Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 230: The Importance Of A Soul
Potter Castle, James' Tower.
"Mmm… the mixture is still very murky," Nyxaris commented as she flew around the room, paying close attention as James worked on his latest project.
"It's supposed to be like that. Now stay quiet for a minute. I need to concentrate on this…" James was sitting in front of a small cauldron, blending together some of the ingredients he had recently acquired.
Beneath the cauldron, a golden flame was burning with intensity while emitting a soothing sound.
James finally unwrapped an ingredient he had been keeping inside a cloth with runic marks.
"Master, what is that?" Nyxaris could not contain her curiosity. "I feel some eerie energies coming from it."
James held the cloth in his hand but never touched the object directly. On top of the cloth rested a pitch-black stone that resembled obsidian.
When Nyxaris' eyes rested on the stone, she finally realized what it was, since she had seen its creation very recently. "That's the…"
"Vas Animarum… a vessel of human souls. If the Ministry of Magic knew I had created this, I would get like ten life sentences in a row. This is some extremely forbidden magic," James explained.
"Then why make something like that?" the fairy asked.
"Because my creation will not be completed without this. It needs to have some humanity in it so it can fulfill its task properly."
Nyxaris didn't seem to understand. After all, he had never used human souls for his other creations.
James glanced at her. "Over time, you may come to understand it."
He stood up and placed the Vas Animarum inside the cauldron.
This one seemed to mix completely with the other ingredients and lose its dark color, as if the souls were being purified.
The final mixture had a pristine white tone, and when James considered that it was done, he lifted the cauldron with his hands and emptied its contents into the large glass container where the homunculus was being formed.
The reaction was immediate. All the murkiness in the liquid began to clear up, leaving behind a translucent liquid with a green tint.
Submerged in the liquid was now a round white mass that seemed to pulsate with life.
"Is that the homunculus?" Nyxaris asked.
"It's just the beginning stage. It needs some time to form now." James sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Tomorrow I can start adding the remaining ingredients..."
"Master, you need to rest. You have been working for the past thirty-six hours with no stop," the fairy pointed out.
James was about to respond when Primum came flying through the window and made a rough landing on the table. "Kyu!"
"What do you think you are doing?!" Nyxaris became angry immediately.
"You could have interrupted Master during his important project. Be more careful!"
"Kyu…" Primum glanced at her with a sad expression.
James observed the young chimera and realized that he could no longer refer to it as 'little creature,' as it had grown a lot over the past month.
After a stable diet of magic crystals, Primum's size was almost three times what it used to be, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop growing any time soon.
In fact, it was already a miracle that it could still fit through the windows at this point.
"Primum, you need to take it easy and keep practicing. Your sudden change in size will make it difficult for you to control your body." James picked him up from the table and placed him on the ground. "And make sure you don't break my stuff."
"Kyu!"
James nodded, feeling satisfied that he was understood. "Now, to what do we owe your visit? You were supposed to stay with Bella for the rest of the summer."
It was then that James noticed that Primum had something tied to one of its front paws.
"Are you being used as a messenger owl now?" Nyxaris asked, earning a glare from the chimera.
"She sent me a message? Let me see." James took the note attached to its paw and read it.
"Bad news?" Nyxaris noted the change of expression in James.
"Oh… so that happened." As James thought, it was a message from Bella, and she was requesting his presence at the new House of Black.
"Kyu?" Primum glanced at him with its innocent eyes.
"Looks like I will have to pay that family a visit."
He had been planning on checking the house a bit later on, before the summer ended, since he wanted to make sure it was completely safe, given the circumstances.
But this gave him the opportunity to do it now instead.
'Besides, I did promise Bella that I would help her with this…' he reminded himself.
"Master?" Nyxaris called him.
"I need to go out for a bit. Do you mind informing my mother about it? I will be visiting the House of Black. There are some… ehm… family issues."
James glanced at the large glass container. "And also… keep an eye on that. If something happens, you know how to contact me."
"Yes, Master. Leave it to me," Nyxaris said.
"Primum. Ring form," said James as he took out a small pendant hanging from his neck.
This was the portkey that Pollux had given him so he could visit their house, since it was not connected to the Floo Network for security reasons.
The only ways to find the house were using this portkey or Apparating, but since James had never been there before, the portkey was the only method available to him.
After placing the white ring on his finger, James activated the portkey and disappeared from the tower.
The next moment, he found himself in a large grassy clearing overlooking a cliff.
From here, he could hear the violent currents crashing against the coast and felt the smell of salt filling his nostrils.
A beautiful house made of black bricks was standing dangerously close to the edge and surrounded by a tall metal fence.
James could see the symbol of the house at the entrance, and before he took the first step, the gates were already opening for him.
'Okay… let's see if I can sort this mess.'
According to Bella's letter, Andromeda's parents had found out about Ted Tonks, and the situation didn't look too good.
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