- Why are you shaking? Are you afraid of me? - I asked the girl whose delicate little hand I took in my hands while riding in a taxi. Surprisingly, the girl was extremely surprised by the appearance of the car, although she didn't say anything. They don't let them out of isolation there at all?
- I'm afraid I'm not worthy of you, sir. You took me despite my ugliness! - Heh, if only you knew that I'm the one using you and that's a worthy payment…
- You may not be pretty on the outside, but you're pretty on the inside, - I repeated. - I'll have only one request for you - to give birth to and raise my child. Forgive me for asking you for something so shameful.
- No, no, I understand everything. We've all heard that you may die soon. It would be an honor for me to bear a child from such a noble and kind man! - but despite this, you continue to be afraid of me.
- I'm not as good as you think. But I will help you with something else. In England, you will have nothing to do with my offspring. Despite your freedom, they will still try to drive you back into the coven. I decided that after conception you will go to France. Therefore, from today you will start learning French, - in response I received only an unintelligible squeal and attempts at hugs from the girl, because of which the veil moved aside, and I saw the girl's true face. Yeah, at least put it in the cabinet of curiosities. I don't know what the magician hit her with, but by the look of it - as if she was doused with hydrofluoric acid. Because of her impulse, she was embarrassed and then kept herself in check.
Already at home, or rather in a rented apartment that I rented on the outskirts of London, I drew a ritual of minor healing with chalk. Ariel, meanwhile, watched my actions with ever-increasing fear.
- Do you want to sacrifice me? - the girl suddenly began to cry. - I thought you couldn't be that good!
- Of course, that's why I bought you for three thousand Galleons, and didn't take a homeless person from the street, - I nodded, and then shouted: - Fool, I want to cure you! - the tension of the last few days was finally breaking free. - So lie down and slowly pour mana into these signs.
- Why are you undressing? - I already covered my face with my hand, wondering who I took. Maybe a homeless woman from the street would really be better?
- But the ritual...
- Lie down in your clothes, you don't need to be naked for it.
Finally, the girl lay down and poured mana, after which the figure lit up - and this light flowed onto the girl, highlighting her contours. Magical creatures instinctively understand how to control their mana, unlike mages, who have to learn this. When the light disappeared, a girl of unprecedented beauty appeared before me, even better than the other Veela. And yet, what principles govern the heredity of Veela if they all look alike? Dominant genes? No, hardly, most likely magic is involved as well. However, her improved appearance is not surprising, because minor healing not only heals, but also rejuvenates, and also has a cosmetic effect. When she looked in the mirror in the bathroom, she froze in front of it for half an hour, disbelievingly feeling her face and body. At that time, I myself lay down on the ritual circle. I needed to ask Ariel for help, after all, I had only recently awakened Nous and was not even able to do such a primitive thing as releasing mana. After the same outburst, I seemed to have dropped ten years. And not only by sensations, outwardly I also became younger, my nose broken in a fight was corrected, as well as the scar from the operation on the appendix disappeared. Even the moles disappeared from my entire body.
- Well, have you seen enough, beauty? — I came up behind the girl, who was still admiring herself. She woke up and literally flared up with joy, so much so that she pushed through the amulet of protection as if it wasn't there, and my mind sank into a haze of admiration and lust.
The next morning I woke up completely broken, squeezed like a lemon and with an unpleasant pulling feeling between my legs. Scenes from yesterday, or rather, this night, began to appear in my head. Who would have thought that such a sex machine was hidden in this fragile eighteen-year-old girl, cute in appearance? Five hours of non-stop sex, and what's amazing is that my Vladimir Jr. didn't fall until the very end! Now it's clear why the Veela are so valued as lovers. Especially since, thanks to empathy, they know how to give even more pleasure. It was only now, when I stroked her back and Ariel, who had thrown her leg over me like a proprietor and buried her face in my chest, woke up, that the eyes of a beaten kitten looked at me.
"Forgive me, sir, I don't know what came over me, because my charms have never been so strong," she confessed and cringed, as if expecting a blow from me.
- Enough of these "gentlemen", after all, you are the mother of my future child, - and me too, which you shouldn't know. - So call me Vladimir or Vlad, and as for your powers, it's my own fault that I didn't foresee such a side effect of your treatment.
