HP: Sacred Gear Chat Group (2) - Chapter 23 (Patreon)

Chapter 23 - Siblings

Together with my Parents and Ghislaine beside me, I stood on Platform 9¾ for the last time as a non-Hogwarts Student, impatiently waiting for the Hogwarts Express.

Ghislaine, dressed in her new Clothes approved by my Mother, watched everything with interest, even if she still felt a bit uncomfortable wearing them. Coming to a different World is quite an experience for her, especially a World that is so foreign to her own.

While I had a general idea of what her World was like, thanks to knowing Mushoku Tensei, being aware of Earth’s History and the Middle Ages, and my knowledge of the Wizarding World, she had a much harder time adjusting.

In fact, she felt much more comfortable in the Wizarding World than in the Muggle World.

The Wizarding World, thanks to its backwardness, is more familiar to her than the rest of the Planet. When I took her into London for the first time, it was a complete Culture Shock.

Tall modern buildings, Cars, Buses, Streetlamps, Traffic Lights, big glass shop windows, electric lighting in general, automatic Doors… Everything was so unfamiliar to her. Not even considering all the modern smells assaulting her usually sharp senses.

She actually enjoyed the non-magical World less than the magical one. Considering that she has to hide parts of her body, like her ears and tail, and couldn’t carry her Sword with her, it’s no surprise. While she gets strange looks in the Wizarding World from time to time, People usually assume it is the result of using Polyjuice Potion incorrectly, or that she has some kind of magical heritage.

Fortunately, we haven’t encountered any of the asshole Purebloods yet who would spout some discriminatory shit at her. Although, so far, she hasn’t been bothered by the looks she gets.

Restrictive and modest Clothes were more of an annoyance to her.

“Is this also one of those tubes?” she asked as she spotted the Hogwarts Express rolling into King’s Cross.

“The proper word is Subway. ‘Tube’ is just a slang term locally used in London. And no, the Hogwarts Express is a Train. Those travel above ground, while the Subway travels underground. That’s pretty much the main difference between the two,” I explained while watching the red steam engine roll onto the Platform.

An advantage of her becoming a Devil was that there was no need to teach her the Language, or any Language for that matter. The Devil nature takes care of that by itself.

Even if I still had to explain the concepts and words for things that didn’t exist in her own World, apparently, if she doesn’t know something existed in the first place, there is nothing for the Devil Language Ability to understand.

Soon, the Hogwarts Express came to a complete halt, and the first Students began to leave the Train.

A few moments later, Ghislaine perked up as she looked toward a specific exit.

“There is someone who smells similar to you and your Parents.”

And she was right.

First, a cute, familiar dark-haired girl stepped out of the Train. She was a bit smaller than her fifteen years of life would suggest and was struggling to pull her heavy trunk out of the Train.

She gave me a wide grin and a wave as soon as she spotted me and my Parents approaching her.

“Yo, Alistair! Everything alright there? Who’s the sexy Amazon Cat Girl?”

I chuckled at the typical carefree greeting coming from her.

“Astoria! That is no way for a Pureblood lady to talk!” a scandalized but melodious voice came from behind her on the Train.

If someone could be described as an Ice Queen, then it was her. She had a lush, fair skin tone, naturally platinum-blonde hair, a beautiful but unapproachable-looking face that she shared with Astoria, and icy-blue eyes in the very same shade as her sister’s.

The moment she saw me, the features on her face softened as she gave me a small smile, tilting her head in a perfectly Pureblood-ladylike fashion.

“Greetings, Heir Lestrange. It is good to see you again.”

Both Astoria and I looked at each other, strange expressions on our faces.

“Did someone Obliviate Daphne at Hogwarts, Tori?”

“Not that I am aware of. Obliviating a young Pureblood Heiress is usually a dumb idea. Every House frowns upon that and would help hunt down the responsible party!” the small girl said seriously to me.

“True, not to mention they would have to deal with the anger of the two of us,” I agreed with her in an equally serious fashion.

“Make that three!”

Another bubbly Voice came from behind Daphne before shooting out of the Train like a brown-haired missile and crashing right into me. My training was the only reason we didn’t fall to the ground.

“Oh, I missed you, big brother! Did you put on some muscles? Those feel really nice. Come here, Daph, drop that Pureblood act and get a feel!”

