Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Magic Break Can't Be Seen

Harry Potter

September 29th, 2017

When the Global Wizarding Ministry, GWM, was formed, the topic of where it would be located was hotly debated. While most of the present Mugwumps were eager to have their former countries host the new world power, it was decided that the Egyptian Ministry under the Pyramid of Khafre was the best choice. It was the only structure large enough in the Wizarding World to hold the numbers needed after all.

And so, one of the greatest nightmares of bureaucratic hell was created.

Every Ministry had its own way of doing things and wanted the new government to follow suit. Nicolas Flamel, Harry Potter, General Chang, and a few trusted others were in charge of organizing this mess into a functioning government. This often involved long, sleepless nights, early mornings, and constant emergencies.

Harry's day would always start with an International Portkey, which was just as nausea-inducing as any other. He would land in a room where four Aurors would hold him at wand point until they determined his identity, silver daggers in their free hands. Once he was confirmed to be who he was and not a werewolf, often thirty minutes later, Harry would finally be free to enter the Ministry to begin the work for the day. And the first step, every day, was to touch base with his new High Chancellor Nicolas Flamel.

When Harry walked through the door to Nicolas' office, he expected it to be similar to any other day, which was why he was utterly unprepared for a vicious Legimincy probe to smash into his Occlumency. He stumbled, clutching the door frame to support himself, and dug his hand into his robes to pull out his wand.

"Peace, Harry. Zhen didn't mean you any harm," Nicolas said, not even rising or looking up from his desk. "Zhen, please don't break my Undersecretary, I'm rather fond of him."

"Of course, High Chancellor," a short woman with dark eyes said. She stood behind Nicolas protectively, and cruel humor colored her face as she met Harry's eyes. "I just wanted to ensure your safety."

"Of course, of course," Nicolas said, waving his hand dismissively.

"What the hell is going on, Nicolas?" Harry demanded, his hand not leaving his wand. Nicolas finally looked up.

"Last night an Imperiused wizard tried to kill General Chang at the War Camp we set up in Siberia. They failed, obviously, but a brief investigation revealed that Mikael isn't too fond of the idea of us having War Wizards at our disposal. Bully for him, it just makes me want to have them more," Nicolas explained, before turning back to his paperwork.

Harry finally released his wand and entered the room, shooting suspicious glares at the woman named Zhen, who merely looked at him with amusement. "That doesn't explain attacking me with Legimincy first thing in the morning," he spat.

"It's a new security measure. Zhen is a Legimincer who was formerly part of the Chinese Ministry. Her skill is so refined that she was used to find dissidents and proxy assassins among the masses. She's here to help protect me from assassins."

Harry nodded, reluctantly, but understanding the reasoning. Nicolas was the one holding everything together, after all, Harry wouldn't have a single clue how to keep a global government running. He took an open seat in front of Nicolas' desk. "Will she be doing that every time we meet?"

"Who said I ever stopped?" Zhen softly said with a smirk. Harry focused on his Occlumency, feeling it harden, pushing out a smoke-like presence. "I expected more from the Boy-Who-Lived."

Harry was angry and wary. When Voldemort had invaded his mind, it was like a spike being driven into his mind, unstoppable, painful, and vindictive. And while Zhen's initial assault mirrored that method, he hadn't even been aware her attack lingered like smoke, getting a read on his battered Occlumency. He glared at the woman and opened his mouth.

"Enough," Nicolas said, cutting Harry off. "Zhen, stop picking on Harry. Harry, don't rise to her baiting, it's beneath you. She shouldn't need to attack you again now that she has a feel for what your mind feels like."

While that was satisfying to hear, Harry didn't like that infuriating smirk that Zhen still wore. "Fine," he said.

Zhen chuckled. "Don't worry, Potter; we're all on the same side. I want to save the world as much as you do. I just do it in a different way."

Frowning, Harry reluctantly nodded to her, which she returned. He still didn't like her. "Where do you want to start today, Nicolas?"

