"It's not in the books," the dark-haired man said as he closed the last of the volumes of curses he had read. The forbidden section of the library included a catalog of books on dark magic. Due to his race, he was allowed access with certain restrictions, which involved Professor Evans supervising his research.
"I've been researching that curse for years... it's not human. After accepting that fact, I searched for books involving demons. Too bad not many are available," the professor interjected. "In the last few months that I was able to access Bellatrix, I tried to apply reverse arithmetic to discover her countercurse. I failed," she seemed frustrated. "But I came to two conclusions: one is how it works. The curse replaces pleasure with pain. It sounds simple enough, but your mother is... special. She's a masochist," Lily observed Altair's slightly horrified face.
"That's not a surprise," he replied. His initial ideas about the curse were that it eliminated pleasure and left only pain. Being a masochist, the curse turns pleasure into pain, which would cause her more pleasure and therefore more pain. "It's a cycle of pain, an overload on her senses."
"I couldn't remove the curse... but I was able to create a spell that numbed her pain and pleasure receptors. It's not perfect, she still is-"
"Suffering," he finished, clenching his teeth.
Your father destroyed me! Her mother had said to him. And now he could perfectly understand what she was referring to.
"The other thing I found is the presence of a different magic. A magic that you possess is present in the curse. We are going to be able to cure your mother," the professor said, holding his shoulder as she spoke. Their eyes met intensely for a few seconds until they both looked away.
There was an uncomfortable silence, broken by the meow of a black cat. Altair frowned at it. Bella promised not to say anything to Andromeda and Lily. Her promise lasted two weeks. When Altair was serving her detention under the strict McGonagall, Bella searched the castle until she found Lilylu.
She couldn't contain her excitement and ended up spilling the beans.
That's why when Altair asked for permission to enter the restricted section, Lily Potter volunteered to help him.
The slight anger faded as he reached out to pet the cat. He stopped an inch away from her. The slight pleasure his caress would bring her would cause her pain. He felt a lump in his throat at the thought of all the times he had petted her. She seemed to writhe with pleasure, and even if he thought she couldn't feel anything pleasurable, he hoped she would like being near her son after so long. 'It was pain'.
The cat threw herself against his hand, rubbing her little face against it.
"Your pain is not as great as you imagine, Altair. And, as a mother I can say, the love a mother felt for her child is completely worth the physical pain. You will hurt her more if you deny her that love," the cat nodded.
A feeling of nausea filled Altair. He couldn't help it. He would cause his mother pain one way or another. He had to choose between which, physical or emotional pain.
In the end he took her in his arms and held her.
"I'm going to find a cure soon," he whispered in her ear.
There was a cure he already had.
[Instant Recovery. Price: 350,000 SP]
He got the ability two weeks after their Christmas party. The ability would eliminate any ailments related to sex. Which should work with his mother.
'She's my mother' was one of the reasons that stopped him. The blood bond prevented him from seeing his mother as a sexual partner.
After his conversation with Lily, he discovered that this idea would end up hurting his mother even more.
"You'll do it. I'll help you do it," Lily said with a smile. "Don't think of it as charity, studying that kind of magic will benefit me too." She clarified when she saw him open his mouth. "But now, it's time for your detention with Professor McGonagall. It should be the last one. Unless you decide to extend it for a month. Again," she said as she put some of the books back in their place.
Altair and Lavender had decided to make their detentions more... fun. Which involved sex, of course.
It also involved being caught and getting detention again.
Professor Dumbledore seemed disappointed this time. Altair didn't think he was disappointed by what they were doing, but by being caught. The punishment was to separate them during detention and extend it for another month.
'It was worth it', but in reality it wasn't. Four hours of detention were hours he could have spent under the sheets with his girls. But Altair told himself that so he wouldn't feel so bad about himself.
Minutes passed and Altair and Lily left carrying books to the redhead's laboratory. Madame Pince looked at them with narrowed eyes, especially at Altair. Like all women in this world, she was much more beautiful than her canonical version. Black haired with brown eyes and pale skin. Her face was small with a snub nose. Her black lips matched the hat she always wore. 'Gothic' is what Altair thought when he saw her.
