. "It makes me feel pretty. I was just teasing you back. You can say those kinds of things to me whenever you want. I definitely don't want you to stop."
Laughing, I pulled her against me. "Don't worry, there's zero chance of me suddenly giving up sex with you, but there's a time and a place. We should be able to have a conversation without me trying to get into your pants. I don't need to ALWAYS think about sex. I can control my devilish impulses."
Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, she stared up at me like I was insane. "You're not just a devil, you're also a teenage boy. You should try to keep your goals realistic."
I burst out laughing. "Wow, nice to know what you really think of me. I'm sure Blaise and Theo would be highly offended…wait, nope, just proved your point. Well played Madam Bones." I said poshly. "You've bested me yet again. Anyway, owl your aunt. We'll be joining her for dinner next time she's available." Still giggling, she snuggled in next to me to watch the sunrise, and damned if it wasn't the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
June 8th, 2011 Hogwarts, Scotland, 5:00 PM BST
"So…" I said softly as we all sat among the chairs in the library. "We're officially done. All classes over. That was almost anticlimactic." After the mess with the stone, the school had been on alert for a while, but eventually that faded. Once things died down I'd slipped Lily an expanded pouch full of vials of the stuff that should last her a while, and then after that…nothing.
Classes had gone on. We'd all learned. I continued to suck at Transfigurations, be great at every other spell based class, sleep through History, and be ok at potions. I'd learned plenty about basic combat and useful household spells, but in the end, I had to make a decision. We all did.
Suzie smiled encouragingly up at me from where she sat in my lap. "Galleon for your thoughts?" She offered sweetly.
"You're supposed to offer a low bid." I laughed. "So it should be knut for your thoughts. Which…yeah I can see the issue. Galleon works I guess. I was just thinking about my major. I think I know what I want to pursue, but I'm wavering."
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Charms." She said bluntly. "We all know it'll be charms. It's where you shine the brightest, and the concept of enchantments is something you've been obsessing over for months. I for my part, will follow in my mother's footsteps. DADA for me. I'm already ahead, which means I can start getting into the really good stuff earlier."
"Yeah, I'm sticking with my current skillset too." Tracey said with a shrug. "I'll be in charms along with you, though I suspect you'll catch up fast. You seem to have a knack for it."
Grinning at her, I shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe you'll develop a knack too, after this summer." I didn't elaborate, but I didn't need to. Everyone was hyper aware of what was coming. We'd all grown closer over the last four months or so, and seeing what I was capable of had lit a fire in each of my friends to become devils themselves.
That had only become more true as my power had grown. I hadn't really become that much more skilled with wizard magic, I knew more spells, but first year shit wasn't really a game changed. My NECROMANCY though…that had grown in leaps and bounds. I'd been training it just in case I ran into Voldemort again. I wanted to be ready.
Val had been happy to have weekly study sessions, and I'd grown close to the pretty goth girl. She'd even taken to teaching me some hand to hand. Coating herself in shadow let her output a similar amount of physical power to what I could do when not pushing myself, and she was WAY more skilled, so I'd learned a lot. Of course I'd still held back, my speed and flight weren't anything she could easily counter if I pushed, but I was turning into a halfway competent brawler with help from Val and Tanith.
This summer would be the time to learn more wizard spells. I wanted to beef up my repertoire of charms especially, so I could dive right into enchanting when second year started. If I could keep up with the advanced students I could start getting into making enchanted items, and that…well that suited me pretty well. I was excited to try to mesh my devil magic and enchantments if possible. I could make objects that could do almost anything if I could learn that.
Even without that ability, we'd gone on a few more ghost hunts, and my demonic power was growing constantly. If I'd originally been ten times as strong as an average wizard, now I was about twelve times as strong. That wasn't even counting the permanent chunk of magic I'd imbued into my wand for necromancy, or the massive temporary drains I'd been adding to it.
"Great." Drawled Blaise. "You broke his brain again. You've got him spiralling into thoughts of enchantments and world domination."
