Chapter Text
Chapter 75: New Year's Date
I rubbed my eyes, feeling incredibly exhausted.
'I supposed that's what I get for staying up for nearly 48 hours straight,' I thought to myself, stretching a bit.
Still, I'd had no other choice. I'd spent the time researching everything I could on the events that Harry told me had happened on Christmas. And while I'd gotten some information… it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough to answer any of my questions.
'I can't believe Harry summoned some sort of god-like entity after nearly getting his soul nom'ed on by a Dementor – learning about the Deathly Hallows in the process – and they didn't think to alert me, his guardian.'
The fact I'd had to learn about this incident from a letter Harry sent me, and not an official correspondence from Hogwarts, had made me angry, and was partially what had fueled my multi-night research fugue.
This was the first evidence I'd heard of since arriving in this world of beings that could be considered 'divine.' I could never forget that this was not my first world. That my death on one world had led me to appearing in this one.
'Was there more to it than luck? Was I sent here by something… or someone?'
I didn't know, and not knowing bothered me. It had been a long time since I'd bothered to think about this topic.
Not even Flamel's journal contained much on this topic. He had plenty of intel on the Deathly Hallows – he'd encountered all three of them over his long life, though never owned any himself – but he'd had even less on the matter of gods and spirits.
They had existed in some form, that much Flamel seemed certain of. Records from ancient magical civilizations spoke of them, evidence of their presence could be found in the oldest ruins, and powerful rituals had once existed that could summon… things that weren't entirely natural or of this world.
But at some point, an event known as the Dawn of Man's Age had seen a rapid decrease in their presence. Eight thousand years ago, such entities had been rare, but visible. Three thousand years ago, they all but vanished, with only some things like the Dementors lingering.
'That's around the time of the Bronze Age Collapse and the fall of Atlantis,' I mused.
The magical societies had experienced a massive upheaval during this era as well, with magical nations falling left and right. Indeed, most magical scholars agreed that the age of mage-kings and countries ruled by magic users had ended around this time.
'The most I can find are mentions of some sort of otherworld known as the Other Side. Some kind of land of pure magic. Sort of like the Fae Realms spoken of in myths,' I thought as I closed an ancient tome that had been stuffed at the bottom of a chest the Hunches had been holding onto for generations.
It contained a decent amount of information on the Other Side, though much was speculation and hearsay from people who'd supposedly visited it. Or, more accurately, escaped, as the fae were not kind creatures and not very fond of uninvited guests.
So. Gods were real. Or, at least, something akin to them had been, at one point. They could be summoned into our world, but the ability to do so had dwindled significantly in the last few thousand years. Remnants of this 'Golden Age' still existed, the Dementors being one such vestige, but for the most part, the world had moved on.
'Right now, though, the question is what I can do with this information.'
The practical answer was 'nothing.' There were no rituals I could perform, and I wasn't willing to experiment on a Deathly Hallow to try and replicate what Harry had done. Especially as the spirit had explicitly warned Harry against doing so.
'In the end, it seems I'm back to square one,' I sighed tiredly.
There was one last thing I could try to do in order to summon a 'god'… but not yet. In another year or so, maybe. But not until then.
A jaw-cracking yawn broke me out of my thoughts, and I grumbled a little. I'd already drank too many Pepper-up Potions to take any more, and so with great reluctance I decided to end my research into this topic. For now.
With another yawn, I staggered into my bedroom and threw myself onto the bed. I needed some rest, and there wasn't much else to do for a couple more days.
When I woke an unknown amount of time later, I felt hungry and dirty, and after cleaning up in the showers I ate a large breakfast.
"Inky, how long was I asleep?" I asked when I'd sated my belly.
"Fifteen hours, young master," Inky informed me as he popped into existence next to me, and I grimaced.
"That's going to throw off my sleep schedule," I grumbled.
But complaints weren't going to solve anything, so I got to work. First, I penned a letter to Harry, telling him I had no idea about what he'd done, but not to do it again. I also suggested he ask Ron or other magicals who grew up in Magical Britain about the Deathly Hallows. Then, I told him to stay safe.
