Chapter 78: The downsides of rituals and the mysterious box

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 78: The downsides of rituals and the mysterious box

"Stories?" Asked Lily.

"My mother told me about them. She had originally come from the Black family and these were commonly used among their members during her era."

"Sirius' family…I remember hearing about them." Lily said.

"Yeah, most of them were nasty folk. But coming back to the rituals…I recall hearing about a popular one that made you resistant to poisons and venom, but it also made you grow reptile scales on your skin. Or one that could improve your eyesight but made your eyes red."

Lily nodded. "Did they not know about the aftereffects? or they did do it despite them?"

"People would often get addicted to these rituals. They will try to counter the downside of one ritual with another one and in the end, they would just look inhuman. Remember what Voldemort was like during the last time we encountered him?"

"How can I forget him?....he looked terrifying with his pale skin and red eyes…" Lily shivered at the mere thought of that man.

"That's the reason for the Ministry to ban all use of rituals. Even if not all of them were as harmful." Explained James.

Harry remained quiet during the exchange. What his father said was not wrong, but there was more to that. Not all rituals had grievous downsides, or there were ones worth paying.

He only planned on performing a single ritual on himself. He didn't want to bother with minor ones like gaining the ability to see better at night or gain resistance to an element. He could gain those benefits without having to modify his own body. He could enchant his glasses to gain a form of night vision or enchant his robes to be more resistant to fire.

No, the one he had planned on performing next year was one ritual that would greatly enhance his physical capabilities. Most wizards underestimate just how important, being able to move faster or have a higher stamina, could be during a fight.

This ritual does have a price though. Whoever performs it on himself will suffer from a reduced life expectancy. But that was a price he was more than willing to pay.

The only reason he never performed that ritual on himself during his past life was simply because he lacked the materials. 

During the war, finding any rare magical ingredient had become almost impossible. If it wasn't for that, he would not have hesitated.

'In the end, it seems like this trip was a waste of time. I should have expected this, after all, the Blacks were as old if not older than the Potters and with fewer morals, so their library remained untouched, no matter how many new laws the Ministry declared. And I went through their books many times…huh? what is this?'

The name of the last ritual got his attention.

"Soul bonding ritual?"

Magic that affected the soul was extremely rare, even among ancient families. He could only recall a handful of spells that could do that.

"Let me see that too." Lily became interested.

"A ritual that can connect the souls of two people together so they are never separated…how romantic!"

"Connecting two souls?, that sounds too fantastical, even for the magical world," James commented.

"Not so much. In the past, Voldemort used a ritual to sever pieces of his soul and tied them to objects in the mortal realm. This prevented his soul from ever leaving even if his body was destroyed. Allowing him the possibility of returning to a new body." Harry gave them a simple explanation of the horrocruxes.

"So he could never die? But you said that he made a deal with demons to achieve his immortality." James recalled.

"There are many ways to gain something resemblant to immortality and none of them are infallible. We found and destroyed the soul containers he created. This made him feel vulnerable once more and drove him to make the deal." Said Harry.

"Why didn't he create more of these containers and hide them again?" Lily asked.

"He couldn't make more…to create a single container he had to sever a piece of his own soul. You don't think there is a big downside to doing something like that? Not to mention doing it several times…what a crazy bastard he was."

 "You think our Voldemort also used that same ritual?" Lily asked with dread in her voice.

Harry hesitated with what to answer. 

"I don't know, sorry." He truly didn't know. He had pondered many times about this matter but in the end, he had no idea what could have happened to the horrocruxes. Were they recalled, destroyed…or did he never make them in this world? He would love to know for sure.

"Is okay, son. We are all in this together. We will figure it out." James patted his back.

"Well, now it doesn't sound as romantic anymore." Lily stared at the last page of the ritual book.

Harry examined the content of the page with care. 

"No, this is very different than what he did….It just connects two souls to each other, but will not keep them anchored to the mortal realm. This is not meant to be used as a method to archive any kind of immortality…just to keep two people from separating."

"Is a relief to know that my family didn't store such a foul piece of magic at least. But I'm not particularly happy either with what I have seen." James said.

"So, what do you plan to do with these books?"

"I have no need for them at the moment. You can put them back in their hiding spot." He answered.

"I want to keep the one about druid magic if you don't mind. It seems like an interesting read, and I'm in need of improving my old Gaelic." Lily chuckled.

"I suppose that one is the lesser evil here…" James comforted himself. 

"I'm surprised you didn't want to take the one with all the dark curses. You said it was useful." He glanced at his son.

"Don't need it. I already have an abundance of those…I was thinking that I should teach the two of you a few of them." 

"What?!, you want us to learn that kind of dark magic?." James looked very displeased. This went against everything he had been taught.

"I want you to stay alive. And if learning some illegal curses can increase the odds, even if is just a little bit…then yes, I want you to learn them." Was Harry's answer.

James looked at his wife for support.

"I think Harry is right….what happened that day in Diagon Alley was….the scariest day of my life."

Lily brought her son closer and hugged him.

"If I didn't have my hero with me, I rather not think what could have happened."

"Mom…" Harry complained.

"What if next time, it happens when I am alone or with Holly or Lyra?. I want to be stronger, James. I want to be strong enough to protect my family from those who wish them harm." Lily's eyes were filled with determination and James knew this was another lost battle.

"Fine…we'll discuss this at home." He relented.

James stood up and was about to put the books back when he saw the small black box.

"We forgot about this thing."

"Right, let's open it." Said Harry. I hope to at least get something from this trip.

"Wait, what if is cursed or something?" Lily examined the box.

"Why would it be cursed? this was left by our ancestors for us." James grabbed the box.

"But just in case, I will be the one who opens it."

The box didn't seem to be locked so James lifted the lid without any apparent issue.

"Huh? why is this here?"

"Oh come on!, what is it?!" Harry exclaimed with exasperation.

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