A/N: I do not own Harry Potter nor the Advent of the Archmage. They are owned by J.K. Rowling and Mo Xiang respectively.

Far removed from the closest muggle town, the air around Hogwarts had always retained its fresh quality. The day was coming to an end, taking with it the sun, allowing for the cold to reclaim what had once been guarded. The moon rose from the east, taking its place as the new ruler of the now darkening skies.

Condensed vapour exhaled with every breath as students make their way through the castle, like an angry dragon just before they breathe fire. Excited mutterings filled the halls, some students still hung up on the fact that Link had knocked out the Malfoy heir. 2 days since the incident yet still fresh within their minds.

Fighting within these hallowed halls is common, but the reason for the excitement is due to the fact that most fights were either verbal or magical. Hardly had there been any physical contact.

On the other side of this somewhat happy spectrum. The Malfoy parents were experiencing a sense of dread, powerful enough to still their movement as they kneeled before their powerful opponent. A mud-blood wizard a little more than a quarter their age.

Link stood before them, a calm smile and a confident stance. As though the act of subduing two fully grown wizards was nothing tiring. What made him all the more terrifying was the casual recount of his previous deed. How he had even killed 10 people.

"You see, lady Malfoy, I did not wish to kill these people. However, your husband forced me to. When he sent them to kill my parents. See Lucius, you thought you were cunning. You thought you were a real Slytherin, but you're not. You are nothing but an idiot with money. That is your only value, old money."

Narcissa had gone pale from freight. She was at the mercy of another, and her husband was helpless right by her side. Even when the dark lord was alive she never felt such helplessness. Her husband had always been able to please their Master. His schemes, connections at the ministry and his money had always been of extreme importance. Hence their family had always been protected and respected. Even Lord Voldemort was never too cross with the Malfoy family.

But now, in front of this demon, this monster in sheep's skin. He had only one objective before him, none of their capabilities were of any use to the boy. Not when he was hellbent on their destruction. For the first time, she despised her husband for having forced the Mediwitch to leave their presence. They could have really used her help right about now. Instead, Pomfrey was probably in her resting quarters ignorant of what is happening here in the hospital ward.

Lucius for his part was still calmer than his wife. He had experienced the wrath of the Dark Lord, the greatest wizard of their time. This kid, a mudblood no less, was a pitiful excuse for intimidation.

"You realise you can't kill us, don't you? You will be closely investigated. Or at the very least Dumbledore will figure it out. I may disdain that man but he is a fair wizard. He would be very objective in this regard. After all, he dislikes killing. And your stupidest mistake was telling us your plans. How daft must you be to reveal all your criminal activities in front of a member of the Wizengamot? An influential member at that. Haha, now that I think about it. This is much better for us. Now we know that despite being powerful, you are still nought but a naive pitiful child that would sooner or later perish at our feet. Old money? That is not all I have. Know your place mudblood."

Lucius maintained eye contact the entire time, his tone gaining confidence as he spoke. His gaze determined, his voice steady. Though he was kneeling before the boy, he projected the image of an unyielding emperor looking down at the world. This was no act, he believed wholeheartedly in his words, he would bow for no man save his master.

Link remained silent for a moment.

Narcissa was on the brink of despair, staring at the abyss contemplating whether she should take another step to forever be lost in the eternal darkness. A preferable path considering the definite outcome.

She was sincerely indoctrinated by the pureblood ideology and a fierce supporter of the Knights of Walpurgis. The vision the Dark Lord spoke of is the ideal end result. However, she had never been called upon to perform any act for her Master. Hence her little experience in battle resulted in a more fragile mindset compared to her husband. Her entire life, she was treated like a princess, never before had she ever been threatened before. It was a massive shock to the Malfoy Mother.

However, right before plunging herself into the infinite void that lay before her, she heard Lucius' voice. Like the song of the siren of old guiding lost sea-farers through the fog, she followed the soothing and confident voice of her dear husband.

Her eyes, murky like the water from a swamp, slowly cleared up. Soon she regained her bearings, a smile hesitatingly making its way upon her red painted lips. Confidence infused itself with her bones. Her 'captors' silence only increased her conviction.

She was staring at the boy now, mocking him with her eyes. Her mirth increased further as she saw the boy was slowly starting to shake in front of her. 'Was he regretful? Is he afraid now? A little too late, isn't that right you distasteful mudblood?' Her vicious thoughts started gathering within her mind, a torrent of increasingly ruthless ideas.

