Chapter 65: Another Deal with the Devil

October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students. Her Pepperup Potion worked instantly, though it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterward.

Raindrops the size of bullets thundered on the castle windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid's pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds.

Classes went on with the usual vigor this early in the year, as students were still eager to learn more, but slowly the coursework was getting steeper. Unlike Malfoy, Snape didn't forget to stay out of Harry's way and continued to ignore him during their classes. That still didn't mean that he was graded fairly, but it didn't matter since the important grades were his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. And it's not like his future depended on them.

"Hmm, finally one of them was activated," mused Harry as he found himself in one of the empty classrooms. He was working on his Clone Magic, determined to spend as little time as possible in Lockhart's lessons.

Rias was delighted to use her new owl to send him copies of the books on the topic they had in the Gremory Library. They had various books on Clone or Duplication Magic, some from the Chinese Pantheon that a Devil acquired during the great War, from a fallen enemy. They also had some notes from the Devil's own research on the topic. But the most interesting one was from a Dragon called Aži Dahāka, who managed to create a piece of Illusion Magic that allowed clones to use magic themselves.

While studying these books and attempting to create his own version of this magic, as the books themselves didn't contain any actual spells, only theory, Harry's concentration was interrupted by a feeling in the back of his mind. It felt like a gentle tug in a specific direction. Someone was trying to summon him.

Before succumbing to the summoning pull, Harry cast his Transformation Magic, morphing into his Devil alias, Lord Zehir, with jet-black eyes and hair as dark as night. He quickly packed his belongings into his Sacred Gear before accepting the summon.

As his transformation was complete and his disguise flawless, he vanished into a cloud of dark mist from the classroom, leaving no trace of his presence.

In an abandoned classroom located in a completely different part of the castle, a young figure held a green, glowing piece of paper in its hand. The paper began to disintegrate into dust, joining the massive amount of dust already present in the room due to its long abandonment.

From the oozing black mist emanating from the summoning leaflet, a dark shape took form and manifested as a tall man with black eyes and hair.

"Which mortal decided to summon me, Zehir, a Devil Lord of the Underworld?" announced Harry, disguised as Zehir, with a deep, imposing voice, attempting to project strength and power.

In front of him stood a shy, pale-faced but tall boy whom he recognized from his year. It was one of the Slytherins who seldom spoke. Harry couldn't even remember the boy's name, but he was relieved that he had the courage to introduce himself.

"H-hello, Lord Zehir. I am Theodore Nott, heir of the Noble and Ancient House of Nott," he introduced, his nervousness evident but still maintaining the etiquette of a Pure-Blood.

"I see. And what can I do for you, Heir Nott? Be careful, if you dare to waste my time, you will regret it," threatened the Devil, his cold black eyes piercing into the boy as he stared him down.

"I won't. I am ready to pay any price as long as you can fulfill my wish," replied Nott with newfound determination, recalling the reason why he sought this summoning in the first place.

"Interesting... So, what is it that a young child like you desires, to be willing to pay anything for it?" asked Zehir with a small grin.

"I want you to kill my father!" declared Theodore with a mix of determination and hatred in his voice.

"Hmm, it isn't impossible, but humor me first. Why would you want to kill your own parent?" inquired Zehir, inwardly feeling unsettled. What was wrong with the Slytherins? Was this some twisted scheme to gain early access to his inheritance? Hopefully not. But if there was a legitimate reason to kill his own father, Theodore seemed to have it.

"My father is a horrible man. Not only is he a Death Eater, but since the disappearance of the Dark Lord, he turned to drinking. For years, he abused my mother and me. Before I started at Hogwarts, my mother died from the overexposure to the Cruciatus Curse. He enjoys using it on us just to punish us if we do something he finds displeasing," explained Theodore with a mix of hatred and sorrow in his eyes, memories flooding his mind. "Since my mother's death, I swore to avenge her. That is something I want to make a reality. It is my only goal in life."

"I see. That is something I can relate to. Under these conditions, I can make you an acceptable deal that doesn't require your own life as a price. Firstly, as a Devil dedicated to knowledge, does your family have a library with rare tomes and family magic?" inquired the Devil.

"Yes, we do have quite a big library, and there are some rare books among them. We even have the Nott Grimoire, but you probably can't consider that family magic anymore since my father offered its contents to the Dark Lord, like any other Death Eater," explained Theodore.

"That is fine. I want access to that library once I complete my part of the deal. Secondly, I want you to accept a gift from me. It's called the Gate of Truth and allows you to exchange knowledge for gold. I will gain a nice income, and you will acquire some useful magical knowledge," added Harry mentally, aware of his ulterior motives.

"I accept!" Theodore said without hesitation.

"Are you sure?" asked Harry. "It will take some time to complete this deal, as I want it to appear as an accident to ensure you are not implicated in any form."

"Yes, I am fine with this deal. I was expecting to pay with my life and soul for it. This is already much better than anything I anticipated. Also, I am fine if it takes longer as long as it is done. If possible, I hope you can make it painful and also take his soul to continue torturing it," Theodore replied, his hatred for his father seemingly boundless.

"I will see what I can do. Dealing with souls is a bit more complex as it interferes with the rules of Death," nodded Harry before they completed the deal, granting Theodore his own Gate of Truth and becoming another source of knowledge and money for Harry. Although the new knowledge was very limited, as he didn't knew anything new related to their School work. But he had a bit new information on dark Magic.

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