Chapter 22

Chapter 22

HERMIONE GRANGER

"So how have you been?" Edward asked her as they made their way through the corridor and Hermione nodded as she answered.

"It has been easy, the lighter schedule and fewer classes give me some free time, plus your notes have also been a great help," and wasn't that true! Hermione knew that she was smart and had always focused on the books, yet Edward's old books had little additions and changes that often went against the author's instructions. But always gave better outcomes.

"Good, good. There is no need to stress about grades too much. Magic is supposed to be fun and exciting, not a simple regurgitation of mediocrely written books," he added, and a couple of years ago, Hermione would have been scandalized by those words, yet now she found them quite true.

Then suddenly, Edward turned to face her and asked her an unexpected question, "So have you made any preparations for the Yule Bal? From what I remember, fourth year are also allowed to participate, right."

Hermione was slightly taken aback by the change in topic though she had already made her mind about this as she simply shook her head, "Yeah, fourth year are allowed to partake though I don't plan to attend."

That was only partly true, she did want to attend but she was also quite self-conscious. Who was going to ask out the resident know it all? Plus, she had a perfect excuse.

"It's just that I don't know how to dance," Edward just scoffed at that as he suddenly stopped.

"Do you think anyone except those ponce pure-bloods know how to dance?" he asked her with a raised brow and though he made a good point Hermione had a question of her own.

"Do you know how to dance?" she aksed the complaining senior and he smiled as he nodded.

"I do and I can have my instructor teach you as well, even though I believe McGonagall is going to arrange a couple of classes for students as well," and he suddenly poked her forehead with his fingers.

"And I can assure you there are several boys just waiting to ask you out," And Hermoine felt her face heat up as she rubbed her forehead while giving Edward a glare.

"Why do you do that? Plus, how can you be so sure?" she questioned him and he just laughed as he began to walk forward.

"Ohh, I know! I just know! Plus, don't you want to meet this year's dueling champion," and Hermione's eyes widened at that.

"You were taught by the Beauxbaton's champion," and he nodded as Hermione caught up to him.

"Yes, and I can assure you she is as good a dancer as she is a dueler, plus she also wants to see the so called brightest witch of her age," and Hermione felt slight dread pool up in her gut as she looked towards Edward.

"What have you done?" she asked Edward, dreading his answer and her hunch was right.

"Nothing much, I just casually mentioned this sister-like junior of mine who could probably grow up to rival her. Fleur is quite excited to meet you actually," and Hermione just gave him a blank stare at this as Edward continued laughing.

Though she could understand that he was doing all this for her. Before third year Hermione had been very intimidated by the magical world, she had a small circle of friends but lacked a close guiding hand. Despite the teacher's efforts they couldn't give her too much time, when Professor McGonagall had introduced her to Edward, she had finally gotten the helping hand she needed.

She knew Edward treated her like a younger sister and indulged her and this made her feel special. While the teachers and the students would often focus on Harry, given his status as the boy who lived. It felt slightly good to have someone look after her.

"Thank you for this," she said as she started walking by her side once more and he just waved it away.

"Don't worry about it, I will tell you about the time in a couple of days," and she nodded. However, she suddenly recalled her new circle of friends. She still remembered how Daphne and Susan were very interested in dueling. Perhaps, she could help them as well.

"Can I ask you a little favor?" she questioned Edward and he looked at her, stopping right infront of the Deputy Headmistress's office.

"Sure, ask away," he replied and Hermione spoke out her request.

She would later walk into the Great Hall excited about the affirmation she had gotten. She rushed past Harry and Ron who were busy arguing with each other to join Susan Bones on the Hufflepuff table.

During this whole ordeal, she had missed the pair of dark orbs chasing her form as they followed her from the opposite side of the Hall.

0000

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Albus Dumbledore stared at the cave in front of his as he felt the ripples of the magic. Such dark magic made him feel nauseous. It was like he was just discovering the depth of depravities of his old student.

'OH! Tom what have you done?' he thought as he raised his wand and slashed across his hand. Blood gushed out and Dumbeldore stepped forward as he placed his bloody hand on a part of the wall.

He could feel the ward's click, as he felt magic ripple across the cave. The same cave Tom had trapped his orphanage bullies in.

Dumbledore had already obtained the Slytherin's locket, yet he had found a small seedling of hope in Kreacher's story. He had asked Kreacher to give him a complete description and Dumbledore had a small hope that his hunch might be correct.

He felt his magic weaken as the sacrifice was accepted and the cave opened up to reveal a dark archway. For any other wizard, this much loss in magical strength would have been fatal, but unfortunately for his old student, he was not an average wizard.

Not by any standards.

He walked in the dark and found himself standing right in front of a small boat.

"Lumos!" he whispered and the elder wand followed its masters command as it lit up the whole area.

The water was dark, pitch black and one could barely make out a thing. In the centre of the cave was a small island surrounded by water on all sides. Yet, Dumbeldore's purpose was not the island.