"The Dementors," Nicolas grunted, throwing his quill aside. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "There are three places in the world that have concentrations of Dementors. Azkaban, Mongolia, and Utah. But all three report that their numbers are consistent, that they haven't even had so much as a missing Dementor in almost two decades."

Harry sighed. "So there is a fourth location filled with enough Dementors to destroy a school somewhere in the world. I fear I already know the answer, but I don't suppose you have a way of tracking down rogue Dementors?"

"No more than the usual method of waiting to hear from the Muggles how an entire town suddenly went catatonic overnight," Nicolas said. "What a mess. I've already ordered the other three locations to begin purging their Dementors."

"Purging?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Fiendfyre," Nicolas replied. "It's another way to kill them."

"Nicolas, you can't just unleash Fiendfyre!" Harry protested. Nicolas slammed his hand on the desk.

"I bloody well can! I will not allow another school to be destroyed by those wraiths! The only benefit they provide our society is that of sleepless prison wardens, and more often than not, they abandon their post to follow the orders of some Dark Lord! So yes, I will order their deaths, and I will not be apologetic about it!"

Harry flinched in his seat. "What about the prisoners?" he asked.

Nicolas collapsed back in his seat. "Some are being released. Others are being allowed to serve their sentence if they enlist in the War Wizards. The dangerous ones, the murderers and such, are being executed. I won't tolerate them harming our society any further."

Harry's stomach twisted uneasily. He had arrested many witches and wizards over the years, and some refused to be taken alive. He learned to live with those deaths on his conscious, but it was the ones that he helped send through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries that lingered on his mind. He was not fond of executing prisoners, killing them in the same way his Godfather, Sirius Black, was killed.

"I'll reach out to my Muggle contacts to let them know what to look out for," Harry said. Nicolas gave him a thankful nod. "On the subject of Muggles, I've gone over the list of danger zones for magicals. I think we need a bigger buffer."

The danger zones Harry spoke of were Muggle dense areas, with lots of cameras. It, unfortunately, named a number of cities that magicals lived in, leading to a global warning to all magicals to be especially mindful of magic use in those areas. The buffer zone was Harry's addition, allowing many families to remain in their homes.

"You don't think thirty meters is enough? It should be out of range of most of the video cameras muggles use," Nicolas said with a frown. Harry responded by passing him a photograph. "Why are you showing me a picture of your wife casting a Tickling Hex on your daughter?"

"I borrowed a Muggle camera from my father-in-law. I took that from almost a hundred meters away, through a window and over a fence. Any magical living in one of the danger zones needs to be aware that if they can see a Muggle in the distance, the Muggle can see them up close."

Nicolas tossed the photograph away and rose from his desk so he could pace. Zhen moved out of his way, giving him plenty of room to move, although her eyes never left Harry, almost dissecting him with her eyes alone.

"No one is going to like that," Nicolas growled. "Did you know, Harry, that there are already calls for this government to collapse? That fear-mongering and bribes were instrumental in its creation? We want to preserve our world, and the fools out there want to tear us apart."

"And now you tell me we need to isolate ourselves further, that even on our own land, in our own homes, we can still be exposed! It's insane! Yet the proof is right there in front of us. No one is going to like that," Nicolas muttered, repeating himself.

"And on top of that, we have Mikael and his assassins! Attacked from within, out, and afar! We need to focus," Nicolas said, turning to face Harry. "We need to remove at least one of those issues. The Muggles are too big to focus on, Mikael is hiding, so we need to deal with the discontent in our ranks, solidify our power base."

Harry nodded. "That seems like a prudent choice. What did you have in mind?"

"Magical oaths. We can use Unbreakable Vows."

Harry blanched. "You can't be serious!"

"I fear I am, Harry. The world is too dangerous for us to be torn apart from within."

"We're not stripping people's free will!"

To Harry's surprise, Zhen spoke up for the first time since this meeting started. "I would advise against this High Chancellor."

Both wizards turned toward her, one in surprise, and the other with curious eyes. "Please, go on," Nicolas ordered. His voice sounded like steel wrapped in silk.

