Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 41: Confessions in the Undercroft

The first place I led them was, of course, the Black Lake, where I told them about the many magical creatures living beneath its surface, much to the girls’ surprise and giddy expressions.

“Mermaids!?” Illya asked with an excited sparkle in her eyes.

Rin and Sakura looked just as stunned, and even Rose’s jaw dropped since this was news to her too.

“Not the kind you’re thinking of,” I corrected with a chuckle. “Those are Sirens. These are Selkie. But I think our dear Luna here can explain it better than I can.”

I patted Luna’s blonde head, drawing her attention. She blinked at being put on the spot, then, seeing my grin and nod of encouragement, her expression softened. She turned toward the group and began explaining in that dreamy yet serious way only Luna could manage.

“As Aether said, they’re called Merpeople, and three species fall into that category: Sirens, Selkies, and Merrows…”

The way Sakura, Rin, Illya, and Rose leaned forward, listening with rapt attention, made the rest of us quietly step back a few paces to watch.

“Are those three Muggle-born, by chance?” Hermione asked me curiously.

“No,” I shook my head and decided to explain, well, a little. “They’re from ancient magical bloodlines. It’s just that all three lost their parents in… incidents. And they were raised by some…” I paused, searching for a proper word to describe Kirei Kotomine, Zouken Matou, and Jubstacheit Einzbern.

“Shitty people,” I finished flatly, keeping my expression blank to hide how much I truly despised those men.

They all blinked at me in shock.

“They’re actually similar to Rose in a way,” I continued, softer this time. “Being raised by awful guardians. Only they had it much, much worse.”

The girls exchanged uneasy glances, uncertain how to respond. Hermione finally whispered, looking torn, “Was it really that bad? Rose told me a little about how she and Harry lived before her godfather took them in. Are you saying it was worse?”

I sighed. “Like I said before, if you want the full story, you’ll have to hear it from them. It’s not my story to tell. Honestly, I’ve already said too much.”

They nodded reluctantly. Almost on cue, Luna and the others returned, chatting happily as if nothing had happened.

“Ready to continue?” I asked with a smile, opening my arms to catch Illya as she launched herself at me for a flying hug, rambling excitedly about all she’d just learned.

Rin tried to scold her for being childish, though she wasn’t fooling me, her eyes were shining with the same excitement. Sakura, as usual, looked calm, though she drifted to my side as if by instinct.

“Ready, Senpai,” Sakura said softly, mostly ignoring the others’ frustrated glances.

With Illya grumbling about my attention being “stolen,” we moved on to our next destination: the edge of the Dark Forest, also called the Forbidden Forest.

“This is the true jewel of Hogwarts, in my humble opinion,” I declared with a grin, spreading my arms dramatically. “Not the library—sorry, Hermione—” I quickly ignored the glare she shot me that looked like I’d just insulted her very soul. “Not the Room of Requirement, or any other secret chamber. This is the best potioneer’s paradise. And my personal hunting ground for rare ingredients~”

At that, Rin and Illya’s eyes went starry, while the others just sighed at me with fond exasperation.

“So you’ve been sneaking into the forest again, even after our last talk?” Hermione accused, frowning at me.

I blinked, rubbed my chin as if debating, then barely dodged the Stinging Hex she fired at me.

“Easy there, Hermione,” I said quickly, hands raised in surrender. “I know you’re worried, but trust me, there’s nothing in that forest that can threaten me.”

‘Not anymore at least.’ I thought privately.

“He’s right,” Luna said serenely. “I come here at night to feed the Thestrals sometimes, and it’s always peaceful.”

Hermione sputtered, “Th-that… there are so many things wrong with what you just said, Luna!”

Behind her, Ginny, Astoria, and Rose giggled until Hermione turned her glare on them, silencing them instantly.

While they bickered, I noticed Rin and Illya still staring at the forest like it was a treasure trove. Illya even rubbed her hands together with a greedy little grin.

‘Don’t worry, you two,’ I sent telepathically with my Telepathy skill. ‘We’ll be making plenty of trips in there, trust me.’

Both blinked in surprise. Rin sighed with resignation while Illya lit up.

‘You can use telepathy!? Haah… of course you can. Why am I even surprised anymore?’ Rin muttered mentally.

‘Onii-chan, teach me!’ Illya begged.

‘Sorry, Illya. It comes from my Template. There are some mind magics in this world, but they’re not exactly beginner-friendly. I honestly don’t know if you could learn it.’

‘Boo. I thought Onii-chan could do anything!’ Illya pouted.

We were interrupted by Ginny, who huffed and planted her hands on her hips. “Aether, enough of this place, it’s creepy. Let’s move on. You still haven’t shown them the real best part of the school—the Quidditch field!”

“Quidditch?” Sakura tilted her head, looking genuinely confused.

