KingInTheNorth27: No problem! :) Hermione's POV was actually chosen by my Discord community. You're welcome to join! There's a vote live right now for the next character. Thanks so much—I put a lot of effort into this one!
EduardBlack: I feel you... but the Discord crew picked her! :D Glad you liked it.
***
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***
Nothing interesting happened in November, except for yet another conflict sparked by Draco. He was a real brat who lacked even a shred of self-control. Provoking him was far too easy.
A fight in the corridor between the houses wouldn't have ended well, so I decided to cut it short just as Draco was turning the color of a ripe tomato. My knowledge of the Muggle world came in handy. Granger just gasped for air like a fish out of water—mute and stupid. Honestly? Every look at her left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.
It wasn't that I minded her heritage or the fact that she was a bookworm. What bothered me most about Granger was her stupid, almost criminal naivety. That blind faith that adults are flawless and omniscient. That the world is just black and white and that life is fair.
I hated that stupid, incredibly dull naivety with which she believed that adults were perfect, that they knew everything, and that a person was either good or evil. The notion that life is fair... And why did it bother me so much?
Why did it infuriate me? Because in her, I saw myself. My younger, stupid self back from primary school in the previous world. I might not have been a nerd, but naive? Most definitely.
Life eventually taught me the cruel truth: You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Every adult was, in essence, a "villain." Every one of them made both good and bad decisions, and none of them were the pillars of certainty she so desperately worshipped.
Granger would stupidly rely on authority and believe that life is just. Eventually, however, she'll hit a reality where she'll struggle to even find a decent-paying job where she's treated with respect. Either because she's a woman and an employer will only see the risk of early maternity leave, or because she's not pure-blood. Or simply because she'll try to play fair in a world of rotten politics where honesty doesn't exist.
She didn't understand that in adult life, one wrong move is enough to end up jobless on the street, unable to pay the mortgage. A few bad decisions without a financial cushion and you're at the bottom. In the end, you just become another slave to a stupid boss and a system that squeezes you dry and throws you away.
She had one great stroke of luck, though—she lived in a world of magic. A world where a person could change reality, and thus their own prospects, with a single wave of a wand. Besides, she was still just a child. She had time to outgrow that unbearable naivety before life had a chance to break her.
However, if I were to make a ranking, I would without hesitation label Hermione Granger the most naive person in the entire year. In that regard, she was at least twice as bad as whoever was next in line.
Whereas someone like Agnes? She knew from a young age that life isn't fair. A father locked in Azkaban for almost her entire life. A mother who showed absolutely no interest in her; she only cared about fashion and whoring around with random men. She simply wanted to feel free, and Agnes had to suffer through it all for her.
I didn't believe her mother would live another five years with that lifestyle. Her husband is a dark wizard and a former Death Eater; now that he's free, it was only a matter of time before she had an "accident."
Agnes was beaten down by life from every side. At home, she suffered because of her mother, and outside because she was the daughter of a Death Eater. The Light families judged her for the name she carried. The Dark families despised her because they considered her the child of a traitor. She suffered her whole life—lonely, locked in her manor without a single friend her age.
In fact, I wasn't even surprised she stuck to me like glue wherever I went. To her, I was like the light at the end of the tunnel. The only certainty in her otherwise miserable world.
And what do you do when someone sees you as their only hope and is willing to follow you anywhere? Even to hell? You don't pity them. Instead, you teach them how to be powerful. You show them how to take fate into their own hands and how to work with the power they have within. I wanted Agnes to be strong and independent. Because in this world, you always need someone you can rely on one hundred percent.
I trained Agnes in the spells I had mastered. She was diligent and, compared to the other first-years, talented. I was no longer the only one who could get spells right on the first try. What kind of problem could it be to lift a feather or turn it into a goblet when she could cast Expelliarmus? That spell required much more power and a more focused mind.
