Returning to Hogwarts. Chapter 66

Going back to Hogwarts outside of the school year, in the middle of the night, does not feel odd to me. I don’t even use the Floo. I just apparate right outside of the wards, then Shadow-Jump, with my massive range, right into the Headmasters office. Dumbledore is in his bedchambers, but I know he knows I’m here, so I toss the locket onto a small table I conjured while I wait for him to come out. I feel my magic bubbling with revulsion at the thing on the table as I wait.

“I assume this is important, Miss Hawthorne?” Dumbledore asks as he steps from his bedroom, wearing his nightshirt and long pinstriped sleeping pants. I nod, as I take in his bare arms - the first time I’ve seen them.

I expected a bit less muscle, honestly. He looks like he actually works out quite a bit. Skin is tight and the muscle isn’t huge, like a body-builder, but like my own. Tight cordage, slim and neat.

“I found a Horcrux while I was cleaning the rest of Grimmauld Place. The kids were complaining, so I fixed the rest of the issue so their final days of summer could be spent in rest, and maybe something more fruitful than cleaning things which would take anyone who is competent a few minutes with magic.” I explain, gesturing to the locket offhandedly. He nods.

“This is wonderful news, of course. I must wonder, of course, why you haven’t destroyed it, yet?” He asks, looking at it in puzzlement.

“I have to open it. In the present state, it is indestructible. I could, probably, deal with it myself, but I feel trying that would be foolish. I would like your help in the ritual. I know how to get rid of the soul piece without destroying the item, but I would rather not do it on my own. Last time I did that, I nearly died, after all.” I explain, emphatically gesturing to the Locket, as the thing rumbles and rattles the desk it’s on ominously.

“I see. We can go now, if you like? I can bring the alternative method to destroy it, just in case you start to lose the battle to eradicate the soul piece.” He offers, and I nod.

A good plan.

“The method used to destroy the soul piece, last time anyways, resulted in a battle in my mindscape. I had to kill it there, which rendered it inert, and able to be transferred to a useless piece of garbage, which allows me to destroy it, and keep the relic it’s stored in.” I explain, and he nods, looking pleased with the method.

“And a two-versus-one situation would be much easier to ‘kill’ the monster in your mind quickly than what may happen in a one-versus-one.” He agrees, and I give him a winning smile, as I wrap the Horcrux in a silk kerchief and then put it in a box which I conjure. He nods, and grabs a sword from a case, before following me out of the room. As we walk, we chatter a bit about mental strategies, and I Observe his Sword.

Sword of Godric Gryffindor

Creator - Godric Gryffindor.

Quality - Mythic.

Attuned - The Sorting Hat, Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore.

Enchantments - Sharpness (10th Rank), Defence Shredding (10th Rank), Sure-Grip (10th Rank), Impact Multiplier (10th Rank), Power-Absorbing (10th Rank).

Damage - 1.500 (Slashing) 5,000 (Corruption) 5,000 (Poison) (Total/Strike, before multipliers)

Special Ability - The Perfect Sword

When this blade strikes anything which it has never before struck, it takes a sample of it and makes it a part of the blade. This means it is indestructible by any means, short of a blade with the same enchantments and level of craftsmanship, which has more things absorbed.

Currently this blade has absorbed Fiendfyre, Venom of a Basilisk and the unique enchantments of 12 different blades, which are inactive due to the lack of magic in the sword currently.

Basilisk Venom Effect -

Any living creature who is not at least 80% resistant to Poison dies within 30 seconds of contact with the blade, unless they are put into Temporal Stasis, or get Phoenix Tears.

Fiendfyre Effect -

Destroys any magical defences or barriers which would stop the blade from cutting them. Does not break physical armour immediately, unless it is conjured or transfigured.

Attunement Effect - Returning.

If an attuned creature says “Pugnatum vocat, amplectere ferro” the sword will return to them, no matter the distance. Appearing in their hands (or in the Sorting hat).

The Sword was made by Godric, and is made of Goblin-Silver, but is an alloy with Mythril if my eyes don’t deceive me. He likely made a trade - a lot of Mythril for a little Goblin Silver and their forges and some of their techniques. When they saw what he wound up making, they flipped out. Said they made it for him, so they could get it back. Too bad he had foreseen the greedy little fools would do that, and added the final enchantment - so it would always come back. The translation of the Latin phrase is roughly “The battlefield calls, Embrace her with honour and steel”, or at least that’s how I think it’s supposed to be translated. After the conversation, comes to a close, we end up in front of the Come and Go Room, which has conjured the ritual chamber I need.

Time to go kill this thing.

I set it inside of the circle, before tossing a cumby secondary vessel from my Inventory onto the place the soul piece will be sent, and then, I gesture Dumbledore to the opposite side of the ritual circle, and, once in position, I begin.

I’m once again in my forest, not much has changed. Some of the trees are taller, some look sickly, and indeed a few have fallen over, so the general shape of the forest I’m in is a bit different. That’s not so important.

I lean out of the way of a jet green spell, which flies over my left shoulder. A younger, more magically powerful feeling Voldemort steps out of the trees.

Thomas Marvolo Riddle

Titles - Lord Voldemort, The Dark Lord, Heir of Slytherin, etc.

