Revelations
Nefarian Serpine had a visitor. He knew it had only been a matter of time, but he honestly expected this sooner. The Hollow Men bowed deeply as he walked through his castle. They were cheap imitations of life, but up close, one could tell how fake they were. Their papery skin was expressionless, and they stank from the foul gases that animated them. Only their hands and feet were solid, weighing them down with a slight slump, and causing them to move awkwardly. Still, they made for decent servants and foot soldiers, if nothing else.
As he approached the main hall, their numbers increased. He could see that they crowded their vistor, while also allowing for space as to not seem threatening. Not like Hollow Men were a threat for his visitor. Mr Bliss was notoriously hard to put down. He had tried himself in the war, in the middle of a hurricane no less. Still, Nefarian didn’t feel threatened just yet. Peace was so hard to maintain after all, only the skeleton would be willing to break the truce he had struck.
“Mr Bliss” Nefarian spoke politely. It would do to be rude, he had an image to maintain after all. “I had heard you were dead. I didn’t quite believe it though. I’m glad to see I was right.”
The bored look on the imposing man never faded. “Yes, well I did start that rumour myself. I was hoping it would make people leave me alone in my retirement. Unfortunately, that seems to have failed.”
Serpine motioned for his Hollow Men to leave them, and guided his guest to his drawing room. “Can I offer you a drink? Or is it too early?”
“I’m here on Elder business. Their worried, Serpine.” Bliss said, clearly he wanted this meeting over with quickly.
Serpine gave him a smile. “When are they not?”
“The Elders called me in because, as of 5 days ago, Clement Gale and Alexander Slake went missing.”
“Since I don’t recognise those names, I can only assume they were to spy on me?”
“They were sent to observe you, from time to time. The Elders thought it wise to keep an eye on any of Mevolent’s followers, to make sure no-one strayed from the terms of the truce. You were always the top name on the list.”
“Well, I can assure you I had nothing to do with their disappearance. I am a man of peace and knowledge these days.”
“You seek secrets.”
“Come now. You make me sound so sinister. I’m sure they will turn up safe and well, and you’ll be able to enjoy your retirement.”
“They were found dead yesterday. No indication on how they died at all. Sound familiar?”
Serpine arched an eyebrow and held up his gloved hand. “You mean this? I can admit, during the war, this hand was very useful. But I haven’t used it in years. It used to be such a blessing, but now it’s a curse. I can assure you, I am ashamed of my many mistakes under Mevolent’s influence. I now use this hand as a reminder of the sort of man I was.” Serpine was very close to losing his composure and bursting into laughter, but he just managed to hold it.
Mr Bliss studied him, as if he was trying to read his thoughts. “Thank you for your cooperation.” Bliss said, before turning to leave.
Serpine waited for him to be at the door before he spoke. “The Elders must be scared. I wonder why they sent you and not the detective. Or even his little assistant. Now him I would like to meet. Perhaps they thought I would be intimidated?”
“Skulduggery Pleasant and Corvus Black are on another case. If you must know. They thought you would listen to me. The truce will only hold as long as both sides will it. The Elders wish for the truce to hold.”
“That sounds nice.”
“Be careful Nefarian. You might not like what’s at the end of this road.”
Serpine smiled. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a drink?”
“No. I have a meeting in London.”
“Well, perhaps another time.”
Mr Bliss nodded his head in a small bow, and left.
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Stephanie groaned as the first few rays of sunlight broke over the horizon. They were in the Bentley, driving towards Skulduggery’s regular garage,, to drop the car off for repairs. Corvus had already cast a repair spell at the car, which had repaired the outside of the car and the inside of the cab, but he had explained that as he didn’t understand the mechanics of the car, so the engine still rattled awfully and was clearly in dire need of deeper repairs.
“Damn it. I need to get back to Gordon’s house. Mum’s going to be there soon.” Stephanie said, worriedly.