Lucius noticed the change in demeanour in his wife, which thrilled him. He must have looked and sounded incredibly dashing.

Just as she was about to voice her thoughts, Link broke the silence.

No words were uttered, yet the sound reverberated throughout the near-empty room. His laughter booming in his levity, and to the pureblood family sounded slightly mocking, which irritated them, slightly.

"What are you… What are you laughing at you wretch?" snarled the Malfoy Patriarch, fury clearly visible upon his features. Even his wife had anger contort her face.

Link did not even bother to deign them an answer, his guffaw continuous.

"ANSWER ME!"

Only then did the Ravenclaw's hysterics devolve into chuckling, then slight giggling, eventually to a stop.

The tense and annoyed adults tried to lock eyes with the completely relaxed pre-teen. They had a vague and completely unfamiliar feeling of being looked down on.

"It is honestly incredibly adorable and hysterical that you both hate muggles yet act in a very similar way to them. Do you believe yourself invincible? Do I look helpless without the slightest knowledge of magic? There are yet so many things that you both do not understand. Your arrogance and complacency had blinded you and the entire wizarding world to the evolution of magic. You are right, there is a difference between muggles and wizard-kind. They are better. Not once had they stopped their never-ending thirst to improve, to innovate. Every year they make the world a better place for them than the year prior. They are far from perfect, and ignorant about a lot. However, their ever-accumulating knowledge allows them to always strive for better. Maybe that is their greed, but that is not always a bad thing. On the other hand, the Wizarding world had been stagnant for the past few centuries, sure there are a few that wish to innovate, but the vast majority of its citizens are content with what they have. Or rather unwilling to improve upon their craft for anything better. At the helm of this ridiculous stagnation is but the stupid ideology of a dying breed. Purebloods. You serve nothing but to hinder the progress of this magnificent world. Eventually, you will have to step down because you do not have the means to hold on for much longer."

The Malfoy parents were red with anger, attempting to scream their frustration. Though all that was heard was the exhaling of air as their voice had been casually silenced by Link as he began to speak. He had no time for the mewlings of cattle.

Albus had been reviewing his notes. Immediately after being informed that Draco was unconscious, he had a sneaking suspicion that Link had something to do with it. Even if no one had seen him use magic at the time.

Flashback:

After dismissing the boy for the day, with an insistence that he attend his detention. Once in the hospital wing, Dumbledore asked Madam Pomfrey for her diagnosis.

"Physically, the boy is completely fine… after I fixed his nose from the punch. He was being his usual whine... I mean, his usual self, when all of a sudden he just slumped over. I thought his injury was worse than first predicted. So I cast several diagnostic spells on him. Again, he is fine Physically. Magically, however, is a different story. Turns out it's just a modified version of the sleeping charm. One that resists the usual counter-spell. Given time I'm sure I can reverse it by the end of the week, of course, Headmaster you might take much less."

Nodding slightly, the wise old wizard prepared to do just so.

Flashback (End):

He had just finished the counter-spell. Considering the time he felt that he could cast it tomorrow morning.

Just as the thought passed through his mind, the wards alerted him to the use of dark magic within these hallowed halls.

Alarmed and now wide awake, Albus sprang to his feet, his mind focusing on the wards determining the location of the spell.

Position in mind, the Headmaster raced there hoping to make it 1 second earlier.

What a time for Fawkes to be in his rebirth stage. He is but a hatchling at this moment.

The wards forbid all forms of magical transportation save perhaps the hospital wing and his office. However, to prevent the intruder to escape he had also locked down these exit points.

He can only hope that he arrives before anything untoward happens.

Finally, he can see the doors to the infirmary before him. He can hear what sounds like a lot of movement and spells being cast.

With a quick knock, he hoped to distract the people inside long enough to perhaps stall the fight.

However, it is with mounting terror that he realised the entrance was locked. Knocking once more, a bit more urgently, he took a step back and aimed his wand at the door.

The entirety of Hogwarts is protected by the wards, which includes the doors, and the walls. Thankfully in usual times, the protection is light and not quite strong enough to stop a powerful spell.

Charging for a bit, the Headmaster cast a relatively powerful reductor curse to blast open the doors, allowing him free entry into what appeared to be a battle.

At the same time, Mediwitch Pomfrey also stepped into her domain with a scowl on her face, irritated at the rather loud raucous.

"What in the world…" her eyes widened at what she was witnessing.

Her stupefaction was understandable, what was happening before her was not something that occurred usually.

