"You seem rather pleased today, Professor Xarion. Would it have something to do with the sword at your waist? I do believe I have never seen it before." Dumbledore said curiously as we sat on the bleachers of the third task.

Not much of note happened between the second task and now. I taught classes, reached an expertise in potion making that was sufficient for my purposes, stored a bunch of potion ingredients in my nifty, bottomless bag, taught all of my students some basic spell circles and finished both artifice projects I was working on.

There was also that stint with the aurors trying to arrest me for Crouch Jr. 's death, but they had nothing on me, and since I was a professor at Hogwarts, I got far more protection than anyone deserved. Besides, most of the aurors who'd been sent to arrest me just came by to say thanks and get an autograph. It was pretty hilarious, but otherwise not worth mentioning. I was far more excited about my new artifacts.

The first was a circular, silver pendant I now wore around my neck. It was a universal translator that took the underlying intent behind spoken words and translated them to english, or into whatever language it had picked up if I was the one doing the talking. I'd tested it by speaking to some of my Beauxbatons students, and was pleased with the result.

The second, that Dumbledore's gaze was still fixed on, was a longsword that hung from its sheath on my belt. While this world lacked adamantine or mithril, the Room of Requirement was able to supply me with a single ingot of silver enchanted with the magic of this world's goblins. The material was lacking in some areas when compared to adamantine, but it also managed to surpass adamantine in others. The sword had little in the way of decoration; just a set of intricate lines engraved into the sword's fuller. While it would never be able to replace Sil Du, I was still abundantly pleased with how it turned out.

I'd named Sil Du as I did because it literally allowed me to transfer the soul of those it impaled into myself to empower me. That very ability was why I now possessed the power of the Phenex clan, and why I was able to sever my connection to Ddraig. Had the sword not been able to directly interact with the soul, I would be Ddraig's puppet right now.

Deciding to continue my impromptu tradition of naming swords in Dovahzul, I named this blade Yolos Kiin or Flaming Birth. Using the corpse of the dragon I slew as well as a fair helping of my own phoenix powers, I'd imbued the blade's very essence with fire. Any cut the sword created would transfer a snaking vein of fire into the victim's wound, igniting them from within.

I still missed Sil Du, but I was genuinely starting to love Yolos Kiin. Since it was made from goblin silver, it potentially had the ability to grow more powerful since goblin silver 'took on that which would make it stronger'. I didn't know exactly what that entailed, and none of my research turned up anything notable, but it was intriguing. I would definitely be watching for any sign of the blade improving itself.

"That it would, headmaster." I said in reply to Dumbledore's earlier comment. "I've spent the last five months working on it, and I'm glad that it is finally finished."

"If I may be so bold, what does it do?"

I grinned at his innocent smile. "That, my friend, is a secret."

He laughed merrily as he turned his attention back to the deceptively quiet lake in front of us. "Keep your secrets, then. Who do you believe shall emerge first?"

"Mr. Krum." I said with no hesitation. "He is far more focused than the other three. Ever since I've started….expanding my club's horizons, he has thrown himself into his lessons with an almost obsessive drive."

Nodding along, Dumbledore said, "Yes, that was my guess as well. In that case, shall we wager on how soon he shall surface?"

I raised an eyebrow at the man as I said, "You and I both know exactly where he is and exactly when he will surface as a result of that. How are we supposed to bet on a known quantity?"

Dumbledore sighed dramatically, saying, "Forgive me, Xarion. I am merely trying to pass the time."

I couldn't really blame him for that. After watching four one-on-one dragon fights in the first task, staring at the surface of a lake was rather bland by comparison, even for people who could sense what was happening like Dumbledore and I. That wasn't to say that I didn't appreciate nature, but I did find it hard to do so with so many snobby wizards polluting the atmosphere with their self-importance, transforming a rather picturesque lake into a trailer park.

Fifteen minutes of bored silence later, Krum rocketed from the water with the unconscious form of Hermione Granger slung over his shoulder, the enchantment he'd placed over his head dissipating as he began to breathe air once more.

The Durmstrang stands exploded into an excited frenzy as they roared their approval at their champion, the other stands cheering for no other reason than something was finally happening.

One by one, each of the champions followed after Krum.

First was Diggory at seven minutes behind, the Delacour a mere thirty seconds after Diggory, and Potter two minutes following Delacour.

I politely clapped at the display. The students, spectators and teachers all started flooding from the stadium. Some went down to the champions, others headed away from the field, but my mind was elsewhere.

It had been almost a year since I'd ended up here, since my spark had ignited and snuffed out once more. While I was surprised to admit I enjoyed teaching, I felt as if I was going through the motions. Very few students in this school, so few as to be counted on one hand, would turn into anyone worth paying attention to while the rest would slink off to some cushy job provided by one of their parent's friends. I didn't feel like I was doing anything.

