Chapter 28: Blood Wizard
Hey, peopleoids the next chapter is here. Before you read the chapter I want to clear a thing or two up about my story so far. A few of you have commented on the Pack's mature behavior, which is great by the way. To clear this up… I truly didn't notice that they were too mature. I base a lot of things in my story of my life experiences and of those close to me. I grew up with a lot of adults around and not many kids so the way the Pack acts in my story is how I was told I acted and how I remember acting growing up.
The second thing many keep asking about is Tom. "When are Tom and Harry going to get together?" is a common question. The answer: not for a time. I am not going to rush their relationship and this story isn't just about that either. I didn't put this story into the romance category just for that fact. The last thing I want to remind you all is that Harry is only 13 right now. I want him older before any sexual attraction is mentioned; otherwise, it is unrealistic to me. He doesn't even know what sex he likes, so please just give the relationship time to evolve and grow.
Okay, I hope that cleared that up and if anyone has questions feel free to ask them in a PM or in reviews. I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities. Thank you and now onto the story!
I do not own Harry Potter…at all… Damn it.
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"Talk"
'Think'
"Parseltongue"
Chapter 28 - Blood Wizard
Harry felt disappointed. It had been a month since he had sent Tom him a counter letter. He had hoped that Tom would prove to him that he was worth a team up but so far he had received and heard nothing. Though he liked the conversations and game he had played with Tom, he did know Tom was mostly just testing him in the game they played, he needed to keep to his plans for preserving magic.
"Speaking of the Snakes." Draco piped into the conversation as he gracefully fell into his seat on the couch next to Hermione. "A few of them came to me while we were in Hogsmeade yesterday. They said that Dumbledore was poking around the dungeons like he was looking for something."
"Did they know what he might be looking for?" Hermione asked. Draco shook his head.
"What about Salazar's training room?" Ginny pondered. "He did throw a fit about Harry's knives after the attack in the hallway. He might be looking for where we practice."
"That may be true." Harry nodded to the fact. "He's been trying to find this room since we started using it so he could spy on us. Minerva told me that he complains about it to himself when he's in his office."
"Will he be able to find this room Alpha?" Fred asked. He liked having this room all to themselves.
"No one other than us can find this room. It locked onto our signature when we first came in and then the founders approved of us so the room will protect and guard us." Harry waved the concern off. "Though back to the subject of Dumbledore. Draco what does the school board think of his ability to keep the dementor out of the castle?"
Draco snorted. "Father is pissed and so is the rest of the board. They are voting to have him removed. It won't happen even if they vote for it though. Dumbledore still has too much power over the people. They aren't happy with him right now either but they still support him."
Harry nodded in understanding. He turned to Hermione. "How is that research project going?"
"It's slow. I am getting only hints of the answer. All the books keep mentioning the darkest of dark rituals but don't give it a name or anything!" Hermione huffed in frustration. The others shared a quick grin in amusement. "The answer is so close Alpha. I can almost touch it yet it is always just out of my reach."
Harry chuckled and was forced to duck when Hermione threw a pillow at him. "Relax Hermione. It's okay. You'll get it. You always do and that's why I count on you." He turned to look at Neville who was on the opposite couch between Luna and Ginny. "How is the greenhouse Neville? Anything you need?"
"No. Everything is perfect. We have every plant we could need for any potion and more." Neville reported happily. He spent most of his free time either in the green house with Luna or in the potion lab with the twins and Draco.
"Good. Luna, Ginny I want you two to keep an eye and ear out for any younger year who you think could be recruited." They nodded in understanding. Harry moved onto the twins. "Twins, how is the mirror coming?"
"We figure that the mirrors will need to be like our Pack bands in the aspect that only we can activate it. We can make the mirrors so that they can shift forms so they can always be on the owner but you will need to do the rest." George explained pulling out his small book of notes.
"Will you need blood to do this?" Fred asked looking over his twin's shoulder.
Harry nodded after a moment of thought. "I'll send a message requesting a vile of blood. Hermione, Draco, Luna, and Neville I want you three to collect a vial of blood from every Venatores in your houses. Make sure that they are properly labeled. Twins help Hermione if she needs it and Ginny you do the same with Draco. If any of the Venatores have a problem with this, send them my way. Store the blood in the potion box Draco got me until they are needed."
