Chapter 60: Vitadex
'I'm so hungry it hurts I feel like i'm eating myself from the inside out whycant it juststop-'
"No bloody way," Sirius' jaw dropped, looking absolutely amazed but also very skeptical.
"Do it!" Tonks cheered, laughing from where she was peeking around the corner of the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Half of the hash browns had already been banished, the other half was smoldering far too close to burning. Nobody minded, especially with such great entertainment that the newcomer was providing.
Newt had his bag open, pulling out various potions and objects to find his daily nutritional potion. One of the objects, a collection of vials secured in what looked like magical bubble wrap, was glowing brightly.
"What's going on?" Skylar asked, stumbling into the kitchen not at all prepared for the daily events.
"Sky! Oh, Newt here says he can tell Animagus forms!" Tonks cheered, swaying as she walked into the room curious. Sirius was obviously interested, but nothing had been successfully created for identifying unregistered Animagus. It was realistic to presume some sort of scam.
"Honestly," Newt scoffed, although he looked rather pleased and happy to share what he had. He tapped on the glowing vials lovingly, "It's venom from an Indian species of turtle. See, its prey is a tricky shapeshifter, so the venom allows it to locate hidden prey no matter the disguise. Concentrated and mixed with a root, it does a wonderful job revealing animagi."
Sirius looked at Skylar as if he didn't know how to react. The skepticism was almost tangible.
"I know you're a canine by the way," Newt offered helpfully. "You have a telling bark."
Hermione hurried down the stairs, already dressed and cradling Crookshanks in her arms. She smiled, ducking her head as Newt gave her a small wave. She was polite enough to not acknowledge Sirius' awkward flush. She didn't question the vials on the table, or how everyone seemed gob smacked.
Lutain hissed sharply, his sound cutting through the air sharply. Crookshanks tensed, tail fluffing as the kneezle hissed loudly. Skylar flinched away from the creature and paused, tensing accordingly with Lutain.
The snake was disgruntled, but still had plenty it wanted known.
Adalonda. It seemed to say, not sounding pleased. Kill her.
"We are." Skylar muttered under his breath, turning away slightly to disguise his words. "We have other things to do right now. We need to learn about it first."
Lutain's tail twitched in annoyance, whacking against Skylar's ribs pointedly. Basilisk. Adalonda. Cerestes.
"Look, I don't know what a Cerestes is." Skylar muttered under his breath, grabbing a glass filled with juice. "Wasn't that a weapon?"
"Cerestes?" Newt echoed, he must have had impressive ears for someone likely a hundred years old. Then again, Dumbledore was likely a lot older than that and still performing strong.
"Er, yeah." Skylar stumbled, mucking with his toast as Newt's eyebrows furrowed, "I mean it could be something completely irrelevant."
Newt considered his coffee with a tilt to his head, "A Cerestes is a magical creature living in the deserts of northern Africa."
Hermione slid into the seat next to him, "What are we discussing?"
"Cerestes." Newt smiled politely, "It's a horned serpent, originally found during ancient Greece. They're relatively uncommon now."
"That's strange, I've never heard of a horned serpent." Hermione confessed, not even trying to look unimpressed. Her eyes were nearly gleaming at the new information.
"They aren't true horns, rather they're lures. They hide themselves in the sand completely out of sight, disguising themselves to appear as something vulnerable. Then when attacked, they reveal themselves as actually a predator and consume that which attacked it originally."
Lutain hissed loudly. Cerestes.
Skylar rubbed his eyes tiredly, so many magical snakes out there. They had to deal with a basilisk and now there's a horned snake out for them to catch. It figured, it seemed they could never catch a break. A basilisk, Lutain, Nagini, the horcruxes...Skylar couldn't imagine going back to Hogwarts at this rate.
(It wasn't a priority, in his mind.)
"Were you in Ravenclaw?" Hermione asked curiously, tucking her hair behind her shoulders.
"Ah, no. I was in Hufflepuff."
Tonks appeared from the kitchen, whooping loudly before flashing her hair to bright yellow. They exchanged a wink before she resumed cleaning up the workspaces. The food Tonks made all went to the trash.
"I know that name." Sirius muttered under his breath, pausing before shaking his head. "Cerestes...eh."
The morning was uneventful, Hermione nearly interrogated Newt on various topics and subjects but he didn't tire of her questions. He seemed to know everything, or at least could point her in a proper direction.
"Merlin, that man's like Selwyn." Ron muttered, feeling dazed after being part of a discussion on some sort of talking mongoose.
It was just past noon when the floo spluttered something, flames rearing and kicking out what looked like a paperweight. It rolled across the floor, knocking into the bottom of a cupboard with a small clatter. There was a second where the conversation lulled, eventually fading off to an awkward quiet.
"What was that?" Ron asked, peering over to try and spot the noise.
Tonks was staring at the paper weight frozen. It took her two seconds, then she was leaping into action, face hardening into preprogrammed movements. It was easy to forget she was a battle trained auror, until it sharply snapped into focus and startled Skylar silent.
"Sirius!" Tonks shouted through the room, drawing his attention from where he had been outside the front porch, "Remus sent a signal!"
