Almost a month has passed since his Transmigration.
Lucas sat at the kitchen table, a newspaper spread open before him. To anyone who had seen him prior, the most striking change would have been his appearance.
He was no longer just skin and bones like he used to be.
His physique had transformed markedly—muscle now layered his frame, lending weight and presence to every movement, his clothes no longer hanging loose but fitting with quiet confidence.
His hair, too, had been altered; He had Miss Fontaine trim the sides into a fade that accentuated the lines of his face.
Paired with the definition of his jaw, it lent him a distinctly masculine edge—one that hadn't been there before.
During this time, he has been devoted to finding out everything about the current situation of the Wizarding World.
And he has come to realization: 'I might be fucked.'
Things are relatively peaceful. The Death Eaters are still considered wanted by the country, and they have erupted into an all-out war. But Lucas can see a strong undercurrent.
From time to time, huge news would arrive disrupting everything.
He looked at the front page of today's newspaper which showed the picture of a woman hanged from the statue, the dark rope biting into her white skin that was marred with injuries.
But the most glaring detail of the picture was the Dark Mark that was branded into her skin.
The image was no ordinary photograph—it moved, like a GIF, capturing the body swaying gently from side to side and the platinum blond hair swaying with the breeze.
Around it, a crowd had gathered, their shifting reactions ranging from horror to nonchalance.
Moving pictures are a specialty of Wizarding World. But a new change was that the picture was actually colored.
The headline read: Another Veela Found Dead: The Sixth Death This Year
It wasn't a Delacour, but still, it was a Veela.
The deranged ideas and actions of the Death Eaters in this world coincide with those of the original series, including random killings and torture of impure blood wizards and intelligent magical races.
Except, it has spread over to other countries.
On an unrelated note, the techo-magical enhancement of this world seems to be slightly higher, as evidenced by the picture of this newspaper being colored instead of the black white print that existed in canon.
And every change seems to have something to do with Ariana and Albus.
In the original, Albus had been suspicious of Riddle from the very beginning, but he still let him get powerful step by step and down the wrong path, always giving him second chances and the benefit of the doubt, eventually leading to him becoming Voldemort and terrorizing Britain.
Ariana, on the other hand, seems to have expelled him in his fifth year, which led to him leaving Britain and slowly gathering influence in other countries.
It's just that Riddle was lucky enough to escape her radar this way by having to leave Britain. And now, seems to have become an even bigger threat than the Original series Voldemort. At least in terms of influence.
Seriously, the more Lucas has found about this world, the more his sense of urgency has increased. He is going to need a lot of power in order to survive here.
He checked the time.
As if on cue, Apolline entered with effortless poise, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor like a metronome of seduction.
A high-slit charcoal robe hugged her hips, revealing shapely legs and a hint of lace beneath — professional, yet tempting.
Lucas left his seat, serving a cup of steaming hot beverage to Apolline.
"Good morning, Madame. Here is your chicorée brewed bitter and black, no sugar, a dash of cinnamon and 3 drops of Vitae Vitalis."
Vitae Vitalis is the name of the youth potion developed by Ariana Dumbledore, or rather, it was the publicly available version of it. It has now become a daily necessity of all witches.
It doesn't offer any benefits related to power, but it removes the wrinkles, tightens the skin, improves the skin and hair quality, making the witches look younger.
Apolline took a measured sip, her expression revealing nothing.
Lucas served breakfast.
Dark rye bread, toasted and spell-chilled to stay crisp.
Topped with thin-sliced cold-smoked selkie salmon, cured with dill and salt.
Finished with a light spread of goatmilk cream.
Garnished with exactly seven wild capers, arranged in a crescent.
Apolline likes to have a slightly heavy and nutritious breakfast, as she tends to skip lunch most of the time.
And she is very specific about what she eats.
She examined the tartine with clinical calm. The salmon was thin enough to read through — acceptable. She took a bite, chewing so lightly that you could hardly see her jaw moving.
