Tarot yawned as he glared half-awake at the gnome of a man looking expectantly at him. The other idiots in the tournaments handed over their sticks for examination to the man and it seemed it was his turn. "Can I help you ya pitiful excuse for a pedophilic gnome?" he asked scratching his ass over his fatigues. He really was not awake enough for this shit.
"With your status as a champion Mr. Potte-"
Tarot withdrew one of his guns and in the time it took most of everyone in the room to blink he was behind the man with barrel pressed under the short man's jaw. "My name is Tarot. Call me Potter or insinuate in any way I am a spawn of that cunt and her glory-addled shit for brains husband & I will pull this trigger faster than you can beg for your life adding another skull to my collection of kills that I use as coffee cups. Am I understood?" he asked with a sneer as his eyes flashed a threatening pitch black for a split second.
Dumbledore recoiled at the threat and noticing Tarot's eyes go completely black like the legends of demons past. He blinked and they were back to normal. Perhaps it was the shock of the monster the eldest Potter child had become that was getting to him. Yes, that must be it because there was absolutely no way in heaven or hell he actually saw what he thought he had.
Garrick Ollivander hadn't lived as long as he had without learning to recognize when a line was crossed. What he tried to say was very close to crossing a line. "My apologies then. I need to examine your wand to ensure its fit for use in the tasks before you during the course of the tournament" he said hastily.
Tarot snorted at the 'apology' and reupholstered his gun. "I don't got a fuckin wand. Never needed one since I only use magic three times a year, summer equinox winter equinox and yule. Anything else is a waste of time and effort to do with magic" he said with a condescending scoff. "All mages are the same- stupid and lazy to a default."
The other champions growled darkly at the insult.
"Not to mention soft and squishy. Just like a grape really. Think you're better than everyone because you wave your stupid stick and suddenly the shit you just crapped out your ass is made of pure silver & worth a shit ton of free money you did nothing to earn." The condescending scoff turned into a dark glare that kowed the two boys and french girl. "Don't get me started on girls like you ya bimbo lookin french tart. You think because you're good lookin your shit don't stink. News flash you filthy whore-creature" his eyes flashed dangerously green "it stinks as much as the commoner men your kind has fucked and stolen their life essence from for centuries." Tarot's hand had a minute twitch that seemed to set them on edge.
"How are you not an Obscurial?" the Hogwarts boy Cedric asked finding his voice first.
Tarot smiled sinisterly exposing a set of demon-like fangs where his canine teeth should have been. "Because I am something far more dangerous than a stupid Obscurial. I don't deny or suppress my magic, I express it when it matters to the Old Religion. The more important question I know all of you are thinking" his eyes swept across the champions, school reps and nervous Ministry of Magic people "is 'How is he even human speaking and thinking as he is?' The answer is very simple. Something that should scare you all to the core." He made a come hither motion for them to lean in toward him.
Against their better judgements they leaned in after their curiosity won out.
"You can barely call me human anymore. My blood, my DNA, my very magical signature is beyond mutated and monstrous that if I went into detail about what I have experienced in the last going on almost fifteen years… You'd ask to borrow my gun so you could blow your own brains to kingdom come to escape the nightmares that would haunt you to your dying day." A dark glee was in Tarot's eyes as everyone flinched back and made space so he was by himself with at least ten feet of empty air around him in every direction.
Dumbledore had deep worry seated in his eyes as he looked upon Harry, he refused to call the boy such a title as Tarot inside his own mind, seeming to bask in the fear and nervous energy hanging in the air. This was James and Lily's fault for their crime, their sin, and it was being dumped on his lap to deal with. If he could curse them in the current instance he would have done it gladly and without remorse. As it was though, he could not unfortunately. "Forgive my askance than but if you lack a wand, how do you do your self allotted three times a year magic?" he asked weighing his words and tone carefully.
"Wouldn't you all like to know" was the only response Tarot shot back leaving the classroom being used for the farce. In his stride the notepad in the reporters hands burned to ash instantly and her photographers cameras blew up in his face destroying the magical film & its contents. "Rita Skeeter, I would think twice about spitting your poison lies if I were you. Just because I was the forsaken child, the trash put out to the curb… Doesn't mean I am like those fame mongering whores James & Lily Potter. I have no qualms about murdering you in the most brutal fashion. I have absolutely no reservation about slicing you open hyoid to hip, stripping out every internal organ inside your chest cavity and mailing them one by one to every person you hold dear." That demonic smile was back and the woman to his left was shaking in visible fear as her skin was pale enough it was practically translucent. "I don't care about what false truths you spit about them" he motioned carelessly to the other three champions "but the moment I see my name, description or anything so much as relating to me so much as infrenced in any way shape or form… Consult your most horrifying nightmares and you'll begin to scratch a microscopic chip of what I can really do to a nuisance like you."
