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43.59% A Bend in Time / Chapter 534: Cassandra Ⅱ

Chapter 534: Cassandra Ⅱ

There is a lapse of silence until Reginald breaks the silence. "And Fate is a vile trickster, Rowan," Reginald knowingly said with a distant look in his eye as he recalled a brilliant, and most charismatic wizard of the past. "Gellert Grindelwald too foresaw a different world and readily ran towards the promised glory of fate. And yet by doing all that he could to achieve the future which he readily foresaw, he sowed the seeds of his own destruction. In the end, Fate won because the house always wins, and Fate can never be cheated."

"Even so, grandfather," Rowan quietly replied, "I cannot give up even if the final result only ends in tragedy. I simply cannot and nor is it in me to do so."

"No, but that is what makes us humans," Reginald tiredly murmured with semi-closed eyes. "Because much like Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, and fell, we all still yearn to fly."

Opening his eyes, Reginald turns towards his granddaughter and says, "Let us return to the subject at hand. It is my understanding that the communications with your knights is few and far in-between and is solely limited to carefully worded messages. And if so, there must be a keeper that keeps secrets, and most importantly a spy."

Seeing his granddaughter's cool gaze, Reginald continues with his conjectures. "However, that is not what worries you, there is something else troubling you. I doubt it is politics' as you have not mentioned anything to me, and both you and your brother are acutely aware of the power of the Prince's within the sphere of politics among the wizarding world. And nor is it any other sphere as you have yet to say a word on the subject. No, it is something that is far more worrisome, a hidden enemy?"

Rowan presses her finger to her lips as if to motion silence and a great secret, before grabbing a sheet of parchment with ink and a quill. She carefully only writes one word, before turning the sheet to her grandfather. Reginald leans forward to only read a single word on the parchment, "HYDRA."

Reginald reads the simple word, before glancing sharply at his granddaughter. "An organization?" He coldly asked only to see Rowan shake her head and hold up a single finger.

Narrowing his eyes, Reginald stares at the name and back at his granddaughter with a cool gaze. "A dangerous mystery then," Reginald commented out loud with as the wheels in his mind slowly turned. "However, if what you are indeed suggesting is true, then it would seem that it is necessary and in both of our best interest that we both keep out of each other's way and limit the scope of impact of each other's spheres as best as we can."

"I wish I could tell you more, grandfather," Rowan truthfully murmured. "But I fear that there is no one that can be fully trusted including myself. And I am gravely concerned that the more aid I receive the more that fate will turn against me. The less details that we know about each other's business, the better."

Reginald lips twitch into the semblance of a smile, before he says, "As it should be. However, that being said, the Prince's move both in the light and dark circles of the wizarding world, and your brother will inherit those circles one day. It is tradition, and nor do I have any intentions of introducing the darker circles to you, Rowan."

"It is better that way," Rowan retorted. "I cannot be allowed to have access to some of those circles for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, I trust those contacts even less as they will be out of control." And she did not know, who or whom Hydra was. The only thing she had on her side was that knowledge, and once she lost that security, she would inevitably lose.

"Good, then you do understand," Reginald said, before changing the subject. "And what of your Aunt Georgine, how is she doing with you and Severus? I believe she has been teaching you the in's and outs of wizarding society in preparation of your presentation into society."

Rowan grimaces, before unenthusiastically answering in a monotone voice, "Despite Aunt Georgine's enthusiasm on the subject, it would seem that a great deal of preparation for that day involves the memorization of countless genealogies of those to be invited to the event."

"Your grandmother would have taught you and Severus earlier-," Reginald started to say, before his voice trailed off. A heavy silence falls over the room upon recalling the deceased Sirsa Prince.

Not wanting to discuss the still sensitive subject, Rowan rises to her feet and says, "Then I shall be going now," and turns to leave, before coming to an abrupt halt at the door. Without turning back, she asks over her shoulder, "Grandfather, you never asked me about how I came to acquire said mysterious knowledge?"

"We are Prince's," Reginald snorted. "We always know that which we shouldn't."

"True enough, I suppose," Rowan said with a bit of a chuckle, before opening the door and closing it shut behind her.