Although it took her a whole week to master it with sufficient strength, she did it. She wasn't defenseless. She learned how to fight—she could disarm, knock back, and hurt an opponent. We hadn't moved on to elements yet, though she mastered a simple flame via Incendio. I didn't want to work on elemental magic with her until she could cast Stupefy or Protego.
However, as hard as she tried, she simply didn't have enough magical power for those more advanced spells yet.
***
It was mid-December when I decided to move on to duels with Agnes. She had been eagerly anticipating them. For a while now, I could see she was tired of just practicing spells into thin air; moreover, it seemed to me that the growth of her magical core was quite slow.
While I grew stronger every day—thank God for wandless Incendio before bed—her magical power grew only slightly. Truthfully, I couldn't quantify it exactly, but she still couldn't cast Stupefy or Protego.
I watched her for a moment as she cast Flipendo at a chair and repaired it each time using Reparo, but then I decided to interrupt.
"Agnes, that's enough. We're dueling," I announced.
"Yes! Finally!" she ran to the opposite side of the room. She stood across from me with her wand at the ready, in the stance I had shown her when we first came to this room.
"You can start, the first spell is yours."
As soon as I finished speaking, Agnes took off. "Flipendo! Everte Statum! Expelliarmus!" She fired off three spells at a decent speed. The problem was, none of them were aimed at me. In the stress of her first real duel, her aim was terrible.
"Flipendo!" This spell finally flew true, aiming straight for my right shoulder. With complete calm, I just leaned slightly to the side. The blue bolt streaked past me and harmlessly hit the wall behind my back.
Agnes stopped after every shot to see if her spell would hit. Instead of continuing fluidly, she simply waited for the result.
"Agnes, please, this is a duel! Don't look to see if you hit me. Assume you'll never hit, and keep casting without stopping," I commanded.
"Everte Statum! Expelliarmus!" This time the spells came straight at me. I simply lunged to the right. I had no problem dodging two opponents at once; Agnes, with her current pace, was just a toy to me. Gradually, however, she calmed down and began to aim more accurately.
"It's probably time to return fire. She's aiming relatively accurately and with composure," I thought.
But I didn't feel the joy and adrenaline I felt during the fight with Mulciber and Rookwood. I knew I didn't want to hurt her, and the truth was, she didn't represent a real opponent for me.
"Flipendo! Everte Statum! Incarcerous!" Here, however, she surprised me. Flipendo was aimed directly at me, while Statum was sent to the right—exactly where I had been dodging before. She had noticed my movement and tried to trap me. With the last spell, ropes shot from her wand, which truly caught me off guard. I definitely hadn't taught her this spell; I had only learned it myself recently after the escapade with Mulciber.
I didn't want to use Protego, which she herself struggled with. After dodging to the side, I immediately dropped into a crouch. An orange beam flew over my head, and right after, I cast: "Depulso!"
I blasted the ropes away from me and immediately returned fire. "Flipendo! Expelliarmus!" Both spells hit their mark.
I was careful, though, putting only a minimum of magical power into them. Flipendo only gently knocked her back, and Expelliarmus tore the wand from her hand. I caught it carelessly in the air.
"Let's go again, Patrik! I thought you were just going to dodge," Agnes said with disappointment in her voice.
"Heh, a little dragon, this Agnes. Right after the signal, she over-eagerly sent three spells my way. Although she made several amateur mistakes, she certainly doesn't lack motivation and talent. I didn't expect Incarcerous from her, and certainly not that she'd try to trap me in our first duel," I thought amusedly.
Using wandless telekinesis, I returned the wand directly to her hand. I should note that my wandless magic no longer surprised her at all; she was completely used to it. Gallantly, like a true gentleman, I signaled with my hand that the first spell belonged to her again.
Again, without mercy, she launched her combination: "Expelliarmus! Everte Statum! Flipendo! Incarcerous!"
I, however, dodged to the side at the very first spell—this time to the left. All her spells hit empty space to the right of my original position. She misread me. I didn't wait any longer and with a simple "Expelliarmus," I took her wand again.
