Chapter 28: Chapter 27: Through the Years
(Vincent's POV)
1999: Freedom & Foundations
Hogwarts was behind me. It felt damn good to be free. Eighteen, a legal adult, my grandparents' fortune now mine to command. I wasn't messing around. Investments in NVIDIA, Apple, Amazon – I knew which horses to bet on. The Muggle world would be my playground too, People that say money doesn't buy happiness are LYING.
Blaise and Theo were already proving themselves with those businesses I'd given them. Turns out taking down a Dark Lord did wonders for your reputation. Doors opened, deals fell into place.
Adrian was crushing it as an Auror, a little "guidance" from me here and there helped him shine. It wouldn't be long until they started giving him special assignments.
Daphne and I… we were officially an item.
Hermione and I continued our… arrangement. Passion mixed with guilt. We couldn't stay away from each other, no matter how fucked up it was.
Cerberus HQ moved from that stuffy office building. A nightclub in London – "Omega" – became our front, pounding music, flashing lights. Nobody suspects the shadows. Below it all, the organization expanded, a machine humming to life.
2000
Fudge and Dumbledore. Their feud got even messier, a political tug-of-war that was weakening the Ministry from within. We fanned the flames a bit, leaks to the Prophet, discreet rumors, amping up their paranoia. Control the narrative, and you control the game.
My trips to the Muggle world with Blaise and Theo became more… frequent. They were getting better. And that gleam in their eyes when we hit the firing range, testing out the new Glock I'd picked up – it was reassuring. Cerberus had teeth. Sharp ones
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2001
The news broke: Fudge had died in his sleep. The wizarding world mourned… or pretended to. Me? I poured a good scotch that night and smiled. Our agent did a fine job. That vanishing spell left no trace.
We threw our weight behind Amelia Bones to take the now vacant position. I had personally recruited her, I'd explained my endgame to her, she had her reservations but agreed in the end afterall she still was grateful to me for taking out those Death Eaters and avenging Edgar. She knew my way of doing things was effective.
The Order supported Shacklebolt. Dumb move. We crushed them in the press – bribery, smear campaigns, leaks to certain "reliable sources." They underestimated us. Big mistake. Amelia took office with a landslide, and the order had no idea that cerberus even existed yet.
And with that, Cerberus wasn't just watching the game anymore – we were calling the plays. The Ministry, that tangled, dusty mess of tradition and bureaucracy… it was ours for the taking. We would keep it normal for now we had made big moves to get Amelia the job, doing too much would bring attention and Cerberus is a secret organization after all.
2005
The years following Amelia's appointment as Minister for Magic were strategically quiet. Consolidating power, I found, was best achieved through calculated subtlety. My existing business holdings, coupled with strategic alliances with the Greengrass family and others, ensured a comfortable level of influence within wizarding society.
I also graduated from Oxford University with a Degree in Engineering, having entered the university back in 2001.
2006
The biggest thing that happened in 2006 was my marriage to Daphne, We were happy, I really wasn't expecting to fall for her after our falling off after the malfoy manor debacle and because of my previous experiences in trusting someone completely before, while I had lied to her when I said i loved her for the first time I realized it was now truth, She was a good partner.
Blaise got married to Luna Lovegood of all people, they were polar opposites but apparently that worked for them
Theo had gotten married to Julia Marston. She was a muggle woman. Ha bet his dad is looking up and fuming, she made him get out of his shell more, I was happy for them.
Hermione and I had ended our affair back in 2002, to be more precise she stopped answering my calls. I did not see her again for more than a year when she showed up at the ministry, she was going to start working there now in the magical law department. She was apparently getting married to Potter, congratulations I guess.
Talking about potter he had become an Auror of course, Amelia and Adrian had asked me if they should turn him down, but I said no, keeping him off without a good reason would bring suspicion, let him play wizard cop. Also he being an Auror allowed us to keep an eye on him since he was under the command Adrian and Amelia
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2008
My first son was born, I named him Arthur, Arthur Van Doren, I never wanted kids in my previous life, but this was different life, so as I took little arthur in my arms I smiled probably the most genuine smile i've ever had, I thanked daphne for giving me such a beautiful child, he had her eyes.
I was the last one among my generation to have kids, blaise had one with luna last year little Lysander was a healthy boy, Theo was the first one among us he and julia had twins, talk about jackpot.