“Tracey! You are just as bad as Astoria!” Daphne blushed as she took a closer look at my body and the strong arms that had caught my little Sister. “And for your Information, I am just acting appropriately for my Status. Alistair is now Heir Lestrange, and I just greeted him like a proper Pureblood Heiress greeting an equal.”

I laughed as I hugged my Sister while giving my only two friends for the majority of my Life a bright smile.

“Relax, Daph! It’s still me, Alistair. Just call me Al like always. You probably knew about me being the Lestrange Heir before I did. It’s good to see you three. Did you have a nice year?”

“It could have been better.”

My little Sister Tracey shuddered, clearly remembering something bad.

Right, those shitty Dementors. Fudge is really a blabbering fool.

“Sorry you had to live with those creatures around,” I apologized. I could literally see Astoria flinch at the memory of them. Her Condition must have made this year very hard on her.

Prolonged exposure to Dementors must have made her suffer quite a lot.

“Tch, it’s all because of Potter,” Daphne said with clear dislike on her face, her eyes landing on Astoria with worry.

I decided to quickly change the topic.

“Let me help you guys with your Trunks.”

First, I grabbed Astoria’s, easily lifting it onto the Platform.

“Huh, you really got a lot stronger, Al. At the start of the year, you struggled with my Trunk too. Now you carry it like it weighs nothing.” Astoria blinked at me.

Next, I helped Daphne with hers.

“I started working out.”

I then politely offered her a hand to lead her off the Train, just like Grandfather had taught me to do during our Etiquette lessons.

She grabbed it with an almost smug smile.

Finally, I got Tracey’s Trunk, who had already moved to greet Mom and Dad.

“Any reason for that?” Daphne wondered. “While I like how fit you look, it is rather uncommon for Wizards to work out.”

“Well, I started Swordsmanship, and the workout comes rather naturally with it.” I gave her a reply, turning the attention towards Ghislaine. “May I introduce you? This is Ghislaine Dedoldia, my Swordsmanship instructor.”

“And his Personal Guard,” Ghislaine added proudly, making Daphne raise an Eyebrow at me.

After becoming my Knight, that was the official role she had decided for herself.

But before Daphne could ask what I would need a Guard for, Astoria had already perked up.

“Ohhh, can I learn Swordsmanship too? That sounds so amazing!”

Daphne quickly turned towards Astoria and frowned with worry.

“Astoria, no! You shouldn’t needlessly strain your Body!”

This made the first-year Girl look down in disappointment again.

“Oh, yeah.”

I really don’t like that look on her.

I’ve known her since we were small, and I was there when that damn Blood Curse acted up for the first time. It was a scary sight that shocked us all.

Having her collapse in front of us, looking as if she were dead, had been a Shock.

Worst of all, it made me remember some Meta Knowledge I hadn’t considered before that point.

I knew she would die before she even reached forty. All because some ancestor of theirs had been cursed with a Blood Curse that weakened her Body. It almost acted like an Autoimmune Disease, only affecting her Magic Power…

My Eyes widened in realization, and I quickly activated my Magic Power Eye.

Which was immediately noticed by Astoria, Tracey, and Daphne.

“Your Eye! Everything okay, Alistair?” Tracey asked quickly.

“Don’t worry, dears. It is just a new Ability Alistair gained,” Mom explained quickly, looking around. “We will talk about it at home. Why are you using it here, Alistair?”

“It has a Cross Pattern in it. The color doesn’t match your other eye at all.” Astoria pointed it out. “Wait, why are you staring at me?”

But I ignored them as I carefully observed the girl who was like another younger Sister to me.

Her Magic was different from anybody I had seen so far.

As far as I could tell, everybody’s Magic flowing through their Body was a single Color. While those Colors could vary from person to person, relatives usually had similar Colors, only differing in slight shades. But it was always the same basic Color.

Astoria’s, on the other hand, had her own light-green-colored Magic flowing through her Body, but there were also a lot of large specks of ugly black Magic clinging to it and feeding on it.

Only her Magical Core was completely pure light green, continuously pushing Magic out without the Black Magic being able to reach it.

My Eyes wandered to Daphne, and I could see a similar effect.

Her Magic was also light green, but with an ice-blue tint to it. However, she also had black specks inside of it. Hers were a lot smaller, only tiny dots, but they were still there.

“Alistair, what are you doing?” Mom asked as she pushed me to get my attention.

I quickly deactivated my Magic Power Eye.

“I just had an idea…”

Daphne’s Eyes narrowed.

