HP: Spirit Talker

With all the preparations almost complete, the girls had finally quenched their thirst for battle and turned their attention to us.

— Okay, — I started the briefing. — The figures on the floor are one of the medical constructs that produce external control and normalization of energy and some physiological flows, aura stability. The construct was not designed to be energized by drives or victims, so one of you girls will maintain the channel, adjusting its power as needed. There's an indicator here. — I point to a small inscribed circle with a dot off to the side. — The dot must be exactly where it touches, a shift in position means either a lack of power or an oversaturation of the construct.

— How long will the operation take? — Lizzie studied the figures on the floor with a serious and collected expression.

— I'd say at least a few hours, probably longer.

— Then it won't be me. — The blonde concluded, looked up at me and continued. — I'm not enough for such a period of time: the reserve and the recovery speed are insufficient, I'm not from the generic ... — The girl shrugged.

— That's not a problem. — I took out of my pocket a wide bracelet with a leather base and silver plates on which ten eight-centimeter-long crystals were fixed, glowing with a soft blue light. Everyone was mesmerized by my handiwork. — I know it doesn't look like much, but with this thing, even a squib can power the construct for a few days. What I need is an operator with a good sense of magic and the ability to perform subtle manipulations. Can you do that? — Looking into the celestial eyes, the girl shook her head negatively. — And you, Afiri? — I look at the dark-haired girl.

— I was trained for this, sir. — The girl shook her head gently. — But may I know your ultimate goal?

— Why not? — I shrugged. — I want to mold a chimera in a way...

— But that's--! — Lizzie interrupted me, a look of disbelief and concern on her face.

— Don't worry, this thing won't be able to move on its own, and even a rudimentary semblance of consciousness will remain disabled. It's the life processes and properties of the mandrake that matter to me. — Lizzie seemed reassured by my words, and Kiriko and Afiri didn't seem worried at all.

— In that case, — the dark-haired girl said. — If I may, I will be more useful by assisting you, sir. — The girl bowed slightly.

— Hmm? Are you a chimeraologist? Do you have any experience with that? — I was surprised, as I hadn't bothered to find out about her family's orientation and what gifts they possessed.

— I have the gift of a dark healer, which was called "Will of the Dark Gods" in my family, as well as the gift of "Whisper of the Dead". — Noticing that no one understood the meaning of the second gift, the girl added. — To work with the souls and flesh of the dead.

— Necromancer... — Lizzie exhaled with big shocked eyes, even turning slightly pale.

— Yeah... — That was all I could manage, but I managed to pull myself together quickly. — Experience? — There was hope in my voice.

— Yes, the Dead Family always knew how to value the ancestral heritage, because everyone knew that the better the gift is developed, the better it is fixed in the blood.

— And?

— I'm experienced.

Uh-huh. Just blah, blah. What a godsend. What am I supposed to do with it? You can't let such a gift get out of your hands, especially since there are no more necromancy wizards left in Britain — they were all killed off in a fit of idiocy and Dippet and Dumbledore's drugging. And I was thinking of marrying Aphiri off to some promising cadre, thus organizing a vassal family with the Hallows.

Yes. With the current laws and regulations, no one will agree to marry a necromancer, even if they pay extra, because they are scared shitless of the word "necromancy". And it would be impossible to remain silent — the rituals of magical marriage demand the truth.

— What other gifts did you have in your family? — I had to admit that the gods had made a subtle and beautiful use of my character.

— The evil word and the dark service. — the Egyptian replied briefly and succinctly, and I wanted to groan from the premonitions and guesses.

— Will you explain? — Lizzie had gotten over herself, too.

— Curses and dark rituals, sacrifices, cultism. — The flat tone and calm voice did not correspond to the meaning, which sent cold shivers down my spine.

Of course, I'd read about such magic, and I'd even been trained in curses, if only the basics? I could damn well understand the meaning of the swarthy woman's words, and I could imagine what a fully trained mage with the proper gifts could do. And I also felt a strange smugness at the thought that an entire clan that had accumulated so many dark gifts in its blood, and was so evil in itself, was now destroyed, and by my hands.

— All right! All right! We'll talk about this later. Right now we have other things to do.

We didn't get down to business right away. We had to draw a circle of concentration to help Lizzie. Besides, the girl will take a huge step forward in her development, because many magicians cannot clearly feel the flow of magic in themselves all their lives. It is extremely rare for someone to go beyond "feeling a soft warmth in the chest/diaphragm", and without this it is very difficult, almost impossible, to develop many disciplines. Most "Masters", "Masters" and "Apprentices of Masters" simply discover patterns or clues that allow them to literally break through barriers.

Afiri, as an experienced dark healer whose horizons include all living things as well as many non-living things, and who is not limited by any morality, will be my assistant partner. I'm sure she knows nuances I'm not even aware of, so her help will be invaluable.

 Kiriko, on the other hand, will be there to observe, assist as best she can, and provide what I need. The girl has already learned the basics of spiritual sight, so she should learn a lot from this work. And I think I will learn a lot myself today.

Oh yes, I should add that the nearby chest is the result of a lucky coincidence. Thanks to my good relationship with Ronald, I was able to negotiate with his older brother to buy some fresh dragon blood, meat, bones, and most importantly, a heart, which was quickly cut out and placed in a chest with stasis charms. It was expensive, of course, but you couldn't officially buy it all at once and in such quantities. And the heart, fresh, which can still be started, is impossible to buy any other way than the way I did it.