FicWad

The last couple of chapters have been some of the fastest out since I started this story, and hopefully I can keep it up. I know, the already slow story is slowing down more, but I can't help it. A new element may pop up here shortly, a couple actually. Got the idea from a movie I was watching and saying the movie would give too much away. Hope the confrontation was up to specs.
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Last Time...
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Other styles are covered in this book, but that is all I will say here as it is the best in our line of work. Once an adequate understanding of breaking into someone's mind is understood and some skill achieved, the next step is creating false memories and distinguishing the memories of others.
Seraph put the book down. He needed to wait for the other two to get to his point before he could really try Legilimencey. Using Dobby briefly crossed his mind, but was discarded when he realized he did not want to know what was in the elf's little head. He would need a victim, a Death Eater preferably, but one of those idiots trying to sell him Bliss would do just as good. Maybe he would test out his Shadow Walking tomorrow.
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Chapter 16: Mind Games and Transformations

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Seraph thought about it for a moment. He had several hours until he needed to really do anything and he wanted to practice the art. He felt that out of all the things that he would learn, this was one of the most important ones. He checked his watch and saw that he had almost six hours until he needed to do the next step of the potion. He contemplated taking Cheleb with him, but he would be in the way. He gathered his gear, boots, mesh pants, vest, blades, holsters, glasses, tinted black this time and nothing else. He wanted to leave his cloak so that he would not look so suspicious and grabbed an old Hogwarts cloak instead, after tearing off the house patch first. Should he be seen, something that he would like to avoid if at all possible, they would take him for a local hired thug instead of some sort of assassin. He steadied himself; he had not attempted this yet as a human. He looked behind him and saw his shadow, dark but small in the light. He took a step back, willing himself into the shadows and felt his foot sink below the floor. The other leg was next and he slowly sunk into the quickly diminishing shadow.

'Not to self, using ones shadow is not a good idea, not yet anyway. Must learn how to enter and exit faster.' He thought to himself as he was lowered into the dark realm. Once he learned how to apparate he would try it here, unless one of the books said that he could not do it for some reason. Moving fast was nice, but traveling longer distances would be better suited to that form of travel and it would be great if he could incorporate the two. A few minutes later he was in the slums again, still unseen. The place was so dark and dirty that he could have easily stepped out of the darkness in the middle of the street as he could a shadow. He pulled the slightly worn hood up and exited the shadow realm behind a pair of hags that had just exited a building. Walking around, he was accosted by a number of characters, none of which suited his needs. He was going to settle for the same Bliss Head that he had thrown into a wall earlier when as luck would have it, he found a perfect -if unwilling- candidate. A Death Eater.

How did he know that the man was a Death Eater, you may ask. Well, the man must not have been particularly smart or he may have been trying to get a shop keeper to give him some better business, but the mark was seen clearly on his arm for a few moments before it was hidden, somewhat. Seraph made his way over to the shop, which was dealing in recently pawned items and took a moment to browse as he kept an eye on his mark. He was surprised to find something of interest, an old, torn, and burnt book entitled 'Creatures of the night and Myths'. He picked the book up and took it to the shop owner who was still haggling over the price of a Mimic's eyes. Seraph threw down a galleon, much more then what the book was worth, and walked out, and stood next to the door outside. The man came out with a stupid grin on his face, a small package under his arm. Seraph began to follow him. The Death Eater was about to make another stop when Seraph pulled out his wand discreetly and held it to the man's neck. He whispered 'Dormio', a sleeping spell, point blank which knocked the man out immediately and he dragged the man with him into the shadows. From the time he had taken out his wand to taking the man into the shadows nearly three seconds had passed, no one had seen anything.

Traveling with a passenger in the shadow realm was a bit more difficult but still manageable. He made it back to the 'Keep', as he had decided to call it, quickly. Now was as good a time as any to find out if there were dungeons in the basement and he went down there and exited the shadow realm. He was sure it was pitch black down here but it looked like really low light to him. They were dungeons; sullied cells lined grubby the walls, nearly forty to a side. Chains and other instruments were found along the walls and in boxes outside of the cells. A hole in the corner of the cells made for a crude toilet. It was cold down here and straw made up the beds and thin sheets for blankets. How the chains, sheets, straw, and other numerous things had survived the years of neglect, Seraph did not know. He opened one of the cells and chained the man to the wall, noticing that they seemed to have a self oiling enchantment placed on them. A seat was next to the wall and the man slumped into it, still asleep. Seraph sat in a seat as well and summoned any items he had on him (the small package and a wand) and banished the man's clothes before he woke the man up.

"Wha? Where am I?" The man asked in a bit of a panic. Waking up naked chained to a wall would freak anyone one out. Seraph threw the sheet that was in the cell at him and the man regained his cool quickly, and sneered. "You had better let me go, or the Dark Lord will not be pleased."

"Right, I doubt that Riddle will give a shit about a low ranking slum rat like you." Seraph told the man.