'Hopefully he won't get into a near-death situation at the end of the year,' I thought. Seeing as he'd faced the Dementors months early I felt it was a good chance he'd either have smooth sailing going forward, or something even worse would occur. I knew which option I'd prefer, but Fate was a cruel and cantankerous bitch.
After sending that letter off via Inky – I still didn't have an owl, something I felt I might need to correct eventually – I got ready for the other things I had to do.
I had a day and some change before New Years and my date with Delilah, and a bit of paperwork that my businesses had accumulated while I'd been stuck in my research.
Deciding I better get the latter done before New Years Eve, I let out a heavy sigh, diving into the annoying amount of bureaucracy that was trying to smother me.
111 &&& 111
"How do I look?" I asked Inky. The House Elf inspected me, snapped his fingers, and my tie straightened out.
"Please stop fiddling, young master," the old and loyal elf said. "You is ruining all my hard work!"
"Okay, okay, sorry," I apologized, taking my hands off of the frustrating neck piece. Inky huffed, but then he waved his hand, removing any lint or dirt that might have lingered.
"There!" he declared.
"Thanks," I said. "You don't think this is too… much, do you?"
I gestured at my outfit, but Inky shook his head.
"Young master wise to wear defenses," he replied, and I nodded slowly.
He wasn't entirely wrong. And to be fair, I had been attacked enough times that wearing clothing with protective runes wasn't paranoid, it was common sense.
"Better add some extra bits just to be safe," I muttered, putting on the shield cuffs Remus had made for me a while back a gift.
I took a deep breath, checked myself in the mirror one final time, grabbed a bouquet, and turned to Inky. "I'm ready to go."
He snapped his fingers, and I vanished, appearing in front of Delilah's apartment. She rented one so she could spend time closer to the campus, and shared it with a couple other college girls. She didn't really need to share in order to save money, but she liked it because it was 'the normal thing to do.'
I valued that about her. She didn't do whatever she wanted just because she could with her parent's money. Delilah wanted to experience life, and was willing to do it from the ground up.
Knocking on the door, it opened a minute later revealing one of Delilah's flat mates.
"Well damn, Eddy, you clean up nice!" she said with a whistle and a wink.
"Evening, Grace. Delilah ready yet?"
"Nah, but come on in and wait on the couch or something. No need to stand around like a handsome wall all night," she said, waving me in, and I followed her inside, leaning against the wall as I waited for Delilah. Her flat mate went to her room and went inside to 'help,' though I knew the real reason was to tease my girlfriend.
A few minutes of waiting later, and the door to Delilah's bedroom opened, and a cheerful, "She's ready!" came out from within, courtesy of Grace.
"Good evening, my dear," I said, giving a gentlemanly bow as Delilah stepped into the living room. "You look ravishing."
I took her hand and kissed it, and she giggled a little.
"You charmer, you," she declared.
"I have to be, in order to be worthy of such a beautiful flower such as yourself!"
"Alright, alright, slow your roll, you've already seduced me. Anymore and I won't be able to last until dessert," Delilah chuckled, blushing cutely.
"Wooo! Go Delly!" Grace hooted, ruining the intimate moment with her catcall. Delilah rolled her eyes at her antics, before giving me a nod.
"Take me away," she requested, and we left her apartment together.
Then, after checking to make sure nobody was around, I brought out a handkerchief that had been turned into a Port Key. She held onto one corner, and with a simple utterance of "Dining Hall, Pretty Please" from myself, we vanished with a muffled pop, reappearing in the place I'd set up for tonight's date.
"Oh, wow," she breathed out, staring at the area. I grinned at her reaction, feeling a flicker of pride. It had taken a bit of work, but I'd turned one of the greenhouses I'd set up for growing potion ingredients into a picnic spot.
Snow fell onto the glass, which had been enchanted to be completely transparent. Whenever a snowflake hit the glass, a glowing illusion of the snow flake would appear in the same spot and fall down onto the plants, which would shine a little when the mote landed.
