As they say, there are many things in this world and the next that you can literally admire for hours on end, and that will give you the most genuine pleasure. Many people throughout history have listed their preferences in this regard, but I think there is more to admiring than just fire, water, or the starry sky. You can also include falling raindrops, or snowflakes, or falling colored leaves in the fall.
In general, with an out-of-the-box way of thinking, it is not so difficult to find something fascinating, beautiful, wonderful....and so on. Well, or just being an idiot chasing butterflies..... in the winter.
What am I talking about? Oh yes, contemplation. I watched the two Vailas at work and enjoyed the skill of one and the sheer gift of the other. And it was also fascinating to see how they worked together: every action, every gesture, every step of the work was not done separately by Appolin or Fleur.
The action literally flowed from the wand of one to the wand of the other, weaving together, blending together, coming to a complete conclusion with the expected and necessary result. It's hard to put into words what I witnessed, really, it's hard. But fascinating, yes. And very beautiful, like a harmonious dance of perfect partners. In a way it is.
But then everything changed. The gentle dance became work, complicated, intense. The movements of the hands weaving the beads became a bit sharper, the softness turned into sharpness.
After a few more minutes, beads of sweat appeared on Appolin and Fleur's faces, the girl's eyes moved quickly under closed eyelids and her thin eyebrows frowned in concentration. Worse, in another ten minutes Fleur had turned very pale, literally white, even her veins were clearly visible, and she remained that way until the work was finished.
With a smooth wave of Appolin's wand, a snow-white ball of smoke hovered over Bellatrix's head, as if woven from ghostly flames. Another wave and the ball turned to liquid silver and fell gently into the prepared crystal vessel with the divisions. It came out exactly three quarters. Apparently, Bellatrix's life had been an extremely eventful one.
— Here. — Appolyn exhaled heavily and hugged her daughter's shoulders. — That's the way it is, my dear. — Fleur remained where she was, still trembling slightly, not opening her eyes. — It's nothing, my love, it's all over now, it's all gone... — the woman stroked Fleur's back, reassuring her, and after a minute the girl's tears flowed from under her closed eyelids.
How long the woman soothed her daughter, I didn't measure, but I didn't like the girl's reaction, and that's putting it mildly. But, as I said, I'm frankly weak at mental magic, finding my place in the world and the world in me — it's not the same as structuring your own mind or hacking someone else's.
So he remained modestly silent, waiting patiently for Appolyn to bring her daughter to a minimum of order, rather than prying with advice. After a while, the woman took her daughter away, and I reached out to the glowing substance of memories.
What was shown in the movie, or what is often used by British "advanced" magicians, is in fact only the second step of Occlumency, nothing more. In case anyone is interested, the first step is to open the inner space of the memory, with the help of which you can begin to structure it, i.e. proceed to the second step.
With the help of structuring, you can select only one separate memory, "push" it "up", and then it is banally wound on a magic wand and dumped either for storage or immediately into the "Pensieve". The next step is the creation in the "inner world", i.e. the possibility of expanding the memory, creating a defense, or the first attempts to penetrate the subconscious, to put it in technical terms.
What Appolin has just created is already from Legilimenship, and more specifically, the embodiment of a memory. In fact, it's the same memory that is created with Occlumency, but it's taken from someone other than herself. Also, this thing is controllable, i.e. you don't have to go through the whole memory every time (and they can be very long) until the necessary moment, you can just wish to see "this and that" and that's all.
That's the practical thing. By the way, on the territory of Great Britain officially there are no masters or masters of mental magic, and how unofficially — I do not know.
Well, it's time to see what has affected Fleur so much....
***
— So, how's Fleur?
— She's sleeping. — Appolina answers briefly, sitting down in a nearby chair. — Have you seen her?
— I have. — I just nod, not taking my eyes off the fire in the fireplace. And yes, I do have a fireplace, but it only serves its purpose, the transport fireplace is in another building and it's not connected yet.
— What do you think? — Pierre and Lizzie were silent.
— Magic. — I replied dryly, feeling the woman's nod.
Well, what else was there to say? All of Bellatrix Black's troubles began when Walburga Black was hooked on the new Heir of Slytherin's speeches about blood purity, the new order, and so on.
The woman would literally get "excited" every time she visited one of the aristocrats where Tom Riddle was always seen, even though he had changed his name by then. It can be said that Walburga was "excited" for a while, but without consequences, but as the pureblood movement gained momentum, she literally blew up and began to nag her husband.
