Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 20: Snakes and Old Men

Wanting to keep my visit to the Chamber a secret, I had been busy since my return to Hogwarts stamping all the Hogwarts ghosts that were worth any credits and sold them.

The only exception to that had been the professor for History of Magic Cuthbert Binns since it would be a shame to get rid of my free nap time.

“Asako how is Bella getting along?”

A while back I had bought a copy of Bellatrix from the Company and had tasked her with retrieving the Cup horcrux from her vault before sending her off with Asako to help with captures.

As it was, I had only met her twice since purchasing her due to being too busy until recently and left Asako in charge of her.

“She’s doing well Master but wonders when she will be allowed to behold your magnificent presence again.” Asako immediately answered walking a step behind me.

“That’s good. As for seeing her, she will have to wait until next year when we travel to another world.”

“By the way Master? Is it wise to go and confront a Basilisk that has the power to kill with a look? You should let me handle this.” The assassin sounded worried as she asked that which I found cute.

“Aether is more than strong enough to handle a simple Basilisk Asako.” Maya commented from my other side with my arm pressed between her perky breasts.

“Yeah, no worries. Thanks to our Defenses the worst possible thing that can happen is that you get petrified, which is like being frozen in place for a while.” I said with a shrug not really worried about it.

“That doesn’t reassure me at all, Master.” Asako muttered in a deadpan with her worry for me increasing.

“Hahaha relax Asako.” Seeing that she seemed really worried I turned to her with my voice turning softer. “I won’t let anything happen to you both so don’t worry.”

“That’s now what I’m worried about.” Asako denied with a shake of her head. “I’d rather you let me handle this alone.”

“Haah, relax. I’m too strong now for any power in this world to affect me.” Seeing as words were having no effect on her I tried a different method. “Besides, have you forgotten just what exactly I am?” As I finished saying that I released some of my deathly aura around us causing them to flinch.

“F-forgive me, Master. I meant no disrespect.” Asako let out a nervous stutter as she felt the brunt of my power slam around her.

“There’s nothing to forgive.” I dismissed with a wave of my hand and reigning in my aura. “You were just looking out for my best interests.”

They both immediately relaxed once I restrained my power making me curious just what exactly they felt about it due to my nature but dismissed that thought as I spotted the shed snake skin.

The second entrance finally came into view moments later and with a quick use of Parseltongue we finally came into the chamber proper.

The chamber looked nothing like the movies or like the books described. It was massive, at least 40 meters in height. Serpentine columns decorated the dimly lit chamber in a straight path leading towards a huge stone statue as big as the chamber itself.

“Stay behind me girls. While I’m positive the Basilisk’s stare won’t affect me since I’m stronger than it, it might still paralyze you both for a moment.” I warned wanting to be cautious.

“Yes.”

“Now are you ready? I’m about to call the snake.” Coming to a stop in front of the statue I focused on the mouth and waited.

“Ready.” I felt Maya let go of my hand at that and saw her change forms into a Basilisk herself of about 30 feet in size.

“Good, now,” I switched to Parseltongue and spoke the password. “Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.”

A low rumbling was heard before the mouth on the statue’s face starting moving and opening its mouth. There was no movement for about a minute before I started to hear a weak voice coming from inside the mouth.

“Hungry. Food.”

From the darkness of the hole in its mouth I finally spotted a pair of big yellow eyes as they moved closer to the entrance. I ignored Asako as she tensed behind me and instead smirked at feeling something passing over our forms without harm.

Acquired Skill: Petrification Resistance

Seeing the notification, I felt even more sure that the snake would not be able to harm us now and relaxed.

“You… You are not massster. Who are you?” Hearing the snake speak again now in front of us, I focused all of my attention on it looking it straight in the eyes without an ounce of fear.

“I’m Aether. You’re new master.” I replied with a smirk.

“I only sserve master and his descendantss, and you are not either of them even if you’re a sspeaker. Now die!” With those final words the snake uncoiled itself before launching its upper body towards us.

Maya behind me immediately sprang into action meeting the snake head on coiling around her while Asako took to the air and sent the Basilisk flying back with a haymaker.

Within moments the girls had subdued the weak and hungry snake leaving it with many bruises and with its mouth held tightly shut by Maya.

“See, you should have just accepted your fate little serpent.” I couldn’t help but let out a dark chuckle seeing it struggle weakly not even being able to speak anymore.

Not wasting anymore time I stepped up to it and brought my stamp to the side of its mouth and stamped it before stepping back.

“It was a lot weaker than expected. I see now that there was truly nothing to worry about Master.” Asako muttered behind me floating in the air still ready in case the Basilisk got free.

