A few days later, when I was sure of my spell and tried it on some summoned snakes, I was ready to try it on myself. It was a Saturday night, and Quincy and I sneaked out of the common room, heading straight to our secret headquarters.
"Are you sure you will be fine?" She asked when we arrived, nervous and not because some of the paintings on the way here looked at us weirdly and grumpily as we woke them up with our glowing wands.
"I should be…. None of the snakes I tested it on showed any pain or discomfort. They just went stiff for a while before returning to normal."
"What if it is different for humans? Or because you are a wizard?"
"Well, that… that is though luck, Quincy." I chuckled, masking my nervousness with it.
"I don't like this, Conrad. Not a bit!"
"Should I try it on you?" I asked teasingly, and she fell silent. What surprised me was that she was clearly debating that possibility; I could see it in her eyes. "I wouldn't! Relax! It is my spell; I need to experience it once to know how it goes and what to modify!"
"If you survive it!"
"Don't be so pessimistic! It can't be worse than the Crucio curse!" I shrugged, producing my wand, and without hesitation, I waved it and pointed it at my wrist. "Sanguis Linea!"
I felt the magic inside me stir at once. There was a pull on my body… no, on my soul, and the classroom was gone, Quincy was gone, and everything flew away as I felt like traveling through a wormhole. I felt like an invisible hand was holding me by the ankle, dragging me along time and space, and I could do nothing but hold on to my dear life so it won't slip away.
It was both scary and exhilarating at once. I was trying to see where my mind was, but everything was a blur. It was as if I was sitting on a speeding dragon, watching a cityscape pass by. I could barely make out shapes and forms of people, but as soon as my brain registered something, it was already gone. I was about to think how long this was going to last when I came to a stop at once, and my consciousness landed back in my body.
"Conrad!" I heard Quincy say anxiously, holding me by my shoulders, shaking my body a little. "Conrad!"
"W-what…?" I asked, blinking my eyes rapidly, feeling dizzy and a bit nauseous.
"Are you okay?" She asked, slowly letting me go, scanning my face with apparent nervousness.
"Yeah… I think… What happened?"
"That is what I want to ask! The moment you cast the spell, your eyes went blank!"
"I guess… how long was I out?"
"A minute… at least." She answered, slowly calming down, seeing I was okay, and did not cough up blood or anything like that.
"Hm…" I furrowed my brows because it was only a brief moment for me, maybe lasting around ten or fifteen seconds. "It was… trippy! I can't really explain, but it was like riding a snidget!"
"A what?" She asked, confused.
"A snidget! Small little yellow bird, extremely fast, the one that the… snitch… is based… on…." I explained, halting my thought process as realization hit me. "Why do I know this?"
"What?" Quincy repeated, remaining just as confused as before, and I felt myself joining her in it.
"I… I do not remember reading that or studying it at all! I… I don't think I remember knowing about widgets at all!"
"Are you sure this spell did not jumble up your memories?" She looked into my eyes, starting to worry again. "What is my name?"
"Draco," I answered, and when I saw the horror-struck expression on her face, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Not funny! You are horrible!" She scolded me, hitting the arms that I raised, defending myself from her attempted murder.
"Sorry, sorry! I couldn't miss a chance like this!"
"Hmph! You are dumb! Extra dumb! I hope that spell made you even dumber than dumb!"
"Maybe." I closed my eyes, trying to recall anything that I did not know before… but nothing came to mind. Maybe I did know about the birds, and I just forgot? Haaah… this was weird. "I feel fine. The room is still spinning a bit, but… it is getting back to normal. I may try it again-"
"No! Don't! Let us wait at least a few days! See if there are complications or some nasty aftereffects! Don't do it again so soon!"
"Hm… okay. That is logical." I put away my wand after thinking about it. She was right; let's see if my spell had any side effects that a summoned snake couldn't produce… thinking about it… I was getting a little bit nervous now.
…
…..
