The Poll has ended, and as expected the sequel to PotDS will be the first to be written, which I will start alternating with the final chapters of ANP7. once that is finished, we will have to see, as I worry that my new job may not allow me to write 2 stories at the same time like my previously unemployed status had allowed so easily, but we shall see. Regardless, I present the newest chapter...
Chapter Forty Four
Crucible of Fire
Anguis watched silently as Veneficus strode through the school on Sunday, sensing that something was up. It was obvious to the fellow Force user that Lord Veneficus was preoccupied with something that was beyond the natural order of plotting for the future of the wizarding world and feigning normal student behavior. But the Dark Lord was clearly focusing on some other matter.
Instead of training in the recesses of the Chamber of Secrets, or even brooding on top of one of the high towers as Veneficus occasionally did, they boy was in the school library, pouring over research and by all accounts ignoring anyone who cared to speak with him.
So, instead of attempting to glean what was on the Sith Lord's mind from other subordinates, Anguis decided to go himself and discover the secret. Entering the library, he found everything just as their fellow Slytherins had described.
Veneficus was surrounded by a stack of books in a secluded corner of the library, angrily pouring over page after page, just to throw the book aside and pick up the next one. Madam Pince seemed to want to throw the Sith Lord from her domain, but every time she approached, Veneficus leveled a glare that froze the woman in her tracks.
Fearlessly, Anguis stepped forward, erecting a silencing barrier around them so that he could speak freely. "Something you wish my assistance on, my Lord?"
Veneficus just snarled in response, "There is nothing you can help me with, be gone from my presence."
Taking a quick glance over the pile of rejected books, Anguis recognized the draconic theme. Putting two and two together very quickly, he spoke again, "Dragons, huh? Something to do with the first task I take it?"
"One would think, after you've grown so close to knowing what I'm capable of," Veneficus growled back, eyes narrowing, "You'd've learned when to clear away from my wrath…"
Anguis just shrugged, "You kill me, not only will the entire school be asking questions, but then you're out the only other Force user in the school on your side…" he countered, pulling a book from the unread stack and thumbing through it. "Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate…" he read. Sighing, he prepared to toss the book aside, when Veneficus snatched it out of Anguis' hand.
Scanning the page quickly, Veneficus' eyes widened his realization, "imbued with ancient magic… interesting… I need to check something in the Chamber…"
And with that Veneficus tore from the library, past the stern librarian who glared at his retreating form. Anguis just frowned. What had the Dark Lord been inspired by in that tiny paragraph. It was common knowledge about dragons at best…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Septin didn't think much of the Gamorrean stronghold and village. Aside from all appearance as a cross between a modern Galactic town and some Feudal hamlet, it was rather unimpressive. Dozens of brutes and sows milled about in a central bartering area. Fights broke out all over the place as single males fought for prestige and females as they passed.
Many of the Gamorreans of the Jugsmuk Clan stopped in their activities to watch as Septin and Lady Nuhok passed, on their way to the central Chieftain's residence. The insane Togruta was smiling happily as she darted from sight to sight. For his part, Septin wanted to leave as quickly as possible. The sooner they found the academy and its secrets the better, but Ocraadi wanted to enslave the Gamorreans as they had been centuries before by the Sith Empires of old, starting with this massive clan.
With his defeat of the Warlord, the Sith had already shown their dominion over them in combat, but the true leadership of the clan lay with the Matriarch, whom they were going to meet with now. As the largest clan for miles, they stood the best chance of knowing the whereabouts of the ruins of the Academy.
Entering the main building, Septin hung back so that the Togruta, who could understand the grunts and squeals of the pig-like race, could handle the 'negotiations.' The massive sow, sitting high and mighty like a queen upon her throne grunted at the Warlord for several moments, as Nuhok stood by and smiled silently.
When finally addressed by the chieftainess, she smirked, "Yes, we are the ones who came from the skies, and no, we won't be your instruments of victory over your enemies, quite the opposite in fact… You are to be our pawns in our game!"