Aubrey Hawthorne

Titles - Queen of Ravens and Shadow, Dragon of the Wall

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Level 125

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Age - 30

Race - Human (SnakeBlood, Wrathborne)

Sex - Male

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Str - 300

Dex - 400

Agi - 400

Con - 400

Int - 550

Wis - 350

Luk - 350

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HP: 454,503

MP: 952,954

STM: 733,713

He only has one leg-up on me, the perk “Dark Lord”. Every other perk - except for the one for having 400 AGI, and 550 INT, I have.

But “Dark Lord” costs a lot of perk points, so it makes sense.

Dark Lord -

​There is no such thing as Good or Evil, only Power and those too weak to

seek it. You know the truth of this, and you. are. not. weak! Magic is a great and wonderful thing, and among its greatest uses is its breathtaking capacity for harm.

You know this, which is why you’re so good at this. You are one of the best at fighting with magic in the world, period. Formal duelling, casual combat or just a magical brawl, you’re very, very good at all three. More than just good, you’re utterly brilliant. Your reflexes, your breadth of knowledge and just your sheer skill leaves all before you aghast.

But more than conventionally used battle-magic, you have the gift of being able to turn any spell into a combat spell. It might require creative application, or it may require some editing of the spell’s wand movements or incantations or whatever, but you have an instinctive grasp for the potential in combat of any spell, and know just how to bring it out to maximum effect. In the future world, this extends to all similar mystic or esoteric forces.

+100 ‘Arithmancy’

+100 ‘Spellcraft’

+100 ‘Dark Arts’

+100 ‘War Magic’

+100 ‘Defensive Magic’

+100 ‘Esoteric Magics’

+100 ‘Duelling’

Dark Lord II -

​Fighting using magic is one thing. You can go far, far beyond fighting with magic. You can wage a War with magic.

Your abilities at using your abilities in combat skyrockets and evolves, taking an entirely more advanced form. To begin with, you can toss around wide, area-effect versions of most spells you can normally do(1), letting you throw your curses against fortresses and armies instead of individual people.

This takes more energy, obviously, but far, far less than it normally should. Something to the effect of a tenth as much. You can do this in reverse also, ‘shrinking’ spells meant for battles and sieges to use them in one on one duels.

(1)
Soul magic and Death Magic are the exceptions, as these are Controlled Magic by Divine Beings and mortals cannot overcome the restrictions without breaking free of their mortal cycles first.

+100 to ‘Arithmancy’

+100 ‘Spellcraft’

+100 ‘Dark Arts’

+100 ‘War Magic’

+100 ‘Defensive Magic’

+100 ‘Esoteric Magics’

+100 ‘Duelling’

With those two perks, it’s pretty easy to assume he’s just better with outright combat magic than I am. And he’s faster, because of the 400 AGI perk, which just doubles your speed, apparently.

I’m still better in deuling than this version of Voldemort, though, which is good. I slide under another killing curse, and give him a queer look as he has yet to speak.

“Feeling shy, Tom?” I call over, and he narrows his eyes.

“Not really. I felt when you killed the Diadem, and I managed to gain some of its power, as I did with the Diary. You realise that the more of us you destroy, the more powerful the remaining parts of the soul become? This is part of why we did this so many times. Eventually, you will run out of room. Should I die, then the next anchor will be stronger, and the next, and the next.” He chortles most unpleasantly. I crack a smile.

“We’ve destroyed three of the Horcruxes, though. You only had two power-ups?” I grin maliciously. “It seems that the Horcruxes which were inside of living beings - Snakes, other people, well. They don’t interact with those of you who are objects, do they?” I ask as I slap the new spells he’s throwing at me - entrail expelling, bone exploding, area exploding, etc.

I’m way better than him in a 1-on-1 duel, it doesn’t matter if his spells are better, not really. I can go fast enough to keep up, at least, and that’s all that’s needed, because I have way more mana than him, probably due to the fact he’s only a fragment of a soul, not the whole thing, and generating his own is likely very hard. Or slow. Still, this battle feels far less desperate than the first I had. I’m good enough with spell deflection that he isn’t able to get one close to me unless it’s intentionally allowed.

Then he opens up elemental spells, only for a voice behind him to sound out, countering the spells, and then, before I can blink, Tom is trapped in a massive ball of water which came from somewhere - probably the pond about a mile away?

That’s what held Dumbledore up?

I call lightning from the sky and the Horcrux-Tom explodes. I sigh in disappointment as soon as we’re out of my mind, as, with Dumbledore’s help, the soul fragment is moved easily, then destroyed with the sword.

“Why was that so…” I trail off, and Dumbledore smiles.

“Easy? Well, frankly, it is because he split himself in two, one half to you and one half to me. He lost to me in my battle rather quickly, and I decided to swoop in and help you clean up your half before it gets to being too much later, after all, we have the Wizengamot and then Hogwarts coming, and I honestly want as much rest before then as I can get.” He says jovially, almost skipping as we walk back to his office. I nod.

“That does make sense, he told me that each Horcrux gets more powerful by eating the scraps of the last, but he mentioned two Horcruxes being destroyed. We’ve destroyed three. Harry’s scar, the Diadem, the Diary. Now the Locket of Slytherin, which leaves, to my count, a maximum of three more, if he made Seven Horcruxes, and two if he made six. Six would be wiser, due to there being seven soul parts, but I can’t say which is which.” I grumble, and Dumbledore nods.

“The cup of Hufflepuff, the Ring of the Peverell Family - which fell to the Gaunt family when the line ended, and his snake. These items are those which my resources point towards.” He explains, and I nod, reluctantly.

