Ch. 114 Depth of friendship

The next morning came, and with it the rushing Ministry officials and members running around like crazy.

"You four take care of Susan and go back home. I need to head directly to the Ministry and take care of this mess. That damn Rita Skeeter had write that article. Now we have people complaining about ineptitude." Amelia said in an annoyed manner.

The article she's talking about has to do with the fact that aside from the seven captured because of us. Skeeter basically slandered the Ministry by saying they were so bad that 'children' were more effective in the apprehension of the rioters. The Prophet jumped on the opportunity to run her trash talk. They needed any kind of attention grabbing news they could get with the domination The Herald had achieved in the news. I received a report that she wanted to publish her article through us, but we don't publish any pure slander without having a true understanding of the situation. She didn't want to not have her article published at all, since she knew if we looked into it and her arguments would fall apart. Thus she went to the Prophet for a lower bar.

"No worries mother. Go show those fools how it's done." I said with a small smile on my face.

"Yeah no worries. Bro and his friends can take down anyone." Agreed Susan with certainty.

"Of course. If anyone tries to harm my little sister they will have to bring an army." I declared with my chest puffed out.

"That's not funny when you're the one saying it." Said Christian with a little chuckle.

"He's not wrong though. From what Aedan has told us about his current power, it might really take an army to bring him down properly." James added as he gave the comment serious thought.

"Like he will even get a chance. I am more than enough to beat down any punk with ideas on Susan." Victoria said as she hugged Suz from behind.

"I am glad you made such reliable friends dear." Mother gently said as she calmed down a bit from our behavior.

"Hehe, I helped make them reliable. They were just loners and geeks before." I say while chuckling.

"""Hey!""" They responded in unison.

"Prove me wrong!" I simply shouted as I dodged some fists and feet while laughing.

"Stop dodging you git! I'll get you!" Shouted Christian as he wildly tried to hit me.

"Well, it's not exactly an erroneous statement. But I still wish to hit you for that." Calmly said James as he was using his goblin hand-to-hand combat training.

"You mentioned my dark past. As my man that is an even more unforgivable crime." Darkly murmured Victoria as she kept trying to get sneak attacks in.

"Hahahahahaha! You guys are so close to each other, it warms an old lady's heart." Laughed mother sincerely as she watched how we interacted.

That laughter actually stopped everyone in their tracks because it has never happened before.

"Hahaha oooh! It has been a long time since I had such a true laugh. Thank you for that you all. I hope my son doesn't cause you too many headaches and you can all keep being together like this." She followed up as she wiped little tears of laughter in her eyes.

"He's not getting rid of us that easy." Proudly declared Christian after a moment and with a bright smile, but not forgetting to get a free hit on my abs.

James simply nodded in agreement with a determined look on his face, getting my arm with a punch.

"He's my man, of course I'm not leaving." Simply stated Tory as she hugged my arm with her ample assets, after she pinched my side.

"Such good people you've all grown up to be. Alright I'll be off." She simply said with a warm smile and lighter heart.

With a rowdy and energetic farewell, we also headed back to our homes in order for all of us to prepare for our final year at Hogwarts.

During the time up to our departure, I heard two pieces of news which reassured me.

Although I felt bad about this, Bertha Jorkins has disappeared and the ministry was taking fire for that one as well. This most likely meant Moldy and his rat knew about Little Barty being alive and loyal, but under his fathers control. It also meant that the Crouch family member under the Imperius would change very soon. Unfortunately for elder Crouch, I have a grudge against his family and I have no obligation to help the man who released that animal from Azkaban. I don't give a shit about his wife's last request. He murdered my family. Kidnapped me, hence is responsible for me suffering all that pain. Broke my mother's heart. And he tortured and killed dozens more.

'They will both die be the end of the year! So don't lose control. You've waited this long and a little more will do no difference.' I thought to myself as was pondering their situations and trying to keep a cool head.

The second piece of news being the attack on Mad-eye Moody's home and subsequent increase in twitchiness a few days later. This should mean Little Crouch has started to really acclimatize to his role. This would be verified when Moody/'Moody' shows up as the new DADA Professor for the year.

'If he tries that same crap like in the canon, I will show him what someone with real willpower and mental strength can achieve.' I declared to myself as i remembered his first lessons on the Unforgivables.

Aside from that, Susan and I got ready for the year, preparations which now include getting Dress Robes for men and dresses for the ladies.

Susan was going for a red full skirt gown, to match of reddening hair which has been changing as she matured, almost matching the family trait now. It was nice and I praised my little sister for hitting it out of the park.

