Chapter 59
CASSIUS MALFOY
"You think I can defeat him?" Cassius asked the Headmaster, who had spoken those words with a greater confidence than even himself.
"Yes," and he was a bit surprised by the Headmaster's confidence in his ability, but a part of him wondered if this belief was not driven out of confidence, but rather desperation as well.
"From what I could understand, Tom's magical prowess is constrained by Harry's abilities," and indeed, for all intents and purposes, a wizard like Voldemort should have easily overpowered him.
"Cassius was strong—stronger even than an above-average adult wizard like Sirius. But Voldemort, he would easily admit that the Dark Lord was way above his level, and it was why he had been hesitant to attack Harry at first.
But in their little clash, he had realised that the difference between them was not so great that he could not overcome it.
"How?" he questioned, and the Headmaster rubbed his chin, as Cassius's eyes narrowed at his hand, and the magic surrounding it.
Apart from being a rather knowledgeable advisor of sorts, Perenelle was a damn good witch as well and helped him train regularly. It was because of that training that he was able to sense a sliver of magic residue from the Headmaster's hand.
"Though we wizards treat the soul and the body as separate entities, the truth is that both of these aspects of nature share a bond deeper than any magic," and that seemed genuine enough.
"Right now, Voldemort's soul is like a parasite controlling Harry, and though it may have been able to suppress the young Harry for now, that does not mean that Voldemort has severed the connection between Harry's body and soul," and so that meant.
"No body can inhabit two souls," and the Headmaster agreed with his assessment.
"Indeed, and it is why I believe that the sooner we engage Tom, the better, for the more we wait, the deeper Tom's connection to Harry's body grows, and with that his powers shall grow as well," and that was why he had to engage him as soon as possible.
"Then why won't you do it?" he whispered, because he was definitely more powerful and the Headmaster was silent for a time as those blue eyes lit up.
"I believe you already have the answer for that," and Cassius leaned back as he brought up his hand, and made a small sweep to the left, as he dissipated the magic surrounding the Headmaster's hand, and in the blink of an eye the skin on it turned black, as the man's great secret was revealed.
"I believe I had but half a reason?" he challenged with a hint of anger, as the aged man smiled solemnly.
"She told me that you would know," and of course she did. And he wanted to curse and scream and rage, but all he felt in that moment was disappointment.
He had warned him the Headmaster about the curse on the Ring, yet in the end the man had repeated that very mistake which had killed him in his dreams.
"Why?" he asked, and the most powerful wizard in the world leaned back in his chair.
"I could blame the fates, but the truth is far simpler, my boy," and the man had a rather brittle and forlorn expression.
"I am just a tired old man filled with too many regrets," and they all were filled with regrets of some sort.
"The world sees me as a wizard of great power, yet in their desperation for a hero, they overlook my mistakes, and do not see how I am haunted by them to this day," and who wouldn't be, given that his choices had led to the death of thousands.
"But this is not like those times," Cassius argued.
"You knew about the curse. You know about Harry and Voldemort," and so there was little moral conflict for him to wade through. The choice was simple.
"I am too old to make these choices now, my boy. Even without the curse eating away at me, I would be dead in a few years, and the world around us would become rudderless," and that was what Perenelle had meant.
"You want me to be the next you?" Cassius guessed, and much to his surprise, the Headmaster smiled as he shook his head.
"No, I want you to be better. I want you to be more ready than I was," and he sighed and he saw him turn to the side, and look towards an old picture, one of a young and ambitious Dumbledore smiling and laughing as he stood besides a few friends, his arm swung tightly around the neck of a boy similar to his age, the mismatched color of his eyes visible even through the black and white picture.
"That wasn't there earlier," Cassius guessed, for he would surely have noticed it if it had been present.
"Yes, it wasn't," he agreed as those blue eyes dimmed.
"It is one of the only pictures I have of us, and for decades now, I hid it from the world in fear of the shame and damage it could bring," and he saw the man reach for the picture as he touched it softly.
"But now with death staring me in the face, I have learned not to care about all this," and with that, he faced him once more.
"When I was your age, I was a boy tainted with rage, ambition, and prejudice. That ambition poisoned people around me, and though later on I was able to free myself from its curse, those around me suffered from the consequences of my dreams," and he spoke of Grindelwald, and many others that he had inspired.
"You are not responsible for Grindelwald's actions," Cassius assured him once more, but the man shook his head.
"But I am Cassius. I am responsible for Gellert, for Tom, and the thousands who followed them both, and the thousands who died at their hands. I am responsible for it all, and I do not wish to carry the burden of thousands more," and with that, the man took a deep breath, as he put his wand on the table.