The reporter was trembling.
"Just an FYI, I find...beetles to be the best prey to squash under my heel and grind into a gory paste. The sound of their exoskeleton shattering and becoming little more than powder in the impression of my combat boots, makes a shiver of anticipation run down my spine. Ta."
The school representatives, champions and ministry people were confused about the whole beetle comment but Rita's trembling became a violent tremor as she ran for the nearest exit closest to her- that exit being the window. Unfortunately for her the window was several stories above ground and in the time for everyone to draw a breath the sound of a bodily colliding with stone violently filled the air.
Dumedore bolted over to the windowsill and felt ill at the sight. Rita Skeeter's body was mangled, her limbs showing signs of being broken, while her head was snapped sharply to one side leaving little room to misinterpret her neck breaking on impact. The growing pool of blood under body as the corpse gave its death spasms earned shrieks of terror from students who saw what happened before the body settled.
The soul freezing laughter of Tarot filled the room where he was leant against the frame. "Suicide is a cowards way out" he said with a malicious upturn of his lips. "But I have to commend her dedication. Traumatizing the youth and leaving a mangled broken body in a giant puddle of her own blood? A for effort, C+ for the actual execution. Not enough blood or suffering." His piece said, he pushed off the doorframe and walked away while whistling a morbid parody of a jaunty pleasant tune.
Rose hummed to herself softly as she shoved the last her fourth year books into her weightless and size expanded messenger bag. It was far from the brand name and uber expensive bags most kids who came from decently well off families got their heirs or heiresses but she didn't mind. It suited her rather well to be frank, humble and unassuming but holding within quite a few secrets.
"He's here~"
Rose blinked as she looked at Luna and tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Who? Very few people stay behind like us after the last class lets out" she said with a confused tone.
"Hogwarts students might not stay but I am not a student."
Rose's lips pulled into a wide smile as her eyes lit up like a million megawatts of power pulsed through the bright emerald orbs. Launching herself at her elder brother she latched onto Tarot and nuzzled into his clothed chest. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be getting ready for the tournament by.. I don't know, ransacking the library or something" she said clutching onto him not unlike a tick on a deer.
Tarot chuckled deeply at the flying tackle of a hug and affectionate nuzzle he got from Rose. "Nah, I already know what the challenge is and if I'm being completely frank it's going to be one of the better fights I'll be having for Hades knows how long" he said bonking her head lightly despite the feigned whine of pain. "But being serious, I was here to pick up my beautiful little sister and her fair friend to act as their escort to dinner. If I'm not wanted here though I can make myself scarce."
Luna giggled behind her hand as Rose said that Tarot did not need to make himself scarce and that she was just surprised. "While I do appreciate the compliment, you'll have to ask my father for courtship permission" she said batting her eyelashes prettily so flashes of her silvery-blue eyes peered up with a sense of 'innocence' to her face.
For the longest minute the sibling pair was lost and blinking owlishly at the blonde before Tarot snickered. That snicker evolved into a laugh as he pried Rose off him and set her on her feet despite the chagrined pout. "As much as I would be flattered with a developing beauty as yourself, I would rather find a person my own age. And not so fragile, not to be rude" he said trying to sound nice. This was his sisters friend after all. Just because he was an utter monster and a certifiable sociopathic warmonger because of the Umbrella Corporation did not mean he forgot what manners were or how to use them when he needed to.
"Oh I'm only three years your junior" Luna said pouting at the statement. "Plus I'm a lot more sturdy than I look."
"Big brother, just nod your head and don't fight her. She has Seer blood in her veins. If Luna says things in a way that sounds like its all but certainty than she's seen the possibility, it is a future possibity" Rose said kissing Tarot's cheek as she linked her arms around one of his elbows.
Tarot was so tempted to say that Luna was a slip of a girl. He was tempted to ask where the sturdiness the blonde witch claimed to possess was but when he felt the other witch claim his other arm in the same way Rose had he shook his head internally. "I'll believe it when I see it" he said. It was the nicest way he could come up with saying he didn't put too much stock in the pathways that shaped the future outcome.