“It’s been about half a century since it was last awakened so I bet it’s weak and hungry right now. It never stood a chance.” I explained with a shrug before looking at it curiously.

“The question is, should I just sell it after it’s been captured or keep it as a pet?” I asked out loud.

“You should keep it Aether. I’ll make sure to teach her proper manners.” Maya recommended still in her snake form.

“Hmm…We shall see. For now, knock it out Asako and once the capture finalizes, I’ll decide what to do with her.”

“Of course, Master.” A few punches later the Basilisk was knocked unconscious finally allowing Maya to return to her original form.

“Now for your cage until then.” With my infinite storage space thanks to Satou’s template, the snake disappeared a moment later.

“Let’s head back to bed. I want to cuddle~” With the danger gone Maya reverted back to her lazy cuddle loving self, hugging my left arm to her chest again.

“Very well.” Yeah, cuddles sounded good right now. “I would invite you Asako but my bed is not really big enough for all of us.” I turned to my servant and apologized.

“There is no need to concern yourself about that Master. I’m just happy that you let me protect you.”

Sighing at her attitude I could only nod my head as we departed for the evening promising to myself that I would make sure she felt more included in the future.

=====

(31 October, 1992)

More than a month had passed since we had taken care of the Basilisk and it was once again Halloween at Hogwarts. Meaning that the castle had been decorated for the occasion with carved pumpkins everywhere you could see.

As for the Basilisk, I had decided to keep her as a pet and after buying the Anthropize perk for her had given her the task of thinning out the herd of Acromantula in the forest. She had taken to her new task with gusto after not eating for half a century that I kind of felt slightly sorry for the spiders but then remembered that I was not exactly fond of them and forgot about it.

“What’s wrong Aether? You’re not eating much?”

Looking to the owner of the voice I saw Luna looking curiously at me with a half-eaten pudding in her plate.

“Haha don’t worry Luna, I’m fine. I’m just not very hungry right now.” I dismissed her worries with a wave of my hand noticing as I did that Rose and Astoria had also been paying attention to me.

“Good, for a moment there I thought you might have been infected by Wrackspurts.” Luna chirped happily going back into her desert.

“Wrackspurts?” Rose muttered in confusion turning to me for help.

“Hmm if I remember correctly, they’re supposed to be invisible. They fly into people’s ears making their brain fuzzy.” I recited from memory getting a nod from Luna and confused looks from the other two girls.

“Anyway,” Shaking her head of such thoughts Astoria looked at me with a teasing smile. “Aether, Daphne wanted me to tell you that she wants to talk to you about something important later if you have the time. If you ask me though she just wants some alone time with you hihihi.”

“Daphne huh,” Looking across the table at the head of blonde hair who was currently facing away from me I noticed that she appeared a bit stiff and from the little I could see about her ears they appeared red most likely having heard our conversation.

“Sure, I see no problem with that. I’ll be free after lunch.” I nodded in agreement watching as Daphne’s shoulders seemed to relax at my words.

“Well, you heard him sis, or do you want to hear it from his own mouth?” Astoria spoke loud enough for her sister to hear us looking one second away from bursting out into a fit of giggles.

Daphne turned her head sideways and I caught her eye along with her red cheek as she nodded her head gratefully at me before turning back to her meal.

Just as I was about to return to my own meal a thought hit me and I turned to the girls around me. “Oh, that’s right. I want to have a chat with everyone preferably before Christmas. I have something to tell all of you.”

Rose, who had turned away in jealousy at me spending alone time with Daphne, turned to me with a curious look in her eyes along with Astoria and Luna.

“Oh, are you finally going to tell them about Maya?” Luna asked quietly much to the other two’s confusion.

“Among other things.” I nodded my head. It was about time they met some of the other girls along with my usage of White Magic.

“Sure, no problem. I’ll let the others know.” Rose chimed in helpfully looking excited about learning something new from me.

“Thanks Rose.” I pulled her in for a quick side hug much to her embarrassment before letting go.

With that everyone finally concentrated back on their meals again as we made light talk about anything that came to mind.

=====

Just as promised when lunch was over, I led a surprisingly quiet Daphne to the Undercroft that thanks to Ilulu was now partially furnished with a couple of sofas and tables so we could relax.

Taking a seat on one of the sofas I turned my eyes to the blonde seeing her still standing up while cutely biting her lip nervously.

“Is something wrong Daphne?”

Jumping slightly at my voice to my slight amusement, a small blush grew on her cheeks when she caught my gaze. The blonde then took a deep breath to settle her nerves and finally took a seat next to me focusing all of her attention on me.

