Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 16: Birthdays

(31 July, 1992)

A month had passed ever since me and Sirius had rescued the potter twins from the Dursleys and they moved in with the man.

Last I heard they had left for a vacation to Italy and were coming back today for Harry and Rose’s birthday which would be held here in my home at my recommendation.

The matter with Dobby stealing their letters had been dealt with easily enough thanks to Ilulu and Kreacher capturing the little bugger and brining him to me where he had gotten Stamped. With the stamp breaking his connection to the Malfoys I had assigned him as Rose’s familiar much to his joy and now he was happily working under them.

As for us, we had traveled to the states in search of rare creatures that could only be found there even managing to befriend a Thunderbird that I had renamed to Celestia and given her the Anthropize perk.

Celestia now had the appearance of a petite girl with short blonde hair and green and yellow eyes. The girl also had the ability to partially transform into a Thunderbird giving her the typical appearance of a harpy just with deadlier looking talons.

While we were there, I had also taken the time to train both of my templates now that they were stronger and I had unlocked more abilities for them.

The topic of where to go next year was brought up by Asako, my servant wanting to know any details she could in order to better know how to defend me. Unfortunately for her though, the progress bar for Exit Stage Left wouldn’t be completed until at least the end of second year so I had no idea what worlds would open up since I had Pursued by a Bear.

Figuring it wouldn’t hurt however I had told her all about the major anime, games and movies that popped into my head at the time. Since this world was rated at a tier3 currently I knew that the possibility of pulling a tier4 or higher world was very high and accounted for that by going over the possibilities in the catalogue.

If you ask me though I would like to go somewhere where I didn’t have to involve myself in the storyline and I could just go in, do what needs to be done and leave. Preferably within two months.

Something like a zombie world or a world I didn’t like much would be great.

“Master, the preparations are complete. When will your friends be coming over?”

Pulled from my thoughts by the door opening to my office I looked up to notice Ilulu at the door. “Thank you Ilulu. I say we have about half an hour before they start arriving.”

My cute elf only shook her head with a smile on her face. “It was no trouble at all Master. I’m happy when you rely on me.”

I felt a smile grow on my own face already expecting such an answer from her. Ever since I had turned her into a high elf, her devotion to me had been dialed up to eleven to where I was sure if I asked her to kill herself, she would do it with a smile on her face.

Standing up from my desk I walked around it and walked up to Ilulu before pulling her into an embrace causing her squeak in embarrassment. “And I’m happy I have such a devoted and cute servant~” I teased before leaning down and giving her a small kiss on the lips.

Pulling away I left the stunned elf in the office and went to get changed to get ready for the guests.

=====

Thirty minutes later I found myself in the living room, standing in front of the fire place as I waited with Ilulu beside me.

Just in time the fireplace lit up in flames before a figure came stumbling out forcing me to step up to steady them recognizing the red hair immediately. “Easy there Rose.”

“I hat-cough-hate traveling by floo powder.” Rose coughed into my chest probably having inhaled some ash before finally looking up at me with a smile and hugging me tighter. “Aether~”

“Hmhmhm hello Rose and happy birthday.” I congratulated the girl with a smile patting her back softly.

A moment later the flames roared again and this time the figure of Harry stumbled out of the fireplace before falling into the floor letting out a grunt as he did. “Thank you~”

“Sup Harry. Happy birthday to you too.” I greeted the boy making no move to help him at all since Rose still hadn’t let go of me.

“Hello Aether and thanks.” Harry muttered out while still on the floor before he slowly got back to his feet and offered me a smile.

Sirius joined us after that letting out a snicker at the forms of Harry and Rose who still had ash on them and with a wave of his wand, he conjured it away.

“Thank you for having us. Especially you Ilulu as I have no doubt that Aether made you do all the work again.” Sirius teased with a grin on his face.

“I was just doing my duty Mr. Black.” Ilulu shook her head dismissing Sirius’s words already used to the man’s antics.

This though did bring the twins attention to Ilulu who seemed surprised at having missed her presence so I decided introductions were in order.