She heard Corvus groan from the backseat, where he had crashed out as soon as he entered the car, roughly an hour ago. “Yeah, I figured that would be the case. I’ll get you back, but as soon as I do, I’ll be completely drained. Do you mind if I sleep at your house? He said, groggily.
“I have a feeling my Mum won’t like a strange boy being in her house.” She replied, slightly confused.
Corvus snorted softly behind her. “I meant Gordon’s house. But I’d never say no to a sleepover with you” he said with a wink and a weak grin. He was clearly exhausted but he seemed in high spirits. She could feel the slight heat on her face and knew she was blushing.
“Do you flirt with every girl you meet?” she said, attempting to glare at him.
“Nope, just you. If you don’t like it, just day so and I’ll stop.” He looked at her with tired eyes. He looked so exhausted and weak but he was looking into her eyes with a deep intensity that made her shiver. She felt even hotter, was thankfully saved from replying when Skulduggery groaned painfully.
“Just listening to you two love birds hurt.” He groaned as he pulled up to the side of the road. She felt like her face was going to explode from the heat in her face. She attempted to splutter something out, but all that came out was an unintelligible mess of noises. She had never been so embarrassed! Corvus chuckled.
“Come on Steph, let’s leave the grumpy bones to whimper over his precious car.” He said, as he opened the door and climbed out.
“Thank you, Skulduggery. I’ll see you later?”
“I suppose you will. I have a feeling that you’re one of us now.”
She smiled brightly, the last of her blush fading as she got out of the car. The Bentley rattled and groaned as it drove off down the road. She watched it for a moment before it disappeared around a bend. “So” Corvus said beside her, holding out his hand. “Ready to go home?”
“I’m not going to be left behind, am I? You’re not going to try and protect me by trying to keep me out of this life?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. You clearly belong in the magical world.” He wiggled his fingers.
Stephanie forced a put-upon sigh, and took his hand. An inky black wall formed in front of them, and Corvus walked through. Stephanie allowed herself to be pulled through the darkness, and as soon as she did, she found herself inside of a bedroom in Gordon’s house. This was one of the rooms that she had found when investigating the house, but had never understood why it was here. She had her own room for when Gordon had her to stay the night. She assumed this must have been Corvus’ room for the same reason. She went to ask him, but when she looked at him, he was deep asleep on the bed. His coat was receding back inside of him in shadowy wisps, leaving him in his black jeans and a form fitted black with a tan leather holster strapped to his chest. She smiled softly to herself and grabbed a blanket from the closet to drape over him. There were clothes in there, many sizes too small to fit him now. It had clearly been a while since he had last stayed in the house.
She took one last look at his sleeping form, and crept out of the room as softly as she could. She had only just made it downstairs, when the front doorbell sounded. Opening the door, she saw her mother there, eyeing her oddly.
“You look like you haven’t slept at all.” Her mother said, soundly slightly worried.
“Oh thanks mum!” She said, trying not to sound as tired as she felt.
“Are you alright?”
“Perfectly fine. Just stayed up too late on the phone.” She said, a slight smile on her face.
“To a boy?” her mother asked, with an eyebrow raised. She tried not to think about Corvus and what he said in the car. But her mother gasped and she knew she was blushing.
“Oh my god it was!” She sounded positively excited. Yay. “You can tell me all about him in the car.”
“I’d prefer to sleep.”
“Tough. This is your punishment for staying up too late. You can sleep when we’re home.”
This was going to be the longer hour of her life.
An hour later, she didn’t realise how right she had been. Her mother had asked all sorts of questions, from where she had met this mysterious boy, to where he went to school. She had tried to be evasive in her answers, but her sleep deprived brain betrayed her and she slipped up.
“So, you’ve been speaking to Corvus.” Her mother said slowly, as if to not upset her.
“You make that sound like that’s a bad thing.”