A signal obviously was something bad based on the grim expression on the man's face.
Sirius' jaw locked and he sprinted in the house. Sirius brushed past the group, grabbing a nondescript wall hanger with one white knuckled fist. He rattled off something too quickly for the others to understand, something signature of Moody.
A second later, he popped away.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, hurrying herself after Tonks. She was almost instantly pushed back from the woman, who was hurriedly spelling available surfaces and the doorframe.
"Portkey," Tonks grunted out. It was startling the difference between her when relaxed and when she was serious, "Something wrong on Remus' end. Sirius hopped over, it'll bring them back over to the lawn there."
"Outside?" Newt asked, suddenly interested with the events that were going on, alert and prepared. "I know that I am not welcome to the actions of your group, but if I may be of assistance I know retainment spells."
Tonks paused for a second before she nodded, tracing a large area of the yard outside, "There, the strongest fire containment spell you know. Not just for humans."
Newt didn't ask, but he did start casting well practiced spells. A few of them were lengthy, likely made to contain a dragon.
"Is it Selwyn?" Skylar asked, rushing to the front window. "Tonks! Is it Selwyn!"
Tonks spun around from where she was standing prepared on the lawn.
"I don't know!" She shouted towards the house, preparing herself nervously, "It could be anything!"
Seconds stretched forever, until they were sticky and painful. The birds chirped on, unaware.
They waited a few seconds more, then the returning pop had three figures kneeling on the grass.
"Remus!" Tonks shouted, nearly leaping forward over the dandelions.
"Stay back!" Sirius shouted instantly, throwing one hand up as if to ward back the household residences. Skylar noticed then, that Sirius himself was a fair distance from Remus and the now collapsed body between them. Remus stood slowly, wobbly in his knees and stained wetly as if someone dumped water over his shirt.
There was a lot of blood.
Earlier.
"Why do you let me walk around?" Adrian asked, leaning against a window peering outside. The glass fogged from his breath, humid on the clear pane.
Remus didn't look up from where he was chopping tomatoes for the sandwiches he was making. "I don't see why you should be locked up."
"I killed someone." Adrian spoke blankly, "Doesn't that mean I should be locked up?"
Remus placed the tomatoes on the plate, folding the bread over to complete it, "I'm not sure. I believe that it depends on the situation."
Adrian didn't respond to that, or continue that trail of thought. Instead he grabbed the sandwich and chowed down, plowing through the two in less time than it took to make. Remus would make him more in an hour. Feeding him too much in one sitting led to him vomiting. It was an uncomfortable experience.
"I was thinking, would you like to travel?" Remus asked politely, he had a remarkable calm composition.
Adrian frowned as he looked at the man, "I thought you have things to do here."
Remus nodded, "That's true. I was thinking we could get away for a bit. Take Tonks with us if that's okay, we could travel to Australia or even America. They have Thunderbirds out in the prairies there."
Adrian's jaw moved slightly; he looked back out the window.
Frequently Remus would offer him things like that, and he didn't quite know how to react. He was given blankets, real clothing, every day the werewolf would draw him a bath with the sweetly smelling potions he secretly loved.
It was strange, a velvety soft life that felt so fake and impossible Adrian was waiting for it to collapse.
"I like the smell of outside." Adrian admitted. "The flowers too. I like how they look, and the colours and the petals they have. The smell of the ground."
"It's called petrichor. The smell of the ground after a rain." Remus explained contently. The older man closed his eyes and inhaled strongly, releasing it slowly. "Have you ever seen the ocean?"
Adrian nodded, "A few times. In passing."
Remus chuckled, "I should show you the cliffs of Dover. Or the tropics, there the water looks almost green."
"Is it safe?"
"Completely safe."
Adrian hummed, pressing his forehead against the coolness of the window. He was hungry.
It was quiet, silent and isolating. No whispers except for those inside his head, no sneers or voices or challenging taunts. It was strange to mark the massage of time, his heart beat too common and quick to track.
The ground smelled fresh, the humidity in the air made his hair stick to his neck. He hadn't had the time to sit down and watch the grass in a long while. He didn't think it grew as green at Rowle's estate, in the overrun garden his father never cared about.
"I miss Luna." Adrian later confessed quietly, sitting crossed leg on the tiny porch. His knees were drawn to his chest, one hand clutching wildflowers he had plucked from the dirt. The broken ends leaked sugary sap, the petals velvet under his fingers.
"I know you do." Remus stated simply.
Adrian pulled his knees to his chest, clutching them tightly under his blanket. "I miss her."
Remus breathed the air, "That's natural. To miss something means that we cared about it."
Adrian shook his head slowly, "I didn't. I didn't think I did at least, but I didn't want to kill her."
Remus paused, "Adrian you didn't kill her."
I strike Luna
"How did she die then?" Adrian asked blandly, no emotion.
The grass swayed slightly. Sweet and fragrant. The sap from broken stems left his fingertips sticky.
"They said it was basilisk venom."
I strike Luna.
Adrian closed his eyes, pressed his skull against his kneecaps as if it could remove the color of her lifeless skin from his mind.
"I used to like thestrals." Adrian admitted, "I used to think they were beautiful."
