Chapter 38
Back at Hogwarts, Severus stopped to greet Slughorn, then returned to his room and cast a Disguise Charm. The newspaper had arrived that morning, and he had absolutely no desire to live through the next several hours of it.
He was, predictably, the main topic of conversation among the Slytherins. He knew this was only a temporary delay, but after the day he had just had, he wanted to give his head at least a brief rest.
He did not even bother undressing before dropping face-down onto the bed.
"Sev. Alan, take your clothes off first. It is not good to sleep in them," Nagini said, tugging at his sleeve.
"Are you really that eager to see me undressed?" He rolled onto his back with a playful smile and let the wave of embarrassment from her wash over him with evident satisfaction.
"Pervert!"
"That is entirely unfair. You are the one telling me to undress, and somehow I am the pervert."
"Stop making fun of me, you know perfectly well what I meant!"
"All right, I am just in a good mood." He snapped his fingers, and his clothes became shorts.
"It does not show. I remember that expression you were wearing at lunch when all those people kept coming, and you kept it until the evening. And then you came back smiling." She eyed him with narrowed suspicion.
"I secured a very large quantity of ingredients at an excellent price. You could say they gave them away."
"Gave them away, you say."
"They were remarkably generous. Handed over almost everything." He stroked her head with a quietly satisfied expression.
"All right. I will not ask again. That is your business. But be careful."
"You sound like my mother."
"Hm!"
"Fine. I will not be so careless in future, and there is no reason to be. I have already reached my main goal." He laced his fingers behind his head and closed his eyes. Nagini heard those words and let out a slow breath of relief.
I still did not expect the ritual to produce an outcome like this. Barely any side effects, and with that addition on top. If anyone from my old world knew, every Master and half the Archmages would be hunting me.
He felt the magic moving out of his core and circulating through his body, and could not help smiling, quietly and genuinely. He had done something that should not have been possible: formed a material core at Master rank, which even some Archmages had never managed.
The difference between a formless core and a material one was not a matter of degree but of kind. Being able to store magic within the body rather than simply conducting it was already significant on its own, and beyond that a wizard with a material core was no longer capped in spell power, provided the core held sufficient charge. The ability to draw magic from the air and release it directly remained as well: both functions at once.
That was only the most obvious advantage. The secondary benefits included finer control, faster absorption, improved physical capability from better magic flow through the body, considerably sharper senses across all five, natural regeneration, and more besides.
From the ritual specifically, he had gained something else: an affinity for fire magic, sourced from the phoenix. Fire spells would now consume a fraction of the magic they once had, and their output would be several times greater.
And beyond that, immunity to poison. Nagini's venom had no effect on him at all. Basilisk venom was still another matter: that was not simply a magical poison but something categorically different, and even in his original body he would not have tested it.
From the dragon came a reinforced skeleton and greater physical strength, though those were modest gains against the first two.
Any one of those outcomes would have been remarkable. All three together was genuinely unreal. His expectations going in had been limited to the physical improvements, with only the faintest hope for the core.
What actually caused the core to materialise? The dragon crystal, or the cave crystals themselves, or something from the basilisk or the phoenix? Too many variables. I will need to investigate properly later.
He sighed, snapped his fingers, and the light went out.
"Good night."
"You too," she hissed sleepily, settling on the pillow beside him.
Exactly as he had expected, the next day began the moment he stepped out of his room: two classmates he could not place were immediately at his side, acting as though they were his oldest friends. He politely declined whatever they wanted and left, a decision he came to regret when the congratulations found him in the common room instead.
He had nothing against congratulations, strictly as congratulations. Job offers disguised as congratulations, and invitations to private conversations in out-of-the-way corners, were a different matter.
The stuffiness of it all made him want to raise the ambient temperature sharply. By several thousand degrees. What saved him was Regulus, who happened to be passing. Severus greeted him with a smile, stepped out of the crowd, and fell in at his right. Remarkably, the others stopped pressing. They made their displeasure known and dispersed.
On the way to the Great Hall they talked about various things. Regulus was not particularly bothered at being used as a social shield. If anything, it reinforced a useful impression: the Black family was still a force, the rumours of decline were exaggerated, and they had drawn the new rising name to their side ahead of everyone else.
"I managed the spell, by the way," Regulus said, lifting his chin with a slightly sideways look at Severus, who raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise.
"Impressive. I thought it would take at least two months. How many copies?"
Regulus went slightly red.
"One."
"Nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone starts at one. Keep practising." Severus gave his shoulder an encouraging pat. "And the passive barrier?"
"An hour before I lose it."
"That is not bad either. The day before yesterday you held it for fifty-eight minutes and twenty seconds. You added a minute and forty in one day. Keep that rate up and by graduation you will be able to hold Protego all day without strain."
Regulus stopped as they reached the entrance to the Great Hall.
"Why are you helping me?" The question had clearly been sitting in him for some time, and he had finally run out of patience with it. For someone raised from childhood to treat every gift as the opening move of an unknown game, this situation made no sense. "No matter how I think about it, I cannot believe it is only because of my sister. Even if I support you, it would not change her feelings or persuade my grandmother, who would never agree to Bella marrying a half-blood. And in the time I have known you, I have realised you are not a stupid person. You know that too."
"The reason is." He paused with slight drama. "A secret." Regulus blinked. Then he scowled. "However, if you can conjure three fire spears and hold the barrier for a full day by the end of the year, I will tell you. Ready? Or frightened?"
"Me?! Frightened?! I accept!" Regulus reached for Severus's outstretched hand and then pulled back at the last moment.
"And if you cannot manage it, you put on shoes, a skirt, and a blouse, and walk the first three floors. Can you do that?"
"What?! No!"
"Are you really. scared?"
"Me?! No! Fine, agreed!"
"Excellent." How easy it is. They look alike, but their characters are quite different. "By the way, has your grandmother ever entertained the idea of arranging a marriage for Bella?"
Silence.
"So she has. To whom, and when?"
"You could not do anything about it even if I told you."
"Lestrange." Severus said it thoughtfully, drawing it out, and watched Regulus go rigid. A moment later Regulus understood and looked away quickly. "That will not help you. And do not worry: I do not enjoy reading people's thoughts, but you were thinking very loudly." Two years. So that is where those two years came from: she is due to marry in roughly that time. Cruel woman. And yet I want to make her mine more with every passing week. When he surfaced, Regulus was already disappearing into the Great Hall, stamping his feet in irritation. He is offended. And I was helping him.
He shook his head and took three steps toward the entrance before a female voice called out to him.
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