Cackling with delight, the Dark Side Mistress raised her talon-like fingers and unleashed a blast of lightning, catching several of the Matriarch's guards and sending them flying backwards. The Matriarch squealed in anger, and more guards poured in from all sides. The Warlord grunted a laugh, raising his axe threateningly.
Septin smirked. He had been itching to kill something for a while now, and with a small signal from Nuhok, he unclipped both of his newly constructed sabers.
Twin beams of crimson death erupted into being, and the guards around him hesitated for the briefest of seconds. That was all the time Septin needed to leap into action, dismembering the two closest to him and flying toward the knot in front of the Matriarch.
With a roar of rage, Septin spun, carving a path of death and destruction around the building. The bellows of anger and challenge from the guards quickly changed to squeals of fear as the much smaller opponent slew nearly a dozen before the rest fled from his presence.
Once the last of the guards lay dead or were gone from the building, Septin threatened the Warlord into submission again. Meanwhile, Lady Nuhok drew near to the Matriarch, her own saber aloft, ready to strike down the overgrown swine.
The Matriarch was squealing in fright, arms over her ugly face as the creature clearly pleaded for its life. Septin ignored the exchange, sheathing his sabers and glancing around at the carnage. The bloodbath was little more than a crimson frenzy in his mind, but the damage around him spoke of a fierce battle. Suddenly, his arm and torso flared into a burning pain as wounds he had sustained in the slaughter returned full force.
Reaching into his depths of anger and hatred, Septin ignored the painful wounds from the Gammorean axes, and return his attention to his Master. The Togruta was smiling down at the horrified Chieftianess, accepting her surrender of their people and resources to the cause of the Sith.
"Good," she said, standing back for a moment, before reaching around and throwing the Martriach out of her seat with a blast of the Force, sitting in her place as daintily as a Noble of Alderaan. "We are now in command here, my apprentice," she said to Septin, "bring the ship within the walls of the fortress, and then we shall start preparing this encampment to complete our missions on this world.
Septin nodded, somewhat glad for the few moments away from the insane creature, and departed for the small nook that they had moved their ship to in order to prevent other pig-men from discovering and ransacking it while they were away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Veneficus was stopped on his way to the Chamber by Barty Jr. the man disguised as Alastor Moody called to him as he passed by, "Potter, come with me," he growled, startling a few nearby students with the gruffness of his voice.
Veneficus frowned, he didn't wish to be disturbed at this moment, when he was on to a potentially great discovery about the nature of this world and its relationship to the Force, but for appearances sake he allowed the man to guide him back to the Defense Professor's office.
Once they were both inside, Crouch shot several spells at the door, sealing it and the entire wall from any form of eavesdropping, before indicating with a wave of his hand that the Sith Lord may take a seat wherever. "My Lord," he began quickly, "I have news regarding the First Task."
"Dragons..." Veneficus replied, "We must find a way past one of three dragons."
For his part, Crouch did not react, "You've been doing your homework as well I see," was his only replied, "Yes, Dragons... you must rescue a golden egg from a nest that each brooding mother will be guarding. Points are awarded by time, skill in whatever manner you choose to get the egg, and subtracted for yourself, the dragon, or the other eggs being injured or damaged."
Veneficus nodded, absorbing the information and adding it to what he already was planning out in his mind. "As you are no doubt aware my Lord," Crouch continued, "but Dumbledore will be keeping a keen lookout on you for any signs of dark magic or abilities being manifested during the Task. However, at the same time, he knows that you are a brilliant student of magical disciplines, from his regular reports via all your professors, including myself, therefore I have no doubt that he will expect more advanced spellwork from you than anyone else would think possible, which gives us plenty of options to work with."
Veneficus raised an eyebrow, "What would you suggest?"