The faint smile on Reginald's lips fades away as he turns his gaze to the single word on the piece of parchment on his desk, "HYDRA." It reminded him of a story that he had once heard during his stay with his cousins in the ancestral land. It was said that there once was a wizard, who wished for immortality, but could not achieve it. And so, he sought to kill another, when he discovered that he could break his soul into pieces. And he did, but he was betrayed by one of his own, and they, who destroyed his vile work, the infamous parselmouth known as Herpo, the Foul.

However, unlike the rest of the wizarding world, there was a small detail to this ancient historical tale clouded in myth and legend that had not been lost. It was said that an apprentice had survived and carried away the work of his beloved master. It was whispered to the Hassan children as a warning and a lullaby, "Hush, little child, be good. Hush, little child, the beast comes. Hush, little child, he will eat you. Hush, my child, hush." And even legends are based on long forgotten facts.

Rising to his feet, Reginald tosses the parchment into the fireplace and watches the parchment curl up into smithereens. Turning away, he departs from his study and makes his way up to the attic to find the handsome, ghostly figure of Sir Knight Prince playing chess with his body. Without even glancing up from his match, Sir Knight Prince says, "Well, what is it, Reginald? It certainly must be interesting if you have come to visit me, all the way up here."

"I have a question for the keeper of the Prince household," Reginald formally said causing Sir Knight Prince to frown.

"Are you certain that you wish to invoke that vow, Reginald?" Sir Knight Prince coldly asked, no longer seeming like the peaceful, friendly ghost that he was, but something far more frightening and inhuman. The temperature in the attic begins to plummet as an icy breeze is felt and the lit candles begin to flicker and burn with blue flames.

"Yes," Reginald steadfastly replied with a determined glint in his eyes.

"So, mote be," Sir Knight Prince as the ghostly body grabbed the ghostly head and placed it on the ghostly body. Strangely, and against impossible odds, the head and body almost seemed to reconnect to form a terrible gaping wound around the entirety of the neck.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
EsliEsma EsliEsma

The dead are full of secrets.

Chapter 535: Cassandra Ⅲ

A terrible, cold, and most awful presence stood there gazing at Reginald that of Sir Knight Prince. The now inhuman figure of Sir Knight Prince icily thundered, "What is that which is being asked by the Head of the Prince family?"

"It has been forgotten and purposefully lost that which Herpo, the Foul produced," Reginald growled. "However, we know and still remember, what terrible creation Herpo forged, a Horcrux. And among the cousins of our ancient homeland, it is even whispered that there was one, who continued this work."

"And so, I ask, what is known about the being that is called-," Reginald paused to spell the following name, "H-Y-D-R-A." He was being cautious lest there be a spell or curse tied to that namesake.

Sir Knight Prince's eyes blaze terribly as the room temperature plummets even more causing for Reginald's breath to be seen. "Long ago, not long before the clans were destroyed, there was something very particular that was discovered. An orphaned boy with eyes like that of the night sky was found and taken in by one of the clans. The orphan was loved and cared for, but all those that grew to love him, began to change. Some almost remained the same, and others wholly changed, but they all had one singular thing in common, they were all able to speak to each other in their hearts. This clan sought to use this power to destroy their enemies, but in the end, it was much too late, and the clan fell to the combined power of the four founders might. And thus, every single clan member was slain down to every woman and child."

"And?" Reginald querulously remarked.

"There is only one other such recorded incident," Sir Knight Prince icily declared, "that of my own."

"You?" Reginald sputtered in blatant disbelief.

"Indeed," Sir Knight Prince inclined his head at the statement, but no emotion showed on his face. "In my youth, the Prince family had only just returned from Gaul for less than a decade. Our position was precarious, and we needed the legitimacy that only the court of muggles could offer. And so, a bargain was struck power and land for a great and powerful spell to ensure that this land never fall to foreign enemies, but the spell never mentioned anything about rebellion nor that of overthrowing the crown."

"Considering my stature, and personality, I was sent to court as a courtier with the title of a Knight. All was well until I feel for one of the Queen's handmaiden's, Delilah of Sorek. It is rather ironic considering her namesake and the great semblance to the maiden from the muggle bible," Sir Knight Prince stiffly said.

