"Riddle. How did the ritual go last night?" Tom looked up from his meal, feeling rested, though sore. Despite the fact that Lilith's episode last night drove away his thoughts on his interactions with his mother, it didn't mean that said thoughts didn't linger, especially after waking up and seeing Lilith sleeping. Madam Prewett mentioned that she had woken up in the night, writing a few letters that the Healer sent out and leaving him a note for when he woke up. As expected, Lilith had anticipated his sense of guilt regarding her use of what he now realized was exceptionally dangerous magic. Magic that he couldn't talk about with anyone at all. If the ritual from last night was the extent that Magicals could achieve on their own, Lilith's ability to summon his mother into a near physical state was beyond anything they could conceive. It was definitely better that no one knew of that fact. "It went as expected. I did feel a connection, but as it was my first experience with a proper name to use, I think I found it a bit underwhelming." Theodore looked him over. "Nothing odd happened? No unusual temperatures or noises?" Tom frowned. "No, everything was fine. Why do you ask?" Theodore gestured with his head to the rest of the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. Tom looked at them closely and noticed that they were all talking in hushed tones, a few looking stressed or even suffering from some lingering emotional states. "What happened to everyone else?"
Theodore sat down next to Tom, pulling a far more subdued plate of food in front of himself. "Remember that chill in the air from last year? Well, it was back this year, only it was worse. The rituals worked as intended but after they were concluded… there was this feeling in the air that there was something still there, lingering. As if the spirits of the dead couldn't just leave. Everyone started to worry about what it meant to their family members. The Bloody Baron looked spooked throughout the night, his eyes darting around everywhere he went. Out in the forest, Professors Ross and Croaker were leading a few of the students down their walks in the Forest, when the Centaurs got up really close. Then everyone started hearing a howling that seemed to fill every corner of the forest. Ross was so spooked that he had everyone, including the Centaurs, make for the Castle. The students said that the howling got worse as they entered the courtyard, before the gates were closed. A few even spotted shadows of creatures wandering within the treeline or even venturing beyond into the grounds." Tom frowned. "The Barghests? We know there are a few in the Forest, along with actual wolves." Theodore shook his head. "That's the thing. Ross launched a spell at one of the creatures. The spell went right through them, as if it was a shadow. Freaky stuff. Everything apparently then went dead silent at midnight."
The mention of midnight almost made Tom flinch, though he was certain he kept a calm appearance. "I was high up in one of the towers. Maybe being higher meant that whatever was happening didn't affect me." Theodore looked over at the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables. "Maybe you are right, as the other students don't look as bad. Though Moon looks terrible." Tom looked over towards Cassandra Moon and he could agree. Out of all the students, she seemed the most pale out of everyone else who seemed to have been affected. Up at the staff table there was clearly a discussion going on between Professors Ross, Croaker, Dumbledore and Dippet, probably about the night before. With Theodore eating, Tom allowed his thoughts to turn where he knew they would go. Lilith calling his mother into the realm of the living, even if only temporarily, seemed to have had a greater impact than on just him. Whatever Magic she had used had somehow affected the entire Castle. The thing he found the most odd was the mention of the wolf-like shadows and howling. According to Lilith, those were signs of Schattenwolves, Dark Creatures native to her homeland. While it was possible that the creatures had some similarities to local entities, like the spectral hounds of the Moors and Padfoots from cemeteries, it was unusual that they would all gather in the Forest, let alone one so far from their home.
The memory of the Barghest and how it protected Lilith against Rosier's intervention came to mind. Did the Schattenwolves sense something happening to her? The way Lilith had reacted towards the end made it clear that she saw something coming towards her. Could these shadow wolves have come to protect her from whatever that was? Tom wasn't certain, but it was certainly the best possible explanation. After finishing his meal, Tom walked over to Cassandra, being careful about touching her. "Are you ok?" Cassandra looked at his eyes and seemed to relax a little. "Yeah. Just had a nightmare last night. Thanks for asking, though. Is Lilith ok?" Tom nodded. "She's recovering at the Hospital Wing. Last night caught her a bit by surprise." Cassandra pursed her lips. "Riddle… don't ask her to do what she did last night again. Lilith cheated death many times already, maybe more than what should have been possible. Eventually that draws unwanted attention. She needs to be careful, before something decides that she has done it one too many times. Please, be careful with what you ask her. She is willing to do a lot for you and for others, risking her life in the process. Don't endanger her more than necessary." Tom stared into Cassandra's silver eyes, memorizing her every word. "I promise, she won't do that again. Not for me."
