Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 18: Last Days of Summer

‘Oh, that’s right.’

Remembering what I wanted to do, I politely dismissed myself from the others before walking towards Mr. Weasley.

“Mr. Weasley I’m sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment?” I called out to the man seeing the relieved looks the Grangers gave me at the interruption.

“Hello again young man and of course you can.” Mr. Weasley immediately agreed with a smile on his face before we politely excused ourselves. “Now what can I do for you?”

“I actually have something to give you Mr. Weasley but before that did your wife or children speak to you about my feathery friends?” I asked him not wanting to discuss I had a Thunderbird in public due to the attention I would receive if it was known.

“They did indeed. I must say that I wouldn’t mind meeting them if the chance presents itself.” The man immediately caught on.

“I already told your family this but I’ll say it again. You and your family will always be welcomed within my home.” I offered sincerely getting a warm smile in return from the man.

“Thank you, young man. No, Aether. The same can be said to you as well.” responded Mr. Weasley in kind.

“Getting back to the matter at hand, one of my friends shed recently and presented me with this.” I said discreetly pulling out a beautiful white and gold feather from my inventory and hearing a quiet gasp from the man in front of me when he saw it.

“Is that what I think it is? It’s beautiful.” Mr. Weasley muttered quietly looking down at the feather in awe.

“It is.” The feather felt super soft with an electric feeling to it. “And it belongs to you now. You can do with it as you wish.” I extended my hand with the feather forward toward the redhead.

“W-what do you mean it belongs to me now?” The ginger asked in surprise not accepting the feather. “Clearly this belongs to you lad, do you know how rare it is when creatures willingly give away something like this?”

“Don’t worry about that Mr. Weasley I already own one of my own.” I dismissed with a shake of my head. “Besides this feather doesn’t belong to me. I asked my familiar earlier this week if she’d be willing to gift you a feather and she agreed.” I countered still with my hand extended forward.

Seeing Mr. Weasley still looking indecisive I cheated a bit with Alluring Whisper: Siren’s Song to make my voice more compelling.

“Please take it Mr. Weasley, I assure you I mean no ill will. Your family has been kind to me and I just want to show a bit of my appreciation to you. I knew you wouldn’t accept money so this was the best I could do.” I pleaded sincerely to the man who with a sigh finally took the feather off my hands.

“Haah thank you Aether.” Mr. Weasley muttered with a resigned smile. “Molly and Ginny were right; you are an extraordinary kind young man.”

“I don’t know about that.” I whispered quietly to myself while looking to the side remembering all the people I had already sold and not all of them being evil douchebags.

“In return however you’ll have to bear Molly’s wrath with me once she finds out I accepted this feather from you. I’m not sure if you realize but this feather fetches quite a sum.” Mr. Weasley threw an arm around my shoulder in a friendly manner and walked alongside me back to the others completely unaware of what I just said.

“Haha I guess I have no choice in the matter.” I let out a nervous laugh at the fact that I was about to experience a screaming angry mother for the first time in both my lives.

“Hahaha, I see you have an idea what’s in store for us.” Mr. Weasley muttered with a teasing smile on his face.

“I heard stories sir.” I responded quietly before looking up and catching Ginny’s eyes who had been watching us closely. “It’s worth it.”

“Good man.” Said Mr. Weasley patting me on the back once before letting go.

“What were you talking about Daddy?” Ginny pounced as soon as we came within reach.

“Nothing too serious sweetheart.” dismissed Mr. Weasley before patting my shoulder. “Aether here was just telling me about his feathery friends.”

“Really?” Ginny turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

Mouthing ‘later’ to her she backed off and we went back to talking with the others while we waited.

Minutes later the rest of the Weasleys returned and I noticed that Mrs. Weasley seemed worried even if it didn’t properly show on her face. After that Mr. Weasley whispered something to his wife for a moment before heading off alone and based on the way Mrs. Weasley was currently looking at me, I took a guess that he told her about my gift.

‘Here I am being nervous of being yelled at when I’m one of the strongest beings on the planet. Though I won’t deny that I’d rather be in a battle to the death right now than waiting for Mt. Molly to erupt.’ I thought silently to myself while keeping my face blank of all expressions.

“Aether dear would you mind accompanying Ginny and myself?” Mrs. Weasley looked at me with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“S-sure Mrs. Weasley.” I cursed myself silently for my stutter.

Looking at the others from the corner of my eyes I saw the Weasley boys looking pale as they quickly made excuses and disappeared. Ron even took it upon himself to quietly but quickly usher Rose, Harry and Hermione away while throwing me a pitying look.

