Silver Serpent (Harry Potter AU)

[Metaldragon868]

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Silver Serpent

Chapter 2

Die in Fire​

"So…" Lucius began

"You are quite certain that this is Lilith Potter?" He asked tentatively.

"It is the only conclusion that makes sense," Voldemort responded in a concerned manner, his lips pursed, brow furrowed, and rubbing his bare chin in thought.

Before them lay the girl, exhausted by the events earlier today, and now sleeping on a transfigured bed, wrapped in blankets to shield her from the cold.

"Could you elaborate on that?" Severus asked distractedly, mesmerized by the girl in front of him.

Nodding quietly while looking at the girl, he thought of where to start.

"...When I hit the girl with the killing curse, and it rebounded back at me, it also affected the girl. When it ripped out my soul from my body, it did the same to hers. Since it was all done with the same spell and done so close together, it...bound us together before flinging us into un-life." He explained carefully, seemingly trying to recall what specifically happened.

"Bound you together?" Severus inquired, turning from the girl for a moment in interest.

"Yes. The details are a bit fuzzy, considering I was little more than a shade at the time, but yes." He answered pensively. "And I believe when you enacted the ritual to bring me back, she was pulled back with me."

"But why come back as a girl and not the baby she was when she perished?" Severus inquired.

"I have no answer for that. All this is such extreme and bizarre territory that there has never been anything close to a precedent for it. Perhaps her new existence was molded by my own perception and knowledge? Maybe some tether in the rest of the world caused her to age with it?" Voldemort surmised.

"You don't suppose...that being bound together had an impact on you, did it?" Severus hesitantly put forward.

At this, Voldemort's frown seemed to deepen. "What do you mean?"

"Just that by being bound together for so long, the two of you might have impacted on another's existence. She might have, for lack of a better term, 'rubbed off on you'" Severus explained.

"...And you think she may have made me soft?" He guessed with a dangerous scowl.

"Doubtful." Lucius interrupted, speaking up again.

"Children at the age she was when she died are self-centered, narcissistic, and occasionally sadistic. They don't actually learn the greater majority of their morals until much later in life." He explained.

"Speaking from personal experience Lucius?" Severus attempted to goad.

"Yes, actually. Draco was quite the little devil when he was younger. Drove me and Narissa quite mad." Lucius countered.

"Still does." He sighed.

"Lucius does have a point, however. She had about as much impact as a mouse colliding with an elephant. Her young soul had nothing to really affect my own." Voldemort added.

"So why take her as your heir?" Lucius asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

He knew his master had a good reason, and he wanted to know what it was.

"Can the two of you not feel it? The sheer level of power within her?" Voldemort questioned.

The two of them blinked in surprise, not knowing what their master was talking about. Lucius decided to take some initiative and placed a hand on the sleeping girl's head while pouring some magic into her in the effort to try and detect her magical core. What he found made him gasp out in surprise.

"By Merlin." He cursed under his breath

"Lucius?" Severus inquired with a quirked brow.

"Her magical core is almost as large as my own." Lucius finally said.

A revelation that caused Severus to blink in surprise as well.

It was common knowledge that one's magical core started small and grew as they aged. For the most part, it tended to match their physical growth. This continued until they reached physical maturity, at which point their magical core would still continue to grow, if at a slower rate, until the day they died.

In general, a child's magical core was several times smaller than one of an average adult. Lucius himself actually had a slightly larger core than an average wizard. Nothing compared to Lord Voldemort's monstrous one, but very little could truly compare to his power.

But this girl's core was already comparable to a full grown adult's. If it was this powerful as a child, it was well within her potential to match, or even surpass, their master by the time she reached physical maturity.

"But that is not all." The master continued, pulling them from their thoughts.

"As you can see…" He began, wiping some of the blood from her face, and revealing the pale ashen grey skin beneath. "She is like me now."

"Another perfect Homunculus…" Severus muttered in suppressed awe.

"She's as close to perfect as anything other than me can get." Voldemort reasoned as he wiped more blood from her pale face

"And near as I can tell, the only thing worthy to be my heir." He finished, looking back towards the other men in the room.

"But why even bother with an heir? Was your goal not to become immortal? Did you not succeed?" Lucius asked, genuinely curious why. His master certainly never seemed interested in children before.

"...While you may consider what happened on All Hallow's Eve to be a success, I consider it a dangerous warning." The Master said after a moment in thought to consider how to approach the question.

