HP: Harry From The Ancient House Of Black [ Chapter 57 ]

“But even I cannot deny the evil that can be caused by the Unforgivables. It takes something inside you so resolute, so deep, to cast them that in many ways once you do there is no turning back.”

“Despite what they may have been created for, the truth is that they are undeniably the cruelest of magic, simply because of what they do to your very core, to your soul.”

“Even giving someone the mercy of a painless death with the Killing Curse is beyond anything the Dark Arts can do to you. They will change you and if you aren't strong enough they will turn you into something you can never come back from."

"Have you used them?" Daphne asked after a moment.

"Yes."

"When was your first time?"

"I was eleven the first time I used the Imperious Curse." She placed her arms underneath her head so she could look at him as he talked. "I forced someone to drink a potion that caused them to hallucinate, to suffer their worst nightmares."

"Why?" He had wondered if she would be appalled at his action, but instead she only seemed curious.

"He somehow learned about my nightmares. He thought it was funny, to have to relive your worst memory over and over and over. So, I made him suffer. He changed his mind after that." Aries could tell that she wanted to question him on his nightmares, but thankfully she decided against doing it now.

"And the Cruciatus?"

"Twelve." Aries remembered it very clearly. "A couple of seventh graders thought they'd teach me a lesson. Arianna tried to intervene and they broke her leg. I got so angry and it was the first spell that came to mind. It was like I had casted it a hundred times before and the spell flew from my wand. Those two never messed with us again." He closed his eyes, bringing the last memory to the forefront of his mind.

"The Killing Curse. It was the summer before my third year. Aunt Cassi and I had gone hiking in the mountains of Germany, where the Ministry kept most of the country's magical creatures, when we came across a pack of werewolves. They weren't transformed, but they might as well have been.”

“They were almost rabid and we slaughtered them like animals. At the end there was just one left. He had lost a leg and was just staring at me with such hatred, such loathing. I don't know how or why but it angered me. They had attacked us. We had done nothing to them. So how could he be angry at me for his fate?”

“Before I knew it my wand was pointing at him and I said the words. I felt detached for a moment, like I had passed through something different from every kill before. It was then that I truly understood that some magic was just not like the rest, regardless of whether it was called dark or light. And that is why I have not taught them to you."

….

The day of the Third Task had finally arrived and Aries was on edge. Neither Daphne nor Draco had been waiting for him outside the ship as he had asked, so he would know ahead of time who he would have to rescue.

The short walk to the platform where the other three champions waited did nothing to cool his nerves, but he was not the only one who seemed to be ruffled.

Potter and Diggory both had a look of worry, but Fleur Delacour seemed to be in a panic. He caught a word or two through her frantic French, something about her sister and cold water.

‘They took a veela and placed her in a lake in the middle of winter? Were the organizers idiots?’ Aries hoped that for Fleur's and her sister's sake that they had at least put some sort of warming charm on the younger veela.

"Something was taken from each of our champions." Dumbledore's voice rang out loudly, quieting the students of the three schools. "They will have one hour to find their hostage and return them safely to the starting platform. On the count of three! One! Two!" Aries slid his knife across his palm. "Three!"

Potter wolfed down the gillyweed and jumped into the water followed by the other two champions but Aries did not notice.

He chanted softly in Ancient Egyptian, feeling his body react to the ritual. He felt lighter as his hands and feet webbed, but the real change occurred inside him. His entire respiratory system was changing.

Unlike with gillyweed he would not have gills, but as he breathed in water it would change into air and expel the water as he exhaled.

Suddenly he could no longer breathe and Aries leapt into the lake and as the cold water poured down his throat into his changed lungs he could breathe again.

The ritual would change him until he left the water, a uniquely specific ritual, one that he could not find again no matter how many times he looked for the old book.

Aries did a Point Me charm focusing on Chang who he guessed to be Diggory's hostage. His wand pointed out and down towards the dark abyss of the Black Lake.

His webbed feet allowed him to move swiftly through the water and as he swam closer to where he believed the hostages were, the sweet melody of the golden egg reached his ears.

A scream caught his improved hearing and ripped his attention to his left. The ritual had also improved his eyesight allowing him to see in the dim light of the lake.

Fleur Delacour was in trouble and that trouble was grindylows. They tore at her, their long fingers cutting her arms and legs as she kicked at them.

Her wand was focused on keeping the water creatures away from her bubble.

Aries was torn between going to save her and continuing on but his choice was made for him. Fleur blasted back one grindylow just as the other's long finger popped her bubble.