"Well," the man began, counting off on his fingers, "No one disagrees that your quite the excellent flier, so you could easily use that to your advantage, summoning your broom from the castle and out maneuvering whatever dragon your given, but that has a lot of risks involved in it. Secondly, despite dragon's normal resistance to all manner of spells, they can still be affected by other things that are enchanted with magic, so you can use transfiguration to its best effect to distract, ensnare or otherwise confuse the beast. Finally, as a last measure, the eyes of a dragon are their weak point. Spells that hit there will have their full effect, but the reaction usually is less than favorable with the amount of collateral damage a dragon is capable of..."
"Right," Veneficus replied, thinking hard. Those were all good options, if he wanted no one to suspect him of any darker motivations, but to string the foolish Headmaster along just enough to keep his attention focused, he would need something a bit more. "I have a pretty good plan now, but I will keep your ideas in mind." he added, standing to depart.
"Very good my Lord." Crouch said, standing and banishing the enchantments on the door so that the Sith Lord could depart. "I'll contact you when I hear of the next clues..."
Veneficus nodded, and closed the door, returning to his flight down to the Chamber of Secrets. Without pausing, he pushed his way to Slytherin's secret library, and began sorting through the many Force-bound tomes that were housed there.
He found the book rather quickly, flipping through its Parseltongue written pages in a rapid flurry, searching for the description he had seen there once before, detailing when the powerful wizard had created his Basilisk. When he had first read it, he had been only mildly impressed by the man's genius at circumventing many of the limitations of the supposed 'King of Serpents' shortcomings, such as lifespan and growth limits, but now he recognized what he had only just started to notice.
Slytherin detailed how he had heavily enchanted his Monster's egg while it remained under a toad, the one prerequisite for the creation of a Basilisk. The difference with Slytherin's Monster however, was that it had grown far larger than any other recorded beast, and lived for several centuries longer. Ordinarily not terribly important information, but when combined with the knowledge that the wizard's magic was a form of the Force, and that Slytherin, like Veneficus, could harness both forms of the great mysterious power, clues and hints started to become more clear. Slytherin's Monster, unlike its lesser kin, was a Force-created creature; something that would have been labeled as Sith Alchemy in a past era of the Galaxy. The combination of Force based energy and the wild Force has supercharged the animal to lengths well beyond that of any normal version of its same species, which led to more answers.
According to the legends, only someone of Slytherin's decent, who possessed the insanely rare gift of Parseltongue, could command the beast, and it was immune to any other form of control or persuasion. Veneficus himself had only been able to thwart the ghost of Voldemort's control because he was closer in likeness and ability to the original Master, Slytherin, than Voldemort had ever or could ever hope to have been.
If Veneficus could command and control the Basilisk, an 'enchanted' Sith Alchemy creature, then he ought to be able to do the same with these dragons, which were described in the same light as Slytherin's monster. Basilisks had no means of reproducing themselves, but Dragon's did, so it made sense that each and every one would carry the same attributes and enchantments that the originals had.
Veneficus speculated that through the Force he should be able to influence or control the dragons with only the barest of effort required. If that worked, not only would he have means to get himself around the Dragon for the Task, but even control his, and the other Champion's dragons at a whim. The possibilities would be incalculable, not to mention after this joke of a contest was finished and the Sith Lord departed this miserable world.
However, he was unwilling to simply wait and test this theory on the day of the task. So, once darkness fell across the grounds and the students were all comfortably in their common rooms preparing for the night, the Lord of the Sith slipped out once more to the small enclosure where the dragons were hidden.
As he approached, the presence of the dragons reached Veneficus first, and immediately he began searching for the similarities with the Basilisk from the Chamber. Tapping into the Force, he found quickly with his initial probes that the beasts instinctively responded to the Dark Side, and as he drew closer to where he could see the beasts, Veneficus began to have a test of his power.
