Disturbing Likeness

Dim torchlight flickered in the Undercroft, creating dancing shadows on the rough stone walls. Ancient pillars stood tall, with dusty wooden crates piled around their bases. In one shadowy corner, a shallow basin on a crumbling plinth had a surface as dark and still as a pond at midnight.

Pacing back and forth amidst this subterranean chamber was Lucas, his features etched in a pensive frown. Physically, he appeared every inch the healthy, vibrant eleven-year-old – his skin was a flawless white, unblemished by blight or scar save on his forehead. Raven locks framed a classically handsome face, the strands neatly combed into place without the need for styling products. No spectacles adorned the bridge of his straight nose, for his jade-green eyes were unclouded by any impairment.

This perfection of form was no mere happenstance of genetics, but the byproduct of constant, subtle spells. A minor Revitalization Spell pulsed in an endless cycle, mending any ailments or injuries before they could take root. An Air Purification Shield surrounded him in an invisible bubble, filtering every breath to maintain his physical peak.

Even though the Great Hall had been in a state of immense panic earlier, Lucas remained calm as he strolled through the Undercroft. The horrific news on the Daily Prophet's front page was unsettling, but he managed to keep his cool.

He muttered through gritted teeth, the tension visible in his rigid posture. "A fire elemental of such power. Utterly unprecedented. Nothing like it has ever been documented across thousands of years of magical history."

His brow furrowed, emerald eyes narrowing in concentration. With a negligent wave of one hand, a small sphere of golden flame blossomed into existence, hovering just above his upturned palm. Another flick of his fingers caused the orb to elongate, transforming into a slender spike that rotated with hypnotic slowness.

"That's how it was explained, was it not?" Lucas murmured, watching the twisting fire. "Focused beams of fire, condensed and powerful. Basic, yet overwhelmingly destructive."

The fire intensified, its core burning a brilliant white-hot under Lucas's concentrated will, as precise as a laser. In an instant, a narrow lance of flame shot out, striking the nearest stone pillar with a burst of searing heat. Shards of molten rock flew outward, glittering and hissing upon contact with the floor.

Lucas regarded the fresh scorch mark with a look of cool appraisal, then allowed the flames cradled in his palm to dissipate into wispy curls of smoke.

"An interesting parallel," he mused, resuming his pacing once more. "For that is precisely how I choose to wield my Elemental Magic – concentrated into piercing lances to maximize their impact over a single vector."

As if to illustrate his point, Lucas waved his hand through the air, guiding his Will with an economy of movement. Four jagged spikes of sapphire ice materialized in a hovering lattice, their wicked points aimed squarely at the pillar already marred by scorching flame. With a subtle twitch of his fingers, the frozen lances streaked forward, shattering against the stone in a thunderous detonation of frost and shrapnel.

"You see?" Lucas addressed his words to the empty chamber as if he was a professor lecturing a particularly dense student. "There is no need for flashy displays, no wasted motion or shallow manifestations. Just pure, directed force striking with maximum efficiency."

A look of mild disdain flickered across his features as he gestured again, this time conjuring a roiling cyclone of elemental air. The miniature tornado spun with enough ferocity to shear through solid rock, shredding one of the crates into a whirlwind of wooden splinters.

"Shaping the elements into fanciful forms serves no practical purpose," Lucas stated with certainty. "It is merely an exercise in showmanship over substance. A dragon's maw or phoenix's wings are all well and good for intimidating the foolish and gullible, but they are a detriment when focused application is required."

Abruptly, his pacing carried him before the ancient stone basin in the corner – the Pensieve. Lucas paused, peering into its glossy, obsidian-like depths as if searching for some elusive truth hidden within. For a long moment, he was utterly motionless, seemingly lost in contemplation.

Then, with a slight shake of his head, he turned away from the artifact, resuming his path with renewed vigour. As if sensing his shift in mood, the slender form of Nyx uncoiled from where she had been draped across his shoulders, flicking her tongue against his cheek in a gesture of reassurance.

"Lucas?" The grass snake's question in Parseltongue came out softly, with an underlying worry.

Lucas paused mid-stride, eyes flickering to meet Nyx's inquisitive gaze. The slender serpent was coiled around his shoulders, her scales a verdant sheen in the torchlight. He exhaled a slow breath, willing his racing thoughts into a semblance of order.

"I'm alright, Nyx," he replied in the same sibilant tongue, offering her a reassuring stroke along her sinuous body. "Just...troubled by recent events."

Nyx flicked her tongue, tasting the tension in the air. "Is it about the fire creature? The one that killed so many humans?"

A mirthless chuckle escaped Lucas's lips. Leave it to his familiar to cut straight to the heart of the matter. "Indeed. That unknown 'fire creature' has me...perplexed."

Pacing once more, he quietly aired his worries, switching to Parseltongue here and there in his conversation with Nyx.

"This world seemed to align so perfectly with the canon story I knew. A few deviations here and there from Hogwarts Legacy, but nothing too extreme." He shook his head slowly, eyes narrowed in thought. "And then today happens. Chaos in the Great Hall, panic over some...some being that slaughtered tens of thousands with elemental fire."