He crouched down and slowly placed a finger into the water, and rubbed the droplets between his fingers before giving it a small sniff.

He was right.

"This was a preservative potion, maintained using some ritual. A dark ritual that involved human sacrifices given the sheer amount of inferi at the bottom. But this also gave hope to him. For such a potion should be very potent. Voldemort had probably designed it to trap any intruder for eternity. The inferi would pull them down and once down they would go into a coma like state, their body would refuse to move, yet their minds would remain awake.

Inflicting such agony and cruelty was Voldemort's modus operandi. So, Dumbledore got up and closed his eyes and took out a small contraption from his pocket. It was a pocket lighter.

Dumbledore's very own creation, and he flicked the switch, and several orbs of light shot out and illuminated the whole cave for a moment before they slowly descended into the dark waters.

Dumbledore began to scan the waters for his intended target. The inferi were amongst Voldemort's initial weapons before he had established the Death eaters as his army.

The rotten flesh on the inferi with their hollow skeletal bodies and rotting skin, made Dumbledore shake his head in regret and remorse. How could someone fall to such levels was a mystery to him? Such depravity!

Dumbeldore had been in two wars. Fought against two Dark Lords. Gellert had been a dark lord with ambition, a visionary. A flawed one, but still, Grindelwald had been relentless and heartless, but Voldemort was different. Voldemort was no visionary. He was just a power-hungry person who only sought pleasure through the destruction of the world around him.

He narrowed his eyes as he spotted what he had been looking for. A body lay there, entangled with the inferi, dark and frozen, yet unlike the rest of them, this one had not decayed much. Dumbledore waved his wand, and the earth around him morphed into several pillars that rose up and slowly began to approach the frozen body.

The inferi had quite a tangle over it and wouldn't let go. So, this limited Dumbledore's options as he once more raised his wand and murmured.

"Infernos!"

And the extended columns lit up with a blazing flame.

"AGHHHH! AHHHHH!" the inferi shrieked as their bodies burned, but Dumbledore had achieved his purpose by then and had begun walking out. He flicked his deluminator once more, and the orbs of light returned to him.

Now, he could finally focus on the body by his side. The inferi had inflicted quite some damage to the body. There was a chunk of his leg missing, and Dumbledore could barely make out the classical Black features in the hollowed face.

Maybe he had been too late. But still, there might be a chance. A small chance for redemption.

"Let's get you out of here, R.A.B." and Dumbledore vanished with a crack.

0000

GELLERT GRINDELWALD

The world was changing. It had changed quite a lot since the last time he had gotten a glimpse of it for himself. Yet the occasional snippets of news were enough for Grindewald to ascertain the change in the world.

Nurmengard, a place he had built for his adversaries, would probably be his last resting place. His captors often thought of mocking him when they brought him various muggle newspapers alongside the occasional magical ones, thinking that he had ever hated the No-Maj.

How wrong were they? And how wrong had he been? He had never hated the No-Maj; why would he? He thought them his lesser. Thought them all to be cattle. The other.

However, he could admit that he had been wrong. Wrong, for they may have been different, yet they weren't any lesser as evident by the sheer progress of their advancements. So, Grindelwald had accepted the fault in his ideals.

"Here's the paper. You might find this one quite interesting. It even has a mention of you," said one of the female guards as she placed te paper in the tray and pushed it in. Gellert couldn't see to the other sde, yet had known that a specific guard had been giving him newspapers and books much more frequesntly.

"Thank you," he said as he flicked his hand and the paer rushed toward him. Even without a wand he could do much more, though he did not have much reason to do so anymore.

He looked at the first page and was surprised to see that the paper was the Daily Prophet, the British magical newspaper. And on its front page was his name in aheadline followed by a picture of a student standing infront of froen dragon.

"Niflheim," he recognized the spell immediately as the image moved and the kid approached the Dragon with a very similar poise.

"Oh, what have we got here?" he whispered as he began to skim over the whole article, laughing as he read the wild insinuations. But, overall impressed by the young wizard who had faced the dragon.

"It seems things might be getting interesting? Perhaps, I will get to see you again my friend," he spoke up as he placed the paper by the side.

"Maybe I will ask Albus to show me this little competition. It might be good to see what the next generation is up to these days!"

0000

BOOM. Regulus is alive, though it might be only for a little while. But why would I introduce him?

Hehehehe. I have plans for Regulus, a very unique plan. Moreover, a bit of a look into a legend, Grindelwald. Honestly, Rowling destroyed him the way she wrote his character. He could have been such a huge character. He just has so much potential.

A part of me even wants to involve him more in this fic, though for that, I will have to drastically change the plot. Perhaps I will run a poll on this. So, tell me what you think.

As always, you can read ahead and support me on Patre 0n. Your support helps a lot, so you can visit the page and read ahead up to five chapters, as well as some other surprises.

www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest

Thanks for reading!