It was incredibly annoying how Vespera kept pinching my cheeks, but... she looked like she really needed it, so I only offered a half-hearted protest. I was already drawing breath to answer her question—an answer I had prepared in my head perhaps a hundred times. I needed to convince her to start teaching me the Unforgivable Curses, but then she caught my cheek again.
I noticed something in her gaze, though. It struck me that she desperately needed a hug and physical contact, yet she clearly couldn't bring herself to do it. So, instead of pulling away, I leaned toward her and gave her a firm embrace. I felt her stiffen in my arms for a moment, but she relaxed almost immediately. I had the feeling she was about to completely melt under my touch.
After a moment in the embrace, it did occur to me that this was a fair bit of emotional manipulation on my part, and I was certain she would grant my request now, but I didn't want to just callously toy with her. I genuinely cared for her.
The hug lasted a while longer, and when I felt she was alright, I pulled back slightly. We remained in close proximity, however, and I began to explain: "I need to master that magic so I can reliably defend myself against it... but at the same time, the Imperius is exceptionally important to me right now."
She watched me in silence for a moment with a faint smile. Our hands were still touching until she finally nodded. I felt a surge of genuine relief.
"What do you need the Imperius for specifically, and why now?" she asked curiously.
"As you've said, the Dark Lord is alive... but what you don't know is that he was at Hogwarts during the school year as a teacher," I said quietly. Vespera's pupils dilated in surprise. She opened her mouth as if to object, but then snapped it shut wordlessly.
"He was controlling the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirrell... He called me into his office a few times and spoke with me. I must say, he is completely insane," I added.
I gave her a moment to process the information. She looked as though the news might knock her sideways. Fortunately, she was still young, so I didn't have to worry about her having a heart attack.
"What did you talk about, and what did he want from you? Was it because of Pettigrew?" she blurted out in one breath as soon as she recovered sufficiently.
"He noticed I am powerful. Thanks to my father, I think he considers me one of his future followers... But regarding the situation with Pettigrew, he was testing me," I paused for a second and fixed her with an unwavering stare. "I will never bow, Auntie. Never, and to no one."
Vespera returned my gaze with immense gravity. "Then why Imperio specifically?"
"For money," I replied curtly. I continued immediately, shaking my head when I saw her drawing breath to object. "No, you don't have enough. My father has control over the main wealth of the house. What we have at our disposal is, so to speak, a mere pittance. We could survive on it, but money is a massive pillar of power."
She nodded in understanding but immediately countered: "Evan would give you all the gold you asked for, Patrik. I promised him I would take care of you."
"That's all well and good, but I don't trust a man I don't know, Auntie. I would trust you; I won't trust him," I snapped sharply to nip any further protests in the bud. I didn't care that he was my father; in my world, trust had to be earned, not inherited.
"So what are your plans for the Imperius?" she asked after a moment of tense silence. "I can do it for you; you don't have to dirty your hands. Although... if money started disappearing from families, the other Houses would notice immediately."
I shook my head in disagreement: "No. It's my idea, my choice, and it would be riskier for you than for me. The targets will be Muggles, not wizards. I just need you to teach me the curses."
"I'll teach you everything you need, but... what then with the Muggle money?" Vespera asked, concern in her voice. "Gringotts sends reports to the Ministry. And Muggles would also notice if people's savings just vanished."
"That's already taken care of, Auntie. Ranrok is exceptionally helpful in that regard," I replied with a smirk, a spark dancing in my eyes. "I won't be targeting decent, good Muggles; that would be quite unprincipled... Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there are plenty of swine among them with vast fortunes."
"And what if you tried the money from Black?" she suggested after a moment of silence.
"No," I dismissed it immediately. "Even though I believe he wouldn't have a problem with it, who knows what I'll need from him in the future. And honestly... I haven't felt like talking to him yet."
Vespera finally let out a heavy sigh, shrugged, and nodded. I had to restrain myself from laughing, though I was sure she noticed my smirk.
"It's good that you mainly need the Imperius, as it will likely be the easiest curse for you," she paused for a moment and then continued explaining: "As a Rosier and a Legilimens, you have a massive advantage. The Imperius doesn't require as much raw magical power as, for example, Avada Kedavra. The most important thing for it is a strong mind; you need to take total control over the target."
"And what about Avada and the Cruciatus?" I asked directly.
"I can help you with the Avada; I've mastered that... but it consumes too much magical energy. And the Cruciatus? I haven't mastered that one."
