I woke up in my mothers bed, the pain completely gone.
In fact I felt fantastic.
The sun was streaming in through the windows warming me and cluing me in that it was a new day.
I mentally pulled up the prompts I had received since passing out: “Congratulations you have completed the quest: Sacrifice for power.
Rewards: Reward: 1.
700 EXP.
2.
+3 Spirit.
3.
+3 Magic.
4.
Trait: Vibration Sense- Just like some snakes you are sensitive to vibrations caused around you.” “I really thought I would get Parseltoung.
It would have been an immense help in the future.” This seemed like a good award though, depending on how it would function.
“Will I get overwhelmed all the time?
Will I be able to notice movement around me like Tuph from Avatar?” I set that aside for now and focused on my status screen.
Status of William Walker Human Wizard Lvl 5 0/500 exp Strength 5→7 Agility 6→9 Intelligence 15 Constitution 6→8 Magic 10→14 Spirit 10→13 Unspent stat points: 10 Titles: None Passive buffs: None Active buffs: None Traits: 1.
Reborn mind and soul 2.
Fire affinity 3.
Wandlessly gifted 58% 4.
Healthy body 5.
Vibration Sense- Just like some snakes you are sensitive to vibrations caused around you.
There were some noticeable improvements there!
Since my birthday less than two months ago I had gone up a lot in my physical stats.
I contributed this to the enhancement ritual itself, maybe with a bonus from the sacrifice?
The rest of the changes were easy enough to understand.
My eyes settled on Vibration Sense and I closed my eyes, trying to activate it.
I decided on what made the most sense to me, my hearing.
Almost immediately I could feel a tremor from the kitchen.
It was easy to identify as the quiet steps of my mother, each slight vibration travelling through the floorboards and rippling towards me, providing me with her approximate position.
I got up checking my body as I stood, still no pain.
I stepped into the kitchen to greet my mother.
“Morning, mum.” She turned quickly towards me coming over to check on me.
running her hands over me checking for my reactions to see if I had any lingering pain.
“I was worried about you after you passed out.
But after checking you over with every diagnostic spell I knew, I realised you were just exhausted.
So I let you sleep.
Are you in any pain at all or are there any effects that you noticed?” I could see she was still slightly worried, despite having checked me so carefully, so I gave her a hug and said: “No mum, I feel fine.
In fact I feel great!
I think both my body and my magic have gotten stronger too.
On top of that I seem to have a new ability.
I can feel vibrations, and not in the way humans can, more what some snakes can.
When I was in the bedroom just now, if I focused on my hearing, I could pick up the vibrations of your steps in the kitchen as they rippled through the house.” She had gotten pretty used to how I kept getting stranger, but this still surprised her.
“Vibrations… Well I guess it fits with the sacrifice… Just make sure you get to know this new ability carefully.
There might be downsides, like getting overwhelmed in crowded areas.” I nodded, thinking it funny she had the exact same thought I had earlier.
She sobered up and stood.
“Please sit, William,” she said, using a surprisingly formal voice.
I felt worry creep in as I moved to the table taking a seat in one of the chairs.
“We need to talk about yesterday.” I swallowed and she continued: “I want you to remember something before you start celebrating your new power, or the improvements to your magic and body.
You took a life last night.
The life of a being that was not a threat to you.
The life of a being that had done you no harm.
I want you to take some time to acknowledge that, to feel the weight of it.” She looked both a bit sad but also resolute.
Then she stood up and continued with breakfast.
I sat there going over her words, thinking about the lesson she was trying to teach me here.
A life taken in the pursuit of power, even an animal, was not a small thing, not when I had done it in the way I had at least.
I had no moral highground of defending myself, no reason to think the life taken was deserved.
This had only been about gaining power, whatever the reason behind getting that power was.
After the ritual things settled back into a new rhythm.
I had the old aspect of training, both on my own, with my mum and with Alastor.
I was getting better and better in the “fights” as Alastor used my new sense with great effect after getting the basics of the trait down.
I could now easily track up to three people without using my eyes.
I could sense their positions, how they stood and the direction their wands were pointing.
I could, however, easily get overwhelmed if I tried to use it where the vibrations had too many sources.
