Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 10– Out of The Cocoon.
Edited: 24/03/2023
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"Hello, Digby. D. Digworth, are you wondering why you aren't gagged, why I am actually talking to you instead of just getting straight down into business and casting spells on you?" I asked, standing in the doorway staring at Digby with him staring back, with a blank, dazed look in his eyes, broken down by so many months of being held in captivity and being my little guinea pig.
"No, not going to answer? Well, you see, my friend, we have reached the end of our long journey together. You have served your purpose, which means this will be the last time we ever see each other. It has been nice knowing you, Digworth." I speak, and as the words leave my mouth, I can see the light spark back up in his eyes, and he tilts his head up to look at me, hope shining bright in his eyes.
"Y-you... You are going to... to let me go? R-Really?" He stutters out, finding it difficult to do so, having not used his vocal cords in a very long time. He gave up screaming and pleading with me after the first couple of months. Finally, when he could no longer resist my Legilimency, he practically gave up on life, not even lifting his head to acknowledge me when I entered the room.
This was made doubly hard when he never even tried to eat the food I had out there for him, and I was not about to feed him with a spoon, so I found a clever solution to this. I trained my use of imperious on him and forced him to eat the food I gave him, except this was just too easy.
Once you know how to cast the spell, that is all there is to it, and you have complete control of them. However, I did not like how easy it was, as well as the fact that every idiot out there could quickly achieve this same result, so I decided to use Legillimency to find a creative solution to this problem.
Using the black book, I learnt a new level of Legilimency, where I went in and not only viewed or changed memories but also had the capability to alter, add and edit everything. For example, I inputted a command into his mind where if I clicked my fingers and said eat, he would start to eat, just some mental programming that actually works. I tried this on him quite a lot and put a lot of commands on him. he can now do a variety of things at the click of a finger and a catchphrase. I may have had a bit too much fun with it.
"Now, what gives you that idea, Digby? That I am just going to let you go? I am afraid not. I mean, I have kept you locked here for multiple months and not even taken very good care of you. I can't have you out there telling people and ruining my reputation. Plus, if you remember correctly. You were trying to kill me and take all of my worldly possessions. So why should I let you go now?" I say, watching as the hope that had appeared after so long and so very briefly left him ultimately, his head lolling again and flopping back down.
"Now, don't be so glum, chum. I wasn't lying. Your time really is up. No more having to suffer and no more having to sit here day after day. With your purpose done and with you no longer having a reason for your continued existence, it is time for your existence to come to an end." Really, with everything done, I see no reason to keep troubling myself with looking after this fool every day.
"F-Fine then... Go ahead and do it. Kill me. JUST FUCKING KILL ME ALREADY! GET IT OVER WITH AND KI-" I click my fingers. "Chicken," I say. "LL ME BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK!" Digby starts to cluck like a chicken, and very loudly at that. When I did this before, he clucked at a normal level. I guess the fact that he was shouting before the command carried over his voice level.
"Silence." I click my fingers again, and Digby shuts up, staying still and not uttering a single word.
"I am not going to kill you, Digby, at least not yet. You see, I have perfected almost every Legilimency skill except for one Digby. I have mastered all the normal Legilimency skills. But there is one last thing I need to try. I have already used a light version of it on you in which I placed multiple commands into your head. The final spell, however, is complete control, a full subversion of your mind where you will become a literal puppet of mine for me to do with as I please." His head lifted up again, but this time filled with horror, which brought a smile to my face.
"Now, now, no need to worry. I won't actually be using you for anything. I abhor the thought, I just need you to perfect the technique, and after that, you can die. So don't worry your-" I am interrupted before I can finish.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
There is a knocking at the front door that both myself and Digby can hear on account of me standing in the doorway and keeping the door open. Our eyes meet, and I already know what he is going to do, so I prepare myself and draw my wand.
"HELP! HELP ME!! PLEA-" I point my wand at him and cut him off with a single word.