"Riddle? I work for the Dark Lord! He will kill you, as he does any who stand in his way. And if he does not, I will kill you, slowly, painfully. You will scream for mercy and beg death for when I am through with you!" The idiot screamed and Seraph silenced him. He changed his eyes to the same reflective silver he had used on the bartender and the Malfoy's and took his shades off. The man started to shudder. The only person he had ever seen with eyes like that was the Dark Lord, only his weren't silver or reflective, but red and fiery. These eyes looked like they were made out of the actual precious metal but seemed like liquid when they moved.
"I am growing tired of this. Now, the reason you are here is for the betterment of my education, lucky you. There is a skill that I am interested in learning, but I don't have anyone to practice on." The man shuddered again, thinking of a time when he spoke out of line before the Dark Lord. "No, not the torture curse, though I suppose I will learn that one eventually as well. Hopefully you will see to that as well. No, I wish to see your mind, and if you can stop me, all the better." Seraph told him. He pulled out his wand.
"Legilimens!" He shouted, remembering what the book had told him. His new Occlumency training came into effect as he was able to have a greater concentration as he pushed all the power he could into the spell as he looked in the man's fearful eyes. Seraph understood immediately why concentration was needed as soon as his probe entered the man's mind. You could actually see the mindscape within your mind, but you saw through your own eyes at the same time. It was very confusing having your vision split between two things. Even with his concentration born from Occlumency, he doubted that he could enter someone's mind and hold a simple conversation at the same time. The power that he used sent him plowing through the man's weak defenses like they were wet paper. The man screamed as his protections were torn down from within his mind. The mind was fairly organized and Seraph began to sort through his memories, not really looking for anything. The man had begun to try and push him out, but it was more like a child trying to push an adult, Seraph did not budge. He knew what he wanted to see now.
'What would he want enemies to not know?' He concentrated as hard as he could on the thought and felt himself pulled to a small and slightly hidden group of memories. His marking, the pain (though Seraph did not feel it, the man did if his screams were anything to go by), his initiation which was killing and then raping a young girl, killing various hags for the practice, a few old Death Eater raids and a recent meeting. Seraph smirked as he watched Lucius getting tortured for not having enough money, cringe as a house-elf was blown to pieces. It seemed that Lestrange was dead. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or angered at this information. Neville would probably be pissed though. He watched in morbid fascination as a man's skin was peeled away, then his muscles, his bones broken and his intestines fall out over the floor. He decided that he had enough looking through these memories for the moment and pulled out.
He felt a bit disoriented for a moment, maybe a bit tired, but otherwise fine. The man, named Bog, was another matter entirely. If it wasn't for the chains he would be sprawled out on the ground. Instead the man was clutching his head, tears streaming down his face, mouth open as if in a silent scream, which Seraph realized was a silenced scream as the charm was still on him. He was not sure how long he had been in the man's mind, but he still had close to five hours left before the potion needed the next step, so he took out the 'Ritual' book and began to read in his study, noting that the other two were still in a deep trance. Several hours later he had done the next step of the potion and was engrossed in the ritual book. He felt very light headed from the reading though, because as he would read, his affinity for rituals and runes would give him more information on things in the book and make everything very clear. It was worth the slight headache though, as he knew that he would probably never need to read or relearn the material in the book once he was done with it due to his Occlumency, which along with everything else, made remembering permanent and easy. Rituals were about a sacrifice for a gain. Bigger the sacrifice, the bigger the gain, or at least that is what you hope. Every ritual was different, and sometimes could be done in variations, like doing to rituals of a three ritual set together. It made the set a little bit stronger, though there was much more pain involved. Blood runes were sometimes needed to be placed at places on the body through Ritual blades, which charged the body with rune magic at the cost of blood. Druidic, Runic, Ancient Egyptian, and even Grimtongue could be used in the ritual to draw out the magic of one's self and the chamber. Grimtongue was incorporated into some of the rituals to insure that no one but a Black or member of the Guild could do it. The chants directed the ritual and were usually only used in rituals involving life sacrifice. Other runes were to be drawn in magic, sometimes blood, or sometimes potions around the body to either protect the room or reduce magical backlash. Sometimes runes made from potions were connected to runes on the body and magic was transferred from one to the other. The more advanced rituals could last days, no food or drink with heavy blood loss and extreme fatigue, making them very difficult.
The potion had just been completed when Draco broke out of his self induced trance. He threw up on the floor and quickly cleaned it up.
"Had fun?" Seraph asked, only to receive a glare. "Be happy, the potion is done." Draco did brighten a little at the prospect of becoming an Animagus, but he still looked sick.
"How far did you get?" Seraph asked as he bottled two doses and went to wake up Neville.
"I'm done, I think. Took a while, but it was easy, once I got past a few...things." Draco said. Seraph nodded and looked directly into his eyes as he handed him a dose. The probe slipped into Draco's mind with a little more difficulty then it had with the prisoner. Had Draco been better at detecting mind intrusions, he would have immediately felt the probe, but he was not and did not feel it. Seraph looked around, making sure he did not appear distracted to Draco as he asked him what he thought the name of his form was. Draco's mindscape was a large and open forest, not unlike his, just different a bit brighter and the trees were thinner. A cloudless sky was above and the sun was setting. 'What does he not want me to know?' Was the probe's quest after he took stock of the mindscape. He felt a slight pull towards the woods and he followed it until he reached the tree line. A shadow was cast by the tree and he pushed himself through it. It was like pushing through quick sand, but he made it inside of the shadow and continued to follow the source of the pull. He quickly came to a large castle in a deep valley. A large moat surrounded the castle and the start of what could have been the groundwork for some protective wards. He slipped in through a shadow from the inside. There were many different doors that were labeled one thing or another but he followed the pull to a large set of double doors labeled 'Father'. He exited the shadows and opened the door slightly and walked in. Like wizard portraits he saw the memories playing out in front of him. One in particular caught his eye; it was of Lucius hitting Draco with the Cruciatus and an advanced bludgeoning curse. It changed into a small Draco being beaten for losing to another boy in a dueling tournament that took place out of the country some time ago. If he had touched the memory he was sure that Draco would feel it and he decided to pull out of Draco's mind.
Seraph was amazed at how fast he found what he was looking for when he realized that Draco was answering him.
"... know, some sort of wolf though." Seraph nodded and pulled out the book he had gotten earlier.
"Hopefully both of your forms will be in here." Seraph told him as he handed him the book and Neville a dose. "And you're not done, Draco."
"What do you mean?" Draco asked as he dripped the blood into his goblet.
"Your mind, it needs better protection. Nice castle though, very Hogwarts." He told the pale boy who was going paler.
"You were in my mind?!" He demanded.
"Yes, you said you were done, so I wanted to test your mind. I'm not very good, but I was able to get through and find your castle, take a look around, and get out without you knowing."
"But, no wand, or incantation..." The boy said.
"No, there wasn't. They help in gathering power for an intrusion, but they are not always needed. If you want to be technical, I suppose that the eyes are used as a focus. And it is not advisable to tell someone that you are about to invade their mind if you want to find anything. What I did was just a style of Legilimencey, a very efficient style." Seraph told him. "And don't worry; I doubt I was the first one to be in your mind without your knowing. Hogwarts' Headmaster and the Potions master are both masters of the arts." Seraph told him, and both Neville and Draco paled a bit further.