Zhen was not deterred. "As Mr. Potter has demonstrated, most witches and wizards won't accept this easily, even on account of the recent assassination attempt. It's too small and removed from their lives for them to accept such a drastic step. I advise we wait to implement such a requirement until an event occurs that encourages them to embrace it. A disaster on a national level, for example."

Harry was filled with horror with how casually Zhen spoke these ideas without a trace of empathy. But the worst was yet to come as she continued speaking. "If the situation grows worse, we could always instigate such a cause ourselves."

It was almost too much for Harry, only made worse when he realized that Nicolas seemed to be seriously considering Zhen's advice. "You can't possibly be considering this, Nicolas!" Harry demanded outraged.

Nicolas Flamel gave a half-hearted shrug. "I don't want to, but I fear I must. You know as well as I do the dangers of insurrection, Voldemort was proof! We need to stay united, and we can't do that if we're being torn apart from within."

"No," Harry stated firmly. "I will not allow us to go down this route! This Ministry was meant to be better than the corrupt ones that came before us, not bogged down by greed and corruption and lies! We will not follow in their footsteps!"

Nicolas sighed, but reluctantly nodded, causing Harry to be filled with relief. Zhen remained unmoved, emotionally and physically, and said nothing. Harry looked at the paperwork on Nicolas' desk and in his own hands. "Was there anything else for us to discuss today? I need to meet up with the Curse Breakers we hired to see about duplicating Britain's Portkey Office globally."

"No, you can go. Thank you for your time, and your nobility, Harry. Albus would have been proud," Nicolas said, returning to his desk. Harry rose and nodded gratefully. As he approached the door, he stopped and turned around to say one more thing.

"Actually, I think Dumbledore would have agreed with Zhen's idea. It seems like something he would do," Harry said before finally leaving. The door clicked shut behind him.

Nicolas drummed his fingers on the desk in thought. "It would be something Albus would have done, wouldn't it?" he asked rhetorically. He turned to Zhen. "Start going through our ranks, find the loyalists who will serve our cause. I want a valid accident to happen in a week, so the oaths can be sworn by Halloween."

Zhen bowed to him. "I live to serve the immortal alchemist."

Magic Break Can't Be Seen

Daphne Greengrass

October 6th, 2017

Astoria and Daphne walked down Diagon Alley, perusing the wares, and speaking of nothing important. They had stopped by an Apocathery, to collect more ingredients so they could make Astoria's potion, and were now meandering their way back to the Leaky Cauldron for a late lunch. They had barely opened the stone wall when the unmistakable sound of wards shattering filled the air.

The two witches were alarmed, looking in every which way. Daphne drew her wand, and quickly sent a pulse of magic into the air above her, searching for the wards that protected Diagon Alley, that kept it hidden from the Muggles. The results came back negative.

"The wards are gone," Daphne told her sister, her voice colored with surprise. Astoria shot her a look.

"Which wards?" Astoria asked.

"All of them. All of the wards that covered Diagon Alley are gone," Daphne explained. She, like many other witches and wizards in the alley, looked around with dread. The air was as thick as the storm clouds above with anticipation.

A pop, in the center of Diagon Alley, caught everyone's attention. Mikael stood there, a maniac grin on his face, and his hands were already clenching as if searching for some poor fool's neck. Those closest to him screamed, and back-peddled out of fear, throwing their purchases at the werewolf, as if that would satisfy him. The alley watched with baited breathe to see what Mikael would do next.

"Boo," Mikael whispered dramatically and screams once more issued forth.

The screams were not without cause, for no sooner had Mikael finished his taunt than werewolves, stronger and faster than the norm, started dropping from the roofs above, landing on unprepared magicals, and tearing into them. Mikael turned toward Gringotts, and the wary guards outside of it, and pointed his fingers at them, clicking twice.

The warm Autumn air suddenly turned chilly, as a wave of darkness swept over the alley. Dementors, dozens of them, flew down from the storm clouds far above, having used them for cover. The screams began anew as fear gripped the gathered witches and witches, and common sense left them. They moved in a panic mass toward Astoria and Daphne, and the Leaky Cauldron beyond them. The two witches were swept up in the crowd.

