I was at Hogwarts now, I felt bad that I couldn't get anything with the unicorn in the centaur camp, but I had no choice.
I'd wait a bit to see Penelope in the Lair, so in the meantime, I'll do something else I didn't do before. 'Ritual Magic' actually consists not only in being able to perform rituals, since that was something I could do from the beginning, but in the knowledge of it.
If I had chosen another alignment that restricted the types of rituals, I would be physically unable to perform those I wasn't enabled for, like a muggle trying to do magic with a wand.
Since I chose the evil alignment, in addition to being able to perform any kind of ritual, I also gained knowledge about them, only it seems that I must actively access it.
I tried to concentrate on the ritual magic as I walked, but a terrible feeling of vertigo attacked me. It felt like I was falling down an endless tube made up of endless shelves of books.
The knowledge I received was unimaginable, it was not an understanding of the rituals, it was the rituals themselves. I felt my head spinning as I received so much information about the innumerable rituals that there were, of different forms and functions, from the simplest to the most complex.
From this point, it doesn't matter if I didn't learn more magic, the number of rituals I knew and the versatility of it was enough to consider me one of the most powerful Wizards of the time. Although it must be clarified that ritual magic and practice magic have several differences.
Ritual magic is a slow and demanding one. It requires many external elements, protocols, procedures and time, but it is much more effective and difficult to counteract. The practical magic we learn is easier to perform, quicker, and requires nothing more than magical power in most cases, but may not have as powerful or specialized an effect as ritual magic.
The ritual magic I acquired was laid out like a tremendous tubular library in my mind, as I explained. At any time I could concentrate to get a better understanding of any ritual I wanted, but passively I only had preliminary knowledge.
These rituals ranged from ones as simple as those used to slightly improve air quality to those that required painfully and brutally sacrificing newborns alongside their mothers. There were also other rituals that seemed blocked, as if my comprehension or power were not enough to access them.
Having this on me, I felt that nothing was impossible for me anymore when I noticed how many rituals were compatible with my blood magic. There was so much I could do but it would take so long to do, and the cost would not be cheap.
I decided to investigate this new library further while I waited to meet Penelope, more and more immersed in the possibilities.
...
I was on my vibrating chair as usual while looking at the sky, well actually I was concentrating on my mental library. The sun rose in the morning and the movement in the castle grew steadily.
It was time to meet Penelope and I already had an idea of how to move forward, but I would have to wait and see how the situation developed. I had already seen her cross the door, so I decided to pick me up, make signs with my hands and direct me to the small square place.
Penelope saw me and understood my signs, also walking in the same direction. She wasn't entirely calm, but with the time she had to calm down, she was able to reflect on what had happened.
When I got to the square I sat on one of the four stone benches, they used to be wooden but we change them from time to time to make it fun. Watching Penelope approach, I patted the place next to me, not very close.
She came over and sat down, her eyes serious but expressionless, just watching me. I looked down at her, not directly into her eyes, showing feigned embarrassment. It wasn't that I felt guilty about what I did, I really enjoyed it, but for things to go well it was necessary.
"So?" (Penelope)
"I… I don't know how to start this…" I answered with some insecurity.
"You didn't look so shy yesterday" she said with a slightly reproachful tone.
"Yesterday I was hotter than an ashwinder... Look, I'm sorry, I know I was wrong, but I couldn't help it" I acted like it took the courage to look her in the eyes and say with determination.
"Not being able to avoid it doesn't mean it didn't happen" she continued, showing a neutral expression.
"Under normal circumstances I would tell you that if you want I would let you rub against me to compensate, but what I want is for things to be good between the two of us. For me, it may not be that serious, but for you yes. I want to know what it is it takes to make amends for my mistake... What do you think?"
"I think that what you did was very wrong and could have caused a lot of damage to any girl. It should notify the teachers and that they take the necessary measures, including expulsion as a possibility" She said with monotonous emotion but with some impulse .
"But luckily you won't" I sighed, showing relief.
"How are you so sure?"
"Because if that was the case you wouldn't have said it right now, you would have done it by now. And it's not that I want to sound confident but I was hoping you'd be understanding and not hold me as resentful as anyone else... That was one of the main reasons because of what happened what happened with you"
"So you only chose me because you hoped to have no consequences with me?" She asked, unable to help showing some real anger.
