The days in October passed by faster than anyone expected.
All the newcomers adapted to the routine, and in the last Quidditch match of the first half of the season, Slytherin defeated Hufflepuff by 300-140 points, cementing their top spot and building an even greater gap.
They were now three hundred and sixty points ahead of Hufflepuff, who had five hundred and twenty points and stood second on the table. Slytherin, with eight hundred and eighty points, was completely dominant.
Gryffindor managed to defeat Ravenclaw, but it was far from a match they wished to remember. They won by one hundred and ninety to eighty, and it was only thanks to Charlie that they scraped a victory.
People noticed that their morale was quite low, and standing third on the table, they had four hundred and thirty points, ninety short of the Badgers' tally.
Ravenclaw had accepted that they had no hope in this year's Quidditch Cup. After three rounds, they had only managed a score of two hundred and forty.
Slytherin, as most expected, won the Potion Brewing Expo, securing ninety House Cup points. Ravenclaw came in second, earning fifty points.
In the Arithmancy Logic Bee, the result was the opposite.
The Eagles came in first, earning eighty points, and the Serpents finished second, collecting forty-five points.
Everyone got time for a breather in the third weekend, which was free, and even the fourth would be a break, except for the champions of each house, who would participate in this year's Fantastic Beasts Challenge.
House Hufflepuff had nominated Robert Hilliard, their Sixth Year Prefect.
House Gryffindor had nominated Augustus Brown, their Sixth Year Prefect.
House Ravenclaw had nominated Theodore Diggory, their Sixth Year Prefect.
And House Slytherin, to everyone's astonishment, had nominated Altair Black, First Year, as their champion, trusting him to secure those one hundred House Cup points.
By the time Friday came to an end, the entire castle was buzzing about the Fantastic Beasts Challenge that would start on Sunday, but Altair could not have cared less.
His focus was elsewhere.
Ever since what had happened to him and his "Soul Travel", he had been busy studying in Salazar's Solar and speaking with him at night.
Thankfully, his absence was not noticed by anyone and he was very careful to return to the dormitory by dawn.
He did find the answer, and it was that he was one of the most gifted wizards to have ever existed, and the second in the Black bloodline to have this power. He was an Omnivoyant.
Wizards with the Power of Omnivoyance could not just see the present around the world, but also the imprint of memories left behind in every place and every person. They could even interact with the present with their souls, and that was how he managed to hold Luna in his arms and relieve her of half her pain.
It was not a bloodline gift. It was simply his personal gift, and according to Salazar, this power was not genetic.
However, there was something that shocked him even more. The very first Travel of an Omnivoyant was always to the person whose soul was bound to his. For every Omnivoyant wizard, there was always an Omnivoyant witch at the same time. She was always a couple of years younger than him.
For him, it was Luna.
Salazar warned him that if he did not marry the girl in the future, he would have to live a life full of despair, jealousy, heartbreak, and restlessness. The last time the Omnivoyant pair did not marry one another, it ended in tragedy for both.
Altair did not wish to dwell on these thoughts for the moment, so he wrote a detailed letter to his mother, explaining the situation to her, and left the task of ensuring Luna's betrothal to him in her hands.
Even though he did not receive an answer from her for days, he was not worried.
His sole attention was on something far more intriguing. Salazar told him about the Chamber of Secrets and the special Basilisk he had left behind in the school.
Altair found it amusing when his ancestor claimed that he had only left it behind as a failsafe in case the castle was overrun by Muggle-borns or if Hogwarts was ever under attack. He later admitted that he had left the Basilisk in a moment of rage.
Nonetheless, it was a gift for his heir, one who would prove himself worthy, and Salazar now deemed Altair worthy of taking the beast as his familiar.
But first, there was something for which they needed to take precautions.
The eyes of the Basilisk were infused with ancient and dark magic that targeted the soul, and anyone who looked directly into them would have their soul locked, snatched, and shattered, killing them instantly.
An indirect look would not kill you, but it would petrify your soul, suspending it in a state of stasis. Even the masters of the Basilisks were not immune.
Salazar, however, had bred this special Basilisk from scratch, weaving it with his magic, binding it to the Slytherin blood and magic, and he had also discovered a way to gain immunity to the Soul Snatching Curse of the Basilisk's Eyes.
