Chapter 46

Chapter 46

EDWARD WRIGHT

"IGNIS!" Edward screamed as the flames roared around him and wrapped around him, shaping themselves according to his will into a deathly skeletal guardian. Edward was dripping from sweat as the roar from the fiery skeletal structure shook the whole area.

His magical reserves were quite depleted from the several hour-long practice session he had been having for over two weeks now, and yet there was the sound of metal creaking and bodies moving, and Edward knew he couldn't relax.

More than a dozen wooden training dummies circled him, each with a wand or a physical weapon in hand as he stood at the center.

He glanced at them, ready for any attack.

SHING!

HE heard from behind, and his grip around his wand tightened as the dance began. Edward ducked as he dodged an arrow, and then before he could react, he was getting bombarded by a massive stream of water from half a dozen of those wooden training dummies.

The flames struggled to survive the onslaught from the water, and Edward was beginning to feel the strain on his magical reserves. It would have been easier to dodge the attack, yet the rules stated that he couldn't move more than a couple of steps, so he gritted his teeth as he pushed his wand up into an arc.

"IGNIS SOLUS!" he screamed, and the massive fiery figure began to glow before suddenly it dissolved into a jet of flames that spread around him, destroying over half a dozen of those dolls. Had it been earlier, Edward could have used Ignis to destroy them all, yet his exhaustion was beginning to catch up with him.

Yet as the wooden figures walked through the ring of fire, Edward's wand had already lit up once more. This time in a whitish glow as he brushes down his wand.

"TEMPEST ENSTORMIUS!" then a lightning bolt shot out of his wand and hit the ground, and dissipated into his surroundings, destroying all of the surrounding wooden training dolls.

"HaaaHaaaHaaa," Edward huffed slightly as he wiped the sweat from his face and looked around at the destroyed wooden dolls. In his mind, he began going over the battle once again, trying to identify and rectify his mistakes.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

He was broken out of his trance by the sound of claps, and he looked up to find his unusual train stepping out of the shadows. Gellert Grindelwald, the Greatest Dark Lord of the century. The man responsible for genocide and killings, and above all else. An extremely talented wizard.

"I must say, you continue to surprise me to this day, young Edward," began the man as he walked towards one of the burnt wooden dummies and crouched down to examine it. The wood was charred and crumbled at his touch.

"Such power and mastery at such a young age. Your growth over the last couple of weeks has surprised me quite a lot," said the man as he stood up once more looking straight at him. And Edward's hair rose as those mismatched eyes landed on him. Something was unnerving about that dissecting gaze as Grindelwald looked him up and down again.

"And this room. I must say, I have never seen anything like this ever in my life," Gellert said as he looked around the magical room once more. And Edward finally caught his breath and straightened up as the broken and damaged dummies began to vanish.

"I don't believe something similar exists in either Drumstrang or Beauxbaton," said the man as he closed his eyes, and Edward watched as the man's presence filled the Room of Requirement.

For the sake of his training, Edward had told Dumbledore about the room, and this also had the added benefit of stopping the whole Malfoy debacle. Dumbledore had been aware of the room, though, though hadn't bothered to look into it and had been shocked by its capabilities.

In the end, he had decided to let it be as it was, as a refuge to those who found it.

"Well, I hope you remember your promise to Professor Dumbledore about not mentioning it to anyone," Edward reminded the old wizard, and the man nodded with a smile.

"Ahh, don't worry. I will take this secret to the grave with me," finished the man as the room was swept clean of all the rubble as two comfortable chairs appeared for both of them.

"Nice," said Grindelwald as he settled into the chair.

"I must say, I was quite surprised by your reaction to my presence in Professor Dumbledore's office," and Edward shrugged.

"Well, it was Professor Dumbledore's office and he did explain everything. And I have used your notes and books quite a bit so I think I was quite prepared," and there was a certain glint in those eyes. And Edward still felt uneasy under the man's heavy stare.

"Ahh, yes. I saw that news article in the Daily Prophet about a year ago by one of their reporters. It highlighted quite some similarities between us," and Edward could only swallow as he replied.

