CH14 - Arania Exumai

On a late October night, Edmund stumbled into his dorm shakily, immediately falling onto his bed. With the small amount of energy he had left, he pulled off his socks and shoes before diving under the covers with a groan of contentment.

Ben and Jeremy, whose conversation had been halted by their dormmate's entrance, looked at the boy, then at each other quizzically. Ben nodded his head upwards at Jeremy, silently prodding him to inquire. Jeremy looked at Ben like he was crazy before pointing his index finger at himself while he raised his eyebrows. Ben sighed, admitting to himself that Jeremy's hyperactive tone was probably not what was needed at the moment.

"Uhh, Edmund?" Ben inquired softly, trying to see whether he had already fallen asleep.

"Hmmm?" Edmund grunted in reply.

"You alright man?" Ben asked a bit more loudly.

"Hmmm," Edmund grunted again, this time affirmatively. "Got chased by Filch down the corridors. He kept going on and on to Mrs. Norris about hanging me outside upside down by my ankles," he mumbled sleepily.

"Dude," Jeremy interrupted amusedly, "it's still two hours to curfew. Why'd you run?"

"Fuck off Jeremy," Edmund muttered as his hand poked out from the curtains with a middle finger. "The man's creepy, alright? Whether I'm in the right or not, I'm not taking any chances."

After a few moments of silence, Edmund continued quietly.

"Besides, I'm so used to him chasing me after hours that I've developed a panic reflex to seeing his face. I forgot that the time was still early," he admitted sheepishly.

Jeremy started guffawing, while Ben snickered faintly.

"Hah, hah," Edmund said sarcastically. "Laugh it up, assholes. I'm going to sleep, alright? Don't bother me, got it?"

Jeremy and Ben both mimed zipping their lips and throwing away the key, promising to keep their voices low.

Satisfied, Edmund closed the curtains to his poster bed, throwing the covers over his entire body from head to toe.

Out of kindness for their roommate, not even two hours later, the lights in the room were off. The two other boys had turned in for the night.

*-*-*-*

- (Scene Break) -

*-*-*-*

Several hours later, one of the curtains on Edmund's bed opened a crack, revealing the view of a large lump resembling Edmund's body tucked under the covers. The gap quickly closed, with nothing seeming out of the ordinary.

Unseen, in a small area of the dorm illuminated by a lamp from outside, a vague translucent grey outline appeared for a split second before vanishing once more. Without a single sound, the door to the dorm opened slightly, closing shortly afterwards.

In the common room, under the invisibility provided by the Demiguise cloak, Edmund searched for the right opportunities to move.

A student got up to prod the logs burning in the fireplace, producing a loud crackling noise. As everyone turned their heads to search for the source of the sound, Edmund took several large steps toward the entrance of the common area.

Soon after, a transfiguration spell by a second-year student meant to transform rabbits into slippers went awry. The slippers began running all over the common room, only partially transfigured, as various students shrieked and laughed. Another few significant steps were taken.

By now, Edmund was right by the entrance. His chance to leave was provided when a small gaggle of students carrying toads returning from the choir club opened the drum gateway, creating a ruckus. Before the door could close on its own, Edmund had slipped out, happy with his sneaking ability.

The rest of the halls were largely empty, and Edmund's late-night endeavours had made it so he was intimately acquainted with the patrolling schedule. He exited the castle without hassle but paused as he drove to move past Hagrid's hut into the forest.

Resolving himself, he stepped foot into the darkness. Edmund moved completely inaudibly as he walked, doing his best not to draw any attention. His success was primarily attributed to the localized silencing spell he had managed to cast on his shoes, preventing the sounds of various twigs and branches crackling under his feet from echoing.

Once he was almost a hundred meters into the overgrowth, Edmund paused, looking around to confirm he was in no immediate danger.

'I'm here,' Edmund spoke in his mind to Marvolo, opening up their mental link with ease.

'Good,' Marvolo said approvingly. 'Move in deeper, and keep me updated.'

Edmund nodded, despite knowing that Marvolo would not see it.

In his school years, Tom himself had also explored the Forbidden Forest. In his ventures, he had come across a sizeable empty clearing. Oddly, despite there being no particular magical residue in the area, plant life refused to grow in the area. Furthermore, animals would also actively avoid the clearing, going around it if it was in their way.

Tom had theorized that perhaps the phenomenon could be caused by large amounts of highly toxic Basilisk Venom being present underground. However, shortly afterwards, Tom had discovered the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets within the school, and the clearing was forgotten. Until now.

'Is there anything specific I should be looking out for? Any signs to investigate, or some sort of detection spell I can use?' Edmund asked after a while.

'Be on the lookout for anything odd. Anything out of place. Anything you feel doesn't belong naturally,' Marvolo instructed.

'You could just say you don't know,' Edmund replied with a scoff.

'Insolent brat,' Marvolo muttered, but his lack of further reply told Edmund that he was right.