A potion recipe he created thirteen hundred years ago from some ancient texts that he had studied. The ingredients included tears and blood of Phoenix, willingly given, the blood and venom of the Basilisk itself, at least five centuries old, and then a long list of other rare and nearly impossible-to-find ingredients.
Cockatrice Heart. Pearl of a Manticore. Veilflower petals, Ghostshade petals, Unicorn Heartstring of a naturally deceased unicorn, harvested only a few hours after death. Blood of a five-hundred-year-old Antipodean Opaleye. Water from the Fountain of Fortune, which appears around the world only once in a century, and Lunar Elixir, which itself was hard to brew.
One also required a very special cauldron, forged of meteoric iron, consecrated under a lunar eclipse, and a powerful wand, preferably of yew or elder. It required six days to create, and one of those days had to be Samhain. Another had to be a stormy night.
When Altair saw the recipe, he felt dizzy and stared at his ancestor, speechless.
Seconds ticked by, and finally, his eyes narrowed.
"How in the world is someone supposed to create this potion? I would have to spend my entire life searching for these ingredients, and then an opportunity to brew it!"
He controlled his voice, then sighed and lowered his head.
Salazar, seeing his reaction, heartily began laughing, and this annoyed Altair even more.
However, he kept quiet as he stared at the recipe, frowning.
"The Serpent's Draught of the Undying Soul."
Salazar truly had a taste for overbearing names.
It was not just a recipe to protect against the Basilisk's eyes. Consuming this potion would make a wizard or witch immune to most soul curses. It would even prevent the shattering of the soul, or a Dementor's Kiss. The only soul curse that would still work on them was the Killing Curse, which, technically, did not harm the soul. It simply severed the link between the soul and body, killing all magic. Once the soul was severed and the body had no magic left, the soul could never return to it. There was a reason why it was called the Unforgivable Curse.
Another benefit of consuming it was the high resistance to venom and poisons, and strangely, perfect immunity to Basilisk Venom. It also provided perfect growth, resistance to common ailments like the flu, and slower ageing after reaching one's prime age. The process of ageing was five to seven times slower than the normal rate for wizards, depending on how powerful the person's magic was. However, according to Salazar only someone still in their prime or childhood could consume it and benefit from all its effects. Older people would gain immunity to Basilisk Gaze and Venom, but the slower ageing and prolonged life were unlikely. The closer you would be to the end of your lifespan, the less potent the potion would be.
And then there was the pain, the excruciating pain that would consume the person for hours, making them wish for death.
"Has anyone even survived consuming it?" he questioned after reading the dreadful warning.
"One hundred percent survival rate," Salazar informed him. "The Phoenix blood is there for this very reason. Without it, certain death."
Altair looked at him in dismay, then sighed.
"Magical as it is, it's not possible to create this potion."
"Did I say that you have to create it?"
The words caught him off guard and he stared at the old man in shock.
"You created it?"
"Yes, but unfortunately, I was too old by then. One hundred and fifty-two years, and close to my end. Even the Potion of Youth I created did not work. When I consumed this one, I only managed to gain immunity to Basilisk Venom and Death Gaze, and it strengthened my soul. My life was not prolonged. I sneaked back into Hogwarts to check on the Basilisk and left the rest of the potion vials here. I lived my last few years in this very Solar."
"You did not return to your family?"
"No." He shook his head and sighed. "My house-elves buried my body in the tomb I built myself, and it's here, in this castle, in the Chamber of Secrets."
Altair felt sad for the old man and fell silent, but at the same time, he admired how dedicated Salazar was to his goals, ideals, and legacy.
The old man smiled when he saw the sadness on Altair's face, and gently spoke to him.
"Though survival is guaranteed, there's no guarantee that you will come out of the ordeal mentally sane. The pain will not be as bad as the Cruciatus Curse, but it will be a long battle. You will feel as though your body and soul are both on fire. The agony is not something a person with a weak will can survive."
Altair frowned and nodded his head, steeling his heart, and heard the old man laugh again.
"Don't worry. You will be fine. Your magic is very powerful, and your will is strong."
He could not help but roll his eyes, then followed Salazar's instructions as he activated a mechanism on the floor, right in the centre of the room.
A pedestal slowly emerged as the marble tiles parted, and then it opened, revealing Salazar's Potion Diary as well as a set of forty-four vials, all containing a colourless but shimmering potion.