- Vlad, why didn't you say you were such a great magician? - she asked me and fidgeted, but I didn't react in any way, the girl squeezed me out to the end. I wonder if the veela's ancestors include, for example, a succubus?
- What made you think that? - I was surprised.
- You were able to rejuvenate yourself and cure me, and only great magicians are capable of that. They couldn't help me at Mungo's when the head of Ida brought me there, because dark curses cannot be cured.
- Really? - I've only just started studying modern magic and I don't know what it can do and what it can't. - Don't worry about it, just be glad that I cured you. And in a few days, when I leave, you will be free.
- No, don't go! Please! Why can't you cure yourself like you cured me? - And the girl is physically stronger than an ordinary person, my ribs almost crunched from the way she hugged me with her seemingly weak and fragile hands. A consequence of the second hypostasis? Interesting.
- Do you prefer to watch me die in agony? I can't cope with this problem - and it is unlikely that anyone can. And even if they can, they will not help me. That's it, I don't want to talk about it anymore. Oh yeah, if you don't stop hugging me like that, you will see my death much sooner, - she sighed sweetly and freed me from her clinging hands, I looked at the sheets and saw a noticeable red spot, from the sight of which the girl blushed in embarrassment. I didn't say anything to that, I just folded the sheet and threw it in the laundry basket. Should I offer her my hand and heart because I've lost my virginity? Ridiculous. Although it's nice that I'm her first. But I wasn't under any illusions, there are different ways to satisfy a man, and considering what she did last night... However, I don't care, her aura is pure - so what, let her serve at least a thousand people, although with the appearance she had, it's unlikely. Damn, why do I even care? Am I jealous? I shook my head and threw unnecessary thoughts out of my head.
- Today we'll go buy you clothes and other things a girl needs. I don't understand this. We'll also need to go to the pharmacy in Diagon Alley and buy potions for conceiving a boy and developing the fetus, and it wouldn't hurt you to become healthier too. And then we'll go through a set of rituals, like yesterday's. Just after each of them, please, don't lose control of yourself, - and so, with the tomato girl, we went shopping. I also wanted to take her to the hospital for diagnostics, but if modern wizards couldn't heal such simple wounds for the Sumerians, then there was no point in taking her. Only to arouse suspicions with her miraculous healing, as if I didn't have enough attention from Gaunt.
We were freed only in the evening. I only had two thousand galleons left. I had earned money for ten years and spent it in less than a month. However, my intuition told me that all this was not in vain. And if the intuition of such a weakling as me signals problems, then it's time to order a coffin and a place in the cemetery. About intuition, by the way. The Sumerians considered it not a guess or stupidity, but a connection between the human subconscious and the infosphere. That is, in theory, even a simple person or another intelligent person with developed intuition really foresees the future or its variants, and for magicians, due to greater sensitivity, quantity and strength of energies, this feeling is even stronger. However, let's return to Ariel. This time she voluntarily and calmly underwent rituals and drank potions, completely trusting me to such an extent that it even became embarrassing. For a couple of seconds. All the rituals were aimed to one degree or another at the girl's safety, such as cutting off the flesh, or at her health, such as cleansing the aura of various astral parasites or minor curses, which accumulate quite a lot in any magician who does not do these things. And also at the birth of a boy, because being born a girl does not appeal to me at all. I did not offend myself either, and since the girl had more mana than I did, and it was restored many times faster, I used her as a battery. Surprisingly, a 18-year-old girl who was not involved in magic at all has such a reserve of strength! I asked the girl about her past:
- I do not know who my father was, Mr. ... Vlad - she stopped short, remembering how I asked her to call herself. - However, in our coven it was customary to take care of all children as if they were our own, because for our people, they are the main treasure. That's why I didn't feel deprived, despite the fact that I only had my mother, Arvina. Especially since we were all like that, because if a girl was married, she left the coven.
"Wait, do you only have girls?" I was scared by the prospect of losing Vladimir Jr.