"But enough of that. Here, drink." He commanded. Neville dripped the blood into his goblet and drank as Draco took a large gulp of the potion. At first, nothing happened, but after a few moments, Neville's hair began to lengthen further and turn a dark brown before it went green. Draco's platinum hair grew a bit thicker and turned a bit more grey and silver before a muzzle shot out of his face. Neville' hair continued to grow and become wilder with each passing moment and his legs began to change. Large bear like paws grew from his hands and his legs and arms took on a greenish hue. Neville fell down around this time and hit his large nose on the floor. Draco's skin began to sprout short, thick silvery hair that took the place of his clothing as he too fell, his back elongating and changing rapidly. Neville let out a barking roar as a long tail sprouted out of his nearly completed form as Draco stood up on his newly acquired legs. The last thing to change on Draco was his eyes. The silvery grey eyes that the boy had slowly turned a deep pitch black. The black spread until it covered his entire eye. The black took on a glazed, icy look as a small swirl began to appear in the center. The blue vortex had a center point and two swirling arms, making it look a whirlwind.
The transformed Neville and Draco looked at each other. Neville did look like a lion from the wild mane, but the body was that of a dog, not unlike the grim and similar in size. If Seraph had to hazard a guess, he would say that it was another product of the Guild. Draco looked like a very large dark silver wolf, and while not nearly as large as Neville, he looked like an animal you hope to never see. The wolves eyes seemed to glow for a moment and it turned around in time to see a small green dog pop into existence. Draco began to growl and Seraph quickly turned into a grim and jumped in between the two. Draco stared into Seraph's eyes in a challenging way while Neville watched the by play intently. By nature they were all alphas, and Draco was challenging Seraph for the position. Neville walked behind Seraph and sat on his large haunches, choosing a side. Draco did not seem to get the hint and Seraph lowered his shoulders and spiked the hair on the back of his neck, making him look larger then he was and growled deeply. The growl was not very loud, but was deep enough to shake the room and Draco backed down by taking a single step back. The meaning was clear though, especially to the canine part of their personalities; this was not over. It was at that point that Draco collapsed and returned to his human form. The boy had changed a bit, his hair was longer and now the same dark silver as his animal form and he had gained noticeable muscle mass.
"How does it feel?" Seraph asked Neville. Neville stood up and inspected a paw. Now that Seraph could see it better the paw looked more feline in nature then canine. Large black claws extended from the paw and Neville took an experimental swipe. Satisfied with his claws, the green animal braced itself and let out a might roar that held a growling undertone. Neville smiled before answering.
"Perfect..." He managed to say before he too collapsed. After Neville had collapsed, Seraph inspected his own paws for the first time and noticed that his too looked feline, from the bottom at least. He flexed the appendage and was a little surprised when he saw large silver six inch claws spring from the padding of his paw. They looked like blades, actually, and Seraph wondered how he could not have noticed them before. He vowed that he would learn to use them properly though.
Of anyone, Seraph and Draco and Neville, Neville had the most noticeable change. His hair, which had been slightly long, had grown to past bottom of his neck, and was just as wild as his animal's mane. The light brown that it was before had grown darker to a muddy brown with deep green highlights. His face sported a very short but shaggy looking beard. Whatever his animal was, it was obviously strong as the slightly chubby boy's fat turned into muscle, and then some, making him look bigger then Seraph. The teen looked like a beast and Seraph knew that Hogwarts would not recognize him as the meek and chubby boy he was before summer, hell, before three days ago. Dobby and Winky put the two passed out boys in their beds and Seraph went to sleep himself.
The next morning dawned and Seraph got up early and had a swim in his pond, thinking that a ritual to allow him to breathe underwater might be useful. He got out after a while and headed down for breakfast to find Draco already awake and eating and Neville coming in behind him. Neville was nearly bouncing in his seat and Draco, Draco was Draco, only he wanted a good steak this morning.
"What's gotten you in such a mood, Longbottom?" Draco asked. His tone was not condescending, just drawling. Seraph looked up and noticed that the boy's pupils had the same swirling pattern to them that his Animagus form did. It was not extremely noticeable as they stayed the same color, but it was there nonetheless.
"I need to run, I need to lift, do something. Seraph, you can fight, when will you teach us?" Neville asked, taking a break from eating.
"Depends on how much your transformation changed you. If you can run for a few miles then your endurance should be enough. Strength is useful in fighting, but not absolutely necessary, so you can still lift, though I'm not sure if you're going to need to anymore. I've got some dummies that will teach us how to fight correctly. I have a certain... knack for it, so I may learn easier and can help you two if you need it." Seraph told them. They finished breakfast quickly after that and headed towards the 'Ghost Room'. The first thing that Neville did was to go to the weights. He sat under the bench that Seraph had used the day before and lifted. The bar barely resisted before the weight was lifted, again, and again and finally he threw the weight up into the air and caught it. Neville got up and grinned.
"Looks like I have that covered." He told them. Seraph just shook his head.
"Let's race." Draco said suddenly. The other two nodded and got into position. Seraph counted to three and they ran. Neville kept up with the other two for about a mile but then began to slow down and eventually dropped out of the little race. Draco and Seraph held strong though, neck to neck.
"Your pretty fast, Draco." Seraph told the person running next to him, but then grinned. "But I'm still faster." He told him and pushed himself harder. If Draco had ever seen a car in fourth gear peel out into fifth, or a jet put on its afterburners, then that is what he would have described as happening. But he had never seen those things. Draco let out a feral growl and ran as fast as he could, catching up to Seraph after a minute, but the Black was still ahead. In mid stride Draco turned into his wolf and blasted past Seraph on four legs. Seraph tried to run faster, but he wasn't a match for the wolf and only caught up to him when they had to stop or hit the wall.
"Think you got me beat?" Seraph asked Draco, who growled an affirmative. "Let's see how you feel on the way back." Seraph said as he turned into a grim. Draco did not look perturbed by the change, if anything he looked more confident. How could such a large animal move faster then him? There was no countdown this time. Seraph simply said 'Go'. Draco's form was fast, very fast. As a matter of fact, if the Grim did not have the aid of the partial shadow realm, the wolf would indeed be faster. But Seraph did have the shadow realm to help and smoked the wolf Animagus from the first word.
The two slid to a stop in front of the weight machines and changed back.
"What the hell? How are you faster then me?" Draco asked in disbelief. His form was fast, unnaturally so, and the animal knew it and used it at every opportunity. To be beaten by the alpha in an informal challenge bothered him.
"Just am, perks of the form, just like yours. You'll get faster if you train, we all will. The dummies are over here, come on." Seraph said, pointing the things out.
"Okay," Seraph started when they reached the human looking dummies. Knowing how Vulcan seemed to make everything about the dummies thorough, he was sure that the dummies were anatomically correct and was glad that he did not have to cover the things up himself. "These are dummies. Animated human like things that can be programmed for various tasks like fighting, protection, teaching, you get the picture. These, unlike others if you have ever seen them, are life like in every way besides actually being alive. They can breathe, talk, though it is very limited, probably eat too. The most important thing about them, besides the programming, is that their structures are that of a human, every bone, organ and blood vessel. This means that we can practice on these dummies and see the actual effects of the human body without severing someone's limb or burning someone to practice you're healing-" Seraph was interrupted by Neville.
"So that's how you did it..." But he trailed off at the look Seraph gave him. Draco looked at them oddly but did not comment. Seraph continued.
"They are set for weapons, spell, and martial combat. Hit them a couple of times and it will gauge your strength and work up to your skill level and should settle to just above yours. Its spell knowledge is limited right now but its combat should be very good. Pick one and let's start." Seraph told them after he finished explaining. The boys levitated their chosen dummy out to the field and spread out.