Influencing the massive Hungarian Horntail, Veneficus smirked as the animal reared up obediently and shot a plumb of fire into the air. The nearby handlers sprang into action, confused and distressed by the dragon's apparent sudden change of behavior. When the other two joined in, all acting as puppets under a Sith Lord's command, the dozen handlers scrambled to fire stunning spells at the three beasts.
For a short time, Veneficus enjoyed playing with the beasts and their handlers, having the dragon attack the wizards and scatter them. but quickly he grew bored of the game, and as his theory was confirmed, he allowed the humans to take down the dragons one by one, and slipped into the night as the handlers were attempting to understand why their beasts went berserk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Albus awoke with some trepidation the morning of the First Task. Not for fear of anyone being harmed by the task itself, but for what Harry may attempt to do to pass his dragon. As Headmaster of the hosting school, he was more than aware of what the Tasks were going to entail, and didn't have to sneak about in the night to find out.
Entering the Champion's tent with the other judges, Albus spied Harry immediately, kneeling in the center of the tent, motionless in a clear meditative pose. The other two Champions were doing their best to distract themselves from the challenge ahead, but all stirred as the judges entered.
"Well, now that we're all here, it's time to fill you in!" Ludo said cheerfully, striding up to them in his old, ill fitting Quidditch robes. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag, from which you will select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different… err... varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too… ah, yes… your task is to collect the golden egg!"
Albus was unsurprised to find that none of the Champions were worried about any of the information they were just given, in fact even if they didn't already know the task, Albus was sure that Ludo's poor attempts at disguising it this late would have tipped even the youngest first year about what they were about to face.
Very soon, the sounds of hundreds of students could be heard passing the tent, and Bagman turned toward Fleur, offering the bag, "Ladies first," he said.
The French girl put her hand into the bag, and for the faintest moment, Albus thought he saw Harry make a small gesture, almost a casual wave of the hand in the split second before Fleur removed a tiny model of the Chinese Fireball, with a small number two tied around its neck. The girl looked toward her Headmistress, and they shared a slightly concerned look.
Albus' interest had been peeked however, and while Mr. Krum put his hand into the bag, he watched Harry from the corner of his eye. Once again, the younger boy made the same gesture, and Krum hesitated before removing the Hungarian Horntail with the number three. Narrowing his eyes, Albus knew something was up when Harry smirked at the Swedish Short-Snout with the number one on it.
"Well, there you are!" Ludo said, taking the bag back and pocketing it, "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, we are going to leave shortly, so that the judges are in position and we can begin. Mr. Potter, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear the whistle, all right?"
Harry nodded, and the others all turned to leave. Albus watched the boy for a short moment, as Harry knelt back down to meditate, before departing himself. He would have the perfect vantage point from the judge's box to see the entire arena. If anything suspicious happened, he would have no difficulty spotting it instantly.
Mounting the final steps as Ludo called the attention of the crowd; Albus spotted Lord Blackmoore in the V.I.P. section of the stands, with the other members of the Board of Governors, as well as select members of the Champions families who came to watch. Thinking that he may have to keep an eye on the older man just in case, Albus whispered short instructions to Alastor just as the whistle sounded, signaling the Dragon Keepers to guide in the Swedish Snort-Snout.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Millennial watched with a bored expression as his apprentice entered the tiny, enchanted arena to face the silvery-blue beast. For these primitive people this may be something exciting and new, but for Darth Millennial it was something he had seen countless times on worlds across the Galaxy. Contests of strength and daring were nearly a universal concept that beings felt required to participate in. The Sith were no different, and Veneficus himself had participated in many of the tournaments and blood contests that had been instrument in breeding the ruthlessness and bloodlust into the boy from a young age. Therefore, the Sith Master felt perfectly comfortable with the boy's safety during this little competition.
Nevertheless, there were still some causes for concern about their secret identities. Glancing at the judge's table, Millennial observed the steely gaze that Albus Dumbledore had fixated upon his apprentice as the boy cast his first spell.
"Accio Nimbus!" the boy shouted. Dumbledore looked disappointed, but still watchful for any other action.