……
That night I had a bizarre dream. It was similar to my recurring nightmare yet also wholly different. It… it was hard to make sense of it. It started with me being back home, then leaving my room and finding myself in a foreign house in the countryside. Leaving that lone building, I was standing on a hill. I saw only green pastures with mooncalfs gathering under the full moon's light. I was walking for a little bit when hearing something making a noise behind me. When I turned, I was in a burning, medieval village the next moment, and spells were whizzing around above my head. Clearly, two wizards were fighting in the dark, not paying any attention to the muggles below them. Being blinded by a bright flash, I was once again in a different place. I did not recognize it, but the air was stuffy, and I was sure I had to be in an ancient castle, judging by the rigid rock walls. It was like whenever I blinked or whenever I went through a door, I was jumping between realities. Or…
"Between time." A voice said, whispering into my ear. It was… familiar. A bit sounded like my own, yet not. "The fact you are alive means you have ancestors. Going back, back, and even farther back. There are no living beings who did not have parents."
"Really?" I asked, although I agreed with the voice while I was walking through a dark, dead forest who knows where. A few months ago, I would be running… I would feel like a giant snake was chasing me… but that feeling was gone now. I was much calmer this time around without noticing it.
"Of course! Tom Marvolo Riddle also had parents and carried my blood, inheriting it from one of them."
"Who?" I furrowed my brow as that name was unfamiliar to me. This was the first time I had heard about it.
"Doesn't matter." The voice continued, unbothered, whispering beside my ear. "My bloodline is far-reaching. It is like poison spreading through the victims' veins."
"That… is not really… comforting," I mumbled while the voice simply chuckled.
"I designed it that way. I learned that Immortality is not something that anyone can achieve."
"Well-"
"No. He is not immortal." Before I could interject, he stated commandingly, "He is using my technique. Yet even I died. So… he is not Immortal, no matter how many more times he casts my spell."
"Yet I am talking to you." I countered, looking around in that dark forest, but I could not see anybody there.
"You are talking to the imprint of my will, boy. You carry my blood in you, sealed away and locked tight by another spell. Well… not anymore. You broke the magic that was making it slumber so you can finally fully perceive me."
"Wait…" I stopped in my tracks, falling silent, my heart racing as I looked down at my wrist and finally noticed that my hand was covered in the violet-colored scales of a snake.
"You are not the first to make the connection. Your hunch was right; I did create the ability through a spell I made. I encoded my knowledge into my blood to pass it down."
"You… You are Herpo the Foul!" I gasped, realizing who I was talking to.
"Only a shadow of him. As I said, I died a long time ago." Answered the voice, and now turning towards its more defined source, the giant snake I always dreamt about was slithering before me, talking to me. This time, his voice was much clearer and more coherent than before, not like some kind of monster who wanted to kill me. "There were always some who carried my blood and managed to peel the layers back and earn a look at my knowledge, locked in their very own essence."
"The one you mentioned… did he too?" I asked, gulping, watching the snake that was speaking to me with a voice similar to my own. As if we were one person. Well… if he was truly a manifestation of my bloodline, personifying itself, that explained why.
"Yes." He answered, "And as a reward, I let him ask me about one thing. He wanted Immortality, so I told him about my other invention. Told him the name and the function of the spell. I wasn't telling everything to him, though… his disdain for his immediate bloodline was… irking me. But he managed to figure it out; he is a good wizard. A very good one." The snake hissed, and I was sure that he was smiling at me.
"So… I will have the chance to ask a question too?"
"Of course! But only one, and I will answer it honestly. What type of magic do you wish to learn from me? From your own blood?"
"The way you managed to imprint your knowledge! Your ability to speak to snakes and how you made all that into your blood so it can be inherited!"
"Oh? Not about Immortality?" The snake asked, surprised as it was slowly wrapping itself around my body, but strangely, I was not afraid this time.
"You just said… it is something that is impossible to achieve."
"I see." The voice said in a seemingly satisfied, smiling tone. "So be it. Your reward, my young descendant!"
And with that, the snake bit into my shoulder, and I felt hot, searingly hot venom injected into my bloodstream that made me squirm and trash around, but it held me down, strangling me with its tightly squeezing snake body. Did… did I make a big mistake now?
"It will be painful." The voice said in my head. "The magical curse put on those who left the main branch is ancient magic… it makes your blood slumber until unlocked… and eradicated by me. The last one I did this for soon rejoined the main family too."
