Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Quantum Magic
Quantum Magic
Chapter Four: Ascension
June 18th, 1990
"Concentrate… let the necromantic energy escape your body."
Translucent jelly-like energy began working its way down Aldrych's arms. Shimmering cyan in color, it crawled down and down, reminiscent of an ice cream on heated metal. Dripping down onto his palms, it coalesced into a sphere.
"Now, picture it as a projectile."
Aldrych opened his eyes and faced the stone slate. Raising his hands together, he formed the two separate spheres into a single entity. Pushing forward, he loosened his hold, and it sped forward impacting the slate, but phasing through.
"Yes, that is exactly the reaction you needed. Necromantic energy is not a physical power. If used in projectile form as you just did, except on a being with a soul, it would cause damage to the soul itself. It disregards all forms of matter, but the incorporeal and the phantasmal."
"Useful… the magic felt extremely cold though, as if I was dunked in freezing water."
"You will have to get used to that, Master. Necromantic energy has the feeling of a spectral being, cold and alien to the human body."
Nodding, Aldrych reformed the jelly-like sphere, and bounced it around in the air a few times. An epiphany hit him, and he formed the sphere into a thin square figure, letting it fly toward the slate again. Phasing right through, Aldrych pondered on it for a moment.
"I see you found the ability to form the energy into any figure. It is like an elastic jelly, which has no expanding limits other than your current reserves. To make a shade or other spectral entities requires it, as you create the form of the object, by bending and twisting the original.
Arching his hands upward, Aldrych formed the spheres again, this time shaping them into a few knives as well as a thin circle. Willing the knives to fly forward, they did so, embedding into the floating circle. Reforming the spheres once again, he continued his experimentations into this new ability.
.-.-.
July 30th, 1990 – 11:59 P.M.
3… 2… 1…
"So – I can finally measure my age in two digits."
Aldrych sat in a comfortable lounging chair, twirling his wand absently. Staring at the dark room, he steadied his wand and intoned, "Incendio"; sending a jet of brilliant flames into his open palm. Stopping an inch or two above it, the flames started to turn into an eerie light green.
"I feel no different than before though…"
Mesmerizing flames illuminated a figure in the darkness, a smoky silhouette with molten silver eyes.
"Age is only a number, Master; it is a futile attempt by mortals to measure life."
"The attempt may remain the same, but the tools to do so have changed over the years."
A spectral claw hovered over the flames, enshrouding it in smoky tendrils. The green flame gave a small flicker, and dissolved.
Aldrych gave a deceiving sniff.
"You ruin all my fun."
.-.-.
October 15th, 1990
Emptiness with no limits, Aldrych observed his mindscape. A slight chill and a smoky apparition revealed Nex, a lone figure in the boundless darkness.
"Recall upon your earlier reading, Master; summon the memories of your life."
In one passing moment of time, the vacuum erupted into incalculable myriads of white orbs. It was a disarrayed mess, with memories floating in every direction, crashing into each other at times, even disappearing in and out.
"Sort each memory now, no matter the length of time it takes. Time is irrelevant in the area of the mind."
A flitting thought and the mindscape exploded in light. Receding, nothing was left, a blank vision. Then one by one, small lights began appearing throughout the emptiness. Hours passed, days might have passed, and the mindscape began to look something like the night sky. Minuscule orbs of memories littered pseudo-skies, with those of greater importance occurring larger in size.
After what seemed like months, the mindscape looked similar to a photo of the galaxy.
"An interesting way of sorting your memories, how will you shield them?"
In the span of a nanosecond, the galaxy of memories vanished, replaced by an eerie non-existence once more.
"A defense that doesn't exist, but still defends…"
.-.-.
January 13th, 1991
Previously lush gardens, now generously covered in snow and withered trees, loomed in the background. Aldrych shivered at he stepped outside of the manor into the dark, unforgiving cold, conjuring wispy flames to encircle his thinly clothed body.
"Nex… your idea is becoming less and less favorable. Must I build a higher cold tolerance this way?"
Appearing in his usual smoky entrance, Nex turned to Aldrych with a smirk.
"Master, we agreed on no flames…"
Aldrych whined piteously, but dissolved the flames while steeling his nerves simultaneously. Moments passed, and a whispering chill slammed into Aldrych almost blowing him backwards.
"Un...Unpleasant – Nex I'm going to find a way to make you feel pain after this."
Nex chucked minutely, "Now, don't forget to infuse your body with energy, you wouldn't want it to die, Master."
Letting out a deep sigh, Aldrych started expulsing his necromantic energy into his physical body, while slinking away his own consciousness. Soon only feel a small tingle permeated his physical body, while he felt himself floating.
Rekindling his awareness led to him to realizing he wasn't in his body anymore, he was floating a few meters in midair above it.
"Well… it worked!" Aldrych exclaimed in a spectral tone.
Throwing his consciousness back into his body, he began to feel the effects of the cold again. Miniscule sections of frostbite riddled his skin, making it hard to move or breath. Summoning his magic, Aldrych suffused his body in warm ethereal energy and sighed in pleasure as his nerves tingled. Lying back, he noticed the snow was now more of a hot spring, and his robes drenched to the core.
"I should get an award for the most brutal training regimen."
"Every necromancer must loosen his reliance on the physical body; else they would hinder their power."
Aldrych groaned, but silently agreed with his spectral taskmaster.
.-.-.
May 5th, 1991
"Well – Fire is simple." Aldrych proclaimed while intoning, "Incendio."
Swirling jets of flame shot out of the wand tip, before being promptly frozen in midair.
"The conjuration of Water is more difficult, but still simple." Aldrych stated intoning, "Aguamenti."
A brilliant fountain of clear water shot off from the tip, also stopping in midair.
"Air… is more complicated, as it can be meld into anything, but veritably difficult to visualize." Aldrych pondered for a few moments, then walked over to a book and ripped out one of the blank pages.
Holding it out in front of his, he put the tip of his wand to the paper, intoning "Diffindo": causing it to tear.
A spectral tone interrupted Aldrych's ruminations, "The element of Air can be used for many – acts. It is second to none in adaptability, closely followed by Water."
Aldrych nodded, mind proceeding to the final element, Earth.
"Earth is the most difficult and complex in my opinion. It cannot be classified as simply rock, as it takes many forms. Conjuration of earth is also an interesting factor, but it takes a good amount of power. It would be preferable to simply rip a piece of the environment around you, and molding it from there." Aldrych said whilst suffusing his hand in violet energy, cracking and lifting a chunk of the stone floor.
"Now I can do many things with it, from using it as a projectile to creating a barrier. It is the physical element, just as adaptable as the others, but instead of liquid or gas, it naturally is solid matter."
Nex inclined his clawed hand and gave a spectral smile, "Correct – now that you have accomplished the Classical elements, it is time for the more… irregular ones."
Aldrych let out a small sigh, and turned back to thick tome beside him.
.-.-.
August 23rd, 1991
Swirling waves crashed against the sandy shoreline, as the moon illuminated the pale dark waters. A light fog saturated the area, blanketing the shore in its humid embrace. Aldrych took a deep breath of the refreshing ocean air and continued further on the sandy beach. Arriving at the wet shoreline, he stretched his limbs a bit as preparation.
"Try not to fall into the waters, Master – it would be most difficult to get you out." Nex warned lightly.
Aldrych nodded and focused on the act ahead. Suffusing one of his hands with kinetic energy, while holding his wand in the other he waded into the swirling ocean. Past the waves he twirled his wand and shot a freezing spell at a patch of the ocean. Instantly forming into a sort of pseudo-iceberg, Aldrych climbed onto the frozen water shakily.
