"What's her name?" Salazar asked once the surprise wore off, and Altair, who had entered the Solar with his Moon Fox, smiled at his ancestor.
"Illya."
"A fitting name." The old man nodded in appreciation. "They are rare, very rare, and only choose the sincerest of people as their masters."
"And they are beautiful," he smiled a little more, and as he sat down in the chair, his fox jumped on the table and curiously regarded the Living Portrait of Salazar.
Only a few moments later, she appeared to lose interest and then rested her head on her paws before closing her eyes.
"That's hurtful..." The old man's smile faltered as he felt a pang in his soul at being dismissed by the Moon Fox. In her eyes, he was clearly unimportant. "Then again, I am merely a fragment." He sighed, attempting to console himself.
Altair held back a chuckle out of respect and then changed the topic, which successfully distracted the old man from his thoughts.
He informed Salazar about the changes brought to the British Wizarding Realm yesterday: the new Sacred and Noble Thirty-Three, the Neo Pure-blood Houses, the law regarding marrying Muggles, the reactions of people, and the articles he had read in today's paper.
Altair even showed him the two newspapers, and the old man read them in fascination and shared his thoughts on the matter.
The two continued chatting until dawn, and as he was about to leave, Salazar said something to him.
"When are you going to introduce Aurelia and Cho to me?"
"Maybe at the end of this academic year," he said. "They have a lot to focus on right now, especially Aurelia."
"And that girl, Gemma?"
Altair looked at his ancestor in curiosity, trying to discern his intentions.
"You never told me why you chose her as your duelling partner," the old man said meaningfully.
"That's because she is exceptionally talented."
"Of course she is, but that's not all, is it?" Salazar smiled. "And now she's the Heiress of the Dumbledore Family."
"Yes," Altair replied. "I did not approach her because she was going to become the Dumbledore Heiress. At that time, I was not even sure how potent the Dumbledore magic was in her veins."
"And now?"
"Now?" He inquisitively raised his brow at him.
"Has her value risen in your eyes?"
Altair smiled at his words and nodded.
"A little, but she was already very precious to me."
Salazar laughed and nodded in understanding.
"Elm, thirteen and a half inches, Phoenix Feather. What's her wand's flexibility?"
"Rigid."
"Do you trust her?" Salazar smiled, and Altair thoughtfully considered him before nodding.
"Behind you, first shelf, top right corner. The little book in green leather."
Altair turned and quickly spotted the book Salazar was referring to. Without moving, he willed the book to come to him, and it did. It flew straight into his hand. When he opened the first page, it was blank.
Without needing Salazar to instruct him, he spoke to the book in Parseltongue, asking it to reveal its secrets, and words started appearing.
"Wand Lore and Blood Binding Rituals for Wands. Only when your wand is blood-bound to you can it exhibit its true potential in your hands. Elder wood being an exception, it cannot be blood-bound, at least from all the research I have done. As for other wand woods, the only requirement is that the wand has chosen you. Only works when it's a perfect or near-perfect match."
Altair nodded as he read through the first page and then the second.
"Each wand core and wood has a different blood-binding ritual, just some tweaks, which guarantee the ritual's success and prevent any backlash or harm to you and the wand."
The young Black was amazed at the research Salazar had conducted on wand cores and woods. He was undoubtedly a master wandmaker, and these rituals were extremely precious. No wonder he was able to create the masterpiece that his second wand was, Snakewood and Basilisk Horn, now buried in the grounds of Ilvermorny after that blood traitor Isolt Sayre stole it from her aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt.
Salazar had already asked him to retrieve it, and he planned on getting it back one day. It was the heirloom of the Slytherin family, and its rightful place was in the Slytherin household.
Altair calmly went through the first few pages of the book. If he was certain about one thing, it was that it would forever change wandlore if it ever fell into the hands of a capable wandmaker.
"Only help those whom you trust, and even then, never tell them your most precious secrets. Betrayal only comes from those you trust," Salazar warned, and Altair took a deep breath as he closed the book.
"I understand, Lord Salazar. Thank you for this gift." He bowed.
The old man smiled at his words.
"When do you plan on entering the Chamber and taking the Basilisk as your familiar?"
Altair thought for a while and then answered.
"Tonight, after dinner."
"Good. Go now, I want some sleep."
Altair smiled and bowed again as he left with Illya in tow.
On the way out, he asked the book in his hand to hide itself, and all the words disappeared.
The walk down the long, dark corridor was almost instinctive now, and Illya stayed by his side, indifferent to the powerful magic that surrounded them.
She jumped into his arms of her own accord before they left the dankness, and Altair activated the invisibility of his locket, hiding both himself and her.
There were a few students outside the dormitory entrance, so he waited for them to leave before he used the password and entered.
A few heads turned to look towards the door of the common room when it opened on its own, but by the time a couple of them stood up to check what was going on, he had already entered the hallway leading to his room.
Altair smiled when he saw Cho and Aurelia sleeping in his bed. Out of curiosity, he checked their room and held back his laughter when he found the pair of cats sleeping in the bed, nestled together.
Silently, he walked to his trunk and spoke the password in Parseltongue. When he entered his study, he put Salazar's Wandlore on a shelf, hidden behind other books.
He then sat down at the table and opened the tome on Advanced Transfiguration, reading from where he had left off.
As his eyes roamed the pages, he played with a gold coin in his right hand, telekinetically tossing and spinning it, then slipping it through his fingers.
An hour later, he heard someone entering the trunk as the bell chimed, and he smiled when he saw Cho yawning and stretching her arms.