- No, if the seed of our husband or... partner is strong, then either a wizard boy or a half-blood girl can be born. If the mage is much stronger than the veela, then a quarter-blood can be born, - Ariel explained to me, still embarrassed. What's wrong with you, woman, how can you ride me at night, it's normal, and now you're blushing?
- Wait, what's the difference between quadroons and half-bloods?
- Half-bloods cannot turn into birds, and quarter-bloods lose the ability to throw magical fire. Although everything is quite complicated there and there are exceptions.
- Okay, but what if the mage's seed is weak? - as I understand it, by seed she means the strength of the mage himself.
- Then a pure-blooded veela girl is always born, - well, that's it. Does that mean I'll be a woman? No way! I hope that the potions and the ritual will help to avoid such a sad fate, because there is neither time to look for another way out, nor almost no money left.
- By the way, where is your mother now? - I remembered that she said something about Arwen.
"She killed that… man who disfigured me, and was sentenced to the Dementor's kiss," she said sadly, and I simply hugged her. I may be a rational bastard, but even I have a sense of pity. After all, if I understood correctly, Dementors are something like undead or demons, or even both, that feed on souls. English magicians are completely crazy, because they use them to guard their prison, feeding those they cannot destroy if necessary. It is enough for one half-educated necromancer to seize control. However, I have long decided to run away from here, is there a greater or lesser reason? Although I was not going to "take revenge" on the evil magicians of England, who treat intelligent beings like cattle. I have neither the strength nor the desire for that. Maybe in the future, if I have power and strength, I will do something for the oppressed, purely to please my ego. Or maybe not, I still have to live.
***
Much later, looking at the children of other wizards, I realized that wizards, in essence, became a new race. Due to the policy of isolationism and the loss of knowledge about true vision and the absorption of ether from the environment, they interbred only with those wizards whose powers were enough to awaken the Nous themselves, and those who could not do this were considered squibs, untermenschen, who were slightly better than Muggles. From meditation, they moved on to the production of mana by the soul, which in the times of Sumer produced a tiny amount of it, and by now has reached such a level that wizards become masters only by their own energy production. Well, and thanks to magic wands, which I will talk about later.
***
The next day I woke up as tired as last time. This time they thanked me again, but for clothes and potions. I'm afraid that if Gaunt doesn't find me, this sweet person will torture me. Well, at least my death will be pleasant. This day was the last in my plans. The girl's aura showed the slightest changes, which I barely noticed, but this means that the egg is already fertilized and we can begin the final steps.
— Today I will teach you two things that will be useful to you in the future, — although this is the only thing I know. — This is true vision, which allows you to look into the essence of things, and meditation — for accumulating energy from the outside.
— Do you really want to teach me this? — No, damn it, I'm just making fun of you.
— Yes, so listen... — I didn't just tell her about this for nothing, the stronger she is, the stronger her child will be, my possible vessel. I risk my gender, but the strength and potential are worth it. As a last resort, I will become a metamorph or cast biomagic spells on myself and become a man. If I get away with it and my paranoia is not justified, then I will simply return to her — and everything will be happily ever after with a beautiful woman and a son, the emblem in whom will dissolve over time and make him stronger. And if not... then such an enhancement will be useful to me too. I also warned her not to teach my lessons to anyone except the child, but not even to mention that she could, for her own safety. Otherwise, they would give her truth serum, torture her for information, or brainwash her, and throw her in the ditch. After I explained the theory and checked in practice that she remembered everything and was doing it correctly, we went to the embassy of magical France, where for another five hundred gold pieces we received the right to temporary citizenship for Ariel and a portkey. It was lucky that the Veela were offered political asylum. But alas, not for free, and you try to get to the embassy, because the Veela collars interfere with their teleportation. ***
In a small empty warehouse, stinking of fish, dampness and mold, on a floor cleared of dirt and dust, surrounded by a multitude of bloody geometric lines composed of a dead language that had been forgotten by people several thousand years ago, lay a beautiful naked girl, whose place was on the covers of the most popular magazines. Outside the figure, with both hands on it, sat a man, from whose forehead a stream of sweat was pouring, which he tried not to drip onto the lines. He looked exhausted, his teeth were grinding, and his mind was on the edge.