Daphne kept a firm hand on Astoria's arm as they entered the dingy pub. Rather than join the panicked mass fighting over the Floo, Daphne dragged her sister to the entrance to Muggle London, already forced open by a panicked wizard. They spilled out onto the crowded Muggle streets.

No sooner had their feet hit the pavement, did a group of werewolves jump from the top of the nearby buildings, attacking anyone in their sight. Witch, wizard, or Muggle did not matter, and quickly bodies began to pile up. Daphne attempted to Apparate away, but they slammed into an Anti-Apparation Jinx almost immediately.

"We need to fight our way free," Daphne told Astoria. The two witches drew their wands and began cursing any werewolf that approached them. Daphne was quite vindictive with her Cutting and Piercing Curses, killing more than a few.

The Muggles were panicking about the monstrous werewolves and began to flee in terror. Several of the braver, or more foolish, ones pulled out their cellphones, taking cover in doorways and in cafes to take pictures and videos. The faint beating of a helicopter told Daphne that a news chopper was on its way.

But she had no time to focus on that. Daphne and Astoria were separated when one of the werewolves tackled the pair. Daphne managed to banish it but was horrified to find Astoria's wand rolling on the ground. She called it to her free hand wandlessly and desperately looked around for her sister.

Astoria was a short distance away, struggling to her feet. A muggle family cowered behind her in an alley, unable to push deeper into it due to debris. And between them all and Daphne was the werewolf that had separated them, preparing to lunge.

Daphne's wand whipped up, stabbing toward the beast with lethal intent. The vicious blue of a Cutting Curse flew from her wand, aimed for the head of the werewolf. But even as it left her wand, Daphne knew it wouldn't reach her sister in time.

Which was why Daphne was surprised to see a Protego spring into being in front of Astoria and the Muggles, stopping the beast dead in its tracks. Daphne's spell hit it a second later, bisecting it from snout to tail, killing it instantly, and spraying the alley with blood. The Protego vanished.

Astoria was no longer in the alley, and Daphne smiled. Her little sister must have cast the spell wandlessly, activating the Portkey embedded within the Riddle Coin she carried in a pouch on her hip. Knowing that Astoria would now be thousands of miles away, safe, she turned her gaze to the Muggles and raised her wand, causing them to cower further.

A brief Banishing Charm later blasted the debris blocking their escape route out of their way. She jerked her head at their new exit. "Run," she ordered, and the Muggles didn't waste a second to obey.

Snarling behind Daphne caused her to turn around. The street was deserted of humans, only werewolves remained, and their focus was on Daphne. They growled and slobbered as they approached, lethal intent filling their eyes. But Daphne was more than equal to that.

Her eyes shifted slightly, almost unnoticeable, were it not for the fact that the werewolves were already looking at her. Where human blue eyes once sat, the inhuman blue eyes of a werewolf stared out, glaring at the growling werewolves. They quieted down almost instantly.

Daphne stepped into the alley, out of sight from the CCTV cameras that littered the street. She snapped off a few minor curses, purposefully missing, as her eyes returned to their normal, human shape. The werewolves howled, ignoring her, and turned away to continue their attack on London.

And Daphne calmly walked away.

Magic Break Can't Be Seen

Tearjerker

October 6th, 2017

Wizards, Tearjerker thought to himself. Their screams echoed unpleasantly in his ears, reaching him from his spot within Gringotts. His eyes caught Gutripper, the other guard on duty within the bank's lobby, and the two goblins shared a sneer.

Tearjerker wondered if the red-haired menace turned Diagon Alley into a swamp again. It was funny the first three times, but not the following ninety-five. Yes, Tearjerker had counted, as it always happened on his shifts, and he always had to clean up the muck that the wizards dragged into the lobby. He mentally prepared himself for another day mopping swamp water up and turned to alert the floor manager of the disturbance in the alley.

