Chapter 4: The World Cup (II)
Elias Blake
Taking my time, I started reading the book Hermione threw away when she went ahead to take a bath. It was interesting since it was different from the one asked by the school for us to study, but it had almost the same subjects. I wondered why Hermione was reading it since we finished doing so last year. I enjoyed reading ahead of my peers and often forced Iris to accompany me. It was an easy decision, knowing what was coming in the future. On the other hand, Hermione only squealed and studied with us, often taking over the task of ensuring Iris completed her studies.
I really, really tried to make Iris more responsible than her canon counterpart, and it worked somewhat. But there was something else going on. Long study sessions hurt her head, and she had trouble focusing on when it mattered. I did not know if the Horocrux in her scar was the reason for this, but it was not normal. I believed that people generally had more aspirations in life than being someone mediocre, not that Iris wanted to be like that, but she did not have the drive nor determination to improve when I first met her. It was probably a mix of the scorn of her family and hating that she was famous for the wrong reasons, but I tried hard to change that and succeeded, mostly.
The thought of the Horocrux made me scowl in anger. I knew what was needed for us to get rid of it, but I did not want to accept that it was the only way. I needed the war to start since that would allow most of us to move without interruptions. I needed to study some of the books in the forbidden library or the library of the black family, but without the war starting, I could not enter those places freely. I didn't believe that Dumbledore nor Sirius would allow me to read those books just because I asked, and if I started showing interest in the darkest arts, things would get complicated quickly.
It was hard to continue with my plans; I cared a lot for Iris, and knowing that she would suffer a lot this year made me feel horrible, but I could not see any other way to proceed going forward.
I tried to maintain the events as close as canon for multiple reasons. The first one was that I would not know what would happen if I derailed it too much. If I were to interfere this year with the events of the Goblet of Fire, I was sure that Voldemort and his followers would find another way to revive him, even attacking in force to obtain blood from Iris in another place, somewhere I could not interfere. It was something that I did not wish to see, and for that, I kept silent.
That did not mean that I would not help her at all, obviously. If the three tasks did not change, the knowledge I had could make them easier and, more importantly, safer for Iris. With the extra time, the three of us could make even better plans for each task.
The Dragon was dangerous; there was no denying that. And it was a miracle that Canon Harry managed to outfly it for the golden egg. With enough time to plan, I was sure that the three of us could find a better way to get the egg safely.
My second fear was that if I intervened a lot in her life, I would disrespect her autonomy as a person and stunt her growth. If we were going to survive and make things better, we needed to be stronger than anyone who would oppose us, and there was no way to grow faster than conflict.
We would need to show enough courage and grit to learn everything we could, which would help us with whatever we planned for the future. We had not talked much about our dreams in these three years since we met, but being stronger than the rest of the Wizardkind would make things easier for us.
Iris and Hermione teased me a lot about being a seer, but I knew that they were only joking around; they didn't truly believe that I could see the future. After so many times, they began to wonder how I managed to find the information we needed at the best moment possible. They were both bright girls, and the inconsistencies with my actions were beginning to attract their attention.
I did not wish for them to know about it, at least not for now. I knew that Iris would have my back, and Hermione would too, but I was afraid of them letting something slip through and getting targeted.
A seer was a valuable commodity for any side of the spectrum. Voldemort would lock me up and torture me for knowledge, and Dumbledore would lock me up for my own good, just as Professor Trelawney. It was a golden cage, and I did not wish for that to happen. The worst part was that I wasn't sure they were the only players in the game; the Wizarding world was filled with wonders, and the fact that the strongest wizards alive were hailed from the same country was hard to believe. The possibility existed that there were other powerhouses in other countries, people who could target me for my abilities.
I still did not know as much about the Wizarding world as I wanted. There were too many inconsistencies in the books to truly believe what was written in them. A lot of the conflicts ended without much of an explanation, just as what happened to Grindelwald. I knew that in the original series, he was defeated, and Dumbledore stashed him in his prison, Nurmengard, to pay for his crimes since he was unable to finish the job.
I knew that in my new life, things happened differently. Nurmengard did exist in the past, but it was flattened in a "magical accident" of proportions no one ever heard about before the ex-lovers even fought. No one knew what happened to the prison to leave it in that state. It was as if the whole prison was never there, leaving only a crater of the same size in its stead.
The explanation that was accepted by everyone is that Grindelwald was doing some experiments there to use something as a weapon against those who opposed him. Still, there was no confirmation of that anywhere. The other thing that was somewhat suspicious to me was the anecdotes of some of the fighters against Grindelwald after that accident, particularly the stories in some obscure book I could find in one of my travels to Knockturn Alley. It was filled with anecdotes of the war, and some of the names included in those surprised me a lot.
According to that book of the most influential people of Britain, Arcturus Black and Charlus Potter were yearmates in Hogwarts, where they were both the unnamed leaders of their houses. They had problems, of course, but not at the level of conflict between houses that was happening now. There, they started respecting each other but didn't do much else.
It was not until the war that they became something almost like sworn brothers. William Potter, Charlus's father, was killed in the war against Grindelwald, and Charlus joined the opposition searching for revenge, and he was mostly successful. He was a titan in Transfiguration, not quite Dumbledore level, but he had the ruthlessness the headmaster lacks.