“No,” she hesitated, as if picking her words. “It’s just that Gordon had some very strange friends. Like that Skulduggery fellow. And to find out that this Corvus was Gordon’s godson? Well, we never heard anything. And Gordon would rave about you to anyone, surely he would be the same about this boy too.”
“I’m sure there’s a good reason for all that. Corvus hasn’t told me anything outright but, Skulduggery is his guardian. I think his parents are dead, or they gave him up, and he has had to get past it all. I know he wants to stay in contact. So we can see how things go?” she said, hoping to stop her mum from worrying.
“Maybe. I’d like to get to know him. If only because I want to judge him for myself. I trust you, but sometimes you don’t know who you can actually trust.”
The rest of the car ride was quiet after that, and went straight to her room, removed her jeans and went straight to sleep. She was very rudely awoken by her mother’s loud laughter. Checking her clock, it was midday. She had only been asleep 5 hours! She didn’t stop to think about why her mother was home, she simply threw her duvet off of herself and stormed downstairs. She wasn’t exactly a morning person. She could manage on less sleep than others and had no trouble getting up in the morning, but there was a brief window of time, where she wasn’t the nicest person to be around. That normally lasted on 20 minutes. Far too long for her to stop and think about giving her mum a piece of her mind for waking her so early.
Any muffled talking stopped as she approached the door. Good. Bursting open the door, she stomped into the room, only for her brain to short-circuit. The reason for this? Corvus Black was sat at the kitchen table, with her mother. Her eyes widened as she saw Corvus try to cover a snort and quickly look away from her. It was then that she realised her current state of dress. Nothing was covering her lower half other than her slightly baggy t-shirt, and her hair was probably more messy than his. She very quickly turned on her heel, and fled to the upstairs bathroom. Either to die of embarrassment or get ready. She didn’t care which right now. She could hear their laughter from beneath her. She was never going to live this down, was she?
A few minutes later, she was finally dressed and presentable. She wasn’t exactly ready to face them, but dragging it out would only make it worse. Squaring her shoulders, she walked into the kitchen, with her head held high, trying to look as graceful as possible. Nothing would shatter this image. Nothing.
“I thought you looked beautiful before, but seeing you first thing in the morning? That was a real treat.” Corvus said, with a stupid grin on his stupid face. She stumbled a bit at those words, knowing she was blushing madly.
“You can’t say things like that! My mum’s right there!” she exclaimed, pointing at her mother.
“Ah, but I asked Melissa’s permission first.” And if possible, his grin grew wider. She finally looked at her mother, and saw the battle she was having with herself. Clearly losing, she started belly laughing so hard that she was crying. Traitor! Huffing, and turning to make herself a cup of tea. She needed something to do, so she wouldn’t explode at the pair of them.
When she finally felt like she could talk properly, she turned to Corvus with an eyebrow raised. “So, what are you doing here?”
“I might have borrowed your phone to invite him.” Her mother said. She was even more traitorous than she thought. “After finding out Gordon hid him, I just had to find out why.”
She knew that would happen eventually, she just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. “So why did Gordon hide you?”
“Well, it started out as a small prank. The amount of times I was there at the same time as you guys is hilarious.” Corvus said, a nostalgic smile on his face. “After a while, he wanted me to meet you all. I wanted to keep it going until we were caught.”
“How many times were we close to finding out?”
Corvus started chuckling. “A few. There was one time that we were in the same room Steph, I really thought it was over then.”
“Wait, when was that?”
“Do you remember when Gordon had the transcript for the first ‘Harry Potter’ book? When he said he had to speak to his editor, and he was taking too long?” Stephanie nodded. It was one of the times her uncle was being weird with her. “I was in the room. He was asking me permission to use my likeness as inspiration for the books. Surprise, I’m Harry Potter.” He explained with a wink.
That took Stephanie by surprise. So all those adventures must have been his. “So, are James, Lily and Sirius real.”