In the end, she nodded, a hint of approval flashing in her eyes.
"You are improving fast."
"I have been trying my best, madame," Lucas smiled innocently.
He has plans for Apolline. But they can only be implemented step by step.
This is the first step: a better impression.
Apolline has always hated him, blaming him for her husband's death. But with Lucas's charm, within just a few weeks, her hatred has turned into begrudging tolerance.
"Let me know if you need anything else, Madame," he said as he began setting up breakfast for Fleur, which had high protein content that was similar to his own.
"Can she eat that?" Apolline asked doubtfully.
"It is necessary with the amount of physical training she has been undergoing."
In order to help her compete in the Tri-wizard Tournament, Fleur is now seriously undergoing physical training, after watching Lucas reap the benefits of his improved physique.
"I hear that you are the one who designed her training schedule and diet? How did you have this knowledge?"
"I have been reading various books on the subject. I am now proficient in the training methods of medieval knights who needed strength and stamina, dancers who needed a slim and flexible body, and Aurors who needed high mobility."
With such a long history, the Delacours have managed to amass quite a collection.
In order to quickly improve his physique, Lucas has indeed read quite a few books on physical improvement, which contained various training methods, magical ingredient diets and even potion recipes.
Apolline was intrigued.
"Do you also happen to have any training methods of losing weight and retaining a youthful figure?"
"Yes, of course, who do you need it for, Madame?"
"Who else do you think?" Apolline snapped, unhappy at having to clarify this embarrassing matter.
"Oh…" Lucas blinked. "Pardon, I thought your body was already perfect, Madame. I don't see how it can be improved."
He wasn't lying either. True, Apolline was curvy and voluptuous, but that only served to enhance her beauty.
"But if you want to avoid gaining weight and further delay aging, I can definitely work up a routine for you," he said, scrutinizing her figure.
Apolline's glare softened when she heard that.
"The minister is trying to contact you. The minister is trying to contact you. The minister–"
A voice started to ring out, interrupting their talk.
Apolline took out a rectangle shaped mirror from her dragonhide purse.
This intricate golden trinket was called a connecting mirror, which allows two-way communication like a telephone.
It's pretty similar to the two-way mirror James and Sirius had made 10 years ago in the canon. Lucas is now getting numb to the amount of changes just because of the disappearance of one old man.
Appoline tapped it with her wand and immediately, a man's voice came through.
"Apolline, the calls for protest from your community are getting overwhelming. This has to stop."
Lucas habitually eavesdropped, eager to learn more about current affairs.
Hearing the man's voice, Apolline remained calm, idly running her fork through her breakfast.
"What do you expect, Monsieur le Ministre? Another veela was brutally murdered in the dead of the night. And this one was from a decent magical family too. I am powerless to stop them, just like you are powerless to stop the Death Eaters."
"You know we have been trying our best, Apolline. What am I supposed to do?"
"For starters, you could get non-pureblood Aurors to investigate these cases, and you could arrange some real punishment for the perpetrators, instead of throwing them in a so-called jail where they can live a life of luxury."
The minister's sigh was heard through the mirror.
"Let's put this matter aside for now. Now the Veelas have backed out of the opening performance tomorrow."
"Yes, because they do not feel safe."
"Appoline, for Merlin's sake! It's the Quidditch World Cup Final! France has reached the finals for the first time in 40 years!"
"Exactly, Minister, I'm sure you can make some minor concessions for the bigger picture."
"...Alright, I'll see what I can do." With that the Minister hung up.
Lucas was listening in with full concentration. Tomorrow is the Quidditch World Cup final being France and Bulgaria, being hosted in Britain.
The French team's entrance was supposed to start with a short Veela performance, which even featured a few of Fleur's veela friends.
It seems that the performance fell through. Or maybe Appoline would convince them after the Minister makes a few concessions.
No matter what, Lucas has realized that the Delacours' situation isn't as stable as he had presumed.
"I'll be leaving then," Appoline said, getting up with her plate still half full. "I won't be back for lunch today."