“Where do you think they are?” I ask, and he looks at me, then smiles softly.

“The Ring? I have some leads, but do not think any of them are correct. I was hoping to use the school-year to follow up on them, and see where the leads all go, to close them down over the summer. The Snake is with Voldemort - most surely. The Cup? Well, I cannot be sure. Not at all. Perhaps in chasing the ring I will turn up some locations on the Cup. Any location I have yet to search is a possibility…” He trails, and I nod.

They are all possibilities.

“They all, from what I’ve seen, are locations he’s lived, or finds important.” I tell Dumbledore, who gives me a nod. “Hogwarts, The Malfoys and The Black family home. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had lived with both families and entrusted them with these items. Hogwarts was, of course, to anchor his curse along with causing other issues. I wonder if he’s lived with any other followers? Back when he made the Cup or the Ring, that is.” I ask, and Dumbledore practically lights up.

“The Lestrange family! They were some of his most fervent followers, and Bellatrix Lestrange, formerly Black, is said to be his most devout!” He says triumphantly. “It would follow that if he gave one to his most powerful, well connected and protected followers, he would pick the Lestrange, Black and Malfoy family, as early adopters who have a wide range of prestige and places to hide the soul of their master. No druidic house would ever take one in, but the others… yes..” He trails, and I roll my eyes. He walks around the office three times, muttering, then nods. “It will either be in the ancestral manor, which is in Lancashire, south of Lancaster, their Ancestral home in France, or, this is least likely and hardest to confirm, in their vault at Gringotts. It would be up to them to decide which, but I think those are the three most likely, heavily guarded places which the cup could be.” He decides, and I raise an eyebrow, asking a question I think should be asked, but feel like it is fairly obvious.

“Why wouldn’t it be the ring?” I ask.

“Oh, simple. That was his Lordship ring. He would never give that ring up, no matter the cost. He would hide it himself. I think hiding it in the ancient Peverell Manor, which has lain defunct but un-found would be most likely. After that, perhaps in some other place where it has resided. Maybe even in the house of his Grandfather, Marvolo, though I think this most unlikely, since hiding the ring in the same place he acquired it would be most foolish.”

“Therefore unexpected, and smart. If I were trying to hide something from you, I’d put it right in front of your face, because you seem to be very smart, but never think the answer is the one which would be easiest to achieve. After all, I am very smart, and like to make things in general hard for you. Of course, should you go check the ‘easy way’ enough to get close to my secrets, you’d find them guarded viciously. I imagine Lord Voldemort would be the same.” I trail, giving him a look, then I shrug. “Now I’ll have to hide my secrets better. Good thing they’re all in my head and I’m pretty sure I’m a better occlumens than you are a legilimens.” I say, offering him a cheeky grin, and he rolls his eyes.

“Your secrets are what you have done, not what you will do. You’re always very forward with what you plan to do.” He says happily, and I shake my head.

“With you, sometimes. I’ve not told you everything. Like how I plan to openly declare Blood Feud - with Line Exception clause 3 for children and those who had no choice to be exempted - on every lord or lady who follows the Dark Lord. In short - if they carry the Dark Mark, I will destroy them and then take all their money. I’ll leave them their titles and property and businesses, so they can make a living, but the punishment must be harsh for it to stick.” I say, and Dumbledore sighs sadly.

“You’ll make life-long enemies by doing that.” He explains, like I don’t know that.

“I know. But I also know that if they try to do things against me, I can literally brick them, politically. If they ever try to take any action which puts in jeopardy any of my or my family members lives, I’ll just re-open the feud and kill all who remain. It should only take a couple of those to convince people not to mess with my family.” I explain, getting a horrified look in return.

“Why not try for a more peaceful solution? You could make deals and get out of this without bloodshed, and if they catch on, they may invite allies to their homes and lay in ambush for you…” He doesn’t say ‘and you’ll die.’ I smile at him.

“Did you know, I’ve been trying to find more peaceful solutions. I’ve been trying to talk to the Slytherin, Ravenclaw and other houses who were tires for Death Eater family members. Trying to turn them, very slightly, to the light. The response has been them trying to take advantage of me. Them trying to alienate me, and, in recent years, them trying to hurt me, subtly, with weak poisons. They’re escalating while I try to angle for any kind of peaceful solution. I will not allow those to continue. Attending small meeting in a ball with the lords of the houses to get poisoned, or to strike up a conversation to be told to get lost or do their homework - this has been happening since Draco came to the school. If they don’t want a diplomatic solution, I will not give them one, after having tried.” Granted, I hadn’t tried with all of them. I tried with Flint - I tried with Malfoy (though barely, because Daphne told me it wouldn’t work ahead of time) and I had tried in balls last year. I had tried lord and lady Malfoy, both. I had tried the Travers, Yaxley, Flint, Dolohov. All of the ones which seemed to be most against the current regime falling. All had either insulted me, insinuated I would end up their pet if I continued down this line of persuasion or had, indeed, poisoned me. Both Malfoy and Dolohov had. I’d allowed them, because they weren’t deadly, and it levelled up my poison resistance, for when they do try something deadly.

Only Ms. Malfoy, in the end, seemed at all disposed to changing sides, and only then because she knew the Dark Lord was going to kill them - or send them off to death - instead. She had seen what he had done to the Black family, and many, many more. She wanted to live - the coward - and was willing to keep other channels open. As long as her son lived, as well.