For Arcturus, things went differently. He joined the opposition when his family was being mocked for being traitors since his older sister and brother were steadfast supporters of the Dark Lord. There, both of them rose through the ranks quickly with their prowess in battle, Arcturus showing why the Blacks were feared by their Dark Magic, and Charlus showing why the Potters were so respected in the country. In the middle of the war, Arcturus married Melania McMillan and had their first son soon after. Cygnus Black was the first son of Arcturus, the father of Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa. His second son was Orion Black, father of Sirius and Regulus.
I always found it strange that Charlus, being the same age as Arcturus, had his son so late. But from what I learned, Charlus married Arcturus' younger sister, who had been studying to be a Mediwitch since she left Hogwarts. According to some rumors, she did not wish to have a baby until she finished her studies, which led to James Potter being the same age as Sirius. It was fascinating to learn about that, but what attracted my attention was what they said about Grindelwald.
Grindelwald was a Titan of magic, someone stronger than Dumbledore, and I did not doubt that he was stronger than Voldemort by a large margin, at least in his prime. His every appearance during the war left rivers of blood, the blood of his enemies, to be exact. However, according to Charlus and Arcturus' last messages, something changed in him after the destruction of Nurmengard.
They spoke of him as if he was skittish around everything, he still beat their asses, but multiple fighters believed that whatever happened there spooked him enough to traumatize him.
As always, Dumbledore did not speak about it, even when asked about it pointedly, and when he rose to his political position, no one dared to ask him again. I knew that this world was different since the level of the fighters was even higher than anything shown in the movies. Still, no one in history was recorded in books to have enough power to flatten a whole prison the same size as Nurmengard, even without counting all the defensive wards such a prison needed to have. It was almost impossible to believe someone had that much strength. Things did not add up, and I wished to know what happened.
The last reason for me not interfering much was the simplest on one hand and the most complicated on the other. Fate.
Fate was something that I didn't understand, as were higher powers, for that matter. But I had been reincarnated into this world, and that must mean something in the grand scheme of things. I did not wish to invite something worse by touching things I didn't understand. I wanted to learn more before I acted, and for that reason, after the revival of Voldemort, I would begin my quest to defeat him, either doing it myself or, if that was impossible, supporting Iris with everything I had.
100 CP awarded, 350 CP Total
I chose to bank them for the moment, mainly because I wanted to focus on the rolls I had at my disposal. I looked around the tent once more, only to freeze at the sight of Iris. She was watching quite intently, a frown on her face, and looking at me hard enough to make me nervous.
"You are hiding something, Eli," she said in her no-nonsense tone of voice. Her eyes looked saddened just a bit, enough to pull my heartstrings.
Sighing, I looked at her directly, "I can never hide something from both of you…"
"I don't know what to do, Iris," I murmured; oh, how I wished to confide in her, but I knew that I couldn't do so without fucking up somewhere else. Apologizing to her inside my mind, I continued, "I am nervous about this year… I'm having a bad feeling about it."
Her frown deepened, but she let out a breath and calmed herself. "You know you can trust me, right?" she asked, looking vulnerable and sad.
"I know, believe, I know," I grunted in frustration. "Iris, you are my best friend, and there is nothing in this world that I care more about. Both of you mean the world to me, but I need you to wait... just this year, I swear."
"So sweet," she murmured, almost low enough to fool me. "I will trust you, Eli; you know I will. It's just that you do not feel the same about me, about us."
Sighing, I stood up and went next to her, kneeling in front of her. I approached her slowly, hugging her quite hard. "There is no one I trust more than you, but I can't explain anything about this for now. Give me some time, and I promise to continue doing the best for all of us."
She returned the hug with equal force, but Hermione stepped out of my trunk before she could say anything.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked with a smirk, "Something juicy?" she asked teasingly but blushed slightly.
Sputtering in reply, I could not say anything before Iris replied instead of me.
"Oh, you should have been here, Mione," she said with a fake blush, which surprised the heck out of me. I knew Iris had a mean streak, but her acting left me speechless. "Eli just told me how much we meant to him; it was quite sweet on his part."
Hermione looked like a Weasley, red to the tip of her ears.
"Iris," she whined, "You cannot say something like that out of nowhere."
Iris just smirked unrepentantly, "Oh, both of you are so red."
Before I could feel my cheeks burn any redder, I jumped into the conversation, rescuing myself and Mione from further teasing by the gremlin in front of me.
Noticing that I was still hugging Iris, I moved out of the way before pinching her cheek. "Now go ahead and bathe. We need to hurry if we wish to arrive before the game starts. We are lucky to have the tickets for the Top box; if not, I'm sure the seats we could get would be horrible."
Iris nodded and ran to the trunk, not taking her clean clothes in her hurry. I needed to ensure Hermione took some for her before finishing.
Sighing, I looked at Mione from the corner of my eye. She was still blushing a bit but was finally calming down since the main instigator was finally away.
I had a great idea, so I got closer to her. "Mione, do you think you can help me with something?" I asked while she tried to brush her hair to a somewhat tamable state.
"Sure thing," she chirped, "What do you need?"
"Can you cast any detection charms you know to me after I'm done?" I asked her earnestly. I needed to find out how The Shadows Beckon worked and if it was going to be usable for tonight when everything went to hell.
"But Eli, the trace!" she panicked when she saw me with my wand in my hand.
"Calm down, mione. The trace only works pointing to the location where the magic was cast, not the caster specifically. We are in the middle of over a hundred thousand wizards, and I'm sure they even deactivated the alarms so as not to get crowded with them." I assured her with a laugh.
When she hears that, Hermione's eyes light up like stars. She takes her wand from her wand holder and casts a lumos charm just to try.
Her trust moved me, and I watched her looking around anxiously, almost regretting her impulsive decision, but when no owl came, she let out a sigh of relief.