Lily came over to greet her and let the librarian record the books in a special logbook. Her frown was marked as she looked at the number of books they were carrying: 21.
She reluctantly handed over the books. Altair was sure that if Lily had not been a teacher, Madame Pince would have made a fuss.
Altair carried the books all the way, while talking to the teacher. A bit stupid if you consider that he could cast a levitation spell or use a bag with the inside extended. Right?
It wasn't. Some books in the forbidden section were enchanted, and using spells on them could often cause an alteration in the book's magic.
After leaving the books on the teacher's desk, he went outside while checking the time on his W-phone. The professor retired to give her last class of the day.
[15:49]
There was a notification from a messaging group.
[Coven]
[Lavender Brown has sent a photo.]
Altair turned off her cell phone immediately as he breathed, and began to walk along the corridors. 'I'm not going to open it,' he thought. After walking for a few minutes he turned on his cell phone again to open the photo.
A hissing sound stopped him.
A snake in the corridor looked at him, it had purple eyes, like his.
Altair felt the urge to run. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he looked into the eyes of that creature.
His first impression was of a snake. A second glance confirmed his mistake. It looked like a black miniature dragon, one more elongated and slender than the ones he knew. Not enough to be the same as the Asian ones, but it didn't correspond to Arthurian legends either.
Bella, who was hiding inside his tunic, began to squirm and meow.
The dragon lunged at them, Altair cast the darkest curse he knew, "Sectumsempra". The same curse that Snape used on him. Professor Dumbledore would be on his way. He could feel the dark magic inside the castle.
The curse touched its scales, despite its small size, the beast remained intact as it tore Bella from the pocket of Altair's robe.
[Health: 95%]
A small red line was visible on its abdomen, just where its mother used to be.
"The spell didn't affect it. I should wait for the Headmaster," he thought logically. A single pitiful whimper from her mother in her animal form shattered that logic.
The dragon carried the black cat in its claws as it traveled through the castle, through empty corridors. Altair ran after it, debating whether to cast spells. 'I could hurt Mom,' he thought as he bumped into some armor, knocking it over.
Altair chased it until they left the castle. He began to cast spells above the beast, fearing that it would take flight and get lost in the sky.
The beast did not do so.
It remained close to the ground and close to Altair.
It was guiding him, probably to a trap.
The boy knew this, but he could not abandon his family.
They soon entered the forbidden forest. Altair continued to chase it until they reached a small treeless area.
Altair stopped short as he watched the dragon land, still flying, on a log.
In the blink of an eye, the dragon had disappeared. A man was sitting there, stroking the cat on his lap. The cat was stiff, her legs outstretched, and Altair began to fear the worst. The man did not seem to care that the cat was not reacting.
"Mortal magicians are surprising. Although flawed. They managed to evolve beyond their human form... to become simple animals." His voice was deep and distant, yet also mocking. "That's not the way to greet Dad," he said as he raised his head, a Sectumsempra full impact on his cheek.
Altair, with his hand in the air, watched him closely. He was a middle-aged man with a full beard, a narrow, handsome face and dark hair. Despite being seated, it was clear that he was tall. His face shared similarities with Altair's. 'We have the same eyes', the boy thought.
"Asmodeus," he whispered as he forced his mind to begin to calm down.
"Bingo!" the man replied with a smile. "Come closer," he ordered. The boy remained where he was. "How rude."
Altair blinked. When he opened his eyes, he was looking at his father's face. He noticed a line in his beard, probably caused by the curse he had cast, the skin underneath remained intact.
"Don't try it," Altair had barely thought of reaching out to take his mother. "Good boy."
"What do you want?" he asked.
"To see my son."
"Bullshit! What do you want?" His hand trembled as he pointed his wand.
The man looked at him amused. His eyes sparkled with interest as he looked at the golden wand in his son's hands.
"You're disappointing... each of my mortal children is strong after they awaken. You, however, are barely equal to an average wizard."
Altair had taken things slowly. The wizarding world was peaceful for now, there was no need to rush.