'It matters little even if the clearing does not hold the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. It is valuable in other ways as well,' Marvolo continued. 'Your first ritual that I have designed requires the presence of direct unobstructed light from the full moon, as well as contact with the earth. The fact that this clearing gives no magical interference and is too far away from Hogwarts to be noticed is a further boon.'

'Once we find the chamber, most of your rituals will be completed inside of it, as it is a perfect blank canvas. Essentially, a massive ritual room,' Marvolo slipped into his lecturing tone. 'However, your first ritual is meant to widen your connection with magic and ley lines and is a bit more strict in its requirements.'

As Edmund kept moving onward, Marvolo continued to expand on the intricacies of the ritual and its intended result. Unfortunately, their rather peaceful walk and talk was interrupted suddenly by a loud chittering, followed by a series of clacks far off in the distance.

Pulling the cloak tighter around him, Edmund moved to investigate. What he found was a rather gory sight.

A lone acromantula, about four feet tall, was shaking excitedly as it tore into the corpse of a young buck ravenously. It was a true feast for the creature, who was diving into it hungrily, its wide maw coated with blood.

It was unexpectedly selfish behaviour from the acromantula, a species known for its social nature. Food was typically hunted as a resource to be shared equally among the colony. Each spider had their own role, and the acromantula in front of Edmund was clearly a hunter.

A greedy hunter that had decided not to share its food.

'Arania Exumai,' Marvolo commanded, cutting into Edmund's morbidly curious observations of the XXXXX beast.

'What,' Edmund asked, flabbergasted, thrown off by the sudden change in Marvolo's voice.

'Arania Exumai, just like you practiced. Kill the beast!' Marvolo ordered again, a bit more irritably.

'I don't understand!' Edmund said, his stomach beginning to churn with queasiness. 'Why?'

'Killing is visceral, dirty, and disgusting! Your first kill will make you freeze, and I won't have it happen in a battle,' Marvolo —no, Voldemort— commanded.

For this truly was Voldemort, not Marvolo. He hadn't shone his true face in a while, but here he was again, rearing up to hit Edmund where he knew it would hurt.

'We have no problem with killing,' Edmund refuted futilely in a bitter tone of voice. He knew complaining would cast suspicion on him, but this was murder, and moving past the mental barrier wasn't easy for him.

'We have no problem causing pain,' Voldemort corrected. 'You, however, still do have a problem with killing.'

'Killing scares you. It scares you how easy it is to end a life. It reminds you of your own fragility and vulnerability. If you could kill so easily, what prevents another from killing you with the same ease,' Voldemort deducted falsely, likely relying on memories of his own feelings as a child. Inadvertently, the man was giving a sight into his own twisted psyche, providing Edmund with more context as to why he chose to pursue horcruxes.

However, Edmund was not Tom. Tom was a psychopath, while Edmund was just a regular guy. Killing might be a simple act for Tom, but for Edmund it was a sacrifice of a sliver of his humanity.

But Edmund would have to grow up if he wanted to survive. If he wanted to survive, Edmund would have to kill. He would have to give up his innocence. It was a feeling he'd already developed from the first moment he stepped into the world, but now he was forced to confront it.

There was no more time for hesitation.

With a grimace, Edmund drew his wand, lifted his arm, and whispered the spell in a singular continuous motion.

BANG!

The acromantula went flying, abruptly colliding with a boulder right behind it. With a wet splat, the massive creature's brain exploded everywhere, killing it instantly.

A mercy.

That wasn't the thought going through Edmund's brain, however, as he watched the creature's dead body drown in a growing pool of its own blood. Barely resisting the urge to barf, Edmund shivered violently. In the back of his head, he could hear Voldemort congratulating him, but it was the last thing on his mind.

Several minutes later, Edmund finally found the will to keep moving. Thankfully, Voldemort also kept quiet, content with the silence.

*-*-*-*

- (Scene Break) -

*-*-*-*

Almost a half hour later, Edmund finally came across the empty clearing he had been searching for, inspecting it quietly.

No luck. There were no indicators of the presence of a secret tunnel at all, and no explanations for the dead zone present there. Spell after spell was cast by Edmund according to Voldemort's instructions, but to no avail. Unfortunately, it seemed that discovering the entrance to the chamber would not be so easy.

'It's a simple enough journey at least,' Edmund finally spoke, ending the long pause in the conversation. 'There should be no issues getting here for the ritual.'

'Getting here won't be the problem,' Voldemort agreed quietly before countering. 'But leaving will be. A magical ritual of this scale will create a large upswell of magic in the area, attracting attention. And on the night of the full moon, the predators hunting you will be of an even higher calibre than usual.'

'Werewolves,' Edmund thought grimly, ice filling his veins.

'I would suggest developing an escape plan,' Voldemort commented. 'You will need one.'

'Just fucking great,' Edmund thought as the connection switched off, gritting his teeth painfully.