"Plenty of people find them beautiful."
"No," Adrian sighed, "It wasn't the thestrals. It was the idea. I had some sort of...notion, that death would solve everything. And because of that I thought thestrals were beautiful."
Adrian breathed in and out, his nostrils whistled.
"It isn't," Adrian quietly admitted, "Death isn't beautiful. It's disgusting, it's horrible but I don't know if I believe that anymore, or if that's just another expectation."
"I'm so sorry, Adrian." Remus admitted, "and I know that I will never truly be able to convey with words, how deeply I feel for all of your suffering."
Adrian smiled sharply, viciously with no target. "It is exceptionally terrible, being Adrian Selwyn. I don't suggest it, it was a horrible decision."
"What is it you wanted to be? As an adult in the world?" Remus asked him, passing over yet another apple. Adrian bit it, the crunch was loud like the snapping of bone.
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters."
Adrian chewed, and bit again. He chewed and chewed and consumed until he tossed the apple's spine to the floor amid a pile of skeletons. "A magizoologist."
Adrian ate another apple, pulling his arm back to throw it. It hit the ground, rolling until he couldn't see it anymore.
"I wanted to work with magical creatures, like Hippogriffs or Sphinxes. I thought maybe they'd find a use for me, I could talk to Runespores. That was before...I just wanted to be good enough." Adrian huffed and curled in on himself, "I just wanted to prove I shouldn't have been thrown away."
Remus offered one arm in invitation. Adrian looked at him before sliding over, tugging the blanket with him to rest in the crook provided.
"I hate it," Adrian admitted quietly, "I hate the fact that I... I know, that I should just…" Adrian's voice garbled uncontrollably, "but I know I can't. I never could. I know, that even if there's the slightest chance of him being proud of me, of him saying 'good job; I can't leave."
"That's not how families are supposed to work, Adrian." Remus reminded him gently, "That's not how love is supposed to be."
"I think he's incapable of loving, so don't try to persuade me with that shite," Adrian murmured under his breath with no heat, "I don't think that I am destined to be loved."
Remus' arm tightened sharply, "Don't say that."
Adrian smiled, almost amused at how angry Remus was at his words.
"I mean it, don't ever think that you aren't allowed love or affection or anything good in this world." Remus scolded sharply, "You are. You deserve everything you could possibly want and more."
"I don't know what I want." Adrian mused to himself.
"Love," Remus said. "Affection. Acknowledgement. Revenge."
"Revenge implies that I'm inflicting harm on someone for a wrong suffered at their hands." Adrian grumbled, "I don't know if I even care anymore."
"Of course you care," Remus assured, "You're in pain, you're suffering, you don't know what to do with it. You do care."
Remus' heart was strong and loud, nearly vibrating with every pulse. Adrian breathed with him, the heavy rise and fall of his lungs prompting him to breathe on his own.
Breathe in the humid air.
Let her starve.
He is prey.
Avada Kedavra.
Kill her.
I strike Luna.
Breathe out from his lungs.
"I hate them," Adrian breathed from his lungs, the truest statement he ever said, "I hate them, because every time I look in a mirror I wonder why I wasn't good enough for them. I hate them because they had a chance to fix this, and they didn't. They've made me into a monster."
Adrian was sitting on the front porch, nearing noon.
Remus was inside, preparing food once more. Adrian felt like he was starving, his stomach distended from a meal just before.
He hated it.
He hated it.
He wondered when Remus would go back to Skylar, when he would go back and take care of the Golden Boy.
"That's okay", Adrian hissed out loud, speaking Parseltongue with the freedom of knowing it didn't matter. "I am used to people forgetting about me. My brother is the famous and smart one. I have nothing to offer."
He thought that speaking would make him feel better. It didn't.
The grass was swishing, a bird was circling above.
"Bella and Draco are coming soon," Adrian reasoned out loud, watching the wildflowers sway. "They'll take me, and then it won't matter at all. Remus can go back to Skylar, and I'll be back where I belong."
Under the dirt, worms would be moving. Gnawing through roots and dirt and carving pathways. Avoiding stones, leaving nutrients for the grass and flowers to use and to reach for the sun.
"Then I'll go back to my destiny," Adrian licked his dry lips. "I'm supposed to be a tool, a decoration on my father's mantle. I wanted Skylar dead, I want revenge and I know he isn't going to help me with that. Remus can't help me with that. I don't know if I want that anymore, or if it's an expectation for me to follow."
Adrian didn't know what to do.
"I'm the Chosen One. I don't know if what I'm doing is right. I don't know if it's what I want."
The meadow was peaceful, settled and calm. A lush thriving expanse of life and serenity. Luna would have loved it. Luna would have hated him if she knew about his secrets.
Adrian wanted to make the meadow burn.
The air was humid, there was water in puddles between the roots of crabgrass and soil. It was moist, muddy, and not at all weather for fire.
"I'm the real Boy Who Lived. Not Skylar. I can do whatever I want." Adrian hissed lowly, rolling the sounds from the instinctive movements of his tongue. They warmed him and numbed him. Inspired him with hopeless foreboding.