Corvus went quiet for a moment. There was a small smile on his face but it was bittersweet. “Yes. James and Lily were my parents, and Sirius was my godfather.”
The room was quiet for a moment, neither Stephanie nor her mother wanted to break the silence. They were both surprised by Corvus snorting. “You can ask, you know. I can see the question in your eyes.”
Both Stephanie and Melissa flushed slightly at being caught out. Her mother surprised her by speaking first though. “So, what did happen?” she asked softly.
Corvus reclined in his seat slightly. “My parents were murdered when I was little over one. Someone broke in and killed my dad, while my mother was putting me down for bed. My mother was then killed in front of me. She gave as good as she took though. Managed to heavily wound him before he could get me too. He died from his injuries, shortly after my mum did.” His voice had cracked a lot through his explanation. She knew that what he had said couldn’t be the full truth. But she could tell it was as close as her mother would get.
“But where is Sirius in all this? Why isn’t he taking care of you?” Her mum asked.
“Ah, that one I don’t know. All I know is the night after my parents died, I was dumped on my mum sister’s doorstep. I’ll skip over all that because they really aren’t worth the wasted breath.” Both Steph and her mum glanced at each other at that. Clearly, it wasn’t good memories he was glossing over.
“So, skip to the 1st of June 2001, I was left abandoned somewhere in Ireland. I’m not even sure where, and I happened to run in to Skulduggery. He took me to the authorities, they handled my relatives and then he took me in. I’ve been living with him since. I met Gordon, quite literally, the day after Skul took me in. He arranged for me to be home schooled. Good thing too. I’ve managed to fully complete compulsory education standards thanks to him.”
There was a lot there to process. “Wait. You have completely finished all education?”
“That’s what you took from that?”
“It’s the part I’m focusing on.”
“Fair enough. Yes, I finished compulsory education last year. Completely tested out of needing to go to school. I did tell you I am a detective, right?” He said with a smirk.
“I thought you were joking! Or that you helped Skulduggery with his cases or something!”
“That’s how it started.” He said as he pulled something out of his pocket. He laid it open on the table. “Assistant Detective, Corvus Black, at your service. I’m signed off to take cases on my own, but I’m not allowed access to serial killer or potential terrorist cases. Simply down to my age. I do also do freelance stuff as well sometimes. Doesn’t come up much though, no-one trusts a kid to figure out something an adult couldn’t.
“So, you’re a genius then?” Her mother said. She had been quiet through most of that, but she didn’t seem wary right now. Surprised and blown away, yes.
“I suppose so. I was punished a lot for doing better than my cousin when I was younger. Had to purposely fail a lot of the time. He really was a dense as bricks. The trick to doing bad in school on purpose though, is to already know all the answers.”
“You’ve really had it hard, haven’t you?” her mum said. She sounded like her heart was breaking for him.
Corvus just shrugged. “It’s not all bad. My brain’s weird, so I have some memories of my parents and Sirius, and if everything hadn’t happened how it did, I never would have met Gordon or Skulduggery. I never would have gotten this job where I can help people. I think I made out alright in the end.”
Her mother gave him a slightly watery smile. “You’re very mature for your age. Well, our door will always be open for you. Maybe you can be a good influence on this one.” She said, pointing at Stephanie.
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t storm downstairs in my underwear.” He said with a chuckle. That broke the tension in the room, and she felt her face grow hot. She would get him for this. Somehow. Corvus suddenly got up. “Well, I should make a move. I’m actually on a case at the moment. It was lovely meeting you properly, Mrs Edgley.”
Her mother moved to see him out. “None of that. It’s Melissa to you. You’re Gordon’s godson, that’s as good as family.”
She could see the small, genuine smile from where she was. Her mother had probably just made his day. “Thank you, Melissa. Steph, I’ll see you around sometime?” She nodded, and heard him and her mother move to the front door, where after a moment, she heard it shut. A moment later, her mother marched right up to her, and pulled her into a tight embrace. “What brought that on?” she asked her mother, who was rather suspiciously wiping her face.
