Chapter 56 Moving on.

The boy noticed a small trail of fries—well, what was left of them. As he followed it, he stumbled upon a remote corner of the house. There, a little blonde girl, barely three years old, sat on the floor with teary eyes beside a plate of fries. Vincent walked over slowly and sat next to her, watching the mix of pouting and sadness on her face.

 "Lesa, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice sounding far too smooth for someone his age. She just pushed his head with her tiny hand, smearing his silky white hair with butter. He pulled away quickly, grimacing in mild frustration but not ready to give up just yet.

 Vincent tried to get her attention again, this time changing his approach, speaking softly and slowly while making a funny face. "Vince calling Lesa... Anybody there?" 

"I don't wanna!" she grumbled, attempting once more to push him away.

 Not satisfied, he decided to play hardball. He picked up one of the fries from the plate next to her. For a brief moment, his eyes glowed a faint purple, summoning a thick, ethereal energy that floated lazily in the air. With careful concentration, he shaped it into a small swallow. The illusory bird let out a sharp whistle and fluttered its wings. Vincent guided it through the air with delicate hand movements, making the bird chirp and dance for the girl. Her curiosity was piqued.

 Though still quiet, almost motionless, her eyes followed the bird as it darted back and forth between the swallow and Vincent. After a while, the boy spoke again, 

"Open your hand." Too interested to refuse, she opened her tiny palm wide.

Vincent placed the fry he was holding in her hand, then subtly commanded the bird to land on her arm. It walked toward the fry and started to nibble at it. Seeing her mood brighten, Vincent called the bird back, bringing it close to his ear as if listening to it chirp a secret. He then grinned from ear to ear. 

The girl watched with wide eyes, edging closer to him to hear.

"Lesa, the bird told me you're going to see your mother soon," He said.

She blinked, confused. "Mommy's coming to get Lesa?"

 "Yes, you'll see her soon," he answered playfully.

 Still skeptical, she asked, "And Lucy, and Dlá aco?" 

"The bird might've told me something about that, too. But you'll only know if you catch me!" He jumped to his feet and ran off, glancing back to see the little girl scrambling after him.

A life so small yet filled with potential brought a sense of urgency to protect and guide this little soul. The thought of her past, with her damned father almost sacrificing her, stirred a deep anguish within him. This desire to protect and create a future for those he deemed deserving fueled his quest for power. I don't need to conquer the world, but I must be strong enough to defend myself against it—not just for me, but for Rose, Aunt Josephine, my new sisters Daphne and Artoria, and for Elise.

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The next morning, at Greengrass Mansion.

 "People are fascinating, though I never noticed it before. Maybe, lost in my rush to achieve my goals and the tasks ahead, I never really stopped to observe what drives those around me." Vincent lay on the grass, soaking in the gentle morning sunlight. His fingers traced over a soft linen page, woven with off-white threads and a faint golden shimmer. On it were written hundreds of names, each belonging to someone who had made a pact with him in the past two years. Desperate and ambitious, these individuals sought to escape their final fate, always preferring a comma to a full stop. One name stood out to Vincent as an opportunity to start something new, although it brought with it the anxiety of the dreams and stories that might unfold from this new path. 

"My demonic nature binds me to souls, sparking an innate curiosity about what sets them apart and what their ultimate destinies are. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get that answer, not even from my dear grimoire, which either stays silent or says things like, 'Pillar, you neither have the authority nor the capacity to bear such knowledge,' or some similar nonsense." It annoyed him. But what if I investigate on my own? I already have access to so many souls, don't I? The idea tempted him, but before starting any arbitrary, questionable experiments, his sensible side won out. 

Besides this futile goal for the future, there was a real need to acquire souls, growing and expanding his influence over people. The power of souls is extraordinary; their energy is what I've been extracting as demonic essence. A soul is shaped by experiences and actions, and it's their sinful deeds that create the corrupt energy in their soul, which I then convert into demonic essence. This process had sustained him so far, but it was incredibly taxing, and he needed a more efficient method. He had discovered that he could feed on this energy much more conveniently and directly with souls that were linked to him. After finalizing his plans, he ran his finger over a name, thinking of a face, and whispered, "I have great hopes, Helena Voyfrir."

 "Well, maybe later..." he yawned, settling back into the grass, letting the warm sunlight caress his skin. Soon, his adopted sisters would wake up, and he certainly couldn't relax like this for long. If they get too annoying, I can always challenge them to the classic older sibling game: 'Let's bet on who falls asleep first!' 

'There's nothing better than lazily basking in the morning sun,' he thought with a mischievous grin, then chuckled with a hint of sarcasm. "And all that stuff about demons not enjoying the sun? Pure church propaganda... don't believe everything they tell you."

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A/n:

Hello to those who are still here and interested in how the story is going. I've been stalling quite a bit. This is a story I've wanted to write for two years now, and I think about it every day: about what I want to tell and how to tell it. I have the ideas in my head, but unfortunately, I barely have time to write – life stuff, work, family, volleyball...

I apologize for my slow updates.

I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter.

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About the future of the story

I'm working on a time skip for the events at Hogwarts. I think this is the part of the story I most want to write and also the most challenging. After all, I don't just want to retell Harry's adventures and his famous villain, Voldemort. There are already plenty of good fanfics of that kind. My plan is to focus on Vincent's adventures, his rise, and life at the "most secure School of Magic in the world." Furthermore, I want to expand the story to the wizarding world in general, something that always attracted me to Fantastic Beasts, and also the reason why I've completed Hogwarts Legacy several times. I really love the wizarding world. Or, at least, that was the original plan.

I'm facing some problems with the writing, which has been quite frustrating due to my inexperience, but it's part of the process. However, it has been discouraging me from continuing the story. The issue of Vincent's demonic powers and the power imbalance is tricky to handle. If I were to rewrite it, I think I'd prefer to leave Vincent as a pure wizard. Mixing power systems quickly unbalances the story, something especially noticeable in fanfics like Dimensional Chat or Multiverse Stories. While I enjoy reading that type of story, they usually have a common problem: they end up basically killing the potential of the original world, even though they make up for it with the exploration of a multiverse. But that can be frustrating at times because we want to explore and see more of a single world.

I feel the same issue with Vincent. Depending on how I scale his evolution, he would become extremely powerful, and that would kill the ability of the Harry Potter world to offer any real danger or threat to Vincent, unless I bring in something from outside the story and expand it, for example, Demonic or Angelic Lord enemies coming from celestial or demonic dimensions. That wasn't my plan, and continuing to force an overly unbalanced character could lead to slice-of-life plots or stories focused on secondary characters, taking the narrative focus away from Vincent. While that could be fun too, it's not what I want for the story. That's the challenge for stories with powers or magic. They need to be well-balanced.

Now, I'll follow what I think the story truly needs. Unfortunately, this means I'll lose some opportunities to explore the mysteries of the Harry Potter world more slowly. However, it will give me a sharper focus to finish the story.

That's what I wanted to share with you. Thank you to everyone who's followed the story so far. I hope to continue and give it a proper ending. I hope you keep following along!