"Could it be that there's more than one blood diamond?"
Dylan quietly studied the silver gorse tray in the box, cradling the lone blood diamond.
"Three gorse petals for three diamonds…"
He tapped the rightmost groove with his knuckle.
Only one groove held a blood diamond now, lying there alone, like a tombstone mourning the two that had vanished.
Dylan picked up the silver tray.
He suspected the other two grooves might have once held similar treasures.
But without seeing them himself, he couldn't be sure.
The tray rested in his palm.
The dim light around him barely illuminated the room.
Only the blood diamond glowed faintly, its eerie mix of black and crimson light casting twisted shadows of gorse branches on the walls—almost like skeletal hands clawing up from the earth toward the gem.
"Not a bad design."
This thing looked worth studying.
Nearby, Delphini watched Dylan's mood carefully.
—Not that she could see his face.
But she could tell her "master" seemed pleased.
For her, now free from the unicorn's curse, that sparked a flicker of joy.
Was this what it felt like to be useful?
She vowed to seize more treasures and wealth for the great Karthus!
—Rumor had it her useless, noseless father had left a hefty fortune to the Death Eaters before he died.
Delphini mused to herself.
He's dead—what's the point of all that wealth?
Better for her to take it and offer it to her glorious lord!
"Good work. I'll take this."
Dylan slipped the unicorn blood diamond and gorse tray back into the copper box, snapping the lid shut.
A flash of zeal crossed Delphini's face before she bowed her head.
"Anything you need, I'll give my all to provide!"
Dylan glanced at her.
He hadn't understood before why this girl was so obsessed with him, even imagining him as some all-powerful deity.
But after controlling her soul and sifting through her memories, he had a theory.
"Dreams are a funny thing."
Delphini had brainwashed herself into becoming a devoted follower of someone she'd never even met, all based on a few dreams.
Dylan didn't quite get it.
But if you factored in her miserable childhood, it made sense to see her as a bit unhinged.
It all fell into place.
"Alright, I'm going to place a spell on you. No one will be able to extract information about me from you. You don't need to do anything—just relax and let me take control."
Dylan's low voice rumbled from beneath his black cloak.
Delphini didn't hesitate.
With a thud, she dropped to her knees.
Dylan blinked, the corner of his mouth twitching under his hood.
He said nothing, though, and raised his wand.
"*Mnemosyneveil!*"
A burst of silvery-white starlight erupted from the tip of his wand.
Tiny magical particles, like crushed diamonds, snaked along the wand's length.
As the spell took hold, the air rippled with web-like patterns.
Silver threads wove rapidly around Delphini, enveloping her kneeling form in a cocoon of light.
Strange runes surfaced beneath her skin, crawling upward to her brow.
Then, all the light was sucked into a single point at her forehead.
Her pupils flickered with tiny silver glints.
In that moment, countless memory fragments shattered in her eyes, only to be rebuilt.
—But now, they were locked behind an invisible mental barrier.
Her memories of Karthus collapsed into a void, like stars swallowed by a black hole.
No one but her and Dylan could access those shielded memories now.
He'd chosen Mnemosyneveil over the Dreamgate Charm because the latter wasn't fully refined yet and required prolonged contact to work.
Taking Delphini back to Hogwarts wasn't an option.
—He needed her out in the world, gathering wealth and handling tasks too inconvenient or time-consuming for him.
Mnemosyneveil was quicker.
Especially since no one else was around.
And Delphini, his willing target, had opened her mind completely to him.
So he could cast it swiftly—a spell he'd developed back when Hagrid was hauled off for Ministry questioning.
And it was highly effective.
—After all this time, he'd even created the Dreamgate Charm. Naturally, he'd tweaked Mnemosyneveil too.
"Ah!"
As the spell finished, a sharp pain stabbed through Delphini's head.
She collapsed, too weak to even kneel.
"Huh? What's this?"
Dylan was surprised.
He hadn't tested the upgraded spell on anyone yet.
—Well, anyone normal.
Lockhart didn't count. That guy's brain was so scrambled from Memory Charms, he'd forgotten what real pain even was.
Dylan had tested plenty of spells on him lately, and Lockhart's pain tolerance had only grown.
So when Dylan used the improved Mnemosyneveil on him, Lockhart barely reacted.
"Maybe it's because Lockhart has no memories left to hide. If the memories I'm shielding are just one among many, there's space to tuck them away. But if they're the only memories worth hiding, erasing them leaves the mind blank."
Dylan rubbed his chin, then flicked his fingers.
A thread of magic gently lifted Delphini.
A healing charm rippled over her.