It took less than a half second for a patch of grass to dry, to shrivel and pop as suddenly, it was little more than tinder.
It took four seconds before a bonfire was raging, burning and searing the ground akin to a fireball.
It took ten seconds for the fire to become as large as a barn, boiling and rolling with the viciousness of a sun. It was orange, molting and burning and Adrian wanted it to burn.
(His face was going sticky. His eyes were crying blood.)
It swelled and rolled, shifting in shape and twirling in his desire. He wanted it to move, he wanted it to dance.
"Skylar can't do this. Skylar isn't as powerful as me. Skylar is nothing compared to me."
A head arched from the flame, just as hands wrapped around Adrian's chest and yanked him inside away from the sweltering danger that the fire was. It was growing still, bigger and bigger. The room was tinted red, glowing through the windows. A supernova just outside, long shadows and sweating heat inside the shelter of the house.
A fireball rolled outside, the craning neck of something shapeless and draconic that was growing and growing.
It was large, the largest Adrian had seen. The largest he had ever made.
(Bigger than anyone else could make.)
(Bigger, dare he think it? - than his own father's ability.)
It hurt- he hurt.
More people- another person.
(Was he bleeding from his pores? From the glands beneath his tongue and in the corner of his eyes and-)
Then...gone.
Adrian blinked a half dozen time, unable to process what had happened. He was- he was cold. He was suddenly so cold.
Words were slurred, shifting in stilted noises. He was choking on iron, thick warm fluid that was sliding down his throat. His coughs were wet and gurgled. Everything was red.
(Was that how his father saw? Through a veil of crimson until everything was just...red?)
"Stay back!" Sirius shouted, holding on arm outwards towards Tonks as Remus stood slowly. Adrian was limp, breathing shallow with air bubbles through the blood. His eyes were wide open, sightless.
"Remus! What happened to him?" Tonks fretted, pacing back and forth on the other side of the line, whining high in her throat.
"Oh Merlin," Skylar breathed, feeling the urge to hurl. Hermione and Ron gasped, chests heaving as they watched the figures outside.
"Is he alive!" Tonks shouted, one hand tangling in her hair, "Remus is he alive?"
"He's alive." Remus croaked out, pale and swaying as he cradled Adrian in his arms, taking one step towards the house.
"Sirius, step away." someone new spoke. Remus snapped his head up in confusion, he had never seen this man before.
Sirius stepped back grudgingly, watching carefully as the new man, frail and old, squinted at Adrian with something unreadable. He took care to stay behind the line of a ward.
"Remus- that's your name?" the man asked slowly, nodding when Remus gave the shakiest nod, "Alright. I've heard that you're a werewolf, which is the only reason I'm going to let you keep touching the child."
Tonks snapped her head around, her eyes wide. It was obvious that Remus had been treated terribly due to his curse- or was rarely treated with kindness.
"I'm going to cast a spell," Newt spoke lowly, careful to show his movements. One hand slipped into his pocket, retrieving a wand that had seen better days. "Just to see what may be wrong with him."
"He's sick." Skylar spoke through the window, Newt looked at him from the corner of his eye. The younger children were staying indoors, aware of the threat at hand. That alone, spoke volumes.
"Luna said he was sick. He felt sour, like pus." Skylar continued, knowing instinctively that somehow, Newt would have heard of magical synesthesia.
Newt's cheek twitched, but he nodded. He understood, and was reevaluating the threat at hand.
Remus' breathing was heavy, but he nodded, allowing Newt to walk closer to the wards. Remus held Adrian close and Newt took one more step nearer, just on the other side of the closest containment spells. He had already crossed several wards, leaving a bare few for the illusion of security.
Newt cast a spell, one that sounded exotic in nature. The spell was moderately fast, silvery and circled like a mist once it reached Adrian. Detection spells, although not one that Remus had ever heard before.
(One that was unlikely the mediwitches had tried.)
Adrian twitched, groaning slightly before curling inwards further.
"Okay," Newt carefully stated, mindful of how Remus was looking very, very protective. "That was very helpful. I don't know yet what's wrong with him, but he has a very dark force around him. How old is he?"
"My age," Skylar choked out, nearly shouting to cover the distance. The Golden Boy was practically leaning out of the open window, trying to get as close as he could. "This has only started in the last couple years."
Newt nodded slowly under Remus' careful eye, "It's...it's similar to something I've seen. Not an obscurus, but it's...I wonder." Newt murmured, pointing his wand slowly once again at Adrian.
The new spell was old Latin, shiny and blue as it spiraled over towards Adrian.
Adrian flinched, giving a howl as he spasmed, more blood drooling from his mouth in a pink foam. The corners of his eyes were bleeding, as if his tear ducts had ruptured. He looked like a plague. The area around him flickered red, pulsating sourly with a smell of rot.
(Was that what Luna had always seen? Always smelled?)
Newt took a step back, but looked once again somewhere between confusion and horror. "It's a blood malediction."
"Impossible!" Sirius shouted, shaking his head quickly, "we had him tested for that in St. Mungos!"
Adrian was bleeding from no injuries, but from every open sensory orifice. His ears, nose, mouth, eyes- it was horrifying.
