Maintain balance
// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.
I am walking on a cloud, above me there is an infinity of stars and galaxies. I walk in this endless ocean of cotton and for some reason I can't explain I'm really relaxed.
"You shouldn't though" I turn to see where the voice is coming from and find myself facing my reflection in the mirror of Erised".
"Who are you?"
"I am you, without really being you." I don't know why but just hearing this sentence makes me understand what is in front of me.
"You are the Beast."
"Well done. But I won't hold you any longer. If you don't wake up now, we're going to die." I pass through the clouds and head straight into the darkness.
When I wake up, I can't breathe, something soft is in front of my face. My hands are blocked by something hard. I pull with all my strength and I manage to free my right hand, and I grab what is blocking my face. It was apparently a pillow that I ripped apart with my hand, and I caught sight of my assailant's face in the feather explosion that ensue, Harry Potter. His eyes were bloodshot and looked completely insane.
I grab him by the arm and throw him against the wall like a rag doll, I feel the bone in his shoulder dislocate during the movement. I get up and release my other arm and legs, meanwhile Harry is sitting on the floor, his arm hanging lifeless. Blood was leaking from a head injury he must have sustained from hitting the wall, but it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He was just laughing like a possessed one setting there on the floor. I get up and rush at him in less than a second, grabbing him by the throat before slamming him against the wall.
"What the hell am I going to do with you?" In fact, I have little time to make up my mind. Dumbledore must already be on his way to the infirmary because I guess Harry didn't have the good sense to hide from the paintings. Ah maybe he did, I can see the Invisibility Cloak on the floor, that means I probably have a little more time than expected before one of the paintings notices Potter's absence.
"I know, I'll start with a little chat with the ghost following you around." I strike him in the jaw to make him fall heavily on the hard floor of the infirmary.
"Now we're going to have a little man-to-man conversation, aren't we my dear witch ghost." I activate my dementor's sight letting the ghost of a slightly plump black man dressed in a waistcoat and a bowler hat appeared before me. "You are taking considerable risks getting so close to me."
"You can see me?" the ghost is astonished but does not seem worried at all. "It doesn't change anything, I'm here to keep the balance. You can't do anything against Nature's will." He starts to annoy me; I cover my hands with the dementor's aura and grab him by the throat.
"Drop the shit about the balance of Nature and explain to me why you are following Harry Potter like a leech." The ghost is starting to get really scared, he didn't expect that I can hurt him from the other side of the veil.
"Impossible .... How does ..."
"I'm the one asking the questions here, and I don't have all night." The ghost is panicking, he doesn't seem to be very brave.
"A spell was cast, and a life was to be given in return. But this boy's mother did not die so we decided to restore the balance by gradually degrading the sanity of the boy who needed to be protected. "
I can't stop myself from laughing. By asking Death to save his parents, I unwillingly destroyed Harry's life in return because some supernatural dead witches did not understand what happened. At least it's not a big plot to destroy me.
"How come things got so bad in such a short time? He was fine not so long ago. Well, he was an insecure kid trying to redeem himself from his crappy behavior, but he wasn't that crazy. "
"My role is to maintain the curse which multiplies its darkest thoughts. Loneliness, rejection, jealousy, anger, ... hatred. Some time ago, he was plunged into a torrent of these emotions and he finally sank. "
"If you were to disappear, would he go back to being a normal boy?" I tighten my grip on her throat a little more
"No, the damages are irreversible. If I am no longer there to maintain the spell, its negative emotions will no longer be multiplied but the madness already present will remain."
"In that case, you are no longer of any use to me. Goodbye ghost." I open my mouth as the wizard's soul crumbles to cross my lips.
Strangely, it was not unpleasant, as if I had swallowed a really too sparkling soda. Harry is still at my feet, unconscious. I can't really afford to have him kicked out of Hogwarts now. I wipe off the blood with some cover and heal his bleeding as much as I can before leaving him in front of the infirmary. I repair the shackles on each side of the bed before reattaching myself. You might think it would be hard to tie yourself to a bed on your own, but magic makes things a lot easier.
I hear several footsteps walking in the hallway and the door opening before closing. I think I've had my dose of Wiccan bullshit for a lifetime.
The next morning, I am awakened by the rays of the sun and my mother is reading a book on veelas next to me.
"Hello."
"Oh Sean, you are finally waking up! How are you feeling?" She puts the book on her knees.
"Fine, I think. What exactly happened?" She takes a long breath and looks slightly embarrassed.
"Well, when a young veela reaches the age where she begins to look for her husband, her power of attraction begins to manifest in order to attract as many suitors as possible with whom she can choose to spend some time." I feel like I'm being treated like a child who is told how babies are made.
"Are you telling me that I have my puberty? But since when did puberty can knock you out?"
"Well, young Veela girls sometimes have a high fever but I've never heard of anything like that."
"Okay, well now that it's over and I'm feeling better, it's time to go back to class."
"Not yet, even if you don't feel it, you give off a powerful aura of attraction. If you set foot outside the infirmary, you're going to round up all the young girls nearby. You have to control this new side of you first. "
"And how long does it take to learn control?"
"A lifetime. Your grandmother is pretty good at it, she's able to almost completely erase her aura. But I think you can get out in a week without causing too much trouble."