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Chapter 5: The World Cup (Finale)
🕑 Added 2024-11-07 07:28:52 +0000 UTCCelestial Ascendancy
Elias Blake.
This was getting ridiculous. I could feel three glares directed at the back of my head at that moment, and sometimes, I felt that there was even someone else looking in my direction.
The male Malfoys had been glaring at me for the past five minutes, and I believed that it was because Draco whined to his father when he sat down with the rest of his family after he finished kissing the minister's ass. Lady Malfoy, on the other hand, was taking peeks in my direction, but hers were not with malicious intent, or at least that was what I believed.
She looked at me like a puzzle piece ready to be solved, which was uncomfortable. Even a blind man could see the slight similarity between us, and wasn't that a surprise? I never thought about Draco like that because he looked full Malfoy, but his mother?
Sirius and Narcissa are saying that I reminded them of someone. That must mean something, and I wasn't sure if I liked the connotation. There was a small select group of people both of them knew for me to remind them of someone, and most of those options left me disgruntled.
I didn't think about it last year when we were saving Sirius. The man barely looked alive, and his stunt in Azkaban did not help his appearance, so at the moment, no one thought much of it, but now that I was busy imagining him when he was younger, there were some characteristics that we both had.
Our hair, eyes, and the shape of our faces resembled one another to the point that I could even pass for his son if I stretched the truth enough. But clearly, I wasn't his since I believed he wasn't callous enough not to tell me about that when we met. Even with all the chaos going around Hogwarts then, he had many opportunities to say something, but he didn't.
I didn't know what to think about this and was conflicted about my feelings. With no way to find out the truth without meeting Sirius again, I sighed and returned my focus to my best friends.
Hermione was looking at me with a lifted eyebrow, clearly seeing something in my expression that clued her in that something was bothering me. Sharp girl, that one.
“It's nothing,” I smiled wryly. At least, there is nothing I can find out at this moment. I promise I'll explain when we are back in the tent.”
Hermione nodded and leaned into me to get more comfortable. “I wish the game started soon,” she whined, “I'm not that big of a fan of the sport, but spending time with the both of you makes this worth it.”
Smiling more genuinely, I hurried over, “I missed you during the break,” I admitted softly, “Not having my partners in crime makes life boring, even if you both drive me crazy when any of you gets in some of their moods.” I chuckled.
“Prat,” Hermione hit me in the shoulder, but even then, she could not hide the small smile on her face. She looked around, and her gaze was fixed on Lady Malfoy. “You know, you look somewhat similar…”
Before she could continue, I did the first thing that came to mind to stop her. I pinched her belly with my fingernails and received a pained hiss in return. “Not here, Mione.”
Rubbing softly the area I pinched, I sighed, “That's what I wanted to talk about in the tent; I can also see it, and if I'm right, that knowledge could get me in a lot of trouble. So please, keep it for yourself for a bit.”
“You didn't have to pinch me,” she whined.
Deadpaning at her, I hugged closer. “Mione, I've known you for almost four years. If there is something I've learned about you, it is that shutting you up is not easy.”
“What are you guys talking about?” said Iris from my right. She had been talking animatedly with Ginny and the twins about the game and their expectations. Iris didn't care much about who the winner was, but she expected a magnificent match between Ireland and Hungary.
On the other hand, the twins said in hushed tones that they had bet with Bagman that Ireland would win, but Krum would catch the snitch.
100 CP awarded, 550 CP Total.
I banked the points since this wasn't the best moment to roll. Hopefully, I will get something Juicy before my return to school. I would need all the strength I could muster to face this year. While I always took the supporting role in most events, I knew this year would be the last of me acting with reservations. It all came down to Voldemort’s return, after all. I needed him back alive in a mortal vessel for us to finally defeat him.
While the possibility of dying for good as long as we destroyed all Horcruxes existed, I did not want to bet on something I had no idea about. No, this was the best course of action, even if I hated the idea.
I needed him to return to the graveyard, but all bets were off when he revived. I was not going to be a coward anymore, and all Death Eaters that came in my way would disappear from the face of the earth.
There was no place for people like them in the future I envisioned. I was all for the safekeeping tradition, but I couldn't support cruelty for the sake of it.
“Nothing of importance, Iris.” I smiled at her. Do we know when the game will start?”
“It should start any moment…” Iris began, but her speech was cut short by her eyes going glassy.