“I love you. You know that right?” her mother said, with full seriousness on her face.
“Well, yeah. I love you too, but-“ she was cut off by her mother pushing her to arm’s length, but still holding her by her shoulders.
“He might never have heard his mum or dad tell him that they love him. And he certainly never got to tell them that.” That sent her heart dropping into her stomach. She hadn’t even thought of that.
They sat in each others company for a few minutes, before remembered she had some things to do in town that day. Heading up to her room to grab her phone, she was surprised to see a crow on her window. A specific crow with green eyes. Sighing, she opened to window and tried to discreetly hide some of the mess on her floor, under her bed. Judging by the laughter like caw the bird let out, she didn’t succeed. The bird landed on her bed, and in a blink of an eye, Corvus was sat there, a small smirk on his face.
“You didn’t see anything.”
Corvus raised his hands in mock surrender. “Of course not. I had quite the eyeful already.”
Ignoring the comment, she asked, “What’s the plan today then?”
“Well. To start, we need to go to Doctor Grouse’s. He has the equipment we need to even know where to begin with your training. Then we will have to meet with Skul. He needs to go see someone about the Ancients, and is without a car until tomorrow.”
“So he needs you to take him?”
“Bingo.” He suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper with a drawing on it and a piece of chalk. “Before we go, do you have a full length mirror?”
Opening her wardrobe, she revealed her mirror. “Good. Draw this on the glass. Then I’ll give you a spell to do.”
She was suddenly very giddy, and happily complied. The symbol itself look a bit like an eye, with pointy bits, there was also a symbol inside what looked like the pupil of the eye. When she finished, she turned to Corvus, who had been sat watching her closely. “What’s next?”
“Are you one hundred percent sure it’s correct? Any mistakes will have unforeseen effects on the spell.”
She double checked her drawing against the one Corvus gave her. It looked right to her. Nodding, he handed another slip of paper. “You just need to read it out, whilst focusing on the centre of the smaller symbol. Then, it should work.”
Shrugging to herself, she recited the words. “Reflection copy, reflection feel, reflection live, reflection real.” She waited a moment, but nothing seemed to happen. She looked to Corvus, who was studying her intently. “Did I do it wrong?”
He kept looking at her, before he suddenly seemed to snap back to himself. “No, you did it perfectly. Now clean the mirror and then tap it with your index finger.”
Complying once more, she cleaned the mirror before tapping it with her finger. When she pulled her hand away though, he reflection didn’t move. It blinked a few times, before steeping out of her mirror. She stood there open mouthed, as her reflection looked around her room, before locking eyes with Corvus. “Did you create me?” her reflection asked him. It was weird, hearing her voice how others do.
Corvus studied her reflection intently. “I edited the spell, it gives you a better sense of who you are mimicking. You will have access to all of Stephanie’s memories and emotions, to be able to live her normal life, when she can not be around. Is that acceptable?”
“Of course, thank you.”
Stephanie couldn’t take it anymore. “What the hell is going on?!” She exclaimed.
“Stephanie, meet your reflection. She will be able to fill in for you, while you live out all your magical adventures. Reflection Stephanie, meet your original. She is the only person, whose orders you should follow without question. Only people she authorises, will be able to give you commands, but you will reject them, if they would blow your cover or reveal magic. Depending on the urgency, you can make the decision to do what you see is best.”
“Uh, right. Um, Stephanie? Please only take orders from me and Corvus, uh, until I authorise other people.”
“Of course” her reflection said with a nod.
“Right. Please, uh, do whatever I would do normally do.”
The reflection nodded again, and went over to her desk and pulled out studying material. She turned to Corvus who was already looking at her. “Ready to go?”
She nodded, and he took her hand as he opened a portal, and they both stepped through in unison.
