Shorter chapter. Sorry about that. Consider this an interlude. Well... Enjoy!

15th of December 1994, Chamber of Secrets

"Hey Rem." Adrian said appearing in the chamber. Rem materialized a few seconds later.

"You got the bugs Valor?" Rem asked.

Adrian pulled a small glass jar from his coat pocket and held it up. Inside, five insects skittered around the bottom — a beetle, a spider, a wasp, something that looked like a tiny scorpion, and a fat housefly.

"Yeah. Took me a whole ten minutes of intense hunting," Adrian deadpanned.

Rem snorted. "Well, this is the start of your illustrious necromantic career — murdering bugs."

Adrian gave him a flat look. "So, what now?"

"Now," Rem said, walking forward, "we teach you how to summon an Inferius."

He stopped, turning to face Adrian fully.

"Before you can raise, they have to be, well... dead. And you want the corpses intact, better that way."

Rem pointed at the jar.

"Pick one."

Adrian unscrewed the lid and tipped out the fat beetle. It crawled slowly across the cold stone, aimless and unaware.

"...Alright," Adrian said hesitantly. "So how do I kill it? Any way to keep them intact? Reckon a Diffindo will slice them in half."

Rem looked him dead in the eye.

"Just cast the Killing Curse."

Adrian blinked. "...What?"

"You heard me. Avada Kedavra."

Adrian froze, staring at him. "Rem. I can't just— That's life in Azkaban if someone traces that spell back to me!"

Rem sighed and rubbed his temples. "Right. So let me get this straight — you're about to raise a fucking Inferius with your wand, perform an illegal necromantic ritual steeped in death-aligned ancient magic that rewrites your biology — but you're drawing the line at casting the killing curse?"

"Eh... True but... It's not just any spell, Rem! It's the spell. People go away forever for using that."

Rem just gave him a tired look. "And what did you think was going to happen? That you'd just tap them with a stick and whisper 'sleep well'? Grow up, Valor. This is necromancy. You don't get to be squeamish now."

Adrian hesitated, jaw tight. "...Maybe I should just get a new wand. Use that for the curse."

Rem looked like he physically aged ten years in real-time.

"You know, just when I think you're finally getting smarter, you hit me with some proper dumb shit."

"What—"

"Your wand is bonded to you, dumbass. It's tailored to your magical signature. You wanna use some knockoff stick that doesn't know your rhythms, your casting speed, your magic? That's how people die mid-ritual. And you're not dying in here, Valor. Not unless you want me scraping your remains off the chamber floor with a soup spoon."

Adrian ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "So what, I'm supposed to just... do it?"

Rem leaned in slightly. "No. You're supposed to own it. You wanted power? You wanted legacy? This is the cost. You can't halfway this, Adrian. If you don't have the balls to cast a curse on a fucking bug, then forget about necromancy altogether."

Silence stretched. The beetle wandered lazily in a circle, completely unaware of the existential debate it had triggered.

Adrian exhaled. "Alright… alright. I guess this is the path I'm walking."

"Good," Rem said. Then paused, one brow arching. "...You gonna monologue every time, or...?"

Adrian shot him a look. "You're hilarious."

He looked down at the bug again, jaw clenched. "...I mean, technically it's only a life sentence if I use it on a human, right? Worse case scenario, If someone somehow manages to get my wand, I'll just say I was hunting. Testing out spells on pests."

Rem chuckled darkly. "Right, and when they detect inferius summoning magic in the same wand trace? Good luck with that legal defence, boy."

Adrian muttered, "Yeah... I talk the talk, now I gotta walk the walk. Okay... I can do it."

He reached down, picked up the beetle, and set it gently in the centre of a wide stone tile. Then he took two steps back, wand slowly rising.

First time I'm ever going to use an Unforgiveable. But... this is all for a greater cause. I want to... I have to get stronger.

His throat was dry.

Its all about the intent. I have to really mean to kill it. Otherwise I'll just make a puff of smoke.

His heart beat once. Twice.

For glory... For my legacy...

The chamber was dead silent.