Seraph stood his dummy up and looked at it. "Vulcan never said how to start the thing." He thought out loud. The dummy that he had used the last time was already activated. The dummy came to life as he said 'start' and took position. Seraph punched it as hard as he could in the chest and the dummy slid back a few feet, leaving a trail to where it stopped. It did not fall though and walk back to in front of Seraph. He dropped into a natural position and gave the dummy as hard and as fast a kick to its head as he could. The dummies jaw hung loose after that but it did not move any more then that. Seraph was about to hit it again when it got into the same position Seraph was in.
It made the first move, a punch to his head which Seraph dodged without any trouble. The next punch came faster, followed by a kick to the side, both of which Seraph barely dodged and gave a punch to the side in retaliation. The dummy started to move faster after that, giving one or two punch and kick combos until Seraph could not dodge them any more and had to block them or jump back a bit. He saw the moves coming at him, and he knew what they were, what they were supposed to do, and where they were supposed to hit and the information started flooding his brain. Unrelated knowledge on different katas and fighting forms battled for his concentration. Even with this new found knowledge, he was barely avoiding being hit and was only able to give a couple in return. He jumped back and concentrated on the dummy, looking for the colored lines and spots that appeared on the body to help him, and they appeared, though it was very weak. He let out a primal growl as the world slowed down around him and he charged. His first two hits were blocked, but a kick to the knee sounded like he shattered its knee cap and it moved slower, barely. Evidently pain was not a factor for this thing. He threw a punch to the head that was blocked and received the other knee to his chest which sent him sprawling back. A couple of ribs felt like they were broken. He continued on through the pain, and jumped up, landing a powerful kick to its head that he was able to use as a platform to jump off of and managed to land on his feet, nearly ten feet away. The hit knocked the dummy's head into the ground harshly, making a small crater. The dummy got up, a bit slower this time, and came after him. Seraph was in pain now and had had enough. He watched the thing come after him as if in slow motion and blocked a punch, grabbed its fist and spun it around and punched the small of its back with as much force as he could. From what he could see, the lines in its back flashed red and turned black. It fell to the ground and did not move. Well, its neck tried to move, but that was about it.
Seraph just stared at the thing as time sped up, and the pain he felt in his ribs nearly doubled, as well as a multitude of bruises, cuts, and scrapes that he had not felt when fighting. The other two joined him a few minutes later and looked at the dummy as well.
"What did you do to it?" Neville asked, his now gruffer voice ringing oddly across the field. He sported a black eye, a limp, and what looked like a broken arm.
"Looks dead." Draco commented. Draco looked like he came out of a fight with a cat for all of the cuts he had across his face. The boy spat out some blood and nursed his arm as he stared at the thing.
"I think I paralyzed it. I punched it in the lower back and I think I broke its spine. Instant quadriplegic." Seraph told them. "How did you guys get them to stop?" Seraph asked.
"I broke its legs." Neville said proudly. "I think that their bodies are attuned to our strength as well because I should have torn its legs off with how hard I hit them." Neville told them. Draco nodded.
"I told it to stop." Draco said simply and Seraph could have hit himself. Dobby popped in at that moment and nearly passed out at the sight of them and popped out, promising to bring his water and Winky, as she could heal better then him. A few moments later the two were back and the three boys were made to lie on the ground. Winky tended to Seraph first, and he found out that the rib had nearly punctured a lung and got his various other cuts taken care of. Neville did have a broken arm, as well as a dislocated shoulder and a severe bruise on one leg. Draco had a broken nose, jaw, arm, and some internal bleeding which took the longest to heal out of all of them. The dummies were tended to as well. Draco's had a cracked skull, and while not necessarily fatal, it would have been excruciatingly painful. Neville's did indeed have two broken legs, well, more like pulverized legs as the bones had been broken several times. Seraph's had a broken spinal chord and several severed nerves which took a while to fix, as well as a cracked skull, a broken jaw, broken knee cap, and a fractured sternum. Winky was exhausted by the time she was done.
"Well, that was fun." Seraph commented as they made their way to his study.
"Sweet Merlin, Black, how the hell do you call that fun?" Draco asked.
"Ever heard the saying 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'? Well, you learn from whatever you survive, and hopefully your opponent won't have learned the lesson and you can take them down. The two of you were just winging it, like being thrown into a fight. We'll set them to teaching mode the next time." Seraph said.
"What about you, Seraph. I saw you fighting for a few moments, you were blow for blow. It was hard to follow actually."
"I did okay, I think. It was hard to concentrate on the fight when I was being forced to learn at the same time." Seraph said.
"That certain 'knack' you mentioned earlier?" Draco asked, and Seraph nodded.
"I think your right though, Neville. There must be another mode that makes it like the average human. I doubt anyone, outside of vampires and werewolves would be able to take a hit from you and not have at least a broken bone or something. It's like it expects us to be unbreakable because you hit it hard enough to kill it. I'll look into the programming later, maybe I can change some settings." Seraph told them. Neville began to meditate at once and Draco took his own version of the Occlumency book, going into a trance every once in a while to do something or other. Seraph looked through his book as well, reading over the creation of false memories and how to distinguish between real and not. Creating false memories looked simple enough, you had to make the memory with as much detail as possible. The book said that there were ways to imbue the memories with magic that made the viewer think that it was real. That magic was what a Legililemens had to see past. To a strong Legilimens, a fake memory would appear blurry and surreal. The best way to distinguish would be practice though, so he would either have to wait for the other two to reach his level or find someone very accomplished in the mind arts. He had nearly completed the book but he had not read anything about duplicating or implanting memories like Vulcan had mentioned doing to the dummies.
Over the next few days Neville broke a couple of weight machines and finished sorting his memories. Seraph put up a recognition ward and an intrusion ward. He may have overdone it as he passed out for two days after charging them. Draco had added a few defenses and decided to increase the charge gradually, as he did not want to be out for days. Seraph finished reading the information on the rituals that he wanted to do and gave the book to Draco and Neville to look at if they wanted. They both decided they wanted to do a few of the ones that Seraph planned on doing, and they all decided to add the sleep reducing ritual. When looking through the advanced book Seraph found a ritual that would allow the body to heal itself faster as well as a underwater ritual and decided he wanted to do them after the maturation ritual. There had been a slight confrontation when Draco realized that Dobby was his former house elf, but it had been resolved quickly when Dobby threatened to have Winky stop feeding him, and amazingly, it worked. Narcissa had been having her meals served in her room for nearly a week and she seemed to want to keep it that way. Seraph was sure that Draco visited her at night. The prisoner had been brought up to the study and used as practice for Legilimencey. Neville had objected to it until he took a look into the man's mind himself. After that he did not have a problem. Between them, Seraph seemed to be the strongest at it and Neville the weakest, though the boy's reluctance to invade another's mind may have held him back. Seraph had been browsing through the Archives and found out about the 'Blood Call' which acted as a sort of summons that he could use when he started the Guild up again. They would be starting the schedule that Seraph had drawn up soon.
Draco had found out that his form was called an Ancened Draug, they were animals of insight and Seraph learned why he did not get killed when fighting the dummy without any experience in fighting. Those wolves were of a mythical nature, actually of an Elfish nature, they were some of the few things left when the High Elves disappeared and sometimes called 'Seer Wolves'. They did not see the future as some thought, but they sensed things at times, like imminent danger or an opportunity, sometimes whether or not someone was trustworthy. This had transferred to his human form and he made sure to dodge any blows that he knew were coming.
Neville had found his animal as well. The creature had many names; usually called a Kemenrawhu, or an Earth Liondog. To others it was called a Terra Demon and the Green or Nature's Patronus. Unlike what Seraph thought, they were not by products of the Guild. After he learned about what they were though, he wondered if the Guild had tried to emulate the animal in their creation of the Grim. They were actually very strong and protective animals that guarded forests, rumored to have also been creatures created by the elves to protect them. They were extremely loyal to their forest and were born, lived, and died there. Besides being amazingly strong animals, they had an affinity to the earth and could help things grow. When it was needed, they could summon vines out of the earth to bind something or throw large stones at their enemies.