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Corvus stepped through the portal first, grinning to himself. As Stephanie followed his through, he turned to look at her. She was looking around with a slight frown on her face. “Why are we in a run down cinema?”
“What’s rule one of magic?” Corvus said, grin twitching slightly in anticipation.
“Nothing is as it seems. Ok, so where’s this Doctor?”
“You’re going to love this” he said, and turned, walking towards the screen room that lead to the lab. He could hear Stephanie walking just behind him and couldn’t wait to see her reaction. The way to Doctor Grouse’s was his favourite show of magic. Nothing he could do would ever come close to being as cool as this in his opinion.
Finally making it to the room, he maintained his stride as he entered. The reel projector spluttered to life and the screen lit up with the image of the lab. He heard Stephanie slow down, clearly not sure where they were going. He walked up to the door on the screen, opened it and walked through. He waited in the entrance hall for a few moments so he could see her face when she walked in. He was not disappointed. The sheer excitement on her face made his grin turn to a true smile. He hoped magic would always have this sort of reaction for her. He knew he was still excited by the flashy or cool stuff.
“What’d you think? Cool right?” he said, tension leaving his shoulders that he didn’t even know he had.
“So cool. How does that even work?”
“Ah. Well that is so complicated, that it would fly over your head at the moment. Maybe once you’ve trained for-“
“You have no idea, do you?”
“Not in the slightest.” He grinned.
Their banter was cut short by someone clearing their throat behind him. Doctor Grouse stood there, watching him with a slight frown. That wasn’t a look that had been directed at him before.
“As lovely as it is to see you Corvus, I didn’t take you to be the sort to drag others into magic. I would have thought you would know how dangerous this life can be.” He said, slightly frustrated but not unkindly.
“To be fair, I was targeted by someone with magic. Corvus saved me, twice in one night.” Stephanie said, coming to his aid.
“And I suppose that it’s all been exciting and fun, when your life hasn’t been in danger?” the old man shot back.
“Well, yes. My life was so boring and felt empty before. But now things happen and I’ve been shown things I could believe. I wouldn’t go back, even if I could.” Stephanie retorted passionately.
Corvus decided to jump in before things could get heated. “Besides, she’s a wizard.” That made Kenspecle splutter his next argument.
“What did you say?” he asked, incredulous.
“She’s the same as me. She could read Merlin’s book, Doc. No-one from this dimension, mundane or not, could read anything that was protected. The bits you read, were translatable. Merlin intended for someone to read those parts. Everything else, should be legible to anyone but me.”
Doctor Grouse was quiet for a few moments. “There’s no way you can make sure she could have a normal, safe life?”
“Even if she wasn't a wizard, she is a target in this case. The best thing, would be for her to be able to defend herself.”
“...fine. I assume you want the same test as you had?”
“And to borrow the focus orb you have. That should make her magic a bit more reactive.”
Doctor Grouse nodded. He still looked grumpy, but he knew he wouldn’t win this one.
“Meet me in test lab one in ten minutes. I’ll have everything set up there.” He said as he turned and started walking away. “And Corvus. Despite my worries, I’m happy for you.” With that, he continued on his way.
“Well, we have some time. How about you tell me your story now. Including what you couldn’t tell my mum.” Stephanie said. He could see from the look on her face, that she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Alright. I guess to start with, I don’t have weird brain. Doctor Grouse has a device that can allow you unlock subconscious memories. The only memory I had of my parents was a dream I used to have of my mother dying. He unlocked the full thing. A wizard came to my home and killed my parents, and then tried to kill me, but my magic reacted and a portal opened in front of me, causing his spell to hit himself. Sirius also used a magical adoption on me, making him a second father to me by way of magic. He was spelled by another old wizard into abandoning me for revenge on whoever sold out my parents. That’s what I couldn’t say to your mother.” He said. It still hurt to think about what happened, but he had moved on. He would never forget them or their sacrifice and would always live to make them proud, but he wouldn’t dwell on what he couldn’t change.