I could feel the same almost happening to me. There was something that hit my mental shields like a freight train. Thankfully, when I was controlled by the Celestial Grimoire, my mind got accustomed to defending itself from someone who influenced my thoughts. When the Veelas came into view, my breath hitched; they were truly perfect, but the allure did not change how I acted, thankfully. I didn't know if my new defenses would work against Legilimency, but it didn't matter; staying in control when someone cast a confundus or the unforgivable was more than I could ask for.
Iris' reaction to the Veelas was surprising, to say the least. From what we learned in class, the allure only worked on people who would genuinely be attracted to them in the first place. A homosexual man would not feel the tug in their mind no matter how many veela are in their presence, and the same could be said for heterosexual women. It appeared that our little gremlin had some interesting likes.
Laughing at her, I flicked her nose, “Do you see something you like, Iris?”
Iris' eyes cleared slowly, and she shook her head in wonder. Her eyes stayed firmly on the Hungarian cheerleaders. I was about to keep making fun of her, but I bit my tongue, thinking better of it. I didn't know if she would appreciate my jokes about something like this; in the end, it did not matter to me. She was my best friend, and I would support her either way; it's not like the wizarding world didn't have something to help in cases like this.
The leprechauns came before we could continue, flying on their brooms and throwing fake gold to the masses, and I was forced to watch the embarrassing scene of Ron trying to stuff all the fake coins since he did not know better. Even if he had fixed many of the issues in Canon, he was still a greedy boy.
Being a wizard and poor just spoke of how dumb most people were. No law in any ministry banned the wizards from stealing from evil people, and the goblins didn't care where the money came from. One just needed to raid a cartel or something in America and could be set for life, but no… no one thought of that.
With both teams entering the field, I turned off the game from my mind. I wanted to do some planning for later. There was no way Iris would run with the rest, and I was sure she would try her best to help the attack victims. At the very least, I knew that her wand was safe in her holster, so she would have her focus on the upcoming battle.
I didn't plan to go full lethal if I could help it, but if push came to shove, I would not hesitate to cut down some bastards who deserved it. Ever since I entered Hogwarts, I've trained in the room of requirements with realistic dummies since I wanted to avoid freezing up when I hurt a real person. There would be differences, of course, but I hoped that at least that preparation helped.
The game started with a Shout from Bagman after the referee whistled on the field, and all the fans went berserk.
Now that I could focus, I went through all the spells I was confident enough to use in a battle. The one I was the most proficient with was expelliarmus; I was not at the level to cast it silently since that knowledge was hidden from the library; believe me, I checked thoroughly,
But I could cast it fast, and my magical reserve was vast enough to do so a hundred times without tiring. From what we learned in school, every wizard had a pool of magic inside their body; researchers still didn't agree whether it had a physical manifestation or something to do with our souls, but they all agreed that it existed. That's why there were wizards that were stronger than the norm. It was something decided at birth, and while you could improve it with training, it took time if you were not a freak of nature and hardworking to boot.
In our first year, Professor McGonagall tested it, and I was the third person with the biggest magical pool. At that time, many people wondered why a muggle-born had so much magic, but seeing my similarities with the Blacks, I didn't know if I genuinely was a muggle-born anymore.
The first one was obviously Iris, being fate-chosen and all that. The second one was surprising for the rest of the school and probably Britain as a whole; Neville had almost as much magic as Iris, like fifteen percent less, but even that was nearly a third more than what I had at my disposal.
On the other hand, Hermione had an average pool—nothing to write home about—but, like always, she surpassed everyone's expectations with her magnificent memory and hardworking nature. That was something I loved about this world's power system: It didn't matter if you were weak, magically speaking. If you learned and controlled enough magic, anyone could defeat someone stronger. After all, power did not affect all spells the same way.
You could make a Confringo capable of destroying a whole building if you pumped enough magic into it, but someone clever could do the same with a more efficient use of spells.
On the other hand, it didn't matter if you pumped more magic into an expelliarmus; the only thing it would affect was the rebound your enemy would suffer, and there were better spells for it, like depulso, which used less power to cast for a more significant push.
Magic was beautiful, and I loved it.
Once in my first year, I asked Professor Flitwick, since he was the adult I trusted the most in the castle if there were other ways to increase your magical capacity, but he just sighed and told me to ask him when I was in my third year.
When I asked once more, he sat me down in his office and explained with all the details that there were other ways to do so, but most of them were banned by order of the ministry with a promise of incarceration in Azkaban if someone found out. Not all ways were Dark Magic, but even the “Light” rituals that could enhance power were banned.
The second wave of bans was spearheaded by Albus Bloody Dumbledore after his victory against the dark lord, so no one wanted to go against the savior of the wizarding world. I understand why he did that since, from what I've learned about him, he was no dark lord in disguise, but at the very least, he stunted the growth for generations. Flitwick disagreed with him, bless his soul, but he could not interfere in those decisions.