The first thing the two new occupants saw was the Malfoy parents firing off a string of spells. A variety ranging from neutral to dark, though nowhere near the unforgivables.

The second was who these spells were aimed at, Link was dodging and blocking most of the spells, occasionally retaliating.

His range was also nothing to sneeze at, though they marked firmly within the light-grey area. All of them spells taught at this very school. Two things were remarkable, first is that Link is clearly capable of anything a sixth year could cast, second was that Link was able to hold his own against two fully grown wizards that are above average.

Dumbledore was the first to react, barely a second after entering. Hardly anytime was taken to assess the situation and choose the best way to intervene.

"What is the meaning of this?" He thundered, three disarming spells fired in quick succession, so fast they almost felt as simultaneous casting.

Three wands clattered uselessly on the floor descending the room into silence.

Before either of the adults could react, or straighten their stories, Link jumped towards the Headmaster. As though he had found salvation.

"Headmaster, I do not understand what had happened. I came to the infirmary as instructed for my daily detention when I happened upon these two. Seeing as they were standing by Draco and that I have met Mr Malfoy before at Diagon Alley, I knew they were his parents. So as was also instructed, I went up to them and apologised for what I had done. Then they started firing spells at me, the rest you saw."

"I see. Don't worry Mr Granger, I'll have a talk with them now. Please return to your dormitory."

"Yes, Headmaster. Good Night."

With that Link was on his way.

The usually jovial expression on the headmaster's face was quickly replaced by a bearing of great rage. He looked every part the war god he was hailed during his battle against Grindlewald. His very presence became intimidating.

"You dare try to harm a student under my protection. In my school?"

Although he did not shout, the steel in his voice sent a chill up the Malfoys' back.

"What do you want Albus?" Snarled Lucius, though the quiver was obvious.

"What I want is for my students to be safe within these walls. I have half a mind to just string you up in the Wizengamot. I might not be able to send you to Azkaban due to lack of evidence, and the ban of using Veritaserum on purebloods without evidence. But I can make it so the entire wizarding world knows that the great Lucius Malfoy and his wife lost the fight against a 12-year-old student. I wonder what your standing in your faction will be after that"

They knew they had to concede something of importance soon, else this bit of humiliation would be brought to light.

"What do I have to do?" sighed the Malfoy patriarch, knowing he lost this bout.

His face did lighten slightly, but it was still cold, his gaze like steel.

"Glad you asked, you see there is this little law we intend to pass…"

Link grinned smugly on his way to his common room. He had just successfully crippled the head of the dark faction, and in doing so removed a possible obstacle in his eventual rise in this world.

Rose would also have fewer problems in the future with the Malfoy family gone to oppose her on the political stage.

In fact, they both gained, or would gain a formidable ally in Draco. Next year he would be distraught with what would come to pass. Prime candidate for some good-intentioned manipulation.

Eventually, he hopes they could become friends. As that is what Link is trying to do in this life. To differentiate or distance himself from his past life, he tries to form some strong bonds. Not just allies, or soldiers under his command. But real honest friendship.

He already has a good start with Rose and Neville. Let's not forget about Luna, she is also fast becoming one of his precious persons.

If it could produce sounds, it would be laughing hysterically at this moment. Pure joy and raging fury meshed in this unholy sound of demented glee.

It had been far too long since it had a corporal body.

Unfortunately, this body is still not ideal. It would need a few months at least to properly incorporate itself into this new vessel.

It has the perfect location to go, regrettably, this body is still young and frail and requires constant sustenance. So it would not be able to stay gone for long periods of time.

It should remain distant from people, it still does not have a strong hold of the vessel yet to risk exposure.

Best to lay low for a while.

From the vessel's memory, only one person other than Dumbledore should pose any modicum of a threat.

Best dispose of him as soon as possible.

'Life was great. How could it not be when you were me? I am known far and wide, I am rich, the ladies love me and the men want to be me. Very few were those that have not heard of my incredible self.

I have fan mail by the hundreds every day. The woes of fame is me having to answer every single one of them. Whatever shall I do? They love me and I love them. They are the reason I have my money. The reason I am never short of enjoyable moments.

Even the great Rose Potter is less famous than I am. I made sure to always be relevant in recent years. Every year I organise a meet and greet. I pour every resource I have to track down someone that accomplished some incredible feat and I take their credit from them.

