Christian tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. When he woke up, it was already in the middle of the night, and his body ached even more, probably due to the cold. He tried to meditate and calm himself, but it was no success. In the end, he chose to contact his mom.
After ensuring no sound would be emitted from his bed to disturb his roommate, he used the Two-Way Mirror to contact his mother.
"Zed, is everything alright?"
"Yes, I was just feeling homesick and maybe a little depressed and wanted to see you."
Tiara exhaled, "I was worried." No mother wants their children to contact them in the middle of the night.
"Maybe we should have two mirrors, one for normal conversation and one for emergencies," said Christian.
"That's not a bad idea," nodded Tiara. "What's going on? Did something happen? Is Snape bothering you again?"
"He's starting to act like a jerk again, but he's not the problem," said Christian. "I couldn't sleep and wanted to talk to someone."
Tiara's brows were still furrowed, "This isn't about your father's item, is it? Don't worry about it. I spent years translating and trying to make sense of it. It's okay if you fail a few times."
"I haven't even started a proper translation yet, so don't worry about that."
"That's good," nodded Tiara, who was still perplexed. It was apparent that something significant had happened, but he did not want to tell her.
"Alright, what's on your mind?"
"How is Aunt Eleanor?"
"She's busy and bought an unnecessarily large mansion, but like you suggested, I force her to take a break occasionally. I also tasked Tinkle and Snatcher with ensuring she ate and did not skip meals."
"Wait, is she moving?"
"No, she just wants a house for her public identity, and our house will be her private residence."
"It's a good idea to have a place to escape the chaos of her daily life," nodded Christian. "What about Aunt Arielle and Uncle Sullivan?"
"Sullivan seems involved in a major case, so he's been busy. However, Arielle is the same; she did complain to me that you haven't been writing to her as consistently."
"That's my fault, as I've been a little busy."
"I'll tell her to send you a Two-Way Mirror so you can talk," said Tiara.
"That's a good idea," Christian nodded. "What about your expedition? Was there any problem dealing with the innate curses?"
"My initial judgment was correct: low negative energy and massive magical energy," replied Tiara. "This makes the process longer to deal with to prevent an accident, but the good news is it's looking more and more like the ruin is related to Camelot."
"The Mythical Kingdom of Camelot: what I would give up to witness the legendary duel between Merlin and Morgan Le Fay."
"You would probably die just from the aftershock of this battle," Tiara sneered.
"That's true," chuckled Christian. "What about the farm? You sent a letter stating that you bought it, but nothing more."
"I paid a visit a few days ago and tried your method, which was somewhat successful."
"Somewhat?"
"As I said, their magical resistance does involve their minds, so I could not learn anything. So, I used a ritual to weaken the creature and successfully peered into his mind. However, it was still chaotic, full of aggression and brutality. However, I did record a few words."
"Oh, let me hear it."
"Give me a moment."
A few minutes later, Tiara appeared on the screen with a recording. Voices that used the throat to create sound played out from the mirror.
"Drahimma (dragon voice) — the word for leave (Tiara's voice)."
"Rakialh — the word for hunger."
"Dranam — the word for wizard."
"Fascinating," commented Christian.
"It is," nodded Tiara. "I'm trying to hire Legilimens to work on this project, but when these people learn they will have to work with such dangerous creatures, most refuse despite the excellent price. I think I might have to teach dragon workers Legilimency instead."
"That sounds like a lot of work. How about you wait in the summer for me to do it myself," said Christian.
"No, it's okay. I can reduce a lot of your work and lay the foundation for when you take over," said Tiara.
"Thank you," said Christian sincerely. He would not have today's accomplishments without his mother's efforts and support.
"No problem, and remember, no one in the world wants you to succeed as much as I," said Tiara, and Christian smiled, showing all his white teeth.
"By the way, could we get a Siberian Blizzardback Dragon?" Christian remembered reading about the discovery of this new species of dragon and the rating that the Ministry of Magic gave it
"No. There are only a few of them, and the Russian Ministry of Magic refuses to let anyone access them."
"That's unfortunate." The two chatted for the next hour before ending the conversation. Then, Christian was finally able to sleep. However, he still woke up the next day in pain. He was not near Madam Pomfrey's level of healing, so his shoulder was taking its time and was extremely painful.
He found Sango waiting for him with a lengthy letter from Quirrell, and Christian read it. He received a very detailed answer to his question. He smiled, as this reply indicated that his efforts were not in vain, but he secretly shook his head as he could see the traps hidden in this letter.
Necromancy can indeed be used for healing purposes. According to the Dark Lord, with the proper ceremony, the flesh can be invaded by the power of death, also known as negative energy, and sublimated to a perfect state that will not decay or be injured. The only downside is that the skin will turn gray. The letter even included the ceremony and some explanation.
"He wants me to turn into an undead?" sneered Christian. The so-called perfect flesh was just turning a part of his body into something like an Inferi or Zombie. Technically speaking, his injury would have healed, but he would also have become half-human and half-undead.
'This ceremony is probably Voldemort's research into achieving immortality.' The Horcrux would definitely not be the only path that the Dark Lord experimented with, and with how he revived himself in the fourth book, it's apparent that he's dabbled in Necromancy.
Christian responded, showing his interest in the field of Necromancy. He threw another bait to Voldemort, asking whether it was possible to achieve immortality by replacing every part of his body with this ceremony.
'In less than two months, he's going to be dead. I should imply that I will use this ceremony to turn into a half-undead in the summer so he can give me all his knowledge in Necromancy.'
Christian sent the letter with a smile on his face.
…
"I told you he would not be able to resist," said Voldemort triumphantly.
"M-m-master, are you sure h-h-he's not playing us? C-C-Christian is a very cunning child."
"You don't understand. After his injury, he realized his mortality and the weakness of his flesh. Now, after my temptation, he saw a new path."
"I-I see. But, are you going to g-g-grant him [immortality]?"
"What do you think?" sneered Voldemort. "After the ceremony, he will need to constantly replace his body parts with other dead bodies. But even so, after a while, his body will crumble, and he will still die."
"Is that so? Then, wh-wh–"
"Why did I give him such a terrible method? That's because he dares to attack me. More importantly, only I, the great Voldemort, am worthy of immortality."
"Y-y-yes, master. What should w-w-we do now?"
"You were right about one thing: he's a cunning child and won't use the ceremony without truly understanding it. So, we need to provide him with more information while leaving out the crucial aspects."
"As you w-w-wish."