"Well, I wouldn't say I am like you. But I believe our duelling styles are similar," Edward denied the notion that he was similar to the man sitting infornt of him. Gellert Grindelwald had butchered people for his ideals, the man had a desire to enslave the muggles.

He wouldn't really call them similar.

"Ohhh, I know that," began the man as he leaned back into his chair.

"We differ quite a bit in our upbringing and ideals. Yet I do believe we share another similarity other than our similar duelling abilities," began the man and for some reason Edward felt shivers run down his spine.

"After all I believe we are the only two people in this world who have lived tow lives," and Edward's body stilled at those words. And he felt those mismatched eyes latch onto his form once more.

"Ohh, though I believe we could call it dreaming it another life," said the man in his casual tone. Oblivious to the tumultuous storm of emotions and thoughts raging inside him.

"So, why don't you tell me more about those dreams we seem to share Mr. Edward," and Edward's grip around his wand tightened as he looked at the Europe's deadliest Dark Lord.

"I can't force you to tell me anything, but I do have an exciting offer for you," and Edward's eyes narrowed at that.

"What offer?" Edward questioned, and the man smirked as he waved his arms wide.

"A duel," finished the man with his smirk as Edward's eyes narrowed.

"And why would I duel you?" questioned Edward trying to hide his eagerness to face the man who had been once called Dumbledore's equal. The smirk on his face widened.

"Ahh, I believe I answered that question earlier. After all, I can assure you the world becomes quite interesting in two thousand and fifty-four!"

0000

ELIZABETH WHITE

Power and politics. These were the two things that basically ran the world. Money, though, could be considered a power. A couple of weeks ago, she sent her CV and applied for any job she could find.

And now she was a secretary to the Minister of Magic. A junior one, but still a secretory to one of the highest offices in Magical Britain. The circumstances of her landing this job were unfortunate since the last secretary had lost her life in the storming of the Ministry by Voldemort and his death eaters.

Though she wasn't truly blind to the reasons behind her hiring, she shook her head to get rid of all those thoughts as she spotted the person she had been searching for. Fleur stood in the Ministry, looking around nervously, and Elizabeth walked a bit quicker as she called her name.

"Fleur. Fleur," she called, and the blonde turned around and smiled as she waved at her.

"Elizabeth!" she said with a smile as they both hugged each other and exchanged pleasantries.

"Thank you for doing everything. I wouldn't have been able to make it without your help," said the blonde as she gave her a crushing hug. And Elizabeth just smiled at the blonde. Elizabeth was the one who had processed all of Fleur's papers quickly and quietly. Thanks to her newly acquired position, it had been quite easy to keep it all very hush-hush.

"Don't worry about it. Was everything fine back home," she asked her lightly given that the whole reason that it was all kept so hush-hush was because of her father. And the way the smile vanished from her face as the blonde chewed her lips told her all she needed to know.

"It will be. Never mind, where is Edward? I had thought he would come," said her best friend's girlfriend as she looked around to search for that so-called friend.

"I am afraid he isn't here. He couldn't enter the Ministry with glamor, and if he had come without any, reporters would have hounded both of you within a second," she informed Fleur about her friend's newfound celebrity status.

As Britain's next proclaimed Dumbledore, Edward's face had been plastered over newspapers for weeks. And given that he was set to receive his Order of Merlin in a couple of days, it was hard for him to go into public.

The blue-haired veela nodded, somewhat aware of his circumstances though a hint of sadness appeared on her face.

"Though, I believe gentlemen has been waiting for you for quite some time right outside the building," and she saw Fleur light up at that. And then Elizabeth beckoned her to join her as they began to walk towards the exit.

A line of people was opposite them, with half a dozen aurors stationed everywhere. The security wards had been updated, and everyone entering the Ministry had to be searched by the Aurors.

"That is more much security than the last time I was here," said Fleur from the side and she nodded. The attack had left everyone queasy and Minster Bones wasn't willing to take any more risks.

Just as they stepped out, she noticed how Fleur's head snapped to her right as her eyes focused on a black-haired boy standing against the wall, staring at them.

