The following week flew by, and actually, quite a lot happened. Draco made it onto the Slytherin team through his own effort and talent. He was significantly better than Terence Higgs. Even I could see he was a more talented flyer, although I didn't know much about Quidditch.
Then Augustus Rookwood and Alexander Mulciber started training with us in the Room of Requirement as well. The guys took it pretty well... I knew that when I wasn't in the room with them, they dueled each other regularly. Theo especially saw them as a challenge. After all, he was a second-year and they were fifth-years. Movement-wise Theodore had the upper hand, but the difference in magical power could not be ignored.
Agnes? She took it much worse. And she took the fact that Theo beat her even worse. She was used to being second best only to me. But after a significant drop in her cardio and with a magical power level barely higher than Theodore's, her advantage had practically vanished. It took her a few days to shake it off and find her spark and determination again. She even started joining in on the runs without me asking her to.
The restaurant in Diagon Alley was already fully operational, but the promotional article in the Daily Prophet hadn't come out yet. The Muggle-born wizards working there had learned the formula for calculating total daily caloric expenditure, but they were still fine-tuning the individual meals. We wanted to know the exact amount of protein, fats, carbohydrates, and calories for every single dish so the data would be absolutely precise.
It was a planned premium service—portions weighed down to the gram according to the customer's goals. The staff worked on it with admirable dedication.
Over lunch, I received a letter from Vespera. I didn't open it right away, though; I just tucked it into my robes, determined to read it later when we were in my private training room. Agnes and I then headed straight there.
As soon as we stepped into the room, I began casting a series of protective wards.
"Fastidium Loci."
"Pelle Praesentiam."
"Cave Invictum."
Finally, I added one more ward intended to extend just beyond the door. Just for this moment.
"Aversio Maxima!"
The main protective wards were active, and Agnes, standing right beside me, was already inside them. She watched me curiously but waited for me to speak, so I quickly added one last spell.
"Muffliato."
That fucking anchoring of wards onto quartz still wasn't working for me, so I didn't even attempt it this time. I preferred to carry on casting before Agnes had a chance to speak.
With a swift Verto, I transfigured some rubbish into a table and then created two comfortable armchairs in the corner of the room, positioned so we had a direct view of the door.
I'm getting better at static transfiguration, I thought with satisfaction.
The more regularly I used transfiguration, the easier it became. At least static transfiguration. That was where I felt the most progress. Conjuration and combat transfiguration didn't appeal to me much, nor did I need to use them. Static transfiguration, however, was different. It was practical and, above all, meant comfort.
"Let's sit down, Agnes." I nodded toward the armchair opposite me and settled in comfortably myself.
"What were those spells?" she asked, eyes glinting the moment she sat down.
While I was sprawled comfortably in my armchair, she sat like a princess out of some fairytale. Her back was straight, knees together and tilted slightly to the right, hands resting loosely in her lap.
"Wards, so nothing takes us by surprise," I replied with an amused smirk. "Fastidium Loci subtly increases distaste for this room. Next is Pelle Praesentiam, which is stronger and more noticeable—it informs a person they aren't welcome here. Cave Invictum already has elements of a physical barrier and alerts you that someone is inside. And Aversio Maxima... well, you can figure that out from the name. Maximum aversion."
Agnes returned my smirk and shook her head theatrically.
"When in Morgana's name did you learn wards?"
"While you were eating pancakes in the Alps, dear Agnes," I teased with a smirk.
She gave an unprincess-like snort, but the smile stayed on her face.
"Those wards sound strong and good, sure. I put a decent amount of magical power into them, but... they feel too abstract to me, so I have no idea if they're actually any good. I don't know anyone who's good with wards..."
The only one who might have been able to help me with that was Ranrok from Gringotts. In truth, though, training water magic, lightning magic, the Black family spell, and other types of combat magic was more important to me. That was why I didn't consider my skill with wards to be all that crucial.
"Alright, so why are we here?" she asked calmly. "You secured the place quite thoroughly, so it's probably something serious."
Her calmness showed just how much she trusted me. Someone like Augustus would be shaking in his chair if I dragged him into an empty room and then secured it against intruders.
I nodded and pulled a brown wand out of my pocket, placing it on the table between us.
"It's not good to have multiple wands, Patrik."
"I know, Agnes. My aunt already told me... but it would be a shame not to use it." I smiled faintly. "I trust you, Agnes, and I'd like to try something."
"I'm listening." She nodded with a wide smile, a pleased spark in her blue eyes.