"I- I know!" Newt scrambled, shaking his head back and forth, "It- It's just like a blood malediction! It isn't curse based, which I had thought given his state."
"He's in pain!" Tonks screamed desperately.
"Okay! Fine!" Newt snapped pointing his wand at the child once more, he snapped out a spell that was complicated. Foreign in a way Skylar couldn't recognize the language.
This one, the narrowed detection spell; this spell was the right one.
Adrian puked, something red and filled with far too much undigested food. But throughout it, and from his eyes and ears something black started dripping. Thick and pearlescent with a strange shimmery sheen. Unicorn blood mixed with tar. Black, thick and grotesque to look at.
Newt leapt backwards, scrambling away as if he hadn't expected the spell to work. The black globules touched grass, instantly the green stems faded to yellow and died on contact. There was no hissing, or smell of sulfur. As soon as the black globs touched something alive, it drained the life and fell apart like aged sandstone.
"That's it." Newt's voice was shaken, he looked horrified as if Adrian was something unspeakable. "...that's what it is."
"You know what's wrong with him?" Skylar hurried, his hands shaking. His voice was horrifically scratched over the distance. "You know what's wrong?"
"He's highly contagious." Newt worried out loud, running a shaking hand through his greyed hair. "Not to Remus due to the lycanthrope. Any of us, you cannot touch any of the blood."
"What?" Tonks' voice was high pitch, although she maintained a safe distance "He- it's contagious."
"Stun him." Remus requested, still holding the seizing boy. "I don't have my wand on me."
Sirius looked at Newt who nodded, and then very carefully stunned Adrian. The bleeding slowed the moment the boy went utterly limp. His arms extended in a partial stretched movement. His palms opened in his limp unconsciousness. His fingernails were trimmed to nubs, his flesh pale and his wrist so thin the bones were pronounced. He looked like he was being crucified in Remus' arms.
"What's wrong with him?" Sirius asked, careful to start banishing the fluids all over the ground. The black ooze was resisting spells, laying in strange vicious clumps like congealed jelly.
"It's bad." Newt grimaced, "Paracelsus- a Greek wizard from before the dark ages, named them vitaedax. It's a parasite."
"A parasite? Like a worm?" Tonks asked, looking very much liked someone on the verge of a breakdown. "Adrian has worms?"
Newt's face was unreadable, "Could one of you call for Mr. Dumbledore possibly?"
They shuffled Adrian into the house, clearing off a couch in the living room. Sirius hastily threw a sheet over the furniture, a thin white barrier between skin and worn fabric.
Remus deposited Adrian gently, shifting his limp limbs over the sheet and tucking a pillow under his head. Tonks reappeared, looking grim before passing a warmed moist washcloth to the werewolf. Without hesitation, Remus began cleaning away the caked bits of gore from Adrian's skin.
"Diffindo." Tonks cast carefully, splitting the seams of Adrian's shirt. Remus pried it off carefully, setting it aside in a warped rusted bucket Sirius scrambled to place there.
"It's very contagious, but only through blood contact," Newt hurriedly explained, shuffling through his bag and reaching so far down his entire arm vanished inside its depths, "Phlox pollen is the only thing I know to neutralize it, but it doesn't kill it. To do that it needs to be completely cut off, metal and salt should hold it for now."
"Phlox?" Ron whispered, looking at Hermione who was even startled at the name of the flower.
"How do we kill it?" Skylar broke the silence, hurrying back with towels and soft blankets, "The- how do we sterilize the yard?"
"I'll isolate it." Newt grimaced, "I've isolated the parasitic life force before from unfortunate souls. Obscuri. Maledictus. Never a vitaedax; I'm over a hundred but Merlin, I'm never going to get a break, am I?"
Adrian wheezed on the couch, unconscious yet gagging out a bubble of blood. It popped silently, gathering on the split edges of his lip.
"What was he doing to trigger this?" Newt scrambled, grabbing a few bottles and something filled with an orange powder, likely the pollen. Something else was glowing, something that caused Newt to pause and look at it. He stared at it far too long, before gently reaching and plucking the glowing vial free from the bubble wrap.
Skylar had seen that potion from before, the same one Sirius and Tonks were all excited about that morning. Venom from some sort of sea turtle?
"Skylar," Newt stated slowly, pausing after a few moments to gather his thoughts. "...This is Lutain's familiar partner, isn't he?"
Skylar chewed his lip slightly, he should have explained the situation fully before anything had escalated. It was too late to lie, and the man likely deserved the truth anyways. He was going to help them with the basilisk. "Yes. His name's Adrian, on the couch there."
"Adrian, right." Newt sighed through his nose quickly, plucking the glowing vial and waving it through the air meaningfully. "You're aware that he's an Animagus, correct?"
"He's a what?" Sirius yelped in surprise, glancing over at the other similarly glowing potions wrapped in bubble wrap. They weren't just shining the white light from before, now they were a sulfuric yellow. When Sirius had taken one before in his hand, it had been a deep royal blue. Unmistakably different.
Now, they were glowing bright like headlamps. The only new presence in the room was Moony (who couldn't create an Animagus form anymore due to his furry little problem), and Adrian.