Nyx hissed softly in commiseration, her flickering tongue brushing his cheek. "A terrible tragedy. But why is this so troubling to you, Lucas?"

"Because nothing like this ever occurred in the original story," Lucas explained, waving a hand to conjure a small cyclone that danced across his palm. "A massacre on that scale by an unknown entity? It simply doesn't fit. And the manner in which it wielded those flames..."

The tiny tornado intensified, howling with greater ferocity until it collapsed in on itself with a miniature implosion. "Concentrated beams and spikes of fire. Does that sound familiar to you, Nyx?"

The serpent considered this for a moment before giving a slight bobbing of her diamond-shaped head. "It is how you channel your own magic offensively like you said just now, is it not? Focused and efficient."

"Precisely." Lucas nodded, a look of grim satisfaction flickering across his features. "I can't claim to be unique in that regard. Very ancient history has the occasional wizard capable of wandless elemental magic in such a manner. But in modern times?" He shook his head. "It's practically unheard of these days. Millenia of tradition and formalized training have pushed magic into very...structured channels, I suppose you could say."

Pausing before the ancient Pensieve, Lucas stared into its glossy black depths, seeing his own frown reflected back at him. "Nobody I know of wields magic with the same raw force and ease as I do. Perhaps it's because of my Vast Sea Visualization technique I've been experimenting with since I was a toddler the moment I gained access to magic. Or maybe I'm just...innately gifted, for lack of a better word."

He shrugged, already dismissing the notion as irrelevant. "Regardless of the reason, the fact remains - the elemental's attack mirrored my own abilities far too closely for comfort." Lucas's expression darkened, his eyes narrowing to brilliant emerald slits. "It worries me, Nyx. Because I have no idea where this thing came from or what could have created it."

Pulling his gaze from the Pensieve, Lucas resumed his restless pacing. "The location is equally baffling. Why attack Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong of all places? That cramped, decaying slum offered no riches or resources to plunder." His fists clenched at his sides as the answer became obvious once more. "The only thing of value to be gained from such a place was the souls of the dead, especially since all the bodies were burned to ashes."

Lucas shook his head as his mind spun down a grim path of speculation. "Some dark wizard or cult, harvesting souls on a massive scale. It's sickening...reprehensible." He shook his head, mouth twisting in distaste. "If I'm being honest with myself, it's likely tied to my own past actions as the Dark Lord Desolus in some way."

Nyx remained silent, sensing her friend's growing agitation as he paced in tighter, more frantic circles.

"Perhaps too many died in Africa or some other conflict because of the oil crisis." Lucas's words came faster now, tumbling over each other in a rising torrent of anger and confusion. "So many souls reaped that it triggered some twisted chain reaction. Pushed whoever was behind this attack over the edge to go slaughtering innocents on a scale that threatens to expose us all!"

His voice had risen to a shout, fists clenching spasmodically at his sides. Without conscious thought, arcs of brilliant emerald energy began to crackle along his forearms, sparking and writhing like living tendrils. Nyx shrank back instinctively, her scales ruffling in a subtle warning display.

"Because that's the real danger here, isn't it?" Lucas growled, whirling to face the inert Pensieve once more. The air around him shimmered and distorted from the sheer force of his anger, his Vast Sea inwardly responding to his disturbed emotions. "This idiot's reckless actions have put the entire Statute of Secrecy at risk! All of my plans for the future are in jeopardy because of one fool's selfish desires!"

With an inarticulate snarl of fury, Lucas lashed out – a jagged bolt of viridian lightning lancing from his raised palm, smashing through the stone plinth in a thunderous explosion of shattered masonry. The bolt didn't stop there; it tore through the stone, drilling a hole as it surged forward, continuing its destructive path. It streaked through the chamber, incinerating everything in its way, before punching through a distant wall with a deafening crack, the impact ringing throughout the room. But the lightning persisted still, a blinding, crackling beam that seemed to go on forever.

Nyx coiled tighter around his shoulders, hissing in fear as the torchlight flickered wildly from the disturbed air.

"Kanker!" The Dutch profanity slipped from Lucas's lips as he glared at the settling dust and debris. "Do they have any idea what they've done?"

His chest heaved with every ragged breath, jade eyes blazing with outrage. For several long moments, an oppressive silence cloaked the Undercroft, broken only by the faint crackle and pop of residual magic discharge.

Then, with a visible effort, Lucas forcibly mastered himself. The arcing tendrils of energy dissipated into fading sparks as he straightened, squaring his shoulders beneath Nyx's worried coils.

"Calm yourself," he commanded in a low, steady tone - though whether meant for his familiar or his own benefit remained unclear. "This situation demands a level head, not reckless emotion."

Taking a deep breath, the Vast Sea within him slowly calmed down and the raging thunderstorm above the sea dissipated into nothingness. Only then did he finally turn away from the Pensieve, features settled into an impassive mask of control.

"One crisis at a time," Lucas stated in a tone of finality. "First, I must conclude my business with the Dark Lord's soul fragments. Only then can I turn my full attention to this new threat."

His emerald eyes hardened to flint as he walked to the exit of the chamber. "Voldemort is a mere stepping stone in the greater scheme of things. I'll neutralize him soon enough - and then we shall discover the true meaning behind this entity."