That’s what was implied.

As long as he has no mark, he will not die, had been the only answer I was willing to even imply, but she had responded well to that.

I wonder if she can keep him from being marked long enough?

“They do tend to do that, yes. But if you collapse their whole economic worth, how will they recover from the war? They won’t be able to work, quite likely. They won’t be able to use their financial worth to recover their reputation.” He says worriedly. I nod.

“They’ll have to earn it back the hard way, like the Weasley family has to do. They could sell property, they could move to a new country, indeed, they could do a lot of things. They just have to pick which thing they’re going to do. It’s not my problem. Should the family collapse, we can add more houses to the Wizengamot - families who have proven themselves.” I counter, and he winces. “After all, the Weasley family had what was done to them be done as a result of being on the Dark Side, what, six generations ago? The last great British Dark Lord, they were the right hands and they’ve changed their ways as a result. It was not overnight, but it happened. They’re still recovering, but they’re building a better and better reputation and family as a result.” I conclude. He gives a grudging nod.

“I see I won’t be changing your mind, any time soon. Did you have anything else you’d like to bring to my attention?” He asks, and I shake my head, taking my leave of the office.

How should I break into the English Manor, and how should I break into the vault? I can do the other French manor if I need to, down the line.

I doubt Voldemort would let his soul containers out of his home country, with my theory.

The Wizengamot session the following day was boring, as was the following two days, which I mostly spent tracking down the Lestrange manor, only to find it empty of literally everything. No furniture, no appliances, nothing.

So, now, I’m going to Gringotts. I mailed the Dwarves on the mainland just earlier today to move all the funds from my inventory into their vaults, in case the Goblins figure out what I’m going to try to do, and banish me, seizing all the funds and items of my family. Hence, why I’m disguising my theft as a perfectly regular inspection of the vaults.

By the time I’m done, none of the objects other than the gold, silver and bronze will be here. I have enough money in other places to keep us stable, and our children, and our children's children.

Not as much as the family has acquired so far, but enough.

I pull in suits of armour, portraits, swords, tapestries and more into my inventory, which I had emptied for this explicit reason. With my pocket dimension, along with my inventory, I have enough to hold almost 40,000 cubic feet of stuff. Why it’s cubic feet, I couldn’t say. But it’s enough for the whole vault’s contents, except for the money which is in the front, blocking the rest of the vault from view. I finish tossing the last book-shelf into my inventory, and then sigh, reaching through the shadows to see if I can find the Lestrange vault. It is supposedly around the 70’s, which is higher than any vault - I - Have, but the closest I have is my Family vault. The only reason it’s the closest is because the 70’s should be the set directly above, and to the right, of my vault. Finding the corridor, I pop into it.

I’m before four doors, which each have a crest. I nod, and pop behind the Lestrange vault’s doors, and look upon the heaps of gold, silver, bronze and art objects. A disorderly display. I feel magical defences on the treasure, and I squint as I feel out the magic.

Multiplication and burning. On everything. Every time you touch it. Until the vault is reopened by the head of the Lestrange family.

Hmm…

I silently lift myself from the ground, and hover, using raw mana and control to create a platform to stand on. It’s not easy, but I manage. I carefully walk around the piles of treasure, and spot a shelf full of cups.

The Goblet of Helga Hufflepuff.

Horcrux. I grab it with my bare hands and feel it heat up, and a duplicate pops out. I position the duplicate with my magic, and then I pop back down to my vault, tossing the cup into my inventory, I walk out of the vault to see the rest of my holdings.

It takes another three vaults - Ravenclaw’s two vaults, and Slytherin’s - for them to realise someone broke in and stole something. I allow myself to be shown up to the lobby, and escorted from the bank while they look into the theft.

There had been over 300 people who had gone down in that time, and I know, from the sounds of the tracks, at least 50 of them were as deep as I was. Before you count I was in a vault with a Goblin watching the door as I did my inventory of the vault. No way I could have gotten out, apparated or similar while there was one of them watching my door, seeing nothing, hearing nothing…

I was relatively clear. Still, I’ll go back in four hours - the longest they estimate the search for the thief will take - and finish my inspection of my vaults.

I can do the Cup with Dumbledore after school starts again. Only one day to go. It was at that moment, I got a notification.

Secret Quest Complete!

The Horcrux Hunt

Find and ensure the destruction of all of the Horcruxes which Harry Potter is destined to be the one to find and Destroy.

Slytherin’s Locket

Hufflepuffs Cup

Ravenclaw’s Diadem

Bonus Objectives -

Do it before Harry’s 5th year! (Complete)

Do it before Dumbledore finds any Horcruxes! (Complete)

Do it before Voldemort Returns! (Failed)

Retrieve all the Horcruxes on your Own (Complete)

Destroy all of the Horcruxes on your own (Failed)

Secret Objectives -

Ensure the Destruction of all Horcruxes but the Snake before Harry’s 5th year (Complete)

Break into the Lestrange Vault without being compromised (Complete)

Destroy the Soul without destroying the Founders Items (3/3 Complete)

Rewards -

+300,000 xp
+100 Skill Points

+Title “The Huntress” (i)

Bonus Rewards
+200,000xp

+Perk/Title “Morgana” (i)

+Perk “Bloodhound” (i)

Secret Rewards -

+500,000 xp

+Perk “Legendary Bloodline” (i)

+Perk “Seek And Ye Shall Find” (i)

The Huntress -

You’re known as an extremely skilled huntress, able to hunt down and find anything you may need - or desire.