Keeping the balance of the ice steady with his infused hand, while forming a larger iceberg with his wand, Aldrych looked forward at the ocean horizon. Once the iceberg was fairly large enough to stand comfortably on, he pointed his wand behind him, and churned hot air through it. Feet firmly entrenched into the ice; he began to float forward slowly but surely.
"Do you like my boat?" Aldrych asked seemingly to himself.
Nex appeared in a smoky entrance, floating beside him, "Having fun, Master? This is a most… interesting way to expand the control on your magical core."
"I get points for creativity of course, now just to watch out for anything unpleasant."
A few minutes of silent floating past, the shoreline was becoming less and less visible by the moment. Aldrych released the hot air spell from his wand, and looked around thoughtfully.
"The perfect place for an exercise, in the ocean… almost out in the middle of nowhere," He stated cheekily.
Casting a few more spells to secure the ice, Aldrych put his wand safely back into its holster. Suffusing his other hand with the kinetic energy as well, he turned to the ocean.
"This shall certainly be fun…"
Arching both of his palms upwards, caused pale ocean waters shift, than lurch up a few feet into the air creating a wall-like structure. Aldrych concentrated and held the water up with one hand, lowering his other hand, then arching it back upwards. Every arch the water steadily rose higher until it towered close to 15 feet in height.
Splitting the water wall in half, Aldrych proceeded to lift the 2 separate columns of water into the air and mold each into separate spheres. Loosening his hold on the spheres then momentarily reforming them, he began to furrow his brow in concentration. On and off, he let the water fall and quickly reformed it back, causing a slightly noticeable change in magic control.
Time passed and the night sky began to lighten, as Aldrych fully loosened his control and let the water fall back violently into the ocean. Impacting the surface caused the 2 opposing waters to shoot off in every direction, soaking Aldrych profusely.
"Hmm – I think I should have lowered it before letting go…" he complained, blinking salty water out of his eyes.
.-.-.
December 19th, 1991
"Age is a peculiar factor for a Necromancer, as instead of causing the body to break down; it causes the link between the body and soul to weaken. This allows necromancers to be more liberal in their reliance of the body, allowing many abilities which would be otherwise impossible. To age your physical body from the stages of infancy to elder years at the command of your will is your next step."
Aldrych nodded for Nex to continue.
"Your neutral state is of around the prime age of a human, so it will be used as a weighing factor for any of your transformations. Now concentrate upon your energy and let it seep from every pore of your body. Mold it around yourself carefully and will your body to change, but stay concentrated as it will be painful."
Aldrych felt a strange sensation go through him, as he willed his physical structure into a younger state. A sharp crack resounded through the air, followed by a multitude of smaller cracks as his bones started to reshape. Trying not to gasp out in pain, he focused on loosening his nerves as the transformation took place. The pressure on him subsided and he opened his eyes, squinting at the different worldview. Everything seemed a fraction smaller, as he gazed around his now 12 year old body.
"Quite the unpleasant feeling, but I see its uses. Will the procedure become less painful and loud with practice?" Aldrych asked in an unfamiliar childish voice.
"Your body and magic will adapt as always, which would cause the process to become decidedly less noisy."
Aldrych pondered for a moment, letting a mischievous smirk form on his face. Recalling his previous energy he changed his body, preparing for the painful transformation. Opening his eyes once more, he found the surroundings to be cloudy and unclear. Looking down he saw a milky white beard falling down to his chest. Grinning peculiarly, he took a chip of wood from the table and transfigured it into a slim cane. Positioning it as he would a walking stick, he walked to up Nex.
"Young lad, let an old man pass would you?"
"Why of course, I would not deny an old man his pastimes."
.-.-.
April 17th, 1992
Varying lengths of paper lay before Aldrych, as he scribbled away on them. Shapes such as circles could be seen on them, with a multitude of numbers scattered around. Spellcraft is a field of magic that was invented jointly with the discovery of wandcraft. Utilizing a mix of Arithmancy and Weaving, one can create a certain resonation to the magical core to form a desired effect through a foci.
"Aguamenti is a fairly simple spell – though even then, I'm having trouble calibrating the effects," Aldrych glanced at Nex for a moment, "Changing the tint of the water would be a mix of the Color-Changing Charm and the Aguamenti charm, but I'm missing something."
Nex chucked for a moment, then arched his claw and a few of the numbers shifted.
"Ah… well that makes more sense, though aren't I supposed to learn this on my own," Aldrych asked cheekily.
"There is no harm with asking for aid, you were stuck and now you are free to move on. Letting you struggle on your own simply wastes time when you would find the same conclusion anyway, though most times there is no aid to be found."
Nodding, Aldrych returned his focus on the paper. After examining it a few more moments he took out his wand and began weaving the additions onto the charm. Finished he pointed the tip into an empty cup, intoning "Puniceus Aguamenti"; causing a jet of violet-tinted water to pour the cup. Putting the cup to his lips, he took a sip and swirled it around for tasting purposes.
"Ah finally, it doesn't taste like some strange assortment of paint anymore," he said in a satisfied voice, "All shall bow before my color-tinted water."
"Yes Master, I can imagine the look on your opponent's face when you hit them with pink water."
"A look of pure terror, yes?"
.-.-.
August 22nd, 1992
Flames of green hue flickered softly in midair as Aldrych examined the Griffin's Ruby. Bringing it up closer to his eyes, he examined the mark on the glinting ruby. It was a griffin, with the Potter seal next to it. The insides of the ruby seemed to shimmer slowly, almost unnoticeably like a slow moving river of magma. Re-reading the instructions, he put it in his left hand and closed his fingers over it.
Sending a small wave of magic through his arm, upon reaching his palm the ruby began to resonate. After a few moments it began to melt slowly, turning into sludge like form. Aldrych could feel it wrapping around his bones, when suddenly it began to solidify. His hand felt like it was just dropped in boiling water, as it quickly began to redden. Compared to his previous training, it felt mild-tempered instead of mind-splitting pain.
The feeling began to subside slowly, eventually stopping completely. Aldrych experimentally tried a few motions with his hand to feel the mobility. It felt quite similar to his previous version, if only a bit more coarse.
"I can feel it humming in tune with my magic," he stated to himself in a pleased voice, "Well time to test it out."
Taking it his wand he touched his palm with it, incanting "Bombarda." Feeling the magic flowing through his wand arm, he replicated the same magic and sent it through his new foci. Exiting at almost the same time the two spells meshed together, speeding off into the slab of stone in front of Aldrych.
An explosion sounded off, throwing debris around the room, peppering him with tiny bits of rock.
"Powerful indeed…" Aldrych exclaimed as he repaired the slate.
.-.-.
November 24th, 1992
A slight breeze woke Aldrych out of his ruminations as the sound of something falling followed it.
"Nex you have returned, and you have brought the – test subject on which I can practice my Legilimency on," he stated, "Where did you find him?"
"In an alley in one of the mundane cities, he has the look of a violent human with a strong stench of alcohol. In short, not a person many would miss."
"Alright then, let's wake him up."
Suffusing his hand with kinetic energy, he delivered the equivalent of a smack to the thug's head. Stirring, the thug groaned a little and started to stand up shakily. The stench of alcohol hit Aldrych in a matter of moments, causing him to put on a look of disgust.
"What a horrible stench, you need a deterrent for that," he said while intoning "Scourgify"; causing the thug's mouth to be filled with soap.
Hacking and coughing out of confusion, he took out his knife and brandished it in front of him.
"Stay where ya are chap, before I gut ya like a fish."