"The… Gaunts…” I whispered through gritted teeth, feeling my body burn almost as bad as under the Cruciatus curse.
"I don't care what their name was. I never had a main family; they just wanted to be the only ones related to Salazar, who was the closest to my powers. Putting this curse into effect was because of greed... and pride. I only care about talents, carrying my blood! As long as you have me in you… you are carrying my will… and that… is… good enough…”
I could barely hear anything anymore as I slipped into something like a coma. Yet the pain was still present, and it only started to subside after hours later. I was exhausted even while I was knocked out. When I woke up, I was not in my dormitory but instead in the hospital wing. My body was bandaged up from head to toe, surprising me greatly, and as I tried to sit up, I had no energy in me to do so... so I remained to lie there.
"Awake?" Madam Pomfrey asked, hearing me trying to move, coming to my bed, and checking on me. "Good!" She let out a long breath, "What happened to you?"
"I… I don't remember." I answered honestly because I had no idea how I ended up here… or why. "What… happened?"
"You were found in your bed, bleeding from all orifices and from holes that should not be on anybody! They thought you were dead! I thought you were dead when they brought you in!"
"Oh… really?" I asked, surprised and confused… was that dream nothing but some delirious hallucination? Because I was bleeding to death in my sleep?
"Really! I don't know what kind of dark spell you were hit with, but nothing seemed to work, and cancel it! It took me three days to ensure you stayed amongst the living with that much blood being pushed out of your body! I called the Headmaster, but he said he is not interested in dealing with a student's idiocy!"
"Kind." I chuckled.
"Well, it is good that you find it funny!" Madam Pomfrey snorted, "Well, rest! I will tell the house elves to bring up food! You need to replenish your energies because you lost all your blood, quite literally!"
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."
She only nodded, leaving my bedside while I looked at the ceiling. By the sunlight's strength, it should be around noon. Three days… was I out for that long? Was it the side effect of my spell? So many questions in my head needed answering… but… with how hungry I was feeling, suddenly, all that could wait. The main question was how long the elves would take to bring me something to eat!
A few days later, when I was sure of my spell and tried it on some summoned snakes, I was ready to try it on myself. It was a Saturday night, and Quincy and I sneaked out of the common room, heading straight to our secret headquarters.
"Are you sure you will be fine?" She asked when we arrived, nervous and not because some of the paintings on the way here looked at us weirdly and grumpily as we woke them up with our glowing wands.
"I should be…. None of the snakes I tested it on showed any pain or discomfort. They just went stiff for a while before returning to normal."
"What if it is different for humans? Or because you are a wizard?"
"Well, that… that is though luck, Quincy." I chuckled, masking my nervousness with it.
"I don't like this, Conrad. Not a bit!"
"Should I try it on you?" I asked teasingly, and she fell silent. What surprised me was that she was clearly debating that possibility; I could see it in her eyes. "I wouldn't! Relax! It is my spell; I need to experience it once to know how it goes and what to modify!"
"If you survive it!"
"Don't be so pessimistic! It can't be worse than the Crucio curse!" I shrugged, producing my wand, and without hesitation, I waved it and pointed it at my wrist. "Sanguis Linea!"
I felt the magic inside me stir at once. There was a pull on my body… no, on my soul, and the classroom was gone, Quincy was gone, and everything flew away as I felt like traveling through a wormhole. I felt like an invisible hand was holding me by the ankle, dragging me along time and space, and I could do nothing but hold on to my dear life so it won't slip away.
It was both scary and exhilarating at once. I was trying to see where my mind was, but everything was a blur. It was as if I was sitting on a speeding dragon, watching a cityscape pass by. I could barely make out shapes and forms of people, but as soon as my brain registered something, it was already gone. I was about to think how long this was going to last when I came to a stop at once, and my consciousness landed back in my body.
"Conrad!" I heard Quincy say anxiously, holding me by my shoulders, shaking my body a little. "Conrad!"
"W-what…?" I asked, blinking my eyes rapidly, feeling dizzy and a bit nauseous.
"Are you okay?" She asked, slowly letting me go, scanning my face with apparent nervousness.
