A Little Paradise

Chris stepped forward and her surroundings changed. A narrow tunnel led to somewhere bright. Chris followed the light and at the end of the tunnel, she parted a curtain of weeping willows, walking into the most beautiful forest she had ever seen. 

Chirping birds, colorful butterflies played on the multicolored trees and flowers in the bright sunlight. Past the tall trees and green flower-filled bushes, green soft grass stretched out as far as eyes could see, and there Dragons, Chimeras, Winged horses, Thestrals, and many more dangerous yet beautiful creatures peacefully slept, sat, or walked around.

"Wow. . ." Chris couldn't help but gasp at the scenery before her.

"Do you like my little Paradise, Christina?" 

The familiar voice of the void asked and Chris turned around to find a well-dressed young man with dark hair and green eyes, a smile on his face, and a phoenix perched on his shoulder.

"Fergus?" 

Fergus looked not a day older than the last memory Chris saw, though watching him in the memories and right now, was quite different. He looked far more corporal now as if he was as real as Chris.

"Nice to meet you, Christina," Fergus held out his hand, and a little surprised Chris reached for a handshake. 

As soon as, Chris's hand touched Fergus, her insides churned and magic suddenly flared out of her. Flinching, Chris pulled back.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what happened," Chris said clenching and unclenching her fingers while trying to calm her magic.

"No need to apologize. I know what happened and it was not your fault. Though, I am glad you have your magic so much in control," Fergus gave a mysterious smile before walking towards the green patch of grass. A little confused Chris followed him.

"You didn't answer my question. How did you like my little Paradise?" Fergus asked without looking back.

"It's beautiful," Chris replied looking around again. "I love magical creatures."

"Me too," Fergus stopped near a sleeping red dragon.

"Are they real?" Chris asked fondly looking at the Dragon.

"Why don't you find out?" Fergus said stroking the Dragon's head gently.

Chris brushed the red scales on the Dragon's neck and it opened its eyes a little bit. Chris stared at it and the Dragon went back to sleep, unbothered.

"They feel so real but they aren't, are they?" Chris said looking at the Phoenix on Fergus's shoulder. 

"How do you know?" Fergus asked, moving its shoulder and the Phoenix flew away.

"There are a lot of reasons, like so many creatures living together peacefully, the trees, birds . . . the sunlight . . . we are underground, there shouldn't be sunlight. Everything is too good to be true," Chris said patting the dragon and unconsciously she added, "And unless you are immortal and unaffected by the vampire curse, you are not real either."

Fergus didn't reply for a moment and Chris looked up to find him staring at her and realized what she just said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. Sorry. I . . . after watching your memories, I am really confused and now you look so . . ." Chris sighed. "I don't know what's happening anymore."

"You are not wrong. This is not real. This is just my imagination. A Paradise created by me," Fergus said looking around. A pained look crossed his face. "But I am real."

"You are?" Chris asked and the disbelief in her voice made Fergus laugh.

"Not in a way you think. I am kind of immortal but not very much whole and alive."

Chris raised her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side, and Fergus smiled.

"Yeah, it's a bit confusing, so we would come to that later. Let me start from the beginning. I am Fergus Dragozera Gryffindor, a descendant of the greatest vampire line and son of one of the greatest wizards of all time." Fergus introduced himself with a graceful bow. "I have spent my childhood at Hogwarts before coming here and messing things up."

"Yeah, I know. I just saw your memories. . ." Chris trailed off as a new thought occurred to her. "Wait, I dived into your pool of memories. So is this a memory too?"

"The scenes you watched were indeed my memories. I was the one, who brought Malgino here. He was my friend—a brother if I am being honest." Fergus started walking away from the Dragon.

Chris followed him.

"Why did the last memory stop so abruptly?" she asked. "What happened exactly after you learned that he killed . . .?"

"Emory?" Fergus said when Chris hesitated. "It is alright, Christina. It's been one thousand two hundred fifty-seven years. I have made my peace with her death."

Judging by the fact Fergus had counted the years after Emory's death, Chris wasn't sure if he really had made peace with it, but didn't voice her thought aloud.

"And to answer your questions, you were pulled so abruptly from the memory because I lost my memories after that moment. I was so consumed by my rage that I let my power devour me and take control," Fergus sighed. "When your magic takes control of you rather than the opposite, it tends to lose your consciousness. You are moving, yet you barely have any recollection of that moment."

"I know," Chris whispered thinking about the times she lost control.

"I know you know," Fergus smiled at Chris. "But I was not fortunate like you. I didn't have people around me to save me from myself because the only person who could have saved me, became the reason for my destruction." Fergus paused looking up at the sky. "At Hogwarts, Malgino decided to test the final product of his experiment but he didn't want to drink it himself. So when Emory came looking for me that night, she found Malgino in our secret room, and he offered her to drink it. Emory without suspecting anything drank it and . . . got poisoned."

"Why would he choose to test it on a person, who he knows is close to his best friend?" Chris asked incredulously.

"Maybe because the very same reason," Fergus gave a bitter smile. A thestral came trudging towards them and he touched its head. "Do you know why I tested you, Christina? Before letting you in? With that specific scenario where Malgino won?"

Chris stared at the Thestral. She looked exactly like Zil.

"Because I could have put my friends before the entire wizarding world?"

"No, it's because I wanted to make sure you are not like me. I was powerful, intelligent but so much broken that the first person who showed me kindness and treated me normally became my Savior and I decided to give up everything for him. I always knew Malgino was ambitious. I saw glimmers of his unquenched thirst for power under the surface but I kept quiet because I kept believing that the person who almost sacrificed himself to save me, could do no wrong to others. I never entertained the idea that I could be different. I never thought the only reason he always was there for me, was because he wanted the same in return. He didn't want to win alone, he wanted me to join him. He cared for me but in a twisted way. And he knew after I met Emory I was starting to change. I could tell when Malgino was doing something wrong. Maybe that's why he wanted to take that influence from me." Fergus sighed. "I saw everything but my friendship stopped me from doing the right thing. I wanted to know if you will choose the right thing or your friendship. You choose correctly and I knew you were the right person, Christina. I am glad I gave you my powers."

⟦To be continued⟧