Two weeks had passed after Erebus arrived in the Wizarding World. He had grown to understand that there were events going around behind the scenes ever since he had been filled in by Professor Fig about what was going on.
<~[+]~>
He had gone along with both Fig and Alex Fross on their adventure exploring the ancient ruins, which had once been the home of a noted seer, but it was when they arrived to Vault 12 that he learned that dark forces were on the prowl in this time period before Harry Potter and Voldemort's little skirmish. Erebus had inquired about Ranrok's goals for the most part during their exploration of Vault 12 while Alex mentioned about seeing glowing runes within the vault.
Needless to say, Erebus could see them too while Professor Fig could not.
It was then that when Alex stepped into the swirling pool of Ancient Magic and waved his wand up, he had caused the floor within the vault to change-making Erebus note that there was a statue in the floor. He didn't vocalize the note, but Alex himself had instead-alerting Professor Fig and having him inquire about the statue.
When the professor moved around with the Wand-Lighting Charm active, Alex said that the statue moved with the light. Obviously, Alex had casted Revelio to reveal the statue-but Erebus had been trained in the basics of Lightsaber Combat and felt the passive inertness of the statue.
After mentioning how the statue's reflection moved with the light, Professor Fig had taught Alex how to cast Lumos while Erebus watched. He had long explained that he didn't have a wand yet when Fig taught Alex the Revelio charm back in the main vault chambers, but when the charm had been successfully taught, the System responded with him unlocking a new spell.
Sadly, the same spell was greyed out since it required a wand to cast.
Once Alex casted the spell, the reflection turned towards him instead and he slowly put it into alignment. Erebus had begun to sense the fluctuation in the Force around him akin to how in the game, the Player Character has the rings surrounding his head during combat.
This made him equip his lightsaber and get into a stance while getting ready to fight while the statue slowly got onto its feet and tapped the tip of its sword onto the floor-causing the environment to turn into a pseudo fighting arena. Both Alex and Fig were getting ready to cast their spells as the statue summoned compatriots to aid it in battle against Fig, Alex, and Erebus.
Aside from the Basic Cast, Protego, and Stupeify spells that Alex casted to help defeat the statues alongside Fig casting more powerful spells, they heard Erebus activate his Lightsaber and charge into battle against the statues-cutting them down quickly. Neither of them had seen such a thing before, but they felt like they would have to ask him about his origins more after they survived the ordeal.
When the last statue had been defeated, Erebus quickly deactivated his lightsaber and attached it to his belt. Strangely enough, he hadn't been awarded experience by his System for completing the battle, but the confusion didn't last long when his System notified him that experience rewards had been halted until they arrived at Hogwarts.
After dismissing the notification, he went over to Fig and Alex to see if they were alright, but before Fig could ask more about Erebus' lightsaber, the surroundings slowly started to shift once more. Fig had asked both Alex and Erebus to stay close, but it wasn't long before Fig had vanished alongside the environment-leaving both Erebus and Alex in the darkness.
This led the duo to wander through the darkness and a few more battles with the statues before finally arriving at the endpoint. Erebus and Alex wandered into the final room of the vault where they saw a locket floating over a Pensive. Erebus was the only one to note what it was in thanks to his [Inspect] skill through his System, but Alex didn't have a clue.
What had caught Erebus' attention was that his skill informed him that the locket carried a memory from a man called "Percival Rackham," but with most of the other information locked behind level restrictions. He didn't grab the locket since Alex had done so, but that was enough to open the door-revealing and allowing Professor Fig to enter into the room.
While Alex had explained what had happened from their side along with how they found the locket floating above the 'basin' as he called it, Erebus remembered a fact about the Wizarding World and the pensives. They worked in a similar fashion to a holo-projector from Star Wars considering the technological prowess of both the Republic and Empire, but in a more fantastical setting.
His thoughts got interrupted when Fig explained to Alex and Erebus it wasn't a mere 'basin,' but instead a pensive for viewing memories. Fig then demonstrated on how to view it-despite Erebus already knowing how it works due to both the books and movies showing him-and the three of them began viewing the memory of Percival talking to a man named "Charles Rookwood" about the trials they had laid down.
Oddly enough, Erebus' System still functioned normally through the pensive memory and it had updated his progress about the Keeper's secret. This led Erebus to understand that both Percival and Charles were part of the Keepers or the secret, but he wouldn't share that information quite yet.
When they finished viewing the memory, Fig inquired to Alex if the glow was what he constantly saw and Alex nodded in affirmation. After that, Fig began to ponder about the mystery surrounding Ancient Magic and how Alex is the key to understanding why.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Erebus-unlike Alex and Fig-felt a disturbance in the Force which turned his attention towards the door a split moment before the goblin banker mentioned about how the vault looked different than it did before. This alerted Fig and Alex, but Erebus was not surprised like they were.
The door opened to reveal four goblins-including the banker. Erebus felt the Force warn him about Ranrok as the System too announced how engaging in combat against Ranrok was inadvisable at the current moment.
Fig growled a bit towards the black-robed goblin by naming him out to be Ranrok, which Erebus kindly kept note of for the future. Both Alex and Fig pulled out their wands towards Ranrok after he mentioned about how his reputation preceded him, but Erebus wasn't buying it.
He could feel how the goblin was too angry against wizards and wielding dark magic which seemed oddly similar to the Dark Side of the Force-albeit far weaker than the time period he came from. Erebus could also feel how insincere Ranrok's words were when he wanted the locket, but he also knew the wizened professor could tell the same thing he did-making it clear that he would not give him anything.
