A Gaunt's Coven Ch. 33

I screamed as the cold weight of foreign magic pulsed up my arm. My bones felt as though they turned to ice, spears of frozen water shooting into my nerves.

“Speaker? SPEAKER? Nonono. I knew it had dark magic on it… Why did I-”

I couldn’t pay attention to Allie at the moment. Tom Riddle was laughing in my head, a heavy dead weight settling into my mind.

Hmm, odd I can’t see all of your memories. Maybe you're even more advanced at Occlumency than I am. Yeah right. An obscure technique perhaps?

The cold power was at my shoulder now and I gripped it. It was pure magic, his magic. I could feel the malevolence of Tom Riddle spreading. Fuck fuck fuck.

I did the only thing I could think of. My own magic pulsed, churning through my own body. Gaunt family magic was naturally cold like death, both because of their own history and because of the Pervell line that had intersected with them.

After the Loved Star Ritual mine was still cold, but it was a cold burning fire, like the stars overhead.

The magic poured from my hand into my shoulder searing my skin in pale blue-green light.

Hah! You think your magic can compare to mine? I was the strongest of my generation. Dumbledore could barely match me- Oh shit.

So this was a battle of Wills and Magic? Voldemort was supposed to be one of the strongest magicals to ever exist. A natural Legilimens, incredibly powerful Will (Not stronger than a 14 year old abused boy though) and very strong magically.

But Tom Riddle of this world grew up in a home with a mother and father. From what little I could figure out he had been, while not spoiled, more arrogant and boastful.

Oh he was still strong magically, I could tell by how hard it was to keep him from inching forward up my arm. But it was my body and I had domain in it. My power seared through my skin, pumping into my veins and pushing Tom out.

Blood vessels popped and muscles tore, but the invasive power that darkened my veins retreated back toward the ring.

I don’t know how long it took me to wrestle control back from Tom. His magic now contained in the ring the occasional flash of black power sparking out and leaving burns on my hand.

NO YOU ARE MINE! I WILL TAKE YOUR POWER FOR MY OWN, WITH IT I WILL DROWN THOSE THAT OPPOSE ME IN BLOOD AND ASH! I AM ETERNAL!

The sparks of darkness intensified and I groaned in pain. I let go of my shoulder, noticing that my magic had burned my clothing into my skin and the distinct smell of melted flesh assaulted my nose.

I gripped the finger that wore the ring and pulled. It wouldn’t move. My knuckle popped and it felt like I was about to pull of my entire finger.

I CANNOT BE BEAT BY YOU! YOU WILL NEVER BE RID OF ME! YOUR MIND WILL BE TORMENTED WITH THE FLAYED CORPSES OF YOUR LOVED ONES FOR ALL TIME!

I growled, anger shooting through me and filling the Chamber. I grabbed my wand pointing it at the base of my knuckle.

“Diffindo!”

Thankfully I had enough mind to not completely cut off the digit, just the skin around it. The pain of the cut flesh was nothing compared to the screaming voice in my head and magic ripping up my arm.

I put my wand in my mouth and grabbed the ring again. This time when I yanked it the ring came off easily, along with the entirety of the skin of my finger. The degloved skin and ring fell to the ground.

My finger screamed in sensation. The exposed flesh feeling the bite of every atom of wind touching it. It was like I put my finger in a cup of freezing water. The boney joint, tendons and ligaments were covered in blood and steadily dripped onto the ground.

The ring screamed. First in English, then in Parseltongue, then in a noise found only in nightmares. I took my wand out of my mouth pointing it at the wand, but I didn’t have the ability to cast anything close to being useful against Tom.

“NONONONONONO I HAVE NOT WAITED FIFTY YEARS TO BE STOPPED! I WILL BE FREE!” the voice of Tom Riddle screamed, making me feel it down to my soul.

A form of black mist, made of pure magic lifted out of the ring. Baleful red eyes glared at me.

“I will find you again Reigis Gaunt, and I will devour your soul!” Tom Riddle hissed.

The dark form shot forward and I readied my magic to fight against him once again, but instead of trying to take over me he shot past and through the open entrance leading to the girls bathroom.

“Ah shit,” I groaned.

I looked at the ring on the ground, I no longer felt any compulsion for me to put it on, but I didn’t trust it. The skin of my finger that had come with it melted down into black goo. Well shit…

I then glared up at Allie the Basilisk. Realizing that her eyes did indeed not kill me instantly. They were gray, and seemed to have a film over them. But… she was beautiful. Instead of her scales benign a dark sickly green they shimmered with every shade of green, and when the light hit them just right they were a startling emerald. Around her eyes reminiscent of a racoon was a mask of silver scales.

Allie looked… guilty.

“I apologize Speaker. I- I didn’t know. The ring must have had a compulsion on it for me as well. I remember taking it from him, thinking that I would give it to the next Speaker worthy of the name Slytherin.”

I frowned. She sounded sincere, and it made sense seeing as the ring was a Gaunt Family Heirloom not a Slytherin one. But a compulsion that could affect a Basilisk had to be powerful and subtle.

Allie shook her head.

“You need to get to the Hospital Wing. There is Dark Magic remnants on you, and the skin will need to be regrown.”

“What about Tom?”

“I do not know what it is he did with the ring, but I assume he is looking for a host before his soul fades.”

“Is it a Horcrux?”

“You know what a- nevermind. No, but it seems similar to one, maybe his own version. Horcruxes store a portion of a wizard's soul, this seems to have stored the entire thing.”

“Like a Lich’s Phylactery?”

“Yes, only it did not allow him to control his body and merely stored the soul.”

“Well shit.”

“You must go now, do you know the way to the Hospital Wing?”

“Uh, no.”

I still got lost very easily in the Castle.

“Come I will show you.”

I followed, clutching my aching finger, the bolts of seared flesh that ran up my arm twitching with pain.

“I cannot go through the wizards entrance, so I will need to push you back up the pipe.”

I nodded, exhaustion slowing my thoughts.

“Won’t- sorry- Isn’t it dangerous for you to be out and about the castle?”

“It is late, and none of the portraits can see me thanks to Salazar. If needed I can hide in the plumbing.”

I awkwardly sat on Allie’s snout as she slithered up the pipe, almost falling over as we made it back into the bathroom.

“Come.”

She led me through the silent halls of the castle, and if not for my wounds I would have actually found it nice and peaceful, much different than when I left my room earlier that night. But the thought of Tom Riddle somewhere in the castle was plaguing my mind.

Where was he? Did he already possess someone? Who? Was it someone I knew? A stranger? A teacher? Should I tell Dumbledore? What if he took the ring? Or killed Allie? I doubted Dumbledore was keen on keeping a thousand year old Basilisk alive in his castle.

I arrived at the Hospital Wing, and patted Allie on the side with my good hand.

“Thank you Allie. You can go back now… can you open and close the entrance yourself.”

“Yes, but I need your permission to do so.”

“Uh, you have it, for emergencies.”

I didn’t want Allie to start taking late night slithers down the halls when she was bored.

Allie’s tongue flicked the side of my face and she left, moving rather quickly.

I waited a few moments before knocking on the door. I felt some sort of magic pulse, probably a ward of somekind, and Madam Pomfrey spoke as she moved to the door on the other side.

“Coming coming! By Merlin what time is it? And the first week to? Better not be some lass asking for a contraceptive potion- Dear Morgana! What happened to you!”

“Uh- Hello Madam Pomfrey. I hurt,” I said, waving my injured hand.

She scowled at me.

“Get inside right now!”

“Yes ma’am.”