Seraph was working on a runes book when he was interrupted by the floo.
"Seraph, you there?" Vulcan asked.
"Yeah, what can I do for you?"
"There has been an attack, and your friend wants to speak to you."
"Send him through. I think he would be interested in the way things are going." Seraph told him. A few moments later Remus Lupin was spat out of the large hearth that was in his study. The man wore his new cloak and looked very tired. He was offered a seat and given some of Dobby's magic water, something the elf would not tell him how it was made, and Seraph was beginning to believe that maybe it should stay that way. Remus drank and thanked the elf, looking a bit more revived after it.
"So what's been going on?" Seraph asked. Remus sighed.
"Azkaban was attacked and taken. Every guard and Auror present was eliminated. Every prisoner that would not join them were killed and placed on a raft and set on fire. The raft was sent across the water to London and the muggles saw it, so now they are scared of a group of sadistic terrorists, which they should. The muggles seem to know more about it then most wizards do as Fudge has been downplaying that part. He refuses to believe that V-voldemort had anything to do with it. He told the papers that they were a group of supporters of a lost cause that broke into Azkaban with inside help. The man has stained the names of countless men and women because he refuses to see the truth." He sighed again and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"We had no prior warning and once we knew about it, it was already over. Snape was brewing at the time and found out at about the same moment as us, apparently. Dumbledore is going spare, what with the loss of his two pawns so close together. He was rather upset, as in the man performed accidental magic, when we returned without Neville, and refused to believe that we did not know where he was or that he left of his volition. Had to speak with Neville's grandmother before he would believe us that he was a legal adult. He was going to have him placed as a missing person and alert the nation and he threatened to throw all of us out of the order. So now he has half of the Order looking to bring him back in and the other half is trying to figure out what happened at Azkaban. From what Snape can tell us, Voldemort has chosen a second, calls him 'Imperator', Latin; means General. This was his first real test after being chosen. Snape doesn't know who it is and we don't have any other spies working for the Order at the moment." Remus finished looking just as tired as he did coming in.
"Azkaban, the island fortress, probably more protected then Hogwarts, was taken? Who ever this guy is, he must be seriously powerful, maybe as strong as ol' Voldie himself. Do you guys have an estimate of how many followers he gained?" Seraph asked.
"Well, a log is kept at the Ministry of how many guards, nurses, Aurors, and prisoners are there at any point in time. The Ministry knew of the attack for nearly twenty minutes before an alert was sent out. The monitor has since disappeared. About eighty Death Eaters and the General killed close to 100 members of the staff, 170 prisoners, and the Head Warden. They gained the Dementors and about 300 new Death Eaters from imprisoned ranks and new, opportunistic, prisoners. From that alone, HE has a force nearly as large as he did in the first war. I think that he will be revealing himself soon."
"Maybe Fudge is a Death Eater." Seraph thought aloud.
"That's what a few of us think. Dumbledore thinks that the man is just incompetent and that it is too dangerous to have him removed. Too much political maneuvering to have a vote of no confidence and the power vacuum afterwards may suck a more voiced Death Eater into the position and we would be worse off then where we started." Remus told him sadly. Seraph thought about it for a moment.
"And Dumbledore doesn't think that there is anyone who could take the position? He couldn't push someone's political agenda a little faster? Being backed by the Old Man should still be worth something, besides being a pawn. Unless Fudge is somehow serving Dumbles by doing what he is doing somehow. Fudge denies, denies, denies, and Dumbledore tells the world something that they don't want to hear. He takes a slight public opinion drop, but the man has always been 'crazy' so people won't think ill of him for too long. Once Fudge is proved wrong, when there is absolutely no doubt that Voldemort is back, then Dumbledore looks like the wise old man the people love so much. Public opinion shoots up and he can push whoever he wants into the Minister position with no objection, as opposed to the fight he might get at the moment." Seraph said, more like thinking out loud then speaking to Remus, who now was looking at Seraph with his mouth open.
"Sorry, did you say something?" Seraph asked when he saw Remus.
"No, but what you said, it makes sense. It would explain why Dumbledore does not want to remove Fudge. Going off of that, he would want someone from the Order to fill the position. There are not many with political backgrounds there so there would be a lot of objections from House as well as the Wizengamot... yes, with so many people thinking highly of him again, he could put anyone he wanted in there, regardless of background." Remus nodded as he continued to think. As Remus was thinking, Seraph was looking at him intently. The man's aura was chaotic, fighting itself. A soft but dark brown fought valiantly with a dirty green. It was like watching a yin and yang, but not even close to the calm serenity that the symbol would usually make one think of. It was the wolf and the human magic fighting each other, and the effects were evident. Seraph realized that as the green slowly grew stronger, he could actually smell the wolf.
'The full moon must be close.' Seraph thought to himself. It was at that moment that Draco and Neville walked in. Neville greeted Remus, who did a double take at the boy's new appearance, and took a seat while looking at the Occlumency book, he felt he was ready for Legilimencey. Draco stopped when he saw Remus though. Remus looked up and a wave of intense sadness crossed his face.
"I'm not." Draco told him, and Seraph and Neville gave him an odd look as Remus looked confused.
"But, you smell like you've been bitten." Remus pressed.
"No, just an Animagus. Magical wolf." Draco told him.
"Remus, if you could not tell, this is Draco Malfoy. Draco, I hope that sharing a similarity to the man can help you in dropping prejudices." Seraph said as a way of introduction. Remus looked mildly surprised at finding out that the man before him was Malfoy, they looked similar in certain respects but he would not have thought that was who he was. He was surprised further when the loudest child voice to get him kicked out of Hogwarts shook his hand.
"It has." Draco said. Seraph told the two what was going on and Remus told Neville that he had spoken to his grandmother and assured her that he was in an adequately protected home.
"Okay, Remus. How are your shields?" Seraph asked as Remus took a bite of a biscuit offered by Winky.
"Getting better, I have always had good natural protection because I'm a werewolf, one of the few perks. Makes it harder to increase the protection though. Why?" Remus asked.
"Because, I want you to know what's going on. You know that I'm training, and that Neville was joining me. I had a meeting, sort of, with Draco and his mother. They were both in a tight spot, so I'm helping them out. Draco decided to join the training as well, and I haven't seen Narcissa for almost a week now. This place that you're in is part of a very large estate known as the 'Black Alley'. This is my study, part of my quarters I call 'The Keep'. The Keep was originally used a barracks of sorts." Seraph started out, and took a drink of Dobby's water.
"For what?" Remus asked.
"For a group of people with similar skills and interests. A guild, the Grim's Guild. They were assassins, thieves, and sometimes mercenaries. I mentioned a ritual at Grimmuald, it was the ritual that created the Black, as well as many others, line. Certain gifts and affinities were passed through the blood of these families since their beginning. The first Black was the son of the Guild's Master Assassin, and all the families that descend from members of the Guild are connected by blood law. I plan on reforming this Guild sometime in the future to fight Voldemort from the shadows. They were assassins, and I plan on keeping it that way. With the Ministry and the Order distracting the Death Eaters, hopefully we will be able to take them out and no one will be any the wiser. I'm telling you this, as I will tell the twins, Moody, and Tonks, because I want you to help me when the time comes. None of you need to do any fighting if you don't want. I want the twins to work on tools, and Moody and you to help teach the members. The call is always within the generation, and Tonks will be the oldest member to be blood called. Any older, like the parents of the members, won't feel it. I'm not sure why it is like that, maybe so there is not a large age difference or for safety. What I am saying is that they will barely be out or still in school. I don't plan on doing the call until school starts up again, won't have to explain so many missing people and gives Draco, Neville, and I a chance to improve ourselves." Seraph finished. Remus looked at him and then the other two.
