Walking through the newly renovated corridors of Hogwarts with his clothes stained with blood, wherever he went, the crowd made way for him, almost as if they were paving the path for their king.
After participating in such a high-level battle, everyone realized that only a similar power, like Asterion, could help them, not just them but the entire country. Without beings like Asterion, all of England and the United Kingdom was no different from a child in the face of Special Grade Wizards.
As Asterion was about to descend the stairs and head towards the Slytherin Common Room, he saw someone he did not want to see at that moment. Mainly because he couldn't control his magical energy as before, not when his magical reserves had almost tripled.
Rose's incredibly blue eyes fell for a moment on Asterion's shadow; she was puzzled not to see the adorable hundred-eyed dog.
"Where is Baskerville?" she asked, approaching him, not caring about the putrid blood on his clothes.
Backing away from the sudden approach of the white-haired girl, Asterion turned and descended the stairs to the dungeons, but not before answering Rose's question.
"I killed him." With cold and indifferent words, he disappeared down the staircase.
Rose stopped and widened her eyes upon hearing this. She looked at the place where Asterion disappeared and bit her lips in frustration. She felt the distance between her and her cousin had increased.
Baskerville's sudden death also left her shocked; the adorable dog was something she liked, especially for the loyalty she felt from him. She also knew that Asterion loved the hundred-eyed dog as well, so hearing that he killed him shook her mind.
Looking deeply at the stairs, Rose took a deep breath to calm herself and walked away; she was late for the private lessons she was having with Dumbledore.
-
Inside the Slytherin Common Room.
Asterion sat on the couch and looked at the ceiling, not caring about his bloodstained clothes.
"Wine, Baskerville." He said while extending his hand, but only silence answered him.
"That's right, he can't serve me anymore." Asterion murmured to himself. "I killed him."
Looking at his own hands, he continued to murmur to himself. "Maybe Salazar wasn't so wrong, after all. We are the same."
Suddenly, he heard a female voice next to him.
"You look tired, Heir Black."
Looking to the side, Asterion saw a vaguely familiar face.
"You really look like Cissy," he murmured.
Dorea frowned, hearing the intimate nickname for her mother. She clenched her fists and looked at Asterion with a touch of anger. Then, she relaxed her fists and let out a sigh filled with frustration and anger.
"How is my mother, Heir Black?" she asked after a brief silence.
"Relieved to be out of a marriage with the trash that is your father." Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the teenager beside him and responded casually, not caring about disparaging a father in front of his daughter.
"I see." Dorea lowered her head and murmured, lost in thought.
"May I ask something personal, Dorea? You can decline if you feel uncomfortable." Asterion asked, surprising Dorea.
"Feel free to ask, Heir Black," she replied with a calm expression.
"Why did you and Draco never care about Cissy?"
Dorea remained silent, as if considering his words, before finally responding, "Partly because of our father and maybe out of fear."
Asterion wasn't surprised by Lucius's involvement, but the fear genuinely surprised him.
"Why would you be afraid of your own mother?" Asterion asked curiously.
After hesitating for a long time, she answered in a somewhat trembling tone, "We were four years old, Draco and I wanted to sleep in her bed, but we saw something that still sends shivers down my spine."
"She opened her mouth and devoured that grotesque cursed spirit." Dorea hugged herself as if trying to warm up.
"That scene is etched in my mind. From that day on, every time I looked at my mother or when she approached me, my mind went back to that scene, and I saw her as a monster with cold, emotionless eyes. Sometimes I wondered if one day she would devour me as she did that cursed spirit." She finished with a slightly trembling and tearful voice.
Asterion listened to everything in silence.
"Manipulation of Cursed Spirits, the Simplified Innate Technique of the Black House, involves exorcising the cursed spirit and swallowing it to control it. You probably know this." He said to Dorea, who nodded silently.
"After being exorcised, the cursed spirit transforms into a blue orb in our hands, and then we swallow it. The taste…" Asterion paused, choosing his words carefully before continuing, "It's the worst taste you can imagine, like an old rag soaked in feces and anything disgusting you can think of."
His words made Dorea's eyes widen in complete disbelief.
Unfazed by Dorea's wide-eyed reaction, Asterion continued.
"Day after day, night after night, we exorcise and consume cursed spirits, the filthiest things to ever walk the surface of this planet."
"This affects our minds, makes us colder and unable to show many emotions. That's the price of gaining such power. But I'm sure nothing hurt Narcissa more than seeing her children afraid of her." His cold and indifferent voice struck Dorea like thunder.
"I know it must have been a traumatic scene to witness at such a young age, but give your mother a chance, because she's suffering more than you can imagine." Leaving these words, Asterion climbed the stairs and headed towards the boys' dormitory.
Drained on the sofa, Dorea stared at the ceiling and remained in complete silence.
"Mother."
-
In Asterion's room, he could be seen unbuttoning his shirt while looking at himself in the mirror. His eyes were red, exhausted, and cold.
He grabbed a wine bottle from the table beside him and drank directly from it, but before he could finish all the alcohol, his hand started to spasm, making it impossible for him to control his fingers.
Asterion watched in silence as his fingers twitched in all possible directions. The bottle slipped from his hand, shattered into pieces on the floor, spilling the purplish liquid everywhere.
Gripping his wrist tightly, Asterion clenched his teeth and stifled a pained groan as an overwhelming pain coursed through his body, reminding him of Salazar's surgery.
Falling to his knees, he breathed heavily as his hands gradually returned to normal and the pain subsided over time.
Asterion knew this was the price for gaining unnatural power.
A black pentagram appeared in his eyes, and Asterion looked at himself.
A hologram of his own body appeared in his mind, with several red areas indicating where he was injured.
It was not surprising, given that even his soul had been opened. It was normal to have any aftereffects from a surgery. His had just begun to appear and would likely become more painful over time.
But Asterion estimated that potions would alleviate the aftereffects, possibly even neutralize them.
Rising from the floor, he could still see slight spasms occurring in various parts of his body.
"I need to return to the Black Mansion, not just for the potions lost with Baskerville's death, but also to start preparing for Voldemort's official return." Asterion murmured to himself as he finished unbuttoning his shirt.
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Author's thoughts: Asterion will not be Nerfed, the Sequelae are just to say that choices have consequences for the protagonist to grow more mentally and mature.
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Next Chapter: Chapter 85 - Civil War (1), 86 - Civil War (2), 87 - Civil War (3), 88 - Civil War (4), 89 - Civil War (5), Chapter 90 - Civil War (6), Chapter 91 - Battlefield (1), Chapter 92 - Battlefield (2), Chapter 93 – Conflicts on the Battlefield (1), Chapter 94 – Conflicts on the Battlefield (2), Chapter 95 - The War Intensifies (1), Chapter 96 - The War Intensifies (2), Chapter 97 - The Death of Voldemort (1), Chapter 98 - The Death of Voldemort (2) And end of the first volume.
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 99 – Decision (1), Chapter 100 – Decision (2), Chapter 101 – Decision (3), Chapter 102 - The Black Sisters (1), Chapter 103 - The Black Sisters (2), Chapter 104 - Rose's Past (1), Chapter 105 - Arrival of Country Representatives (1).