...Hmm, well, Rowena didn't tell everything about Rowena, but about character, not action. By the way, what's the point of me leaving you now, rather than trying to drive you out or destroy you? After all, as I understand it, some organic structure in my head already exists and will perform your functions.

"Certainly it will, but the quality? Let's think of it in associations you can understand. Your body is a computer. The new structure in it is a new device. You are the operating system. I am the driver of the new device. Let us imagine for a second that this operating system is capable of writing new programs and drivers by itself, but it takes time and resources. There is no telling how much time you would have to spend to achieve similar performance by removing me. However, as long as there is me, then in the image of my actions, data about which will inevitably accumulate, you will be able to learn to control the new device on your own much faster. The analogy is so-so but generally true." ​​

You sound like me. I feel as if I am talking to myself, except that my interlocutor has a female voice and associates himself with a woman. It makes me shiver, to be honest.

"Of course I'll talk like you, my funny friend."

Hearing the end of that phrase sent a herd of goosebumps through me.

"That was a joke."

Not funny.

"A controversial statement. And I also say that because of the shared mental space. To me, your thoughts and actions are as much mine as yours. I learn instantly."

Okay, that's enough. I've learned that you're safe and useful. At least for now. Damn artificial intelligences and Horcruxes and all that crap. By the way, what are you going to do when you get your body?

"Live...? I guess."

***

After the full moon and the ritual that had been performed, the next day began with a mirror. My eyes were back to normal, but the edge of my teeth was clearly too sharp. A light diagnostic spell from the healers' arsenal showed abnormal enamel strength and slightly elongated roots but no visual distortion. Hermione joined me for my morning physical training, glancing over at me now and then, but not in the way you might think. She was worried that the ritual might not have worked completely. I didn't have to tell her that there were consequences, but I didn't want to bother her unnecessarily. I hadn't figured out the consequences myself, and Rowena didn't have enough knowledge to analyze them. The ritual was only based on my hunches, and despite their obviousness, they could be wrong.

Regarding Rowena herself, she was silent. Well ... almost. She occasionally commented on what was going on around her, and those comments were of a rather... unfamiliar kind. Some epithet was taken and attached to the word "boy" or "girl." As soon as she described someone, Rowena fell silent.

All in all, life at Hogwarts was completely back on track. Oddly enough, the noise and merriment of the House common room allowed me to relax after a hard and busy day. I must admit that absolutely every day was like that. Take physical training, for example. Previously, passive hemomancy boosted body characteristics by thirty percent of what they should be at their current conditioning. Now, without any purposeful reinforcement, I was at least twice as fast, stronger, and everything else, which meant that I had to weaken myself a lot more to develop my body in training. At the same time, I was getting a little "better" at night. It's an interesting fact, but I don't want to study it - I'm tired of it already. I don't turn into a wolf or any other creature. That's enough.

The manipulation of blood and the amount of substance created have increased slightly, but not as much as I'd like. But despite the slight increase in the quality of this ability, it now has several obvious advantages. The first is that it doesn't require much energy. Just a crumb, less than it takes to speed up my brain during witchcraft. Of course, as the volume of blood created increases, so does the energy consumption. Still, even at the maximum volume, which is about one and a half cubic meters, I was almost not physically exhausted. The only thing was that my head ached so much that it made me want to cut it off, but that's okay, as it seems to me...