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Yuletide break came with one of the biggest snow storms in modern history. It didn't matter how many spells and charms the professors cast, they weren't able to let the children leave. Magical parents who were going to have their children home for the holidays, no matter what, set up times to come through their children's head of house's floo. No muggle-born went home though.
Harry snuggled down into the pile of pillows and blankets spread over the Pack's common room floor that Hermione asked the house elves to put down. Neville, Luna, the twins, Ginny, and Draco had all been picked up by floo. Hermione, feeling down about not seeing her parents, had wanted hot-coco and time with the Pack still in the castle. She turned the common room into a giant picnic in front of the fire. Harry smiled at the scene before him. Hermione and Remus were talking defense while Sirius sat curled up beside his mate, dosing with a hot-cocoa in his hands.
Harry sighed settling his mother's book onto his knees. He skipped the first page with his mother's letter to him. The second page was a detailed and organized table of contents. Harry felt a smile tug at his lips. This book had everything his mother researched and he wondered if Hermione had a book like this of her own research. He shook the thoughts from his head, looking down the list. With a small calm smile, he turned to the first section, History of Magic.
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"Harrison," Hermione called out. Her voice was shaky. Harry could feel her hesitance through their bond. "You're not going to like this."
Harry stretched in his chair setting his rune book down. He turned his eyes from the book to Hermione who sat looking at her own book across from him. After spending most of the break with Harry's godparents they were spending the last night in the founder's library. Harry going through a few reports from his older Venatores and Hermione went back to the mystery Harry had given her to look into. "What is it, Hermione?"
She slid the book across the table to him. "I think I found out what it is you were looking for."
Harry read the passage where Hermione pointed to. She was right, he didn't like this. He had given her his simple notes of the diary to find what it was but never did he think it would be this. If he had known it was this horrific he wouldn't have given the research project to her. She didn't need to learn about this, none of his Pack did. Horcruxes were not something he wanted around His. Horcruxes were against Mother Magic herself and should have never been invented let alone written about.
"Hermione-" Harry pulled his eyes away from the book to look at her. He could feel her disgust through their bond and he could feel the others being roused because of her strong reaction to what she had read. "Hermione, take a deep breath. I want you to stop researching this. You found the answer, no more. Understand me?" She nodded. Harry stretched his hand across the table to take hers. He rubbed her palm to help ground her thoughts and emotions.
Hermione took a few minutes to calm her thoughts and feelings. She closed the notebook Harry had given her and pushed it away from her. Harry took it, placing it on top of the book. "I'm going to talk to the founders about our lost arts training."
"Alright. I'll finish up here. After that, I'll be in the training room." Harry got a nod from her as she left the library. He sighed, his eyes slipping to the book under his notebook. He set aside the notebook and opened the book Secrets of the Darkest Arts to the page about Horcruxes. Harry strengthened his mind shields and reread the first paragraph. He continued on, reading page after page of information on Horcruxes. His stomach clenched in disgust with each passing word. This was how Voldemort survives. This is how he was going to return to power but what hit Harry the most was that Tom created one long before he became Voldemort. He created one while he was still in school. Harry froze in his seat. His eyes slowly drifted to the ring on his right ring finger. The ring his cousin gave to him for his birthday. It had the same feel as the diary. He felt sick. Harry slammed the book closed, barely holding himself back from throwing it across the room. His powers raged inside of him. He could feel it leaking out into the air around him, wrapping him in a protective barrier.
How could any living being or creature do this? Killing he could understand. It was a normal way of life. Predator and prey. Kill or be killed. It was seen all the time in the animal world and in war. Even the drive to become immortal is understandable. Many feared death. It was an unknown, unexplorable area until the time came and then there was no coming back. Yes, he could understand those two things but to rip your soul into pieces wasn't natural, wasn't understandable. The soul was what housed your core. It was how magic communicated to you and how you were able to access it. If you ripped the soul into pieces it severs that connection. Just the idea of not being able to feel the magic around him made Harry's heart clench in pain and mind rebel. Harry's magic wrapped tighter around him as he could only wonder what the hell Tom was thinking.
"Master? What distresses you so?" Amara slithered into the room as fast as she could after tasting Harry's emotion and magic in the air.
Harry shook his head breathing deep. His magic settled back under his skin but his eyes kept their glow. He didn't know who to be more disgusted at, the person who invented Horcruxes, the person who published such a crime against nature and magic or Tom for making one. "Amara… Horcruxes. Why?"