“What kind of Idea?”

Well, I’m not sure if it would even work. What am I supposed to tell her? If it didn’t work, it would just be cruel.

“You were first staring at Tori, then at me. Clearly observing something. If I didn’t know you better, I would have said you were a pervert.” Daphne pointed out as she took a closer look at my face. “You had an idea about the Curse, didn’t you? Can your Eye help? What does it do?”

“Let’s talk about that later. Let’s meet up. If it is feasible, I promise I will tell you everything!” I quickly said while looking around, desperately searching for something to change the topic. “Where are your Parents, by the way? Aren’t they a bit late?”

Tracey chuckled, still looking at me strangely, but clearly understanding that I was trying to change the topic.

“Mom and Dad didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Lord and Lady Greengrass are still away on some Business,” Dad said. “They asked if Daphne and Astoria could stay with us during the start of the Summer, and we agreed.”

“So you won’t get out of explaining what you thought about,” Daphne said firmly. “Even if the Idea is just dumb or has already been tried, I want to know what you came up with as soon as we are home!”

I did my best to ignore her.

“Won’t it be a bit cramped? Ghislaine is already occupying the Guest Room?”

“Pretty much, but Daphne, Tracey, and Astoria can share a room,” Mom replied, also looking at me with interest.

I am not going to get out of this.

I really should work on controlling my Emotions and not act out every thought that comes to mind.

“If it is any Trouble, I can camp with Alistair. We did that for Months!” Ghislaine added, completely oblivious to the implications.

“WHAT!?” Daphne, Astoria, and Tracey cried out at the same time, staring between me and Ghislaine.

“In a Tent! A magical Tent!” I quickly added for some context. “Not in the same Room!”

“We shared an Inn Room sometimes?” Ghislaine added.

“You are not really helping right now, Ghislaine…”

“Why were you camping for Months? And sleeping with this Woman in the same Room?” Tracey asked. “Is that why I didn’t need to come home for Winter, or why you didn’t write any Letters?”

“Yes?”

“You went on a camping trip with a Girl instead of spending time with your little Sister?” Tracey asked, clearly offended.

Although I’m half sure that she was trying to tease me now. Or just make me suffer.

“No, it wasn’t like that! Mom, say something!”

But my helpful Mother just smiled at me before I turned towards Dad, who immediately looked away, pretending not to see me.

Traitor!

“What happened to you?” Daphne kept asking.

Making me sigh in response, I said, “Let’s talk about that at home too.”

“We won’t forget that!” Astoria happily added, seemingly having forgotten about the Curse.

Although I knew better and recognized her act.

“I want to know everything.”

What the hell am I supposed to do?

Tell them about my Sacred Gear? About my Adventure to another World? Me being a Devil now? Or my Heirship to House Lestrange?

Oh, wait. That is public Knowledge.

What about the Evil Pieces?

Hmm, the Evil Pieces could maybe also solve that Curse? I’m not too sure about that. The Devil Sleeping Disease is still a thing, and being a Devil doesn’t heal that. Maybe the same Problem will persist with the Blood Curse too.

Instead of saying anything that could incriminate me further, I once again tried to change the topic.

“Any reason why you didn’t just shrink your Trunks?”

All of them just looked at me, knowing full well that I was changing the topic again.

At least Daphne still humored me.

“We are not allowed to use Magic outside of School.”

“…The Trace only works for Muggleborns. And even if that were a Problem, you could just shrink it down before leaving Hogwarts and ask your Parents or an adult to unshrink it at Home.” I immediately jumped at the flaw in her Logic.

Tracey and Daphne actually blinked at me in shock.

“See? You just didn’t think about it!” I replied victoriously.

“I haven’t learned the Shrinking Charm yet!” Astoria chirped in.

“Just ask your Sister, Tracey, or an older Student,” I immediately countered, making her pout before I pulled my Wand out, pointed it at their Trunks, and shrank them down for them.

All three of them just stared at me.

“What? It’s a second-year Spell, and I am allowed to use Magic outside School in preparation for the upcoming Classes next year, since I missed a lot.”

Ignoring that the exception only applies at home.

But nobody really cares about that, and there is no Trace on me either way.

“That was silently cast,” Daphne pointed out.

Oh, right.

That is rather advanced.

“Yes, big Brother. We really want to know what happened to you!” Tracey added firmly, while Astoria and Daphne nodded beside her.

[-- End of Chapter --]