"True, I did recover from something that should have killed me, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. It just showed me that I cannot predict everything. Magic is still wild, dangerous, and unknown. Reality a cruel and unpredictable beast. I cannot guarantee with absolute certainty that something as unexpected as that night will not occur again." He explained.

"And I cannot guarantee that it will not end me for good next time." he finished with a grim look.

"But what about the Horcruxes?" Lucius calmly brought up with concern.

"They are good, but they are not without flaw. It is not impossible for someone to manage to eliminate them all before killing me. Difficult and suicidal? Yes. Impossible? No." He answered with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"And I doubt that the body of this "perfect Homunculus" that you have given me, Severus, is impervious to harm either?" Voldemort asked,

"N-no, my lord. While it is much stronger and more durable than a human's body, to the point of near immortality, it is not impossible to kill." Severus said hesitantly, not wanting to disappoint his master.

Steepling his hands together and looking down at the girl with a serious expression, the Master continued.

"I had been both arrogant and ignorant, assuming I had bested death and all machinations of reality. That I had outsmarted god. When it was challenged, I sought to end the challenge as quickly as possible without properly thinking things through. Now I feel my mind has been cleared. I can no longer make the same brazen assumptions I had in the past. I can take no chances." He mused externally.

"I must expect the best, and prepare for the worst. I have not become immortal, simply much more difficult to kill than an ordinary man. Should something unthinkable happen, I need to preserve my immortality in another form. One tested by time." He explained.

"You mean to leave a legacy?" Lucius deduced.

"I had always meant to leave a legacy, of a sort. Before it was simply going to be a world I ruled under my indisputable control. Now, I want to make sure that should I pass, I will never be forgotten." He answered with a resolute look.

"I shall build an empire the likes the wizarding world has never seen. My name shall become known throughout the lands, spoken with reverence and trepidation. I shall not only be feared, but respected. Perhaps even loved." The Master expounded

"And she…" He continued, turning back to the girl, cupping the pale cheek of the sleeping girl.

"She shall be witness to all of it, as my heir. My most powerful weapon, and most treasured legacy," he stated.

"Severus," Voldemort said, suddenly switching tone into a more authoritative one.

"Master?" Severus jolted.

"I brought you here because I believe with this, I have your complete loyalty." Their master asserted.

Severus made to speak, but was interrupted again.

"I know of how you felt about Lily Potter. She was one of the only things you actually cared about in our cold, dead, heart. You're not sure who to blame for her death, are you?"

"You blame me because, well, I killed her with my own two hands. You blame Dumbledore because the old fool twisted her mind into taking the blow in the first place. The man had promised to protect them, and yet he left them served up on a silver platter for me." he continued. "I may have killed her, but I followed through on who I was. Dumbledore, for all his good intentions, however, deceived and failed you."

"...My Lord..." Severus tried to defend, searching for the right way to answer.

Lie, and Voldemort might kill him, or otherwise make his existence a painful hell. Tell the truth, and Voldemort might not like what he hears, leading to much the same response.

"Do you hate me for killing Lily?" Their Lord continued, prying the wound open further.

Severus stammered again, intimidated by his sheer presence of force, as well as the way he was backing him into a corner with no right answer.

"Does some part of you want to take the brat and run off to a cottage somewhere? Raise her as your own daughter you wished you had with that woman?"

"Or maybe you'd plow her like you wished you did to her mother? Sate your appetite on the next best thing?" Voldemort antagonized.

Severus backed up, his face horrified while an embarrassed blush grew upon his face, all the while their master stepped closer, drawing into his personal space like a viper ready to strike, all with a look of such intensity even Lucius began to feel its pressure upon him.

"Well, Severus? Do you hate me? Want to rebel against me? Take the girl for yourself?" The master said with a final jab at Severus' chest, backing him up against a wall.

"I-I-I could never love a-a-a m-mud-blood like her." Severus lied through his teeth, reciting the party line.

And with his words, Voldemort startled them all by suddenly leaning back away from Severus and letting out a harsh burst of laughter.

"Oh Severus," He began, gathering his wits again, "You may be able to be a decent spy, but truly your heart will always be your greatest weakness."

"More to the point," He grinned, straightening up, "I don't actually hate Lily Potter."

Severus jolted in surprise, almost as if he had been physically struck by his words. Even Lucius raised an inquisitive brow at where their master was going with this.

"You'll find, Severus, I don't hate mud-bloods, muggle-borns, or whatever the bloody hell you want to call them quite as much as I'd have people believe." He explained.

"Y-you don't, my lord?" Severus inquired.