Soon the trio of black girls from the younger branch found out what was in store for them. Bellatrix, being the heaviest of the sisters, was literally forced to marry Lestrange, even though she was not a fan of politics, she was attracted to movement, the desire to act, and this marriage opened up opportunities to have fun and let off steam.
And it seemed to go well. well, relatively, because I can't understand a woman with all my desires (if I had them), and even a husband not so strong in battle did not upset the young Valkyrie. She was attracted by adventures, and Lord Voldemort was generous with the girl, sending her on special missions throughout Europe.
The girl visited Romania, trying to find a vampire relic, and Poland, hoping to take from one of the old local families an ancient artifact blade that an ancestral knight had won in one of the Crusades. It was a lot to take in, and Bellatrix enjoyed it immensely each time, her active nature ecstatic.
But then Voldemort decided that Bellatrix could be molded into a much stronger fighter than she was now. No, he was quite right, but the fact is that the girl was too young at the time and had not yet given birth, i.e. her psyche had not yet "settled". However, the "genius" and "luminary of the dark side" didn't care what wizards had learned for thousands of years through blood and sweat.
He decided he knew better, and began to teach Bellatrix the secrets of not only dark magic, but forbidden magic. And it was called that for a reason, for it had serious, almost irreversible consequences. I won't describe what I saw in Black's memories, except to say that every ritual requires a reasonable sacrifice, and the pain of the victim is one of the best kinds of fuel for such an "evil" or "forbidden" ritual.
During the training of such a magician, and this is usually already either a sorcerer, or an evil spirit caster, or a demonologist, undergoes a powerful breakdown of consciousness, rebuilding morality. What happens to those unprepared for such a break — you can see on Bellatrix, and the "Lord" himself is clearly strong "rustled the roof".
In general, her "attic" leaked thoroughly, and retarded Tom even more loosened this very "roof", as a result of which he became a crazy maniac, completely indifferent to everything except following the orders of the Lord, as well as work "on the profile". She has hardly considered herself a woman for many years, and the last time she was with her husband was a few years before Voldemort's downfall. She was not pregnant, so she did not lose a child. And she attacked the Longbottoms because Tom told her to. That's about it.
In short, it is clear that the personality of the original Bella has been destroyed, and what we have before us is a madman — a chimera created with all the perverted love of a moral freak. I, on the other hand, now have a lot of important memories of Riddle in his "best" years, as well as quite a few about his passions and hobbies. To be honest, I didn't want to get involved in this whole mess at all, even though I knew it was unlikely that I would be able to. But what stops me from dreaming of "a house in the woods, a river nearby, fishing..."?
I needed the Horcrux in Bellatrix's cell as a guarantee, a bargaining chip. Now I realize that this monster won't rest until everyone, everyone, bows down to him, and my faith won't allow me to fawn over such scum, so I need to get busy collecting Horcruxes and, when I get the chance, give Riddle a good kick when he's not expecting it.
Also, I think I have everything I need to make a decision about Bellatrix Black, and that's what depresses me so much — I don't want to kill her. I just don't. No matter what. I don't understand why, but I do, and that's why I stare into the fire, hoping that the answer will come to me. That I'll have an epiphany.
— Have you decided yet? — Vayla asked.
— You've seen it all for yourself, so why do you ask?
— Answer. — Appolyn asked quietly, and I had no desire to be a stubborn sheep.
— My decision is obvious, — I sighed heavily. — But for some reason I really don't want to do it. I don't know why.
— It's a good thing you don't. — Appolyn's voice is warm. — I'm deeply disgusted by it myself, so I'm offering you an alternative. But we're going to have to do some serious work. Very serious. — Now the woman was deadly serious.
— Can you guarantee that Bellatrix will stop being a crazy psychopath and maniac?
— Yes. There wasn't even a hint of doubt in the Weyrwoman's voice. — With your help, I can do it.
— And how, may I ask? — I turned my head slightly to see her face.
— A person's personality is a lifetime of memories, life experiences, emotions. Memories. — The woman paused for a moment. — We will destroy all her memories up to the moment in her life when there were first signs of mental disintegration.
— Up to the moment she entered Hogwarts? — I couldn't help it, my mistake.
— I don't think it would go that far, but I suppose it's a possibility. — The woman shrugged. — I'll check everything today and try to find the necessary memory point, and then we'll start working together.
— Well, — I replied after a short silence. — This option is still better than my original plan, so we'll do it your way.
— Good. — Appolin smiled affectionately and sat down on her husband's lap. — I'm glad I was right about you.
I nodded in response, returning to my contemplation as I considered the change in plans.