I rolled my eyes. "I don't want to take over the world." I protested. "I just want to make a safe place for all of us. Once you're…more mobile, a shelter to retreat to is going to be key. The manor is great, but I don't know how all the wards even work. I want to make my own place. Somewhere I create with my own two hands. Somewhere safety can be guaranteed."
I had dreams of creating dense stone blocks by compressing stone with magic, enchanting them heavily and building a castle from the ground up, protected by the strongest wards I could manage. A devil fortress.
Sure, it was a little grandiose, but it wasn't like that was a bad thing. I was getting ahead of myself though. Enchanting things like that required absurd amounts of experience and control. My intent was going to help with learning it, but I'd still need to drill my magic constantly to learn the kind of pinpoint control necessary to overlay so many charms on a single object.
"What about you?" Tracey asked, not even bothering to tease Blaise. They'd reached a sort of accord, agreeing to stay friends rather than try hooking up and risk it fucking up the group dynamic. That was even more important given we were all going to be alive for millennia. "You going to get into potions as expected?"
He shrugged. "I don't feel like learning anything new after the big…change. I might get into…shadow puppetry, like Ryan. Seems like it would be up my alley."
"Shadow puppetry?" I asked derisively. "That was the best you could come up with? But fair enough." Sorcery was definitely a more…focused, avenue of study. Plus there was a lot more to it than I had gotten into. If he was already doing potions, learning necromancy would let him get into the kind of research that Serpine had been doing to make the White Cleaver, or even more amazing processes given what my mom had told me about what potions could do.
There were so many kinds of magic out there, so much for us to learn and ways for us to grow. Theo snickered at our friend's antics. "I'm going DADA too. I have a bit of a headstart in potions just from ingredient knowledge, and I could do Herbology for the same reasons, but I really want to learn to fight." His teeth gritted in anger. "I hated how helpless I was at the beginning of this year. I don't want to go through that again, and I can't always rely on you lot."
Hannah rolled her eyes, but there was a fond smile on her lips. "Love, you'll be strong enough to throw a car and fast enough to outrun a snitch. I don't think bullying will be an issue. But I've decided to focus on Transfiguration with Susan. I want to be there for her in class, since most everyone else seems to be pairing off."
Blaise being the obvious exception, but he probably preferred that. He liked spending time with us, and I was pretty sure he enjoyed having people genuinely care about him, but sometimes my friend liked to go off and do his own thing.
Probably because of his upbringing Blaise was…odd. He was charismatic and social, but he found certain basic expressions of friendship disquieting. None of us talked about it, of course. It wasn't our place. But he was easily overwhelmed by platonic affection at the strangest times, and it broke my heart to think about how he'd gotten that way.
Izabella Zabini might be a potions mistress and a black widow extraordinaire, but she was a shitty mother. It made me even more grateful to have a mom like mine.
There had also been some movement on the trial front. Aunt Cassie had managed to swing a vote to put one on the books, and it would be taking place over the summer…sadly, that had been the last thing Aunt Cassie had done. The belligerent old witch had died shortly after she owled us the date, having apparently been sick for sometime.
In fact, the mediwitch who attended to her said she wasn't sure how she'd lasted so long. By all rational standards she should have died three months ago, but had held on to help with one last thing. It was so at odds with the impression I'd had of her, but my mom hadn't been surprised. She'd said Aunt Cassie lived for the Black Family, and helping get it back on track would have been worth anything to her.
Amelia and Andi had been working together on Sirius's defense, gathering evidence and studying the pitiful amount of information they had on the 'case'. In the end though, the real ace in the hole would be Sirius himself. Tonks had gotten in to speak to him, and he'd finally opened up about what really happened.
I shook my head. There was so much happening I'd gotten prone to getting stuck in my head. I looked at the others. "Anyway. Anyone made any progress on the other project I asked about?" I'd had my friends keeping an eye out for information on a certain subject I felt might become important. I'd looked too, but I was a flighty and easily distracted person when it came to research.
Daphne, who was surprisingly adept at the subject, scowled. "Not especially. If we hadn't met that crazy priest I'd be tempted to assume demons don't exist. But even if Radivan was like you, there have been too many oblique references to them in old historical texts for there not to be some other kind of infernal being running around. Plus your wand."