Potter and Granger had their kids very early into their marriage, their first one was back in 05.
2010
I was now 30 years old and a father of three, Arthur was now a big brother to Daniela and Victor, I was basically a tycoon. Due to my very wise investments I was now among the top 3 wealthiest men on earth, it had a nice ring to it.
Cerberus had agents in almost all of the parts of wizarding Britain and some in the other wizarding communities, America being the most important ones.
Dumbledore had been awfully quiet since his man had lost the position of minister to amelia, slughorn reports back in 08 before he retired from teaching was now focusing on hogwarts, guess that was good for me, the order still had no idea about cerberus existence.
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2021
It was time to light the match. We were a hundred strong now Agents that were bound by Vows. Aurors recruited by Adrian, recruits Blaise and Theo had vetted, a network spun like a damn spiderweb.
And me? Well, those investments paid off big time. Not just billions; we're talking influence. My tech companies held sway, especially the cybersecurity firm – those government contracts meant I had eyes everywhere.
The first part of our plan would start.
Time to exploit the obsession with social media TikTok - a perfect starting ground. Apparition videos - a viral conspiracy bait. Disappearances, smoky flickers, impossible teleports… People ate that shit up.
The Ministry wasn't happy, of course. Some old farts in the Wizengamot whined about breaches in the Statute, about secrecy. A few obliviators sent, a couple of panicky Auror raids.
I laughed. You can't obliviate the bloody internet.
Teleportation was a good test run. People started asking questions – Who are these teleporting people? Where do they come from? What else can they do?
Time to ramp things up. Blaise called it our "Good Samaritan Phase". Stage magic? Child's play.
Adrian found us our first "star". Young Auror - Jackson Reed. Talented kid, Ambitious, Solid, Loyal and Vowed in.
His Mission? Simple. Bustling London street, rainy night. Muggle group crossing against the light. Black cab barreling around a corner, brakes squealing. I orchestrated every damn detail – One of our agents was the driver, and timed it to the second. Jackson popped up from a nearby alley, his black trench coat and mask (nice touch, Theo) billowing dramatically, right there in the moment of heroism stopped the car from ramming into the group with a spell. It was over in seconds. I made sure it happened on a street with a lot of cameras, the camera recording Jackson appearing at just the right time and the video leaking into social media "somehow"... The video went viral on all of their networks - Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter - hitting a BILLION views before morning. It was brilliant, a controlled miracle and they wouldn't be forgetting this very soon.
Next, a "miracle healing", another agent this time a woman saving a baby, stopping a bank robbery all using spells. by the end of the year? "Shadow Angels", they were calling them. Silent guardian angels. People needed to believe. We gave them a myth.
Of course, some old fogies weren't happy, the Order especially. Dumbledore was pissed and kept pestering Amelia – to bring in and destroy the shadow angels, that they were a threat to the wizarding world.
2022
The year began much as 2021 had ended. "Shadow Angels" sightings went global. China, the States, even bloody Australia had reports of masked figures pulling off those "impossible" feats – teleportations, rescues, a little casual fire-starting when buildings needed a quick demolition.
Fanclubs sprang up online. Cults formed (those are always fun, gotta watch those crazies, though). Governments tried to downplay it.
But I loved this. Let the doubt simmer, the tension build. They'd all be begging for answers, and Cerberus would provide them.
During one of the Shadow angels staged heroics. Train derailment outside Edinburgh. Passengers trapped, fires everywhere.
A whole damn disaster, orchestrated with precise chaos.
Jackson materialized right where we planned – pulling injured people out of the wreckage, putting out fires, the usual show.
Jackson was walking out of the fire with the last person in his arms and as he put her down. a kid with his smartphone in hand, adrenaline making him reckless—shouted "WAIT!"
"What are you?" the kid screamed, his voice trembling.
And Jackson Reed, forever a bloody Gryffindor at heart… "A wizard." Just like that.
Two words, tossed like pebbles into the ocean.
He vanished. But it didn't matter. The "damage" was done, cameras all around, the video had already leaked into the internet.
And the internet… the internet went nuclear.
I my mind the statue was a wall separating the worlds and now jackson took a big fucking hammer and opened a gaping whole in the already fully cracked wall It was wobbling, It would crumble.
The fallout was Immense, and a URGENT meeting at the ministry was called.This should be good.
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