Smirking at her, I continued, "Now, help me a bit." Pointing the wand at myself, I mainly focused on the intent to hide from everything. It was not a spell per se; it was forcing my will into the world. With a swish of my wand, I could see myself turning transparent.
Hermione gasped at seeing me disappear and exclaimed loudly, "The disillusionment charm is not taught until the fifth year, Eli!"
"It's not that," I said out loud, and I was surprised once more. My voice sounded as if it came from different directions, making it hard to pinpoint my exact location. This was an added benefit, making whatever intent-based magic that I just cast better than the original charm.
Out of the top of my head, I did not know what kind of combination of spells I needed to cast to duplicate what I had done. The Celestial Grimoire was really special, I thought giddily.
"Go ahead and cast whatever you can think of," I said once more.
Hermione got serious, sticking her tongue out and furrowing her brows.
"Homenum revelio," she casted, but she was still looking around in confusion when the spell did not mark me.
"That's also a spell you're not supposed to know, little bookworm," I teased her, whispering softly next to her ear.
Hermione shuddered at the feeling of my breath next to her ear and squeaked, "Elias!" She grumbled and tried to swat me, but I was already behind her.
"Naughty, naughty," I laughed, "Try another spell, please."
Mione huffed in her seat but got serious once more, "Point me, Elias Blake," she said more firmly.
A line appeared from her wand, but the spell flickered and disappeared again.
Hermione grumbled in her seat. Thinking hard of any other spells she knew that could help.
"Revelio," she flicked her wand. This spell was more general than the homenum revelio, but even then, the spell did not provide any feedback to her, and she began to look frustrated.
"I give up," she grumbled. I don't know any more spells that could work. What exactly did you cast, Eli?" she asked excitedly.
"It's intent-based, Mione." I shrugged, appearing visible again. "I don't know how to explain it, I just wished to disappear, and then I was gone."
"Magic at our level doesn't work like that, Eli," she exclaimed, and I sighed. She was already getting into puppy mode, as Iris and I liked to call it. Her excitement was palpable, and I almost believed that she casted an accio wandlessly with how fast a notebook appeared on her hand.
"You need to teach me," she continued, taking out a pen and preparing to start the impromptu lesson.
Before I could stop it, my trunk opened once more, iris coming out only in her towel. Quickly averting my eyes, I kicked myself in the back, forgetting that she hadn't taken her clothes.
"Iris!" Hermione said indignantly, "You cannot be dressed like that in front of Eli!" she completely forgot about her magic lesson.
"Oh, why not, Mione?" Iris smirked. "Are you afraid he will stop paying attention to you?"
"Iris," Mione whined, and I laughed.
"Iris, go and change. We need to leave soon! If not, I'm sure Mr. Weasley will send someone to fetch us, and I don't want anyone to see you like that."
Iris smirked like a shark smelling blood, "Are you going to feel jealous? Do you wish to be the only one that sees me like this, Eli?" she breathed out.
Before she could get in some of her moods, I said sharply, "Now, iris."
"Anything for you." Iris blew me a kiss, and I palmed my face.
"That girl," I murmured, "She will be the death of me."
Hermione laughed incredulously, "You really are an idiot, Eli."
"Huh?" I asked, "What do you mean?"
"Nothing, you doofus," she grumbled. "Now, you will teach me that magic when we have the time, mister."
100 CP awarded 450 CP Total.
Banking the points, I went toward a mirror on one side of the tent to make sure I was looking presentable. Smirking at what I saw, I lifted my eyebrow and saw Mione looking at me intently when she thought I hadn't noticed.
I knew that I was attractive after all. I stared at my reflection for a bit. My hair was dark, falling in waves, just messy enough to look intentional. If I were to be honest, I could even call my face aristocratic.
There was something familiar in my face, something that seemed like a shadowy memory I couldn't place. I had high cheekbones, a strong jaw, and really dark eyes, but something else seemed to soften my looks a bit. It was a shame, really. In my previous life, I regretted cutting my relationship with my parents just before dying, and in this life, I did not even know who they were.
Shaking my head, I focused on the present. I looked once last time to fix my shirt and nodded in satisfaction. With everything ready, we just needed to wait for Iris to finish changing.
Ten minutes later
Elias Blake.
Now that everyone was ready, I called for my best friends to get close to me.
"Iris, Mione, come here."
"What's up, Eli?" asked Iris, jumping to her feet, unable to hide her excitement for the approaching game.
"I will hide us; I want to avoid any problems before we reach for the Top Box," I continued, "Now, huddle up."
Iris and Mione followed my instructions, each taking their position at my side.
Once more, I focused on the feeling I had when I first cast the spell with Hermione, but now I wished it to affect all three of us.
Not saying anything, I just flicked my wand in a wide circle, and slowly we disappeared from view.
"Now we can go; both of you try to stay close to me. It's my first time trying this spell, and I don't know how big the range is." I said firmly, taking both of their hands in mine.
Hermione squeaked but kept silent, and Iris snorted but got closer to me.
I knew we needed to discuss the changes in our relationship when we had the time, but since no one wanted to broach the subject, I kept silent.
Last year, I noticed Iris and Hermione beginning to look at me quite differently than in our first year, but they both started acting differently when I arrived at the burrow last night.
"I hope we reach the top box in time," I murmured.
"Oh, me too," said Iris brightly. "I can't wait for the game to begin."