"How is it that you don't know the Cruciatus?" I inquired, curiosity in my voice.
She shrugged: "It's one of the hardest curses to perform. You need a specific mindset for it, and a certain kind of inner darkness. Torture never appealed to me, and this curse... Simply put, your other aunt would be more likely to help you with that," she smirked for a moment and clarified: "The one in Azkaban."
I knew she meant Bellatrix. I realized that even before Lord Voldemort's definitive return, I would have to meet both my father and my aunt in Azkaban to know exactly where I stood. It made sense. The Cruciatus didn't appeal to me anyway. I had no desire to turn people into 'vegetables' as Bellatrix had done to the Longbottoms, and I felt that I lacked that specific sadistic mindset just as much as Vespera did. As for the Avada... if it consumes too much magic, I'll ignore it for now.
Vespera watched me with a smile while I thought. Finally, I just nodded decisively: "Then just the Imperius. I'd likely be wired similarly to you regarding the Cruciatus... and I'll save the Avada for later, once I can cast a proper Reducto without any trouble."
"Fine, let's get to it... Jobo!" Vespera called out.
With a soft crack, our house-elf immediately appeared in the room and bowed low. "What can Jobo do for Mistress?" he asked dutifully, his large eyes darting from my aunt to me.
"Patrik needs to practice the Imperius," she replied coldly and firmly. Immediately after, she turned to me: "Order him to resist your attack with all his might."
I hesitated for a moment; I didn't want to hurt him. But then I realized that the Imperio doesn't cause physical pain if performed correctly. It was a battle of wills.
"Resist, Jobo," I commanded him. "Defend yourself against my spell mentally as much as you can, but without hurting yourself."
Vespera laughed amusedly and whispered softly under her breath: "Just like Carina..."
I ignored her comment and focused on the elf. Jobo bowed to me again without a hint of fear and straightened up. He stood there with his arms hanging at his sides, ready to face the attack of my mind.
Slowly, I raised my wand of white yew. As soon as I was sure of the strength and readiness of my mind, I spoke the incantation with determination: "Imperio!"
A yellow bolt shot from the wand, hitting Jobo directly in the head and soaking completely into his body. I immediately felt his mind. It recoiled and fought, but my magic was already inside him. It felt like we were pulling on a rope, but he stood no chance. I slowly took control, pushing more and more until I was certain I had won.
Jobo stood before me, completely surrendered to my will. I felt my magic draining—the initial impulse cost me about as much energy as two weaker Reductos. Once the Imperio was active, it drained magic from me steadily, but in a negligible amount. I estimated that if I were controlling multiple people at once, the strain would grow significantly.
I sent him a thought to kneel. Without a word and entirely naturally, he immediately knelt on the cold floor of the training room.
"Order him to do a backflip," said Vespera, who had been watching me with quiet pride until now.
"What? He can't do that," I objected. Jobo was healthy, but I doubted he would be capable of such an acrobatic feat. It would require training, and I had never attempted anything of the sort myself.
"But he can. That is the magic of the Imperius," Vespera nodded to me.
I yielded and sent the command: Perform a backflip.
Jobo obeyed me instantly. He sprang from his knees as if he had springs instead of joints and tendons, and described a perfect somersault in the air like an Olympic athlete.
Vespera began to clap with a gentle smile. "Excellent. You already know how to use the Imperio."
"Already?" I asked in surprise. "Wouldn't it be harder with people?"
She shook her head. "With wizards, yes; with Muggles, no. Magical beings and wizards naturally have stronger minds thanks to magic. Since you overcame Jobo, an ordinary Muggle will be no problem for you... As for wizards, that depends on the level and abilities of the target. That's a matter of training. At the first level of the spell, you won through pure mental strength, similar to Legilimency. A true master, however, can 'bribe' and 'persuade' the victim's mind to surrender voluntarily."
"Even so... isn't it too fast?"
Vespera shrugged amusedly and snorted. "You're a Rosier. Mind magic and dominance are natural to us. I'm not surprised you succeeded on the first try."
If only Reducto or Aegis came so easily... But no matter. The Imperio is usable in its basic form, and that's what matters.
Mentally, I released Jobo from my control. The elf immediately clutched his lower back with a painful "Ouch!"
"Are you alright, Jobo?" I asked at once.
Vespera just shook her head at my concern but didn't comment.