“Aether…Your power can cure curses, right?” She asked tentatively.

Seeing how vulnerable she looked at the moment I gave her my full attention and adopted a serious look on my face. “That’s correct but you should already know this.”

“W-what about blood curses?” She asked again with her eyes slightly shining as if trying to hold back tears.

“It should be no problem.” I revealed immediately causing her to slump in her seat with a few tears escaping her beautiful eyes.

Not liking seeing her this way, I gently held her hands in my own and spoke gently. “What’s the matter Daph? Is there someone you want me to heal?” I asked already theorizing this was probably about Astoria.

Surprised at my words Daphne looked up at me with wide eyes and her grip on my arms tightening. “Will you?” She muttered softly with a small hiccup.

“Of course. Anything to get rid of this sad face you’re giving me right now. The Daphne I know should not be crying after all and if I can do anything to stop that from happening then I will.” I declared softly rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb.

My words seemed to be the last straw as Daphne all but collapsed into my chest with my robes turning slightly damp a moment later as I pulled her into my arms.

We stayed in that position for a couple of minutes before Daphne finally calmed down and pulled away from me wiping the remaining tears from her face with the back of her hand.

“T-thank you ‘sniff’. Truly thank you Aether.” Daphne gifted me a beautiful smile that I had never seen from her before making me smile unconsciously in return.

“You’re welcome.” I nodded my head feeling my heart slightly racing. “Is this about Astoria?” I hedged gently.

Blinking in surprise the blonde could only nod her head. “How did you know?”

Smiling sadly, I let out a small sigh and told her. “Ever since I first met her last year at the platform, she appeared very pale to my eyes along with looking slightly malnourished. Now that I have her as a house mate though it became almost glaringly obvious that there was something wrong with her. This is not even mentioning your reaction to my power last year and me just connecting the dots.”

“You noticed immediately huh?” Daphne let out a small sigh. “You’re correct, every year Astoria becomes weaker and weaker but no matter how many healers father and mother take her to, we receive the same news. That it will be lucky if she reaches adulthood.” She revealed in a small whisper as if just mentioning that brought her pain.

“To be honest I was already thinking about healing her even before you asked me.” My words caused her to look at me in surprise to which I only shrugged.

“You’re a very good friend Daphne and even Astoria has managed to worm her way into my good graces, troublemaker that she is. Of course, I would want to help her out.” I gave her a friendly grin.

“Thank you.” With that she brought her head back into my chest and got herself comfortable. “Can we stay like this for a little bit?”

“As long as you want.” Resting my chin in top of her head I relaxed myself and just enjoyed the moment with one of the most beautiful girls at Hogwarts feeling incredibly lucky.

=====

(Dumbledore POV)

While two teenagers got emotionally closer, everything was not going so well for a certain Headmaster as he sat in his desk with a frown on his wrinkled face.

Things were changing.

Too many things were just not making sense to the old man and it brought him nothing but sleepless nights trying to figure out what was happening.

It all started last year with the disappearance of the Philosophers stone along with the DADA Professor who for the life of him he couldn’t remember the name of.

Dumbledore might be old and while he admittedly was up in his years, his mind still remained sharp as ever. That’s why it confounded him that all he could remember about the DADA Professor was that he might have been possessed by Tom Riddle.

To add to his headache, young Harry had managed to avoid learning anything about the Stone or the forbidden corridor dashing his plans for the boy. Other than the incident with the Mirror, Dumbledore hadn’t been able to learn much about the boy or his sister.

Speaking about Rose Potter, the girl seemed to have inherited both her mother’s brains and looks as she was wary of everyone but her close circle of friends unlike her brother who was more gullible. Luckily for his plans the twins were in different houses so she couldn’t exert much influence on her brother during school since she had become infatuated with another boy that caught his interest.

Aether Cordelia.

The scion of a powerful house in Spain with plenty of money to throw around. The thing that interested him though was when he learned of what really happened last Halloween when they had found an unconscious troll in the girls’ lavatories.

Since that evening, he had the portraits keep an eye on him and report anything suspicious back to him. From what he had learned so far, the boy was smart, magically powerful, resourceful and most importantly had the ear of Rose Potter and to a lesser extent Harry.

While interesting for sure it was nothing to be concerned about for now and he soon forgot about the boy when news hit him about the destruction of Azkaban and hundreds of Dementors taking all his free time due to being part of the Ministry.

Now that he had free time in his hands though, he would be using it in order to prepare Harry for his eventual destiny against Voldemort.