I will accumulate a few more accolades and money, then I will retire to some tropical island. Where I will live the rest of my days surrounded by all the pleasures of life. There will be absolutely nothing that will go wrong. This is Hogwarts, the safest place in the world. What could possibly happen under Dumbledore's watchful eye?'

Gilderoy Lockhart was a below-average wizard with a talent for the mind arts, one particular spell actually. The memory charm, Obliviate. He had long used this spell to be ahead of the curve. His silver tongue allowed for his obvious lack of skill to be covered. Few if any had been able to see past his facade.

Those that do are usually polite enough to expose him point-blank, as they would be ignorant of his deeds or uninterested in the first place. Some would be fearful of his fan base retaliating should they not provide sufficient evidence.

Lockhart had created a near-perfect network of safety measures, alibis and fans. He made sure that he wasn't the only person to benefit from his exploits. Quite a few powerful people from all factions were on his side. They benefit as owners of printers, editors, merchandisers, promoters, etc…

Only Dumbledore and some really powerful members of the Wizengamot could really threaten him, including Rose Potter.

For most of recent years, Lockhart was treated as a person of considerable influence and power within the country. So it comes as a surprise to him that one of his students was so obviously opposing him, there are more but not as blatant as this one.

The way he goes about it makes it so that Lockhart can't really take any legal action and has to stay on guard. To come up with stories on the fly so that he can get out or circumvent the boy's traps.

It is infuriating, but the boy really hits the nail in the head even with his most casual remarks. Gilderoy isn't sure why he is targetted by the kid, but he has become a real pain in the ass.

He can't in spite of everything fail the boy. He was by far the best student in all classes from 1st year to 5th year. Remarkable as that is. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had decided that he will retire by year-end. He can't be near that boy any longer than that else he might really be trounced by a person a third his age. His reputation could not survive that hit, even if the boy was a once in a millennium genius.

The boy was brutal and ruthless too. Just look what he did to that poor Malfoy boy. He resorted to physical retaliation rather than utilise his impressive magical repertoire. Lockhart had no doubt that the result would have been the same if magic was used, but the fact he did not use it showed the boy was not afraid to get his hands dirty. That he will use whatever he thinks works best to get what he wants.

His actions did inspire a new book for the professor to write. His last best-seller he's sure.

Serves him right though that he was attacked by the Malfoy family. What did he expect will happen when he told them he was the reason their son was in the hospital wing.

That should teach the boy a lesson to treat others with respect. If he wants attention that is not the way he should go about it. Lockhart would be delighted to take the boy in as a protege. With his talent and the renowned author's glib, Link has the making of a great wizard. Perhaps one greater than Dumbledore himself.

Gilderoy could hardly keep himself steady with the sudden rush of excitement. To be related with the future Merlin of the Wizarding world. His status will soar to previously unattainable heights.

He should start laying the groundwork the next time they meet in class. He will have to find a way to work around the boy's sharp tongue. He could postpone retirement if this pans out properly. There is so much I could teach the boy about being a celebrity.

He is walking alone in the corridors of the great castle. No particular heading, he just thought to take a walk after his hearty meal.

His peaceful stroll was interrupted by a sound by the corner. Lockhart turned to look at what had caused the sound, expecting to see a pair of students trying to find a broom closet. What else could it be in a castle filled with children?

"Wait there children, you wo-" he started a wide smile on his face.

His smile was frozen however when instead of encountering the dishevelled faces of students caught in the act, all he saw was a pair of haunting eyes. He managed to let out one last scream before darkness took over, never to be lifted again.

Things returned to relative normalcy after 2 weeks, tensions were still high with Malfoy, but that will subside eventually.

Rose and Neville were great to be around, and Luna is as flighty as usual. Take to parading with her witches hat everywhere. She still kept chasing her passions, insistent that she is close to getting the animal she sought.

Rose had raised a fuss when she learnt of what had transpired in the hospital wing. The nerve of these Malfoys to attack a student for just apologising. Though through insistence from Link, she let it be, and no rumour was spread over the incident.

There are still 4 months to the school year, and things were finally calming down. The only downside is that Lockhart is still here and still incompetent, but he does enjoy their banter. If nothing, he is at least good at making himself seem competent in front of those that don't dig deeper.

He was on his way to class from lunch, alongside Rose, Neville and Padma. Chuckling at something or another when their peace was broken by a fearful scream.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH"

Well, there goes the peaceful year.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. So, I know some of you are disappointed that I did not include the revenge bit in it. Its already done, details will come eventually.