+3 Reputation with Monster Slayers, Curse Breakers and Aurors.

-3 Reputation with Lawbreakers, and things which desire to destroy society.

Morgana (Title) -

You are known to the wider world as the return of Morgana, a witch who will revolutionise magic and rewrite history. Like Rowena Ravenclaw before you, you are considered, perhaps, one of the best witches to ever be born. Everyone reveres you, if they do not like you.

-50% need to talk to press

+100% Reputation Gains with those below level 65.

+10 to all social skills.

+1 Reputation (All)

Morgana (Perk) -

If Dumbledore is Merlin in the modern era, you’re Morgana. Able to do a lot of what he does, but better, if not in direct combative ways.

+30 All Magical Skills

+5 Levels.

+10 to all stats

+50 “Magical Theory”

Bloodhound -

When it comes to perception, you have been blessed by the gods. You never miss anything out of place, from an almost imperceptible tripwire to the faintest footsteps in the distance. You could track enemies across a city and tell exactly when they passed through each location with just a few easily gathered clues. And when you find them, you can prepare for the slaughter.

+100 Tracking

Unlocks ‘Hunting Magic’ and ‘H. Mana’ - Divine resources for Tracking and Hunting magics, well beyond what normal magic can do in either field.

Legendary Bloodline -

Your Bloodline is long and storied, and has had many abilities born into it, and is held through it. As a result of your actions,  you’ve gained access to a secondary form of Bloodline magic which your family has access to, unlocked by action, as opposed to birth.

Druidic Magic Unlocked (i)

Druidic Magic is magic which allows you to command plants and animals, in short. You have extreme skill in taking care of any animal, along with the ability to befriend them extremely easily. You also have the ability to control plants and even water with your mind, very slightly.

This draws on your Arcane Mana pool, but unlocks the skill “Druidic Magic” and “Druidic Magical Control” Due to previous knowledge, skills and perks, you begin at level 15/33 Druidic Magical Control and level 5 Druidic magic.

+60 to Animal Handling

Seek and Ye Shall Find -

When it comes to tracking down what you need for your collection, you are quite lucky.

In fact, you are lucky anytime you try to find something. You are much more likely to find clues

or leads that will tell you where to locate the object or person you are seeking. You are also

good at putting these clues together, making you a talented investigator and tracker.

+1 Luck / Level (Retroactively included)

+50 Tracking

Congratulations! You are beyond level 100!

+6 stat points will be awarded for every level beyond level 100. You also gain the ‘Aura of Power’ skill. People can literally feel your strength as a physical weight upon them. The stronger you become, the more powerful the weight - and less likely they are to disobey you. This can be overcome by doing things people don’t like, though it will require more actions or more sever actions as the Aura increases in strength.

1 Sever action, or 2 moderate or 4 minor actions required to make people act against you.

+1 level to ‘Aura of Power’ for every ten levels gained. (110, 120, etc.)

See Status?

Yes/No.

I click Yes.

Aubrey Hawthorne

Titles - Queen of Ravens and Shadow, Morgana, Dragon of the Wall

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Level 106

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Age - 16

Race - Human (Draconic (Fire) Lustborne (Ice))

Sex - Female

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Str - 380

Dex - 425

Agi - 414

Con - 430

Int - 556

Wis - 563

Luk - 565

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HP: 359,323 (692,392)

MP: 3,473,056 (5,188,952)

STM: 545,058 (1,114,484)

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Stat Points - 40

Skill Points - 100

Perk Points - 7

Diplomatic Visibility - 10**

For Reaching 450 Luck you’ve been awarded a Perk!

Unseen, Unbalanced.

There are many beings which manage luck - good and bad. Usually one given good luck is cursed with equally bad luck.

This is balance.

You do not have this. You are not seen by ‘bad luck’. A bug in the system. As a result, your luck is no longer balanced across good or bad. It’s going to be good - unless there’s a majorly ‘unlucky’ event which is going to happen to everyone around you.

But that’s much more ‘fate’ than ‘luck’.

For Reaching 400 Dexterity you’ve been awarded a Perk!

Self-Control

Your control of your facial expressions and bodily microexpressions is flawless. You don’t convey something if you don’t want to, if you focus on it. This means cold-reading and such are just not going to work on you anymore, though people with supernatural skill and power are still able to break through this, as with anything.

For Reaching 400 Agility you’ve been awarded a Perk!

Unnaturally Fast

You are not… normal when it comes to raw movement speed. You can move twice as fast as before and if you train, this will easily go up. All of your other functions are likewise fast. You write twice as fast, read twice as fast, etc.

You’re just flat out unnaturally fast.

For Reaching 500 Luck, You’ve been awarded a Perk!

Calculation Glitches

The system isn’t flawless, there’s a lot of glitches, and you’ve stumbled upon one. Lucky you.

10% more XP for everything you do which generates XP.

For reaching 550 Luck, you’ve been awarded a Perk!

Lucky Lady Love

You are guaranteed to find a successful relationship, which will only bear healthy and powerful children. They will all start with 1% of your power, and have at least 1% of your stats as their base stats at birth. They will have no blood-curses or other bloodline drawbacks given to them.

You are not guaranteed to find this partner until at least 10 years have passed from getting this perk, but it could happen any time.

For Reaching 550 Wisdom, you’ve been awarded a Perk!