The potions wouldn't have been outright glowing unless Adrian had an active Animagus form. Which meant Adrian had successfully achieved an Animagus form. Luna had said that Adrian had been trying, but for some stupid reason Skylar never thought he had ever actually done it. Skylar should have known better.
Bloody hell, things were just getting more and more ridiculous.
"Can you help him or not?" Remus asked quietly, his steady hands had cleaned much of Adrian's face. It was sunken, more ill looking than Skylar remembered. He could count the other's ribs, it reminded him of emaciated prisoners. Behind him, Hermione made a small gagging noise, staying far back. She was aware that she couldn't contribute much to the situation.
"I'll be able to neutralize the spread for now. It's only temporary, until he pushes himself once again." Newt hurriedly explained, setting the bottles to the side as he dug through his bag for something else.
"Sir, I don't think I understand." Hermione interrupted, rudely. With how desperate everything was, it was easy to understand her blurt. "This...parasite. What does it do?"
"Vitaedax are rare, and truly ravenous monsters." Newt explained roughly, grabbing a few other strange ingredients to hastily crush together into a slimy paste, "Quite rare, I only knew them in passing and in reference. They were used a lot, especially by Grindelwald, but the flaw is with them is it takes years to get to a noticeable level. Once you're there, you have only a short window of opportunity. Devastating of course, one wiped out almost all of Treviso under Grindelwald."
"Treviso?" Ron blinked in confusion, staying behind Hermione.
The girl in question looked over her shoulder quickly, "Treviso is a city in northern Italy." She explained incredibly briefly, turning back to look at Newt with a narrowed eyed desperate look. "A window for what? What could...could this...thing offer?"
"Power," Skylar blurted, looking horrified. Everything clicked into place far too clearly. "The train. Guys, the wandless magic."
Sirius cursed loudly, looking ready to kick a wall, "The damn book. That damn book."
"Right." Newt nodded to Skylar, looking grim as he continued. "Vitaedax are malevolent dark parasites that exist on a plane unable for us to see normally. Whereas other parasitic forces like obscuri infect and feed on the magical reserve itself, vitaedax feed on the passageways, or the channels by which we use our magic."
"Our souls." Remus' eyes widened in realization, "That's why I can't be infected. Lycanthropy is a malady of the body and soul."
"Wait wait," Hermione scrambled, staying well clear of the area as Tonks hurried back and forth from the sink with water, "This...this thing infects his soul?"
"Maybe that's why he's been bonkers since that basilisk." Ron suggested over from where he was tantalizingly close to a trash bin, "I mean, you know."
"Oh," Skylar breathed, "Oh Merlin."
The horcrux. The idea of splitting your soul to hide a segment in an object. From what Skylar had gathered, Adrian didn't do it for immortality, but he did it to prevent the natural death of Lutain. Lutain had said that the basilisk was the one who told him what to do- that Adrian didn't even know the name of what he had done. Of all things, why split a soul when there could be dozens of other possible ways to extend an animal's lifespan?
If a fire was burning, it would finish much faster if half of the log was removed from the flame.
Newt grabbed the paste, wielding what looked like a long rubber spatula in his other hand. In almost careless movements, he slapped a big glob of the slightly lavender mixture onto Adrian's chest, slathering it around until right over his sternum, he was iced like a cake. All he needed was the cherry on top.
Newt relaxed finally, scooting away from the boy and werewolf as if the worst of the damage was over. Assumedly the paste would contain the spread of this...this parasite. Either it would somehow be contained and wouldn't spread further, or it was temporarily in stasis. Skylar didn't know nor understand enough about what was going on to have a genuine opinion.
"I have a very important question I would appreciate you being honest with me to answer." Newt stated, reaching into the bubble wrap to pull out one of the glowing vials, sulfuric yellow and bubbling slightly. Newt brought it over Adrian, watching as the glow increased slightly in luminosity. It was responding to Adrian.
Newt uncorked it, yet instead of pouring it the liquid bubbled aggressively and dissipated into a thick gas. It twisted and turned over itself, like an intangible yellow meringue. The gas shifted until it resembled a serpent, made of thick foam like the arching fury of fiendfyre. A crest rose from between its eyes down its neck, like a spine from some prehistoric monster.
"Magical Animagus forms are impossible to achieve," Newt stated very calmly, even though he was holding a vial with a very pissed off sulfuric magical creature, "However, they can be obtained through direct artificial influence of a magical creature and its core. I've heard this about dragons, and met a unicorn Animagus although that took her nineteen years of living with the herd. Or rather, allow me to rephrase my question. How is it that Adrian here has a basilisk Animagus form, if he hasn't spent likely years in incredibly close contact with one?"
Anyone could hear a pin drop in the room.
"Well, you see Mr. Newt Sir." Tonks started quietly, "Adrian here is ah, a parselmouth."
"Right." Newt blinked and breathed slowly. "This makes much more sense. Alright, yes, the basilisk has to die."
Adrian woke up with a groan. When he opened his eyes, he couldn't recognize the ceiling. It was wood, worn with cracks through the exposed floorboards.
