021 // MC realize the long-term consequences of the challenge.

It was a month after 1st challenge or the only challenge which actually happened.

Sirius was looking forward to knowing the next challenge, but Lord Noir had forfeited as his son had been traumatized by seeing his Griffin die, after fighting with a dragon. Yes, the first key was guarded literally by a wild dragon.

Sirius Thanked Mother Gaia for days upon learning that. Dragons were notorious for eating humans, sometimes whole villages; Christopher had got away with only minor injuries and some mental damage.

His Griffin fought with the dragon while Noir had got the key from the dragon's nest using a broom. Honestly, second flying equipment was a good idea that Sirius hadn't considered, and he kicked himself for it, but what's done was done.

Christopher had found the key, but by then the dragon had returned after feasting on his Griffin and Christopher had barely escaped with his life. His broom and bag were half burnt by dragon fire, he had manoeuvred to the ground far away somehow. Then he had fallen when his damaged broom and walked some way ahead into the forest. He had slept in a seemingly empty cave for a few hours until he was chased away from it by a pack of angry, wild kneazles. He had to leave his blankets there while escaping the creatures.

Noir could have taken a few Kneazles as he had his wand, but he was hungry, hurt, and tired at that point, so he just left. He then spent another night atop a tree and then lit the fire the next day after he had exhausted his food. Sirius had found him like that then.

Sirius applauded Christopher for using his brain. Wizards didn't use it often. He was a worthy opponent, as escaping a wild dragon with only minor injuries was a miracle on its own.

He learned that 2nd and 3rd challenges were nothing to sneeze upon, including the Black Island and duels in unknown conditions.

Alas, Christopher's father had forfeited the challenge on his behalf. He had finally realized that losing his heir wasn't worth it for just some money, businesses, and titles. He already possessed quite of bit of that on his own and without an heir, he would have no one to pass it on to. He didn't have another heir to fall into like Lord Black.

Grandfather had happily accepted the forfeit, and they signed a lot of documents for the finalization of everything. Sirius had to sign a few himself, which he did after reading them thoroughly.

One of them had Sirius irked and sulking for weeks. Apparently, Sirius would have to marry Lord Merula's daughter after she reached her majority and then birthed a magical heir for Lord Merula's estate, which would be ultimately under the British Black family after that but would be independent in the eyes of the ton.

His grandfather had grudgingly agreed, knowing the troubled time the Sicilian states were facing. The political landscape could be very different by the time Heiress Merula reached her majority. There wasn't a need to paint a target on British Blacks until the agreed-upon union actually happened. And Lord merula was still alive to manage his estate till one of his grandchildren reached their majority.

Sirius wasn't happy to know that his future was decided for him without so much of his input. His family had just thought that he was throwing a childish fir not knowing what marriage would mean. His father had the audacity of saying that he would understand their decision when he grew up.

Apparently, escaping unscathed from the mouth of literal death wasn't enough for his family to believe in his maturity regarding serious matters like marriage and procreation. He had still signed as it was inevitable after this whole farce of challenge. He would just have to measure the situation when the time arrived as it was at least a decade away. The contract did have a few escape clauses for him and a few conditions by which Future lady Merula could reject the union. Also, he wasn't mentioned by the name, just an Lord Black born within 10 years of birth of Lady Merula, which meant if he gave up his Dukedom, Phineas could very well marry the chit and he would be free. He had pursued everything carefully before signing anything, but it was still a matter of principle.

He was a modern man, with modern sensibilities, struck in a very ancient and very Victorian wizarding world. He would have to follow the societal norms until he could gain independence. He wanted nothing more than to make his own path and find love if it was in his cards. If he did fall in love somehow with someone, he won't think twice before marrying for love. He had already missed on that in his previous life, he wasn't going to take chances in his second chance. Responsibilities or not.

A second deal had also taken place only a week ago, which had him frothing in his mouth but unable to express himself with words. He had lost control and destroyed a portion of his grandfather's study upon hearing about it. His grandfather had bound one of his darling sisters with Christopher Noir. Didn't matter which one, the only requirement was her being magical upon reaching the majority.

Sirius hadn't spoken to his grandfather since then. Their relationship was damaged beyond repair. He didn't agree with this, he knew it wasn't his place to make decisions like this, but he could very well convey his dislike. Little Elladora hadn't even known her life was signed away at that very moment. And of course, it would be Ella. She was a witch and a very strong one if her accidental riots were any signal. She wasn't told naturally, but she would know when she grew older and understood the concept of contracts and marriage.

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With the challenge over, Sirius had begun preparation for his upcoming school year. He didn't know what he could possibly learn for first few years there that he didn't already know due to the extensive tutoring he had received in preparation for the challenge. But it did give him room to do his own thing while at Hogwarts.

Meanwhile, some of the lessons had come to stop. He was glad to have some respite after months of vigorous training.