Aldrych looked amusedly at him. "You bring a knife to a magic fight, shall I begin clapping?"
The thug stared in confusion until he felt his knife being wrenched from his hands and thrown across the room.
"Now enough with the distractions, I have practice to start," Aldrych stated before lifting the thug off the ground and holding him in midair.
Holding both of his eyes open with his magic Aldrych whispered, "Legilimens"; launching his consciousness straight into the mind before him. A veritable ocean lay before him, except instead of water it was filled with a highly dense liquid. Flitting thoughts whirled by his perception, beginning to grow more chaotic by the moment. Starting to feel disoriented, he let off the mental equivalent of a sonic boom, stunning the thoughts into a paralytic state. Sensing the now frozen sheds of thoughts, Aldrych began to move toward the recent memories, which were the most preserved and easily understandable.
Finding a random one, he began to reach out toward it, grabbing it with psychokinetic tendrils. Thoughts began to pass through his consciousness, as the memory began sending out details in an almost cinema-like progression.
Aldrych found himself looking through another's eyes, reddish bricks on either side of him as he stared deadpan at a woman walking. Soft clicks of a heel resounded off through the darkened alley, as the woman began to move closer and closer toward him. A few more soft clicks and he saw her straight in front of himself. Launching himself out in front of her, he brandished his knife and found his mouth begin to speak.
"Hello there lass, think I can have a look at that purse of yours?"
The woman gasped loudly when she saw him jump out of the shadows, and began backing away.
"Dontcha try to escape lass, I can throw a knife mighty well. Hand over the purse and mayhaps we can get through this easily."
The woman began to shiver slightly, as she let out a stuttering reply.
"You can have the purse, just let me go."
She threw her purse at him, as he caught it deftly in the air and began to rummage through it. A few random bills and some cosmetic products grazed his hand, when he heard the women begin to back away.
"Now lass did I say we were finished here, you can leave when I be saying you can leave."
He looked at her body, the slight swell on her bosom and her pretty face. Aldrych felt his legs begin to move toward her, and the rise of his own heartbeat.
"Mighty pretty you are, fine lass if I've ever seen one," he murmured while grinning lecherously, "We can have quite the fun time, you and I. What do you say lassie?"
The woman began to let out stuttering denials as she began to back-step faster. Aldrych felt his steps begin to speed up, until he caught the women firmly by the waist. Smelling her fine perfume, he began to slowly caress her body as she shivered under him, trying to pull away.
Aldrych was intrigued by the great detail of the memory, but began to feel disgusted at the lust he could sense the thug feeling. Ripping his consciousness from the scene, he decided to practice the more offensive aspects of Legilimency. Releasing a few more of the psychic pulses, though in a greater magnitude, Aldrych started tearing the memories he saw apart. Lights began to flicker out and he heard a splitting wail break throughout the mindscape.
Shifting throughout the mindscape of the thug randomly, he performed various actions on the memories he found in his path. How long he did so he knew not, but the mindscape eventually began to look more like a barren scarred wasteland, than the ambivalent ocean he saw before. Retracting his consciousness from the mind of the thug, he began to regain his physical senses, opening him to the shrieks of the thug whose mind he just flayed apart.
Grasping the thug's head with his kinetic power, he wrenched it sideways hearing a resounding crack. The shrieks died down as the spinal cord was shattered.
"An intriguing experience Nex, even with the less than pleasant memories I found inside his mind. A few more of these sessions and I'll have a much larger rudimentary knowledge of the offensive mind arts."
Nex motioned with his claw and answered, "Of course Master, finding more would be quite simple. There isn't a shortage on these kinds of humans."
.-.-.
March 3rd, 1993
"Is there a notable difference between shifting and apparating?"
"Shifting is a strictly necromantic ability as you quite literally will your soul to move to a different location, bringing along your body with it. Apparition sends a resonation through the material plane, bending space-time to transport the user to a desired location. Both are tricky and dangerous to pull off, but Necromancers prefer shifting since much less beings know about it, adding points to security and infiltration. It may take a while to become fully accustomed to the feeling, though after time it will become a routine occurrence."
Aldrych nodded and asked for some advice.
"Concentrate upon your soul, and picture a desired location. Force your soul to the desired location through sheer power of will, and it will drag your body along with it. With practice one can use this in battle effectively, as you will be able to move through the battlefield quickly and agilely."
Aldrych focused, locating his soul's resonation. Latching onto the shimmering white orb, he projected an image of the location in front of him and willed it to move there. Seeing it disappear, he felt a large wrench on his being and opened his eyes only to hit the wall face first on the opposite side of the room.
"This is ridiculous, I can do most magics quite effectively, but when it comes to transportation I always botch up somehow," Aldrych ranted as he glanced at Nex who had a small quirk on his spectral mouth line, "Very amusing Nex, but I dislike crashing into solid objects."
"Happens on every first time Master, shifting isn't as accurate if you don't have proper practice with it first. The propulsion of your body can exceed beyond your needed level – causing you to hit the first object on your trajectory."
Nex motioned to Aldrych and disappeared in a wispy splash of spoke, reappearing on the other side of the room. Immediately after, he shifted again without stopping and again after that, showing Aldrych the finesse of mastered shifting.
"Shades are quite the show-offs," Aldrych said amusedly, "However; yes I do see what you mean by momentum."
.-.-.
August 28th, 1993
A breezy wind carried a flowery scent as it whistled across Aldrych's senses. He was lying down on a patch of grass, out in the gardens of Potter manor, gazing up aimlessly at the night sky. Various constellations and random balls of light littered the cosmos, as they sat unmoving with the livelihood of stone. Taking the small tome by his side, Aldrych perused a few more of the contents and turned to Nex beside him.
"Hmm, I do wonder why the magical world has never bothered to visit the vast cosmos. The mundane have already started various researchers into space and the workings of the universe… even lifted quite a few shuttles to explore it."
Molten silver eyes shifted strangely as if retrieving a memory.
"It was tried many times before, but since magic would work differently outside of the planet, most who tried never returned. Others came back in a tattered mess, barely able to rekindle any tales of their experience. Though this is from my knowledge of Ignotus which was several hundred years ago, by this time perhaps someone has figured out a way."
Aldrych turned back to the skies, returning back to his ruminations.
.-.-.
May 19th, 1994
"The Unforgivable Curses, aptly named of course," Aldrych said while smirking amusedly, "These three curses have been the plague of magical Britain for quite a while."
Turning a few pages in the tome he had beside him, he read out loud the first one.
"The Imperius Curse, a spell which implants the conscious thoughts of the caster directly into the subconscious of the victim. It is the most useful in my opinion, though it can be denied by a sufficiently powerful will."
Nex replied in his usual tone, "Rightly so, but the vast majority is susceptible to this spell… giving it many opportunities."
Aldrych nodded and leafed over to the next curse.
"The Cruciatus, a torture spell which sends out a malevolent wave of magic directly into the victim's nerves. The sheer amount of magic overloads and fries the nerve cores, causing excruciating amounts of pain," Aldrych pondered for a moment, "It has it uses, but as you thought me earlier – damage to one's soul is a far greater and otherworldly pain. That is the specialty of a necromancer."
Skimming to the final section of the tome, Aldrych began to read aloud once again.
"The Killing Curse, a spell which twists the regular magic of a wizard into a strange form of necromantic energy. It is one of few spells which lets non-necromancers experiment with soul energy. When used on a being with a soul, it rips the link between body and spirit into shreds, releasing the spirit to move onto the Soul Plane… Useful for any wizard, but for a necromancer it is rudimentary magic."