"Vestio." I cast, watching as a black rag is shot out of the end of my wand and flies at the tied-up man, quickly wrapping itself around his jaw and working its way into his mouth, properly gagging the man. I have been getting quite a lot of practice with this spell and have figured out all sorts of uses for it, from conjuring a line of string so thin it is nearly invisible to creating full curtains for a window.
"Now, you wait there while I go deal with whoever is at my door," I say before turning around and closing the door behind me and stalking over to the front door. I cautiously approach the door and then take a look through the little glass hole I had to transfigure into the door, so I wouldn't be caught off guard like I was last time.
Standing there and waiting patiently for me to answer is my publisher, Elric Woods, that has been producing all of my books for a number of years now, but that doesn't mean I will trust him. I trusted Digby for some inane reason, even when he was threatening me, and that was the wrong choice. Nevertheless, it is better to be cautious and paranoid than dead.
Readying myself, I level my wand at the door and prepare a powerful cutting charm that will slice right through the door and bisect my publisher in half if he makes even one wrong move, the word Deffindo right on the edge of my lips and ready to put out.
I unlock the front door, but I leave the chain on, meaning that the door will only open wide enough that I will be able to poke an eye through, and Elric won't be able to even get more than a slight glance inside. Taking a deep breath, I reach out and grasp the door's handle before twisting it and pulling the door slightly open, and then I peek my head around to get a view of the man still patiently waiting for me.
He sat there, a skinny man above average height with mousey brown hair and a thin pencil moustache, along with some thin-framed glasses that sat upon his nose. He is dressed in a business suit, but obviously, since this is the magical world, his suit pants are red, his shirt is green, and his coat is blue, along with some white leather dress shoes, but by far the strangest thing is the happiness on his face as he sees me peeking through at him.
"Gilderoy, finally. It is so good to see you. I have truly missed you this past year. Open the door and give me a hug, my good friend!" He says, reaching to pull open the door, but when he pulls, it is stopped by the chain giving a loud clang, making it a bit of an awkward moment.
"It is good to see you too, Elric. I would welcome you in and give you a hug, but I am otherwise occupied, and I am not decent enough for company. Though, I have missed you as well, dear friend." I smile at him with supposed genuine affection, all the while levelling my wand at him through the door, which is on the cusp of separating his legs from his torso.
"Haha, I understand, Gilderoy. You have had a long trip to the mysterious land of Antarctica. of course, you are busy. Not even a minute back and you are already entertaining female company, haha, never change Gilderoy." He laughs, not taking offence or anything and even fabricating a reason for me not opening the door. What a good publisher.
"Ha, you too, Elric. Your sense of fashion is still as good as ever. you will have to give me some tips sometime." I smile back and make with the small talk, plying him with some stupid compliment that I don't mean.
"Now come on, Gilderoy, you know everything I learnt about fashion and style was from you. So how could I, the student, give you, the master, tips? Haha." He laughs, to which I join, and we both laugh for a few seconds before we quiet down and look at each other with smiles on our faces. We continue for a few seconds like that in awkwardness, though it seems Elric feels none of it and is perfectly content to just stand there in silence.
"Not to be rude or anything, Elric. But I am quite busy, as you have guessed. So, what can I do for you?" I break the silence and get to the point, why is this man knocking on my door out of the blue? I had had a very long time with no contact with anyone apart from Digby, which stopped when he tried to murder me, and I counterattacked him and kept him locked up in my house.
"Ah, right. Straight to business as usual then, Gilderoy. I can see that hasn't changed in your time away. Anyway, Digworth informed us a year ago that you had gone away on a trip for a magical new adventure in an unexplored land and that you would be back and have a manuscript in a year's time. Well, it has been a year, and I have come to get that manuscript. Also, have you seen Digworth? He stopped coming into work months ago, and no one has seen him since." Oh, I actually hadn't thought about how to explain his disappearance.