Amara understood where he was coming from. She slithered up his leg and chest to lay her large body across his shoulders. She snuggled her head under his chin giving him all the comfort she could. "I can not give you the answers you seek Master. It is not right but they exist even when they shouldn't. Push it from your mind. It doesn't involve you." Harry nodded. She was right. "You should concentrate on choosing a patron and finding a way to hide titles from the Ministry."
"Your right. Thank you my beautiful Amara." Harry stood, gathering both the book and notebook up. He walked out of the Library, ignoring the founders and Hermione. He shut the door into the bedroom. He wasn't going to let her get a hold on these. He was putting them with the Diary where only he could get them from.
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Hermione squealed in happiness, letting go of Harry's arm to run to Draco and Luna who sat at the Slytherin table waiting for dinner to start. Luna stood to accept Hermione's hug with a beaming smile. Draco rolled his eyes but a smile was firmly on his lips as he accepted his own hug from the Pack researcher. Harry took his time walking to the group. He could feel the twin and Ginny approaching the great hall with Neville not far behind them. He caught Luna with a laugh when she jumped into his arms the moment he was close enough. He felt all his stress from the previous day leave him. His Pack was safe and home where they belong once again.
"Alpha, are we exchanging our Yuletide gifts when we get back to our rooms?" Fred and George draped an arm each around his shoulders as a greeting.
"Yes. Can you both wait that long?" He grinned at them. He had told them to wait to give their gifts out till they got back just to spite the twins as they had tried pranking him the morning before they felt. The others just found it amusing.
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Classes picked up and life went on. The day after Yule break ended they decided that the Pack could start to learn how to call their power to the surface. Harry had no trouble bringing his magic out as he has always been able to but he couldn't just bring the shadow aspect of his magic out. He had it easy though in his mind. Neville, Fred, and George were learning how to call their natural magic, their shadow magic, and their elemental magic out separately and together. Fred caused a miniature tornado when he sneezed in the middle of bringing his element power out, George caught his own robes on fire while he was meditating in front of the fireplace, and poor Neville was almost eaten by one of his own plants when he was practicing in the green house. Yeah, Harry felt he had it easy.
The only one of the group who seemed to be having no trouble with bringing out their magic was Luna. During lessons, she would be sitting down just playing with her shadow magic. Though Harry never felt jealous, just pride for how well Luna was doing. He was also proud of Ginny who was slowly but surely getting used to her metamorphmagus ability. She couldn't do a lot but she could change simple things like length and color of her nails and hair. Lately, she was working on changing her eye color. It wasn't happening as fast as she wanted. The only thing the whole Pack was together on in progress of their spell and physical training. Yes, they all had their own strengths and weaknesses with some things but they were all on the same level. Neville and Hermione had approached Sirius and Remus to help further their training while Draco sent home a letter asking for books.
Harry sat tiredly in his chair in the Ravenclaw common room. It didn't matter how tired he was, he still spent a minimum of an hour with his Ravens in the evenings while he had also taking spending an hour with his Snakes in the mornings. Harry had noticed that since his Lordships had come to be public knowledge that more of the Lions approached him and had slowly started to become civil to the Snakes and Ravens. Ronald still kicked up a fit when he could but the Lions were quick to handle him before much could happen.
Harry mentally shook his head from all the thoughts that ran through his head. "Dobby." A hyperactive elf in a black uniform shirt and pants popped into existence before him. Harry smiled at the elf Draco gave to him as his Yule gift. He liked the elf's bubbly personality and had no trouble designing him a uniform with the Peverell family crest on the back.
"What can Dobby do for Master Harry Evans sir?" Dobby bounced on his toes in his new slipper shoes.
"Dobby can you go collect whatever mail I have from Hedwig. She's been watching it for me all day and I think it's time I go through it now." Harry asked. Dobby nodded excitedly before popping away. Harry was thankful that Hedwig was so smart. At breakfast that morning Harry had felt Dumbledore cast a few spells on his Pack before mail. When owls did come Hedwig was seen taking mail from any owl delivering to Harry himself or one of His. Everyone in the hall was shocked by the display considering owls were trained not to fight or interfere with each other. His Pack had turned to him for an answer. Answers he had pushed off until he had gotten them all gathered into the DADA classroom and asked Severus to figure out what spells had been cast on them. The spells turned out to be complex spying spells.
Dobby popped back in front of him with a small stack of letters and a package. He handed three of the letters and the package to Harry. "Shall Dobby gives these to others of Mister Harry Evans' Pack sir?"