"You recognized him despite the Glamour," she spoke out unintentionally. And as Fleur sprinted towards a disguised Edward.

"Of course I did," was the whispered response as they both crashed into each other. A smile appeared on her face as she saw their faces light up as soon as they were in each other's arms.

She decided to hang back and let them enjoy themselves for a bit before she finally decided to move in.

"Akhm! Akhm!" she coughed as she reached the two love birds who finally separated at her interruption. Edward was the first one to speak up.

"Thank you for this, Elizabeth," he said as he gave her a hug.

"Don't worry about it. Though, I think it will be better if you take this somewhere else. People are staring," and she saw Fleur's face flush slightly as she saw how people were staring at them. Edward nodded and picked up Fleur's luggage, and offered her his arm.

"Have a good day, Elizabeth," he said as Felur took his arm as she looked towards her.

"Thank you."

"No problem!" and after her words the two them vanished with a crack, leaving her all alone.

"Ahh, let's see how quickly we get bombarded by letters from the French Mi

0000

DRACO MALFOY

Draco's heart thumped as he lined up opposite to the Dark Lord. And even the sheer presence of the Dark Lord was enough to make the very room feeling saturated with Dark Magic. All of them had their eyes glued to the ground as they knelt for their Lord.

"Stand up! And let me have a look at your faces," ordered the Lord. His voice sharp and distorted like a snakes hiss. Draco stood up as well, and finally gathered enough courage to glance up. And he was shaken by what he saw.

The Dark Lord's face was ashen white, and his eyes were like red stars and were glowing in such a way that it sent shivers down his spine. The way those eyes were shining reminded him of the time he had seen Edward angry. It was similar to how his eyes had lit up.

He shook his head as he eradicated all comparisons between Edward and the Dark Lord from her head. From what his father had told her the Dark Lord could read a person's mind with a smile glance.

"Such young faces. Such hunger and drive. Looking at you reminds me of the time I first began this revolution against the filth spreading across our society," began the Dark Lord slowly, as Draco focused on the tiles on the floor once more.

There was the sound of wood scrapping on the ground as the Dark Lord stood up and began to walk towards them. With each step he took, breathing became a struggle as their Lord's presence overwhelmed them.

"I see the same hunger and drive in you," said the man and Draco could now feel his presence, for the Dark Lord was two steps away from him.

"A hunger and desire that I find lacking in my older followers now," snarled the Dark Lord, and there was a promise in that tone. A promise of retribution.

"We are ready to serve you in any way your desire, my lord," said one of the seventh year student. And Malfoy recognized the voice. It was Uquart Flint.

"Ohhh, such eagerness! Do you all share such thoughts" said the Dark Lord and they all chorused together.

"Yes, my lord. We are ready to serve," and Draco felt the pressure around him lessen a bit as the Dark Lord spoke up.

"Yes. Yes. You say so, but are you really ready to serve. We shall find out," said the Dark Lord and Draco felt his throat dry up as he felt the air shift in the room and before he could think the Dark Lord spoke up.

"Look up!" they all straightened their necks, and Draco stilled as he saw about a dozen people hanging in the air behind their Lord. Bile rose in his heart as he saw their bodies, littered with scars and cuts. Their were men, women and even children. And the state of their clothes told Draco all he needed to know.

"Now, take out your wands, and show me that you are ready to serve! That you are ready to receive my mark," and Draco's eyes widened as he heard those words.

The Dark Mark. The Dark Lord was giving them a chance to get the mark. There were murmurs in the Dining Hall, before suddenly someone from their line walked out and took out his wand.

It was Uquart Flint, and Draco watched as the man took out his wand and walked up to a whimpering man. The man's jaw was broken and he couldn't speak. Though Draco saw the man shake as his eyes began to tear up.

"Plll…" the man whimpered. Uquart's wand lit up green.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" and a green bolt struck the man whose body went limp instantly. Draco nearly gasped as he saw that.

"Good. Very good," said the Dark Lord to Uquar before motioning for him to move back. And suddenly dread pooled in his gut as he felt those red orbs land on him.

"Draco, why don't you join me next?"

0000

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