"No," He shrugged, "I'm something of an equal opportunity person."

"I don't rightly care where the power comes from, power is power. There is no good and evil, only people with power and what they do with it." He commented, "Whining about whether it comes from a pureblood wizard or a muggle-born witch is beneath someone like me."

"B-but she stood in your way, she managed to...defeat...you" He stammered.

"She managed to find a way to outwit me, if only for a time, an action not many can boast." He admitted. "Using such dark magic to use my own habits against me is cunning and tenacity that I can't help but respect."

"You...respect her?" Lucius said after a moment, Severus too stunned to speak.

"Indeed. After all, it was her act of black magic that managed to kill me, and take me off the scene for several years. Not the efforts of Dumbledore, the deluded fool." He explained.

"So...do you actually plan on raising the girl?" Lucius asked

"Yes. I want to ensure her loyalty to me. It will be absolute and unquestionable. I could use potions or spells to ensorcell her, but they could all be countered and ultimately fail. No." He answered.

"Instead, I shall personally instruct her. She is still young and malleable. I will shape her into being my heir, in my own way, and without anyone I don't trust completely influencing her. She's like a blank page, and I intend to be the only mark left on it." Voldemort explained. "She shall be completely indoctrinated to my views."

"You know...most people would call that 'Raising her as my daughter'" Lucius drily commented, something his Lord responded to with a flat glare.

Turning back to the Severus, who appeared to be reworking his entire world views, Voldemort spoke up again.

"Severus." He said, drawing the man's his attention.

"My lord?" Severus answered his master's call.

"As I said, I believe this should ensure your complete loyalty. I am well aware of your feelings toward Lily, and this is the last of her legacy. Rest assured, she will be safe in my hands, not the old fool's." Voldemort explained. "He should have no more hold over you."

"Unless there's something you wanted to tell me?" He challenged.

Severus paused as he realized what his supposed master was saying. Dumbledore used his own guilt about Lily to force him to help them, but now...

Now the last remnant of Lily rests in the Master's hands Severus realized, And the only way to protect her, would be to commit to him.

"...No, master. you are correct." Severus admitted simply.

"Good." Their master said simply with a nod.

"You and Lucius leave the room. I have some things to discuss with my new charge." Voldemort commanded.

"Yes my lord." Lucius and Severus responded, the former with more respect and the latter with more fear.

Once the two had walked out of the large impromptu bedroom, Voldemort used the wand gifted to him from his Left Hand to cast several silent privacy wards to ensure discretion. Turning to the sleeping girl behind him, he steeled himself as he prepared to do something he had never really prepared himself to deal with.

Talking with a small, no doubt frightened and confused, little girl.

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Tom pov

I looked down at the girl as she stirred from her sleep. I'd already lifted the spell from her mind, but she seemed to be taking her sweet time in actually coming to join the waking world.

Finally, her emerald eyes fluttered open. A tired lack of awareness filling them. Soon, however, they flitted to my position by the bed.

"F-father?" She asked, unsure of herself, but recognition flashing in her eyes.

Well...this is an interesting development

"Father?" I questioned with a quirked brow, "Where did you get that impression?"

"I-I don't know. Just...you seem familiar. A-and I just have a kind of feeling about you." She stammered.

"Do you now?" I continued, narrowing my eyes as my mind raced with possibilities.

Perhaps, thanks to the way our souls were bound for 6 years, my soul left an imprint of some sort on her own? Maybe it's grown...accustomed...to my own soul's presence. I considered.

"A-are you my father?" She asked in his silence.

I considered how to answer this. I could play into this illusion and lie. Or I could tell the truth and work from there.

Well...dealing with this now, while she's young, weak, and malleable, would be preferable to dealing with this when she's older and can actually stand against me in some small way. I all but sighed. Holding this off is just asking for this to bite me in arse later.

"...No...not originally, at least." I finally answered.

"What?" She said with a curious tilt of her head.

"I am not your original father. But, from this day forth, you are my charge." I explained.

"Oh…" She said sadly.

"Do you not remember your original father?" I asked, curious about why she was taking this how she was.

"No." She shook her head.

Interesting...that should make things easier.

"What about your mother?" I continued, prodding even further.

At this, she seemed to scrunch her face up in thought.

"I...maybe?" She said with uncertainty.

"Well, in that case, I'm going to be upfront with you," I announced straightening my robe as I drew up to my full height. "I'd rather get this out of the way first."

"I killed your mother." I declared to the girl.

