章 57: You Know Nothing.
…
(Note: Last chapter was soft and a bit on the short side of the spectrum, so here's another good ol' chapter like you love'em; long, full of plot with just a sprinkle of fluff and of course, Madness.
Enjoy!)
…
Magnus hated school.
There was just something about an outdated system created by people he didn't trust enough to let them breathe the same air as him, much less determine his future, that rubbed him the wrong way.
Maybe it was the huge amount of trivia and nonsense he had to memorize since it'll determine the rest of his life regardless of their usefulness? Or the dumb ass rules that come straight out of a dystopian fiction? What about the utter inefficiency of throwing driest fucking books at someone who can only learn if he's genuinly interested by a subject?
Who knows?
Yet it was all the same, he'd have to swallow the pill and grind his teeth until he's free from all the bullshit. This time, at least, there were more interesting things than boring nerd wanks.
He also happened to be on the favorable side of the social disparity that plagued the magical world; the blood of House Black came with a sufficient amount of silver spoons to let him blitz through most of the bureaucracy needed to have his way, so there was that.
"Magnus! I can call you Magnus right?" An eccentric man dressed like Abraham I-Remove-The-Habeas-Corpus Lincoln greeted him with a huge smile. "As soon as I heard you applied for an early examination, I cashed in a couple favors to see you again."
"I'm flattered." He said, trying and failing to match his enthusiasm.
Magnus wanted to ace his newts and be done with it, his previous experience told him there would be nothing to this exam other than copious amounts of knowledge-vomiting and the occasional stroke to his ego in the practicals.
If Mr. Balmora sensed his true feelings on the matter, he did not show it. The older wizard ushered him into the warded room, gave him a ministry-provided anti-cheating quill and after some last minute verifications, gave him an ominously large stack of parchments.
"You have four hours." How he could say this with such a bright smile was beyond Magnus's comprehension, the old man' face was looking particularly punchable at the moment.
Regardless of his violent inclination, the fourth year didn't waste time and used all the powers of Occlumency aided cheating to answer the numerous questions of the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test.
"Wait, that's just Potions?" He asked, looking up to the ever smiling proctor.
"Yes." Orpheus said "You'll take two of the exams everyday. You chose Defence, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Ancient Rune, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology didn't you?"
Magnus nodded, suddenly feeling like he might've bit off more than he could chew.
"Then we shall see each other for the next four days, isn't it wonderful!" He clapped loudly, startling a passing tabby cat.
"Yeah." He winced. "Wonderful."
…
Four Days.
He had to write so much garbage his hands felt like they suffered the Umbridge treatment for pathological liars. Using Occlumency to spew a never ending wave of bullshit he knows next to nothing about felt every bit as annoying as it sounded, not to mention the insufferable wretch of gentlemanly joy he had the displeasure of calling proctor.
For. Four. Fucking. Days.
'Hel, If I really wanted to I could start World War III in four days for fuck's sake.' The boy thought, lacking all energy as he dragged himself across the grounds.
All he wanted was to find a nice spot away from gazes and potentially dangerous mentally unstable teenagers where he could lie down and have some rest.
He deserved at least that much, didn't he?
Sadly, life is hardly fair.
"Look alive." Fleur said, sounding way too confident for someone wearing three winter coats and still shivering. "Most boys would kill to have a walk with me."
"First, I'm not most 'boys'; unless I started drooling at you like you were some sort of humanoid cookie." Magnus said flatly, poking her in the rib when she raised a brow. "Second, I just wanted to have catch some sleep."
"Near the Black Lake?" She said, sarcasm oozing off her voice.
"Plenty of rocks, trees and places nosy students cannot reach." He nodded.
"And you can?" Fleur said, not bothering to hide her doubts, though she couldn't be faulted; wizards were hardly physical.
"You don't know me as well as you think, Delacour." He said with his most insufferable voice.
That was a challenge if she had ever seen one, he could tell by the minute squinting of her eyes.
'The joys of having an overly expressive friend.' He thought, chuckling.
"I see, Black." She said his name, as if testing how it sounded. "Then let's fix that, shall we?"
His headache detector set off, it was a red alarm; Fleur was about to come up with the sort of bullshit he simply cannot help but play along with.
"What do you have in mind?" He asked, cursing his damned curiosity.
"A question for a question, and a promise to answer honestly." She said, quickly following up when he was about to protest. "Of course, you can pass if you do not feel comfortable sharing it with me."
He took a moment to decide, but both of them knew she had gotten him.
"You won't let me sleep even if I refuse, won't you?" The boy asked, but he already knew the answer.
"Nope." She said, offering her sweetest smile. " We haven't spent time together in days, I am starting to feel neglected, Magnus."
'I really like the way she says my name.' Was all he thought for a moment, and before long he got roped into her game.
Magnus of course didn't enjoy learning more about Fleur in the sighest, any and all interest was purely academic. Letting her know more of him was simply the price he had to pay, all for the sake of knowledge.
It's not like he wanted to see more of her smiles, laughs and quirks. That would be pointless, a complete waste of his precious time.
"Why are you smiling?" She asked, dragging him into a cleaner patch of land.
He did not like this at all.
…
Much later, when students and teachers alike were asleep. A giant bird flew off the Ravenclaw's tower, silently gliding above the Black Lake toward the Forbidden Forest.
It's kind were native to the American tropics, so this one had no trouble flying through the woods with a grace you wouldn't expect from a creature of its size.
It evaded all beasts and oversized murder bugs until it reached its destination; a cove, untouched by the hands of wizards and beast alike.
It flew around for a while eagle eyes searching for any unwelcome onlookers before deeming itself secure. It lunged to the ground with violence, yet there was no shock to be had.
Instead, it shifted and twisted upon itself until the beast disappeared and in its place stood a man, clad in all black robes with amber eyes almost glowing in the dark.
He walked by, casting a few spells to repel an unexpected scryer or alert him in the presence of an intruder, it was unlikely to happen but Magnus Black was a proud adept of constant vigilance.
'Especially with the shit I've been pulling here.' He thought, looking at the burn marks ravaging a side of the cove, it was brimming with dark magics. 'Dumbledore would have a stroke if he saw this.'
But there was no helping it. He had taken all the precautions he could possibly come up with, and he was very good at that. Even then he would much rather avoid dabbling in this brand of magic until he was truly ready, and potentially immortal if possible.
Five nights he came here to learn this spell, five times he failed to control it and almost found himself overcome.
If only it wasn't a key part of his plans…
"Fiendfyre." He cast, and the flames raged once more.
…
Away in Azkaban, Barty Crouch suffered a long make out session with a particularly careless dementor who took more than he intended.
The foolish official fell, nearly lifeless, and away his blood woke up free from his father's spell. The man was tired, starved and weak; but above all he was enraged.
He would find his damned father, and punish him for the humiliation he suffered. Then he'd go find his adored master, and he'll serve him once more like the loyal pawn he is.
"At least the Dark Lord cares about me." He mumbled incoherently "I am a dark wizard, a real dark wizard, it wasn't just a phase mom."
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