Within moments, an object was flying over toward the boy from the far side of the stadium, but Millennial was focused more on the storm of activity from the Force. The dragon roared, but Millennial could easily sense Veneficus' signature in the beast's behavior.
Interesting…
It seemed that Veneficus had discovered a weakness in the dragon's inherent nature, one that made it susceptible to Force manipulation. Probing the creature himself, Millennial saw the unmistakable signatures of a Dark Side adept in the creative markers of the dragon. Granted, they were distorted by time and genetics, which was why most Sith Alchemy-made creatures were unable to breed on their own, but notwithstanding it was an impressive find on the part of the Sith Apprentice.
Veneficus leapt, dodging a false attack from the dragon, and mounted the broom midair, soaring off in a wide arc around the stadium to the roars of the crowd. As he flew, Veneficus also waved his wand, transforming stones from the stadium into small animals from the planet, that all converged to distract the dragon, which became quickly confused. It raged and stomped about at the small creatures, blasting a few with fire, while fanning its wing menacingly, while still ignoring Veneficus. After several more minutes of circling, dodging well controlled attacks that made the crowd gasp and shout in shock, the Sith Apprentice finally ended the charade, swooping down and snatching the golden egg from the nest at the dragon's feet, escaping by spiraling out of the path of a jet of flame sent after him.
"Look at that!" the announcer was yelling, "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion has certainly set the bar high for the others to try and beat!"
As the boy landed, several students, including the Malfoy boy, surrounded him, chattering endlessly. From the looks of the crowd, they had eaten up that it had indeed been a real fight, and none suspected that the dragon had been acting in any way out of the ordinary.
Of the five judges, the first to raise her wand was the massive woman from France. A large silver ribbon shot out into the air, forming a large figure nine. One by one the other judges followed suit, Crouch Sr. also giving the boy a nine, followed by Dumbledore, who frowned as he put an eight into the air. The crowd cheered, but Millennial could see that the old fool suspected something was up, and unable to prove it, was expressing his annoyance with the lowered score.
Not that it would make a difference, as the announcer gave a full score of ten. The final judge, a dirty looking man with yellowed teeth, raised his wand, and fired off an abysmally low score of six. The crowd booed, but the man ignored them. Veneficus simply shrugged, a score of forty-two was still impressive for the very first champion's attempt.
Lord Veneficus spared Millennial only a single glance, before taking a seat in the special stands reserved for the finished champions to watch his competition perform against their own dragons. Millennial saw the boy's small half-smirk as the whistle blew for the next dragon to be moved into the pen.
The Sith Master suddenly saw the battle plan of his apprentice as the dragon unexpectedly roared in rage, thrashing slightly as it moved over to the false nest of eggs it was to guard. Veneficus' own score was irrelevant, as he planned to destroy the other competitors in the same tasks. Even if he managed to kill them, it would appear to be an accident of the tournament.
Indeed a clever strategy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Veneficus wanted to laugh. Controlling the dragons was growing easier with every attempt. The creatures were so attuned to the Dark Side of the Force, and Veneficus was only somewhat disappointed that he would never know who the original creator was, to learn the technique.
Still, as the French woman, Fleur Delacour made her way out to the stadium, Veneficus started formulating the Chinese Fireball's battle strategy. Passively guarding the eggs was out of the question. Given the girls' heritage and overall demeanor, she would not go for anything other than subduing the dragon peacefully so she could slip by. Therefore, he would give her no quarter. Those unwilling to fight with lethal force were weak, and destroyed by the first challenge they would encounter.
Predictably, when the girl set eyes on the dragon, she began to dance, much the same as the full blooded Veela that he had seen at the World Cup, attempting to lull the dragon into a semi-conscious state, which Veneficus abridged. Soon the dragon was distracted, and the girl attempted a sleeping charm on the dragon, hitting it in the eye, but seizing control of the beasts mind, Veneficus interrupted the spell from taking effect, but made the creature appear to fall deeply asleep.