I shook my head disapprovingly, as if her performance troubled me, but honestly? I was thrilled. Power she would gain over time, but talent? You have to be born with that, and I was sure Agnes had it. I just had to bring it to the surface.
"Again, Patrik!" she burst out angrily. She was angry at herself. I returned her wand again and we could continue.
"Flipendo! Everte Statum!" The spells flew straight at me. I dodged to the right and immediately returned fire with one spell—I was curious how she would react. "Flipendo!"
As soon as I finished the spell, Agnes imitated me and calmly dodged to the right as well.
"Oh, such pride," I thought, mentally wiping away a tear of emotion.
"Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus!" Immediately after casting, she dodged back to her original position and continued: "Diffindo!"
Curiously, I gave her some room, but then I told myself: Train hard, fight easy.
"Protego!" I waited for the red, white, and red again beams to splatter against my shield. It didn't even quiver. I responded with a simple, overpowered: "Expelliarmus!"
I hit her right in the chest. Agnes was thrown back a few meters and landed hard on the ground. I caught her wand just in time as it flew straight at me. The more magic you put into a disarming charm, the faster the wand flies toward you. You have to be careful—it only takes a second for someone else's wand to poke your eye out, like what happened in that famous professional duel in 1890.
After a moment, Agnes stood up with difficulty, frowning and angry. It didn't even occur to her to complain that she wasn't as powerful as I was. She knew well that life isn't fair.
"Again, Patrik!" she commanded curtly. I felt anger radiating from her, but it was directed solely at herself. She wasn't angry at me; she was angry at her own weakness.
I returned her wand again and we could continue.
"I should stop by Rookwood and see if he wants to join the training," I thought, while she gathered the nerve to attack.
Agnes had undeniable talent, but I felt that without adequate training partners, I would soon begin to stagnate. I needed someone who would force me to reach my limits.
***
Vespera and I had been exchanging messages every week since our meeting. Honestly? She was great, even if she treated me—so to speak—like a kid. However, I didn't mind at all that she sent me the most perfect Toblerone chocolates. It was a magical version from the Alps; the mountains on the packaging moved on their own, and for me, it was currently the best candy in the world. If I didn't run and exercise regularly, I'd probably soon be wider than I am tall.
We had agreed that I would spend Christmas with Aunt Vespera. So, on the tenth of December, I went to see Snape to sign up for the list of students going home for the holidays. Vespera was supposed to pick me up directly from the platform in London.
Agnes joined me; she was also leaving the school. She and her father planned a skiing trip in the Magical Alps, which in her case sounded like the ideal way to get her mind off things and escape reality for a while.
Signing up with Snape went surprisingly quickly and completely without unnecessary talk. There was quite a line in front of his office; almost everyone from Slytherin planned to go home for Christmas. The professor only gave a curt nod while we signed the list. A pragmatic mood reigned in the dungeons—no one wanted to stay there longer than necessary, and Snape clearly shared the same opinion.
***
It was the penultimate school day before Christmas. We had just finished Potions—the last class of the day. I planned to spend the rest of the time on my water magic, this time without Agnes. She had recently focused on her physical fitness; as our duels grew longer, she realized that her stamina was lagging behind her magical power. Especially when I intentionally dragged the fight out.
We said our goodbyes at the staircase. I headed toward my classroom when I suddenly felt that strange sensation. Someone was following me. I didn't let on and continued my way, even though I felt that foreign magic following me like a shadow.
Suddenly, a mental spell hit me. I felt an invisible force pulling me toward the third floor. Was it Voldemort? Did he want the Philosopher's Stone already? I could have easily ignored this suggestion; my mental barriers were strong enough to completely cancel the spell. But that wouldn't have been wise. I was already in a remote part of the castle and I certainly couldn't match Voldemort in strength. So, I decided to give in and wait.