"Your own side indeed." Was all Remus said with a smile. "I'll tell the others if you want and I may take up your offer soon. Things are getting heated at Headquarters and I'm not sure how much longer I want to be a part of it. I'm only useful there so that I can get the werewolves on our side, but I don't think that I can. They don't respect those who haven't accepted the 'gift' as they call it. They side with Greyback because he is a strong werewolf. They are packs, and he is a major Alpha. Greyback is more of a mercenary for Voldemort. I'm not sure why he follows him either. Greyback wants a world full of werewolves, and Voldemort wants to rule the world, a 'pure' world, and while he may want to ally with the werewolves, they don't fit that doctrine. Maybe he was promised a piece of it, I don't know. I'll help you though, I loved teaching and to do so again would be great." Remus told him.
"Thanks, Remus. There was something that I read recently in the Archives that mentioned werewolves. I'll have to read more on it but I think I can help you with your problem. It's not a cure, but it might help with your transformations." Seraph told him. Remus was grateful all the same and told him anything that would help him would be appreciated. He left a short while later; he had to get back to the 'search' for Neville.
Seraph tested Neville's shields and broke through fairly easily, though Neville had put up a detection ward and knew when his mind had been intruded. Seraph was eventually pushed out, but he found Neville's memories first. Seraph's 'shields' were tested as well. He felt a siren like growl within his mind that told him that there was another presence inside. Another ward told him that it was 'Draconis Lucius Malfoy' who had intruded his mind. With this warning Seraph quickly delved into his core and then his mind and could actually watch Malfoy in his search. Malfoy waited for a moment, as if expecting to be thrown out, and then looked around. He was a bit shaky in his movements, having never traveled in the shadow realm, but soon took off through the woods to get to the mountain. Seraph followed him from behind and nearly laughed when Draco was nearly bitten by one of his puppy guardians. Draco made it past a large portion of the woods when Seraph decided that Draco had been in there long enough and pushed with everything he had.
As Seraph had been sorting his mind and setting the wards, he thought that the gift that he had been given, the connection between mind and magic, had already been activated since it did not tire him out as much as he thought it would. He was wrong. Throwing someone out of his mind must have been the final catalyst as he felt extremely lightheaded. He pulled out of his mind and watched as the veins that connected his core to his mind grow, almost doubling in size and turned an nearly ethereal silver. Black flames began to climb up the veins until they were covered and then entered his mind. Seraph quickly followed them and was amazed as a huge black phoenix made of fire bowed to him and exploded, showering fire into the sky. The phoenix wasn't gone though, the fire had settled into the trees and clouds, hidden, until it was needed to protect his mind.
Seraph pulled out to see that Draco was sprawled out on the floor, clutching his head while unconscious. He was quickly enervated.
"What the hell was that, Black? One moment I'm trying to get past those damn dogs and the next I feel like I've been hit in the head with a bludgeoning curse!" Draco complained, as he rubbed his head. "I was almost to that mountain too."
"You were no where near that mountain Draco. As a matter of fact, you only made it as far as you did because I allowed it. I knew when and who was in my mind the moment you entered. Benefit of over charged mind wards, I suppose. I was following you, actually. Saw you liked my patrol. If you liked them, then you'll love what just was activated in my mind." Seraph told him with a smirk.
"A gift activated? And I had to be the first one on the receiving end, thanks a lot. What was it, natural Occlumency or something?" Draco asked.
"Greater connection between mind and magic. Supposed to give a slight natural defense, as well as protecting my mind from the taint of the Dark Arts. Vulcan told me that it was not a rare thing, just a forgotten one, so it may be possible you and Neville will have it as well, and if not, I'm sure you can increase the connection after the ritual." Seraph told him. Draco nodded thoughtfully and was about to look at the Mind Arts book for more tips on Legilimencey when he asked Seraph something.
"What was the natural defense?" Draco asked, not sure what could be worse then those blasted grims that haunted the boy's mind. They were fast, and he was going to have to look into transforming into his wolf once inside a mind.
"An old friend." Seraph told him.
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"You were successful... this pleases me greatly, Severus. I did not expect you to be able to take the island. It seems your skills stretch further then the field of potions... We will be abandoning the Manor soon in favor of the Fortress you have acquired for us. How many prisoners were killed?" The snake faced man asked.
"Close to two hundred chose not to accept your gracious offer, my Lord." Severus, or the General as he was called in battle. The two were in a closed room and Severus had removed the silver mask that he had been presented before his presentation before the assembled Death Eaters. His identity had not been given when he was named the 'Imperator'. Outside of the inner circle, there was a hierarchy based on dueling skill and magical power. When one wished to rise to another rank, they would first have to defeat the person who was in that rank. Even if they managed to win, if they were not deemed useful enough, they may not get the rank, as Voldemort decided the final outcome. Sometimes they would be tortured or killed for wishing to challenge their master's decision of their placement, and therefore his authority. Several had wished to challenge this new General, but after the first challenger was levitated and had each appendage systematically obliterated until only the head was left, no one wished to challenge him.
"Fools. Placing all of the bodies on a burning platform and sending it to the muggles was a nice touch, I must admit." Voldemort told him.
"Thank you, my lord. I aim to-" But Snape was cut off.
"Crucio!" The crimson eyed man spat. Snape fell to his knee but did not scream, he was above the common man now, and screaming would show his master that he was weak. Weakness was a mortal's flaw, and he wished to prove that he had none.
"But I did not tell you to do it. I have a mission for you, Severus. The collaboration between us and the Werewolves is... tentative at best. Fenrir may be the leader of the packs, but he is incredibly stupid and sadistic, better suited for a grunt. He has managed to survive on his strength alone for many years and carries a lot of sway over the packs that he does not directly lead. I want you to create a permanent imperious potion that will be able to penetrate and fight through the werewolves mind and magic. Once this war is over, they will be eliminated, but for the moment, they are needed, and I do not wish to lose the use of them because their leader has decided to change his mind. Especially as the Vampires remain elusive." Voldemort told him as he watched his servant and second in command stand up shakily.
"It will be done." Snape told him and bowed. Voldemort waited for the man to make a move to leave, but he did not, and he smirked. At least one of his servants had a brain.
"You are dismissed, Severus. Do not disappoint me." Snape bowed again and left, intent on reworking the formula for the imperious potion. It would be difficult, but the potential uses of an inescapable Imperious Potion were limitless. The potion was of his own design, made during his Master's first rise to power. It was based off of the Entrapment Bond Potion, a potion he had made for Dumbledore on a few occasions.
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"Where am I, and who are you?" Draco demanded. He was in a large chair made out of some sort of soft stone, large and hard but comfortable. It reminded him of a throne almost. There was a large bench in front of him that reminded him of the courtroom that his father had been present in when they had gathered the Lords of the old families a few years back. He had been able to be present as an Heir, but not allowed to participate. In the seats that looked like a pair of Judge's Benches, there were two men. Next to them and off to the side sat an old man who looked like his grandfather, only much, much older. On the other side there was an old woman that he did not recognize at all. He wondered briefly if he was on trial for something until he looked up and saw the sky and stars. They were not in a room, but a large grassy plain.
"Do you not know why you are here? I believe that you were forewarned." A gruff but serpentine voice said to him. He looked at them for a moment, and then to his grandfather, or more likely an ancestor of his from a time long past.
"Yes, I was. I apologize." Draco said, probably the most humble thing that had ever come out of his mouth.
"State your name, and title." One of the two men who sat at the highest chair demanded.