Then, as the girl moved stealthily toward the nest of eggs, Veneficus forced the dragon into a rage, awakening it and causing it to thrash and shoot jets of flame in all directions. One caught the girl along the hem of her skirt, but sadly he doused it quickly with water, before charging for the nest. The dragon was still rather slow from the spells that technically were in effect on it, but Veneficus still managed to rake Fleur across the back as she dove for the golden egg, grabbing it and rolling away before the Sith could follow the attack up with a blast of fire from the dragon.
The handlers on all sides fired their stunning spells as the whistle blew, and Fleur was hurried away to the medical tent. Veneficus relaxed his posture from sitting ridged in his seat, releasing his control of the monstrous animal, and began gathering his strength to tackle the Horntail. He would not allow the Bulgarian, Krum, to get through as easily as the dainty French girl had. Dumbledore was watching him from the corner of his eye, and the Sith Lord knew that the man could sense something from him, via his mutated Midichlorians, but there was little way that he could truly understand just what secret the Dark Lord of the Sith had discovered with his precious task. Let the old fool think he was casting magic while perfectly silent and still, he could not prove anything.
When Fleur returned, her torso covered in bandages to cover the dragon's claw marks, the judges gave their scores. They were decent, generously given by her own Headmistress naturally, and placing her in second by a moderate margin behind Veneficus himself. She returned to the medical tent soon afterward, and the Horntail was released into the enclosure.
Krum entered, and Veneficus smiled momentarily as the fun began. The awkward boy took a few steps forward, while Veneficus had the dragon hang back, hovering protectively over the nest, waiting for the Bulgarian to make his first move.
The hornbeam wand whipped out, and before Veneficus could have the dragon react, the boy commanded in his thickly accented voice, "Conjunctus!" a pink beam shot into the dragon's face, and it roared with pain and anger, stamping about in a frenzy. But the eye swelling curse wouldn't make any difference, as Veneficus was in total control of the beast, and gave it another set of eyes.
He did, however, permit it to stamp all over the nest of eggs it was supposed to be guarding, destroying many of the real dragon eggs and putting a sizeable dent in the golden one that Krum was after. But then, when Krum tried to get close, Veneficus had the dragon swing low, catching the Bulgarian with the spiked tail and sending him flying across the enclosure, smashing into a boulder and cracking the surface of the stone. The dragon reared up, ears perking as it pretended to listen for Krum's movements, before Veneficus made the beast shoot a jet of flame where Krum was attempting to go, blocking off his path back to the nest.
Krum was forced to conjure a small dog out of the rocks around him, sending it barking and yapping in the opposite direction, trying to confuse the dragon, and Veneficus knew that he had to let it take the bait, or else it would be very suspicious to the judges. The dumb animal turned, roaring and slashing at the small dog, allowing Krum to make his way around to the shattered nest.
But Veneficus wasn't finished with the Bulgarian just yet. Even as the head was focused on listening to the small yapping mutt, the Sith commanded the beast to slam its tail behind it in rage, directly on top of where Krum was, at the nest. The spikes were sure to impale the ignorant fool. The crowd screamed as the tail came hurtling down, but Krum managed to roll out of the way at the last instant, and the tail only smashed more of the real dragon eggs.
The dragon had snapped at the dog, killing it at last, and Veneficus forced it to reel about angrily, spewing fire and flailing its wings and tail, hoping that something might hit Krum before he got away. The whistle blared, and the dragon handlers swarmed, firing their stunners, but Veneficus wasn't about to let up. A last jet of flames ensnared Krum just as the dragon went down from a volley of red jets, setting his robes ablaze. Mediwizards ran to him, extinguishing spells smothering the flames before it burn too much of the boy's skin. He too was rushed into the medical tent as the crowd roared at the spectacle.