"Please do Dobby, and can you remind the twins that I want to see the mirrors and their notes of how the mirrors work," Harry asked determining the letter senders were his Venatores in the Ministry, Gemma Farley and Samuel Carter, while the last one was from Tom. The package was also Gemma.
Harry clenched his jaw at the sight of Tom writing. He threw it into his bag not wanting to talk to the man at that moment. He rubbed the gold Peverell ring with his thumb before he caught himself. Shaking his head he opened Samuel's letter first. He had asked both to find everything they could on titles and how to hide them from the ministry.
'Milord,
I am sorry to report that I could not get many answers when it came to which titles appear on a person's file or how the file gets updated. The department that handles those files is tight in what information they talk about to outsiders. I tried to get in but I couldn't get past the security.
On a different note, It has come to my attention that a woman named Dolores Umbridge is pushing a few bills to be passed into laws that will make it so creatures cannot marry/mate or have children. As you have informed all of us that Ramus Lupin is a werewolf, I thought you would like to be informed of such a bill. Dolores is the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and is renowned for her hatred for all who are not purebloods. She has written most of the laws that limit/ban werewolves and other creatures in our world. Would you like me to proceed in any way to stop these bills?
Faithfully,
Samuel Carter
Harry sighed. He was going to have to stop these laws from being passed. He was going to have to do something about such a woman. He put Samuel's letter to the side, opening Gemma's next. He pulled out the letter along with a small stack of papers. He read the letter first.
'Milord,
I was able to find the information you requested. The Ministry uses monitoring spells in common areas like Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and in the Ministry itself to monitor magical signatures. Every person's magical signature is registered into their personal file in the Administrative Registration Department of the Ministry. When a person receives a title their signature shifts just the slightest. Depending on the shift, it is marked down into the file. Though there is a catch with the monitors and files. The monitors are only able to detect titles commonly used from when the Ministry was created to titles still used today. Any uncommon or ancient titles used before the Ministry is unknown to the monitors so they are not marked down into the person's file.
I was able to slip in to get your file. There is not much but there are a few places in your file marked 'unknown'. I replaced the file with a copy. The only difference between the copy and the original I sent you is that I made all the 'unknown' disappear. I have also made copies of all who bare your mark. All files had one place in them marked as 'unknown'. I made those vanish as they would make people start looking into the area to understand what the person is hiding. The files you now have will update as the one in the Ministry does, though anything you put into your copy of the files will not appear in the Ministry files.
Gemma Farley
So the Ministry does have a way to monitor all its citizens. He wondered if he could use those monitors against the Ministry. Harry pushed the thought away to think on another day. The important thing was that any title he achieved in the Blood Arts wouldn't show up in their files. That he could work with. Now all he needed to do was decide on a patron to dedicate himself to, though he had a good idea of which he was going to pick.
Harry put the letters and paper work away to make himself available to the Ravens that kept glancing into this direction.
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"Alright. Twins show me what you got." Harry dropped his bag beside his chair before walking into the lab. The twins stood together in the corner of the room that they claimed as their area to experiment in. They had two long tables pressed together in the corner to give them more room to work with. Two cauldrons sat on low fires on the far right with papers placed around them. The left table had papers, books, and mirrors spread about it. That was the table the twins stood in front of.
"We have everything ready. The mirrors have runes that can be keyed to a single person with just a drop of their blood." Fred stepped forward with a hexagon shaped hand mirror.
George shuffled a small stack of paper, making them neat before handing them to Harry. "Hermione gave us the notes you wrote when making the Pack bands and used the same basic principle with the mirrors. They have been spelled unbreakable, spy proof, and can be summoned by only the owner."
Harry skimmed through the papers looking at his and Hermione's own notes and the altered notes the twins wrote out. Fred picked up where his brother left off while Harry did that. "Normally we wouldn't be able to do that but blood is the strongest signature of a person so it doesn't matter what wards or spells are in place, the mirror will return to the owner. Hermione already looked over the rune work for us as they aren't our strong point. All that is needed is for you to look over the whole thing and add the blood to activate it."
Harry gave the notes one last look over as he nodded. The twins looked hopeful. "If this works like is supposed to then will you guys be able to make enough for all the Venatores and the Pack? I would also like a few modified one made too."
Fred and George shared a look. "Modified? What type of modifications?"