Mistress of Everything

All skills gain 100% bonus XP if they are not within the top 10 most highly rated skills you have. Skills with low level maximus(IE - Magical Control) are multiplied by 10 for this calculation. Skills which cannot gain XP due to being maxed out are excluded from the calculation, though languages are not excluded until they have the (Native) level of proficiency unlocked.

(Native) level unlocked for all languages.

Elven, Common, Parseltongue, English and French (MAX) have changed, in accordance with this.

English (Native)

French (Native)

Elven (Native)

Common (Native)

Low-Parseltongue (Native)

High Parseltongue (Level 1)

Dragon-Speech (Level 1)

Speech Magic (Level 1)

For Reaching 550 Intelligence, you have been awarded a Perk

Merlin!

Your mana pool rivals that of Merlin, even when he was most powerful. Only unlockable before 17.

Doubles your mana pool at time of acquiring this perk.

You cannot be harmed by having more mana than your body can hold.

High-Parseltongue -

This is the language which is native to powerful magical snakes and other reptiles, except for Dragons. Speaking this marks you as one of them - or one they should, at least, respect.

Dragon-Speech -

This is the language of the Dragons. Most humans cannot speak it, however, you have the ability to understand, and even converse - with dragons with this skill. However, be warned, if you speak the language too much, you may cause irreparable damage to your vocal cords. (More than 3 syllable words, or a set of words longer than 33 syllables. The more syllables you speak, the longer you cannot speak until you have recovered. 5 seconds for every syllable.)

As you master the language, you will be able to speak more, and understand more without damaging yourself.

This also comes with the ability to withstand up to 150 decibels of sound without sustaining any damage!

Speech Magic -

You can lace your words with magic, to make them hit harder, or even to impart subtle commands to people. Generally viewed as a Dark Skil, this has been used, historically, by Dark Wizards to get unwitting Light Wizards to do evil for them, even if they did not know it was Evil. It can be used in the opposite way.

The power of the magic is very light, and therefore cannot be used for outright control, but it does implant magical suggestions people should listen to, and do as you say. Unless they have a good reason not to do so - they usually will.

‘Secret Quests’ seem to be worth an astounding amount. Clearly, they exist where fate would decree what happens, and for some reason, I’m ignoring her directives.

The fact it’s already declared I can beat the final Horcrux in combat, and save the Cup is nice, but also concerning. You would think the soul-jar would be more carefully defended.

My jaw twitches in irritation as I apparate into my office, settling at my desk to rest for a minute, before I fill out the last of my paperwork, along with a written interview with the Prophet.

As I let out a my sigh, a high-pitched whistling screams through my office, and I crack my eyes open, looking to the source of the sound.

Dumbledore is in mortal peril, and needs my help.

His office.

I apparate, taking the cup with me, to his office.

Three things are apparent when I appear in Dumbledore’s office. One, the wards did not like the cup, and were reluctant - even with the exception I’ve been given - to let me through.

Two, the Cup is not happy, it senses a Horcrux, a brother, near.

Three, Dumbledore is dying, already in shock and shaking in his chair. He looks nearly paralyzed, save for the minor convulsions as his right hand - black as pitch - sits on his desk, looking like someone ran it over with a tire on a large truck, chopped it off after it bruised completely purple, then stitched it back on after it had been mummified, and radiating from the ring is a compulsion which I slap aside mentally.

Compared to some of the shit Liliana had thrown at me, the thing was clumsy, but for Wizarding magic, it’s very clever. If I wasn’t on high alert, waiting for dark magic abound - mostly due to the cup I’m holding - and if I wanted anything to do with the ring on his finger - surely a Horcrux as well, aside all the other nasty garbage radiating off of the ring on the finger or Dumbledore - it would have worked. The charm snares you only slightly, and is made to amplify your feelings of extant desire. Either for the Horcrux, or the Ring.

Which is also insanely enchanted, like an invisibility cloak, perhaps, or a ward-stone. The magic is far more dense - potent - than that. The thing seems almost alive. I Observe the ring and silently toss the insanely long popup to the side of my mind, focusing on magic of the blatantly cursed ring.

First is the charm, to wear the ring and use it for its power. A crappy version of Tolkien's One Ring. Second is a set of magic which will attack the person the first charm latches to, if it is not worn.

Below that, is a third curse. A black curse. The threads remind me of an Egyptian mummification curse, this one more vile than that spell by far, though. I see stitches, with my mage-sight which lead to enslavement, preservation, suffering and energy stealing.

Magical theory fills in the gaps.

This ring rapidly eats the life of whoever wears it, mummifying them as it goes. Based on his state, he has maybe two or three minutes to take it off before he is dead, and then he’ll die only in hours, instead. When the Curse kills him, if the curse is the cause, it preserves his power, his magic perhaps, and enslaves him to the caster of the curse. Doubly enslaves - the Soul Chunk probably will move into the husk, too. Eat the magic and use the bonus to fill in it’s own reserves. Then, of course, you’re a body. You don’t have vitals which matter, aside from your head. Functionally immortal. Sentient, walking, corpse.

The mage who’s magic is cut from his or her soul, along with the slow mummification of their body, is meant to feel it all the way. Feel their life speed by. It is set in him. I cannot break the curse without killing him, rooted in his magic as it is, but I can cut the source of the curse off, and preserve what magic he can access, along with what life he has left.