Ginny froze as if Sakura had just insulted her family’s honor. In the next second, she had plastered herself to Sakura’s side, enthusiastically bombarding her with every detail about Quidditch while dragging her along.

The rest of us followed at a leisurely pace, doing our best to ignore Sakura’s helpless looks for rescue, well, my way, mostly.

=====

Several Hours Later

After leaving the Quidditch field, we headed back into the castle, touring the most important spots like the Library, some shortcuts, and finally the hidden chambers like the Undercroft and ending in the Room of Requirement, where we still found ourselves.

“This room is incredible~” Rin said, not even trying to hide the awe in her voice and expression as she inspected the space like a child at Christmas.

Illya wasn’t far behind, her sharp eyes scanning everything critically. “This is like a NEET’s paradise,” she muttered with a knowing nod.

“NEET?” Daphne, standing beside Astoria and Rose, turned to Sakura,the only one not starstruck by the room. Even Hermione had already grabbed a book and claimed a chair. “That’s a Japanese word, isn’t it?”

Sakura, who stood at my side as always along with Luna, blinked at being addressed. “Yes. It’s derogatory term, it means Not in Education, Employment, or Training. Basically, a bum.”

“Ah.” Daphne nodded, offering a quiet thanks before following Hermione’s example and settling in with a book of her own.

“I think the Vivariums are much cooler, personally,” I said with a shrug, not all that impressed.

“I believe so as well.” Luna agreed, already leaning over one of the vivariums with her dreamy smile. “Daddy is still jealous I’ve been able to inspect four of them, each with different terrains inside. Not to mention all the rare magical creatures I’ve seen since meeting you.”

Knowing Luna’s future as a Magizoologist, I couldn’t help but imagine how ecstatic she’d be once I revealed my ability to travel between worlds and the infinite creatures out there. A single trip to the Pokémon world would probably keep her entertained for decades.

“Just stick with me, Luna,” I said with a grin, “and I promise you’ll never run out of new creatures, magical or not to discover.”

Luna glanced up from her inspection, her dreamy smile softening into something warmer. “I’m quite looking forward to it~”

A moment later, I felt someone hop onto my back. A head of brown hair appeared over my shoulder, and I turned to find Astoria’s amused green eyes as she whispered into my ear.

“Geez, I look away for a bit and you come back with three more girls,” Astoria lightly whined, careful to keep it between us, though she didn’t realize Sakura could hear every word with her enhanced senses.

“I guess I kind of expected this,” Astoria continued, sighing softly, “which is why I’ll just have to do my best to keep up… and not get left behind.”

‘Is she…?’ I had an idea of what she meant but chose to stay silent and let her vent.

“Anyway, remember my letter over the summer?” At my nod, she pressed on. “I want us to find some time to talk. Privately. The sooner, the better.”

I gave another nod, agreeing to her request, which earned me a grin before she pecked my cheek, hopped off, and sauntered over to Daphne to start pestering her instead.

‘Now that I think about it, Ginny also wanted time alone with me, to show me how far she’s come with her new powers. At this rate, I’ll need to make time for everyone before jealousy starts flaring.’

My thoughts were cut short as I was pushed into a sofa and dragged into a conversation about when I was going to restart our training by Daphne, though it quickly interested the others too.

Before I knew it, the day had slipped by in laughter and idle chatter. Still, one thought lingered stubbornly in the back of my mind.

‘I really need to have a talk with Hermione about dropping some of her classes. All this time-looping is starting to wear on her… and it’s been throwing me off too.’ I thought, watching the girl closely as she showed the early signs of exhaustion.

=====

A Week Later

Yep, all this time-looping is starting to get really annoying.

With Paradox Defense, I was basically immune to anyone or anything messing with my time. But with Hermione tinkering with her Time-Turner almost daily, I was starting to get seriously irritated at the girl. Because of her obsession with taking every class possible, I kept finding myself forced to attend some classes more than once.

“What’s wrong, Aether? You look a bit irritated.” Astoria’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts about spanking Hermione, and I turned to find her tilting her head at me. “Actually… now that I think about it, you’ve looked irritated for a few days. So what’s the deal?”

Taking a deep breath, I banished the thoughts from my head and sat down beside her on one of the Undercroft’s sofas. I’d finally carved out some free time, away from everyone else, to keep my promise to Astoria about talking privately.

Looking at her for a moment, I debated telling her the truth before deciding to go ahead. Astoria already knew more of my secrets than most, and I trusted her.

“Nothing serious,” I said with a sigh. “I’m just… a bit irritated at Hermione lately.”

Astoria blinked in surprise. “Hermione? What did that goody-two-shoes bookworm do to irritate you?”

Instead of answering directly, I leaned back and said, “With everything I’ve told you girls, and what you’ve seen me do, you’ve probably guessed I have abilities and powers no one else does, right? Not even the most powerful witches or wizards in history?”