"Most likely designed by a necromancer and given to a wizard for a sufficient payment. Regardless, the most useful to learn for you with be the Imperius."
Aldrych nodded minutely and began to gather the various creatures he brought.
"I brought several beings with small minds to practice with first… a few spiders, a bird, and a fox," He looked around for a moment than turned back to Nex, "Did you acquire a human to practice on afterwards? A human mind is far more complex to control."
A spectral nod preceded a smoky shimmer and a male human appeared on the ground, fast asleep.
Taking out his wand, Aldrych retrieved the spiders and set them on the table in front of him. Focusing his magic, he intoned "Imperio"; causing bluish smoke to creep towards the first spider. Upon reaching the small spider, it shivered for a moment and the smoke collapsed. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Aldrych recanted the curse, forcing more will upon it this time around. When the smoky tendrils reached the spider a second time, it wrapped itself around it fully, forcing the arachnid into a rigid state.
Focusing his concentration into the shaky link, the smoky tendrils became more pronounced and the spider started to lose its rigidness. Sending a few random thoughts through the link, the arachnid twitched and reacted to each one. Conjuring a command of will, Aldrych sent the thought through the link, causing the spider to react immediately and start crawling across the table. Aldrych let a satisfied smile appear on his lips, proceeding to put more will into his commands. The moment the new commands reached the arachnid, it gave a weak twitch and fell over on its back, dead.
Startled at the sudden death, Aldrych broke off the spell and turned to Nex who was observing silently.
"Master you must be more careful; the tome states that a perfect balance must be maintained over your will. If too little is put, the spell would do little more than confuse the recipient. If too much is put in, the recipient's subconscious could be overloaded causing the mind to shatter. The weaker the being, the lower the requirements for needed willpower."
Aldrych nodded resolutely and continued to experiment on the arachnids, then after proceeding to move on to the birds and the fox.
Finishing the last command for the fox, he released the hold over it and turned to Nex once more, "I am ready to begin practice on the human, unbind him."
Nex acquiesced, releasing the ghostly bonds and awakening the man. Sleepy eyes began to open, but before the awakening person had a chance to look around, Aldrych already incanted the curse. Smoky blue tendrils burst out of the wand tip, and locked tightly around the recipient's head. Aldrych felt the link begin to strengthen, and various thoughts began to filter in and out.
Rekindling his will, he launched his assault upon the sleepy and unprotected mind, easily forcing it into subservience. Aldrych could still feel the slight resistance, but in a matter of moments it crumbled away, leaving an eerie silence and submission. Forming commands once more, he continued to practice all throughout the evening, determined to master the difficult curse.
.-.-.
September 22nd, 1994
Aldrych quietly sipped a glass of pear juice as he read the contents of the Daily Prophet.
Triwizard Tournament Announced
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has recently announced after much speculation that the Triwizard Tournament would indeed be held in Hogwarts. Three schools of magic will be competing in the tournament, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Durmstrang Institute, and of course our very own Hogwarts. The tournament itself was discontinued in 1793 after the event of 1972 when a Cockatrice caused many casualties to both the competitors and those in the vicinity. Both the Headmaster and the Minister promise that all precautions will be held to account, and that the tournament itself will be less dangerous than before.
The First Task will be held on November 24th, and all who are interested are invited to join. Seats must first be held to account with the Department of Magical Games and Sports. More information on that will be held in the next section.
Looking up from the newspaper, Aldrych gazed into a random area while his thoughts began working out a plan.
"I think I found exactly the opening that was needed," he mentioned as he levitated the paper in front of the shade.
Molten eyes gazed over the article shimmering silently until a spectral tone sounded off, "Yes, this is an interesting opportunity. Master, you will have the element of surprise over the headmaster, however in terms of spell lore and experience he still far outranks you… I have taught you all that Ignotus left me, and now it is time to reveal the last bit of information that I was ordered to save."
A confused expression filtered across Aldrych's features, but it turned back into quiet contemplation as he motioned to Nex.
"Ignotus had not only infused his magic and knowledge into my core, but a piece of his very soul as well. It is not unlike a Horcrux; however it is far more advanced and precise. Ignotus had not ripped away a piece of his soul, merely separated it until a time when it would be recalled back to him. The seals in the vault beneath Gringotts, held the piece of the soul embedded to my core... now though with nothing anchoring it, the soul piece is attempting to return back to its Master soul in the Soul Plane."
An indiscernible expression clouded Aldrych's features, as he responded in a strange voice, "So our time is at an end, and my tutelage is complete."
"So to say, yes that is what has happened."
The clouded expression lifted off from Aldrych, and he sighed, "I understand – all things must come to an end."
A peculiar pleased expression formed on Nex's spectral mouth line.
"Now, since that is through Master, I propose a final duel. Unlike the times we practiced this will be a chance for you to try your all and I will do the same… It is better this way, as I will only have the power to do so for only a few days, and then I will begin losing my ability of speech and thought afterwards."
Aldrych thought for a bit than let a smirk form, "Agreed Nex, let us have a last duel."
Both shifted into the Manor grounds, leaving behind smoky mist in their wake. Aldrych had transfigured several different environmental obstacles such as large boulders and broken logs around the vicinity. Rays of sunlight filtered through the leafy enclosure of the trees which had begun to yellow slightly. The combatants turned to each other, conjuring globes of shimmering energy above them. At the exact same time both of the shimmering globes gorged outwards, covering the field in smoky magic, signaling the start of the duel.
Nex had disappeared immediately while Aldrych began to conjure a volatile necromantic field. The reverberating energy extended outwards revealing the location of the shade. Nex swiped at Aldrych who shifted away to the other side of the field, narrowly escaping. Nex followed him shortly afterwards, expulsing loose waves of smoky tendrils. A few grazed through Aldrych, causing short bursts phantasmal pain. Summoning his magic into the Griffin's Ruby, he shot off several bombarding spells into the ground around him, throwing debris into the air. Shortly afterwards, he called up his telekinetic power to create a cocoon out of the debris.
As the debris shielded Aldrych from the view of the shade, he began to conjure an expanding sphere of harmful soul energy. Releasing the globe upwards, he shifted out of the field of debris, pummeling into the pond in the vicinity. Casting a bubble charm around his head to allow him respiration, he waited silently until the sphere detonated. A breeze dispersed outwards, rippling the lake and informing Aldrych of the spell's success. Moments later a spectral globe collided into his side causing him to gasp out in pain. Hastily steeling his nerves, he shifted out of the water to find Nex floating above the ground, willowy marks on his ethereal outline.
The necromancer let out a yell of pain, as a spectral claw phased through him, protruding out from his chest. The shade in front of Aldrych dispersed into smoke with a quirk of its lips. Gritting his teeth at the pain, he summoned all of the residual necromantic energy floating freely in the field, to converge within him. Waves of power exploded outwards, knocking both the shade and the necromancer off balance. Reacting quickly, Aldrych shifted once and twice, appearing behind Nex and shrouding his hands with cyan gel-like energy. Lodging them into the recuperating body of the shade, he wrenched his hands apart inflicting the shade with a fatal wound.
Nex looked down at the ghostly gash, and bowed to Aldrych as best he could.
"An intriguing duel Master, you have surely passed your tutelage."
With the last word intoned, Nex began to shimmer out as a smoky miniscule globe of light sped out of the collapsing body. It lifted itself into the air, and proceeded to start transporting itself to the Soul Plane. An ethereal wind blew from the soul piece covering Aldrych's body in pleasing energy, rejuvenating his wounds. His features shifted into an understanding smile as he gazed upon the slowly retreating soul.