Even Ginny in front of me was looking a little pale as she took a step away from her mother while giving me a curious look as if asking what I had done.

Without another word we set off and I silently trailed behind Mrs. Weasley with Ginny walking beside me.

“So, what did you do? I’ve only seen mum like this when she gets angry at Fred and George.” Ginny asked in a whisper as she leaned close to me to make sure we weren’t overheard by her mother.

“I might have given your dad a Thunderbird tail feather when I noticed how hard this year was going to be to your family due to having to buy all that fraud’s books and sending 5 kids to school.” I whispered back while looking at her from the corner of my eye.

“’gasp’ but Aether,” Ginny quickly covered her mouth at speaking so loudly and looked at her mother in worry before letting out a sigh of relief when she noticed she didn’t hear us. “Those are supposed to be exceedingly rare especially if it was willingly given. You should keep it yourself instead of just giving it away.”

“Haha that’s exactly what your dad said,” I chuckled quietly before turning my head to properly look at the pretty redhead.

“Like l told your dad. I just wanted to help and this was the quickest way I thought about other than just giving your family some money.” I said honestly not taking my eyes off of hers.

Ginny silently stared back at me without blinking before a small smile formed on her face with her eyes turning softer. Then without warning she pulled me in for a quick hug and gave me a small kiss on the cheek before releasing me and grabbing my hand and walking forward pulling me behind her.

Blinking I looked forward again and noticed that we had fallen a bit behind Mrs. Weasley during our conversation. We didn’t speak again as we followed Mrs. Weasley with Ginny never letting go of my hand the entire way.

Minutes later we arrived at Madam Malkin’s instead of the secondhand robe shop they had originally gone in canon. Stepping inside Ginny finally released my hand so she could be properly fitted while I waited at the side with Mrs. Weasley.

Suddenly feeling nervous again, I took a few discrete deep breaths to prepare myself for whatever came next. When I was pulled into a crushing hug moments later while listening to Mrs. Weasley mutter ‘bless you’ over and over again I could do nothing but stand there and blink in surprise.

Here I was expecting a scolding or something similar for my actions and yet here I was tentatively patting an emotional mother on the back while she thanked me repeatedly.

“So, you’re not mad Mrs. Weasley?” I asked tentatively after she had released me from the hug.

“’sniff’ Of course not dear.” Mrs. Weasley said after wiping her face free of tears. “Though I am a little mad at Arthur for just accepting such a gift from you, I couldn’t possibly be upset with you. Thanks to your generosity we now don’t have to worry if we would be able to afford everyone all their school supplies.”

‘I can only blame the effects on the familiar binding at Mrs. Weasley of all women not being upset at accepting what could be considered as charity.’ I thought silently.

“Please don’t be mad at him Mrs. Weasley, it’s my fault for pushing the issue. If you’re going to be mad at someone, please be mad at me.” I tried persuading her feeling a bit bad for the man as he would undoubtedly be getting a tongue lashing later.

“Nonsense dear.” Mrs. Weasley immediately dismissed my concerns with a wave of her hand before she changed the conversation. “Now tell me, are you all still staying over at the Burrow once we’re done shopping?”

“Yes, Mrs. Weasley.” I replied with a nod. “I already talked with Dobby and he will be coming over during our stay there to help in whatever you may need. Also please also let me know if I can be of help in anything while I’m there.”

“Mhmhmh such a thoughtful young man.” Mrs. Weasley fondly shook her head with a warm chuckle.

I stayed silent at her comment and went to get fitted for my own robes as I had a growth spurt over the summer and my old clothes no longer fitted. It’s funny, I was just 14 years old and yet I was already taller than my original self and I still had a way to go before I stopped growing and I was not exactly short before.

When we were done, we resumed our shopping until we had bought everything but the new course books. Mr. Weasley had even come by and given Mrs. Weasley a small pouch before leaving again as he still wanted to have a chat with the Grangers.

Before we knew it, we had reunited with everyone again in front of Flourish and Blotts where a long line could already be seen getting longer by the minute.

Knowing what was coming, I stayed back and watched the proceeding shenanigans with a blank look on my face. The fraud Lockhart forcing Harry into the spotlight before Lucius Malfoy showed up and began insulting the Weasleys and his brawl with Mr. Weasley following that.

With all the chaos going on, nobody but myself since I was paying attention to it, noticed the little black book that Lucius had slipped in into Ginny’s cauldron along with her 1st year Transfiguration book. Consequently, he didn’t notice the symbol on the back of his hand as he adjusted his robes before he left with a sneer and another insult.

