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***
After a moment, Vespera spoke again: "We shall begin with a Hogwarts classic—at least according to your father's stories. It is a simple Dark Arts spell. It isn't directly life-threatening, but it is certainly unpleasant and humiliating for the victim. The spell is called Furnunculus. It causes painful acne and boils at the point of impact; their size and extent depend on your will and magical power. The beam is a deep gold color."
With a wave of her wand, she summoned a rune-covered mannequin from the corner of the room, which looked chillingly realistic. Vespera stepped toward it and, with a swift, routine motion of her wand, made a small nick on her finger. When the first drop of blood appeared, she smeared it onto the wooden surface of the dummy.
The wood soaked up the blood instantly. The runes on its chest flared with a bright light, and the mannequin jerked as if life had entered it. After a brief tremor, it finally settled into a fighting stance.
"This is our family training tool. Any damage you deal to it will regenerate almost instantly. On this dummy, you will see the exact same effects you would see on a living person," she explained, stepping aside with a solemn expression. "Go ahead, Patrik."
I aimed my yew wand at the mannequin. In my mind, I vividly conjured the most repulsive, boil-ridden face I could imagine, and shouted with concentration:
"Furnunculus!"
A deep gold beam shot from the tip of my wand and hit the mannequin with a smack. It stumbled slightly under the impact. At that same moment, disgusting, festering boils and swollen acne began to erupt across its face. However, I had accidentally overpowered the spell—within seconds, clusters of enormous blisters formed on the mannequin, growing over one another until its features were completely deformed. It looked more like some mutated plague than mere teenage breakouts.
Vespera watched the carnage in silence for a moment, then looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
"Unless your goal is to kill someone outright through shock or suffocation, use a bit less magic next time, Patrik," she remarked dryly, though there was a hint of approval in her voice.
It took only a few seconds for the mannequin to fully regenerate, its surface becoming smooth once more.
"Furnunculus!" I cast again, but this time I made sure to put significantly less will and power into the wand.
The dummy stumbled again, and pussy blisters began to form on its face. The result was much more realistic—it looked like an unfortunate fifteen-year-old lad with exceptionally aggressive acne. It was no longer the deadly mutation from the previous attempt.
"You have a natural talent for the Dark Arts," Vespera stated flatly, though a spark of recognition flickered in her eyes. As soon as the mannequin pulled itself together, she moved to the next step: "Next is the stinging jinx, Aculeus. It causes sharp pain and swelling, like a bee sting. Naturally, the extent of the damage changes according to your focus. It's another Hogwarts classic, mostly used by students to practice reflexes during duels."
"Aculeus!" This time, a bright purple beam erupted from my yew wand. It hit the mannequin square in the chest, and a red, angry swelling immediately began to form at the point of impact.
Vespera remained silent for a moment, watching the dummy regenerate. "Hm... every spell on the first try?" she asked, seemingly more to herself than to me, her voice tinged with respect.
"We shall move on to something more difficult now. We have Os Frangere. A white-grey beam that breaks the bone exactly at the point of impact," Vespera announced, stepping back.
I didn't wait around. My confidence was at an all-time high after my previous successes. I aimed and gave my wand a sharp flick.
"Os Frangere!"
The promised white-grey beam shot from the wand's tip and struck the mannequin with a dull thud. It knocked it back a meter, but in the silence of the training hall, I didn't hear that expected dry snap of breaking bone. As soon as the dummy mechanically stood back up, it was clear to me that the spell had failed. The wood remained intact.
"Os Frangere!" I tried again. Again, just a dull impact, nothing more.
"Os Frangere!" A third failure.
"Os Frangere!" "Os Frangere!" "Os Frangere!"
For more than an hour, I unsuccessfully attempted the Os Frangere spell. Meanwhile, Vespera sat peacefully in the corner of the room with a slight smile on her face, as if she had all the time in the world, while I fought a desperate battle with my own magic. First, I focused purely on the image of a broken bone; later, I tried hatred and the desire to cause pain. Nothing worked.