"Oh…" she said simply.

"Ok."

I blinked. I expected panic, rage, confusion. Something!

Not...this

"I'm sorry, what?" I questioned.

"What?" She responded, not understanding the question.

"I expected you to be more...emotional." I expressed, "and defiant."

"Oh…" she said, looking down at the floor again. "Sorry."

You know, now I can't help but feel cheated in some way I admitted to myself, It's a rather underwhelming performance considering what I expected.

"There's nothing wrong with it. Its just...usually people are more concerned about their mothers." I said in an effort to...comfort...her.

This is what normal people are supposed to do with young girls, yes?

The girl before me shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, I just don't really feel anything about that. I can't remember much about her."

Perhaps it's shock? I considered. After all, she'd certainly seen quite a lot in the past few minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if she was punch drunk from it all.

"So what do you remember about your mother?" I asked.

"Just...she was nice, and warm, and gave me hugs. Then one day she went out to hunt and never came back. They said she was dead, but…" She trailed off

"That...that doesn't make any sense." I began, thrown off by the memory.

"I killed your mother in front of you before I killed you too. Do you remember that? Your death?" I inquired, trying to steer things back to what I knew.

A mystery had been placed before me, one that I felt I needed to solve. None of this made any sense, none of the girl's memories seemed to line of up what actually happened. And yet, I was sure that this was Lilith Potter. The girl I killed, and who killed me in return.

"My…death…" She said in a hollow voice as if being taken by memories of her traumatic past.

"I-I remember the pain. So much pain." She began

"I remember ripping and tearing. I remember her screaming out my name. She killed me. It's her fault. She left me to die." The girl continued, becoming lost in her pain.

She drew in upon herself, curling up into a ball. Her hands tightening against her skin, straining against the pale flesh they clawed into it.

"I remember the rip and tear meat and mind. The rending of body and bone. The destruction of skin and sanity." She shivered, almost like she was in a trance. "The scent of blood fear and piss filling the air as I drowned in my own fluids"

"Then there was the chanting. The chanting and burning. Bound and restrained, mocked and taunted, I was deemed an abomination and slain in their lord's name." She said, her tone becoming entrancing and ethereal.

"The fire crept upon my body, melting my skin and boiling my blood. The fumes filled my lungs, choking me, poisoning me, from the inside out."

"Lilith?" I said, trying to rouse her from her trance.

"There was always so much pain, so much fear and agony. Why me? Why was it always me? What had I done? Why did I deserve this?" She finished, whispering hollow and desperate questions to no one in particular.

"Lilith!" I shouted, shaking her body.

"Wha-?" She said listlessly

"You fell into some form of trance," I explained

I don't like this I frowned, this is all quite disconcerting.

"I did?" She questioned, not aware of what really happened to her.

"Yes, you did," I said as I considered what this all meant. "Are you well?"

"Y-yeah. I think so." She answered, once again unable to look straight at the man before her.

The death she describes I pondered, directing me attention elsewhere for a moment, it in no way matches what I did to Lilith Potter.

And yet…there is no doubt in my mind that this is, in fact, Lilith Potter. Or, at the very least, a soul created from the remnants of that girl.

But none of this makes any sense. I all but scowled in consternation.

Then, I was struck by a moment of realization.

"You mentioned being torn apart and being burned. These were two separate events, correct?" I asked the girl

"u-uh" She stammered for a moment, startled by his sudden query, "Y-yes."

"So you remember dying twice? Interesting." I murmured in thought, possibilities and ideas spinning about in my mind. I just had to reach out and grab one.

Well, taking that information into account, it brings up several possibilities. Two, in particular.

"I believe you are remembering you past lives." He finally said. "Or deaths, in this case."

"I-I am?" She said in confusion and disbelief.

"It's likely, in any event. You could have also just absorbed the memories from the pool of blood and souls my followers produced for me, taking in the most traumatic and upsetting ones." He admitted.

"If I had to guess, the reason you are remembering your past lives is because of all the turbulent trauma your soul has gone through in such a short time, in addition to how young and fresh it was when I ripped it from your original body." He explained.

"So…reincarnation is real?" She asked, not entirely sure what to believe.

"It's a theory that's never been disproven, at the very least.

"The other possibility," I brought up, "Is that you've retained the memories of several of the people who died in the sacrifice to us."

"People...who died?" She slowly repeated.

"Right," I rubbed my chin, thinking about all that I was going to catch her up on. It seemed like it was safe to say that she was essentially a functional 6 or so year old, but had no relevant memories that she could easily bring to the front.