“Rose, Harry. I would like you to meet Ilulu, the one in charge of cleaning this place not to mention the best chef you’ll ever meet.” Patting the elf on the head I introduced her to everyone while slightly bragging about her causing her to blush in embarrassment.

“Whoa! She has long ears. Is she an elf? I mean a real one?” Harry asked looking at Ilulu in wonder making her slightly uncomfortable.

“Wow she really does.” Rose spoke next with her attention also focused on the elf causing her to slightly hide behind my back.

“Yeah, she’s a real elf but please keep that a secret, ok? And don’t mind her, my Ilulu is just real shy at first but she is actually a sweetheart.” I had no trouble introducing her to the twins since I knew they could be trusted and with my defenses, there was no way they would ever be able to get anything out of them if someone tried reading their minds.

“I can confirm that. I have never tasted anything more delicious in my life in the time I was staying here.” Sirius raised his hand like a child and joined me on teasing my cute elf.

“Alright I think that’s enough teasing Ilulu for now. Why don’t I take you guys on a tour of my home while we wait for everyone to arrive?” I suggested giving one last pat to Ilulu’s head before focusing on the twins.

“Yes please~” Rose immediately chimed in sounding happy with her brother also nodding in agreement a moment later.

“I’ll let you three have your fun. Aether mind if I raid your wine cellar?” Sirius asked with expectant eyes only making me shake my head knowing it was just an excuse for our plan.

“Fine, not like I’m old enough to drink anyway nor have any real interest in alcohol.” I waved the man away and bid the twins to follow me.

With the twins by my side, I led them around on a tour around the house before finally heading outside making small talk as we did.

“I knew you were rich but this is the biggest house I have ever seen in my life.” Harry let out in amazement.

“Mmn you have a beautiful home Aether. Thanks for having us again.” Rose commented next in agreement with her brother.

“Don’t worry about it.” I waved away her thanks with a smile. “Having friends around in this big house makes me happy.”

I suddenly came to a stop as I heard something approaching and turned to the twins. “You might want to take a few steps back. It looks like a few friends of mine are eager to see me.”

Taking my advice, they immediately took a couple of steps back while looking around for these so-called friends of mine.

“Up! Look up Harry!” Exclaimed Rose in surprise with wide eyes.

“Up? Whoa! What’s that?” Following her sister’s advice Harry looked in and immediately gasped at what he saw.

Coming down from the sky was a majestic looking white bird with a face reminiscent of an eagle and 3 sets of powerful wings with gold feathers. Trailing behind it was a Hippogriff and a Thestral and finally from the forest a Unicorn galloped in our direction.

Before I could respond I was swarmed by the incoming magical beasts where I spent the next few minutes giving them some of my attention.

Since we were having a party and a bunch of people would be visiting the manor, I had asked the girls to transform back into their original forms at least until the party was over so they wouldn’t draw more attention than they were already bound to draw. I could just imagine the look of surprise on the looks on Harry and Rose when the girls transformed back into their human forms.

The only ones currently not present were Maya and Asako since they were out on an errand for me.

When the girls were satisfied, they went back where they came from though not before throwing Harry and Rose curious glances.

“Sorry about that.” I sent them an apologetic smile as we continued the tour. “They are a little attached to me and they never miss an opportunity to show me affection.

“That was wicked! What were they?” asked Harry with an excited smile.

“Aww, they looked so beautiful!” Rose gushed.

“The eagle looking one is a Thunderbird, the half horse and half eagle was a Hippogriff, there’s the Unicorn of course and lastly is a Thestral which you probably couldn’t see.” I explained blinking for a moment as I felt Asako speak to me telepathically through our bond as Master and Servant letting me know the preparations were ready.

“Amazing~ Is there a reason we can’t see Thestrals?” Rose looked at me in question.

“Thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen and understood death. Think of their appearance as skeletal winged horses. There are a bunch of them at Hogwarts you know. They are actually what pulls the carts going to Hogwarts from the station.” Without the twins even noticing I slowly led them back inside eager to see their surprised faces.

“Wow.” They said in unison.

“Anyways enough about me. How have you two been enjoying your stay with Sirius so far?”

Rose let out a happy sigh and sent me the biggest smile I had seen from her yet. “It’s perfect.”