She came over, hugged him, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Even though she rolled her eyes at the complexity of the words on the pages he was reading, she did not comment, simply kept hugging him.
Chuckling at her antics, he pulled her to sit in his lap and then returned his focus to his research.
"Switching?" She finally paid attention to the magical theory, and he nodded.
"It's a fascinating field of Transfiguration, but people don't seem to realise how useful it is."
"Oh?" She looked at him sceptically, then smiled as he placed his right hand on her belly.
Cho was about to tease him when she sensed something, and her mouth dropped open in shock as their pyjamas began changing in both design and colour.
He created a mixed outfit, strange but fascinating, and then he completely switched their clothes, perfect for their sizes.
"Awesome!" she exclaimed, looking at him with doe eyes, begging him to teach her. "Please, please, please?"
He chuckled and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Later. Your control is not up to the mark yet."
She pouted at his words but did not argue. Still itching for something new, she wanted to learn some spells at all costs.
"Teach me a new spell then."
To her delight, he nodded, and she quickly rushed out to grab her wand.
When she returned, she dragged Aurelia with her, who was just as excited, if not more.
"Teach us something we can use in duels!" the little Miss Malfoy excitedly said, and he smiled at how predictable she was.
"Alright." He led the two into his private training chamber, then stood in the centre and raised his wand. "Pay attention to the movement."
"Form a spiral and then jab forward, outer rings first. Imagine you are drawing a spiral in the air and inwards. Anti-clockwise movement, jab in the centre..."
He patiently guided them. Once they got the movement right, he told them the incantation.
"Vorticis," he said after forming the spiral and making the jab forward.
Instantly, a vortex of air escaped his wand tip, rushing up, turning over, and erratically moving about.
They saw that Altair was controlling the movement with his wand, and they excitedly tried the spell too.
Seeing them get it right on the very first try, the young Black was not surprised in the least. As he had expected, Aurelia was a little too playful.
All three of them nearly got blasted away by strong gusts of wind when she crashed the vortex she had created with the other two.
The girls laughed out loud at what had just happened, then excitedly tried again, this time standing opposite each other and planning to crash the vortexes head-on.
He grinned at them when they were both knocked back rather painfully onto their asses.
"Careful," he said playfully, which earned him their glares, but they excitedly got back to their feet.
They practised the spell again and again, even experimenting with it. Both were pleasantly surprised when they saw that even spells could get caught in the vortexes, making this spell a fine counter.
"This is good. If four people on the squad use it, we can create four vortexes and crash them into each other. The other team will be blasted away." Aurelia had already started making plans for the first match, but Cho was occupied with something else.
She tried a much gentler variation, not putting too much raw power behind it, and grinned when she twirled around and cast it clockwise, targeting the ground beneath her feet.
The result was that she instantly got caught in a vortex that lifted her off her feet and spun her around, the entire chamber resonating with her excited laugh.
She controlled the intensity and managed to land safely on her feet about a minute later.
Aurelia's eyes shone as she tried it too, though it took her a few attempts to get it right, since her wand core was a little too powerful.
When she succeeded, both began playing around in the air, and Altair just smiled at seeing them happy.
"We are getting late," he reminded them after a while, and both pouted but happily rushed to hug him.
The two pairs of lips planted a kiss each on his cheeks, and he then led them out of the trunk to get ready for the day.
It was the same routine, and Professor Fairwind's lesson was fun and informative as always.
Professor Victoire's lesson was enjoyable, and during lunch, they joined the students wanting to observe the preparations in the Duelling Hall for the start of the Quadrivium Cup.
The two groups of eight teams each had been formulated as well. Each house had two teams in each group, and each team had to battle against all the teams in their group except their housemates. Six matches each, and seven points for every win. A bonus point was available too, but only for a flawless victory deemed by the judges. At the end of the group stage, the top four teams from both groups would qualify for the quarter-finals.
After looking at the fixtures, Aurelia was lost in thought. They had Charles Weasley and his team in the same group, and two members of their team were champions last year.
It was not going to be easy, but she was determined not to lose, and her teammates felt the same.
"We will focus on it once we have finished this weekend's matches," Damien, as Team Leader, calmly said. "Let's not get distracted. Each match is important and we need to focus."
Gemma, Aurelia, and Cordelia nodded, and Team 2 also decided not to think about it for the moment.
Altair, however, was uninterested in any of the Gryffindors. He was only interested in a certain Hufflepuff team being led by his cousin this year.
He wished the students were allowed to participate in all three formats, but he understood why it was important to limit participation to only two. It was not just a duelling competition; it was also a strategic competition testing the houses' decisions in prioritising and maximising their strengths.
There was a reason Slytherin had the fewest Quadrivium Cups in history. They had always prioritised the Primus and Geminus Cups over it, and more often than not, it was the wrong decision. Now, they sat third in overall tournament wins in the Duelling Cup's history, but the difference was not much.
He was determined to put Slytherin on top by the time he graduated from Hogwarts.
Altair smiled when he sensed a familiar magical signature. Only moments later, he felt an arm around his shoulder.
"What do you think, kiddo? Who's going to top group A?" Nymphadora playfully asked, and although a few Slytherins frowned at how frank and close she was with him, none dared say anything, especially since Altair seemed fine with it.
"I hope it will be your team, cousin. Don't disappoint me."
"Oh, I won't." She grinned, the confidence in her voice unsettling a lot of hearts.
No one could deny that she was the finest duellist at Hogwarts. She was twice Primus Cup Champion, twice Geminus Cup Champion, and once Quadrivium Cup Champion.
She was not called the Queen of the Unforeseen for no reason at all.