With Asako hidden under her Presence Concealment it had been almost too easy for her to stamp the man while he was down on the ground with Mr. Weasley.

Now I just had to talk to Ginny about the Horcrux she was now in possession of before she wrote anything down on it. Not that it would really do anything with my Defenses in place but still caution and all that.

When we arrived back at The Burrow, I discreetly leaned down to Ginny’s ear who was walking beside me and whispered lowly so only she could hear me.

“Can I talk to you about something later? It’s important.”

Ginny shivered a bit but nonetheless nodded her head once letting me know she heard me before we separated and went to put our things away.

An hour later Ginny silently let me know to follow her while I was speaking with the others about random things by discreetly poking me in the back once and leaving through the back door. I followed after her minutes later after managing to get away from everyone.

I found Ginny waiting by her father’s shed who then led me through the property before coming to a well-hidden spot and coming to a stop.

“This spot is well hidden so we can talk in peace.” Ginny slowly sat down and leaned back against a tree. “I usually come here when I want to get away from my annoying brothers. So,” her voice suddenly got shy as she faced me fully. “What did you want to talk about?”

Looking at her shy and blushing face I slowly came to the realization that this might look like a confession to her making me feel slightly bad at that even if this was a confession of sorts. Just not the kind of confession she was probably thinking about.

“Thanks for trusting me enough to bring me here then.” I began lightly and also sat down on the ground in front of her. “Right, back at Flourish and Blotts I noticed something...”

Ginny blinked with the blush receding from her face at my question. “Flourish and Blotts? What?”

“I saw Lucius Malfoy slip in an additional book other than your Transfiguration textbook onto your cauldron.” I continued making Ginny freeze in place.

“This book, it had initials on the back that ended with the word Riddle.” Ginny was now pale and widened her eyes in recognition. “Knowing his background, I got worried it might be something bad and decided to talk to you in private before you got a chance to open it. Uhh you haven’t written in it yet right?” I asked uncertainly as I truly didn’t know.

“N-no.” Ginny stuttered while shaking her head. “I did see the diary and was planning to keep it as I thought dad had gotten it for me as a present.”

“Good.” I let out a sigh and feelt my shoulders slump in relief. “Do you mind if I take a look at it and check it out to make sure there’s nothing wrong with it?”

“O-of course. I’ll go get it right away… though now I don’t really want to touch it anymore knowing who it belonged to.” Ginny paused and looked unsure now that she knew of the danger.

“Not to worry, I can just have Ilulu retrieve it for us.” I placed my hand on her knee in support and offered her a comforting smile

“Did you call Master?” Ilulu politely asked after appearing a second after I said her name.

“Yes Ilulu.” I turned to her. “Can you retrieve a black diary with the last name Riddle from Ginny’s things? I believe it might be cursed so be careful.” I explained to my elf briefly not too worried as I had already discussed this beforehand with her.

“Right away master.” Ilulu disappeared and a moment later reappeared with the diary now held in her hands along with a look of disgust on her face.

“Master was correct, there is foul magic in this object.” Then turning to Ginny Ilulu nodded her head approvingly at her. “Good thing you never wrote anything in this miss.”

I carefully extended my hand and took the diary from Ilulu feeling the soul shard inside almost physically recoil in fear at my mere touch probably knowing instinctually that its time was up.

“Thanks, Ilulu. You can leave.” I inspected the diary slowly almost letting a smirk grace my face at the feeling of fear it was letting out.                                                                                                                                               

“Are you sure it’s safe to touch it? We should tell Dad about this so he can get rid of it.” Ginny suggested quietly while leaning as far back as she could away from the diary.

“Don’t worry I should be fine. This is actually not the first of these things that I’ve managed to find, that’s why I was able to recognize it quickly back then. It’s very dark magic.” I explained looking at the diary for a bit longer before storing it in my inventory causing Ginny to blink in surprise when it suddenly vanished into thin air.

“Did you just silently banish it?” Ginny looked up at me curiously now looking more relaxed that the diary was gone.

“No,” I shook my head. “I put it away someplace safe for safekeeping until I can get my hands on all on them so I can destroy them all at once.”

“What are they?”

“They’re soul anchors. When somebody splits their own soul and places it onto an object to avoid death. Essentially making them immortal.” I explained grimly causing Ginny to widen her eyes in shock.

“Split your soul? Immortality? H-how do you know this?” asked Ginny with a tremble in her voice.

