"Aries wait," she called. He turned around and raised his eyebrows expectantly. The boy picked up on her nuances far too quickly for her liking.
"Collect some of its venom in a few vials, you never know when it could come in handy, and then have it bite you."
"What?" Aries asked quietly. Then his whole being changed. He stood straighter, almost rigid, and his face turned cold, and the green specks darkened in his eyes.
Cassiopeia fought the chill and the shiver that wanted to creep up her spine. That look did not belong to a seven-year-old boy.
Yes, a future Dark Lord indeed.
"That would kill me Cassiopeia." Aries' voice was ice, like a freezing wind that cut through you no matter how many layers you wore.
Again, she fought the chill and shook her head.
"Hades' tears." The coldness of her nephew did not relent.
"The venom and the tears will combine. You will survive but the tears and venom will always be inside you, constantly fighting a never-ending battle. That way, the tears never dissolve, and you'll be immune to nearly everything."
"Then why don't you go first?" Aries' sarcastic edge, normally a sense of hilarity for her, still contained that frigidness and she rushed to provide an explanation.
"I'm too old, too fragile for the venom. And besides I've spent years building up immunity to nearly every poison. I don't really need it do I?" That seemed to at last warm the boy and gave her a short nod before calling his phoenix.
Hades burst into existence on his shoulder and rather arrogantly began a staring contest with the Basilisk.
Aries relayed Cassiopeia's instructions to the serpent, holding out his arm. It was clear to her that the boy and serpent were arguing, but if he really was indeed the Heir of Slytherin, the serpent would have to comply, and so it did.
The boy's screams erupted in the hall, contrasting his laughter from moments ago drastically.
He fell to the ground as the burning sensation flowed through him.
The phoenix wasted little time pouring its tears into the wound.
Aries continued to moan in pain for only a few moments more before the burning finally disappeared.
Cassiopeia noted the rigidness with which he rose, all humor gone from him. He mechanically collected the venom, storing five vials in his robes.
"Salmissra, we will leave here soon. One day I will come for you. Until then sleep." The serpent bowed deep and returned to the statue's mouth as it closed.
Aries walked to the base of the statue pulling a knife from his robes. Cassi tried to stop him, but he had already cut along his palm and placed his hand right between the two feet.
The surprises continued as the stone opened back like a door revealing a study unlike any she had ever seen.
Dust collected everything and with a wave of Aries' hand it all disappeared. They went their separate ways, their eyes roaming over the ancient history compiled there.
"Ha! I told you!" The glee had returned to the boy as he shoved a book into her hands.
"Parsel magic! I told you, I told you, I told you! And there it is! Written by Salazar Sytherin himself!" Cassi barely had time to look at the book before he took it back, soaking in the information like a sponge.
She watched as his expression turned cold again so quickly it shocked even her. This was something she could not explain.
Aries looked from the book and turned right where he stood face to face with the portrait of Salazar Slytherin.
It did not move, as they both had hoped, and seemed nothing more than a simple painting.
Silence stretched long while they both stood there, staring at the portrait before Aries' voice broke it, strong, firm, and unrelenting.
"I was weak," he began, "I was weak, and she died. Mum died. If I had been stronger I could have saved her." She felt it again, his pure and raw magic.
Blue lightning cackled around him and a slight breeze picked up.
"If I had been stronger. If I had more control. I lost my magic and then got it back and then I killed her with it. I thought I was only a Black but I was wrong. I'm the Heir of Slytherin." Those last words were almost a hiss.
The lightning cackled more and more, the wind started to blow loose papers in the air, and if Cassiopeia could see his eyes she knew the green specks would be glowing furiously.
"I can be so much more. I refuse to be ordinary, not when I can be extraordinary. I owe that to Mum. I killed her because I was weak. But I won't be weak anymore. Not ever again." Cassiopeia could only smile. 'Yes, my Dark child,' she thought, ' we will make you strong.'
The streets of Diagon Alley were sparse this late in the evening, but the shop they were heading to was still open.
Ollivander was, in Cassi's opinion, the best wand maker in all of Europe, if not the world.
She may be biased considering his family had given nearly every Black their wand, but still one was entitled to their opinion.
There was no one else she entrusted to craft what was in her mind, the only problem was convincing him. Aries followed her into the old shop, cautiously glancing around.
He could feel Hades following invisibly and perching high in the far corner, his amusement plain to him.
They could hear the old man bustling in the back, but a polite cough from Cassi brought him forward.
"Ah Miss Cassiopeia Black!" Ollivander greeted. "Twelve inches, hawthorn, and dragon heart string. Yes yes, my boy I am indeed that old." He chuckled at the shocked look on the boy.
"Now you certainly are not eleven."
"Aries Black, sir, I'm seven."