His head was pounding, whispers through his ears in languages he didn't know. Impossible to discern.
He blinked twice, pausing as the world lagged after, distorting slightly in a glazed tinge. Then it focused once more, and the pounding receded slightly.
He was on a couch, he could recognize the feel of the cushions under his back. There was a clock, ticking loudly in a way that pierced his skull. His nose felt crackly, like it had a layer of frost through it. His hearing felt muffled, and his eyes prickly.
"Adrian!" Someone spoke, rushing around to kneel next to him, carefully not touching his skin although one hand was raised as if tempted.
Adrian would recognize that frizzy hair anywhere, even half asleep.
"Hermione?" Adrian asked, blinking lazily as he rolled his head to the side, "What-?"
"I- You came in because you were sick." Hermione hurried in a rushed tone, stepping upright and stumbling backwards as Adrian forced himself into a sitting position. As the blanket draped around his hips, he was suddenly aware that he was nearly bare under the fabric over him. There were faint blood stains where his head had been. Rusted and flaking, like water stains on his pillow.
"I can get you Remus!" Hermione already started to move away, "He's making you food."
"When isn't he?" Adrian murmured, sniffing sharply. His nose and throat stung painfully.
Hermione smiled slightly and Adrian stumbled to his feet, clutching the blanket close to his shoulders to keep him covered. His head was pounding, whispers in and out.
Tick
Tick
Tick
The clock was pounding through his skull like a hammer.
Adrian stumbled through the room towards the kitchen, staring in silence. Tonks and Remus were working smoothly together. Familiar, smiling, and without him.
Tonks peered over her shoulder, smile widening in pure joy when she saw him, "Adrian! You're awake!"
Remus turned, and he beamed as well, sliding a plate to the side, heaping with food that looked handmade.
Adrian stood in the doorway, feeling chilled and out of body. "Why am I here?"
Remus didn't even blink, "You were injured, I brought you here because I'm not the best at healing spells."
Adrian snorted lightly, it stung his throat. "You could have left me there. I'd be fine."
"Actually, you're rather wrong on that." Someone old spoke from behind him, cautious yet intrigued. Adrian turned around, looking over his shoulder with a small frown.
The man was familiar, in a way sometimes names were. He was wearing an old coat, tweed with many pockets. He looked shabby, run down in a way Remus was with wrinkles and laugh lines and the sadness in his eyes of a man far too empathetic. Someone who had worked long and hard for something people cared little for, and never stopped trying.
"I know you," Adrian spoke, voice hoarse but level. "I know your face, don't I?"
The man gave a few small nods, looking around the room as if confrontation itself unsettled him, "Ah, yes I presume you would. My name is Newt Scamander."
Adrian balked in surprise, clutching the blanket tighter around his shoulders. "You're retired."
Newt shrugged his shoulders and gave a small sheepish laugh, as if that would explain his presence, "Ah well. I heard that you had a basilisk problem and I couldn't resist."
Adrian took a half step back, "I don't know what you're talking about."
This man couldn't possibly know about Adalonda- they would only call in an expert if they wanted to remove her.
'They wouldn't' Adrian thought dazedly, nearly swooning at the thought. 'She's done nothing wrong.'
Newt smiled, a look in his eyes was very similar to nostalgia, "I guess you wouldn't. I have to ask; do you know you are housing a parasitic entity?"
'What?'
Adrian blinked twice, "I- what?"
Newt sighed, "No, I guess they never do know."
Adrian felt a rising surge of anger, and without a care he jerked his head forward, met the man's eyes, and pressed and-
Something large and black. Smokey yet powdery, like a million grains of black salt. It moved like fluid, and felt frozen even from a distance. It was beautiful, and terrifying.
A boy, perhaps Adrian's age with pale skin and sharp cheekbones. Convulsing, jerking back and forth with a snarl across his face akin to a rabid animal. His skin stretched, boiling and distorting and then- then the mass the entity was roaring, screaming in a million voices and tendrils of hate and anger and destruction.
"I think that's enough now." Newt sighed politely, turning his head to break the connection, "I get enough of that from my sister-in-law."
"What was that?" Adrian asked in awe, quiet fascination that he would never be able to deny. Remus and Tonks were silent, watching the unspoken conversation quietly.
"That was an unfortunate child, who died long before you were born, perhaps before even your parents were born." Newt sighed, looking haunted as if it still bothered him to the day, "his name was Credence. He was something called an obscurus."
Adrian twitched slightly, "I know what obscuri are. They're all gone."
Newt gave a small huff, "Yes I suppose you would know what they are. I've met three, all terrible circumstances. I've encountered others as well, maledictus, nagarus, curses and monsters and cat siths and so many more." Newt raised his hand to tap along his temple, "Would you like to take a look?"
Adrian shifted unsure, pulling the blanket closer around his shoulders, "No. I'm fine."
Adrian would never admit it, but he was rather afraid to see what the other knew. To see the memories of monsters and creatures and- and Adrian was jealous.
Adrian had read his book a dozen times over, written topics and thoughts in the margins until it was more of his ink than the publisher's. He had discussed the book over and over, conversing with Luna over creatures that seemed too obscure to be true.