“Anyplace is better than the Dursleys but it has been wonderful living with him. Next year Sirius even promised to take us to the beaches in France.” Harry admitted with his own happy smile.

“I’m glad to hear it.” I gave them a smile happy for them before it turned teasing as I saw the door up ahead.

Leading them inside I closed the door behind me and stood back already feeling all the presences around the room.

“Aether are you com-”

“SURPRISE!”

A sudden shout interrupted whatever Rose going to say. Turning to the voices a few faces finally came into view from their hidden locations. There was Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Mrs. Weasley standing to the side with a homemade birthday cake held in her hands and a smile on her face.

On the other side of the room the faces of Sirius, Tonks and Daphne could be seen with Sirius currently disguised as a brown-haired man after having dyed his hair.

“Wh-when did you all get here?” Understandably surprised Harry looked around at everyone while a smile slowly crept up on his face.

Rose on the other hand turned to look at me with a questioning look on her face.

“This was all possible thanks to Aether here.” Began Mrs. Weasley drawing their attention. “He sent his elf a few hours ago to tell us about this little surprise just now.” She finished with a smile directed at all of us.

She was of course talking about Dobby and had probably mistaken the little bugger as my elf but I wasn’t going to correct her. Technically Dobby had two masters anyway in me and Rose due to how the Company operated.

After the surprise wore off, handshakes and hugs were exchanged in greeting with me and Ginny still currently in an embrace, our hug having lasted a bit longer than was appropriate.

“It’s good to see you again Ginny. I must say, you got even prettier over the summer.” I complimented her in a low whisper causing the redhead to blush cutely and for her smile to increase in size.

“T-Thanks Aether, you got even more handsome as well.” Ginny blurted out rapidly only to widen her eyes in embarrassment and for her blush to cover her face. “I-I mean it’s good to see you too.”

Chuckling at her lapse in concentration I only gave her a bigger smile before turning to greet my last guests Daphne and Tonks who were looking at my interaction with Ginny with some jealousy in their eyes.

“Wotcher Aether.” Tonks greeted me casually with a raised hand and a teasing grin on her face.

“Hello Tonks. How is your Auror training going?”

Slumping her shoulders at my question Tonks let out a groan. “Hard as hell.”

“Hang in there.” I shook my head in amusement already knowing she was being trained under Moody and that psychopath was putting her through the ringer every day.

“Thanks for inviting me.”

Finally turning to my last guest, I turned to Daphne with a smile noticing that she looked somewhat uncomfortable around all these new people.

Pulling her into a hug to the surprise of the girl who let out a cute squeak, I held her gently for a moment. “Thank you for coming Daphne. How has your summer been?”

“Y-your welcome and it’s g-going good like I already told you in my last letter.” Daphne could only blush and stutter cutely in my embrace but made no move to remove herself.

“I know but it feels better hearing it from your own mouth is all.” I teased lightly before finally releasing her causing her to huff cutely and turning her red face away from me.

Before I could tease her anymore, I felt my sleeve being pulled and was then pulled into a tight embrace by the birthday girl herself.

“Thank you for doing this for us Aether.” Rose pulled slightly away from our embrace and looked up at me with a big smile on her face and small tears at the corner of her eyes.

“You’re welcome.” I returned gently wiping the tears from her face before looking at Mrs. Weasley. “Mrs. Weasley what do you think about setting up some tables outside and enjoying the beautiful day?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Aether dear.” Mrs. Weasley with a smile. “Do you mind if I ask your elf for some help? I’m sure between the two of us we can whip something up while all of you enjoy yourselves.”

“Actually, you don’t have to worry about food Mrs. Weasley, my maid Ilulu there took care of that.” I signaled towards Ilulu who was standing by the back and gave a small wave. “At the most, the food just needs to be carried outside along with the utensils.”

Blinking in surprise at my answer Mrs. Weasley turned to look at Ilulu and blinked again when she noticed her ears but thankfully didn’t say anything about it and just offered her a smile. “Hmhmh it seems like you have everything prepared then.”

Pulling away from Rose much to her poorly hidden disappointment, I turned and faced everyone.