Moments later, her expression returned to normal.
"Tch, my dark magic's maxed out, but healing spells? No matter how much I practice, I can't seem to master them."
Dylan sighed to himself.
Feeling the magic soothe her, Delphini's heart stirred.
No one had ever healed her before.
People despised her, as if she didn't deserve to exist.
She'd been battered, fought beggars for scraps, and always licked her own wounds.
But now…
Her master showed her such care…
Delphini slowly raised her head, gazing up at the towering "deity," her eyes misting over.
Through Legilimency, Dylan sensed her shifting emotions.
Having read her memories, he understood why her personality was so warped and why she'd chosen to worship him.
He had a rough idea of what was going through her mind.
But he didn't respond, only speaking softly.
"Leave."
Delphini hesitated, a flicker of reluctance crossing her face.
"Master… how will I hear from you?"
"If I need to summon you, the Dark Mark I left on you will let you know."
Dylan looked down at her.
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"If your life's in danger, I'll sense it."
He wasn't about to give her a way to contact him.
Who knew what this girl—clearly inheriting her mother Bellatrix's madness—might do?
If Dumbledore caught wind of anything, it'd be a headache.
"Recruit followers for me, and you'll gain my power."
Dylan raised his hand.
A serpent's pupil materialized out of thin air.
It was an eyeball he'd crafted.
Pale greenish-white, with a vertical slit pupil and web-like blood vessels. The sclera swirled with murky, shadowy mist.
Something seemed to writhe within—snakes, or maybe worms.
It radiated an unsettling, twisted aura.
Dylan tossed the serpent's pupil to Delphini.
She caught it hurriedly.
Gulp.
The eyeball squirmed in her hands.
Dylan's calm voice followed.
"Hold it, and it'll make others instinctively fear you. Activate its power, and your enemies will be trapped in endless illusions."
He added casually, "But never underestimate your foes, and don't overuse its power."
This was an alchemical creation born from his unique trait—the Serpent's End Pupil.
His Serpent's End Pupil had three abilities: Serpent's Doom, Serpent's Curse, and Fear Backlash.
Serpent's Doom forced any snakes near him into a rigid state.
Other enemies, if they met his gaze, would be dragged into a nightmare of endless snake-driven terror.
Serpent's Curse let him channel Parseltongue into passages from the Worm Apocalypse, a magical book straddling reality and illusion that could mentally corrupt others.
Fear Backlash amplified Serpent's Doom.
Without Serpent's Curse, he couldn't have infused this trait into an alchemical object. But the Worm Apocalypse—a book he could physically summon—changed that.
With a tangible medium, he could transfer his trait.
This serpent's pupil was made by extracting an eye from a snake and imbuing it with his Serpent's End Pupil's power.
—One of his recent research successes.
He'd only meant to test if he could extract his trait into mass-producible objects.
It worked, but not perfectly.
This pupil wasn't made from one snake.
—It took hundreds, maybe thousands.
Thankfully, his pet dimension's ecosystem could sustain and breed creatures, preventing him from wiping out any species and collapsing the balance.
He had to admit, after all this time, those Galleons were well spent.
No regrets!
It saved him so much hassle.
More importantly, while his pet world started with a simple ecosystem of basic creatures, a trip to a magical creature market had taught him something.
Creatures he brought in, if they fit the ecosystem, would be integrated.
They'd reproduce naturally!
But joining the food chain wasn't easy.
Those that didn't fit were treated as "invasive species."
Strong creatures were suppressed by even stronger ones to prevent overhunting.
Weak ones were ignored by predators.
Basically: act tough, get humbled. Stay weak, survive quietly.
Since these were creatures he introduced, the world didn't just wipe them out.
But it wouldn't let them overrun everything either.
Unless Dylan crafted a balanced food chain himself—nothing perfect, just functional—the ecosystem would adapt automatically.
Snakes, though? His world churned those out naturally.
And with snakes breeding in litters, he had plenty to work with.
"Such power…"
Delphini felt the serpent's pupil in her hands.
—It pulsed with intense mental interference.
If she channeled magic into it, anyone attacking her would regret it.
Cradling the eyeball, she looked up at Dylan with awe and gratitude.
Her voice trembled with devotion.
"Thank you for your gift. I'll use it to protect your absolute will!"
Dylan gave a cold smile.
"Don't expect me to count on you for miracles. Gather treasures and wealth, leave them with Borgin, and I'll collect them."
"Yes, sir!"
Delphini's eyes dimmed at his lack of trust.
But it only fueled her resolve.
She'd prove to her master.
She'd be his most worthy follower!
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