Alastor made quick use of that after learning about my new ability.
He had looked at me with envy until I pointed out his magical eye, to which he just grunted and pushed me harder.
The Tonkses had become a regular part of our lives since the ruin in Diagon Alley.
We met up often for dinners, ice cream.
I, as promised, did my best to teach the littlest Tonks wandless magic.
The first meeting we had after Diagon Alley had come two days after the ritual.
My mum and I were having lunch after a training session when the doorbell suddenly rang.
Since Alastor always knocked, we were surprised, but didn’t react badly since the war had ended a few weeks earlier.
My mum still pulled her wand as she went to the door asking: “Who is it?” To which a loud high-pitched shout came from the other side: “It is me, Tonks!
And my mum!
And my dad!
We came to visit!” All in one breath.
I started laughing and my mum turned to me smiling before opening the door.
In burst a head of bright pink hair with the little girl attached to it.
Her eyes quickly locked to mine and she said.
“Will!” she shouted, rushing up to me and pulling me toward the stairs without explanation, or a hello to my mother.
I looked back to my mum as I was being dragged away, my face one of complete surprise.
I heard her laugh just as I was out of sight.
I pulled back on my hand with strength that seemed to surprise Tonks and said: “Where are you dragging me to…?” I asked, amused.
That made her freeze up a bit, she looked unsure.
“Ehh…
your room?” she said, making it sound more like a question than an answer.
“Well in that case you were in fact going in the right direction, good guess!” I said with an easy smile, making her get her confidence back.
“Exactly!
So, come on.” We continued the rest of the steps and I opened the door to my room.
She looked around for a few seconds before throwing herself on my bed stomach first.
“You don’t have many toys?
Mostly books…” I nodded.
I had decided since Tonks was my friend and seemed so genuine I would meet her mostly with honesty.
“Yea, I like to read and when I’m not reading I mostly train my magic.” That made her turn back to me sharply.
“You promised you would teach me too!” I nodded calmly and answered.
I had not really planned to keep my wandless magic a complete secret anyway.
I would just try getting her not to reveal it too early, so even if she let slip that she had learned from me, it would not matter much by then.
“I promised I would try, mostly this will be up to you to learn.
You promised that you would keep what I showed you a secret.
Did you?” She nodded quickly, her head going up and down quickly many more times than necessary.
“YES!
I have not told anyone, not mum, not dad, not anyone!” At that, I smiled at her and gestured for her to sit up.
She did and I started: “Using wandless magic can be hard, our bodies resist our efforts so you kind of have to force it to “adapt” to using magic without a wand.
For me I had to use emotion the first time, almost like accidental magic, only really controlling the timing and the target of the magic.
Not what it did.
I think the first step is just focusing on what you want to happen with all your mind.
Leaving nothing but the pure need of what you want to happen is a good start.” I took a feather quill I never used since I had access to a pen and set it in front of her on the pillow of the bed.
“Try to make it move, any movement at all.” She watched the feather quill with complete focus for about 10 seconds before throwing her hands up and turning to me.
“Nothing is happening!
It is not moving.” I watched her for a moment just now fully realising the promise I had made.
The Tonkses left a few hours later, after we had all shared tea and biscuits and I had endured more than enough of Tonks’ non-existent patience.
We got almost nowhere, but nonetheless I told her to keep trying, and to not stop even if she got angry to just focus harder on what she wanted.
I also told her to only do that when her parents were nearby, explaining what had happened when I did it.
I left out the part of my age at the time though.
Time continued to pass.
Almost three years passed, with no major events—just calm, friendship, training and growth.
In late August 1984 we had a goodbye celebration for Tonks.
She was starting Hogwarts this September.
Her parents had invited me and my mum to both celebrate and to share a goodbye dinner.
My mum and I showed up outside their house just as the Tonkses were setting the table behind that house.
Since we were Apparating into their backyard they saw us straight away, greeting us on arrival.
“Miss Don’t call me Nymphadora is still in her room.” Ted joked.
“Why don’t you go inside, dinner will be served in half an hour.” He said to me, giving me a wink.