"No, don't take it like that. What happened with you was because... You make me very hot, well, not only that. You're beautiful and I like your personality and various other things about you... I... don't I could resist"
"So, are you saying that because you fell in love with me, you decided to abuse my body? I didn't know that love worked that way" She said sarcastically. Penelope had made up her mind not to go easy on me as retaliation for what I did.
"Don't put all the blame on me. Did you forget about our talk last time? Do you think there's no consequence to fill expectations of an eleven-year-old with the lust of a rabbit? I wasn't good but you weren't the most considerate of me either. We were only friends from that time, but don't think that all those dances where our bodies constantly collided didn't fan the flames"(Red)
"And who had the idea to dance like that?!" (Penelope)
"Me, but what did you expect? I told you I have the lust of a rabbit!" I exclaimed while putting on some enchantments to mute the output sound, I didn't want the others to find out about this now.
"Okay, keep blaming others for what you did. How are you going to make it up to me? Are you going to give yourself to the teachers, are you going to take responsibility and promise me, what are you going to do?" Her attitude did not diminish either.
"I don't plan on giving myself up, and promising to marry you isn't an option either... I wouldn't tolerate waiting until I'm married to do more of 'those' things with you"
"You're a degenerate…" she replied to that last thing I said, but with a bit of a blush.
"And a very bad one. Look, I'm not going to lie, I like you, a lot, and not feeling guilty was true. I can apologize for what I did but I really don't regret it, what's more, I wish it could have been more ... I won't deny that I want you as a woman, but I want you to remain my friend. You can ask me for something to compensate you and I'll try to fulfill it, but in return I want us to have a good relationship like before... maybe better" I said the latter very low.
She stared at me with eyes like swords, letting silence reign for a while. It's not that she was angry to the point of wanting to kill, but it's not that she was happy either. She reflected during the night on what happened and understood that what I did was a serious mistake, but considering that it was due to my condition, she had some compassion.
Maybe it was because she also found it something existing that now she wasn't as upset as another girl might be. She didn't want to end the relationship, but she doubted that things would be the same after this. She gave it some thought and she decided to stop putting up so much resistance, but she still wouldn't show that things weren't that bad.
"Okay, I can forget what happened but I want to know something. How come you know so many perverted things? You didn't answer before but now you have to if you want me to consider forgiving you" She decided to use this opportunity to find out and wanted to understand the reason for my actions.
"..." I looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then nodded "I'll tell you but I need you to promise to keep the secret, a little pact" I said extending my hand.
"Well, but you also have to agree that you will tell the truth"
"Okay" I agreed and we made a deal, nothing too dangerous, a normal packed but one that would keep things safe for me "Okay, I'll just tell you this... I'm not a virgin, that's all"
"How come...?! When?! Who?! How?!" The seriousness that she had faded, showing much shock as he launched questions one after another. She expected something relevant, but not this. For her, my words were very significant.
"That I'm not a virgin, that I already had sex at least once. A few months ago. A girl older than me. And well... when a boy and a girl love each other a lot..."
"Stop joking around!" She said, angry that I didn't take this seriously.
"I'm sorry, the atmosphere was tense for a while and I thought it was time to lighten it up"
"This is serious! Don't you understand that, considering your age, what you're saying is...?"
"It's not like it was rape or anything."
"But..."
"Mr. Red" A voice interrupted Penelope. It was McGonagall who had approached us quietly, coming within the range of the Silencing Charm, but luckily she didn't hear anything important.
"Professor McGonagall" x2
"Sorry to interrupt your talk, but the director wants to see you" she turned to me.
"Good"
Nodding, I got up to follow her. I couldn't use my method of saying random sweets until I could find the correct password anymore, the director didn't make it so easy anymore.
Penelope also got up, what I had told her still did not leave her calm and she wanted to continue discussing it. She even thought about telling Professor McGonagall hoping to get her support, but when she started to have the slightest intention of saying anything about it, felt her throat close up, bringing her a strong choking sensation.
I could see how her expression changed and I just smiled, the contract is very useful. I silently texted her to calm down, and if she wanted, we can use [Message] to discuss it secretly while she was in class.
She accepted, and during my trip to the principal's office I was chatting with Penelope about it, which made it very difficult for her to attend to what the teacher was explaining. I didn't tell her anything about Tonks, but it was still enough information to sate her curiosity, as well as giving her some very explicit details at times to make her uncomfortable.
When I got to the door with the griffin statue, I cut off the chatter. She did not agree that everything was fine with me, but she could not do anything about it and we agreed that we would talk about it later, although in my opinion everything had already been said.