Hermione only walked at our side, glancing at everything around us. People were walking with purpose around us, all walking in the same direction, at least for now. At least it made it easy to know where we needed to go to enter the stadium, not that it was hard to find it.
The stadium took almost five years to finish, with more than five hundred wizards from the British ministry working on it. It was a marvel of construction, capable of housing a hundred thousand wizards from all over the globe.
When we finally reached the stadium, I stopped for a bit.
"I think I will dispel the cloak," I said softly. "Let's look for somewhere private. I don't wish to get in trouble with the ministry."
Walking around for a bit, we reached the bathrooms, and thankfully, since the game was close to starting, they were empty. Flicking my wand, my spell fizzled out of existence, and we appeared visible once more.
"Let's go and buy some Omnioculars for the game," I suggested, and Iris nodded enthusiastically.
"Let's go," she exclaimed, unable to hide her excitement.
Shaking my head at how she was acting, I took their hands in mine and searched for a store. Finding it was thankfully easy since it was the most important product sold in the stadium, besides alcohol, of course.
Buying five omnioculars was expensive, but since the money came from Hogwarts, I didn't feel that much loss.
"Three for us and the rest for the Weasleys," I said when I saw Iris and Mione looking at me weirdly, "Even if you don't enjoy the sport that much, I'm sure you will have fun studying the runes they used for its creation, Mione." I teased my bushy brown friend.
She smiled sweetly at that, "Thank you, Eli."
Before I could reply, I was interrupted by Iris, who was jumping in her place. " Let's go! We will miss the game, and there are a lot of stairs to the top box," she grumbled, pulling us in the direction of our destination.
Mione and I laughed and shook our heads in unison but complied with Iris, following along with her.
Following the teachings of Mad-Eye Moody, I kept constant vigilance, my wand in its holster, waiting for me to call it. Many people recognized Iris, and some even moved to approach our group, but a firm glare stopped most of them. Iris did the rest of the work. She was walking with conviction, as if she was going to battle, with firm steps and a focused face. When she barreled through her first victim, the rest of the observers stopped in their tracks.
Before long, we reached the Top box, and it was already filled to the brim. The only empty spots were the three we had next to the Weasleys and one particularly curious one next to a fidgeting house elf.
I had to stop myself from reacting. Knowing who exactly was there and all that he would do did not make it any easier for me, but I managed. I acted as if I was clueless about his presence and took a seat next to me in the middle of the girls.
Hermione was in the last seat, to my left, and Iris sat on my right next to Ginny and began talking animatedly.
"I was about to apparate to the tents, Elias," said Mr. Weasley, looking at me with a soft frown.
Laughing sheepishly, I rubbed the back of my neck. "You know how girls are, Mr. Weasley. They sure took their time in the bathroom."
Mr. Weasley opened his mouth to reply, but we were interrupted by a sneering voice that made me frown instantly.
"I knew I could feel the air tainting some seconds ago," Sneered Draco Malfoy from his seat.
I had already seen him sitting with his parents next to the minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge. The pompous Lord Malfoy was licking the feet of the minister while his wife was simply ignoring whatever was going on.
That changed when Malfoy Junior opened his mouth, with Narcissa Malfoy turning her gaze toward us before staring at me almost blankly.
"Piss off, Malfoy," grunted Iris from her seat, not even bothering to look at him directly, "No one wants to hear your voice; I'm sure that even your family gets bored with your whinings."
I snorted at that and laughed when I saw Draco's face turn red. I didn't know if it was because he was ashamed or simply getting angry at the rebuttal.
"Calm down, Iris." I laughed, looking Draco in the eyes. The little Dragon will spit fire if he gets any redder."
I was about to continue, but I was getting uncomfortable by Narcissa's look at me that way. It was as if she was trying to see through me.
"Classmates, my son?" Narcissa asked, "I don't believe anyone wouldn't recognize the girl who lived, but who are the rest?"
Draco took a deep breath. "No one of importance, Mother. Just some mud blood seeking things outside their station."
"Funny how that works," Iris replied, finally looking at him. "The best grades of our year. How did it go for you last year, Draco?"
He sputtered a reply, opting to focus on his mother. I didn't know why she was looking at me that way, but I just lifted my eyebrow in her direction.
"See something you like, my lady?" I smirked at Narcissa, trying to make her uncomfortable in return so that she would stop looking at me that intently. "Draco's actions are shameful sometimes, but I'm shy and don't like the attention."
In response, Narcissa just lifted her eyebrow, not even fazed by what I said, but Draco stood up and took his wand out, pointing it directly at me.
She just pushed her son back to her seat with the grace of a daughter of the Blacks, "No, boy. You just reminded me of someone."
"It's not the first time I've heard that today," I smiled wryly at her. "Now, if you excuse me, I have better things to do than pay attention to your son."
She just nodded, and I looked at Iris and Mione, who looked at us quite weirdly.
"Let's enjoy the game, ignore him."
They nodded, and we took a seat once more. Finally able to focus, I could feel the excitement rising for the game. Even if I knew how it was supposed to end, I was sure that I would enjoy it to the fullest.
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Chapter 5: The World Cup (Finale)
Elias Blake.
This was getting ridiculous. I could feel three glares directed at the back of my head at that moment, and sometimes, I felt that there was even someone else looking in my direction.
The male Malfoys had been glaring at me for the past five minutes, and I believed that it was because Draco whined to his father when he sat down with the rest of his family after he finished kissing the minister's ass. Lady Malfoy, on the other hand, was taking peeks in my direction, but hers were not with malicious intent, or at least that was what I believed.