Chapter Four: Ascension
June 18th, 1990
"Concentrate… let the necromantic energy escape your body."
Translucent jelly-like energy began working its way down Aldrych's arms. Shimmering cyan in color, it crawled down and down, reminiscent of an ice cream on heated metal. Dripping down onto his palms, it coalesced into a sphere.
"Now, picture it as a projectile."
Aldrych opened his eyes and faced the stone slate. Raising his hands together, he formed the two separate spheres into a single entity. Pushing forward, he loosened his hold, and it sped forward impacting the slate, but phasing through.
"Yes, that is exactly the reaction you needed. Necromantic energy is not a physical power. If used in projectile form as you just did, except on a being with a soul, it would cause damage to the soul itself. It disregards all forms of matter, but the incorporeal and the phantasmal."
"Useful… the magic felt extremely cold though, as if I was dunked in freezing water."
"You will have to get used to that, Master. Necromantic energy has the feeling of a spectral being, cold and alien to the human body."
Nodding, Aldrych reformed the jelly-like sphere, and bounced it around in the air a few times. An epiphany hit him, and he formed the sphere into a thin square figure, letting it fly toward the slate again. Phasing right through, Aldrych pondered on it for a moment.
"I see you found the ability to form the energy into any figure. It is like an elastic jelly, which has no expanding limits other than your current reserves. To make a shade or other spectral entities requires it, as you create the form of the object, by bending and twisting the original.
Arching his hands upward, Aldrych formed the spheres again, this time shaping them into a few knives as well as a thin circle. Willing the knives to fly forward, they did so, embedding into the floating circle. Reforming the spheres once again, he continued his experimentations into this new ability.
.-.-.
July 30th, 1990 – 11:59 P.M.
3… 2… 1…
"So – I can finally measure my age in two digits."
Aldrych sat in a comfortable lounging chair, twirling his wand absently. Staring at the dark room, he steadied his wand and intoned, "Incendio"; sending a jet of brilliant flames into his open palm. Stopping an inch or two above it, the flames started to turn into an eerie light green.
"I feel no different than before though…"
Mesmerizing flames illuminated a figure in the darkness, a smoky silhouette with molten silver eyes.
"Age is only a number, Master; it is a futile attempt by mortals to measure life."
"The attempt may remain the same, but the tools to do so have changed over the years."
A spectral claw hovered over the flames, enshrouding it in smoky tendrils. The green flame gave a small flicker, and dissolved.
Aldrych gave a deceiving sniff.
"You ruin all my fun."
.-.-.
October 15th, 1990
Emptiness with no limits, Aldrych observed his mindscape. A slight chill and a smoky apparition revealed Nex, a lone figure in the boundless darkness.
"Recall upon your earlier reading, Master; summon the memories of your life."
In one passing moment of time, the vacuum erupted into incalculable myriads of white orbs. It was a disarrayed mess, with memories floating in every direction, crashing into each other at times, even disappearing in and out.
"Sort each memory now, no matter the length of time it takes. Time is irrelevant in the area of the mind."
A flitting thought and the mindscape exploded in light. Receding, nothing was left, a blank vision. Then one by one, small lights began appearing throughout the emptiness. Hours passed, days might have passed, and the mindscape began to look something like the night sky. Minuscule orbs of memories littered pseudo-skies, with those of greater importance occurring larger in size.
After what seemed like months, the mindscape looked similar to a photo of the galaxy.
"An interesting way of sorting your memories, how will you shield them?"
In the span of a nanosecond, the galaxy of memories vanished, replaced by an eerie non-existence once more.
"A defense that doesn't exist, but still defends…"
.-.-.
January 13th, 1991
Previously lush gardens, now generously covered in snow and withered trees, loomed in the background. Aldrych shivered at he stepped outside of the manor into the dark, unforgiving cold, conjuring wispy flames to encircle his thinly clothed body.
"Nex… your idea is becoming less and less favorable. Must I build a higher cold tolerance this way?"
Appearing in his usual smoky entrance, Nex turned to Aldrych with a smirk.
"Master, we agreed on no flames…"
Aldrych whined piteously, but dissolved the flames while steeling his nerves simultaneously. Moments passed, and a whispering chill slammed into Aldrych almost blowing him backwards.
"Un...Unpleasant – Nex I'm going to find a way to make you feel pain after this."
Nex chucked minutely, "Now, don't forget to infuse your body with energy, you wouldn't want it to die, Master."
Letting out a deep sigh, Aldrych started expulsing his necromantic energy into his physical body, while slinking away his own consciousness. Soon only feel a small tingle permeated his physical body, while he felt himself floating.
Rekindling his awareness led to him to realizing he wasn't in his body anymore, he was floating a few meters in midair above it.
"Well… it worked!" Aldrych exclaimed in a spectral tone.
Throwing his consciousness back into his body, he began to feel the effects of the cold again. Miniscule sections of frostbite riddled his skin, making it hard to move or breath. Summoning his magic, Aldrych suffused his body in warm ethereal energy and sighed in pleasure as his nerves tingled. Lying back, he noticed the snow was now more of a hot spring, and his robes drenched to the core.
"I should get an award for the most brutal training regimen."
"Every necromancer must loosen his reliance on the physical body; else they would hinder their power."
Aldrych groaned, but silently agreed with his spectral taskmaster.
.-.-.
May 5th, 1991
"Well – Fire is simple." Aldrych proclaimed while intoning, "Incendio."
Swirling jets of flame shot out of the wand tip, before being promptly frozen in midair.
"The conjuration of Water is more difficult, but still simple." Aldrych stated intoning, "Aguamenti."
A brilliant fountain of clear water shot off from the tip, also stopping in midair.
"Air… is more complicated, as it can be meld into anything, but veritably difficult to visualize." Aldrych pondered for a few moments, then walked over to a book and ripped out one of the blank pages.
Holding it out in front of his, he put the tip of his wand to the paper, intoning "Diffindo": causing it to tear.
A spectral tone interrupted Aldrych's ruminations, "The element of Air can be used for many – acts. It is second to none in adaptability, closely followed by Water."
Aldrych nodded, mind proceeding to the final element, Earth.
"Earth is the most difficult and complex in my opinion. It cannot be classified as simply rock, as it takes many forms. Conjuration of earth is also an interesting factor, but it takes a good amount of power. It would be preferable to simply rip a piece of the environment around you, and molding it from there." Aldrych said whilst suffusing his hand in violet energy, cracking and lifting a chunk of the stone floor.
"Now I can do many things with it, from using it as a projectile to creating a barrier. It is the physical element, just as adaptable as the others, but instead of liquid or gas, it naturally is solid matter."
Nex inclined his clawed hand and gave a spectral smile, "Correct – now that you have accomplished the Classical elements, it is time for the more… irregular ones."
Aldrych let out a small sigh, and turned back to thick tome beside him.
.-.-.
August 23rd, 1991
Swirling waves crashed against the sandy shoreline, as the moon illuminated the pale dark waters. A light fog saturated the area, blanketing the shore in its humid embrace. Aldrych took a deep breath of the refreshing ocean air and continued further on the sandy beach. Arriving at the wet shoreline, he stretched his limbs a bit as preparation.
"Try not to fall into the waters, Master – it would be most difficult to get you out." Nex warned lightly.
Aldrych nodded and focused on the act ahead. Suffusing one of his hands with kinetic energy, while holding his wand in the other he waded into the swirling ocean. Past the waves he twirled his wand and shot a freezing spell at a patch of the ocean. Instantly forming into a sort of pseudo-iceberg, Aldrych climbed onto the frozen water shakily.