Well, besides me, apparently.

"It was a resurrection ritual. One that required quite a lot of sacrifices. Basically, a lot of people died to bring you back. Probably unwillingly." I succinctly answered her, "It's possible that when you were reborn in their blood that some of their memories were merged into your form. After all, our souls and bodies were reborn and repaired using the raw materials provided to us by their remains. For me, I have a better sense of self because, among other things, I'm an adult who knows what he wants. You, on the other hand, were a small baby who probably barely knew who her name was."

Finally, immersed in the details and depths of magical theory, I let myself sigh.

"Frankly, I don't know." I admitted, "it's all quite strange and deep within the area of Magic's mysteries. I don't have a clean and easy answer, only hypothesis."

"To be honest, the most glaring thing about learning about soul magic was learning how much we didn't know about soul magic. There are so many unknowns, assumptions, theory's, and source material it's absurd." I explained, having become an expert in soul magic in my search for immortality.

"The most obnoxious part of the whole thing is their lack of willingness to do any serious experimentation. We'd know so much more if those wizards were willing to perform tests on human souls to find the answers they sought. But no, can't have any "Black Magic" can we? Someone might try to take over the world or something." I grumbled to her.

It was something that seriously annoyed me about my research into the area, how much was unknown simply because the wizarding was simply too scared to delve into the mysteries of the deep, to plunge into the darkness to find what lay inside. They always worried about "black magic" and "tainting their soul". The people who were willing to use black magic were too set in their ways to bother trying to innovate.

The Muggle term, "If it ain't broke don't fix it" seems to be a very disturbingly apt one for the wizarding world. I internally grumbled.

Though...I considered if she is remembering her reincarnated memories, why didn't that affect me?

Perhaps they have, but I just haven't noticed yet?

Or maybe my entire theory for why this is all happening is wrong and I don't know as much as I think I do. I conceded with a sigh.

Looking up, I caught a ghost of a smile on the girl's face. Why it was there, I had no idea, nor did he particularly care.

"Regardless, there is a more pressing issue at the moment," I said, tabling the previous train of thought for a later date.

"So, do you remember your name? Or, at the least, remember one you might prefer?" I asked.

The girl in front of me pursed her lips and furrowed her brow for a moment of thought, but in the end shook her head helplessly.

"I figured as much," I said, resigned to her strange predicament.

Still, we were in the same boat now. We lay deep in the uncharted waters of magic, and all we could do was chart our own course.

"Still, I suppose this makes things easier for me. From here on, you shall be known as Lilith. Not sure about your last name yet. It certainly won't be Potter, and I don't plan on going around calling myself Tom Riddle. That'd be a little too obvious when I'm trying to keep things under wraps." I announced to her.

The newly named, or renamed in this case, nodded her head in acceptance, the smallest of smile crawling up her face. Then, it faltered and died as something else she had remembered came to mind.

"U-uh…mister…." She began, not sure what to call him.

I sighed, realizing I didn't have a great name for her to call me right now. While I would have preferred Tom or Mr. Riddle, I doubted she would have the discretion necessary to realize not to say that while I followers were present, and I'd rather they not know my real name. With certain exceptions, of course. She could call me Voldemort, but I had enough people calling me that and I wasn't honestly that fond of the French name. Not anymore, at least. It was fun when I first came up with the anagram, but now it was sort of grating considering most people were too scared to say it, and when they did say it they pronounced it incorrectly.

Plus, it wouldn't do for her to slip because of habit in public and call me Voldemort.

I could go with lord or master, like my followers, but the idea of a little girl calling me that left a bad taste in my mouth. Having a legion of adult followers calling me that of their own volition was one thing. Having a little girl recently reborn and in my care doing so was another matter entirely.

At a certain point, there was a difference between not letting scruples slow down my march for power and progress, and becoming cartoonishly evil. I had the unnerving feeling that at some point during my madness driven march down darkness I might have crossed that line.

So now I was trying to reign things in a bit. Give sanity a chance and all that.

Just because I'm delving into the darkest depths of magic doesn't I have to be a psychotically evil mad man out to make everyone hate me I frowned, Although...my certain fondness for the screams might...

I shook my head of that distracting train of thought and brought myself back on topic.

In the end, I resigned myself to one final choice. I knew if I spent more time thinking about it, I could figure out a better answer, but for now, this was all I could think of. I also really wanted to move on. And knowing my luck, she would just end up calling me it anyway.