The whole thing left the place nice and warm and cozy, and I brought Delilah over to a blanket that had been laid out in between rows of Singing Roses and Golden Dragon Orchids. On it, a basket full of delicious food courtesy of Sam sat, along with a bottle of wine.
"How did you set this up?" Delilah wondered as she sat down.
"Runes, and help from Sirius and Remus," I admitted. "It wasn't easy… but it was worth it to see that look of awe on your face."
"Magic is truly amazing," she murmured, before giving me a fond smile. "And you're just as incredible, making this all just for me."
"Naturally," I said in a faux-snobbish voice. "Now, what do you want to start with? Soup or salad?"
Our dinner was a proper five course meal, and Sam had outdone herself. She'd also taken advantage of the magical cookbook she'd picked up in France. Now that she had actual magic she could make use of the recipes, and created a bunch of truly magical dishes.
The wine was a bottle I'd taken out of the cellar from the Flamel's summer home, and had a nice note of strawberry that complimented the dishes.
"This has been wonderful," Delilah sighed happily as a Singing Rose hummed Mozart after dessert. "Thank you, Ed."
"The night's not over yet," I told her.
"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"It's almost midnight," I announced, pulling out a pocket watch and glancing up at the moon. "You're going to want to see this."
She looked in the direction I was staring, and as she did, I began to count down. "3… 2… 1~!"
The moment the hands of the pocket watch all pointed to 12, the greenhouse lit up as the plants started to glow. The light they radiated beamed upwards, mixing with the moonlight and creating a kaleidoscope effect that turned the world around the two of them into an endless rainbow.
"Whoa!" Delilah breathed out. She then smacked her lips, eyes widening. "Wait… I can taste blue! And red! Ed, I can taste colors!"
"This was a fun little spell I've been working on in my spare time," I told her with a grin. "It's a Synesthesia charm, that lets people discover what colors taste like. I also have a sound-based variant. Translating color into taste was a fun challenge. You like it?"
"Moonlight… it tastes… why does the moon taste like gouda cheese?" Delilah couldn't help but wonder as she stared at the moon. I shrugged.
"I have no idea. I think it's weird that the color salmon tastes like salmon the fish, and gold tastes like venison steak. Fun, though."
"It is!" Delilah giggled, "It's amazing!"
For a few minutes we just sat there, watching the light as it danced and tickled our tastebuds.
"I have so many ideas," I said softly, breaking the silence. "So many plans… the world will never be the same if we succeed."
"I know," she said, leaning against my shoulder. "I'll admit, some of it scares me. If magic returns to the world, so many things we've considered to be 'normal' will be upended. Businesses will rise and fall as fortunes are won and lost. The average person's life will change drastically, and the very political landscape will shift…"
"Do you think it's worth it?" I asked her. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"
"I do," Delilah confirmed. "There's going to be… a learning curve. People will get hurt. But in the end, there's really no other choice, is there?"
"Yeah… if we do nothing, then magic will continue to fade. It will be a quiet extinction. Assuming mundane technology doesn't find a way to discover the magical world early," I muttered.
"Who knew saving the world was so much work?" I joked after a moment of silence, and Delilah smiled, snuggling into my side.
"You know, Ed… I didn't wear anything under my dress," she whispered into my ear, and I blinked.
"Oh… oh!"
"Happy New Year," she said as she reached for my shirt.
Happy New Year indeed!
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? POV
"How foolish you were. What were you thinking, Nicholas? Giving such power… such responsibility to a child who knows nothing."
A figure moved through a darkened atelier. Artwork in various states of completion littered the area. Some were broken, others had simply never been finished.
"Why could you not leave well-enough alone? Now… now I am forced to act."
A hammer was picked up from a workbench, and the figure approached a sculpture depicting a pair of lovers. With vicious blows it was destroyed, the hammer shattering stone with contemptuous ease, leaving naught but rubble behind after a few minutes.
"Damn you, Nicholas. Why won't you let me die?!"