I nodded, rolling the dark stick between my fingers. The Oni this had come from WAS infernal. I could feel the connection. I'd assumed some kind of descent at first, but after my necromantic connection with the thing (dead Oni plus death power equals strong bond) I'd been able to clarify that it was more…sideways on the family tree.
Onis had never been devils, or descended from devils, but they were similar. "What kind of oblique references?"
She shrugged. "Stuff I'd have dismissed as folklore and nonsense if I caught it in one spot. But there are a LOT of mentions. You have to go back really far though. Last recorded sighting was in the fifteen hundreds or so. Some super tall spider demon thing calling itself Zestial. That was the most concrete account I found. But past that its been just vague references and mentions from the middle ages."
I nodded. I had Roran looking into it, and I was curious because…well, who wouldn't be. People like me, or at least similar. They probably had way more experience with demonic power than I did, even if they weren't actually devils. I bet I could learn a shit ton from them. Even more than Vincent most likely. Plus…the booklet mentioned the underworld. Talked about it like it was some kind of homeland for devils. I wanted to see it someday. Even if it was empty. Maybe I could build my devil fortress there.
For now though, the only fortress I needed to worry about was the one I lived in right now. Speaking of which. "Shit, we have the end of term feast tonight. We should probably go start getting ready." I groaned. "Why do we care about the house cup again?"
"We don't." Said Blaise with a shrug. "But a lot of the purebloods think of it as a way to show superiority, and have turned it into a political dick measuring contest. Plus we're almost guaranteed to win because Potter and his crew got caught out after hours and torn a new arsehole, so that makes it more amusing to sit through at least."
I shrugged. I wasn't attached to my house identity at all. I knew a lot of these people grew up in dynasties of Hogwarts students and were raised into the faith of how your whole personality should revolve around your school club (see the multiple secret societies in place) but I could care less. In any case, I wasn't too bent out of shape about it. At least the food was good.
June 8th, 2011 Hogwarts Grand Hall, Scotland, 8:00 PM BST
The end of year feast was a BIT of a letdown. Not because it wasn't impressive, it was a magical feast in a magical castle. There were ghosts and candles and ambiance and a night sky overhead changing as we ate…but there was always that stuff. We had a feast every night basically, barring the announcements, this didn't seem like it was much out of the norm.
Still, there was some small amount of tension given the occasion, and everything seemed a little bit more emotionally charged. This wouldn't be our last time seeing anyone, but moving into next year we'd be focused into majors, and we wouldn't be able to talk to some of these people in classes anymore.
It was a bit nostalgic, and as we took our places and the Puffs followed us to sit down, I couldn't help scanning the area. To my surprise, one of the people I was looking for didn't need to be sought, she sat down across from me. "Black." Said Lily Moon with a solemn nod. "I wanted to say goodbye before summer. I hope we might keep in touch."
Lily ignored the others as she addressed me, but she kept her tone level and respectful. After the mess with the stone, she'd been wary around me for quite a while. Once she got her vials she'd started to look at me with a sort of distant awe.
Seeing someone as put together and stoic as Lily take an interest was intoxicating, but more than that, I'd talked to the girls a bit, and I was considering eventually offering her an evil piece. Aside from being a brilliant witch, Lily was also part of the sorcerer community, and more than that, she connected the two together. Val and Tanith had friends and sources on that side of the line, but they weren't tapped into both communities.
Still, Lily wasn't someone I knew well enough to trust her like that. After months and months of getting to know everyone else, I was willing to put my faith in them, Lily would have to be a maybe. "Sure." I said with a nod. "I'd love to talk over the summer, I feel like I have a lot to learn about you."
That got a small smile, as she passed me a small note with her address on it for letters, then stood up and swept away. Daphne had been glaring at her the whole time, and I smirked at how jealous she got despite having tentatively approved Lily joining us later. "Wow, can't believe she actually approached someone outside her little clique." Lavender giggled as she sat down.
"She's not so tough to talk to." I said with a chuckle. "Besides, you're a Griffyndor coming over to the Slytherin table. Takes way more guts. How are you Lav?"