“That’s horrible.” Stephanie whispered. She stopped for a second, clearly piecing something together. “Wait, so your mum and dad were actually James and Lily Potter?”
“Yep” Corvus said, popping the ‘p’. “My given name is Harry James Potter. Nice to officially meet you” He said with a wink.
“So all those stories Gordon wrote about were actually your cases, with your family mixed in?”
“The greatest gift anyone ever gave me.” Corvus said, completely seriously.
“Alright then. So come on then. Tell me your story and how you got here.”
Corvus sighed deeply. “Ok, just so you know, it isn’t a happy story until the day I got here. After the other wizard, his name is Dumbledore by the way. Don’t ask, I think it’s a stupid name too. After he tricked Sirius, he had me left on the doorstep or my mother’s sister. Petunia Dursley, her husband Vernon and their son Dudley, were who I grew up around until I was 6. I was only 15 months when I was left with them, and from day one I was treated with distain at best. They knew about magic, and hated anything that didn’t fit their narrow view of ‘normal’. My hair was enough to set them off. I don’t know if you noticed, but it always looks like I just rolled out of bed in a wind tunnel.”
“I like it.” Stephanie said, before even realising that she interrupted him. Her cheeks blushed slightly, but she tried to maintain her composure. “Continue.”
Corvus grinned at her, before sobering quickly, and continuing with his story. “Vernon was always a violent man. I don’t know how old I was when he first hit me, but I remember it happening often. I was made to do chores that I was far too young to manage. If I messed it up, I would be hit. Hell, I didn’t even have a bedroom. I slept on a mouldy old cot mattress, in a cupboard under the stairs. I was ‘taught’ to cook from them when I was 4. They would always find something wrong with the food, even when it was cooked perfectly. I should cook for your family sometime, I reckon you guys would appreciate it.”
She gave him a weak smile and a nod, so he continued. “That was pretty much my life until I was 6. I had been punished heavily for doing better that Dudley in school before, so I always made sure to do worse than him. Unfortunately, him and his little gang liked to beat me when teachers weren’t looking. Once I was running from them and accidentally ended up on the roof. I’m pretty sure I teleported, but I haven’t tested that theory yet. Anyway, one day they were giving me a particularly bad beating and one of the teachers caught it. Unfortunately, they were friends with Petunia, so they accused me of starting it. When I got home, my uncle found out. That beating was the worst yet. I think I was going to die, but my magic reacted. I remember screaming in my mind to escape, and my magic reacted, sending me through a portal as far away as it could. Apparently, that meant through dimensions and I literally launched out of my portal in to Skulduggery. When I first saw him, I thought I had killed him!”
They both chuckled at that last bit, Stephanie’s was a bit weak though. “So then what happened?” Stephanie asked.
Corvus smiled, “I’ll tell you later. Doctor Grouse will be nearly done setting up now. We don’t want to make him wait. Come on” and with that, he started to guide her to lab one. He had never told anyone his full story before, but it felt right to tell Stephanie. It felt good to finally talk about it all.
They arrived, just as Doctor Grouse finished setting up. “There you are. Good. Now, miss. Have you chosen a name yet?”
Stephanie shook her head. “Not yet.”
Doctor Grouse nodded. “Fair enough. Make sure you take your time. You don’t want to be stuck with something embarrassing.” He turned and picked up a familiar bronze stick. “Now, I’m just going to give you a quick scan to check your pathways and to see if you have a core like Corvus suspects.” As he was waving the stick over Stephanie, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I’ll explain all the magic stuff during your training. I’ll know what everything means and if it’s a worry or not.” Corvus said, in answer to the unasked question.