Keeping the balance of the ice steady with his infused hand, while forming a larger iceberg with his wand, Aldrych looked forward at the ocean horizon. Once the iceberg was fairly large enough to stand comfortably on, he pointed his wand behind him, and churned hot air through it. Feet firmly entrenched into the ice; he began to float forward slowly but surely.
"Do you like my boat?" Aldrych asked seemingly to himself.
Nex appeared in a smoky entrance, floating beside him, "Having fun, Master? This is a most… interesting way to expand the control on your magical core."
"I get points for creativity of course, now just to watch out for anything unpleasant."
A few minutes of silent floating past, the shoreline was becoming less and less visible by the moment. Aldrych released the hot air spell from his wand, and looked around thoughtfully.
"The perfect place for an exercise, in the ocean… almost out in the middle of nowhere," He stated cheekily.
Casting a few more spells to secure the ice, Aldrych put his wand safely back into its holster. Suffusing his other hand with the kinetic energy as well, he turned to the ocean.
"This shall certainly be fun…"
Arching both of his palms upwards, caused pale ocean waters shift, than lurch up a few feet into the air creating a wall-like structure. Aldrych concentrated and held the water up with one hand, lowering his other hand, then arching it back upwards. Every arch the water steadily rose higher until it towered close to 15 feet in height.
Splitting the water wall in half, Aldrych proceeded to lift the 2 separate columns of water into the air and mold each into separate spheres. Loosening his hold on the spheres then momentarily reforming them, he began to furrow his brow in concentration. On and off, he let the water fall and quickly reformed it back, causing a slightly noticeable change in magic control.
Time passed and the night sky began to lighten, as Aldrych fully loosened his control and let the water fall back violently into the ocean. Impacting the surface caused the 2 opposing waters to shoot off in every direction, soaking Aldrych profusely.
"Hmm – I think I should have lowered it before letting go…" he complained, blinking salty water out of his eyes.
.-.-.
December 19th, 1991
"Age is a peculiar factor for a Necromancer, as instead of causing the body to break down; it causes the link between the body and soul to weaken. This allows necromancers to be more liberal in their reliance of the body, allowing many abilities which would be otherwise impossible. To age your physical body from the stages of infancy to elder years at the command of your will is your next step."
Aldrych nodded for Nex to continue.
"Your neutral state is of around the prime age of a human, so it will be used as a weighing factor for any of your transformations. Now concentrate upon your energy and let it seep from every pore of your body. Mold it around yourself carefully and will your body to change, but stay concentrated as it will be painful."
Aldrych felt a strange sensation go through him, as he willed his physical structure into a younger state. A sharp crack resounded through the air, followed by a multitude of smaller cracks as his bones started to reshape. Trying not to gasp out in pain, he focused on loosening his nerves as the transformation took place. The pressure on him subsided and he opened his eyes, squinting at the different worldview. Everything seemed a fraction smaller, as he gazed around his now 12 year old body.
"Quite the unpleasant feeling, but I see its uses. Will the procedure become less painful and loud with practice?" Aldrych asked in an unfamiliar childish voice.
"Your body and magic will adapt as always, which would cause the process to become decidedly less noisy."
Aldrych pondered for a moment, letting a mischievous smirk form on his face. Recalling his previous energy he changed his body, preparing for the painful transformation. Opening his eyes once more, he found the surroundings to be cloudy and unclear. Looking down he saw a milky white beard falling down to his chest. Grinning peculiarly, he took a chip of wood from the table and transfigured it into a slim cane. Positioning it as he would a walking stick, he walked to up Nex.
"Young lad, let an old man pass would you?"
"Why of course, I would not deny an old man his pastimes."
.-.-.
April 17th, 1992
Varying lengths of paper lay before Aldrych, as he scribbled away on them. Shapes such as circles could be seen on them, with a multitude of numbers scattered around. Spellcraft is a field of magic that was invented jointly with the discovery of wandcraft. Utilizing a mix of Arithmancy and Weaving, one can create a certain resonation to the magical core to form a desired effect through a foci.
"Aguamenti is a fairly simple spell – though even then, I'm having trouble calibrating the effects," Aldrych glanced at Nex for a moment, "Changing the tint of the water would be a mix of the Color-Changing Charm and the Aguamenti charm, but I'm missing something."
Nex chucked for a moment, then arched his claw and a few of the numbers shifted.
"Ah… well that makes more sense, though aren't I supposed to learn this on my own," Aldrych asked cheekily.
"There is no harm with asking for aid, you were stuck and now you are free to move on. Letting you struggle on your own simply wastes time when you would find the same conclusion anyway, though most times there is no aid to be found."
Nodding, Aldrych returned his focus on the paper. After examining it a few more moments he took out his wand and began weaving the additions onto the charm. Finished he pointed the tip into an empty cup, intoning "Puniceus Aguamenti"; causing a jet of violet-tinted water to pour the cup. Putting the cup to his lips, he took a sip and swirled it around for tasting purposes.
"Ah finally, it doesn't taste like some strange assortment of paint anymore," he said in a satisfied voice, "All shall bow before my color-tinted water."
"Yes Master, I can imagine the look on your opponent's face when you hit them with pink water."
"A look of pure terror, yes?"
.-.-.
August 22nd, 1992
Flames of green hue flickered softly in midair as Aldrych examined the Griffin's Ruby. Bringing it up closer to his eyes, he examined the mark on the glinting ruby. It was a griffin, with the Potter seal next to it. The insides of the ruby seemed to shimmer slowly, almost unnoticeably like a slow moving river of magma. Re-reading the instructions, he put it in his left hand and closed his fingers over it.
Sending a small wave of magic through his arm, upon reaching his palm the ruby began to resonate. After a few moments it began to melt slowly, turning into sludge like form. Aldrych could feel it wrapping around his bones, when suddenly it began to solidify. His hand felt like it was just dropped in boiling water, as it quickly began to redden. Compared to his previous training, it felt mild-tempered instead of mind-splitting pain.
The feeling began to subside slowly, eventually stopping completely. Aldrych experimentally tried a few motions with his hand to feel the mobility. It felt quite similar to his previous version, if only a bit more coarse.
"I can feel it humming in tune with my magic," he stated to himself in a pleased voice, "Well time to test it out."
Taking it his wand he touched his palm with it, incanting "Bombarda." Feeling the magic flowing through his wand arm, he replicated the same magic and sent it through his new foci. Exiting at almost the same time the two spells meshed together, speeding off into the slab of stone in front of Aldrych.
An explosion sounded off, throwing debris around the room, peppering him with tiny bits of rock.
"Powerful indeed…" Aldrych exclaimed as he repaired the slate.
.-.-.
November 24th, 1992
A slight breeze woke Aldrych out of his ruminations as the sound of something falling followed it.
"Nex you have returned, and you have brought the – test subject on which I can practice my Legilimency on," he stated, "Where did you find him?"
"In an alley in one of the mundane cities, he has the look of a violent human with a strong stench of alcohol. In short, not a person many would miss."
"Alright then, let's wake him up."
Suffusing his hand with kinetic energy, he delivered the equivalent of a smack to the thug's head. Stirring, the thug groaned a little and started to stand up shakily. The stench of alcohol hit Aldrych in a matter of moments, causing him to put on a look of disgust.
"What a horrible stench, you need a deterrent for that," he said while intoning "Scourgify"; causing the thug's mouth to be filled with soap.
Hacking and coughing out of confusion, he took out his knife and brandished it in front of him.
"Stay where ya are chap, before I gut ya like a fish."