Harry handed the notes back to George and took the mirror from Fred. "I want a couple of mirrors made that can be used by someone who isn't one of us. I want it so it can only connect to my mirror."
"We can do that." George nodded.
"Piece of cake." Fred agreed with his brother.
"Good." Harry handed the mirror back and grinned at his twins. "When can all the mirrors be ready?"
Fred turned back to the table to read over a paper on it. "Well if we don't leave to eat and -"
"Fred, you both will eat outside of the lab and will go to sleep at a decent hour. That is not up for negotiations." Harry put a stop to that line of thinking quickly. He was not going to have them disregard their health.
"In that case, we can have the mirrors done in six days. The runes will be the time-consuming thing with these." George answered. Fred nodded. That length of time was reasonable.
"Then I will leave you two to it." Harry left the twins in the lab.
Harry sat in his chair relaxing. He could feel Ginny and Neville in the bedroom most likely reading, Hermione and Luna were in the library doing their homework, and Draco was still with the Snakes as Harry couldn't feel him close by. Harry let his eyes slowly drift shut. He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep. In doing so he missed a voice singing softly, attracting the attention of all who could hear it as it drifted in all the rooms. "Have no fear, When the night draws near, And fills you with dreams and desire, Like a child asleep, So warm, so deep, You will find me there waiting for you, Nocturne. We will fly, to the sky, We don't have to wonder why, Always be, always see, Come and dream the night with me, Nocturne"
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It had been a bad day. First Harry had woke and decided to read Tom's letter that he had been pushing off for two days. It had held a promise of something 'fun' to come. He then was puked on by Ginny who was trying to run to the bathroom but ran into him instead. He spent the next half hour convincing her he wasn't mad and trying to convince her to get some sleep. After breakfast, Dumbledore had called Harry up for a 'friendly' chat about why he wasn't sleeping in his house dorm. That question was three years overdue in Harry's opinion. Dumbledore had proceeded to talk about how all the students and teachers seemed to like him and how well he was doing in his classes all while probing Harry's occlumency shields. The school library had been closed thanks to Peeves who set off stink bombs in it so he couldn't look for one of the newer charm books it held. Ron caused a ruckus at lunch that caused one of the Lions to publicly declare their loyalty to him as the Lord of Gryffindor. That in itself caused most of the other Lions to declare their own loyalty to the whole great hall. He knew he had most of the Lions on his side when it came to it, mark or no mark, but publicly declaring loyalty like they did could be a bad thing. He had been right. When dinner came about the evening post of the Daily Prophet was deliver with headlines that read 'Boy-Who-Lived Rising Army For Himself?' in big bold letters. That caused Dumbledore to call him for another meeting which involved his godparents, giving him a massive headache and very little restraint with his temper.
Harry didn't greet his Pack went he returned from the headmaster's office. He made his way to the training room to let all of his pent up anger out. His magic and body moved in unison attacking the practice dummies set up. He lost himself to the familiar motion of combat and his magic striking out with a twitch of his fingers. The world around him became a haze of colors as his mind stopped registering shapes. Sound barely made its way into his brain as crashes echoed in the room. He didn't know how long this continued on for. It wasn't often that Harry lost control of his anger. He slowly came back to himself, his magic calmed. One glance around the room showed the destruction. The dummies were in pieces, there were deep cuts littering in the walls, cracks spread across the ceiling, and an explosion to the floor sent stone everywhere.
"Feeling better?" Draco asked from the doorway. His eyes were wide, taking in all the damage Harry did without a wand or his blades.
Harry nodded silently. His anger was gone but now he felt bad for worrying his Pack. "Let us all call it an early night. I will be up before dawn as I have something that needs to be done."
"Shall we wait up for you?" Draco asked, letting Harry pass through the doorway.
Harry made a sound from the back of his throat. "I do not know how long I will be. I want the Pack to take a free day."
"A free day Alpha?" Ginny asked from the couch next to Luna.
"Yes. I have something to do on my own tomorrow and as such the rest of you will have a free day." The others gave sounds of agreement.
"What is it that you need to do?" Hermione asked. "Can one of us help?"
"No Hermione. This is something only I can do." Harry suppressed a yawn. Now that his anger was gone he could feel exhaustion from the day. "Let's call it a night."