It felt so good to be surrounded by people who loved him that he became more selective with his partners. More than once a girl threw herself into his arms, each girl seemed interested in only one night with him. Lavender encouraged him to have sex with them. "You'll become stronger," she whispered in his ear.
He didn't listen to her. He didn't want to lose himself in a life of debauchery with worthless relationships, even if his progress would be slower.
'I thought I had time,' was what he thought as his body flew through the air. He heard a crunch as the tree he hit broke.
[Health: 63 %]
"At least your body is strong," a magician with an average physique would have broken his back after being thrown like that. Just because his back wasn't broken by the tree doesn't mean he wasn't hurt. One of his lungs probably exploded. "That's not enough. You're still a bad investment," he said as he placed a hand on his son's chest. His eyes were surprised. "Where's the book?" he asked him directly.
Altair spat blood in his face.
The boy looked into his eyes as he watched his fist fly to his face. He closed his eyes as he waited. Lavender's brown eyes came to his mind. He took small comfort in the fact that the demon in front of him seemed to have forgotten about Bella.
He heard a cry of pain.
On his right, his mother was holding her abdomen as she vomited blood.
"Ah... my toy got in the way," said the man, laughing. "I'll have to re-educate her. Along with your pets. My nobility is full, but the young man of the Astaroths is not. I owe them a favor, you know? They want strong women, the boy has an obsession with saints."
The flame of hatred inside Altair burned like fiendfyre. A mixture of hatred for the being in front of him and hatred for himself. He did not learn even when Snape almost split him in half with a spell. He decided to play at family and form a coven full of people he loved.
'I decided to be weak'.
"Those eyes of yours. They're incredible. Now, where is the book? I always leave one within reach of my descendants for them to take. They discover it one day, use it, and become strong quickly. Their souls are bound to that book. I took their power, after killing them," he explained. There was no need to keep things to yourself in front of dead men. "You never used it, did you?" You could tell he loved the sound of his own voice. "That explains why you never got strong... I'll offer you a deal. In exchange for the blonde girl I'll let you live. You'll take and use the book, you'll get strong. You'll have so many cunts at your disposal that you'll forget about the girl quickly. In the end I'll kill you, but isn't it better to live a little longer?"
"No," Altair whispered, the idea made him sick. He would rather die than hand Lavender over.
In this situation, not even his death would prevent them from hurting his girlfriend.
"Too bad. You seemed to have a bit of potential..." The demon would have forced Altair to accept, however, one of the limitations of the book was that it needed to be bound with the consent of the owner.
"Die,"
'I whispered from the depths of my soul. They were not just words, it was the deepest desire of my heart. If I had the mirror of Erised in front of me, I could see the image of Asmodeus's head crushed under my hands.'
His wand had fallen from his hands long ago.
With all the strength left in his aching body, he threw a punch at his father's smiling face. The blow landed, and to his surprise, the demon took a few steps back.
"That was a good blow. Now that I see it... your soul is strong," he spat out some black blood as he finished speaking. "Merlin was the last one..." he whispered to himself. Then he rolled his eyes with annoyance. "They're going to interrupt us." He moved to the side, dodging a blue spell.
"Hogwarts is off limits to you," Altair felt his heart tremble with joy as soon as he heard that voice.
"I am not in Hogwarts, right?" the demon joked with the old headmaster.
Albus Dumbledore was not a violent man. But he could always be if the situation required it. His face, as he looked at the demon in front of him, was one of indifferent fury.
The old headmaster liked to chat. But he didn't say a word as he waved his wand. Blue fire emerged from the tip and filled the clearing. The demon stood still as he let the fire consume his body. He didn't seem to be concerned at all. His eyes looked at Altair with renewed interest.
Altair did not look back at him, at that moment his body was moving towards his mother. Halfway there he felt a hand lifting him up and helping him to walk.
"Professor, please..." he begged. A red phoenix alighted on his dying mother's body. Altair watched as tears fell from the phoenix's eyes and fell on Bellatrix's mortal wound. Altair whispered thanks to both the magical creature and the headmaster as he embraced his mother. "It won't happen again. I promise."