Aldrych looked amusedly at him. "You bring a knife to a magic fight, shall I begin clapping?"
The thug stared in confusion until he felt his knife being wrenched from his hands and thrown across the room.
"Now enough with the distractions, I have practice to start," Aldrych stated before lifting the thug off the ground and holding him in midair.
Holding both of his eyes open with his magic Aldrych whispered, "Legilimens"; launching his consciousness straight into the mind before him. A veritable ocean lay before him, except instead of water it was filled with a highly dense liquid. Flitting thoughts whirled by his perception, beginning to grow more chaotic by the moment. Starting to feel disoriented, he let off the mental equivalent of a sonic boom, stunning the thoughts into a paralytic state. Sensing the now frozen sheds of thoughts, Aldrych began to move toward the recent memories, which were the most preserved and easily understandable.
Finding a random one, he began to reach out toward it, grabbing it with psychokinetic tendrils. Thoughts began to pass through his consciousness, as the memory began sending out details in an almost cinema-like progression.
Aldrych found himself looking through another's eyes, reddish bricks on either side of him as he stared deadpan at a woman walking. Soft clicks of a heel resounded off through the darkened alley, as the woman began to move closer and closer toward him. A few more soft clicks and he saw her straight in front of himself. Launching himself out in front of her, he brandished his knife and found his mouth begin to speak.
"Hello there lass, think I can have a look at that purse of yours?"
The woman gasped loudly when she saw him jump out of the shadows, and began backing away.
"Dontcha try to escape lass, I can throw a knife mighty well. Hand over the purse and mayhaps we can get through this easily."
The woman began to shiver slightly, as she let out a stuttering reply.
"You can have the purse, just let me go."
She threw her purse at him, as he caught it deftly in the air and began to rummage through it. A few random bills and some cosmetic products grazed his hand, when he heard the women begin to back away.
"Now lass did I say we were finished here, you can leave when I be saying you can leave."
He looked at her body, the slight swell on her bosom and her pretty face. Aldrych felt his legs begin to move toward her, and the rise of his own heartbeat.
"Mighty pretty you are, fine lass if I've ever seen one," he murmured while grinning lecherously, "We can have quite the fun time, you and I. What do you say lassie?"
The woman began to let out stuttering denials as she began to back-step faster. Aldrych felt his steps begin to speed up, until he caught the women firmly by the waist. Smelling her fine perfume, he began to slowly caress her body as she shivered under him, trying to pull away.
Aldrych was intrigued by the great detail of the memory, but began to feel disgusted at the lust he could sense the thug feeling. Ripping his consciousness from the scene, he decided to practice the more offensive aspects of Legilimency. Releasing a few more of the psychic pulses, though in a greater magnitude, Aldrych started tearing the memories he saw apart. Lights began to flicker out and he heard a splitting wail break throughout the mindscape.
Shifting throughout the mindscape of the thug randomly, he performed various actions on the memories he found in his path. How long he did so he knew not, but the mindscape eventually began to look more like a barren scarred wasteland, than the ambivalent ocean he saw before. Retracting his consciousness from the mind of the thug, he began to regain his physical senses, opening him to the shrieks of the thug whose mind he just flayed apart.
Grasping the thug's head with his kinetic power, he wrenched it sideways hearing a resounding crack. The shrieks died down as the spinal cord was shattered.
"An intriguing experience Nex, even with the less than pleasant memories I found inside his mind. A few more of these sessions and I'll have a much larger rudimentary knowledge of the offensive mind arts."
Nex motioned with his claw and answered, "Of course Master, finding more would be quite simple. There isn't a shortage on these kinds of humans."
.-.-.
March 3rd, 1993
"Is there a notable difference between shifting and apparating?"
"Shifting is a strictly necromantic ability as you quite literally will your soul to move to a different location, bringing along your body with it. Apparition sends a resonation through the material plane, bending space-time to transport the user to a desired location. Both are tricky and dangerous to pull off, but Necromancers prefer shifting since much less beings know about it, adding points to security and infiltration. It may take a while to become fully accustomed to the feeling, though after time it will become a routine occurrence."
Aldrych nodded and asked for some advice.
"Concentrate upon your soul, and picture a desired location. Force your soul to the desired location through sheer power of will, and it will drag your body along with it. With practice one can use this in battle effectively, as you will be able to move through the battlefield quickly and agilely."
Aldrych focused, locating his soul's resonation. Latching onto the shimmering white orb, he projected an image of the location in front of him and willed it to move there. Seeing it disappear, he felt a large wrench on his being and opened his eyes only to hit the wall face first on the opposite side of the room.
"This is ridiculous, I can do most magics quite effectively, but when it comes to transportation I always botch up somehow," Aldrych ranted as he glanced at Nex who had a small quirk on his spectral mouth line, "Very amusing Nex, but I dislike crashing into solid objects."
"Happens on every first time Master, shifting isn't as accurate if you don't have proper practice with it first. The propulsion of your body can exceed beyond your needed level – causing you to hit the first object on your trajectory."
Nex motioned to Aldrych and disappeared in a wispy splash of spoke, reappearing on the other side of the room. Immediately after, he shifted again without stopping and again after that, showing Aldrych the finesse of mastered shifting.
"Shades are quite the show-offs," Aldrych said amusedly, "However; yes I do see what you mean by momentum."
.-.-.
August 28th, 1993
A breezy wind carried a flowery scent as it whistled across Aldrych's senses. He was lying down on a patch of grass, out in the gardens of Potter manor, gazing up aimlessly at the night sky. Various constellations and random balls of light littered the cosmos, as they sat unmoving with the livelihood of stone. Taking the small tome by his side, Aldrych perused a few more of the contents and turned to Nex beside him.
"Hmm, I do wonder why the magical world has never bothered to visit the vast cosmos. The mundane have already started various researchers into space and the workings of the universe… even lifted quite a few shuttles to explore it."
Molten silver eyes shifted strangely as if retrieving a memory.
"It was tried many times before, but since magic would work differently outside of the planet, most who tried never returned. Others came back in a tattered mess, barely able to rekindle any tales of their experience. Though this is from my knowledge of Ignotus which was several hundred years ago, by this time perhaps someone has figured out a way."
Aldrych turned back to the skies, returning back to his ruminations.
.-.-.
May 19th, 1994
"The Unforgivable Curses, aptly named of course," Aldrych said while smirking amusedly, "These three curses have been the plague of magical Britain for quite a while."
Turning a few pages in the tome he had beside him, he read out loud the first one.
"The Imperius Curse, a spell which implants the conscious thoughts of the caster directly into the subconscious of the victim. It is the most useful in my opinion, though it can be denied by a sufficiently powerful will."
Nex replied in his usual tone, "Rightly so, but the vast majority is susceptible to this spell… giving it many opportunities."
Aldrych nodded and leafed over to the next curse.
"The Cruciatus, a torture spell which sends out a malevolent wave of magic directly into the victim's nerves. The sheer amount of magic overloads and fries the nerve cores, causing excruciating amounts of pain," Aldrych pondered for a moment, "It has it uses, but as you thought me earlier – damage to one's soul is a far greater and otherworldly pain. That is the specialty of a necromancer."
Skimming to the final section of the tome, Aldrych began to read aloud once again.
"The Killing Curse, a spell which twists the regular magic of a wizard into a strange form of necromantic energy. It is one of few spells which lets non-necromancers experiment with soul energy. When used on a being with a soul, it rips the link between body and spirit into shreds, releasing the spirit to move onto the Soul Plane… Useful for any wizard, but for a necromancer it is rudimentary magic."