Then—

"Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green light burst from the end of his wand, hitting the bug. The beetle dropped, legs curling inward, unmoving.

It was dead.

No turning back now.

"...I did it," Adrian whispered.

Rem nodded slowly. "Yeah. You did."

Adrian looked at his ebony wand. "...That felt wrong."

"It's supposed to," Rem said. "That's what makes it real."

Adrian stared down at the beetle's tiny body.

"...Now what?" he asked, voice quieter.

Rem stepped closer. "Now? We see if you have got what it takes to become a necromancer."

He gestured for Adrian to kneel beside the body.

"You're going to need three things. Focus. Intent. And power. Inferi aren't raised by just muttering Latin. You need to mean it. You need to bend death to your will."

He knelt beside him, eyes sharp.

"The first spell is the base: Mortis Voco — Call of the Dead. It pulls the soul fragment or echo back toward the corpse. On its own, it's useless. But it's the first knock on death's door."

"Next, Corpus Sisto — Body, Remain. It stabilizes the vessel. Makes sure what you're raising doesn't collapse back into rot mid-command."

"And finally, Animare Cadaverem — animate the corpse. That's the actual command. The binding. It fuses the echo to the body and listens to you as master."

Adrian repeated the incantations under his breath, committing them to memory.

"Mortis Voco. Corpus Sisto. Animare Cadaverem."

"Exactly. Do it right, and the dead beetle will start obeying you. Do it wrong, and it stays dead. Don't worry you can always try again."

Adrian stared at the beetle's unmoving body.

"Alright," he muttered. "Let's do this."

He raised his wand again, pointing it directly at the tiny corpse.

"Mortis Voco."

The air rippled faintly — like heat distortion — as the spell left his wand in a dull pulse.

"Corpus Sisto."

A green shimmer flickered briefly over the bug's body, almost like a transparent shell settling over it.

Adrian took a breath.

"Animare Cadaverem."

This time, something shifted.

The beetle twitched.

Then it rose, its movements jerky at first — like a puppet on tangled strings — before slowly stabilizing. A thin, green glow shimmered from its carapace. Its eyes, once beady and black, were now bright emerald, pulsing faintly like they were lit from within. A slow, green-black mist leaked from its shell, curling in delicate trails across the stone.

Adrian stepped back slightly, watching.

"...Now I am become Death," he murmured, eyes wide. "The Destroyer of Worlds."

Rem tilted his head. "...What?"

Adrian shook his head. "Never mind. Muggle thing."

The Inferius-beetle stood motionless.

Adrian hesitated. Then cleared his throat.

"Jump."

The beetle sprang awkwardly into the air.

"Walk in a circle."

It obeyed instantly, its movements smooth.

Rem folded his arms, smirking faintly. "Well... seems like you can do it."

Adrian exhaled, some of the tension finally leaving his shoulders. "Okay… but what do I do with it now? Does it just... hang around? How long does it last?"

Rem shrugged. "Forever."

Adrian blinked. "Wait, what?"

"It's death magic," Rem said. "Unless you destroy the body, it'll stay that way until you die. You've successfully made an Inferius."

He gestured at the bug. "You want to get rid of it? Burn it. Once it's ash or charred past use, it can't be reanimated again."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "So... like, no second chances?"

"Nope. Once it's toast, it's done. So unless you want it wandering around the castle, order it to stay here. It'll obey."

Adrian looked down at the thing — still pacing in a perfect circle, glowing faintly in the gloom.

"...Right, Stop. Stay here. Don't move unless I say so."

The beetle froze mid-step. Completely still.

Adrian narrowed his eyes. "Hey... is it like... bonded to me? Cause I'm the caster of the spell. Like, say I'm up in the castle and I want it to do something — can it hear me?"

Rem gave a short nod. "Yeah. That's one of the wild things about Inferi. The bond transcends physical distance. Doesn't matter where you are — if you command it, it'll do its best to obey."

Adrian looked impressed. "That's... insanely useful."

"Yup," Rem said casually. "Terrifying, too. They'll follow your command halfway across the world if you asked."