She shrugged. "Not bad. Just wanted to say goodbye and wish you a great summer." She nodded politely to Susan and Daphne. "You girls too, maybe we'll see each other in class."
Lavender and I had become pretty amicable. We weren't close, but she was easy to talk to. It was simpler to be friends with her when I was getting laid regularly. Her tits were still gargantuan, but given my busy sex life I wasn't too tempted. Once I stopped staring down her shirt I figured out she was actually a sweet and supportive (if slightly ditzy) person.
Suzie smiled back at her brightly. "I'm in Transfiguration, but even if not I hope your summer is great and I hope we can hang out next term."
My redhead was pretty much the girl in high school who wrote lengthy personalized yearbook notes to every single student, somehow containing a unique personal interaction they'd shared that the person had probably forgotten. It was literally impossible not to adore her, and Lavender, who was already a happy person, seemed excited to have made a future friend.
Daphne sulked as they hugged, but didn't say anything. I was half expecting someone else to come up to us, but before they could Dumbledore called for everyone to be silent as he began the announcements.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" He said jovially. "Welcome to the end of another eventful year at Hogwarts. We've had some excitement, a few interesting phenomena that made the year more exciting." His smile slipped. "The death of professor Quirrel and the destruction of the shrieking shack cast a long pall over our hearts."
Shaking off the melancholy, the smile returned to the old man's face. "And yet, hope springs eternal! We move toward another new year, welcoming even more new additions to our Hogwarts family, and as with any family, there are certain…responsibilities. Fulfilling these responsibilities can give academic benefits, and so, we address the house cup."
McGonagall stood, passing him an envelope, which he took with a kind smile. With my enhanced hearing I heard her low murmur of "This year will be a bloodbath for Gryffindor." And tried not to snicker.
Potter, Weasley, and Granger were sitting at their table looking a bit downcast, and I knew from the twins that they hadn't managed to make back all the points lost during their night time excursion. Fred and George were mortified that their little brother was so sloppy. Even Fred pointed out that if I could pull off a caper like I had without getting caught, being found sneaking out was just shameful.
"I have here the results of the house cup." He announced somberly. "But before I read them out. I have a few last minute additions to make." Clearing his throat, he conjured a pair of glasses with a wand flick and then a roll of parchment, and began reading off names. "For extraordinary loyalty above and beyond the call of duty, and for endangering his own future to help a friend. Harry Potter will receive one hundred house points."
Granger got some too, and Weasley, and even Neville Longbottom, and, lo and beyond the hourglasses full of gems shifted, the rubies pouring in and showing that Gryffindor has quickly overtaken us. "And so." Said Dumbledore. "I believe a change of decorations are in order." With a wave of his wand, the silver and green that had been here when we arrived waiting for the announcement of Slytherin winning was gone, replaced by red and gold.
I gave absolutely zero fucks, of course. I'd asked the others about the benefits of the house cup, and it was mostly bullshit like extended deadlines on homework for the house who won. But I was more focused on what he HADN'T said. Given their relative lack of presence on the Hogwarts stage after the halfway point in the year, he must have been referring to the big mess where they were out of bounds.
While being up late wasn't something they could do too much about for adults, from what I'd heard, those three had been in sectioned off parts of the school. What had they been doing? Dumbledore was sneakier than he seemed. He'd definitely been trying to draw attention to what they were upto, though I couldn't imagine why.
Daphne grimaced. "You noticed it too?" I nodded. "That's going to bother me. What's his game?"
The Puffs all looked pretty lost, but my fellow housemates were political animals. They might not have my senses, but they had been dealing with double talk and ulterior motives since they could walk. They weren't super spies or anything, but Dumbledore hadn't been being subtle. Not in the circles people here walked in.
After a congratulations, he released us to feast, and we all dug into out food. I had lasagna, because I was in the mood, while the others stuck with bland ass british food mostly, except Seras, who was having curry.