"Most likely designed by a necromancer and given to a wizard for a sufficient payment. Regardless, the most useful to learn for you with be the Imperius."
Aldrych nodded minutely and began to gather the various creatures he brought.
"I brought several beings with small minds to practice with first… a few spiders, a bird, and a fox," He looked around for a moment than turned back to Nex, "Did you acquire a human to practice on afterwards? A human mind is far more complex to control."
A spectral nod preceded a smoky shimmer and a male human appeared on the ground, fast asleep.
Taking out his wand, Aldrych retrieved the spiders and set them on the table in front of him. Focusing his magic, he intoned "Imperio"; causing bluish smoke to creep towards the first spider. Upon reaching the small spider, it shivered for a moment and the smoke collapsed. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Aldrych recanted the curse, forcing more will upon it this time around. When the smoky tendrils reached the spider a second time, it wrapped itself around it fully, forcing the arachnid into a rigid state.
Focusing his concentration into the shaky link, the smoky tendrils became more pronounced and the spider started to lose its rigidness. Sending a few random thoughts through the link, the arachnid twitched and reacted to each one. Conjuring a command of will, Aldrych sent the thought through the link, causing the spider to react immediately and start crawling across the table. Aldrych let a satisfied smile appear on his lips, proceeding to put more will into his commands. The moment the new commands reached the arachnid, it gave a weak twitch and fell over on its back, dead.
Startled at the sudden death, Aldrych broke off the spell and turned to Nex who was observing silently.
"Master you must be more careful; the tome states that a perfect balance must be maintained over your will. If too little is put, the spell would do little more than confuse the recipient. If too much is put in, the recipient's subconscious could be overloaded causing the mind to shatter. The weaker the being, the lower the requirements for needed willpower."
Aldrych nodded resolutely and continued to experiment on the arachnids, then after proceeding to move on to the birds and the fox.
Finishing the last command for the fox, he released the hold over it and turned to Nex once more, "I am ready to begin practice on the human, unbind him."
Nex acquiesced, releasing the ghostly bonds and awakening the man. Sleepy eyes began to open, but before the awakening person had a chance to look around, Aldrych already incanted the curse. Smoky blue tendrils burst out of the wand tip, and locked tightly around the recipient's head. Aldrych felt the link begin to strengthen, and various thoughts began to filter in and out.
Rekindling his will, he launched his assault upon the sleepy and unprotected mind, easily forcing it into subservience. Aldrych could still feel the slight resistance, but in a matter of moments it crumbled away, leaving an eerie silence and submission. Forming commands once more, he continued to practice all throughout the evening, determined to master the difficult curse.
.-.-.
September 22nd, 1994
Aldrych quietly sipped a glass of pear juice as he read the contents of the Daily Prophet.
Triwizard Tournament Announced
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has recently announced after much speculation that the Triwizard Tournament would indeed be held in Hogwarts. Three schools of magic will be competing in the tournament, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Durmstrang Institute, and of course our very own Hogwarts. The tournament itself was discontinued in 1793 after the event of 1972 when a Cockatrice caused many casualties to both the competitors and those in the vicinity. Both the Headmaster and the Minister promise that all precautions will be held to account, and that the tournament itself will be less dangerous than before.
The First Task will be held on November 24th, and all who are interested are invited to join. Seats must first be held to account with the Department of Magical Games and Sports. More information on that will be held in the next section.
Looking up from the newspaper, Aldrych gazed into a random area while his thoughts began working out a plan.
"I think I found exactly the opening that was needed," he mentioned as he levitated the paper in front of the shade.
Molten eyes gazed over the article shimmering silently until a spectral tone sounded off, "Yes, this is an interesting opportunity. Master, you will have the element of surprise over the headmaster, however in terms of spell lore and experience he still far outranks you… I have taught you all that Ignotus left me, and now it is time to reveal the last bit of information that I was ordered to save."
A confused expression filtered across Aldrych's features, but it turned back into quiet contemplation as he motioned to Nex.
"Ignotus had not only infused his magic and knowledge into my core, but a piece of his very soul as well. It is not unlike a Horcrux; however it is far more advanced and precise. Ignotus had not ripped away a piece of his soul, merely separated it until a time when it would be recalled back to him. The seals in the vault beneath Gringotts, held the piece of the soul embedded to my core... now though with nothing anchoring it, the soul piece is attempting to return back to its Master soul in the Soul Plane."
An indiscernible expression clouded Aldrych's features, as he responded in a strange voice, "So our time is at an end, and my tutelage is complete."
"So to say, yes that is what has happened."
The clouded expression lifted off from Aldrych, and he sighed, "I understand – all things must come to an end."
A peculiar pleased expression formed on Nex's spectral mouth line.
"Now, since that is through Master, I propose a final duel. Unlike the times we practiced this will be a chance for you to try your all and I will do the same… It is better this way, as I will only have the power to do so for only a few days, and then I will begin losing my ability of speech and thought afterwards."
Aldrych thought for a bit than let a smirk form, "Agreed Nex, let us have a last duel."
Both shifted into the Manor grounds, leaving behind smoky mist in their wake. Aldrych had transfigured several different environmental obstacles such as large boulders and broken logs around the vicinity. Rays of sunlight filtered through the leafy enclosure of the trees which had begun to yellow slightly. The combatants turned to each other, conjuring globes of shimmering energy above them. At the exact same time both of the shimmering globes gorged outwards, covering the field in smoky magic, signaling the start of the duel.
Nex had disappeared immediately while Aldrych began to conjure a volatile necromantic field. The reverberating energy extended outwards revealing the location of the shade. Nex swiped at Aldrych who shifted away to the other side of the field, narrowly escaping. Nex followed him shortly afterwards, expulsing loose waves of smoky tendrils. A few grazed through Aldrych, causing short bursts phantasmal pain. Summoning his magic into the Griffin's Ruby, he shot off several bombarding spells into the ground around him, throwing debris into the air. Shortly afterwards, he called up his telekinetic power to create a cocoon out of the debris.
As the debris shielded Aldrych from the view of the shade, he began to conjure an expanding sphere of harmful soul energy. Releasing the globe upwards, he shifted out of the field of debris, pummeling into the pond in the vicinity. Casting a bubble charm around his head to allow him respiration, he waited silently until the sphere detonated. A breeze dispersed outwards, rippling the lake and informing Aldrych of the spell's success. Moments later a spectral globe collided into his side causing him to gasp out in pain. Hastily steeling his nerves, he shifted out of the water to find Nex floating above the ground, willowy marks on his ethereal outline.
The necromancer let out a yell of pain, as a spectral claw phased through him, protruding out from his chest. The shade in front of Aldrych dispersed into smoke with a quirk of its lips. Gritting his teeth at the pain, he summoned all of the residual necromantic energy floating freely in the field, to converge within him. Waves of power exploded outwards, knocking both the shade and the necromancer off balance. Reacting quickly, Aldrych shifted once and twice, appearing behind Nex and shrouding his hands with cyan gel-like energy. Lodging them into the recuperating body of the shade, he wrenched his hands apart inflicting the shade with a fatal wound.
Nex looked down at the ghostly gash, and bowed to Aldrych as best he could.
"An intriguing duel Master, you have surely passed your tutelage."
With the last word intoned, Nex began to shimmer out as a smoky miniscule globe of light sped out of the collapsing body. It lifted itself into the air, and proceeded to start transporting itself to the Soul Plane. An ethereal wind blew from the soul piece covering Aldrych's body in pleasing energy, rejuvenating his wounds. His features shifted into an understanding smile as he gazed upon the slowly retreating soul.
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