"Nevertheless, I digress, I believed myself in love, and confessed my existence as a wizard, and even that of a parselmouth. She loved me far and true and we were happy for a time," Sir Knight Prince frankly stated without even a hint of emotion. "That is until one day, Delilah returned from confession. She said that the priest had touched her hand."

"Naturally, I thought nothing of it, but Delilah began to withdraw from that day on. During her lucid moments, she whispered that a demon was eating away at her soul. I believed her cursed, and sought every means which to free her, but to my great joy, one day, she returned to herself," Sir Knight Prince confessed. "And all was well until the day she betrayed me and accused me of treason. I was beheaded without further delay, before word was even sent to the family. And so, I died, and I awoke at Prince Manor vowing to protect the Prince family line until the end of time."

"And what else?" Reginald flatly asked. "You recognized that name, Sir Knight Prince, what else is there? Answer me?!"

"No," Sir Knight Prince frigidly refused. "The girl is already in danger from Fate as it is, Fate will not allow another to know such knowledge without a price. You are still needed; the girl and the boy must be protected."

Reginald visibly startled at the mention of Severus as well. "Rowan, I can understand, but Severus?"

"The boy has yet to fully awaken," Sir Knight Prince explained, "and he will."

Reginald impatiently waited for Sir Knight Prince to expand more on the subject, but Sir Knight Prince did not speak another word on the subject. Furrowing his brow, Reginald curtly says, "Is Severus, a Parselmouth?"

"No," Sir Knight Prince replied in a dead tone of voice.

Reginald's mind runs a list of gifts in his mind, before picking a few from the Prince family repertoire. "A Farseer as well?"

"No."

"Divination?"

"An accurate instinct, yes."

Reginald went down a list, and to which most of them Sir Knight Prince replied with a "No." Annoyed and greatly vexed, Reginald finally says, "Then what exactly will be Severus's role to play?"

"Fate has yet to finish weaving her tapestry," Sir Knight Prince cryptically answered to the further annoyance of Reginald.

Seeing that Reginald does not seem to have any further questions, Sir Knight Prince says, "Head of the Prince Household, are you satisfied with that which has been asked and answered?"

"No, but I have one more question."

"Go on."

"Just why has fate allowed for such an abhorrence to continue to exist?" Reginald flatly countered. "Surely, life and death must be balanced, and such an abominable existence would destroy the balance between this life and the next."

"It is why Fate has permitted the existence of the girl," Sir Knight Prince emotionlessly stated. "However, there must be a balance to all things, and it is the girl's duty and her alone to do so." Though Sir Knight Prince seemed to pause at that last part as if considering someone else as well.

"I understand," Reginald murmured with a cunning gleam in his eye. Hydra might be out of the question, but that did not mean if encountered he could not move against such an existence.

However, he would have to wait, and without a doubt, he was certain that Hydra would come for him, and his family. Because if Hydra was truly that orphaned boy from ancient times, then Hydra must loathe the very existence of the founder's descendants. And time had proven that as all the founder lines were said to have been destroyed until the Prince's stepped out into the light.

The Prince's were the children of Salazar Slytherin, the last family left. (If one ignored the Dark Lord, and Reginald would. Because he refused to acknowledge such an existence as being related to himself.) But even more worrisome, his grandchildren, Rowan and Severus carried the blood of three of the four founders. And so, wait he would.

"The vow is removed," Reginald finally said, before departing from the attic without another word.

A loud sigh is almost heard as the temperature in the room returns to normal. The lit candles begin to burn normally as the terrible wound on Sir Knight Prince's neck almost seems to bleed a thick dark steam, before the body of Sir Knight Prince removes the head from its neck, and returns to the chess board again.

Sir Knight Prince lets out a loud tired sigh as his more jovial nature seems to return back to him, but there is still a cold chilly gleam in his eyes. The dead were bound by the constraints of the world of the living, but there are always exceptions and loopholes. And Sir Knight Prince was a Slytherin, sooner or later, his time would come.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
EsliEsma EsliEsma

O.o Weewoo. And well, that answers one mystery.

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