The only noticeable improvement were my feelings regarding Vali. I still missed the bastard, a part of me always would, but the loss had faded from a roaring inferno to a dull ache.

I'd moved on, so why did I feel like I wasn't going anywhere?

"Professor Xarion? Are you well?" Dumbledore asked from beside me, concerned that I wasn't clapping or cheering like all of the normal people in the crowd.

"I'm alright." I said with a fake smile. "Just a little-" I gasped as I felt something I had hoped to never feel again.

Falling to my knees in shock, I ignored Dumbledore's cry of alarm and outstretched hand as I pushed my magic into overdrive trying to find the source.

This had to be an episode from myself, right? There was no way that-

I felt it.

My eyes widened in disbelief and fear as fire enveloped me, pulling me from my place in the stands before it was too late.

X

Daphne Greengrass

I sorely hoped the third task would show a return to the experience of the first. Sitting on an uncomfortable plank of fraying wood and staring at a puddle for nearly an hour was not how I wished to spend my free time. There were far more important things I could focus my efforts on if we weren't required to attend these tasks.

Walking back towards the castle at the head of a group of other students who were similarly disappointed with the second task, though likely for reasons other than its impediment of their studies, I was forced to suppress a groan of irritation as Draco Malfoy caught up to me, his ever present arrogant smile plastered on his undeserving face.

"Well that was pointless." he said as he began to walk uncomfortably close to me. "Though I suppose Potter coming in last made the whole thing worth it. There's no hope for him to win now."

Showing him my best fake smile, I cheerily said, "Like he ever had a chance to begin with. We both know he's lucky to have survived this long. I think Victor Krum will win."

Conversing with Draco Malfoy was the equivalent of trying to discuss the intricacies of magic with an inanimate stone. It served no purpose and ultimately would leave you with a migraine. But his father was an influential man, and Draco himself was poised to inherit the lordships of both the Malfoy family and the Black family. If playing nice with him would secure a marriage between us, putting me at the head of three separate, ancient and powerful houses, I would suffer him now, and deal with my 'husband' once his will was penned as I directed it be.

"Where is your school spirit, Daphne? Surely Cedric Diggory will emerge victorious."

Refusing to point out the blatant irony of Draco's previous statement, I said, "Oh I do hope Cedric wins, but Krum has too much of a lead. Without something drastic happening in the final task, I do not think he'll be able to catch up with Krum."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed as he dedicated all of his meager brainpower to understanding my statement. "Well, I think there's a chance for Diggory, yet. We just have to-"

Draco was interrupted by the most foul, unpleasant, disturbingly wrong sound I had ever heard. It was as if a herd of dying animals had joined a chorus of mermaids trapped on land.

The students around me, Draco included, fell to their knees, grasping at their foreheads as they began shouting in pain.

I felt a force trying to break through my mental barriers into the sanctity of my mind, but I was able to keep it out. Professor Xarion was able to break through my barriers because he had trained his magic to be a precise scalpel, catching on the slightest imperfection and tearing an opening large enough to permit a sailboat access. This assault was far less precise. It was as if a wild animal had somehow gained the ability to use occlumency and was flailing about with its new power, completely incapable of using it or legilimency correctly.

Spinning around on my feet, my wand came to my hand as I searched for the cause of the attack.

Several students, though not nearly enough of them, grit their teeth and rose to their feet through the pain. At the very least I would have some allies to face this threat. It seemed more of my classmates paid attention in Professor Xarion's lessons than I originally thought.

"What's….Going…..On….?" Draco ground out as he rose next to me, surprising me with his show of will. I would have to remember that for when I prepared for his accident.

"I don't know." I said, still looking for the cause of the mental attack. "We need to get mo-"

A sound similar to, though more contained than an explosion sounded from directly in front of me, and I nearly froze in sheer terror.

A scant few dozen meters in front of me, reality was sundered. A thin line of displaced space widened into a lopsided hole that led to a space that even my organized mind was incapable of comprehending. I likely would have bent over to throw up my lunch if the instincts I'd developed in Professor Xarion's class had not saved my life.

My wand came up almost subconsciously and blasted away a creature that charged towards me from the tear. The creature had a large shell over its three legged body, colored a dull grey. Another beast charged through, and I used the ground before it to swallow the eight legged, scuttling creature with long blue tentacles emerging from its back. A third followed, then a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, more and more and more, each inherently different from any of the others.

I started backing away as the student nearest to the tear, still rolling around on the ground as he grasped at his head, was descended upon by three of the things at once. A short, agonized scream was the last sound he ever made.

What students were on their feet turned and ran at the sight, but I had noticed something they didn't, so I had stood my ground.

One of the flying beasts attempted to scoop me up, but I separated it into three separate pieces with one of the curses Professor Xarion had taught me.