To my relief, the spell didn't force me to go to the three-headed dog, but into a lonely, dusty classroom. When I crossed the threshold, I understood that the one who forced me to come here wasn't the Dark Lord.
In the center of the room stood a huge, ornate mirror with the inscription: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."
I knew it was the Mirror of Erised.
"I show not your face but your heart's desire," I whispered into the silence of the room. I could still feel that magical signature; it watched me silently, without a single word. I knew it was Dumbledore.
"Does he want to test me? See what I see? Whether I'm just another aspiring Dark Lord?" I thought angrily. But I was curious myself what I would see. I looked into the mirror.
The world stopped in that moment. In the mirror, I saw my girlfriend standing next to me along with my entire family from the previous world. She was exactly as I remembered her. Tiny, barely one hundred and fifty-eight centimeters tall, her head somewhere near my chest. Blue eyes, a happy smile, a slender athletic figure, and that blonde hair of hers... I missed her incredibly.
A person only realizes what they lost when it's too late. I searched my memory in vain to see if I had told her I loved her one last time. Whether I had ever actually told my family how much I loved them. I rarely showed emotions and mostly only in private with her, even though I spent time with my family regularly. A lump formed in my throat that I couldn't swallow.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from the sight. I longed for my loved ones so intensely that I felt the walls of my mind pulse under the weight of those emotions. They warned me I was losing control, but I ignored them. At that moment, I didn't care. However, the voice that suddenly spoke behind my back could no longer be ignored.
"Many wizards have wasted their lives before this mirror, captivated by what they see. Some have even lost their minds because they couldn't distinguish whether what the mirror shows them is real or even possible," a calm, elderly voice said.
It was Dumbledore. Of course, it was him. In a colorful robe with sparkling eyes, he was playing the good guy while my heart bled. If I hadn't been aware of his suggestion and hadn't felt his magic in the corner, I might have even bought it.
I kept my gaze fixed on the blue eyes of my girlfriend in the mirror, though I knew it was only a reflection of desire. "I assume you didn't bring me here to warn me about losing my mind."
I summoned my wand to my hand and turned sharply. Dumbledore was dangerous, and after this escapade, I didn't trust him in the slightest.
An emotion boiled in my chest that I hadn't felt in a very long time—pure, honest hatred. I knew I couldn't defeat him; he was older, more experienced, and disproportionately more powerful. But if he attacked me at that moment, I would have done everything to take him to the grave with me.
He must have seen the hatred in my eyes because that familiar twinkle in his gaze suddenly went out. His face turned serious. After a moment of silence, he finally ventured to ask, completely ignoring my wand pointing at him: "What did you see in the mirror, Patrik?"
There was no point in lying. My loved ones were outside of this world, beyond the reach of any magic. They were safe—no one could use, abuse, or hurt them. In this universe, they essentially didn't exist. Or did I not exist for them?
"My loved ones, whom I will never see again," I replied with undisguised anger in my voice.
A heavy silence fell over the room, but I wasn't finished yet. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to cause him at least a fraction of the pain that looking into that cursed mirror had caused me.
"And what about you, Professor?" I added in a chillingly cold tone. "Who do you see there? Gellert? Ariana? Or someone else?"
Dumbledore went pale in an instant. It was the look of a man whose heart had been struck directly by words, deeper than any spell could reach. The mask of the calm and omniscient old man completely shattered for a moment.
***
Author's note:
This chapter was a wild ride to write. "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"—I think this quote perfectly encapsulates Patrik's worldview. He isn't trying to be a hero.
I've always felt that Dumbledore's "greater good" mentality conveniently ignores the raw trauma of those he treats like chess pieces.
On a lighter note, Dragon Agnes rules! Her grit and talent are quickly making her one of my favorite characters to develop.
What do you expect from Dumbledore now that Patrik has called him out?
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Upcoming Chapters:
19. A Fool in High Places
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21. Storms Within
22. Precision, Power, and Purification
23. Of Euphoria and Gifts