Damn, how unpleasant is magical exhaustion. I underestimated the ritual's costs, so I have to rape the soul and give away all the incoming energy for two hours. Fortunately, the figure itself could pump out energy without the magician's control. And all because I underestimated the time for its passive filling and it did not have time to collect enough ether, which I could not predict. No, the girl also helped me for the first hour, but she needed to recover before the start, because Ariel herself must be with a full reserve for everything to go smoothly. However, this is an annoying nuisance, nothing more. The main thing is that I did everything I could, and the fact that I can become my own father is, on the contrary, good. There will be fewer problems with the compatibility of soul and body.
When I finished, I replenished the reserve after a short meditation. Having also undressed completely naked, I stood in a circle designated for me and looked around for the last time so that not a single symbol was erased or smeared. Having made sure that everything was in order, I raised my hands and began to read the spell in the ancient language, pouring my mana into the words, subordinating reality with my will:
Lakhm Jasdium
Dam min Damium
Akbil Ruhvi
Kuna Abnau
Tusbih Li…
The words spread, resonating with my soul and the surrounding world, the surrounding free ether was drawn into a circle and disappeared into it as if into a bottomless barrel. Because of this, there was no need to isolate the room from the etheric emanations, because all the energy would go into action. With the last word, it was as if a string broke inside me and I literally began to scream in pain, writhing on the floor. Fortunately, an already launched ritual is difficult to physically break and does not require additional control. From me, the probe glowing in true vision seemed to tear out part of my soul with the flesh. In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and fell into saving oblivion.
When I came to, I felt as if the wound inflicted on my soul had been cauterized, and although I felt aching pain and loss, and the neatly cut piece was missing from my astral body, I was pleased. After all, I felt how the emblem merged with the fertilized egg, the zygote, and the invested abyss of energy changed it, strengthening the kinship and connection between us. Not only blood kinship, but also spiritual.
Having removed all traces, for which I had to cover up the symbols burned into the floor by magic with cement, I took the sleeping Ariel to the rented apartment, leaving her a thousand coins, a bracelet with an expanded space sealed with a code set of words, my wand and a letter. The bracelet contained sheets with the translation, and although I was taking a risk by leaving it with her, it was not a big one. I buried another copy deep in an ordinary forest twenty kilometers from London, I hope I will not forget where this place is later.
***
Ariel woke up late in the morning and, seeing Vlad's empty bed and lack of clothes, she cried bitterly. Until the very end, she did not want to believe that he would leave her. Despite her hard life, full of pain and self-pity from others and from herself, she still dreamed that a prince would come and take her away. Imagine her joy when it happened! Kind, polite and... gentle, he accepted her, despite her ugliness. She could not believe it! And then he performed a miracle, healing her wounds, both mental and physical. She understood that there was something wrong with the last ritual. However, is it so important if a person, in fact, gave her everything? Love, money, freedom, health, beauty, a chance for a better future and... a child that will remind her of him. These were three chaotic, but the happiest days of her entire life, and she will do everything in order to fulfill Vlad's last will - to raise his child. Even if he lied to her and made it all up, Ariel didn't care. Suddenly she noticed a stack of books, a bracelet, a wand and a letter underneath, which she opened with trembling hands.
"Ariel, I'm sorry I'm leaving without saying goodbye, it was necessary. Parting would not have brought good feelings to either of us. You would have persuaded me to stay, and I would have made excuses that I can't. You are a beautiful girl, both in appearance and soul, and I would like to live with you for the rest of my life. But alas, in our lives it rarely happens that everything goes as we want it to. Maybe I will see you in the next life and we can start all over again. The bracelet is my gift to you and the future child, please take care of it. I also left you my wand - I will buy myself a new one, textbooks for seven Hogwarts courses with additional literature and almost all my money, it should be enough for you for the time being. And don't show stupid pride, I won't come back for the money, and you will need it, that's my request too. Do what I taught you, and be happy. With love, Vlad." The girl started crying even harder and only stopped her hysterics by lunchtime. She did as he wanted, she would just feel disrespect for his will if she did otherwise. Having packed all her things in a suitcase, she took the portkey to France in her hand and said: "Portus." And a few hours later, the apartment burned to the ground for unknown reasons.