Six hours later.
Elias Blake.
“Ireland wins!” Ludo Bagman.
I was so focused on my plans that I didn't realize the game was over. I probably dozed off once or twice during the game. It had pleasant moments, but knowing how it would end ruined my excitement.
Everything went the same as Canon, and Ireland won 160 to 150. Krum took the snitch before Ireland could make the gap between both teams more noticeable.
Krum's plays were the only ones I paid attention to. Even if I prefer to fly freely than play the sport, it could not be said that Krum wasn't a generational genius in the sport. His feints, speed, and strength were so much more than anyone else in the game that it was ridiculous. It was hard to believe that he was barely eighteen years old.
Iris's eyes sparkled with excitement, and she clapped so hard that her small hands turned red. The same could be said for the rest of the Weasleys. The only outliers were the twins, who looked at Bagman like a hawk, having been proven correct with their bet.
They stood up and walked purposefully toward the fat man, who looked nervous. But he was among the event's most influential people, so he squared his shoulders and paid with whatever dignity he could find inside himself.
Now that everything was done, we started walking toward the tents, and I could feel my anxiousness skyrocketing. The moment was coming, and I hoped everything would go well for us. I was no paragon of justice, but I wanted to help some people before the worst could happen.
Iris continued talking animatedly with the Weasleys, and I took Mione's side and slung my arm on her back.
“Did you enjoy the game?” I shouted, trying to make myself heard through all the cheers and shouts from the other wizards present. The leprechauns were flying, and wizards were using magic openly, not giving a fuck about the statue of secrecy.
Mione noticed, too, and she scowled at seeing the poor muggles present being obliviated so often. I just hugged her and led her directly to the tent Sirius got for Iris. There was nothing we could do about it after all.
Before long, we arrived at the tent, and our group split into two. The older Weasleys took Mr. Weasley's tent and started drinking some wizarding alcohol while all of the young ones came with us to Sirius's tent.
Hermione took my and Iris' hands and took us to where I had left my trunk. I left it here because, thanks to all its defenses, someone would find it easier to steal something from Hogwarts than move my trunk.
Iris asked why we were leaving the party, but Mione kept silent, tapping her foot on the ground to demonstrate her impatience when I didn't move to unlock it.
Sighing and knowing there was no way I could stop her now that she got in one of her moods, I directed my magic to the trunk. The trunk vibrated as if welcoming me when it felt the nature of my magic, and the defenses came undone.
Walking inside, I wondered if admitting was the best course of action, but Mione started questioning before I could formulate a plan.
“Do you know why Malfoy’s mother was looking at you like that, Eli?” she asked in her bossy tone, which we tried to fix but were unsuccessful in our endeavor. It didn't come out often, but when it did, my bushy-haired friend was not stopping.
Sighing once more, I thought to myself with morbid amusement that it was something I did more whenever I had these two close to me. I began, “I believe there is a connection between Sirius and Lady Malfoy whenever they say I remind them of someone. I have no way to know who, exactly, but the number of people those two would know enough to recognize something in me must be small.”
Iris, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, focused on my face. “Yes, it's true. Now that I think about it, you have some characteristics Malfoy’s mother has; I always knew that you looked somewhat girlish.” she ended up smirking at me.
Rolling my eyes, I continued, “Sirius and Narcissa Malfoy are cousins, and the possibility exists of me being the son of someone they knew in their youths since I believe they drifted apart when they left Hogwarts. I don't know their ages, but they must have graduated relatively close.”
“Could you be Sirius's son?” Mione bit her lip.
I bursted out laughing, “God, no, I don't believe he is my father. But the possibility of being the son of another black is high.”
Iris tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table. “Hmm… I remember the book you gifted me during our first year, Eli. The only Blacks alive who could be your parents are Bellatrix and Cassiopeia.”
I shuddered at that. “Oh god,” I said, covering my face. Now that Mione noted that I could not get the image out of my mind, I truly hated the idea of being the offspring of one of those crazy women. Bellatrix was a complete Nutjob, and Cassiopeia was somehow even more feared than her. Since we were wizards, it could be possible for Cassiopeia to be my mother; she disappeared utterly from everyone's sight after the defeat of Grindelwald.
“There is one more option,” Mione interjected softly, but I don't know how possible that is.
“Who?” asked Iris, looking serious.
“Sirius brother… Ragnus? No, that's not it… Ragnock?” Mione continuó.
“Ragnock sounds like a goblin’s name, Mione.” I snorted. You are talking about Regulus.”