Cutting it with magic is risky, considering this is an elaborate black-magic curse which I don’t know the exact making of. I know it’s function, purpose and the magic it works alongside, but the inherent magic of the ring, and the Horcrux itself will resist me blasting the curse out of the core of Dumbledore. He will die if I use magic, almost certainly. Either speeding up the withering, or exploding him, or losing the mana I cast the spell with whole-sale. At best.

No magic, then.

First, remove the ring, without touching it and without magic. I can’t be certain what the function of the ring is, and if it’s so enchanted, it may ensnare me and then the charm will have more than enough to trick me into putting it on. Best not to risk that.

The fastest way will not go well for Dumbledore, but I can stop the bleeding fast enough, I suppose. Once the source of the potential disaster is gone…

Well, he may have a year or two to live.

I pull the sword - Test Blade 13 - out of my inventory. It was the fifth to last sword I’d made under Godrick while learning the basics of smithing - my first ‘battle worthy sword’. It has no name other than it’s number, and I may never change that. With the sword, I shake out some of the leftover reddish Mythril I have leftover, along with actual silver, and some alchemists-steel.

Dumbledore cannot be without a wand-arm, after all. I hope his wand is not fickle and decide this act of arm-chopping counts as ‘disarming him’ in a fight, and swap allegiance to me. It very well may, due to the nature of some wands. Others will stay loyal, even if their master is left in what most Wizards would consider a mortally wounded state.

A swing of the Sword, and a spray of blood.

It took me twelve seconds from the sound of the alarm.

As soon as the arm is severed from his body, I feel the curse cut from his magic - no longer tying itself in - and it in - to his body. I cauterise the wound wandlessley, and sigh through my nose, as I begin unweaving the edges of the cuse not yet set in him. Unravelling enough to figure out what I can.

This takes me four minutes, and as I finish it off, I wave my wand - summoned from it’s holster - and take my stack of very powerful metals and make Dumbledore a new hand, which I put a very powerful illusion on to make it look like his hand used to do.

Still, he’d best wear gloves, since it’s not foolproof. His new hand is more slight than his previous, and it is obviously different to anyone who would care to look too closely. The illusion is good, but not designed to last under very firm, lasting, scrutiny. And it’s easy to dispel.

I feel something cold latch onto my magic, and thrum in acceptance.

I shake my head, as this is not a curse, but note that I gain 275,000 xp for something, then turn back to the task at hand.

I prune the final edges of the curse I can, and tie them into a firm knot, so if the curse needs feed on anything, it eats its own-damn self instead of Dumbledore’s health.

My very invasive medical charms - over two-dozen of them - make me want to curse him.

18 months, 22 days. Then Dumbledore dies. Without a potion to help him, anyways. Halfway through my next school-year. My final year. He dies.

“What’s the damage?” He asks, in a raspy, quiet tone. Clearly recognizing the spells I’d used.

“You have just under 19 months to get everything in a line, then you die. Your magical core is now under half of mine - well, usable magic, anyways. The rest is steeped in cursed magic, and if you use it, you’ll die much sooner. By a magnitude of days, maybe months, depending. And if you die as a result of using cursed magic, you’ll be Voldemort’s thrall, as surely as if you’d sworn an unbreakable vow, accepted 3 imperius curses, and then housed a bit of his soul in your corpse. Which you would be doing, considering the thing which lived in the ring which cursed you. The Horcrux seeded you as surely as the curse locked your magic. This was a good trap, and now I have to deal with the consequences of your idiocy.” I bite out scathingly, glaring at him all the while. He chuckles.

“The new hand is much better than my old one. I can tell it is more powerful - and indeed more Dexterous than my previous ever was. What’s the make of it?” He asks, and I give him a more pronounced scowl.

“Blood Mythril which I made myself is the core of the magic, basically the bones. The Alchemists Iron is the muscles, meat and tendons, and the Silver is the top. I made it the best I could, and I doubt I’ll ever give anyone else it’s like. I stapled an illusion on, too, but suggest you make or get a glove to cover it - or both of your hands.” I growl at him, tossing myself into the chair as he seemingly forces himself to stop shaking.

Just like me, when I have a panic attack.

“Aside from that it seems the Deathstick has decided to follow you, now.” He says, almost cheerily, and I squint at him in honest disbelief.

The Deathstick - Wand of Destiny - whatever else it is called, is a very important historical artefact.

“Grindelwald?” I ask, a bit softer.

He nods. “I’ve held it for a long time - and hoped if it died with me - a natural death - the power would be broken. I was only meant to have the meanest of the three, just look what happened when my avarice found the others? James Potter died, and now the other is going to kill me.” He says, almost like he should have expected it.

“The…” I trail off, then stomp my foot, a low rumble goes through the room in an unconscious flexing of my power - too much at once - is released and I summon the wand from the severed arm.

A long, knotted wand - the knots forming orbs almost - hits my hand and I feel a perfect - flawless connection. I observe it. “Just a second while I try to figure out what the hell this is” I grunt, seeing another massive wall of text.

The Elder Wand

Titles: Deathly Hallow, The Deathstick, The Wand of Destiny, The Unbeatable

Grade: Mythic Artefact (Deity-Craft)

Qualities: Balance, Death, Combat

Stats:

Balance (i) 10

Power (i) 10

Accuracy (i) 10

Set Bonuses (2 / 3 required)

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School of magic best suited for -

All Magic.