I entered the director's office and there I saw him, sitting in his chair as usual, but after taking a few steps beyond the door I could notice how Fawkes looked at me and opened his mouth with a loud screech.
I couldn't help but cover my ears with my hands, I felt as if I had been yelled at with a megaphone from very close. Fawkes's singing continued and I actually had no problem understanding what he was saying, but the thunderous sound didn't allow me to concentrate enough to even think of understanding it.
"FAWKES, SHUT UP!!!" I yelled annoyed.
*Phoenix sounds*
"Couldn't you just ask instead of giving me a headache?!"
*Phoenix sounds*
"These are my things, it's none of your business"
*phoenix sounds*
I was about to continue arguing with the bird, but Dumbledore, who had been glaring at me since I entered, had gotten up and grabbed my hand, staring at me.
"What have you done?!" He said with complete disgust.
"Be more specific, I always do a lot of things"
*Phoenix sounds*
"I assumed that's what he meant" I replied to Fawkes "I guess you noticed" I turned my attention to the Headmaster.
"How could you give off such vileness?! What the hell did you do now?!" He yelled angrily.
"Calm down old man, you're spitting in my face" I said as released me from his grip "And I didn't do anything special..."
"I can see it since you walked through that door, don't say you didn't do anything again. Such a change doesn't happen out of the blue. I can't imagine what kind of magic you used to get to this level of darkness. I thought you said you don't would fall to the dark arts"
"The truth is nothing out of the ordinary. I have not broken my words. If you pay attention, you will notice that the evil you feel in me is abnormally pure, as if there was nothing else and. As you said, a magic that can cause this effect, It shouldn't be easy to find.
"Then explain yourself! What did you do now?!" The Headmaster did not show the slightest kindness, he did not talk to me as if I was a student, but rather a criminal who did something horrible.
"I think I should write this down in notes because I'm getting tired of repeating it. My power grew, well, and at this point I was presented with the opportunity to change my essence in exchange for certain benefits"
"What benefit could be worth enough to cover you from such evil? I guess this wasn't the only way, was it?" He looked at me with disgust.
"True, there were some other paths that I'm sure would make you happier, but I decided on this one because it had the best results. I received a full inheritance of magic, not just black magic, although I won't deny that it is included, but it is my decision to use it or not
"Do you want power so much that you're willing to sell your soul for it?! Do you even have any idea of the consequences that a change like this can bring to you, or to those around you?!"
"I don't change much in myself, I made sure of that before I made my decision. I changed, but that doesn't make things change much. It's not like from now on it starts to bring chaos and devastation, I won't do anything that hasn't done before, but everything that could already be done before will possibly be more enhanced"
"That is already something to worry about. I remind you that you were not the most restrained person. If your already questionable actions are stimulated, I don't know what could happen"
"I will not deny that, but you cannot judge me as an evil person just because you feel that about me. I have my principles and I am the one who makes the decisions. I will not let this change affect my way of being, I can guarantee that"
After that came another long discussion with the director. I was already trying his patience with my previous actions and now he completely doubted me due to my change in alignment. I understand perfectly that if I had been an exemplary student, he might have had more consideration and he would have felt sorry for me.
In the end, I ended up giving in and now I would have to transcribe three ritual magic books to donate to the school, one good, one neutral, and one evil, although the latter will be restricted. Only with that will I prove that I am not consumed by evil and that my decision was not based on black magic.
I would only write some low and intermediate level rituals, nothing very powerful, enough to meet the requirements and to be able to pay the school, for what it gave me and will give me. Obviously, I wouldn't write down the most wicked evil rituals either, that would make the old man turn his eyes on me again, so I'd use the ones that aren't very depraved but can be easily noticed as black magic.
This talk lasted hours, in which Fawkes also participated. In the process, the possibility was even mentioned that I should take an unbreakable oath where I promised not to use black magic in my life. I did not accept it, which brought doubts on me, but at this point my image was already damaged.
At the end of it all, the director told me why he had actually called me, but with some reluctance after what happened. The issue of the exchange with Castelobruxo was resolved, but as I said, he wasn't so sure about that anymore.
Hannah would be notified at the end of this school year, and if she agreed, we could go next year. After that, the discussion continued, as the headmaster was somewhat tempted to force me not to attend Hogwarts and my clones while I was on exchange in Castelobruxo.