“I have a very rare gift that lets me use and see traces of Ancient Magic. A forgotten but powerful ability that has past mostly into obscurity these days.” I began turning to her and explaining part of my powers. “Normally when I see Ancient Magic its usually a bright blue but when I looked at this diary all I saw was a dark red.”

It was true too, Horcruxes unexpectedly glowed a bright red to my eyes so it was a good alibi to keep my true abilities hidden a bit longer.

“Ancient Magic? I’ve never heard of it before.” Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head. “A-anyways you said that this was not your first time seeing one of these things?”

“That’s correct. I’ve also gotten my hands on a ring, a locket, a cup and a diadem. They can come in all shapes and sizes you see. But the important thing is actually figuring out who made them.” I turned my head and looked at Ginny’s brown eyes with my own and grimaced slightly.

“Do you know who did it?” asked Ginny with her voice being barely audible.

“I think you know already.” I responded in the same voice.

“B-but he will die as soon as you destroy those things, right? I-I mean you said you already found a couple of them?” Ginny stuttered out in fear while grabbing a hold of my hand and squeezing it tightly.

“That would be true if he only made 5 of those things but I think he made more.” I revealed with a small grimace.

I was met with silence as Ginny seemed to be deep in thought so I kept silent as well giving her some time to process everything.

“I remember hearing dad and mum talking sometimes when they thought everyone was asleep about it. Dad also thought that he was still alive and I guess now I know the reason how.”

“You should not worry too much right now.” I said giving her a smile. “If he made these things and he hasn’t returned yet, that means that he can’t for some reason. We can’t let the fact that he’s still alive prevent us from living in the now, can we?”

“I guess you’re right.” Ginny said with a chuckle as a smile formed on her face. “Thanks for telling me, Aether. I’m guessing the others already know about this?”

“Actually no, they do not.” I denied with a shake of my head. “You’re the only one I’ve told so far. I was planning on telling the others once we were back in school, especially Harry and Rose since it involves them.”

“R-really? I’m the first? Why didn’t you tell the others yet?” Ginny looked at me in surprise.

“I didn’t want to worry them with something this dangerous and serious when we’re still so young. The only reason I told you is because you became involved and I didn’t want to just lie to you.” I let out in a quiet mutter.

A moment later I felt something soft touch my cheek again and looked up to find that Ginny was now looking away from me with a blush on her face. With a blink I realized that she had kissed me in the cheek again and felt some heat rise to my cheeks.

“…Thanks for telling me the truth Aether. I really appreciate it.” Ginny quietly muttered while shily playing with her beautiful red hair.

Resisting the urge to kiss her I coughed into my hand and decided to change the topic. “Sure, no problem. Anyways, tomorrow is your birthday huh?”

“Yes, that’s right.” She said still not looking my direction.

“Then how would you like to learn to be a Metamorphmagus as an early birthday present?” I asked with a grin.

I still had a reward from the Judge and Jury mission that I hadn’t used in the form of a TS2 of a Dementor and an AP for Metamorphmagus.

“W-what!? But aren’t you supposed to already be born with such an ability?” Ginny asked with a surprised face as she faced me again.

“Hahaha of course but I have another special ability that nobody knows about.” I waved away her worries easily. Such a silly thing as not being born with an ability was easily taken care of by the Company. “I can share my power with others if I so choose.”

“Wicked!” Ginny exclaimed with a grin not even doubting my words for a second before suddenly becoming self-conscious. “W-wait! Are you sure about sharing such a rare ability with me?”

“Of course, I’m sure.” I said giving Ginny a brief side hug. “It is your birthday after all.”

I mentally pulled up my HUD and proceeded to buy Ginny Added Potential (Metamorphmagus) before looking back at her.

“There done. No takebacks.” I playfully poked her side once getting a giggle from her before releasing her from my hug.

“H-huh? You mean you already, did it? But that was so fast! I thought you were going to perform a ritual or something.” Ginny rapidly blinked looking at her body all over trying see if there were any changes.

“Yep! As for proof, try closing your eyes and concentrate on changing your hair color. I heard it’s the easiest to do at the beginning.” I encouraged with another poke to her ribs.

With another giggle Ginny turned to me and offered me a truly beautiful smile that took my breath away. “Hihihi ok Aether. And thank you really. For everything.”

I was not able to do anything but nod my head, too entranced looking at her changing eye colors and trying to fight off the dancing butterflies in my stomach.

‘Will I even be able to resist keeping my hands to myself with her, Luna and Astoria joining this year?’