The Elder Wand was created by the cosmic entity of the Multiverse - known as Death - to act as a killer for powerful Witches and Wizards. It lures them and kills them, making them overconfident. It is meant to be a driving force, however. As the wand cannot be taken by an equal (for this wand has no equal, and will make an otherwise equal duel unequal) only one who is better - or knows more - or has more magic - than the holder of the wand may take it.

Removing the wand from the previous owner by force forces the wand to swap allegiance.

The Elder Wand is part of a three-part set, The Cloak of Death, which can hide the user from the curses the other two have upon them, the Resurrection Stone, which can call the dead back to teach the user of the lost magics, and the Elder Wand, which can be used to cast any magic - made for a Wand or not.

The Wand is cursed to increase one’s confidence in themselves. It forces the user to become overconfident, and overlook their faults. This is so the user - who is not descended from the holder of the Cloak - the ones who should hold the Hallows - does not hold them forever.

You can hold all three of the Hallows, if you wish, as your family line has 3 connections to the original holder of the cloak, through a few daughters, though none of those are direct connections, they count.

You are the current master of the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone.

The Cloak is currently soul-bound to the last descendant of Ignotus Peverell's eldest daughter, who married into the Potter family some time ago, and holds the cloak to this day. It would require killing 18 families to gain mastery of the cloak. If you would like a list, one can be provided (i)

He or She who unites all of the Hallows in their possession gains a connection with the Cycle of Death, and will gain all of the powers of the Three Hallows, which will cease to exist, unless they are killed in combat.

Lastly, this is one of the 12 Divine Regalia which are in this world. There is one for each fundamental power of the universe.

Life, Death, Space, Time, Light, Darkness, Creation, Destruction, Order, Chaos, Fate and Magic.

You can only be the Master of One set of the Divine Regalia.

Should you become the Master of one set, the others will be claimed within One Decade of your claiming.

Would you like to accept the quest to become The Master of Death?

Y/N

“No.” I say out loud. I’m not killing Harry Potter. Though it is good to know all of that stuff. There are 12 powers which order the multiverse. One of them - or all of them - are what put me here most likely. I’m fairly certain that the biography of the item is more detailed - and is so because I ‘own’ two of the Divine Regalia. By which it means I chopped off the previous owner's hand and plan to take them off to destroy the ever living hell out Horcruxes using them. “I won’t be the master of this wand for long, not if I can help it.” I growl, tossing it on his desk, and glaring at it. “I’ll stage something so Harry comes to possess it, along with that damnable stone.

Quest Created

Harry Potter - Master of Death

I accept it without looking. He will be, and I’ll find some other regalia if I need to, so I can help him not die from that, too.

“That was always the plan. The cloak is wondrous. It even hid from my scans, when I tried to figure out how to make it mine - I’ve always strove to be the Master of Death. I gave up on the dream a long time ago, but the old passions die hard.” Dumbledore grumbles, and I nod.

Devil-blessed like us have a hard time giving up on power, dreams.

“It implies immortality, but the magic I have access to does not say the user of them is immortal, it outright tells me if I die in possession of them, the set will come back out and someone else may be chosen to be the Master - or Mistress I suppose - of Death.” I inform him.

“I would have been very powerful - able to lead the world to a new age, I thought. Gellert wanted to make it one where we ruled the muggles with an iron fist. I wanted it to be one where my family was free to do as we wished, and the Muggles would not fear or harm us for our gifts. I gave up when my sister died to a curse in a duel between myself, Gellert and my brother, Aberforth. A shame, he’ll be the last of us. No children between us.” He sighs, and I nod.

“Well, it told me a bit more. There are 12 sets like this, and the Hallows, in the world. I imagine a few sprinkled on every continent. Death, while suited to my old self, is not for me. I will have to hope I stumble upon some other set which is more in-league with what I would prefer. If not, then I’ll find some other way.” I grumble, and Dumbledore gives me a confused nod.

“What now?” He asks, and I simply float the ring into a box I pull out of my Inventory, along with the Cup.

“I’m going to kill the fuck out of two Horcruxes. And I’m going to do the ring second with your nice sword. The ring doesn’t matter, and the Stone isn’t cursed. At least, not in a deadly way. I say, glancing at the Stone’s Observation, where it mentions the curse.

The Resurrection Stone is Cursed to make the user feel the sadness and loss of every spirit they summon. Their regrets which they left behind, and the sorrows of all of their failures. When they become too much, the user of the stone only ever kills themselves.

I will never use the Stone, I decide.

The Cup, it turns out, with my new wand, isn’t even a fight. It’s so much more powerful than my last, that I rip the soul out of the Horcrux, and stuff it into the waste- I pulled from my inventory to house it.

It doesn’t even get a chance to fight back. Either because I dumped so much mana into it - the Elder Wand could take ALL of my mana it seemed, or because the dumb wand is so good at amplifying magic.

Either way, Voldemort is down to his last Horcrux.

The Snake.

And all I have to do to get rid of it, is kill a few hundred men and women who have sold their souls, families and fortunes to a madman.

Maybe Harry will beat me to it? Well, we’ll see. This is a project which could take years. Unless Voldemort - and his snake - move in the open to fight us. Which he has no reason to do at present.

But no point in killing the man if his snake is hidden away. If he brings his snake with him to a fight, more the fool he is.

Such a shame, then, hubris is his fatal flaw. And always has been, it seems. Greed and Hubris.

Just like old Szass Tam.