A startled cry behind me, caused me to spend a valuable second safeguarding my future plans.

More of the flying beasts had passed over me to prey upon the fleeing students as they made far easier targets. One of them had landed on Draco and was trying to force him to the ground.

Holding my palm out towards him, a shimmering disk appeared before it and the creature was wrenched off of his body towards me. I slayed this one with another cutting surse, and turned to face a wide-eyed draco, shouting, "Run!" I couldn't allow him to die; too many of my plans required the Black family's lordship.

My brief moment of distraction cost me dearly.

Before I could even fully turn back around, I was thrown into the air as something incredibly strong struck me in the chest. I was fairly certain I felt a large number of my ribs break under the strike, but I used occlumency to compartmentalize the pain away. I needed to be able to focus or I was dead.

Rolling across the ground as I finally fell back to the Earth, I spun onto my feet and transformed into a deadly hurricane of sharpened metal as all twenty of the knives I had stowed on my person rose around me to strike at anything that grew too close.

I had developed this particular ability after one of Professor Xarion's classes. We had been facing a creature he referred to as a Khanivore. I had never found any reference to the species' existence in my following research, but I was grateful for the lesson regardless. The creature had four long tentacles that sprouted from its crown, each tipped with a sharpened razor of bone. Students couldn't even get close to the creature for fear of ending up like Susan Bones. She had gotten overconfident, as she was wont to do, and emerged with deep gashes all over her body.

While I didn't have tentacles, I did have several of Professor Xarion's wandless spells. One in particular I had grasped at and perfected was a minor telekinetic charm. When focused on completely, I felt I could completely control a large number of small objects, hence why I asked my parents to send me as many enchanted knives as our family had.

The result of all of my hard work was the fact that I was still alive. I was now facing the ever growing horde from the tear in space on my own, all of my classmates having abandoned me like the stupid cowards they were. Without turning to fight, the majority of them would be run down and killed by the greater, more mobile force. I suppose I should have been worried Draco would die and take my lordship with him, but it was taking every shred of concentration I had to maintain the small radius of space around myself that I had managed to secure beneath my blades as they whipped all around me.

This was bad.

More and more of the creatures moved over and around me, and soon I was completely buried beneath the things. Pieces of grey carapace, six inch claws, red and blue tentacles, partially severed wings - all of this rained down around me as the sky and surrounding grass were all blocked out by a wave of blurred grey. My bubble of knives was the only thing separating me from a horde of death that had me covered on all sides.

I was going to die.

Thousands of screeches rose up from the creatures around me as they began to glow a dull orange. Suddenly, my view of the outside world was restored by a wall of moving flame that parted just long enough to avoid hitting me before clapping back together to turn the beasts directly in front of me to ash.

The ground in front of me cratered as an avenging angel placed himself between the tear and me. My eyes widened as I took in the form of my savior.

Gone were the casual black shirt and pants he wore to every class he had ever taught, and in their place was a set of shadow-colored light armor that seemed to meld around his form. In his hand, where he normally held a strange writing implement I had been meaning to ask him the name of, was a gleaming silver sword with veins of bright orange flame running through its fuller. But most shocking were the two burning wings of pure fire that extended from his shoulder blades, spreading wide to block any approach the creatures had to reach me as they crackled against the air.

"Miss Greengrass," he said calmly, without a trace of any fear or panic. "You have done exceptionally well to live this long. I am very proud of you. Now, I apologize for being blunt, but you are in the way. Leave. Get Dumbledore and any auror that came for the tournament and have them hunt down any of these things that made it away from the breach. I'll work on containing and sealing it in the meantime. Go."

None of the monsters had so much as twitched since Professor Xarion appeared, seemingly terrified by his mere presence. They were finally shocked into action as he moved faster than the dragons in the first task, appearing right before them. He took three at once with his sword, the blade transferring the fire in its veins to its victims, then raised his hand and turned seven more to ash with a wave of his hand.

This….This was my teacher. This wasn't the cool, cordial persona he adopted to teach us. No, this was him - the man he really was. A warrior the likes of which had never been seen before.

My legs moved on their own, my floating blades returning to their hidden sheathes in my robes, as my eyes held onto every precious moment of my teacher's display of power. I was sheparded away from the unending tide towards Dumbledore to carry out my task.

This…. This is what I wanted. What I would become. Political power was inconsequential when compared to the might on display before me. I finally realized what Professor Xarion had been teaching us all this time; what he had been teaching me. He hadn't been teaching us how to survive, he'd been showing us how to dominate. And I was, by far, his best student.

With one last glance at my teacher, I turned and began sprinting as fast as my broken ribs would allow towards the large castle in the distance.

I was too weak now, but in time, I would be able to stand on even ground with my teacher. I swore it as I ran.