-✦-
"Oh, hi Lilith. Are you feeling alright?" Lilith gave Myrtle a soft smile before joining the Ravenclaw at one of the tables in the Library. "Better now. Where is Cassie?" Myrtle gestured with her head towards the Library's entrance. "She had to go to the bathroom. She had a rough night." Lilith frowned, averting her eyes as she opened her text in the section she had bookmarked. Something inside told Lilith that she was partly responsible for Cassandra's nightmare and the incidents last night. Despite sending out two letters, Alexander hadn't sent one back just yet, but his Thestral Patronus had made a surprise appearance within the Hospital Wing after breakfast had started, his voice spilling out as a pleasant wave of positive energy filled the room. "It is unlikely that what happened was a coincidence. For the foreseeable future, do not try that bit of magic again. I will send a letter with more details later after I do some further research. Be wary and look after yourself." Feeling somewhat guilty for potentially scaring her Seer friend while she slept, Lilith had wanted to speak to Cassandra as soon as possible. Though, sadly, it seemed that she would have to wait for her friend to feel better and be willing to be in her presence. Myrtle, noticing Lilith's mood, frowned. "Did you have an incident last night too?" Lilith shook her head. "No, I wasn't performing the Calling Ritual last night."
Myrtle scooched her seat closer to Lilith, speaking in a hushed tone. "Cassie told me about the ritual. I always wondered, why do the Magical Families perform it if it doesn't actually get them to see or speak to their deceased family members?" Lilith paused her reading for a second, trying to remember the reasoning that Snape had once given her. The Slytherins of Lillian's time had introduced her to the practice, but Lillian had chosen not to participate until her sixth year. She too had sought some comfort from the Ritual to reconnect with Sirius, but like Tom she had found the experience… lackluster, to say the least. Snape had explained to her why the Ritual had remained such a prevalent part of Magical Society, regardless of its effectiveness. "Because once upon a time it had worked. No one is exactly sure as to why the ritual stopped working as intended, but records show that in the days of the Old Religion, Celts and their Druid priests and priestesses from Great Britain and the Continent had the ability to commune with the dead. The ritual, though no longer able to manifest the spirits, was preserved as much as possible, as both a tradition and as part of the faith of the Magical Families." Myrtle leaned back. "So it's a bit like the Christian Prayers?"
Lilith shrugged. "That's one way of seeing it. I would say it's closer to the practice of carving turnips into lanterns and placing them on the window sills to ward off spirits, or wearing masks. These traditions of Halloween and the rituals share the same origins, both treated more as tradition, as well as part of the culture, rather than just a matter of faith. Though there are those in the Magical World who do regard it as part of their faith, just as there are Christians who celebrate All Hallows Eve, rather than Halloween." Myrtle hummed to herself. "I see. I suppose it makes sense. My parents celebrated the Hallowtide for as long as I could remember. When Professor Dumbledore came to our house and explained that I was a witch, there were apparently some heavy discussions going on between Mom and Dad. Dad convinced her that I should be allowed to study magic and that it didn't contradict their faith. They still follow the traditions, though they are more open minded than what the rest of the congregation believes. My little brother has certainly been enjoying dressing up for Halloween, after they loosened the rules about the season." Lilith chuckled, smiling at Myrtle. "Your parents are certainly very wonderful people. How are they doing, by the way?"
Myrtle lowered her head a little. "They are doing fine, but Mom is worried about the war possibly claiming her brother's life. She and Dad have been arguing a lot about his support of the war, enough that my brother Martin has been getting worried. He was already disappointed when a Hogwarts letter didn't arrive this year." Lilith pursed her lips. That had happened before, just before in Lillian's time. According to Snape, her mother Lily had been close to her sister Petunia until her magical education tore them apart. Petunia had apparently been envious of her sister and that envy poisoned their relationship, to the point that the woman couldn't bring herself to raise Lillian along with her son, hence why she had been dropped off at an orphanage. "Myrtle… try your best to be there for him. I know of a few families that have been torn apart by misunderstandings. My mother was like you, a first gen witch, and her family, extended or otherwise, practically disowned her as soon as she got married. This destroyed the relationships she had with her siblings, who never saw her ever again. If you'd like I could help you check if Martin just qualifies as a Magical, which could see him integrated into the culture and let you both stay close. But if he doesn't…" Seeing the concern in Lilith's eyes, Myrtle nodded. "I will and thank you for caring. Everyone else just told me to accept it and move on."
Gripping Myrtle's hand gently on the table, Lilith shook her head. "Don't listen to them. Whatever the case, family should always stick together as much as possible. Even if you two end up living very different lives, it doesn't mean anything. You will be able to visit him at any moment, be with him at Mass or care for his children when you two are both adults. We shouldn't forget the old prejudices, but we shouldn't embrace them either. You are a child of both worlds, so make sure you find a way to live in both, before you lose a part of yourself forever." Myrtle nodded, rubbing her eyes. "I will. Thank you, Lilith." The redhead was just about to start reading from the Arithmancy text in front of her before she remembered something. "And don't tell Martin or your parents about me testing him. I don't want to get his hopes up. I will swing by your house in the summer and do it quietly." Getting a nod in return from Myrtle, Lilith focused on the text in front of her, transfering what she could of the arithmancy concerning a conjured owl's behaviour into a runic format before Cassandra joined them. The blonde gave Lilith a smile, but shook her head, leaving Lilith feeling a bit stressed. Whatever Cassie saw wasn't something she could share. That never boded well. Lilith hoped that whatever it was proved to be nothing more than a bad dream, even as she knew that she wasn't that lucky.