"Yeah… I think… What happened?"
"That is what I want to ask! The moment you cast the spell, your eyes went blank!"
"I guess… how long was I out?"
"A minute… at least." She answered, slowly calming down, seeing I was okay, and did not cough up blood or anything like that.
"Hm…" I furrowed my brows because it was only a brief moment for me, maybe lasting around ten or fifteen seconds. "It was… trippy! I can't really explain, but it was like riding a snidget!"
"A what?" She asked, confused.
"A snidget! Small little yellow bird, extremely fast, the one that the… snitch… is based… on…." I explained, halting my thought process as realization hit me. "Why do I know this?"
"What?" Quincy repeated, remaining just as confused as before, and I felt myself joining her in it.
"I… I do not remember reading that or studying it at all! I… I don't think I remember knowing about widgets at all!"
"Are you sure this spell did not jumble up your memories?" She looked into my eyes, starting to worry again. "What is my name?"
"Draco," I answered, and when I saw the horror-struck expression on her face, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Not funny! You are horrible!" She scolded me, hitting the arms that I raised, defending myself from her attempted murder.
"Sorry, sorry! I couldn't miss a chance like this!"
"Hmph! You are dumb! Extra dumb! I hope that spell made you even dumber than dumb!"
"Maybe." I closed my eyes, trying to recall anything that I did not know before… but nothing came to mind. Maybe I did know about the birds, and I just forgot? Haaah… this was weird. "I feel fine. The room is still spinning a bit, but… it is getting back to normal. I may try it again-"
"No! Don't! Let us wait at least a few days! See if there are complications or some nasty aftereffects! Don't do it again so soon!"
"Hm… okay. That is logical." I put away my wand after thinking about it. She was right; let's see if my spell had any side effects that a summoned snake couldn't produce… thinking about it… I was getting a little bit nervous now.
…
…..
……
That night I had a bizarre dream. It was similar to my recurring nightmare yet also wholly different. It… it was hard to make sense of it. It started with me being back home, then leaving my room and finding myself in a foreign house in the countryside. Leaving that lone building, I was standing on a hill. I saw only green pastures with mooncalfs gathering under the full moon's light. I was walking for a little bit when hearing something making a noise behind me. When I turned, I was in a burning, medieval village the next moment, and spells were whizzing around above my head. Clearly, two wizards were fighting in the dark, not paying any attention to the muggles below them. Being blinded by a bright flash, I was once again in a different place. I did not recognize it, but the air was stuffy, and I was sure I had to be in an ancient castle, judging by the rigid rock walls. It was like whenever I blinked or whenever I went through a door, I was jumping between realities. Or…
"Between time." A voice said, whispering into my ear. It was… familiar. A bit sounded like my own, yet not. "The fact you are alive means you have ancestors. Going back, back, and even farther back. There are no living beings who did not have parents."
"Really?" I asked, although I agreed with the voice while I was walking through a dark, dead forest who knows where. A few months ago, I would be running… I would feel like a giant snake was chasing me… but that feeling was gone now. I was much calmer this time around without noticing it.
"Of course! Tom Marvolo Riddle also had parents and carried my blood, inheriting it from one of them."
"Who?" I furrowed my brow as that name was unfamiliar to me. This was the first time I had heard about it.
"Doesn't matter." The voice continued, unbothered, whispering beside my ear. "My bloodline is far-reaching. It is like poison spreading through the victims' veins."
"That… is not really… comforting," I mumbled while the voice simply chuckled.
"I designed it that way. I learned that Immortality is not something that anyone can achieve."
"Well-"
"No. He is not immortal." Before I could interject, he stated commandingly, "He is using my technique. Yet even I died. So… he is not Immortal, no matter how many more times he casts my spell."
"Yet I am talking to you." I countered, looking around in that dark forest, but I could not see anybody there.
"You are talking to the imprint of my will, boy. You carry my blood in you, sealed away and locked tight by another spell. Well… not anymore. You broke the magic that was making it slumber so you can finally fully perceive me."
"Wait…" I stopped in my tracks, falling silent, my heart racing as I looked down at my wrist and finally noticed that my hand was covered in the violet-colored scales of a snake.