Adrian looked back at the glowing beetle. "Mental."

Rem nodded, eyes fixed on the thing. "You've taken your first step into something most wizards don't dare touch."

Adrian folded his arms.

A thought occurred to him.

He picked up the beetle and placed it in his palm. It stayed eerily still.

If this guy can hear my thoughts and obey me... Can I maybe hear its thoughts?

He looked at its glowing emerald eyes. And tried sending a message.

Hey. Can you hear me? Can you speak to me?

The beetle didn't do anything. Rem was now watching him curiously.

He concentrated and tried to send his thoughts again.

Hey, as your master I am ordering you to speak to me or... try your best.

The beetle moved its tiny head and looked at him with those glowing eyes.

And to his surprise, a faint buzzy word echoed back to him.

Maaaa...asteeee...er...

"Holy fucking shit." Adrian exclaimed.

"What? What happened?" asked Rem.

Adrian held out the beetle in his palm like it was suddenly made of gold. His eyes were wide. "It… it spoke."

Rem blinked. "Spoke?"

"Yeah, like okay, not properly. But it said Master. In my head. Not out loud. I heard it. Faint, like an echo." Adrian was practically vibrating. "I told it to speak, and it did."

Rem stared at the beetle, frowning. "That's… weird. I didn't know Inferi could talk. I thought they just followed commands. Mindless corpses. That's the whole point."

"Yeah well apparently this one's got more going on upstairs than we thought," Adrian muttered, still staring at it. Then he leaned in slightly.

Okay, answer this, how many legs do you have?

There was a pause.

Then, slowly, painfully broken and buzzed like a cheap wireless:

Ssss…iiiii…x…

Adrian's jaw dropped. "Oh my God. It understands. Not just obeys, it understands. It's slow, it's like… low-level. But it's there."

Rem looked somewhere between intrigued and disturbed. "That… shouldn't be possible. Bugs don't have real brains, not like mammals. Just nerves and instinct."

"Yeah but the magic is acting like a bridge," Adrian said, his brain moving a mile a minute.

"It's reanimating them, not just puppeting the body, but imitating thought. Like it's grabbing fragments of cognition. Or creating some baseline consciousness."

Rem rubbed his jaw. "Huh. That's… actually very interesting."

Adrian was pacing now, the beetle still in his hand, its little legs motionless but its green eyes locked onto him.

"If I can do this with a beetle… imagine what happens when it's a person. If they talk like this — broken, sure — but if I could communicate with them? Ask questions. Get answers. Full-on conversations—"

Rem whistled low. "Bloody hell."

Adrian stopped, his eyes wide.

"This has so many uses, Rem. Spying. Surveillance. Fuck — I could plant one of these in someone's house, and just have it watch. Then report back. I could ask it what it saw. What they said. It doesn't forget. It's dead. It remembers everything."

Rem raised a hand. "Alright, slow down, Overlord-in-training. Yes, that's cool. But look at it."

He pointed at the beetle.

The green-black mist curled lazily off its shell. Its eyes glowed bright emerald in the dim chamber light.

"You think no one's gonna notice that thing's undead? You walk with that into a hallway and half the school'll scream."

Adrian didn't miss a beat. "Glamour charms. Easy enough."

Rem raised an eyebrow. "And what about the feel? Death magic has a… presence. People might not know what they're sensing, but some of them will feel it."

"Well I don't feel anything... different. At least nothing coming from it."

Rem nodded. "You wont. You're the one who summoned it. Its been raised with your magic. It'll just feel familiar to you— not much else."

Adrian looked at the Inferius-beetle in his hand once again. "So... essentially it has to be someone else that I need to test it with... Hmmmm. You sure there is no way to mask the effect of Inferi magic?"

Rem shook his head. "No— well at least not that I know of. Necromantic magic is very powerful. I doubt there are any fool proof ways of completely masking it."

"What do you think it'll feel like if I just placed it next to your average witch or wizard? Or would only a strong magic user can sense it? Like a Professor or an Auror. Reckon the Unspeakables would immediately be able to tell what it is." Adrian went on.