Although I am protective and love her a lot, I am not overprotective. I will not stop her from finding her happiness or dating. Some things are only learnt through experiencing such them. But if someone really wrongs her or tries to, they will not have a pleasant time.

Back to the fancy wizard wear, I ordered a hybrid of magic and muggle design. I knew I would be dancing with a lady who loves green, during the Yule ball decorated with a winter theme, coupled with my white skin and silver/white hair and striking blue eyes. These facts resulted in my idea for my dress robe. The outer robe would be pure white, with some green elven patterns embroidered across the robe, like delicate vines embracing me. The inner robe would be a white tux to complement the robe and me, to result in my matching Tory but also showing off my own strong points.

It did feel a little chuuni to be honest. Kinda like I was doing some cosplay of an elf version of Eishi Tsukasa from Shokugeki no Soma, but manlier.

Oh well.

With that taken care of, it was time to begin our trip to Hogwarts once again. This year Amelia was a bit more rushed due to the Ministry still trying to put out its fires, but she still took the time to see us off.

At least fewer reporters were trying to get pictures and interviews this year. I think it's mostly due to me not releasing anything this summer. But by the winter, my name would resound across the magical world for new reasons, so I should prepare for that.

Why do you ask? It's not only because I will most likely be the Hogwarts Champion, but also because I submitted the data we have collected on my vaccine against Lycanthropy to the Ministry for proper licensing, registration and approval.

The reason we decided to go through with it is because of an extraordinary result we received during the last week. The baby of our volunteer couple, two full werewolves, didn't have the disease! That's right. The baby was perfectly healthy by all standards and did not inherit his parents burden. We actually ran some tests and found that he should possess a resistance towards the virus naturally. Meaning he is now very unlikely to become a werewolf, even if scratched or bitten. It's not immunity, but it has pushed the curing of lycanthropy another dozen steps further with just him existing. And because of this, we've started preparing to give the vaccine to all of our affiliated werewolves, letting them live completely normal lives. The only difference is the additional shot.

I will probably reveal my original spell at some point before the end of my seventh year, but I'm hoping to get my second one completed before then.

That front actually had some progress. A flash of inspiration hit me when I was studying my own flame and trying to properly transform it into its Arithmantic equivalent. I succeeded in isolating the helpful, pure, healing and protective properties of the Phoenix flames from the destructive dragon ones, giving me that flash. The idea was to merge some of these isolated properties with the concepts for my Protego Sanctum and the Patronus. The goal was to form an advanced form of the Patronus Charm, changing it from a supportive and somewhat limited spell, to an offensive magic capable of harming and or killing those from/with the dark side of magic.

The study of my flame also led me to an interesting accidental discovery as well. I found out that the healing properties of the fire could be harnessed and used to increase the power of ones healing spells as a whole, like paraseltongue would do. I also theorized that if i can properly change this element to a spell, I would be able to start a revolution in the field of healing. This one I've decided to work on with Victoria, in the hopes of giving her inspiration and another tool to develop her new treatments.

As I was thinking about my current projects and futur actions, my friends started to arrive in the cabin I had occupied.

First was Victoria as always, letting us have a proper greeting between the both of us. Meaning snogging of the highest order, with lots of roaming hands in our concealed cabin.

Then my two other friends joined us one after the other, quickly getting settled in as we talked about the odd addition to this years list of required materials. Aside from that, nothing much was new since we saw each other less than a week ago and write between ourselves on our private boxes.

But the time had come.

"So, I'll speak for the three of us and say that it's time for you to check our progress and hopefully keep your end of the deal from before the summer." Said Tory seriously as she looked directly into my eyes with determination.

I steel my own resolve and look at my two guy friends sporting similar expressions on their faces, letting me know they were all ready for this.

"Very well. But be warned that I will truly be encroaching into your minds this time. It will not be the gentle surface probs I usually use. I will pry open your minds and you might not even know, or it might be a near violent event. This will not be fun nor easy. It will be something which might even make you fear what I can do." I explained to the three of them with upmost seriousness.

"I trust and respect you too much my raven." Answered Tory with a gentle but unwavering voice.

"You're my friend, mentor and a rival. Bring it." Declared Christian with fire in his eyes as his passion roared.

"You showed me so much light in this world. I believe I can also handle some of its darkness. So test us and we shall overcome it." Stated James with his will powering his words.

"Alright. I will do it one at a time." I say in response to their wills.

"Prepare yourselves!" I declare as my eyes glow with power.