“Yes, him!” she shouted, making me glad that my trunk had silencing charms.
“But no one knows what happened to him. Everyone knew he was in Voldemort's group, but he disappeared suddenly before his defeat.” Iris replied, clearly whacking her brain to remember about that.
I wondered who the better option was. In the grand scheme of things, whoever my parents were would not change my plans. They might complicate them or even make them somewhat easier, but my plan would stay the same.
“It's possible,” I admitted. We need to talk with Padfoot if we want to learn more about it.”
Before we could continue, my trunk shuddered from the impact of something, and I paled. We had been so engrossed in our conversation about my origins that we had lost time, and now the attack had started. I could only hope that the Weasleys left without us.
“Fuck” I whispered and ran toward a chest I had in a chest below my bed.
I opened and took three pepper-up potions and wiggenweld potions, just in case. I took out my ring and turned back to my best friends.
“We are under attack,” I said grimly. There is no way the trunk should have moved like that without a big explosion moving the ground.”
Hermione paled, and Iris' eyes turned almost cold. A change in the air showed the absolute titan she could become if she trained more, and I wished to see it happen. Now that I had the Celestial Grimoire, I knew I would not fall behind her.
“Here, put this on.” I said to Mione while giving her the dragon crest ring.”
Turning back to Iris, I sighed, “I cannot convince you to run away?”
Iris just shook her head and called for her wand; she looked ready for war.
“Okay… Give Mione the invisibility cloak; I will cloak us with my magic before leaving; she can follow us from a distance.”
Iris did so without talking, taking the invisibility cloak from her bag and giving it to Mione.
“I want you to follow us and stay behind cover. If you think we need help, curse whoever you want but stay inside the cloak. We will attract attention from whoever is attacking, and you will support us, understand?” I turned to Mione and asked seriously.
Her lip was trembling, but she bit it hard enough to draw blood and nodded firmly.
“Stay safe,” I said before kissing her brow.
“Are you ready?” I asked Iris.
Iris nodded, and with a final deep breath, I walked to the entrance. Before opening the trunk, I cast the same magic as before on Iris and me. Looking outside, the screams finally reached us, and the smell of burnt grass and flesh filled our nostrils. I gagged at the smell but tried to keep going. Hermione was not so lucky, and she almost threw up. I caressed her back until she calmed down.
“You good to continue, Mione?” I asked softly, and she nodded.
No one was near our tent, but the fire rapidly approached us.
Checking for one last time and seeing no one in our surroundings, I said, “Cast aguamenti, let's try to douse this flame.”
While Hermione Aguamenti's spell was weak compared to ours, we managed to douse the flames in less than a minute. Iris's spell was almost a geyser, and I wasn't far behind.
Thankfully, I could see nobody around us, so that must mean that the Weasleys managed to run. It was a good thing since the way I planned to act would hit a wall if I had to focus on the rest of them.
“Let's go.” I tapped their backs, and we started walking towards the screams.
Before long, we reached a scene that stopped us in our tracks.
A girl almost younger than Ginny, probably ten or eleven years old at most, stood before an older male drabbed in a dark cloak with a mask covering his face. He pointed his wand at the girl, but she didn't look scared.
There was something familiar about her, but at the moment, I couldn't recognize where I had seen her or anything. She was blond, with a slim body, shoulder-length hair, and vivid blue eyes. She was young, but it was easy to see that she would grow into a beautiful girl. What impressed me the most was how calm she was in front of the death eater like there was not a single thing he could do to harm her.
“You shouldn't do that, mister,” the girl said politely, looking him dead in the eyes.
“I don't care what a brat you have to say, girlie,” the man sneered. "You will be such a beauty you will be in a couple of years. Even now, I would be hard-pressed to name someone like you, maybe that Potter brat.”
Iris scowled beside me, but I grabbed her hand before he could curse the bastard. My rage was not far behind, but I didn't let it control me.
We stayed behind, ready to attack if the man made any move, but before we could do anything, someone appeared next to the girl. It was a tall man a couple of years older than us, like eighteen or something; I wasn't sure. He was holding a beautiful sword that took our breath away. The sword had a cross in its handle, and it was breathtaking; there was no other way to describe its appearance.
The death eater made a startled sound before gurgling blood, and we saw an even more shocking scene. The unnamed death eater coughed up blood, and a thin line could be seen when his cloak fell. A second later, he was bifurcated right down the middle, and both body parts made a dull thud when they hit the ground.