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Harry woke at 4 in the next morning. Hermione had found her way into his bed during the night to use him for a pillow. He extracted himself from under her and slip Nightshade from under his shirt before getting ready for one of the most important things in his life. After he had showered, brushed his teeth and hair, which he left to fall free to just under his shoulder blades, Harry pulled on a loose pair of black pants and sleeveless shirt. He debated for a moment before he also pulled on his special made shifting gray cloak, or as it was being called by students who have seen the Pack wear them, the shadow cloak. He glanced around the room once more to check his Pack was sleeping peacefully before he pulled a small moleskin pouch that Luna had given to him for Yule from his bag that lay beside his trunk.
Harry walked out of the bedroom with the moleskin pouch in his hands. The founders watched him. "Harrison? Where are you going at such an early hour?" Helga asked in her normal mother manner.
"It's time for me to prove that I have what it takes to continue learning and practicing the Blood Arts," Harry told them.
Of the four Salazar was the one with the most knowledge about the blood magic. "You've come to your first ritual." Harry nodded. Salazar gave a sharp nod back. "Then I wish you well. We will see you when you come back."
Harry smiled at them as he left. The founders were always supportive of the Pack. They were more than the Pack's teachers; they were council and older brother/sisters. Harry had never told them that but he was sure they knew.
The castle was silent so early in the morning. Harry listened to his footsteps echo in the deserted hallways and the snores from the occasional portrait. With no students around to cloud his senses, it was easy to feel the castle's magic. It covered everything, pulsing like a heartbeat. It was soothing. Hogwarts magic was like a mother brushing up against his, checking to see if he was alright. He could always feel the castle in the night when he stayed up late. She watched over all who step foot onto her halls or grounds.
Harry stopped where he knew the doorway to the Room of Requirements was. 'I need a place to do my ritual.' As Harry paced in front of the wall he felt Hogwarts magic shift around to accommodate his request. A simple light brown wooden door appeared. The room that lay beyond the door was twenty foot by twenty foot stone room. He stepped in leaving the door to close behind him, bathing him in darkness. He pulled magic into his hand to make a ball of blue white light. He sent the light up to the ceiling and pulled Blood Magic out of the moleskin pouch to double check what he needed to do. He might remember almost everything he reads but this was something he couldn't afford to mess up.
Self-blood – Blood Wizard
'Until this point, you have followed the exercises given in this book and have most likely done a few things on your own but you have not truly proved your worth of being a blood user. It is in this next exercise that will show you if you are worth the first title of the blood users. The first title one will earn is the title Blood Wizard. You are past beginner but not advanced enough to go off untrained. This exercise is a ritual you must complete.
'You will need a quiet place with no natural light, salt, a crystal bowl, your knife, four quartz crystals, and a paint brush. Draw a circle five feet in diameter with salt. To mark the cardinal directions place clear quartz crystals and let three drops of your blood fall on them. When that is complete kneel in the middle of the circle naked with your bowl, knife, and brush. Cut and bleed into the bowl until half-full. With the brush you will use the blood to paint the mark you will be known by on your chest over your heart, on the back of both hands, and on your forehead. The rest in the bowl is your offering.
'You will need to choose a patron to appeal to. Choose the one you look to and trust as this will be your dominant patron. The words spoken to call and dedicate yourself to your patron are your task to find. Offer your blood. If your offer is accepted all the blood will glow, if not you have proven yourself unworthy of being a blood user.'
Harry put the book back into the pouch and started pulling out all the things he needed. He set them all out into a line by the far wall. When that was finished he grabbed the bag that held the salt. A quick flick of his wrist made the salt flow out of the bag and create a perfect 5 ft in diameter circle in the middle of the floor. The crystals were next to be added. They flew to the cardinal points. Harry stripped out of his clothes, leaving them folded neatly on the floor. He flipped the knife from his fang necklace, grabbed the bowl, and paintbrush before walking into the circle. He set the bowl and paintbrush down in the middle, taking the knife with him to add a drop of blood to the crystals.
Harry took a deep breath kneeling down in the middle of the circle. He cut his palm deep, letting his blood fall into the bowl. The moment it was half-full his magic healed the cut. Harry picked up the paintbrush and hesitated. For weeks he had been thinking of not only who he was going to dedicate himself to but what symbol he was going to take as his. He had thought of runes at first but hadn't liked that too much. Harry dipped the brush in his blood and started on his left hand. In the end, he had looked through his sketch book, something he had never done before, and found a picture he felt was right. The symbol was made with two smooth brush marks and a single dot. It looked like a V with the right arm curling into itself at the top into a soft swirl. A small right to left slash was halfway down the left straight arm of the V making an uneven x. The single dot was nestled into the outside indentation of the small x (Mark is now story image for those who want to see it drawn). The mark was simple in design but Harry liked it. He copied the symbol on his right hand, on his chest over his heart, and his forehead beside his scar.