Rem stilled. "I... honestly don't know Adrian. Like I said, we are in uncharted territory right now. So maybe... the reason it can talk to you has something to with you possessing Ancient magic."

"Well... you'd know more about that then me." Adrian chuckled.

Rem gave a dry laugh. "Well... All I know is Ancient Magic breaks rules. Maybe this is just one more thing that users of it can do."

Adrian rubbed his temple. "Okay. So I've got a possibly detectable undead bug that can talk to me, and I need to know if someone else can feel it."

He looked toward the arched stone ceiling of the Chamber.

"I can't bring it up to the castle looking like this. If even one professor is nearby — especially on the second floor — and senses this… I'm done. The wrong person catches a whiff of death magic and they're dragging me to the Department of Mysteries in shackles."

He stopped pacing. His eyes narrowed. "So… I'd have to bring someone down here."

Rem raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly were you planning to do that?"

Adrian frowned. "I don't know. Can I even bring someone into the Chamber? Is that a thing?"

Rem nodded slowly. "If you're in physical contact with them — hand to hand — and you touch the sink symbol, the magic will let them in with you. But they won't be able to see me."

"Who'd want to see you anyways?" Adrian smirked.

Rem gave him a look.

"There's one other way," Rem added. "But it's… unlikely. The Chamber opens to Parseltongue. So if someone else speaks it, they can come in themselves."

Adrian blinked. "Only two people in Britain can do that. Voldemort and Harry Potter."

"Exactly."

Adrian stared at the ground, thinking.

"Okay. So. Let's say I do bring someone here. It has to be someone I trust. Someone who won't freak out or scream or go to McGonagall." He paused. "Daphne's the obvious choice."

Rem nodded slowly. "She trusts you. And you trust her."

"Yeah but…" Adrian looked uneasy. "Bringing her into the fucking Chamber of Secrets to meet my undead bug pet is not exactly date material."

"Better than Noxleaf and trauma bonding, I'd wager."

"Not by much," Adrian muttered.

He sighed. "What about Potter? I mean, he gave me the dragon tip. He's not exactly my enemy. Maybe he'd—" He stopped. "No. Too risky. How the hell do I explain all this to him? 'Hi Potter, I've been learning how to raise Inferi in chamber of secrets under the school with a ghost mentor, wanna come hang?' Yeah. No."

Rem shrugged. "You could apparate someone in, if you learn how."

Adrian blinked. "What?"

"You heard me. Apparate. In or out of here. Chamber's cut off from the main school wards. The anti-Apparition spells don't reach this deep."

Adrian just stared at him for a moment. "You're telling me… I can apparate out of here? And back in?"

"Yup."

"Fuck me," Adrian whispered. "I had no idea. That… changes a lot."

Rem spoke. "Problem is, you don't know how to Apparate. And you're fifteen."

"I turn sixteen in August," Adrian mumbled, already mentally kicking himself.

"Still underage."

"I know! I know, okay. It's just… fuck, that's another law I'll be breaking."

Rem chuckled. "I think at this point we have to get used to that. Just don't let any Aurors confiscate your wand. You'd be done."

"Okay... I need to learn how to apparate or bring Daphne down here either way is risky but... fuck it. No risk no reward. Plus at this point apparating without a license would be the least of my worries."

"Officially a criminal now Valor!" he fake wiped a tear from his eyes. "Makes an old being proud."

"Yeah, Yeah." He chuckled.

Adrian looked down at the Inferi beetle and picked it up. "I'm gonna try to talk to it a bit more. Then I'll leave it here and go back up to the castle I don't want to try apparating right now. Bit scared if I'm being honest."

"Sure have fun." Rem said with a wave. And disappeared.

What does he do when he's not here anyway?

He looked back at the beetle.

Turn your head towards me.

The beetle's head turned with a faint creak, the tiny motion slow, deliberate — like it had to think about how to do it. Its emerald eyes locked onto Adrian's, glowing faintly in the gloom.