"So, did you all owl your parents? You're coming back with us after the train arrives?" I had to let my mom know how many she'd be picking up. She'd need to rent a van or something. I also had to pick up Val, Tanith, Skulduggery, DB, Shaggy, and Scooby. The younger trio were meeting us in Monaco after a vacation. We still had a few ghosts left to stuff in the chest, but all work and no play made dull boys and all that.
Blaise smirked. "My mother has stated her intention to drop in over the summer to check on us. I believe it's a bluff. Your mother seems to scare her, and there's no way she'd set foot in her house. Still, might want to warn her just in case."
I shrugged. My mom could handle Izabella Zabini. My own attraction to the woman had waned somewhat given all the talk about Blaise's homelife. As much fun as hatefucking her might be, I think the idea would genuinely bother my friend, so I wouldn't do it, even if my girls gave permission which they wouldn't.
We ate and talked for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Before we headed to bed though, I slipped out of my seat and decided to check into what Dumbledore had referenced. Heading over to Gryffindor, I nodded to Potter, Granger, and Weasley. "Hey, think I could borrow you three for a minute?"
"Wants to borrow all three of them." Hooted one of the lions. "Three girlfriends isn't enough, looks like Black needs a whole stable."
There was a loud clearing of a throat and the dark skinned guy with the dreadlocks looked askance to the twins. "Leave off." Said George firmly. "Black isn't so bad. Don't worry Ronniekins, we've got a truce with snakeboy. If he says he wants to talk its just that."
I nodded to my big red haired friend. Ron looked pensive, but finally nodded. "I saw we go. No harm in hearing him out."
Granger, or I guess Hermione if I was going to be talking to her, agreed, and Potter, ever quiet and withdrawn, decided to follow their lead. It almost seemed passive, but I knew that if he'd decided not to do it they would have all begged off. He might not be a go getter, but he kept his people in line.
When we reached the hall, Ron decided to talk first. "So what is this about? I have trouble believing this was all to wish us a happy summer."
"Good guess." I said with a smirk. "Yeah, I wanted to ask you about what Dumbledore was talking about. He made it sound like quite the story." The only angle I could see was Dumbledore trying to make them seem like desirable allies. People who would let themselves be fucked over to have your back were easy to trust.
Harry shook his head. "None of your business, mate. I appreciate you have a truce with the twins, but that's not on the table."
I sighed, but understood. "I get it. Trade secrets. Just…keep in mind that I'm around if you need a hand with anything in the future. Whether its a similar issue or something else. I'm not against helping you out if you can return the favor later."
He seemed suspicious at first, but when I mentioned the quid pro quo he calmed down a bit. Potter didn't seem like a big believer in man's humanity to man. Fair enough, he'd be making a literal deal with the devil, hard to blame him. Satisfied he wouldn't listen to anything else I said about it I wished them a good summer and left.
Dumbledore was…up to something. He was pushing Potter out into the deep end, fishing for allies or support or…something? He clearly didn't think the boy who lived was living up to his potential. The question was how would I benefit if I supported him, and that I'd have to look around a bit to find out. In the meantime I just headed back to meet my friends. We all still had a few weeks before the final train, but we could all start packing a bit at a time, and it was almost time for bed. I couldn't wait for the summer to start.
June 20th, 2011 Ryan's Manor, Scotland, 8:00 PM BST
The trip on the Hogwarts express was uneventful. I got so bored I teleported out to pick up the others, drop them at my place, and then came back. While I could only teleport places I'd seen before, their orientation in space was irrelevant. I could and did circle onto and off of the moving train. Everyone else was super jealous.
But despite being ostensibly eight hours, the time from beginning to end didn't feel like nearly enough. I felt the weight of the dark wood box in my robes, I had it on me to perform the ceremonies.
I'd held back for far too long, putting it off for the right time like I could min max my life like some kind of game. The evil pieces might be based on chess, but the world wasn't. Holding back like that was likely to screw me over. I needed to set my foundation so my friends could begin to grow. So we all could.
When we arrived at the manor, everyone was already waiting. I led them all out into the courtyard in the center of the building. I hadn't even known there WAS a courtyard here at first, because the windows leading into the house were all boarded up, but Daisy had gotten to it eventually and cleaned it all up, leaving it for me to find when I returned home on one of my trips.