Dumbledore was glaring at Veneficus now, struggling to comprehend how the Sith was manipulating events no doubt, but the young Apprentice sat in perfect silence, watching the events with a bored expression, despite being highly disappointed with the dragon's performances. Either he was too new to the skill of commanding the beasts, or they were simply too sluggish for his commands, as he had envisioned killing at least one of his competitors during this task.
Alas, he would have to settle for them both being rather battered while he remained unscathed. After a long while, Krum emerged briefly from the tent to receive his scores, putting him in third place, before he too disappeared back inside the tent for treatment of his burns and other injuries.
Veneficus calmly stood when the crowd was dismissed, and as he was instructed by Bagman, returned to the Champions tent for further instructions. The others were already there, Krum lying face down on a bed, his back slathered in an orange paste that had to be treating his burns. Fleur sat in a chair, holding her side and wincing at every slight motion. It took quite a bit of self control for Veneficus to not smirk, knowing that he was the cause of all these injuries.
"Well done, all of you," Bagman said as he entered. "Now, just a quick few words. You've all got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth… but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime!"
As the foolish man continued to talk about the eggs they now held, and the supposed clue within them, Veneficus rolled his eyes as he reached forward with the Force, and pulled the information of the task from the stupid Ministry workers mind. He saw the lake in the information he took, and far beneath the watery surface a small settlement of Merpeople, who were to be guarding something they needed to recover.
Another far too easy challenge for a Lord of the Sith, and with almost three months to prepare, simply too easy. Departing the tent and heading back to the castle, Veneficus was bombarded by students from all houses, including those who had previously shown their open resentment, congratulating him and openly showing support for a Hogwarts victory.
'Fools, all of them,' Veneficus thought as he returned to the Slytherin common room to rest. The political and personal games happening within their tournament were of far more long lasting consequences than the supposed honor and glory that awaited the victorious champion, and Veneficus intended to be the victory of all these. It was his right and destiny as heir of the full power of the Dark Side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lord Millennial rose smoothly from his seat at the end of the task. With little other excuse to remain, he quickly made his way back to the exit of the grounds. Just as the Dark Lord of the Sith breached the line of trees to the school grounds, a woman that reeked of smug determination stepped out into his path.
"Ah, Lord Blackmoore-Ravenclaw, a pleasure," she said, greed and obsession in her eyes. Offering a jeweled hand with talon-like nails, she introduced herself, "Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter."
"Ah," Millennial responded, on guard of the woman immediately. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Just a few questions to follow up the first task of the tournament," she said with a smile, showing off her few gold teeth, "As the guardian of the youngest Champion, I figured you'd have more than enough information regarding how well he performed today…"
Smirking slightly, Millennial held out an arm, "I'd love to answer your questions, perhaps we can head for the tavern in the village for a more comfortable setting?"
"Sounds absolutely delightful…" Skeeter responded, allowing the Sith Lord to lead her to the gates of the school and the path to the village.
Once comfortably settled into a secluded corner of the 'Three Broomsticks' pub, with a sampling of their general confections between them, Skeeter happily removed from her small scaled bag a roll of parchment and an acid-green quill.
"Whenever you're ready Miss Skeeter," Millennial said, tapping into the Force to make himself appear more charming to the sickeningly vain woman.
She smiled again, sticking the tip of the quill in her mouth for a moment, then setting the pen atop the parchment on the table, where it waited for them to begin speaking.
"So," Skeeter started, and the quill began scratching, "eleven long years before Harry Potter arrived returned to the Magical world, what on earth were you and he up to? When did you take guardianship of Mr. Potter, and what was the charming boy like as a child."
Millennial chuckled softly at the woman's invasive questions off the word 'go'. "I was under the impression this interview was to speak of the Tournament…" the woman frowned slightly, but Millennial took a small breath and continued, "but I suppose I could sate a few of your readers' ravenous questions."