“Come on guys, did I tell you I have a Quidditch pitch? I also have enough spare brooms for all of us if you want to play.” I walked up to the boys who were already in a deep discussion about something or other with the girls at my side.

“Wicked!” Came the yell of the Weasley twins along with Ron who immediately started making their way to the backyard with Harry at their side.

Following behind them I was thankful that nobody had really asked any questions about Sirius yet probably thinking he was here with Tonks or something due to their similar characteristics.

=====

A few hours later we were walking back to the manor after being called for lunch. The game had gone on splendidly after the Weasley boys stopped complaining at Ginny being included.

Then they had their pride wounded when myself, Ginny, Rose, Daphne and Tonks had beaten the others with an astounding score of 300 to 50. To drive the point even harder most of the goals had either been made by yours truly or Ginny, the one they had complained about not knowing how to play.

The real surprise for me had come from Daphne who I didn’t know was a fan of Quidditch and was a fair chaser herself with Tonks playing keeper making our team fairly balanced with Sirius playing referee.

With a few grumbles and a halfhearted congratulations later, everyone was now ready for lunch. The smell of different foods could already be felt at this distance causing a few grumbling stomachs to the side of me.

“I still can’t believe you have so many Nimbus 2000s!” Exclaimed Ron suddenly in awe and envy. “You even had a Nimbus 2001 and they just released those. How did you even get one?”

“Well…” I started while scratching my head awkwardly at what his response might be. “My family actually owns majority shares for the company and they always send me a few when a new model releases.”

“That’s…” started Ron with his face getting red before one of the twins elbowed him on the side. “Lucky you.” he said instead.

“Forget about the broom! Did you see him fly?” Fred said next with an excited grin on his face. “I bet he could make an excellent Chaser if he really wanted to.”

“Who knew we had another genius on the broom other than Harry.” said George next with a grin as well. “Ginny and Rose weren’t bad either so I bet you all could make it to the reserve team if you really wanted to.”

“Thanks, but I don’t really plan on joining our Quidditch team anytime soon. I enjoy the simple act of flying much more than the actual game.” I answered with a shrug.

“I’m with Aether. Quidditch while fun is just really not for me. I wish there was a spell that let you fly on your own without the use of a broom though. That would be amazing.” Rose gushed with her eyes twinkling in happiness.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll try out for the team until a spot opens up as well.” Still high off winning our little game and adrenaline, Ginny spoke next with a smile on her face her earlier shyness nowhere to be seen.

“There is a spell for that actually. I heard that Voldemort,” I turned to Rose ignoring the sudden wince at the name and continued. “Supposedly created the spell though it is unknown if he taught it to any of his supporters.”

“T-that’s scary and please don’t say his name.” Ron stuttered out with a pale face.

The others were also looking a bit pale at the thought of the man being able to fly without a broom with the exception of Tonks and Sirius who were walking a little behind us giving us space to talk.

I shrugged carelessly and continued walking uncaring of such things now that I was one of the strongest beings on the planet. There was a reason Asako was rarely seen nowadays, my beautiful servant had been going above and beyond my expectations on capturing targets. Soon even the Ministry itself would be under my control.

The rest of the day passed quickly with the only other surprise being my magical ‘familiars’ making an appearance again and shocking the Weasleys.

They hung around a little longer this time around and Keros the Unicorn even let the others pet her for a bit. Well, Keros only really let the girls approach her. Cliffo the Hippogriff and Celestia the Thunderbird on the other hand had not let anyone other than myself come near them.

When it came time for presents, I made sure to wait until the Weasleys left in order to not make them feel bad as my presents were kind of expensive. For Rose, I had given her a bracelet that helped with her magic regen that I had made thanks to my Templates and Harry had received a watch as I had no idea what to gift him.

All too soon the day ended and I bid everyone farewell promising to meet again in a few days in Diagon Alley for our school supplies. With all the excitement I never got the chance to introduce Harry and Rose to the rest of the girls but put it out of my mind as there was always next time.

It was time to acquire the Diary Horcrux and prevent all the mess from second year from happening in the first place.

‘Hopefully if everything goes to plan, I can actually have a quiet year this time which sounds silly since this is Hogwarts.’