Adrian crouched down, elbows on his knees, still holding it in his palm.

Alright. You can hear me, yeah?

Yesss…

Can you talk more than one word?

…Tryyy…

Adrian smirked. Alright, let's test you then.

He took a breath.

What do you… feel right now?

The beetle was still for a beat too long. Then, slowly, a crackling buzz trickled into Adrian's head.

Waaaarm. Maaaster. Happyyy…

Adrian blinked, his brows shooting up. You're… happy?

Yesss...

Why?

Serrrrve. Youuu. Gooood.

A laugh escaped Adrian before he could stop it. "You're… a chirpy little freak, huh?"

The beetle gave a stuttery click in response — almost like it was trying to mimic laughter.

Adrian shook his head, both amused and slightly unnerved. "Alright, let's see what else you can do."

He focused again.

What is this place?

The beetle twitched its antennae. Then, slowly, the response came back, fragmented but clear.

Dark… Big… Old… Maaagic…

Adrian narrowed his eyes slightly. You can feel the magic here?

Yessss... Cold... But… like you.

"Huh."

He ran a hand through his hair, sitting cross-legged now, the beetle still resting in his palm like some tiny gremlin with opinions.

Alright. Try this, tell me what I did before I picked you up.

There was a delay again, like the little thing had to dig through static in its mind.

Spokeee… too… Ghost. Killed. Me. Spoke. Again.

That sobered Adrian just a little.

"Yeah," he said, voice softer. "I did."

But the beetle just buzzed happily in return.

Happyyyy... now. Purpose.

Adrian shook his head. "This is so fucking weird."

Still… he couldn't deny it. The uses of this were starting to spiral in his mind; surveillance, reconnaissance, message delivery, even remote assassination if he was insane enough and had a human Inferi. He wouldn't go that far. Probably. But still, this beetle could follow commands across distance, speak, remember, obey.

He whistled low.

"Alright, little guy. You stay here. Guard this place, yeah? Don't move unless I tell you to."

The beetle twitched once, its legs settling into a stiff little stance.

Yesss… Maaasterrr…

Adrian turned to leave, one hand rubbing the back of his neck, but then;

Maaasterrr…

He paused.

"What is it?"

A longer delay this time. Then:

…Name?

Adrian blinked, turning back around. "What?"

Name… meee… pleaaseee…

Adrian stared at the tiny glowing corpse-bug in complete disbelief.

"You want a name?"

Pleeease… Mastterrr…

He rubbed his face. "I've officially gone insane. I'm having a heart-to-heart with a fucking undead beetle."

The beetle tilted its head.

Adrian sighed. "Alright. Fine. You want a name?"

Yessss.

"Okay…" He crouched down again, eyeing the little creature. "What's a good name for a beetle? Hmm…"

He tilted his head.

"You're tiny. You make weird noises. And somehow, you're almost soft now..."

The beetle clicked softly.

Adrian snapped his fingers. "Mochi. That's it. I'm calling you Mochi."

Mooochiii…

The word echoed back in his mind, long and drawn out — like the beetle was savouring it.

Mochi… name… mine.

Adrian chuckled. "Yeah. That's yours now. Don't wear it out."

Mochi happyyy… serve Mooochiiis Maaasterrr…

Adrian stood up again, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm naming Inferi now. Brilliant. Next thing you know I'll be knitting them robes."

Mochi remained perfectly still, guarding its spot like a proud, glowing sentinel.

Adrian gave one last smirk. "Alright, Mochi. Uhm... Hold the fort."

Yesss… Mooochii… hold.

And with that, Adrian turned to go back to the glowing symbol that would take him back up to the castle. He touched it and with a swoosh, he was back in the bathroom.

He laughed.

What has my life become?

Hope you enjoyed! Sorry its shorter than usual but I wanted to get this one out since I have exams coming up and I wont be able to post for maybe a week and a bit.

Adrian can now raise inferius! Well... its bugs for now but who knows what's he gonna do next? Still needs a corpse for the ritual though. Wonder how's he's gonna get that?

Hope you enjoyed and see y'all next time!