Even a courtyard for a big expansive magical mansion was cramped when it was this busy. All my friends and confidantes were here, waiting for me to make the choice that would elevate them beyond mere wizard or sorcerer, and into something…mythical.
"I'm glad you all came." I said at last. "I've spoken to you all about this at length. You being here indicates your willingness to undergo the procedure. I'll highlight the basics and you can ask any questions you might have. Warning, I probably won't be able to answer any questions about HOW or WHY this works. These things are black boxed to hell, no pun intended, so this is a shit or get off the pot moment."
That got a low chuckle from a few people, but most of them just stared at me intently. I sighed, reaching into my robes to pull out the box.
"These." I said as I held up the box and opened it. "Are evil pieces. Don't ask why they're called that, I don't know. They don't make you evil, though they do make you a bit…unstable. Prone to certain behaviors. They come in several varieties. Pawns." I gestured to the most numerous pieces. "Are the all rounders. Pawns get a bit of everything, though less than the others. Strength, speed, magic power. You'll receive a net gain to all of them."
I held up a second piece. "The bishop, of which only one is being distributed today, is the magic user. Its sole purpose is to bestow tremendous magical power. It mages your spells bigger and stronger, though it doesn't help you control them I don't think. Skullduggery, I'm offering this one to you. Warning, I do NOT know what will happen when you use it. I think you'll stay a skeleton, but you might become human again, who knows."
Putting that one back, I pulled out the Knight. "The Knight is the speedster. Fast and dangerous, they're the DPS of the group. Damage per second for those of you who don't know the term. Tanith, Shaggy, you two will be my Knights. Shaggy is one of the fastest human beings I've ever seen, and Tanith, your sword skills will translate well. I hope you'll start training with Shaggy in that department too."
Reaching back into the box, I held up a single piece. My only unique and most important piece. My Queen. "This." I said firmly. "Is the Queen. Magic, strength, AND speed. Don't ask me why it adds speed, I have no idea. Val. I want to offer this one to you."
My girls were well aware of the situation and my intentions, but everyone else, Val included, seemed confused. She blinked, pointing to herself. "You're giving ME the strongest piece? Why? I mean, I kick arse, but not as much as Tanith. And I'm not as good with magic as Skulduggery."
"But you're good at both. I have my reasons, are you going to accept or not?" I didn't feel like justifying my instincts. I wanted to do it so I would if she agreed. Nothing more to say.
She nodded, still confused. "Sure. That's fine. So what do we need to do? How does this change work."
I pointed to where a group of stone tables had been conjured on one side of the courtyard. "D.B, Scooby, Daphne, Susan, Theo, Blaise, Tracey, and Hannah. Take your places on the pedestals. You'll be receiving my eight Pawn pieces."
The booklet made it clear that the required pieces depended heavily on both MY power and theirs. None of the people picked out were powerhouses on my level, so one Pawn should be fine.
Blaise looked annoyed and ready to bitch for a second, but clearly remembered my speech on promotion, and grudgingly accepted. Which was good, because he wasn't getting a stronger piece. They all laid down on the plinths, and I walked among them, taking out the Pawn pieces and placing them in the air above their chests.
In defiance of god and nature, the pieces sat there in the air above them, and once I was ready, I raised my hands and swept them down.
The pieces floated downwards, hitting their chests and just like with Seras, vanished inside with a ripple like a big stone falling in a lake. When they were in all eight of them locked up, body arching and spasming.
I wondered how different the process would be for a human than a vampire. Vampires were one of the more versatile and adaptable creatures I knew of. But they would survive, and that was all that mattered.
Turning to Shaggy and Tanith, I gestured to another two pedestals, still empty. "Alright you two, time for the Knights to take their positions."
"Like…haha, I don't know man." Said Shaggy nervously. "I didn't know it was going to hurt."
I stared at him firmly. "That won't happen to you. They have low demonic efficiency quotients. Your demonic efficiency quotient is the highest I've ever seen. This will be a painless and nearly instant process. Like taking a nap."