She looked at me like a puzzle piece ready to be solved, which was uncomfortable. Even a blind man could see the slight similarity between us, and wasn't that a surprise? I never thought about Draco like that because he looked full Malfoy, but his mother?
Sirius and Narcissa are saying that I reminded them of someone. That must mean something, and I wasn't sure if I liked the connotation. There was a small select group of people both of them knew for me to remind them of someone, and most of those options left me disgruntled.
I didn't think about it last year when we were saving Sirius. The man barely looked alive, and his stunt in Azkaban did not help his appearance, so at the moment, no one thought much of it, but now that I was busy imagining him when he was younger, there were some characteristics that we both had.
Our hair, eyes, and the shape of our faces resembled one another to the point that I could even pass for his son if I stretched the truth enough. But clearly, I wasn't his since I believed he wasn't callous enough not to tell me about that when we met. Even with all the chaos going around Hogwarts then, he had many opportunities to say something, but he didn't.
I didn't know what to think about this and was conflicted about my feelings. With no way to find out the truth without meeting Sirius again, I sighed and returned my focus to my best friends.
Hermione was looking at me with a lifted eyebrow, clearly seeing something in my expression that clued her in that something was bothering me. Sharp girl, that one.
"It's nothing," I smiled wryly. At least, there is nothing I can find out at this moment. I promise I'll explain when we are back in the tent."
Hermione nodded and leaned into me to get more comfortable. "I wish the game started soon," she whined, "I'm not that big of a fan of the sport, but spending time with the both of you makes this worth it."
Smiling more genuinely, I hurried over, "I missed you during the break," I admitted softly, "Not having my partners in crime makes life boring, even if you both drive me crazy when any of you gets in some of their moods." I chuckled.
"Prat," Hermione hit me in the shoulder, but even then, she could not hide the small smile on her face. She looked around, and her gaze was fixed on Lady Malfoy. "You know, you look somewhat similar…"
Before she could continue, I did the first thing that came to mind to stop her. I pinched her belly with my fingernails and received a pained hiss in return. "Not here, Mione."
Rubbing softly the area I pinched, I sighed, "That's what I wanted to talk about in the tent; I can also see it, and if I'm right, that knowledge could get me in a lot of trouble. So please, keep it for yourself for a bit."
"You didn't have to pinch me," she whined.
Deadpaning at her, I got closer to her. "Mione, I've known you for almost four years. If there is something I've learned about you, it is that shutting you up is not easy."
"What are you guys talking about?" said Iris from my right. She had been talking animatedly with Ginny and the twins about the game and their expectations. Iris didn't care much about who the winner was, but she expected a magnificent match between Ireland and Hungary.
On the other hand, the twins said in hushed tones that they had bet with Bagman that Ireland would win, but Krum would catch the snitch.
100 CP awarded, 550 CP Total.
I banked the points since this wasn't the best moment to roll. Hopefully, I will get something Juicy before my return to school. I would need all the strength I could muster to face this year. While I always took the supporting role in most events, I knew this year would be the last of me acting with reservations. It all came down to Voldemort's return, after all. I needed him back alive in a mortal vessel for us to finally defeat him.
While the possibility of dying for good as long as we destroyed all Horcruxes existed, I did not want to bet on something I had no idea about. No, this was the best course of action, even if I hated the idea.
I needed him to return to the graveyard, but all bets were off when he revived. I was not going to be a coward anymore, and all Death Eaters that came in my way would disappear from the face of the earth.
There was no place for people like them in the future I envisioned. I was all for the safekeeping tradition, but I couldn't support cruelty for the sake of it.
"Nothing of importance, Iris." I smiled at her. Do we know when the game will start?"
"It should start any moment…" Iris began, but her speech was cut short by her eyes going glassy.
I could feel the same almost happening to me. There was something that hit my mental shields like a freight train. Thankfully, when I was controlled by the Celestial Grimoire, my mind got accustomed to defending itself from someone who influenced my thoughts. When the Veelas came into view, my breath hitched; they were truly perfect, but the allure did not change how I acted, thankfully. I didn't know if my new defenses would work against Legilimency, but it didn't matter; staying in control when someone cast a confundus or the unforgivable was more than I could ask for.
Iris' reaction to the Veelas was surprising, to say the least. From what we learned in class, the allure only worked on people who would genuinely be attracted to them in the first place. A homosexual man would not feel the tug in their mind no matter how many veela are in their presence, and the same could be said for heterosexual women. It appeared that our little gremlin had some interesting likes.
Laughing at her, I flicked her nose, "Do you see something you like, Iris?"
Iris' eyes cleared slowly, and she shook her head in wonder. Her eyes stayed firmly on the Hungarian cheerleaders. I was about to keep making fun of her, but I bit my tongue, thinking better of it. I didn't know if she would appreciate my jokes about something like this; in the end, it did not matter to me. She was my best friend, and I would support her either way; it's not like the wizarding world didn't have something to help in cases like this.
The leprechauns came before we could continue, flying on their brooms and throwing fake gold to the masses, and I was forced to watch the embarrassing scene of Ron trying to stuff all the fake coins since he did not know better. Even if he had fixed many of the issues in Canon, he was still a greedy boy.
Being a wizard and poor just spoke of how dumb most people were. No law in any ministry banned the wizards from stealing from evil people, and the goblins didn't care where the money came from. One just needed to raid a cartel or something in America and could be set for life, but no… no one thought of that.