"You should believe it now. This is just an example but last year Luna said that our House, Ravenclaw, would win the House Cup for the first time in almost forty years. We did. She gave the amount for amount end of year point values. She was one hundred percent right. She even said Hufflepuff, the House that Slytherin and Gryffndor rag on, would win the Quidditch Cup. They did. I really wouldn't be so skeptical" Rose said as they made their way down to the Great Hall.
Tarot merely arched an eyebrow and booted the massive wooden door open with a resounding crack that broke two thirds of the wrought iron hinges holding both doors to the stone frame. "And that's perfectly fine since you saw or heard it first hand but I don't take or believe second hand info from anyone. Not my field partner who is probably gonna rip me a new verbal asshole by the time this shit is done, not the wind bags of High Command and most certainly some magical idiot- you two are obviously exempt from my contemptuous comment- who thinks his shit is the most glamorous thing to grace the world." Tarot ignored all the eyes on him with Luna and Rose hanging off his arms. "I mean look at me, if James and Lily Potter didn't listen to Albus Dumbledore I'd be a normal kid probably attending this institution instead of a mercenary who has no feelings one way or another about committing mass murder or genocide if some douchebag gets on my nerves" he said nonchalantly as he took a seat at the farthest right table in the hall.
Up at the Head Table all the Hogwarts staff, visiting school representatives and British Ministry reps shot Dumbledore a sharp look. The first born Potter child disappeared because of something Dumbledore told the Potter parents?! The Ministry people and most of Hogwarts staff shared that thought, though Severus Snape was less concerned about how it turned the Potter son into a bloodthirsty psycho & more so about Lily having been manipulated by the ancient wizard, while the foreign dignitaries grimaced darkly.
While the conversation at the Head Table was silenced to keep from students overhearing Tarot reached into his coat and withdrew a pack of cigarettes and flicked one out. Lighting it on a floating candle he took a drag blatantly ignoring the disgusted looks at his habit. "Where were we? Oh right, you have seen it first hand and I haven't so I will believe Luna is right in her possible predictions when I see it with my own eyes" he said around the filter clenched between his teeth. "I am a man of three very simple principles. Number one, there is no such thing as overkill. Underkill yeah but not overkill. Number two, blood doesn't only keep us alive but it's as fine a drink as a good wine. Particularly blood of a virgin, it's the right combination of spicy and sweet."
The people around Tarot, Rose and Luna almost instantly made a huge empty area around them. Him being comfortable enough to committ murder and genocide was one thing, he was a warrior of some sort after all, but drinking blood was a step too far for them.
"I've wondered about that, drinking blood" Luna said nonplussed by Tarot's words. "Does it have a coppery taste at all like some books describe? I read this book once by an Albanian vampire coven leader and he described the taste of blood as metallic."
"It depends on a person's habits really. Do they eat fatty foods or sweets too often over a balanced diet? Do they have a medical condition? In case the person is a witch or warlock, what kinds of magic do they favor? Do they use a grade of spells that falls on a petty rubbish scale of 'good' and 'evil'? It's a lot of minute details to consider beforehand. Take Rose for example" Tarot said as he tapped the ash off the end of his cigarette into the goblet of orangish juice before his plate. "She is an ideal candidate for someone whose blood I would drink any day of the week ending in y."
Rose spit out the mouthful of liquid with a blush at that. "W-what do you mean?" she asked with a light stutter of momentary embarrassment.
"Let's look at you point by point shall we? You are conscious to keep an active lifestyle by playing that stupid broomstick game I still think is a waste of productive time that you could spend on something else. You keep a balanced diet and rarely dip into anything sweet unless it happens to be something special. Even then you do not overindulge and make it a point to get a workout as soon as possible after" Tarot said taking a long drag off his smoke. He knew more than a handful of people were staring at him like he was out of his mind but he didn't particularly care. "Moving onto your magic, it's not as white aligned as you let people believe it to be nor is it dark. It's more a deep shade of grey indicating you prescribe to the same philosophy as me when it comes to what makes a spell light or dark, good or evil."
Luna's head cocked slightly at that. "What philosophy would that be?" she asked curiously.
"No spell is inherently good or bad. It is the will and intent of the caster that determines if a spell is light or dark, good evil, yin or yang. I could kill anyone here with a simple household cleaning charm, a so labeled good spell, just as easily I could kill someone with a blood boiling curse. The only thing stopping most people from killing with a so called good or light spell is that they have morals brow beaten into them and a fear that coloring outside the lines is a bad thing to do." He let it sink in for a minute while tapping more ash off into the juice filled goblet. "Even the so called Unforgivable Curses have a humble and modest beginning in actually being of service to humankind" Tarot said matter of factly.