“There, all done. You’re lucky that I updated this after Corvus’ scans. It took 2 hours and a few different tools, far too inefficient. Now, your pathways are perfectly healthy. They have seen some minor use in the past. Nothing major, but it does mean that your pathways are more mature than other beginners. Your core has a different signature to Corvus. Whether that’s normal for wizards, or because you’re from the dimension, I couldn’t tell you. It is clearly smaller than Corvus’, but may grow with use. That does mean that your stamina in casting wizard spell will be far less. Do not attempt to push yourself to do the things he can. You will only hurt yourself.” He was giving her a glare, to which she nodded to seriously.
Getting the reaction he wanted, Doctor Grouse grabbed the magic reader crystal from the table. “Now this will show us your potential in the different branches of magic. All you need to do is hold it, and think the word ‘activate’. It will split into different crystals with different colours and sizes-“
He was cut off by the orb activating. The process was similar to when Corvus had his potential read. There wasn’t as big of an explosion this time, and when the light faded, all the crystals around Stephanie were laid out for them to see.
Corvus conjured a pencil and notepad, making notes of her potential in the branches he recognised. Her necromancy and the four main elements were on par with each other along with a pure white crystal. They were all around the size of a large watermelon. He didn’t expect her to have the same potential in necromancy as him, but was surprised how even they all were. He didn’t even remember having the white one himself. If he did, it was a very small one. A lot of the other branches were similar to his too. Druid magic was almost identical as his. As were her transfiguration and basic charm branch crystals. He didn’t know the rest, but made a point to note down the size and colour. Honestly, she was very well rounded. Exceeding in necromancy, basic elemental and what ever the white one was. He would need to do research. The rest were only slightly smaller, other than a small handful of tiny ones. He was sure they were the exact ones he barely had potential in too.
“So, what do they all mean?” Stephanie asked, looking at him. He did his best to explain each one he knew, with Doctor Grouse chiming in every now and then. After they had explained everything the could, Doctor Grouse pulled out the focus orb. Corvus quickly moved forward.
“I’ll take that, Doc. Accidental magic and all.” He said.
Grouse gave him a look, but nodded and handed it over. Corvus then turned to Stephanie. “Once you hold this, your magic should become far more active. I found that I could control my magic very well after it was first let loose. Although I had my magic bound at a young age, so that might be why. Do you want to use this now, and risk having your magic go off around your family? Or do you want to wait? I have a room set up in Skul’s house for you if you would like.”
“I’d have to leave my parents house?”
“Only if you magic was very instinctive, like mine. I still have to magic this coat when I go out. My shadows are incredibly reactive to my intent. I wouldn’t want to expose magic by having a tendril grab my shopping for me while I’m out.”
Stephanie looked conflicted for a moment, before her face set into hard resolution. “We will wait until tomorrow. I will need to pick up some stuff.”
“I’ll pay for whatever you need.” Seeing her build up to an angry response, he quickly added, “it’s not charity or anything. You just wouldn’t want your family to see that you were missing some clothes, would you?”
She seemed to deflate at that. “Fine, but how long would it be for?”
“Completely depends on how your magic acts. It could be as long as a month, or we might not even have to worry about it. It’s better to be careful though, I think.”
Stephanie looked at him, narrowing her eyes. “Fine. But you better teach me quick.”
Corvus mockingly drew a cross over his chest, “cross my heart, you’ll be in full control in no time.”
Doctor Grouse finally cut in, by clearing his throat. “As much as it’s nice to see you, I could do without your flirting, Corvus.”
He grinned, “Oh Doc, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Stephanie groaned, “No, you really haven’t.”
Grouse gave them a long look. “Good. Now go on. I’m sure you have other things you need to take care of.”
Corvus nodded, and moved to take Stephanie’s hand. “Thanks for everything Doc.”
Stephanie nodded next to him, “Yeah, thank you.”
Doctor Grouse nodded as Corvus opened a portal, leading Stephanie and himself through it. Both of them missing the small smile on the old man’s face. “They really haven’t got a clue.” He said to himself.