"How many do I have to consume?"
"Just one."
Altair had already decided that he would give one of these vials to his mother during the Winter Holidays, and after taking a deep breath, he picked up one vial and hid the pedestal and diary back under the floor.
He took out his wand and transfigured a bench into a soft mattress, took off his shoes, and lay down on it.
Taking the stopper off, he quickly gulped down the tasteless and viscous liquid, and immediately felt as though his body was on fire.
He did not even have time to put the vial away when a terrible pain jolted through his body, and he collapsed on the mattress, curling up into a foetal position.
Salazar watched him suffer with intrigue and was amused that Altair refused to scream.
His entire skin had turned red, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was constantly groaning and grunting, even smashing his fists into the mattress as he tried to endure the pain.
After a while, he simply fell asleep.
Salazar curiously watched him as his body trembled from time to time, but there were no signs of pain on his face as he slept.
It was fifteen hours later that he woke up, and the way he yawned and stretched his limbs, as if he had enjoyed the most comfortable sleep ever, made the old man's brow twitch.
Altair looked at the clock, which showed it was six o'clock, but the enchanted ceiling had some light and redness in the sky.
"It's the next day."
As soon as he heard those words, he jumped to his feet, put on his shoes, transformed the mattress back into a bench, and bowed to the old man before rushing out.
After exiting the Solar and entering the maze, he turned himself invisible with Morgana's Locket and then hurried back to the dormitory.
Thankfully, the door to the common room was open, and he carefully slipped past the students and made it to his room undetected.
He had just turned off the invisibility when he heard the door to the dressing room open, and Cho peeked in.
She was shocked to see him standing there and instinctively yelled out.
"He's here!"
Aurelia, who was half-naked, hurriedly covered herself in her bathrobe and rushed over. Her hair was dripping wet as she made her way to him and then glared at him.
"What kept you?" she asked coldly, and he began to sweat a little.
"I fell asleep…"
Her expression quickly morphed from anger to disbelief, and Cho, meanwhile, burst out laughing.
"Is that the truth?"
"Yes…"
"So, half-truth." She narrowed her eyes at him again and he awkwardly looked at Cho for help.
Thankfully, she did come to his rescue.
"It's all right, Aurelia. Come, let's get ready. You too, Altair. You skipped both breakfast and lunch."
"Yes." He smiled and quickly planted kisses on both their cheeks as he ran into the dressing room and straight into the bath.
The two girls glanced at each other and rolled their eyes, and Cho quietly set about choosing clothes for Altair and laid them out on the bench in the dressing room.
When he joined them in the common room twenty minutes later, everyone was waiting, and they all walked towards the Great Hall in an orderly fashion.
There was a lot of chatter, and the Hall was filled with students. Every single one of the Hogwarts students was present.
Most of them were talking about the next day's Fantastic Beasts Challenge, and during the meal, Professor Tonks approached Altair and asked him to see the Deputy Headmistress in her office.
Cho glanced at him worriedly, but Gemma, who was sitting nearby, informed them that it was likely about the event tomorrow and the uniform.
Altair, after the meal, headed to Professor McGonagall's office, and when he knocked and entered, the other champions were already present in the room.
"Mister Black. Your uniform for tomorrow is on the shelf to the right. Make sure you are in the Glass Enclosure next to the Greenhouses by eight o'clock sharp. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor."
"I will explain the rules now, so you must listen carefully. All four of you must be mindful of how you use your wands. No direct spells on the magical creatures. None. No ensnaring, no binding, no petrification. Nothing. If you harm any of the magical creatures, one hundred points will be deducted from your House's tally. You can, of course, use your wand to defend yourself, but even then you must not harm the magical creatures. Being rough with them is allowed, if that's all your brain can manage. Get some good sleep because you are going to need all the rest you can get. Good night."
All four of them became a little nervous at her words and then quietly left the room.
Altair made sure to pick up the leather armour with silver and green highlights. There was a black cape as well, with his House's crest on the back and also his name.
"You do not need to return it if you pass even a single Task." Professor McGonagall smiled as she watched him examine the items.
"Thank you, Professor." He politely bowed to her. "Good night."
When he reached the dormitory, almost everyone was waiting to see his uniform for the following day, and he happily showed it to them, earning cheers all around.