Harry lowered his head and placed his hands, palm down, onto his knees and canceled the magic giving him light. He was plunged back into darkness. He calmed his breathing, slowing it until it was in time to his heartbeat, letting himself slipped half way into meditation. His magic swirled around him lazily as he let his control loose. The darkness disappeared as the room was bathed in the emerald glow of his magic. The crystals reacted to his magic, started to pulse with an eerie red glow that matched his heart and breath. When he felt relaxed and ready Harry spoke.
"Mother Magic, creator and guardian of all.
By my own free will, and for the highest good of all,
I dedicate myself to you.
With an offering of blood from my body,
With an oath on my soul to protect and preserve magic,
I dedicate myself to you, my Mother.
Blessed be this time that marks my life,
that I shall ever be one of your children."
Harry paused. He needed to know if Mother Magic accepted him or not. He waited for three breaths before the blood in the bowl glowed red. He smiled in relief. He opened his mouth to continue but froze at the image of a figure hidden by a white cloak appeared before him. The castle around him felt like it was holding her breath and to tell the truth Harry's own breath was caught in his throat.
"Hello, my childe." The voice was warm like a summer breeze. Harry felt his breath rush out. The voice was beautiful and cruel, young and old, singular and many all at the same time.
"Hello, Mother." Harry felt stupid for saying that the moment it came out of his mouth and bowed his head quickly but Mother Magic let out a delighted laugh. Harry felt he could press on. "It is an honor to be graced by your presence."
"Calm yourself. I have been longing to meet you." She told him.
Harry blinked, his mind coming to a halt. "My lady?"
"Mother childe. You may call me Mother." She chided him lightly. Harry nodded relaxing. "Yes, I have been longing to meet you. Do you know why?"
"I do not Mother. Will you tell me?" Harry asked. He didn't like being confused and right now he was very confused. Why would Mother Magic long to meet him, a single wizard among hundreds?
Mother Magic gave another laugh. "Both my daughters favor you. My daughter Fate favors all of those you call Pack. She told me you were special when I made you. She told me that you would be beyond her reach. Unlike other souls, she doesn't have control over what path you choose. You have complete control over your own fate."
Harry felt a shiver make its way down his spine. He didn't know if being outside of Lady Fate's reach was a good thing or bad. "If I may know Mother, is that good or bad?"
"It is a good thing my childe. It is those souls that are not touched by my daughter that make great change comes to this world. I have always watched you. You can feel me all around you. You also feel me weakening. What you told your Pack is right. I am dying. What you and yours are working to do is a long shot but if you succeed, it will save this world." She raised an arm to run her hand through Harry's hair. Her skin was pale and tan, wrinkled with age and smooth with youth.
"I will do all in my power," Harry swore.
Her hood dipped in a small nod. "I know my childe. Now let me finish your ritual." She moved her hand from Harry's hair to cup his cheek. "I accept your offering of blood and oath. With my blessings, I grant you the title Blood Wizard." Instead of ending the ritual with a 'mote it be' like Harry was used to, she leaned down and kissed his forehead right over his scar.
Harry closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling of warmth and love that flowed through him from the kiss. When he felt her remove his lips from his scar he opened his eyes. She was gone. Harry smiled softly. With the ritual over Harry looked down ready to wash the blood off his body. He was surprised to see the blood gone. He brushed it off quick enough though just putting it up to part of the ritual. Not feeling like leaving just yet, let himself fall into meditation. It wasn't until he felt Hogwarts call out to him that Harry woke. He dressed and left with his thing just in time for dinner.
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"Hey. We were wondering if you would join us." Neville grinned over to Harry. Draco slid over to make room for him to sit at the Hufflepuff table.
"Did you get what you needed doing done?" Hermione asked from over a charms book she was reading while eating.
Harry placed a large meat pie onto his plate. "Yes, I did."
Ginny nudged him with her foot from across the table next to Hermione. "Gonna tell us what you did?"
"No. Not today." Harry threw a grin at the girl who playfully huffed. "So how was your off day my Pack?"
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There you all go. I know it has been a time but as you all know I have been busy. I hope this chapter is worth the wait though. Please Review!