"I know." Lucas immediately brought over the lunch box he had prepared beforehand.
Apolline paused, looking at the lunch box in surprise. "Thanks," she said, receiving it and storing it in her space-enchanted designer purse.
Favourability +++
As the Lady left with Floo, Lucas smiled. That's how it's done. This is the same woman who couldn't stop showing her disgust whenever she saw him.
No person can be labeled friend or enemy. With small manipulations, Lucas has dramatically improved his image in this household.
At this moment, Fleur walked in, wand in hand, fully dressed in combat clothes.
Making eye contact with him, she walked out without saying a word.
"Not eating breakfast?" Lucas called out, but got no response.
Putting down the newspaper, he followed.
Ever since the cock flashing incident, the Veela warrior has been somewhat awkward and resentful around him. But even then, she didn't miss any training sessions with him.
Lucas had expected as much, and he has been making steady progress, gradually chipping away at her defence.
The same could be said about his path to power. Thanks to the training sessions, he has been able to explore his powers and rapidly develop them further.
'Something's different.'
But, something was different today. Walking closer to Fleur, Lucas could feel waves allure and heat radiating off of her.
Her steps were heavy and hurried, lacking the usual grace and the sway of the hips that Lucas likes to admire.
Her grip on his wand was tight, giving off the feeling that she might snap it, and most of all, there was no usual pride and arrogance in his eyes, now only showing anger and frustration.
The of them stood in dueling circuit, facing each other, Fleur wielding a wand while Lucas brandishing a sword.
"I'll let you have another look at my cock if you win," Lucas taunted habitually, twirling his sword.
"Shut the fuck up!"
Fleur started off with casting two spells, chantlessly, but then she used verbal incantation for "Glacius," an ice conjuring spell (a somewhat higher difficulty spell), firing it at the floor while he was trying to block the previous onslaught.
Lucas chose to block glacius, which was aimed at the floor while letting the other two spells hit him, thus absorbing them.
After all, if the floor was covered in ice, it would affect his mobility.
He felt an impact on his chest that pushed him slightly and he also felt his movements slow down a bit, informing him that the non-verbal spells that hit were knockback jinx and impedimenta (the slow movement charm).
Since most of the magic was absorbed by him the effect was minimal, allowing him to block the glacius.
But, it seems that Fleur also wanted him to do this as ice formed in his sword, making it heavy.
That's one of his weaknesses. While he might be able to absorb magic, his weapon can't.
"Avis!"
"Oppungo!"
Not giving him any time to adapt, Fleur conjured a flock of birds and had them attack him. In response, his muscles, which had grown exponentially, bulged as he dragged his sword to avoid getting pierced.
Without a pause, Fleur sent auto-binding ropes (incarcerous) after him, almost getting him.
This was his second weakness.
He can absorb magical beams, but if they have been transformed into something non-magical, like ropes or birds, he can no longer absorb them.
Lucas thrust out his hand, shooting a pulse of magic that pushed the ropes back. It was the Knockback jinx he had just absorbed.
This is his main ability, to be able to return the spells he has just absorbed.
He then made a shooting gesture with his thumb and index finger and shot out several smaller arcs of light that hit the birds, slowing them down.
This was the impedimenta, the other spell he absorbed. And yes, he can actually split the absorbed spells into smaller versions with lower effect, his second ability.
Lucas then hefted the heavy ice-covered sword, clashing it with various weapons that Fluer and banished towards him, breaking off the ice layer.
"Thanks for that."
Fleur gritted her teeth, and her spells grew stronger and more aggressive. But this only gave Lucas more advantage due to her lack finesse, allowing him to steadily absorb spells and return fire, almost winning.
Lucas has been improving at a very fast pace. It's not just his physique. His agility, defence, dynamic vision, reaction speed, and hand-eye coordination for blocking spells have all seen a great improvement.
Aside from this, his resistance to magic, and the control over absorption and release of the spells is also steadily rising.