-✦-
"Later, Lucretia." Lilith started picking up the books that she herself had brought to the latest tutoring session of the younger students, humming to herself in a tune favoured by Grazyna von Schwarzwald, as Lucretia left to return to her room. There were times that Lilith had to catch herself whenever Orion or anyone else asked her about her mother, having to manually keep track as to which things belonged to Lily Potter and which were Grazyna. Thanks to Sirius and Severus, Lillian had some memories of what her mother was like, even if they were nothing special. The ache that she always felt in her heart whenever she wondered what it was like to have a mother would now get confused with the pain and melancholy that lingered concerning the deceased von Schwarzwald family, with Grazyna being the focal point, as Lilith and her deeply cared about one another as she spent years under her mother's tutoring, learning to draw, write and even dance. Though she didn't love her father any less, her memories of Nicholas had been more of training and lessons on how to be a Head of the Family probably had something to do with why she felt more distant from him and why her memories and feelings about him hardly ever got muddled. Lilith had loved both of her parents, but with the way her life had been divided amongst them left little surprised that the fonder memories were of her mother, even during the many failed lessons in how to play the piano.
Still, Lilith's father's lessons did come in handy too, especially when she felt someone looking at her. Not bothering to turn around, Lilith broke the silence first. "Can I help you?" A soft and measured voice responded back. "That remains to be seen." Lilith momentarily froze in place before turning to look at the person behind her. Purple eyes stared back at her in curiosity, even as Lilith suppressed an urge to draw one of her blades. Even though the eyes were off a different color, the girl's face very much resembled that of Vinda Rosier, which always left Lilith feeling on edge. "I don't think there is anything for us to discuss, Rosier." Druella narrowed her eyes. "There is. And before you get suspicious, I am not interested in discussing the Maledictus that you inflicted on our family." Lilith placed her bag full of books on the table. "Very well. What is it that you want to discuss?" Druella looked uncertain, her hands fidgeting. "I believe that you are related to the Blacks, right?" Lilith crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you have business with the Blacks, take it up with Walburga or Cygnus." Druella shook her head. "I can't. Talking with them isn't likely to achieve much. As for Cygnus…" the young brunette blushed. "It would be inappropriate to ask him."
Lilith blinked a few times in confusion until it clicked in her mind. "You are still interested in entering into a courtship with him, aren't you?" Druella's blush deepened. "Father and Uncle aren't pleased about the family's loss of prestige, but since I never had any place in the family as anything but a bride to be auctioned off, I am not as concerned over our house's standing. You might have noticed that I have also not been affected by the Maledictus in any way." Lilith looked Druella over and allowed her magic to flow through the von Schwarzwald family ring, before focusing on the Maledictus itself. Unlike the morons who were more interested in causing misery with the Blood Curses, Lilith had no such tastes. She had tied the Maledictus to the Family Magic and the Head of House Ring, having the ability to either disable the curse or trigger it manually. At this proximity, it also allowed her to feel the effects of the curse on Druella, who certainly perked up as the curse's magic flared inside of her, before Lilith released it. "Huh, you are telling the truth. How interesting. Though I hope you can understand that I didn't engineer it to harm the children of the House of Rosier or those of its relations."
Druella nodded. "I gathered as much. Lord Rosier would call you soft for that, but he doesn't know you. I have seen the way you treat the children of all the Houses. You simply couldn't conceive hurting any of them, could you?" Lilith narrowed her eyes. "No, but anyone that does can expect to suffer greatly." Druella raised her hands. "I agree. Please, just hear me out." Lilith sighed. "Fine. You are still interested in Cygnus. I am pretty certain that Lord Rosier, if not your own parents, would be against said union, with Lord Black also disapproving of it as it stands. So I have to ask, why?" Druella rubbed her arm nervously. "Cygnus hasn't been like the other boys who have pursued me. He is quiet and kind, and very thoughtful." Lilith smirked. "When he can get his tongue working, right?" Druella giggled. "Yeah, he gets flustered easily enough. He is kinda cute like that." Druella's face turned sad. "Ever since the Rosiers lost prestige, the boys of the other houses have been trying to gain my attention. They aren't as thoughtful or as reserved as Cygnus. They try to force me to spend time with them, gauging my interests in their politics. Goyle has even tried to pull me into a cupboard with him, the pig."
Rubbing her bangs out of her face, Lilith moved closer to Druella. "You and I both know that it won't be easy. If your family even condones it, I can imagine the stipulations they will add. Support for the Blood Supremacist agenda. Funds for the war in support of Grindelwald. Hell, they might even ask the Blacks to disown me and break all ties." Druella nodded. "That is what my mother told me this summer. I don't expect anything to happen instantly. I just… I wanted the chance to talk to you, to maybe get your support. In exchange, I promise that I will adhere to whatever the Blacks believe is the right course. If they act against the Blood Supremacists and my family, then fine. I would simply rather be with someone that I like and enjoy being around, rather than being married off to some boy who will only see me as a breeding mare." Lilith sighed, her eyes looking towards a corner of the Slytherin Common Room, before focusing on Druella again. "I will help you get in touch with the pertinent members of the Black family, under the condition that you don't try anything extreme to force the union with Cygnus. No late night rendezvouses, no cupboards and no getting pregnant."