"Draconis Lucius Malfoy, Head of the Malfoy Family, titled Lord of the house." Draco told them, succeeding in keeping his voice from wavering too much.

"Welcome, Heir of Malfoy. While your father's family was not part of the original Guild, your mother's blood runs through you strong, making you a Black as much as any other in the family. I am known as Knox. Besides me is my son, Meissa, the first Black. We preside over every Right of Choice for our Heir's and for the Heir's of the descendants of the Guild for their right of choice. The man that you see to the side is an ancestor of yours, a man named Mailloche MalFoi, one of the original Malfoys. The woman on the other side is Natalie Cranque, a relative who wished to be here. They will be helping with the precedings." Knox told him.

"So, Lord Malfoy, you have a choice ahead of you. To walk the path of light, or darkness, or that rarely trodden path of twilight, your gifts and magic will reflect your choice. Light magic is the magic of life. Of creation. It heals and it builds. You can embrace this, take hold of it and create life where was their death before. You can remain in the light and hope that it will be strong enough to protect you. But I see in your soul darkness, you are not unlike the one you are beginning to respect. You may embrace darkness; take it as your own. Bend it to your will. Help to bring forth the change needed to your stagnant world. Kill and destroy, revel in your chaos. Make others serve you, power to do what ever you want. Make your choice..." The force of the voice reverberated across the sky, and shook the ground. Knox rolled his eyes a bit, evidently this was a practiced thing.