After two hours, I felt like slapping my forehead out of frustration. Sweat trickled down my temples, but I refused to give up. Suddenly, it clicked—with more demanding spells, it isn't enough to fix the mind on just one thing.
I took a deep breath and fused both emotions together: the image of the physical break and the burning desire to hurt. "OS FRANGERE!" I yelled, now genuinely angry.
A white-grey beam shot from the wand and slammed into the mannequin with a dull smack. In the silence of the hall, the dry, loud crack of wood echoed instantly.
Finally! Although some spells took me considerably longer at Hogwarts (mainly due to limited magical capacity), here I had my aunt, who forced me to go to the very limit. With a triumphant smile, I turned to her: "Right, what's next on the list?" I asked confidently.
Vespera, however, just laughed with amusement and shook her head.
"No more spells, Patrik. You haven't mastered it yet. Your blast had raw power, but the break wasn't clean... the bone was crushed, not broken. You must improve your will and precision. Again!"
I spent the rest of the day trying to master this spell. The reality was that I was putting too much magical power into it, but my will wasn't precise enough, which is why such a detailed effect was giving me such a hard time. I realized that the more power I wasted unnecessarily, the faster I would exhaust myself. I had to learn precision. It was fine for now, but in the future, I would pay the price if I had to use excessive amounts of magic for every demanding spell.
By dinner time, I felt my magical capacity was nearly at its end. I marveled at Vespera, how she just sat there and patiently watched my efforts. I would certainly have been bored—watching someone drill a single spell for hours. However, it warmed my heart.
Vespera finally interrupted me with a cough: "That's enough, Patrik, that will do for today. Let's have dinner." With a wave of her wand, she deactivated the mannequin and sent it back to its place.
***
Over dinner, Vespera explained how wizards perceive Yule and Christmas. It turned out that Muggle Christmas traditions had partially seeped into our community, and the more pragmatic pure-blood families didn't have a problem with it. Since I grew up in a Muggle orphanage, she didn't want to overwhelm me right away with unfamiliar terms tied to the solstice celebrations.
Most pure-blood families celebrate Yule between December 21st and 31st. Each family usually has a private celebration to honor their ancestors. Originally, gifts weren't given, but when Christmas customs spread, the pure-bloods adopted some of them—like gift-giving. The heads of the families liked the idea of being able to give presents to their loved ones, and so the custom became established in history.
At the same time, we received an invitation to a formal ball held on December 31st at the Malfoys'—meaning at the home of my Aunt Narcissa and cousin Draco. It was funny to realize that Draco was my actual cousin, not just some distant relative twice removed. However, I didn't feel like going to a ball and showing off while I was still aware of my weaknesses. I was still young, inexperienced, and undertrained in the wizarding world. Furthermore, there was still a Trace on my magic. Although it wouldn't be active within the Malfoy manor, if something went south and I had to disappear suddenly, I didn't want to take unnecessary risks.
Vespera was visibly pleased by my decision. She took it as me wanting to spend time only with her, and she was glad that after all these years, she wouldn't be honoring our ancestors alone. We planned to go Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley tomorrow. As if it were nothing, she handed me a thousand Galleons to buy gifts. I couldn't help it and had to ask about the family finances. She explained that as an underage member of the house and heir, I had an annual limit of a thousand Galleons—money intended for fun and trifles. All major expenses, such as robes, books, or other equipment, are covered by the adult members of the house directly from the family vault.
***
After dinner, I decided on some self-study; the Codex Ritualis had been drawing me in for a long time. However, the translation from Old English was problematic and, in the case of rituals, downright extremely dangerous. Why? To put it simply: rituals are, so to speak, an exchange. A ritual will grant you permanent effects, but in an uneven exchange, it can kill you, disfigure you, or otherwise harm you for life. A tiny mistake is all it takes, and the consequences are staggering. At least, that's how the world-renowned author of the book, Morgana Le Fay, explained it.