His father had suspended all 6 subjects he was learning in the morning, declaring he had learnt enough, and the rest Hogwarts would teach him. He had requested to continue Martial magic training, which his father had agreed upon as it was an elective at Hogwarts only offered after OWLs. He would lose his progress in all those years of waiting if he didn't learn now and improve in his personal time.

Now that he had some time in his schedule, he was using it appropriately on researching the greasy blackness upon his core and improving on the subjects which weren't taught at Hogwarts.

He found about it in one of his ancestors' journals around the time His littlest sister was granted a name.

"Lady Isla Black, born on the 24th Day of December of 1856." She was a frail little thing, who had cried and cried after the ritual, which pained a helpless Sirius, who was allowed to partake in the ritual for the first time.

He had spent weeks learning the chant by his heart and how to feed his magic to his infant sibling. It was the first time in a century and a half that, 5 blacks had performed the ritual in traditional form. Sirius with his father, grandfather and aunts partook in it. There were enough able Black-born to perform in a traditional star formation as opposed to a triangle formation, which was a weaker version of the ritual.

He had found the history and creation of the triangle formation in ritual interesting and had accidentally happened upon the information he was looking for magical cores while browsing a journal belonging to his ancestor Regulus Black, born in 1077.

Regulus Black was one of 4 surviving Black-born in the late 11th century. He was a master of Soul magic, having learnt it under High mage Salazar Slytherin in his advanced years at Howarth. He changed the Star ritual into the triangle ritual to use on his children when he didn't have enough family left to support a traditional form.

He found his core when he delved too deep to gain an understanding of the purest form of magic and discovered a greasy grey layer upon his core, and then discovered it upon his child's care. He researched the taint for decades after the discovery.

He had theorized that this was a taint upon the soul of every magical bearing, being, a price of using magic, weaken. He wanted the taint to be gone, which was present in varying layers in most magical beings. People with longer magical lineages had more taint. Squibs were tainted to such a degree that it blocked their connection to magic, only allowing faint rays to escape which were not enough to channel magic even via a wand.

He had presented his finding in front of the magical council, who had ignored his claims as the Blacks had recently lost control over the kingdom, they were ruling to invading the army of William of Normandy.

Regulus had accepted the decision of the council with a stoic face. Only 2 lords had approached him later, who had apparently understood the long-term implications of this tragedy waiting to happen. They were Lord Longbotham and Lord Peverell.

They started looking for a way to get rid of the taint. They succeeded after several years, by which time their own core was several shades darker and beyond much help. The 3 lords instructed their grandchildren in following the 7-fold ritual they had invented.

3 Peverell brothers were genius in their own fields and were widely recognized as Masters and feared for their skills.

The Longbotham twins were the feared war mages for a century, and they dedicated their lives to protecting Howarth from the invaders. They were regarded as the most beloved protectors to happen in academia.

Aries Black, the grandson of Regulus Black, went on to become a high mage who was feared across the continents for his skills with staff and wand. He was a war mage with skills and magic to back him up in any situation. He single-handedly re-established the Black family in the ranks of respected Lords once again and his notoriety was still alive in far corners of the world.

Aries had thought to perform the ritual upon his children but then he discovered that they hadn't inherited a significant amount of taint he was born with. He had seen this as a blessing from magic and the ritual went in the family grimoire for when his descendants needed it.

Sirius was grim after reading this and knowing the history behind the taint he was apparently born with. The later generations must have forgotten about this taint as he was sure that they had a considerable amount of it.

He didn't know enough soul magic to check upon his family but was sure that he would find them in similar positions. He went on to find the ritual his ancestor had discovered. After several days of frustration, he conceded defeat. He wasn't able to understand the complications presented and needed actual instruction in the field to actually understand and perform the ritual. He knew that he won't find a tutor for this subject as soul magic was banned, ICW declaring it too dangerous to be legal about a century ago.

His father didn't care for the government, but Sirius didn't want to take risk of discovery by telling him. He wanted to have knowledge before telling his fears to his family. He shelved it for another few years in favour of learning soul magic before actually delving into the soul rituals.

In the meantime, He found a few tomes penned by his Ancestor Regulus black with instructions for beginners. The true treasure was in an unnamed tome with only the author's name on the spine, which Sirius had only found because he was looking for it. Regulus black penned it in his advanced years.

It was nearing the end of July when he was finally at the novice stage of soul magic, barely enough to understand the rituals but still somewhat learnt. He had decided upon performing the rituals upon gaining ample understanding about them, which he estimated would take him another year or two.

He took his time before accidentally damaging his soul. He was going to become a self-learnt participant. After all, books could never substitute for actual teachers of the field.

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A/N - Hello guys!

I'm sorry to disappoint those that wanted the continuation of the challenge., but the Hogwarts arc is just ahead and I am so excited to dive into it! All the suggestions are welcome!!!

Xoxo!