Draco thought about it for a minute. He would never be light, and he did not want to be. But he had seen darkness in the eyes of his father, true darkness that left a taint upon the soul. He knew that he could not ever become his father, and he chose.

"I do not want the light, nor do I want the darkness. Two sides of the same coin, just different angles. I want the middle, the grey. Magic is what it is, and I intend to use it to its fullest." Draco said. His voice carried a magical quality to it that sounded and bounced around the clearing.

"Your choice has been declared to sun and moon, earth and sky, stars and magic. Fate has set your path, but it is guided by your will. By choice, by right, and by magic, so it is spoken, so mote it be..." Meissa finished as wind swirled around the clearing, the stars brightened unbelievably, and Draco's aura exploded outwards, a swirl of stunning silver and bright blue

"Your path is set, your choice given. We congratulate you on reaching your 16th year of life. You will be blessed by your ancestors. Look towards them, and embrace their gifts." Knox finished, nodding towards them. The old man stood up and spoke first.

I am Mailloche, as they told you. One of the first in the line. It troubles me deeply to see my line fall as it has. A MalFoi bows to no one! And yet the former head of the family not only did that, he nearly squandered the family fortune away trying to appease his 'Master'. The Black Heir does not demand your servitude, nor does he ask you to bow. A MalFoi's loyalty is not given lightly, but we are loyal to those who we wish to be, remember that. I gift upon you a greater connection between your mind and magic. You know the benefits and have felt the effects." His ancestor said as a sapphire blue mist began to surround him and was absorbed into his skin. He felt the magic settle near his core, just waiting to be activated. Next, the woman stood up.

"I am Natalie Cranque, a former Malfoy, your many times great Aunt. I wished to be present at your choice because I feel that I can be of help. I was a sword duelist and I think the skill will serve you well. I gift upon you the mastership of the Rapier, a weapon of grace and deadly beauty." She told him, as a sharp silver mist was not absorbed but impacted his chest. The knowledge of the sword assaulted his mind but was easily sorted due to his Occlumency.

"I have already told you who I am," Knox said to him. "Regardless of you not being a, I will gift you with something, as I do all that we see. I gift upon you the Martial ability and I will unlock your affinity of the wind. Martial will allow you to fight better and learn through experience, as well as making it easier to learn weapons. The wind affinity, once trained will be a valuable tool in fighting, and if you can train it well enough, a good way to travel as well. Good luck, Heir of MalFoi." Knox told him.

"Like I told my own heir, I will gift you with nothing but the access to the knowledge I left behind. I believe that you have already benefited from my work on the mind arts. Continue training, and seek out the book of time. It is within my Heir's possession but I do not think that he knows its power. Precautions must be taken though; an ample supply of food and drink will be needed. Take care of any business you may have for the set amount of time. Do not exceed the set amount of time or their may be consequences." The first Black told Draco cryptically. Draco nodded and the people and the clearing began to fade out.


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That's it for this time, next chapter should be up soon, hopefully. More training, will reading, why Tonks never had a choosing, the mysterious Book of Time, and other stuff up next. I really want to start getting into the rituals soon.

What should Neville be gifted with?

Should Remus quite the order and join them now, or later. I was thinking that he could bring Narcissa around, but she may be a lost cause.

What should the Twins and Tonks animal form be? Not saying that they will have them, but a what if sort of thing. Wondering if Moody should already have a form. Would not surprise me.


Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Remember to REVIEW, they are helping me.

And kudos goes out to the person who helped me with the elvish names for Draco's and Neville's forms, thought they sounded cool and gave it some background.

Till next time,

Omnis Potens

Omni Black