"I can't," he whispered before he looked into his eyes.
"I only ever wanted to teach, yet history has forced me into becoming a warrior and a leader," and then he smiled strongly as his voice grew stronger.
"You, on the other hand, are a born leader and warrior. You have the heart and the determination that I never did, so I wish to help you in helping me," and his intention was clear as Cassius eyed the wand which Gellert himself had once wielded.
The most powerful wand in the world, forged by death itself—the Elder Wand.
And it was being offered to him, along with an opportunity to learn from the greatest and most powerful wizard of their time. And Cassius realised that he had been wrong about the Headmaster.
He was not the evil dark lord many theorised him to be, nor was he a saint who could do no wrong. He was a tired old man who only wanted to die in peace, doing what he loved.
"I believe your evenings are now free once more," he added as Cassius thought over everything that he had heard.
"Would you be kind enough to let me experience the joy of teaching once more, Cassius?" and in the end, the decision was simple to make as he looked him in the eye and nodded.
"So be it..."
0000
DAPHNE GREENGRASS
The whole school was in shock about what had happened to Hermione. She may not be a student at their school anymore, but seeing a fellow student nearly die before their eyes had a sobering effect, as people realized that the Tri-Wizard Tournament was not as jovial and simple as they had thought.
The girl herself had woken up a few days ago and had little to offer about the name of the culprit, though she had an inkling that, unlike the brown-haired girl, Cassius knew about the one responsible and was planning retribution.
"What do you mean you won't be attending anymore classes?" questioned Tracey as Cassius answered with a forced shrug.
"As a participant in the Tournament, I am exempt from the exams this year, and after making a request to the teachers, they have allowed me a little respite to prepare for the final task," and this was no little respite.
There were still over two months in the Final Stage of the Tournament, and there was little doubt in her mind that he was planning to do something about the man who had tried to kill Hermione in that time.
"But you weren't going to participate in the tournament," Tracey countered as they sat in the gardens.
"Well, I am not, but I would have to be a fool to give up on skipping school," he lied, and Daphne saw through it at once, and if Tracey did the same, she did not call him out on it.
"Damn! Perhaps I should have put my name in the Tournament as well," and that was a jest made in error, and Tracey recognised it quickly as her face morphed as she apologised to Cassius, who nearly lost his life to the entire thing.
"I am sorry," and Cassius simply shook his head.
"It's fine," he said before he turned towards her.
"The Potion is complete. You can collect it from Professor Snape," he said as her heart stilled, for she had known that such a day was coming, but in the end, her mind refused to believe it.
"So that means..." Tracey gasped with joy.
"Astoria will be cured of her curse," and after a second of silence, her friend jumped up in joy.
"Finally! She will be cured!" and Tracey was jumping with joy, while Daphne remained silent as she felt a burden lift off of her shoulder.
"I will have Professor Snape contact St. Mungo..." but before he could say anything more.
"No!" she stopped him, as both Tracey and Cassius turned silent at her words.
"You can contact them yourself..." but she continued to shake her head.
"I can't just simply take such a thing from you, Cassius," and she could not even fathom the cost of such a thing, and both of them were stunned by her words, but Daphne had given it much thought.
"Daphne, as long as Astoria is cured, gold is irrelevan..." but she had made her mind.
"No!" she declared with finality.
"Then what do you suggest?" Cassius asked, and she needed a few days to get everything sorted out on her end.
"Just give me a few days, I will get it to you," she said, and he nodded with a sigh.
"As you wish..."
.
.
.
"So Dumbledore intends for the boy to challenge me in open," the Dark lord laughed, as Karkaroff felt a chill run down his spine, and though his form was but that of a boy, the Dark Lord remained ever perceptive and demanding.
"My lord, I tried but Dumbledore wield..."
"Silence!" he whispered, but it was enough to force his lips shut as the Dark Lord's feet rose into the air.
"Well, it is good then. The world has begun to put the Black heir on a pedestal," and after he had defeated the dragon and then saved the Drumstrang champion's hostage, the Papers had changed their tone about the boy rather quickly, hailing him as a prodigy of sorts.
And darkness oozed from his body as black mist surrounded the area, as Igor felt his mark burn.
"Defeating him will be a good enough opportunity to show the world the new Chosen One..."
And so,, the fate of the wizarding world would be decided by the duel of one chosen by fate, and one who had chosen himself....
0000
Read ahead and support me on Patre 0n.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a nice day! 😊