"You are not the first to make the connection. Your hunch was right; I did create the ability through a spell I made. I encoded my knowledge into my blood to pass it down."
"You… You are Herpo the Foul!" I gasped, realizing who I was talking to.
"Only a shadow of him. As I said, I died a long time ago." Answered the voice, and now turning towards its more defined source, the giant snake I always dreamt about was slithering before me, talking to me. This time, his voice was much clearer and more coherent than before, not like some kind of monster who wanted to kill me. "There were always some who carried my blood and managed to peel the layers back and earn a look at my knowledge, locked in their very own essence."
"The one you mentioned… did he too?" I asked, gulping, watching the snake that was speaking to me with a voice similar to my own. As if we were one person. Well… if he was truly a manifestation of my bloodline, personifying itself, that explained why.
"Yes." He answered, "And as a reward, I let him ask me about one thing. He wanted Immortality, so I told him about my other invention. Told him the name and the function of the spell. I wasn't telling everything to him, though… his disdain for his immediate bloodline was… irking me. But he managed to figure it out; he is a good wizard. A very good one." The snake hissed, and I was sure that he was smiling at me.
"So… I will have the chance to ask a question too?"
"Of course! But only one, and I will answer it honestly. What type of magic do you wish to learn from me? From your own blood?"
"The way you managed to imprint your knowledge! Your ability to speak to snakes and how you made all that into your blood so it can be inherited!"
"Oh? Not about Immortality?" The snake asked, surprised as it was slowly wrapping itself around my body, but strangely, I was not afraid this time.
"You just said… it is something that is impossible to achieve."
"I see." The voice said in a seemingly satisfied, smiling tone. "So be it. Your reward, my young descendant!"
And with that, the snake bit into my shoulder, and I felt hot, searingly hot venom injected into my bloodstream that made me squirm and trash around, but it held me down, strangling me with its tightly squeezing snake body. Did… did I make a big mistake now?
"It will be painful." The voice said in my head. "The magical curse put on those who left the main branch is ancient magic… it makes your blood slumber until unlocked… and eradicated by me. The last one I did this for soon rejoined the main family too."
"The… Gaunts…” I whispered through gritted teeth, feeling my body burn almost as bad as under the Cruciatus curse.
"I don't care what their name was. I never had a main family; they just wanted to be the only ones related to Salazar, who was the closest to my powers. Putting this curse into effect was because of greed... and pride. I only care about talents, carrying my blood! As long as you have me in you… you are carrying my will… and that… is… good enough…”
I could barely hear anything anymore as I slipped into something like a coma. Yet the pain was still present, and it only started to subside after hours later. I was exhausted even while I was knocked out. When I woke up, I was not in my dormitory but instead in the hospital wing. My body was bandaged up from head to toe, surprising me greatly, and as I tried to sit up, I had no energy in me to do so... so I remained to lie there.
"Awake?" Madam Pomfrey asked, hearing me trying to move, coming to my bed, and checking on me. "Good!" She let out a long breath, "What happened to you?"
"I… I don't remember." I answered honestly because I had no idea how I ended up here… or why. "What… happened?"
"You were found in your bed, bleeding from all orifices and from holes that should not be on anybody! They thought you were dead! I thought you were dead when they brought you in!"
"Oh… really?" I asked, surprised and confused… was that dream nothing but some delirious hallucination? Because I was bleeding to death in my sleep?
"Really! I don't know what kind of dark spell you were hit with, but nothing seemed to work, and cancel it! It took me three days to ensure you stayed amongst the living with that much blood being pushed out of your body! I called the Headmaster, but he said he is not interested in dealing with a student's idiocy!"
"Kind." I chuckled.
"Well, it is good that you find it funny!" Madam Pomfrey snorted, "Well, rest! I will tell the house elves to bring up food! You need to replenish your energies because you lost all your blood, quite literally!"
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."
She only nodded, leaving my bedside while I looked at the ceiling. By the sunlight's strength, it should be around noon. Three days… was I out for that long? Was it the side effect of my spell? So many questions in my head needed answering… but… with how hungry I was feeling, suddenly, all that could wait. The main question was how long the elves would take to bring me something to eat!