Ranrok then tried to reason with Alex about it, but Fig wasn't going to have it. He threw a spell towards Ranrok, but for it to only be blocked by Ranrok's magic-throwing them both back across the room. Erebus was the only one left by the pensive in front of Ranrok, but it seemed like he was invisible to the goblin at the moment-like he couldn't see him.
Erebus didn't waste any time to run towards both Alex and Fig as he sensed the room begin to change and a far larger statue seemingly powered by Ancient Magic started to form in front of Ranrok. This led to combat being initiated against Ranrok's goblins and Erebus understood why both his System and the Force told him not to engage in combat against Ranrok.
He went with Alex while helping Fig get to a portal which his System told him would drop them off by Hogwarts. All three of them touched the portal and were whisked away in time before a pillar destroyed the other end.
<~[+]~>
"Astonishing!" Professor Fig exclaimed as he (Fig) and Erebus met up after having both he (Erebus) and Alex sorted into the same house. Oddly enough, Alex was more of a Ravenclaw than any of the other three houses while Erebus fit all four of the houses-making the hat give Erebus the right to choose which house he'd be in. He obviously chose Ravenclaw since most of the fanfiction he had read back home nicknamed that house as the house of transmigrators.
He and Alex were led into the Ravenclaw common room by Professor Weasley after being sorted, but unlike Alex, Erebus didn't receive a Field Guide. Professor Weasley had apologized to him for that issue, but he didn't mind. He informed Professor Weasley that he had something else to help him along and he'd tell her about it later-knowing that he'd have to reveal more about his secrets to his professors towards the end of the current school year.
For the time being, he decided to reveal more to Fig and Alex about who and what he was.
"So that's why you told Professor Weasley you had something else?" Alex inquired. "This 'system' of yours works like the Field Guide?"
Erebus nodded. "Yes. I can see the world like a video game and before you ask what it is, I can show you."
"Show us?" Professor Fig asked in intrigue. "How?"
"By doing this..." Erebus said as he waved his hand towards Fig and Alex-sending them a [Party Invitation].
Apparently, the rewards he got from completing the run with Fig and Alex in Gringotts gave him a small bit of experience (albeit not enough to level up to 21), the ability to reveal the existence of the System to both Fig and Alex (with extra redemptions soon to come through completing certain requirements), and a new function called [Party System]. Erebus was concerned that revealing the System to them both might make things problematic if they decided to reveal its existence without his permission, but those concerns vanished when the System notified him that it works on a similar level as an [Unbreakable Vow] and he knew how dangerous those were to wizards.
A translucent cerulean blue screen appeared in Alex and Fig's vision inviting them into his party. They both tapped [Accept] and that was when they both got a small and far more barebones Interface compared to Erebus.
"Godric's Heart!" Fig exclaimed in shock as he discovered the versatility of the System Erebus possessed. "And you see the world like this?"
Erebus once again nodded.
"This is impressive!" Alex exclaimed in wonder. Apparently, he could see things like an 'Ancient Magic Meter' along with his health in a numerical value in his version of the UI.
"Yeah it is," Erebus smiled softly. "Sadly, the System only allowed me to reveal its existence to you two after the events at Gringotts. I've already theorized that it will allow me to reveal it further to the other professors or my peers here in Hogwarts."
"Hmm, it seems like this 'System' of yours is quite smart," Professor Fig commented as he used the interface to examine his wand-giving him a complete rundown of it almost immediately after. "Best that we don't talk about it with the other professors for now."
Erebus nodded and disbanded the [Party]-making Fig and Alex lose their relevant interfaces. "I doubt I could explain much about it anyways. Vague hints and the like seem to work, but anything direct would trigger the System."
"Well, I for one am glad that you have an ability like that," Alex commented to Erebus. "All I can do is simply see traces of Ancient Magic."
(A/N: Oh don't worry Alex, you'll be able to do far more than just that in the future :P)
Erebus gave Alex a soft smile as he understood that. Returning to his more stoic business-like persona, he continued. "Now that I explained a bit more about who I am to you both, I am curious about what's going on. Who is Ranrok and what are his goals?"
Fig pondered that for a moment after giving himself a moment to recover from the revelation about Erebus' true nature. "Ranrok is the dark-robed goblin you saw at Gringotts. As to his goals? He is the leader of a goblin rebellion. I'm not sure of what else is going on there."
Erebus sighed as he seemed to be just working off of the information available to him. With that, he decided to shelf his inquiries for much later.
"Sir, did you have any luck with the locket yet?" Alex asked Fig.
Fig shook his head slightly. "Not yet."
Erebus and Alex both understood that. Erebus believed that it was enough of a talk and that both of them had to get to class.
<~[+]~>
Now, in the present time, Erebus was going along with Sebastian Sallow and Alex Fross to go to Hogsmeade for fresh supplies. As for Erebus himself, he had explained to Professor Weasley a white lie about him being in the same carriage as Fig and Alex to help explain the missing supplies.
The only problem he had now was that his System told him that the white lie he told Professor Weasley would not hold up against intense scrutiny, so he had to make absolutely sure that they wouldn't find anything out about him until the end of the school year. He also hoped that Arch and Kreia will be able to find him in time since he wasn't sure if his System will allow him to respawn in Hogwarts or within the valley area.
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