We were rooted in our spots, and I could see Iris's eyes trembling. We didn't even see him move; it was like he teleported seamlessly, not showing the telltale signs of apparition or the movement spell Voldemort showed in the later movies when he turned into something like gas.
No, he teleported instantly.
The older man spoke in a posh British accent. “Are you okay, sister?” he asked when he finished looking at the young girl. "I told you we shouldn't have come. Nothing good happens when people like us mingle with these wizards.”
“I had everything under control, big brother. And I wanted to see this event. It was fun.” the girl pouted, not caring for the cooling body before her, “He was weak after all.”
The older man sighed and palmed his face, “We are leaving now.”
With that, they both disappeared, the same way the blond bespectacled man did the first time. One second, he was there, and the next, he was somewhere else.
Hermione could no longer handle the situation, so she got out of the cloak and started heaving for breath, kneeling in the grass.
Iris just looked at the body curiously. I, on the other hand, felt the bile rise in my throat but forced myself to swallow it back.
“That was something,” I deadpanned, “You okay, Mione?”
She finished dry heaving some seconds longer and used aguamenti to clean her face. She was pale, but her eyes had hardened.
“Let's go before someone notices us,” Iris urged, “There are still screams over there,”
I nodded, and we ran toward the screams hidden by my magic and the cloak in Mione’s case.
More men in dark robes were before us, torturing some muggles. No wizard was in sight; they all ran away like cowards when it all began.
I never understood the wizards' mentality. Every single one of us had a weapon since we were eleven, but no one used it when they should.
There were five men in front of us, so it was doable with the element of surprise.
“Make sure they don't come back to attack us,” I whispered firmly.
My intention with that was to juice a Stunner more than usual, but I was honestly surprised when both Hermione and Iris fired something stronger than that, leaving me as the only one who used a stunner.
Iris cast a buffed-up Diffindo, which cleanly cut the wand arm of the death eater casting Crucio. On the other hand, Hermione showed her viciousness by firing a Confringo some paces away from the crowd of death eaters cheering on their leader.
I was left open-mouthed at their choice of spells. I didn't want to go with that kind of spell since I didn't know how they would react seeing us use something like that on another person, but it appeared that seeing the bloody scene of the blondes and the torturing of muggles in front of us changed their opinion on how to deal with them.
No one died from the spells, but they would if they didn't treat the wounds quickly. Before we could approach them, they all apparated away with screams of anguish. I didn't believe that they would die from those injuries, though.
Looking around and not seeing anyone, we approached the victims. A family of four. The father was in the worst state; he had gashes on his chest and was bleeding heavily. The mother had her chest bared to the world, the death eaters clearly enjoying the power they had on them, but both children were thankfully left alone, even if traumatized. Hopefully, the Obliviators could help with this event.
Now that we were close, I took the Wiggenweld potion and threw it toward both the parents, who were looking at us with fear in their eyes. Both children were unconscious, and the parents hugged the children and tried to back away from us.
“Calm down, they are gone.” I tried to calm them down, but it was for naught. The mother was crying her eyes out, looking at her children, and the father was trying to stand up now that his injuries were closing.
Even then, the blood loss did not help him at all, and he fell to his knees.
“Some help,” I urged Hermione, who was looking sadly at the scene.
She shook her head sadly but got to work, quickly conjuring a blanket to hide the mother's chest.
“They are gone, and they are cowards at heart. Now that someone stood up to them, they will not dare to come back.” she consoled, taking slow steps toward the children.
“May I check on them?” she asked.
The parents looked at each other before nodding firmly, “Please,” the mother's voice was full of anguish.
Hermione was the only one among the three of us who could use some healing spells. Her small magic capacity helped out with that since she had better control than the rest of us.
She waved her wand toward the children and began to whisper.
A minute later, she sighed in relief, “They are physically okay, and in a bit, you won't remember anything about this, so you can continue with your lives as if nothing happened.”
“Who are you, kids?” the father asked.
I was about to open my mouth to reply, but I felt something was wrong.
I quickly cast the strongest shield charm I had ever cast, and Iris did the same a second later.
Multiple stunners impacted our shield, but they held firm.
“Drop your wand!” multiple voices could be heard from where the distinctive pop of apparition could be heard.
“We are helping this family; we are Hogwarts students!” shouted Mione, full of indignation.
Looking at them, I was surprised to see some faces I did not expect.
“Identify yourself,” shouted the woman in the lead. She was old, a little bit older than Mr. Weasley, with red hair and a monocle on her face that did nothing to hide the scowl on her face. Even if it was not directed at us, I could not deny that she scared me a bit. “I am Amelia Bones, Head of the department of magical law enforcement.”