He perked up. "Well, like, that's a different story." He hopped onto the pedestal and crossed his hands behind his head. I wasted no time dropping the piece in, as it vanished, Tanith raised a brow at me.
"How about my demonic efficiency quotient?" She asked cautiously. "Is mine high too."
I shrugged. "If you want. I made the term up on the spot so theoretically it could be as high or low as you need to be. Whatever makes you feel better."
As I spoke, Shaggy's face went red as he arched his back in pain. "You just lied to him?" She asked incredulously. "You sounded so sure and confident. Even I believed you. What was the point of that?"
"He was going to do it anyway." I said with a shrug. "And expecting it would have been worse. So I just told him what he needed to hear. He wasn't as tense so I bet it hurt less. I did him a favor." He would get through it and be stronger for it. It was like lying about when the needle would go in when you gave someone a shot.
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you lying about anything else." She stopped then grimaced. "You wouldn't tell me if you were, don't bother answering."
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I was trying to help. I gave you the information to make an informed decision. He made one. I just fibbed a bit about the details to save him some emotional agonizing. Now it's your turn. You going to lay on the table and let me change your life, or are you going to walk away?"
She snorted, climbing up onto the slab. "If I had a nickel for every time a man promised that." She paused. "Well, I'd have two nickels, but it's weird that it's happened twice."
I laughed at the pretty sorcerer, dropping the other Knight through her sternum and turning to where my last two patients waited. "Alright. Val, Skulduggery. You ready for all this? I'm not sure how yours will feel." I said to the Skeleton Detective.
He shrugged. "I'm used to pain." He said conversationally. "Admittedly, I'm usually the one causing it, but I've had plenty of experience with the other way too. Besides, I'm curious about how this will all work. I can already fly, i wonder if between the wings, my own powers, and my light frame I can match up to Tanith in speed."
That…was a great question. I was also hoping he'd teach me how to fly like he did. If it really could make us faster it would be an objectively great choice for everyone to pick up.
Following me to the last table, I dropped in their pieces. Looking at the box, I winced at the sight of only two pieces remaining. My last Rook and my last Bishop. I glanced around, hoping someone would be done now, but it didn't seem to be in the cards, I walked over to where my mother was standing to one side, watching them change.
"You sure you don't want in?" I asked again. "I can give the other Bishop. It would really up your magic capabilities."
She shook her head. "I don't want to live for ten thousand years Ryan. I don't want to surrender my self control. And I don't want to take away a possible helped from my son. You did a good thing getting me the stone. I'll be around for you for quite a while with its help. Longer than you'll need me."
I heard a soft sadness in her voice, the kind she got when she talked about dad. It occurred to me that while eternal life might be a gift to many, to someone who had lost the person they loved most it would be a curse. I couldn't imagine how she felt. I'd been with Suzie and Daphne for less than a year, and Seras maybe half that, but if I lost any of them…I shuddered to think of it.
"Alright." I said after a lengthy pause. "I get it it, but you better keep up those treatments. Speaking of, why aren't you like twenty now?"
She snickered. "Because I know how to make an aging potion. I'm not stupid. Living longer is fine, but I have to LOOK like I'm aging, at least a bit." She glanced back at the twitching, writhing forms of my new peerage. "This summer is going to be a nightmare."
I grimaced. "Sorry, but we need the training. I have a few possible leads to chase down, but I want to be at the top of my game when I do it. Plus we have the trial, and we DON'T have Aunt Cassie here to help. You and Amelia sure you have this all sorted?"
"It'll be fine. We can't make him innocent if he isn't, but we have enough to leverage the main body of the Wizaengamot into allowing a compelled truth speaking. He's going to be questioned under Veritaserum. If your father is right, he'll be innocent. If not…well, I don't imagine they'll bother putting him back."
I winced, considering if I should step in if that happened. It was a hard call. He was my uncle but if he'd done it he was also a bastard. I supposed I'd see how the questioning turned out. Sighing, I slipped my box into my robes. "Alright then. Might as well go get something to eat." This was going to take a while.
As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent minimum 10k words of advance content. Hope everyone enjoys!