A redheaded boy at the Gryffindor table snorted loudly. "Yeah right! There's no way in Merlins trousers the Unforgivables were ever used to help people!"
Tarot turned his gaze and rose with a twitchy eyebrow. Stalking with the grace of a predator he saw the boys bravery suddenly disappear. Snatching the boys bottom jaw he clenched hard enough for the cracking of bone to resonate in the hall. "The Cruciatus was at one point a medical spell used to help restructure the magical nervous system after a person underwent extreme trauma. It got twisted and warped by a Germanic Dark Lord in the fourteenth century after he adjusted the arithmetic formula to DESTROY the magical nervous system instead of its medical roots to rebuild it." He clenched harder and the sound of bone shattering echoed as a wordless scream of agony echoed out of the boys mouth followed by hacking blood.
No one dared to move to help the boy, not even the brood of boys who looked like older versions him.
"The Killing Curse started out as it is now famous for, slaughter. It was used by Creature Exterminators to ensure a humane execution to protect the settlements of mundanes and magicals. It was also used by agricultural warlocks and witches; the spell left no wound on an animal's body so more meat could harvested to be eaten or sold. Its use was warped by that douche bag Voldemort who used it to kill everyone in sight." Tarot almost scoffed as the boy was grabbing at his wrist to remove it. "While the Imperious Curse was the most dubious of the three, it still has a humble beginning. Much like mundanes have hypnotic based therapy to rid themselves of cravings like smoking, the Imperious was used by ye olde law enforcement to make criminals stop being criminals by altering their thoughts and perceptions on crime. It was a British Dark Lord by the name of Lord Craven in 1385 that began using the spell to have people do his dirty work and leave no witnesses to the crimes."
"Mr. Potte-"
A gunshot narrowly missed taking off Minerva's ear while the rest of the Head Table was practically interrogating Dumbledore.
"I nearly executed the wand gnome earlier for calling me Potter… Do you want to die so quickly old woman?" Tarot asked with a dark sneer aimed at the woman who spoke.
Minerva paled slightly seeing a gaping hole in the masonry to her right where the bullet impacted. It had to be the size of her head! At least!
Tarot snorted and threw the boys head in his hand face first into the table. The crack that was telling of a broken nose filled the hall before blood from the broken nose began to flow freely joining the blood the boy already hacked up from having his jaw broken so monstrously. "I may have spent a lot more time training with non-magical people and weapons. I may have started a few wars around the globe as part of my job. I may have stained my hands and body with blood of untold countless numbers of people. But never think I am a fool when it comes to magic!" His eyes flashed dangerously at that.
When Tarot returned to the Ravenclaw table Rose latched onto her brother whispering soft words only he would hear into his ear. It took a minute for the tautness leave him. "So what's this third principle big brother?" she asked sparing a glance to two of the redheads helping the injured one to the hospital wing with linen napkins stuffed up his nose to temporarily stop the bleeding.
"No second chances for anybody. If they blow it the first time with me, they're persona non grata. So far everyone who has tripped this principle is dead except for eight people. Regrettably. One of them is sitting up their being eaten alive for his sins against me. Two are your parents and the last five are my superiors council of bosses at work" Tarot said indifferently.
Luna raised an eyebrow before turning to look around Tarot. "Rose, dearest friend, can we have a taste of your blood?" she asked not blinking an eye.
Tarot just snorted in amusement as Rose's embarrassed blush came back and she tried to stammer out a response. Well, Luna isn't like Spade who shares his dark humor but she was a trip. "No no, you can't ask like that. When asking someone for their blood the mood and setting has to be an intimate one. Asking in a place like this is like asking her to stick a hand out to cut the skin" he chastised looking at the blonde.
Rose's face matched her namesake color as she hid in her brothers jacket. It was embarrassing but.. but she didn't mind surprisingly. Not really anyway. He was just being himself and that was good. "If.. If you want it, all you have to do is ask" she mumbled shyly against his chest. She didn't know why it escaped her lips but it did turning her embarrassed blush nuclear red making her more grateful she hid in his jacket.
Tarot merely patted Rose's head hearing her perfectly. The rest of dinner went smoothly after she pulled herself together though a shyness did linger in her eyes as he and Luna teased her a little.