Skeeter's smiled returned, and the quill quivered as it wait for Millennial to tell his tale. "Young Harry.., I found him in a small orphanage while out on business in the muggle world," Millennial started, "from what I learned the heavily abusive family that he was living with had been the victims of a brutal murderer. Ironically Harry was the only one to survive because the horrid people wouldn't even give him the decency of a real room to sleep in. So in a way, their abuse of the boy was what saved him in the end."
The quill was flying over the parchment, and Skeeter looked like Christmas had come a month early. "But how did sweet little Harry end up with such a horrid family?" she wondered aloud.
"A question I asked myself many times as I raised the boy, and not until his Hogwarts letter arrived did I know the culprit. It seems that the person responsible for placing Harry with his abusive relatives was none other than Albus Dumbledore himself…"
Millennial wasn't perfectly certain that the old fool was truly behind Veneficus' original home life, however any chance to place more blame at the man's feet was to be taken.
"You're kidding!" Skeeter said, truly shocked at the accusation.
"I wish that I was," Millennial replied, laying the Force-riddled charm on thickly, "but through some careful sleuthing and with help from the late Lord Malfoy I discovered the truth. Why the old Headmaster was so eager to place the hero of the wizarding world with a vile family of muggles I doubt any of us will ever know, but that's why I elected to join the board of Hogwart's Governors, to try and limit the overpowering influence the man has over our children."
The quill keeping track of their conversation looked as though it was going to fly off the end of the parchment, and the woman seemed completely derailed from her intended line of probing questions into the Sith's background. Millennial mentally scoffed at the foolish two dimensional outlooks that plagued the wizarding world.
"Well," Millennial said after the woman seemed to collect herself from what seemed to be a mental overload from such a potentially juicy story, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have many projects that need to be seen to, it was lovely to meet you however Miss Skeeter, and I hope that we may see more of each other as the Tournament progresses. Good day…"
And the Lord of the Sith turned and left the reporter, activating his personal portkey home once outside the pub.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jedi Temple on Coruscant had never seemed quieter to Master Coven. Master Lalsok had yet to call in any updates on the hunt, and with so much political turmoil in the Galaxy, more and more Knights and Masters were being sent out to keep the peace.
But still, having all those beings away from the temple weighted heavily on the Grand Master. Every single Jedi felt like a child to her, and to have them so far away and in dangerous situations worried her. Let alone the fear of the Sith returning, and that they could strike out at the Jedi at any time.
The powers of Darkness were growing again, invading the Jenet Jedi Master's mind as she meditated and playing off her worries and fears. The Republic and by extension the whole Galaxy had no clue of the depths of evil that lurked in the shadows, waiting to destroy them all indiscriminately.
'You cannot stop what is to come…' returned the voices of the shades of Korriban in Master Covens' mind. Steeling her resolve, Fae pushed the foul whispers from her mind. She regretted the side effects of setting foot on the Sith home world, but the boon of knowledge had allowed her to prepare for the worst, confirming that the Sith Order did still exist, and whatever may happen to her, so long as the Jedi survived to protect the Galaxy, so be it.
Just then, her comlink pinged, signaling that a message was pending. Pulling out the small device and activating it, Fae watched the small hologram of Master Lalsok appear in the air over it.
"Grand Master," the Weequay said with a bow. "I have locked on to the current whereabouts of Zhar Quelmok in the Tund system. A report came from an orbital station over the planet of an unknown ship transmitting Republic access codes. Given what the planet's populace is and their history with the Dark Side, it makes sense that Zhar would go there in an attempt to find pureblood Sith to learn from."
"He'll be very disappointed to learn that the Sorcerers of Tund are actually exiles that rejected the Dark Side for the ways of the Light," Fae commented, to which the stoic Master Lalsok nodded, "Indeed, I feel that capturing Zhar will be far easier on a world where the Light reigns than anywhere else. I expect to arrive on the world within a few hours, and make contact with Quelmok soon afterward."
"May the Force be with you, Master Lalsok," Fae replied, just before the communication shut off.