More confused, Astoria nonetheless nodded. “Yup. Kind of figured you were some kind of ultra-magical genius that only shows up once in a million years or something. Your point?” she teased with a grin.

Rolling my eyes good-naturedly, I stared at the ceiling in a relaxed pose. “Sure, let’s go with that. Anyway, one of those abilities is immunity to a lot of things: poison, disease, extreme temperatures, mental effects, possession, anyone trying to drain my magic, soul tampering, transfiguration, destiny, time… and a few others.”

Astoria stared at me blankly, studying my face to see if I was joking. When I didn’t falter, she shut her eyes, took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

“Okaaay… that sounds insane. But I believe you. You still haven’t explained what that has to do with Hermione.”

“That’s the thing,” I sighed. “Hermione somehow got her hands on a Time-Turner. Because of her obsession with taking every course, I’ve been dragged through some classes more than once. And it’s grating on my nerves.”

“…Hermione has a Time-Turner?” Astoria repeated flatly. She processed it for a few seconds before throwing her hands up. “Who in Merlin’s bloody name thinks it’s a good idea to give a teenager a Time-Turner just to attend more classes!?”

“McGonagall, apparently,” I said dryly. “That, or Dumbledore. She probably needed his approval as Headmaster.”

“Of course it’s McGonagall! That woman is as biased toward Gryffindor as that slimy bat is toward Slytherin!” Astoria muttered angrily, launching into a rant about how much she disliked the stern professor.

Seeing she was still going, I reached out, gently pulled her arm, and guided her down beside me until she fell back against the sofa, ending up just inches away, face-to-face.

“Forget about her,” I said softly. “I’ll talk to Hermione soon, make her drop some classes. More importantly, we’re finally alone like you wanted, aren’t we?”

The sudden shift in tone caught Astoria off guard. She blushed, glanced away for a moment, then took a deep breath and looked back at me with serious eyes.

“You know…” she began, her voice soft as she raised a hand to cup my cheek, her thumb brushing gently across my skin. Her eyes brimmed with nervousness, happiness, and… love.

“When I first arrived at Hogwarts last year, I had a plan. Since I wasn’t meant to live long…” She pressed her thumb to my lips when she saw I was about to interrupt, and continued. “I had decided I’d live my days however I pleased, ignoring blood purity, house rivalries, old traditions. I’d make the friends I wanted, eat whatever I wanted, try any spells I liked… maybe even date a cute boy if he caught my interest.”

She sighed wistfully. “Of course, that didn’t happen.” Her lips curled into a soft smile, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Because at the end of first term, on King’s Cross station… I met you. And everything changed.”

“For some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. At first I thought it was just because of Daphne. You brought out a side of her I had never seen, warm, curious, open, girly. And since she was usually so cold and antisocial, it caught my interest.” Astoria chuckled softly.

“Then the day came when I finally got to know you personally and…” Her voice broke slightly as a few tears slid down her cheeks. I gently brushed them away, cupping her face in return. She smiled and leaned into my palm.

“…And for the first time since accepting my death, I wished I could live a little longer.”

Her confession struck me silent.

“There was just something about you,” she whispered. “The way you spoke, the way you carried yourself, your confidence, your power… and your eyes. The most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen. When I say it out loud it sounds weird, stalkerish, even.”

“It’s not,” I said simply, smiling.

She let out a small laugh, then shook her head. “The point is, I was hooked. You were like a drug, I found myself always thinking of you, wanting to be near you, to hold your hand, to someday… kiss you. But I held back. I didn’t want you to find out my secret, pity me, and pull away. So I kept my distance, mostly.”

Her smile softened into something radiant, even with her tears. “Turns out you already knew anyways. You then cured me of something I thought of as impossible. And in that moment, I knew. I had already fallen in love with you. And I wanted to be by your side.”

I opened my mouth to speak, to explain about the other girls, but she pressed her finger against my lips again.

“I know,” she said simply. “I know you already have others. And you’ll probably have more in the future… including my own sister. I just don’t care.”

Her voice was steady now, full of resolve. “I want this. So tell me, Aether… do I have a place in your heart as well?”

I looked deep into her green eyes. For a long moment, silence hung between us. Then I grinned.

“Of course you do,” I said without hesitation. “I couldn’t get rid of you even if I wanted to.”

Her face lit up. She leaned forward, eyes fluttering shut, lips parted slightly. I met her halfway, and our lips touched in our first kiss, gentle, soft, but filled with all the emotions she’d poured out.

We pulled apart with matching smiles.

“Just so you know,” I whispered against her lips, “I love you too… even if you are a brat.”

Her answer was another kiss, deeper this time.

We ended up snogging for quite a while before we finally left. Astoria wore a giant grin, her hair a little mussed and her clothes slightly disheveled, but I had never seen her look so happy.

‘The only question now is… how will the other girls react to this?’