And these changes are not normal.
This has led him to conclude that his ability is not as simple as magic absorption. His whole physique is quite unique.
"Come on, you ought to do better than that," he said with a scoff as the Veela grew more and more frustrated. "At this rate I'll soon be able to bend you over my lap and spank you."
He has been doing this a lot, taunting Fleur and making sexual remarks.
At first, Fleur would just get angry and beat him up using high level magic spell chains.
After all, Lucas has been the person she respected the least in this world. And that loser was now taunting her and making lecherous remarks about her. Naturally, she would be easily triggered.
But as Lucas improved and showed his potential, Fleur also began to respond to his jabs with her own, not willing to be outdone.
He was putting up a great fight against her in a fair duel. Without a wand. WIth just a few days of training.
So, while her impression of him as the cowardly crybaby who was completely useless hasn't completely washed off, she has still unconsciously begun to enjoy these sessions, even having a change in her opinion of him.
But he had neglected something this time. Today, Fleur was different.
"No more…"
Suddenly, the air in the room shifted. Literally. Lucas felt a gust of warm wind blowing past him.
"I can't… afford to be so… weak!" Fleur's voice, usually as smooth as silk and laced with restrained elegance, dropped to a low, clipped register.
Her eyes, once soft blue and clear, now shimmered like molten silver, their pupils narrowing to slits.
Heat prickled across the room. Wisps of invisible pressure curled in the air around her like smoke from an unseen fire.
Her breath grew heavier. The line of her jaw sharpened, her cheekbones pulled taut as the delicate features of her face twisted—not into something monstrous, but something ancient, untamed, and terribly beautiful.
Flames lit up her finger tips that had sharpened into talons, and quickly intensified till it reached her wrists.
Fleur's feet lifted several feet above the ground and she flung her hands, basting out fireballs at him.
"Hey! Cool down! I was just joking!"
'This is not good.'
Lucas recalled Miss Fontaine's Veela lesson. Veela lose their rationale when they transform, even possibly forgetting friend from foe. And the higher family hierarchy, the more destructive they become after transformation.
Usually, in order to avoid such outbursts outside, Fleur is supposed to take a suppressant potion, like the ones Miss Fontaine has taught him to make for Appoline, but obviously, she wouldn't need one when at home.
Also, Fleur's self control is pretty good. And in the previous Lucas's memories, he has never seen her lose it like this. That's why he never anticipated the situation he found himself in right now.
The fireballs were blindingly bright, causing dark spots in his vision, add to that they had a speed faster than Fleur's usual spells, and the fact that he couldn't absorb them, Lucas felt the danger of death for the first time after his crossover.
He tried to use the flat of the blade to swat away the fireballs. It wasn't very helpful though, as the fire still converged around the blade.
Despite his best efforts, the fire reached his clothes and a scorching heat permeated through, his teeth clenching his pain.
"Hey! Can we talk this out?! What happened?!"
Too bad, Fleur didn't seem to register his words at all. Rather, she didn't appear to be lucid at all. Her eyes were filled with a primal wildness and fury, as if all she wanted was destruction.
"Die! You scum! Veela are people too! We're no different than normal people!"
"What are you even talking about? Can we have a time out? This is cheating! We agreed for non-legal stuff! These fireballs are definitely rated L!"
While blabbering, his mind was still trying to figure things out.
Why did Fleur go nuts?
Fleur shouldn't lose control just because of his taunts. Then he recalled Fleur's earlier actions. She didn't have the customized highly nutritious breakfast, which she usually forces herself to devour.
She didn't exchange a single word with him. While she's still somewhat indifferent to him, it's not to that point.
Even her allure was out of control, almost making him distracted during the fight. She usually disdains to use it.
So, it's been like this ever since morning.
What happened today?
'The fucking Newspaper!' He realized, the image on the dead veela flashing his mind.
…
A.N.: The rankings are good and I feel motivated! Let's keep going!
VOTE WITH POWERSTONES👇🏻👇🏻