(They both knew they were true. They just liked to argue over outlandish things, like if pinecones were a suitable dietary replacement for a selkie.)
"Luna would have loved to meet you." Adrian whispered quietly, and his heart stung painfully. "She talked about you a lot."
Newt smiled, he had dimples in his leathery face, "I've heard a lot about her. She seemed quite spectacular."
"She was extraordinary," Adrian countered coldly, "She thought the world of you."
"From what I've heard, she thought highly of you as well." Newt countered.
Adrian flinched and looked away, Newt's face softened, "Adrian, I want to talk with you. I want to help you."
"You can't." Adrian responded without a breath of pause.
Newt gave a small sigh, "Perhaps not, but I'm afraid you don't know what's happening to you. I know that you're in a lot of pain, and you're very hungry. I know that you must be very scared."
Adrian locked his jaw firmly, not looking at the man. He was hungry, but confessing or admitting that felt like a defeat. It felt as if Adrian was agreeing to whatever the man- famous or not- wanted. The conversation was over, he, as well as the others in the room, recognized that.
"Adrian, would you like to wash up for dinner?" Tonks asked teasingly, swatting him with a dish towel. Adrian turned to look at her, his expression blank. She still smiled, happy as if him simply being there was enough.
"Where's Lutain?" Adrian asked.
"With Skylar, he's taken a liking to your familiar." Newt nodded towards the stairs, waving his wand silently.
A few minutes later Adrian heard a stumble of feet, and Skylar ran into the kitchen, looking breathless.
"Adrian!" Skylar grinned, and around his neck, was Lutain.
Adrian's heart beat twice, thumping loud and hard as if the world had nothing left to say.
"What did you do." Adrian inhaled sharply, looking at Lutain. The black snake flicked his tongue in the air towards him, body tightening instinctively around the brunet as if making a statement.
Adrian couldn't hide how his face was skewed in horror. "Skylar, what have you done with him?"
"Skylar has been mine since you've been gone, Master." Lutain informed him politely, although distantly, "I've made a deal with him."
"What?" Adrian whispered, his voice crackling rather horribly. Skylar's eyebrows furrowed and he opened his mouth to talk, only to stop in dim realization as Lutain reared and hissed. The boy hadn't realized the conversation wasn't directed at him.
"He has helped!" Lutain defended sharply, "Keeps me safe and protected. Terrible things have happened."
"I'm looking at one!" Adrian snapped out, at this point Skylar's face had fallen and the room was silent as everyone present realized the unspoken taboo.
"Not all is bad. He offers decent rats. Yours are better, but you are sick."
"You didn't care before."
"It's bad, Master. It reeks of rot. You're dying."
Adrian shook his head, hating how his eyes were burning. This was personal. "Lutain we had- we were going to kill Potter! Not befriend him!"
"You didn't seem like you wanted to."
"What the- I was mourning! That's what people do when people die!"
Tonks and Skylar flinched at the unexpected parseltongue. Newt in contrast only looked more amazed. Remus didn't blink, Adrian had taken to talking to himself in the unknown language when he needed to think freely.
"Skylar has been useful to me-"
Adrian screamed, a loud vicious downright furious noise. "How dare you say that!"
Lutain recoiled, then hissed threateningly, reared towards Adrian as his master's hands curled into angry claws.
"Alright, alright." Remus interjected, moving between the two slowly, "Let's calm down here."
"I'll calm down when you realize that your mind has rotted! You do not see the possibilities!"
"You're sticking with Skylar! You're choosing bloody Skylar!"
"You do not see reason! There is more at play here!"
"'You're with the- you bloody picked Skylar!"
"I don't know what you're saying Adrian," Remus shushed him gently, snapping the tension suddenly. "I need you to calm down."
Adrian was trembling, at some point the blanket around his shoulders had slipped slightly. His collarbone looked like it was simply laying on the surface of his body.
"Adrian," Newt began, talking very formally. "You're something called a vitaedax. It's a parasitic force, which feeds on your soul which is the channel for your magic. I need you to calm down, because any accidental magic is very dangerous."
"Good." Adrian sniped out, glaring at Lutain but not really listening.
"Bite me."
"No, Adrian I need you to listen to me," Newt shushed, stepping beside Remus to block his line of sight completely, "Adrian, you're in very late stages. You've likely had this for years, which means someone purposely infected you with it. It's made your magic very wild and unpredictable, because you now have little to no control over it."
Adrian seethed and ducked his head, he already knew that he was powerful.
"At this rate, we cannot separate it from you without killing you. But, if you continue to abuse your magic at this rate you likely have only a few years left."
"What?" Adrian whispered, eyes wide in confusion. What was the man implying? Only a few years left? Left for what? "I- I'm dying?"
Newt's face was pained, "I'm so, so sorry."
Adrian felt his skin split and he winced, hunching over as the sick twisted sensation of Nagini twisted over his stomach. Remus reached out, gently placing one palm against his shoulder as if to steady him.
"Tonight." Nagini hissed dumbly, then vanished.
"Oh Master," Lutain hissed quietly, as if disappointed or frustrated all in one, "What have you done?"
Weekly Power Status
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