"Yes, Young Master, only a slight ache," Jobo replied and tried to bow, but hissed in pain again.
"You may go, Jobo," Vespera commanded coldly.
I didn't want to argue with her. I understood why she treated him so distantly, so I remained silent.
"I'll slip him some Wiggenweld Potion later, the one I still have in my school bag," I promised myself silently.
We stood in silence for a while, which Vespera decided to break with undisguised excitement in her voice: "What are we going to do this summer, Patrik? We can travel. I can introduce you to my friend from Durmstrang, or we could go to a beach somewhere... what do you feel like?"
A beach sounded great, but I had to go over everything I needed to get done during these holidays in my head.
"Well, I have to go see a friend from school in Manchester," I began. Vespera immediately started smiling mischievously at me and wanted to pull my cheek again, so I took a step back. "Not like that, Auntie. She's having some trouble at home..." I paused for a moment and then continued: "Then I finally have to meet with Black, visit Borgin, and in August, I have the Order of Merlin ceremony with that idiot Fudge. Along with that, I'd like to practice spells. I need to expand my repertoire of weaker curses until I finally master Reducto."
"What do you need from Borgin?" she asked with interest.
"Nothing special, just to sell what I've acquired..."
I didn't need books at the moment. What I had gathered so far was quite enough; in fact, I didn't even have time to study it all, and I was sure I'd have plenty to read in our home library.
"We could also have a duel or two," I suggested. "Next year, Flitwick is opening a dueling club; I want to be prepared."
"We can," Vespera nodded immediately. "By the way, Narcissa is very curious about you. She's asked me several times for us to come visit... I saw you alongside her son on the platform."
"Yes, we're friends. He also knows I'm his cousin," I nodded. "He figured it out himself," I added before she could ask.
"Hm, perhaps I underestimated him," she smirked at me. "And what about that holiday? Do you feel like going anywhere?"
I knew exactly where I needed to go and what I wanted to get there, but I was a bit worried about her reaction. Even though I was sure she would comply, I opted for a diplomatic approach: "Do you have anything in mind?"
"We could go to Italy. They have amazing historical sites there, and Rome is woven with ancient magic. Or we could go to some regular destination just to relax... Or," Vespera suggested excitedly, her eyes sparkling with anticipation, "I can introduce you to my friend from Durmstrang, Elizabeth Báthory from Czecho-Slovakia."
"Báthory?" I exclaimed in surprise.
I knew the name Báthory from history even in my past life. She was one of the worst female killers of the millennium. She appeared often in horror movies and was famous throughout Europe for torturing and murdering young, innocent girls.
Vespera nodded with a smile: "Yes, Elizabeth. I assume you've heard of her House already."
"Er... would we even be safe there?" I asked with a mixture of fascination and genuine concern.
My aunt burst out laughing as if I had just told the best joke, but I had sincere worries.
"Of course! Elizabeth is a dear friend of mine and her family is wonderful!" She noticed my uncertain expression and began to explain: "They are a powerful and dark House, famous for blood rituals, but they are truly good people!"
Well, since she had brought up rituals... I decided to lay it out for her bluntly: "I need to hunt a troll."
She stared at me in bewilderment for a moment, as if processing what had just come out of my mouth. When it finally clicked, she could only manage a faint and disbelieving: "What the fuck?!"
It was likely the first time she had cursed so openly in front of me.
***
Author's note:
Patrik's logic: 1. Hug aunt. 2. Use hug to get Unforgivable Curses. 3. Profit (literally).
Who needs a part-time job when you can just Imperio your way through the Muggle economy? Also, can we talk about how Vespera considers blood-ritual enthusiasts as "truly good people"? I love Rosier family standards.
***
Step into the Restricted Section
The shadows are shifting, and the story goes much deeper... If you can't wait for the next update, Advanced Chapters are already waiting for you.
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Upcoming Chapters – Already Written(16):
60. The Lioness and the Black Blood
61. A Rosier, Not a Goyle
62. The Babel Charm and the Emperor's Dagger
63. Business and Bloodshed
64. Cruelty for Cruelty
65. Adopted by Fate
66. The Scent of Darkness
67. Socks, Sandals, and Sorcery
68. From Peaks to Plates
69. Ashes of Justice
70. The Scent of Despair
71. The Old Bird's Wisdom
72. Toujours Pur
73. The Emperor of Mankind
74. Two Romans Walk into a Bar…
75. Tactical Retreats
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