"A time may come when we'll need serious Dark Magic at Hogwarts... and I need to test how the Hogwarts wards work. Mainly whether the Headmaster is alerted when a specific spell is used."
This thought had occurred to me mostly because of Lockhart, and also Umbridge, if the future doesn't change.
"What spell do you want to try?" She shook her head and added, "Out with it."
"Imperius, Agnes," I replied calmly. "You'll learn what it feels like to be a victim of that curse, so it might help if anyone ever tries to control you. You can resist it mentally, so..."
"Stop. You don't have to list a hundred reasons why it's good for me," she growled at me. Then she shrugged and nodded in agreement. "I trust you too, so we can try it." She paused for a moment and added with a smile, "If you make me do anything humiliating, though, I'll burn your eyebrows and hair off!"
"Noted, Agnes," I laughed.
"So?" She gestured with her head toward the wand on the table.
"Not so fast." I shook my head. "If Dumbledore comes, definitely don't look him in the eye. Right after casting the curse, I'll break the wand and burn it, so even if he knows something, he won't have proof. You try to resist the Imperius. It's serious mental training and could help you."
"Do you think my Occlumency isn't good enough?"
"Against passive Legilimency it's enough, but if Dumbledore tried to push directly into your mind..." I shook my head. "Ready?"
Agnes nodded resolutely. I grabbed the brown wand in my hand and aimed it.
"Imperio."
It was a strange feeling pushing my magic through an incompatible wand. I could feel that the spell was nowhere near full power, but a yellow flash still burst from the wand and dissolved directly against Agnes's chest.
The spell was weaker, but my mind was strong. Still, I regulated the intensity, gradually increasing the strength of my attempt to dominate her mind. She resisted and fought back. Every time I felt her starting to push back with her will, I dialed up the power. We wrestled like this for a while until she was mentally exhausted and succumbed to the spell.
With a short impulse of mind, I compelled her to stand up.
Right after that, I lifted the Imperio and tried to snap the brown wand in my hands. The wood, however, was surprisingly flexible and didn't give. I didn't have enough physical strength to break it with just my hands, so I changed tactics.
While Agnes slumped back into her armchair with sweat on her forehead, I stood up, positioned the wand at waist height, and drove my knee through the center of it, breaking it in two.
Once broken, the wand sputtered magic like dying electricity. I didn't wait around and immediately tossed it a short distance away. I then ignited the landing spot with a non-verbal Incendio.
For a moment, I scorched the floor with blue flame until sweat began trickling down my temple. Then I stopped. Blue fire required significantly more magic than ordinary fire.
Exhausted and in an overheated room, I sank back into the armchair.
"Since when do you have blue fire?" Agnes asked curiously after a moment.
I looked at her silently. Eager interest sparkled in her eyes.
I was calculating that if the detection wards at Hogwarts registered my use of the Imperius, it would take twenty minutes at most for Dumbledore to arrive. I knew he was in the castle, so the wait was just a moment of truth.
In the end, I decided to answer Agnes. She had an affinity for fire magic, not me. That was why it mattered to her.
"Fire changes color according to temperature. Red and orange flames are the baseline. Yellow is somewhere in between, and blue represents high heat," I explained calmly. "I managed to conjure blue flame because I concentrated it onto a small area and poured an extreme amount of magical power into it."
The idea had occurred to me only recently, when I was trying to figure out before bed—after starting my second year—how to drain my magical core as quickly as possible. Ordinary fire was becoming too slow, and water magic in such small quantities was practically free...
The solution was higher intensity concentrated into a small area. And voilà, blue fire was born.
"Do you think I can use it too?" she asked in nearly a whisper, as though afraid of my answer.
"Of course, Agnes. I don't have the slightest doubt you can do it," I answered sincerely, looking her dead in the eye. "If you work hard... and don't just eat pancakes, then definitely."
She snorted and turned her face away, but from her profile, I could see her smile and her suddenly flushed cheeks.
"The main thing is pushing your magic hard every single day," I added gravely.
I had noticed one thing about my friends. They usually only pushed themselves to their magical limit during a duel, when they truly wanted to win. Otherwise, it was as if their own minds were convincing them not to train harder, to save their magic and not waste it unnecessarily. And that was precisely why they grew slower.
They didn't have my magical sensitivity to see or feel in real time what percentage of their magical core they had left. But I pushed myself to the absolute limit every single day.
"Thank you. I'll work hard," Agnes said. She looked me in the eyes and then immediately looked away.
"I have complete faith in you," I repeated.