I translated the theoretical part four times just to be safe. I had to be absolutely sure; I certainly didn't plan on letting myself get killed through my own carelessness. In the book, Morgana discussed the theory and listed several rituals she had invented herself. They weren't any extremely dark practices, no sacrificing kittens or children... An adult Muggle? Yes, but I didn't view that as particularly tragic. After all, there were some very bad Muggles who deserved to die in pain.
I also came across an interesting thought: Morgana Le Fay was convinced that Parseltongue was acquired through a ritual. According to her, it wasn't a case of some ancestor of a house founder deciding to hook up with a magical snake. She theoretically noted that all it takes to gain this ability is a magical snake, the right ingredients, and precise Arithmancy calculations.
She acknowledged, however, that the founders of Parselmouth families certainly didn't sacrifice just one reptile. They managed to bind this ability directly to the family blood. They must have sacrificed countless snakes—both magical and ordinary—and undoubtedly humans as well. It must have been a bloody and monumental ritual to have maintained itself in the bloodline for entire millennia.
According to the history I studied, Morgana had the ability to speak with various animals in their own tongue, so I had no reason to disbelieve her. Muggles might have thought Merlin or Morgana were just myths, but in our world, they were written into history in blood.
The very first ritual in the book seemed perfect for my needs: Clǣnsung sāwle and līchaman. In Latin, I identified it as Ritus purgationis animae et carnis—The Ritual of Purification of Soul and Body.
In case you're wondering what exactly this ritual does, it's exactly what I was looking for: a complete cleansing of the body, mind, and magical core from foreign traces of magic. It was the key to shaking off that foreign spell that hit me during the traditional boat ride to Hogwarts. I assumed it was a form of tracking—the so-called "Trace"—so the Ministry would know about every use of magic by young wizards in the Muggle world.
If you're interested in the difficulty and ingredients? Ha! It's completely simple and commonly available in every household. According to Morgana, everyone should master this ritual and perform it every year as a preventive measure.
Nothing more is needed than a wooden bowl of clean water, a pinch of salt, a white candle, and a wand.
Since it was a basic ritual, no special day or specific hour was required. Why was it so simple? Because the effect was a one-time thing and really everyone had the ingredients at hand at home. I decided to perform it immediately. Why wait? I was sure I had translated the text correctly, and since the ingredients were nothing exceptional, I saw no risk in it.
"Jobo!" I called the house-elf.
He appeared in my room an instant later with a soft pop, bowed low, and waited for instructions.
"Jobo, please bring me a wooden bowl with clean water, a pinch of salt on a tray, and one white candle," I commanded. As soon as the elf heard the word "please," his eyes glistened with emotion, and he bowed even lower until his ears touched the floor.
"Right away, young master," he blurted out and vanished.
It didn't even take a minute before Jobo was back. I motioned for him to place the items directly on the desk.
"Thank you, you may go," I said with a smile. Have I mentioned that I love elves? They were the most useful beings in the world.
Jobo bowed deeply once more and vanished with a soft pop. I had everything I needed, and you know what the best part was? My room was huge and luxuriously furnished. I had my personal library, a large high-quality desk for studying, and a brutally comfortable chair to go with it. And the bed? A double king-size, which will definitely come in handy in the future. I also had free space in the room for whatever I set my mind to. That space was probably originally intended for children's toys, since my room was for heirs, but now it served me. Overall, it was about the size of my apartment in my previous life. Seriously luxurious. The only thing I was missing was a computer and World of Warcraft, which won't be in circulation for another thirteen years. At least, I think that's when Vanilla came out... but I digress!
Let's get to the ritual. We have the space, we have the ingredients, and we have the know-how.
***
Author's note:
In this chapter, Patrik finally begins his practical training under Aunt Vespera's watchful eye. I've tried to capture the fine line between his natural talent and his lack of experience, which becomes evident during his struggle with the Os Frangere curse.
We are also diving into the theory of rituals, which in this story aren't just about "wand-waving," but involve real costs and risks as defined by Morgana Le Fay.
***
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Upcoming Chapters:
23. Of Euphoria and Gifts
24. Blood, Ash, and Roses
25. Cousins and Choices
26. The General in Training
27. SaD:Shadows of the Past