With both teams entering the field, I turned off the game from my mind. I wanted to do some planning for later. There was no way Iris would run with the rest, and I was sure she would try her best to help the attack victims. At the very least, I knew that her wand was safe in her holster, so she would have her focus on the upcoming battle.
I didn't plan to go full lethal if I could help it, but if push came to shove, I would not hesitate to cut down some bastards who deserved it. Ever since I entered Hogwarts, I've trained in the room of requirements with realistic dummies since I wanted to avoid freezing up when I hurt a real person. There would be differences, of course, but I hoped that at least that preparation helped.
The game started with a Shout from Bagman after the referee whistled on the field, and all the fans went berserk.
Now that I could focus, I went through all the spells I was confident enough to use in a battle. The one I was the most proficient with was expelliarmus; I was not at the level to cast it silently since that knowledge was hidden from the library; believe me, I checked thoroughly,
But I could cast it fast, and my magical reserve was vast enough to do so a hundred times without tiring. From what we learned in school, every wizard had a pool of magic inside their body; researchers still didn't agree whether it had a physical manifestation or something to do with our souls, but they all agreed that it existed. That's why there were wizards that were stronger than the norm. It was something decided at birth, and while you could improve it with training, it took time if you were not a freak of nature and hardworking to boot.
In our first year, Professor McGonagall tested it, and I was the third person with the biggest magical pool. At that time, many people wondered why a muggle-born had so much magic, but seeing my similarities with the Blacks, I didn't know if I genuinely was a muggle-born anymore.
The first one was obviously Iris, being fate-chosen and all that. The second one was surprising for the rest of the school and probably Britain as a whole; Neville had almost as much magic as Iris, like fifteen percent less, but even that was nearly a third more than what I had at my disposal.
On the other hand, Hermione had an average pool—nothing to write home about—but, like always, she surpassed everyone's expectations with her magnificent memory and hardworking nature. That was something I loved about this world's power system: It didn't matter if you were weak, magically speaking. If you learned and controlled enough magic, anyone could defeat someone stronger. After all, power did not affect all spells the same way.
You could make a Confringo capable of destroying a whole building if you pumped enough magic into it, but someone clever could do the same with a more efficient use of spells.
On the other hand, it didn't matter if you pumped more magic into an expelliarmus; the only thing it would affect was the rebound your enemy would suffer, and there were better spells for it, like depulso, which used less power to cast for a more significant push.
Magic was beautiful, and I loved it.
Once in my first year, I asked Professor Flitwick, since he was the adult I trusted the most in the castle if there were other ways to increase your magical capacity, but he just sighed and told me to ask him when I was in my third year.
When I asked once more, he sat me down in his office and explained with all the details that there were other ways to do so, but most of them were banned by order of the ministry with a promise of incarceration in Azkaban if someone found out. Not all ways were Dark Magic, but even the "Light" rituals that could enhance power were banned.
The second wave of bans was spearheaded by Albus Bloody Dumbledore after his victory against the dark lord, so no one wanted to go against the savior of the wizarding world. I understand why he did that since, from what I've learned about him, he was no dark lord in disguise, but at the very least, he stunted the growth for generations. Flitwick disagreed with him, bless his soul, but he could not interfere in those decisions.
Six hours later.
Elias Blake.
"Ireland wins!" Ludo Bagman.
I was so focused on my plans that I didn't realize the game was over. I probably dozed off once or twice during the game. It had pleasant moments, but knowing how it would end ruined my excitement.
Everything went the same as Canon, and Ireland won 160 to 150. Krum took the snitch before Ireland could make the gap between both teams more noticeable.
Krum's plays were the only ones I paid attention to. Even if I prefer to fly freely than play the sport, it could not be said that Krum wasn't a generational genius in the sport. His feints, speed, and strength were so much more than anyone else in the game that it was ridiculous. It was hard to believe that he was barely eighteen years old.
Iris's eyes sparkled with excitement, and she clapped so hard that her small hands turned red. The same could be said for the rest of the Weasleys. The only outliers were the twins, who looked at Bagman like a hawk, having been proven correct with their bet.
They stood up and walked purposefully toward the fat man, who looked nervous. But he was among the event's most influential people, so he squared his shoulders and paid with whatever dignity he could find inside himself.
Now that everything was done, we started walking toward the tents, and I could feel my anxiousness skyrocketing. The moment was coming, and I hoped everything would go well for us. I was no paragon of justice, but I wanted to help some people before the worst could happen.
Iris continued talking animatedly with the Weasleys, and I took Mione's side and slung my arm on her back.
"Did you enjoy the game?" I shouted, trying to make myself heard through all the cheers and shouts from the other wizards present. The leprechauns were flying, and wizards were using magic openly, not giving a fuck about the statue of secrecy.
Mione noticed, too, and she scowled at seeing the poor muggles present being obliviated so often. I just hugged her and led her directly to the tent Sirius got for Iris. There was nothing we could do about it after all.
Before long, we arrived at the tent, and our group split into two. The older Weasleys took Mr. Weasley's tent and started drinking some wizarding alcohol while all of the young ones came with us to Sirius's tent.
Hermione took my and Iris' hands and took us to where I had left my trunk. I left it here because, thanks to all its defenses, someone would find it easier to steal something from Hogwarts than move my trunk.
Iris asked why we were leaving the party, but Mione kept silent, tapping her foot on the ground to demonstrate her impatience when I didn't move to unlock it.
Sighing and knowing there was no way I could stop her now that she got in one of her moods, I directed my magic to the trunk. The trunk vibrated as if welcoming me when it felt the nature of my magic, and the defenses came undone.