As my mum and the Tonkses started chatting I walked inside to find the youngest Tonks.
As I got up the stairs and was almost at her door I heard a small sniffle from inside.
I froze for a second, but quickly held up my hand and knocked on her door.
I heard scrambles inside and a voice call out: “I’m a busy mum, I’ll be done in a minute ready to greet Will.” I quickly called back: “Hi Tonks, it’s me not your mum.
We arrived a bit early.” The room went quiet.
I just waited calmly, not hurrying her.
Soon the door opened.
Tonks standing there, there was no sign that she had been crying, but that meant little with her.
I smiled toward her, saying: “Hello there.
Congratulations on going to Hogwarts soon, though I’ll be sad to see you go.” I handed her the present I brought with me, surprising her.
“Since your birthday is late November I figured I could give it to you now instead of sending it with an owl.” I said, giving her another smile.
Despite her ability she seemed to have trouble maintaining a false cheer.
She took the gift from me anyway.
“Thanks Will.
What is it?” Normally she would tear into her presents the moment she got them, again giving away how upset she was.
I decided I would bring it up myself.
“You will find out when you open it.
But that can wait, how are you?
You seem sad?
I thought you were excited about Hogwarts?
That’s all you’ve been talking about.” She looked down and stopped pretending to be happy.
“I was.” She said, almost whispering.
“But now I realise what it will mean.
Leaving home for so long.
Leaving mum and dad.
Leaving you.” At that she looked up at me.
I pulled her into a hug.
“Yeah, it sucks we will not get to see each other.
But you will still be home for Christmas right?
And you will be home every summer.
And then in a few years I’ll join you at Hogwarts.” She settled a little in my arms, took a breath and slowly pulled back.
“You always were so mature, Will.
I honestly never got that, I’m more than three years older than you, but you still sound older every time we speak.
Honestly apart from teaching you how to ride a broom.
You have been the one teaching me everything since we became friends.
Thanks for that.” She seemed to be feeling better and we sat down on the bed.
I decided to press on trying to encourage her about starting Hogwarts.
“Besides, you will meet lots of interesting people at Hogwarts, and finally get to learn more magic!” I said more, because after almost two years she finally succeeded with wandless magic beyond making something twitch.
The first year she had no success whatsoever, and not for lack of trying.
But despite that, and her terrible patience, she kept working.
At fourteen months she had her first result, a twitch in the quilt.
She jumped up so quickly she fell over.
The second part of that year she managed to move it, but not consistently.
Finally after two whole years she could move the quilt whenever she tried.
She was nowhere near my level even now, but she could now summon the wand she had bought from Ollivanders upon turning eleven.
She had a huge row with her parents, who wanted to wait until the summer before Hogwarts for her to get the wand.
In the end it was my mum that convinced them, pointing out that she would not make me wait that long since it should be based on the level of responsibility, not tradition.
That seemed to cheer her up.
She got up off the bed pulling me up with her.
“Yeah, you are right.
Speaking of magic, look what I can do now!” She raised her palm and after a few seconds a small candle-sized flame appeared above it.
That genuinely surprised me, she had never been able to use fire magic wandlessly before.
I gave her a big smile.
“Someone has been practicing, that is some great progress.
Breaking into other forms of magic wandlessly is astonishingly impressive Tonks.” My compliment seemed to land, making her even happier.
Before her face dropped slightly again.
“You will write, right?” I nodded immediately.
I had learned that Tonks did in fact not have any friends her age yet, apart from me.
I was not that worried though, with her personality she would have no problems making friends at Hogwarts.
We were called down for dinner just after that, even Alastor had been invited and had now shown up.
We had a genuinely nice time together.
I looked around the table, thinking about how some things can be the same no matter the world.
“I’ll protect moments like these.” After that thought, I made myself stay in the moment.
I did not plan for the future or think about power.
I was simply present.
Author’s Note: I don’t want to get into the habit of explaining my decisions every chapter, but I think this one could lead to some interesting discussions.
Maybe some of you were disappointed with the trait he received.
Personally, I think it has far higher sealing than Parseltongue.
I’ll just leave you with this: Imagine the possibilities of combining it with magic.