A peaceful silence fell.
Agnes tried to sit still, but her impatience soon betrayed her. Her fingers tapped gently against the armrest, and her foot began clicking against the floor. Meanwhile, I pulled out the letter from Vespera and began to read:
Dear nephew,
I hope you are doing well and that all is going swimmingly. Though I must admit, I hardly doubt it in the slightest.
Our castle feels emptier without your presence and, naturally, I miss you. How are you feeling at Hogwarts? I am certain you miss our daily duels, but I trust you have already remedied that shortage at least in part.
Jonathan Reeves was exceptionally helpful and provided me with very valuable information. Thanks to his willingness and the willingness of his "acquaintances and friends," more gold will soon be added to your vault. I believe this news will please you.
Your last message was far too brief, Patrik. Try to work on that.
With love,Vespera Rosier
P.S.: Elizabeth sends her regards as well.
"What are you grinning about?" Agnes asked the moment I finished reading.
I calmly folded the letter in half and tucked it back into my robes.
"I have a great aunt, and she made my day." I shrugged. "I love her," I added with a smile.
Agnes cooed with a wide smile on her face.
"You're the first boy to admit that," she laughed. "Someone like Draco would run off before admitting he's a mummy's boy."
"Love isn't a weakness." I shrugged. "Draco is Draco..."
We quietly smirked at each other. Agnes stopped tapping her fingers on the armrest, crossed her legs like a princess again, and spoke after a moment.
"Did you smile like that reading my letters over the holidays too?" She looked away, avoiding my gaze. At that moment, it was clear to me there was more behind that question than mere curiosity.
A dangerous question. Especially since she was still a kid...
"I laughed at yours, Agnes..." I gave a fake smirk, but fortunately she wasn't looking at me. "Your essays about pancakes with whipped cream and comparing whether chocolate, jam, or maple syrup was better... that always made my day."
"Pancakes are the best food in existence," she said after a moment with a smirk, looking me in the eye.
Crisis averted.
"What did she actually write to you?" she asked curiously. "Anything interesting?"
"Nothing special... just asking how I am, saying she misses me, that sort of thing," I answered calmly.
I certainly had no intention of telling anyone that Vespera had moved through Jonathan to other drug dealers, stripped them of their money using the Imperius Curse, and then laundered pounds into galleons through Ranrok... And I had only been at Hogwarts for two weeks.
My aunt was amazing.
We waited quietly for a few more minutes, chatting about various ordinary and magical matters. An hour passed, and still no sign of Dumbledore.
The test was a success, and I could happily use the Imperius at Hogwarts without it causing any issues whatsoever.
For a moment, I wondered if it could have been due to the wards used, but I immediately dismissed the thought. It was simply impossible. None of the wards used concealed cast magic.
"Thank you, Agnes. I don't think Dumbledore is coming," I told her. "I'm going to continue training."
"You're welcome." She nodded with a smile and headed for the exit.
As she left, she looked like a cat that had just eaten a generous serving of delicious salmon. Once the door closed behind her, I immediately started transfiguring the rubbish into training dummies.
It was time for intense training on Cruor Flores.
***
Author's note:
And there it is—Patrik taking a cold, calculated risk right under Dumbledore's nose! Testing an Unforgivable Curse inside Hogwarts is definitely playing with fire... blue fire, to be exact.
Vespera is, as always, absolutely amazing. Lonely or bored, she decided to make very good use of the power of Imperius.
Imperius is honestly overpowered, and if I were Harry Potter during Order of the Phoenix... I might have been tempted to arrange a very unfortunate "trip" for Umbridge from the Astronomy Tower.
What do you think? How would you use Imperius if you had the chance?
***
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.
Enter the Restricted Section here: you-know-what/PatrikWriter
Upcoming Chapters – Already Written(15):
99. Flight and Fortune
100. Calculated Arrogance
101. GW: A Cunning Kind of Courage
102. GW2: My Best Friend
103. Pride Before the Haircut
104. Fire and Thunder
105. Better to Be Feared
106. A Serial Killer Under the Bed
107. The Legacy of Rookwood Castle
108. Worse Than Horcruxes
109. Cleansed by Fire
110. Running Dead
111. I'm Dying
112. AM: Everything We Had Left
113. Still Breathing
Join the Inner Circle - tgdTNZYVKt (Discord)
(Vote on plot | Dark FF recs | Chat with the Author)
Support the craft and keep the darkness spreading. Your support directly allows me to dedicate more time to crafting this world.