Walking inside, I wondered if admitting was the best course of action, but Mione started questioning before I could formulate a plan.
"Do you know why Malfoy's mother was looking at you like that, Eli?" she asked in her bossy tone, which we tried to fix but were unsuccessful in our endeavor. It didn't come out often, but when it did, my bushy-haired friend was not stopping.
Sighing once more, I thought to myself with morbid amusement that it was something I did more whenever I had these two close to me. I began, "I believe there is a connection between Sirius and Lady Malfoy whenever they say I remind them of someone. I have no way to know who, exactly, but the number of people those two would know enough to recognize something in me must be small."
Iris, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, focused on my face. "Yes, it's true. Now that I think about it, you have some characteristics Malfoy's mother has; I always knew that you looked somewhat girlish." she ended up smirking at me.
Rolling my eyes, I continued, "Sirius and Narcissa Malfoy are cousins, and the possibility exists of me being the son of someone they knew in their youths since I believe they drifted apart when they left Hogwarts. I don't know their ages, but they must have graduated relatively close."
"Could you be Sirius's son?" Mione bit her lip.
I bursted out laughing, "God, no, I don't believe he is my father. But the possibility of being the son of another black is high."
Iris tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table. "Hmm… I remember the book you gifted me during our first year, Eli. The only Blacks alive who could be your parents are Bellatrix and Cassiopeia."
I shuddered at that. "Oh god," I said, covering my face. Now that Iris noted that I could not get the image out of my mind, I truly hated the idea of being the offspring of one of those crazy women. Bellatrix was a complete Nutjob, and Cassiopeia was somehow even more feared than her. Since we were wizards, it could be possible for Cassiopeia to be my mother; she disappeared utterly from everyone's sight after the defeat of Grindelwald.
"There is one more option," Mione interjected softly, but I don't know how possible that is.
"Who?" asked Iris, looking serious.
"Sirius brother… Ragnus? No, that's not it… Ragnock?" Mione continuó.
"Ragnock sounds like a goblin's name, Mione." I snorted. "You are talking about Regulus."
"Yes, him!" she shouted, making me glad that my trunk had silencing charms.
"But no one knows what happened to him. Everyone knew he was in Voldemort's group, but he disappeared suddenly before his defeat." Iris replied, clearly whacking her brain to remember about that.
I wondered who the better option was. In the grand scheme of things, whoever my parents were would not change my plans. They might complicate them or even make them somewhat easier, but my plan would stay the same.
"It's possible," I admitted. "We need to talk with Padfoot if we want to learn more about it."
Before we could continue, my trunk shuddered from the impact of something, and I paled. We had been so engrossed in our conversation about my origins that we had lost time, and now the attack had started. I could only hope that the Weasleys left without us.
"Fuck" I whispered and ran toward a chest I had in a chest below my bed.
I opened and took three pepper-up potions and wiggenweld potions, just in case. I took out my ring and turned back to my best friends.
"We are under attack," I said grimly. "There is no way the trunk should have moved like that without a big explosion moving the ground."
Hermione paled, and Iris' eyes turned almost cold. A change in the air showed the absolute titan she could become if she trained more, and I wished to see it happen. Now that I had the Celestial Grimoire, I knew I would not fall behind her.
"Here, put this on." I said to Mione while giving her the dragon crest ring."
Turning back to Iris, I sighed, "I cannot convince you to run away?"
Iris just shook her head and called for her wand; she looked ready for war.
"Okay… Give Mione the invisibility cloak; I will cloak us with my magic before leaving; she can follow us from a distance."
Iris did so without talking, taking the invisibility cloak from her bag and giving it to Mione.
"I want you to follow us and stay behind cover. If you think we need help, curse whoever you want but stay inside the cloak. We will attract attention from whoever is attacking, and you will support us, understand?" I turned to Mione and asked seriously.
Her lip was trembling, but she bit it hard enough to draw blood and nodded firmly.
"Stay safe," I said before kissing her brow.
"Are you ready?" I asked Iris.
Iris nodded, and with a final deep breath, I walked to the entrance. Before opening the trunk, I cast the same magic as before on Iris and me. Looking outside, the screams finally reached us, and the smell of burnt grass and flesh filled our nostrils. I gagged at the smell but tried to keep going. Hermione was not so lucky, and she almost threw up. I caressed her back until she calmed down.
"You good to continue, Mione?" I asked softly, and she nodded.
No one was near our tent, but the fire rapidly approached us.
Checking for one last time and seeing no one in our surroundings, I said, "Cast aguamenti, let's try to douse this flame."
While Hermione Aguamenti's spell was weak compared to ours, we managed to douse the flames in less than a minute. Iris's spell was almost a geyser, and I wasn't far behind.
Thankfully, I could see nobody around us, so that must mean that the Weasleys managed to run. It was a good thing since the way I planned to act would hit a wall if I had to focus on the rest of them.
"Let's go." I tapped their backs, and we started walking towards the screams.
Before long, we reached a scene that stopped us in our tracks.
A girl almost younger than Ginny, probably ten or eleven years old at most, stood before an older male drabbed in a dark cloak with a mask covering his face. He pointed his wand at the girl, but she didn't look scared.
There was something familiar about her, but at the moment, I couldn't recognize where I had seen her or anything. She was blond, with a slim body, shoulder-length hair, and vivid blue eyes. She was young, but it was easy to see that she would grow into a beautiful girl. What impressed me the most was how calm she was in front of the death eater like there was not a single thing he could do to harm her.
"You shouldn't do that, mister," the girl said politely, looking him dead in the eyes.