"Seeing as I have taken you as my Heir…I suppose calling me father would be appropriate after all." I admitted.

And with those words, Lilith's face lit up briefly at the joy of having someone she could call father. Why it mattered so much to her, I had no idea.

At least, that's what I told myself.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?" I said tiredly, already knowing I was going to regret this.

"Uh, right. Father…what is a witch?" She asked innocently and completely seriously.

I blinked.

What?

"You, Lilith, are a witch. A woman who can perform magic." I explained, perplexed as to why she wouldn't know what a witch was before another thought crossed my mind.

Why would she?

She's already displayed a lack of any real tangible memories linked to anything specific. Well, save for two deaths and the death of her mother that doesn't in any way line up with the reality I know. So the real question is why does the word witch stand out in her mind? Sure, I mentioned the ritual and magic, but this sounds more...specific than a general inquiry on magic.

"Oh…" She said dejectedly, "So they were right."

"Right? Who was right?" I asked, not liking where this was going.

At my question the girl looked down to the floor, unable to even look at me. Her voice was empty, yet resigned. her shoulders sagged while her dark hair shadowed her face.

"The people who burned me."

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Spoiler: Original A/n:

A/n:

So here we are, with Chap 2 of Silver Serpent.

Yes, Lilith is going to be calling Tom her father. Honestly, at first as a gut reaction, I sort of wanted that, but pulled back from it. Then I thought about it and decided I could kind of make it work.

If you can't tell, Tom isn't going to be starting the next Wizarding War.

Well, not immediately, anyway. He's going to be working under cover, at least until the events of the books are supposed to take place.

I say supposed because, well, there really isn't a way for it to happen now. I mean, 95% of the books happened because of Voldemort trying to kill harry. But now she's calling him dad, so that's not going to happen well. So you can just go ahead and throw canon out the window because it ain't happening.

And as indicated, part of this plan of his, Tom's going to be walking around outside and interacting with the rest of the world. And he's probably going to be taking his Heir along for at least some of that. It wouldn't do for her to give him away by accident.

As for why he revealed that whole "I killed your mom and tried to kill you" thing, I figure he can be smooth and suave when he wants, but he can be ruthless and blunt when he feels it would work best.

I also don't really want that to be a plot point of angst, having him lying to her for her entire life or something. Yeah, I've seen that happen way too much in both FF and actual stories. I don't want to do that myself, it's too...messy. I have to eventually have the reveal of the whole "I'm not your dad, I killed your family, angst for me! Blah blah blah".

I'm going to be making enough angst and existential issues on my own, I don't need more cliches to add to that. Trust me, we'll get to depression town just fine on our own.

On another note, yes, I'm being intentionally vague with why Lilith is the way she is and what she is. In part, this is because if I try to get too specific with it I might trip myself up later, making ironclad rules early on can screw you later. It's also because I don't want to spoil things that I may or may not have planned for later.

I'm also trying to make Tom more scientific. But with magic. So, scholarly I guess?

He's sort of a mad scientist...but with magic.

The man managed to figure out a way to give himself a shoddy version of immortality at a fairly young age, and didn't let a petty thing like "morality" get in his way to do it. This sounds like a man with the ambition and hunger for knowledge to delve deep into what many would consider impossible or unconscionable, all in pursuit of what he wanted.

It might be a while before I update this one again, by which I mean more than a week. I plan on big things for the next chapter.

Big, gory, murderous things.

But for now, Hope yall enjoy the rest of your new year.

A/n: Alright, hopefully that answers some of the questions that you all had about the last chapter.

I also might have messed some things up in Tom's pov. It was originally in 3rd person but in this edit, it's been switched to 1st person. Mostly because I really like the 1st person in certain scenarios and because of certain things I did later.

However, I made that change after I was tired and hungry as fuck with only coffee and music to fuel me. So I might have missed some shit.

The general theme I want to get off with Lilith is that they just don't know. They have ideas and theories as to why she is the way she is, but they just don't know. I mean, I know. And their's a fair chance they'll figure it out eventually, put the puzzle pieces together, but at the moment theirs just too little information and no precedent for them.

As for Voldy and company, I'm trying to make them still terrible people, but not unreasonable people. Too often in HP fics where they take the perspective of the "bad guys" they turn to not actually be bad people and instead they're actually pretty nice, and in fact, it's the good guys who were the assholes all along.

In this scenario, they're still going to be pretty fucked up.

That's all I have to say for the moment, I'll be posting another chapter in a bit.