"I don't care what a brat like you have to say, girlie," the man sneered. "You will be such a beauty you will be in a couple of years. Even now, I would be hard-pressed to name someone like you, maybe that Potter lass."
Iris scowled beside me, but I grabbed her hand before he could curse the bastard. My rage was not far behind, but I didn't let it control me.
We stayed behind, ready to attack if the man made any move, but before we could do anything, someone appeared next to the girl. It was a tall man a couple of years older than us, like eighteen or something; I wasn't sure. He was holding a beautiful sword that took my breath away. The sword had a cross in its handle, and it was breathtaking; there was no other way to describe its appearance.
The death eater made a startled sound before gurgling blood, and we saw an even more shocking scene. The unnamed death eater coughed up blood, and a thin line could be seen when his cloak fell. A second later, he was bifurcated right down the middle, and both body parts made a dull thud when they hit the ground.
We were rooted in our spots, and I could see Iris's eyes trembling. We didn't even see him move; it was like he teleported seamlessly, not showing the telltale signs of apparition or the movement spell Voldemort showed in the later movies when he turned into something like gas.
No, he teleported instantly.
The older man spoke in a posh British accent. "Are you okay, sister?" he asked when he finished looking at the young girl. "I told you we shouldn't have come. Nothing good happens when people like us mingle with these wizards."
"I had everything under control, big brother. And I wanted to see this event. It was fun." the girl pouted, not caring for the cooling body before her, "He was weak after all."
The older man sighed and palmed his face, "We are leaving now."
With that, they both disappeared, the same way the blond bespectacled man did the first time. One second, he was there, and the next, he was somewhere else.
Hermione could no longer handle the situation, so she got out of the cloak and started heaving for breath, kneeling in the grass.
Iris just looked at the body curiously. I, on the other hand, felt the bile rise in my throat but forced myself to swallow it back.
"That was something," I deadpanned, "You okay, Mione?"
She finished dry heaving some seconds longer and used aguamenti to clean her face. She was pale, but her eyes had hardened.
"Let's go before someone notices us," Iris urged, "There are still screams over there,"
I nodded, and we ran toward the screams hidden by my magic and the cloak in Mione's case.
More men in dark robes were before us, torturing some muggles. No wizard was in sight; they all ran away like cowards when it all began.
I never understood the wizards' mentality. Every single one of us had a weapon since we were eleven, but no one used it when they should.
There were five men in front of us, so it was doable with the element of surprise.
"Make sure they don't come back to attack us," I whispered firmly.
My intention with that was to juice a Stunner more than usual, but I was honestly surprised when both Hermione and Iris fired something more lethal than that, leaving me as the only one who used a harmless spell.
Iris cast a buffed-up Diffindo, which cleanly cut the wand arm of the death eater casting Crucio. On the other hand, Hermione showed her viciousness by firing a Confringo some feet away from the crowd of death eaters cheering on their leader.
I was left open-mouthed at their choice of spells. I didn't want to go with that kind of spell since I didn't know how they would react seeing us use something like that on another person, but it appeared that seeing the bloody scene of the blondes and the torturing of muggles in front of us changed their opinion on how to deal with them.
No one died from the spells, but they would if they didn't treat the wounds quickly. Before we could approach them, they all apparated away with screams of anguish. I didn't believe that they would die from those injuries, though.
Looking around and not seeing anyone, we approached the victims. A family of four. The father was in the worst state; he had gashes on his chest and was bleeding heavily. The mother had her chest bared to the world, the death eaters clearly enjoying the power they had on them, but both children were thankfully left alone, even if traumatized. Hopefully, the Obliviators could help with this event.
Now that we were close, I took the Wiggenweld potion and threw it toward both the parents, who were looking at us with fear in their eyes. Both children were unconscious, and the parents hugged the children and tried to back away from us.
"Calm down, they are gone." I tried to calm them down, but it was for naught. The mother was crying her eyes out, looking at her children, and the father was trying to stand up now that his injuries were closing.
Even then, the blood loss did not help him at all, and he fell to his knees.
"Some help," I urged Hermione, who was looking sadly at the scene.
She shook her head sadly but got to work, quickly conjuring a blanket to hide the mother's chest.
"They are gone, and they are cowards at heart. Now that someone stood up to them, they will not dare to come back." she consoled, taking slow steps toward the children.
"May I check on them?" she asked.
The parents looked at each other before nodding firmly, "Please," the mother's voice was full of anguish.
Hermione was the only one among the three of us who could use some healing spells. Her small magic capacity helped out with that since she had better control than the rest of us.
She waved her wand toward the children and began to whisper.
A minute later, she sighed in relief, "They are physically okay, and in a bit, you won't remember anything about this, so you can continue with your lives as if nothing happened."
"Who are you, kids?" the father asked.
I was about to open my mouth to reply, but I felt something was wrong.
I quickly cast the strongest shield charm I had ever cast, and Iris did the same a second later.
Multiple stunners impacted our shield, but they held firm.
"Drop your wand!" multiple voices could be heard from where the distinctive pop of apparition could be heard.
"We are helping this family; we are Hogwarts students!" shouted Mione, full of indignation.
Looking at them, I was surprised to see some faces I did not expect.
"Identify yourself," shouted the woman in the lead. She was old, a little bit older than Mr. Weasley, with red hair and a monocle on her face that did nothing to hide the scowl on her face. Even if it was not directed at us, I could not deny that she scared me a bit. "I am Amelia Bones, Head of the department of magical law enforcement."