It was the thing that spared him from a messy death. Gutripper wasn't so lucky, as he was smooshed into paste when a massive, furry object barrelled into Gringotts, smashing open the doors, and killing the second guard. Tearjerker was only clipped and sent spiraling through the air to crash into a granite counter.

More dark furry creatures entered Gringott's lobby, scratching the floor and snarling at the wizards staring at them in horror. "Werewolves!" one of the wizards shouted, and chaos broke out as the wizards drew their wands and the beasts attacked.

Spells flew through the air, smashing into the beasts with surprising force. But the werewolves picked themselves off the ground, snarling and slobbering – no worse for the wear, and attacked back. Blood soon covered the floor of Gringotts, human and goblin alike.

Tearjerker staggered to his feet, clutching his halberd. He snarled, raising it high and bringing it down on one werewolf's side. It sank deep into the beast, but it barely twitched in response. With a hand larger than a dinner plate, the werewolf grabbed the halberd and tore it free from its side, and Tearjerker's hands. It tossed it aside and howled in the goblin's face.

Which was why, with the wisdom not seen by many others, Tearjerker turned, vanishing into Gringotts and abandoning his post. All around him, goblins and wizards fell to the savage beasts, and he could almost imagine one of the hounds nipping at his heels. He quickened his pace and dove into the tunnel leading to the carts.

Several of the more intelligent goblins had the same idea, already pushing their way to the few remaining open seats. The handful of confused witches and wizards who were already sitting in the carts suddenly found themselves harshly pushed out. Tearjerker had no issue in stepping over one of the wand-wielders in order to get to safety.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" one of the wizards demanded after Tearjerker used him as a springboard. "You can't do that, I'm-"

Whatever the wizard was going to say was cut off when a werewolf tore his head off. The goblins manning the carts threw them into gear, and they began to roll down the tracks and away from danger.

Tearjerker and the other goblins breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. One of the carts ahead of them was suddenly hit by a large, furry missile and sent flying off the tracks. The occupants were smashed into the rocks, killing them instantly, but the werewolf landed with ease, already turning, snarling, back toward the carts. They rounded a curve, and it fell out of sight.

More beasts fell from above, somehow moving fast enough to keep pace with the carts. "Move faster!" Tearjerker ordered the cart goblin. It gave him an angry look.

"One speed only!"

Tearjerker could only snarl in disgust, unwilling to admit he was feeling fear, as they dove deeper into the earth. Another cart ahead of them was sent flying off the tracks.

A well-known fact to the wizards of the above world, the Goblin Nation was buried deep beneath the earth, through a maze of tunnels and caverns. Centuries ago, Bloodsnatcher the Third, king of the Goblin Nation, had the devious idea of opening a bank above ground, using those same tunnels and caverns as vaults. He reasoned it would give wizards less reason to attempt to invade them if they had to break through their own vaults to get to them in the first place.

It worked, and the goblins had taken devious pleasure in using wizardkind's greed against them ever since. It also meant that the quickest, and safest way to reach the goblin nation, was to ride their cart system to the very end. To a depth that no wizard had seen in over two hundred years.

Tearjerker spat out a mouth of water. The Thief's Downfall served a dual purpose, stripping enchantments of all kinds, but also as a warning for goblins on their way to their kingdom. The cart left the tracks, hurtling through the air toward the sharp rocks below, an inviting pool of safe water begging to be used to their right. All they had to do was jump.

Except that wasn't the way to the goblin's kingdom. The goblins remained seated, and mostly calm, as they smashed into the rocks, or rather, as they passed through them. A powerful enchantment was woven in this area, allowing passage to the caverns below while creating an illusion of destruction to cover their escape. They should be safe.

A flash of light smashed into the cart, sending it flipping through the air. Tearjerker was unprepared and sent flying from the cart, and it was the only thing that saved him when a second jet of light smashed into the cart, shattering it into a hundred pieces, and killing the remaining goblins. Tearjerker smashed into the floor and slid until he hit a wall.

He groaned, struggling to his feet. His vision was blurry, and he reached out with one, gnarled hand to steady himself on a wall, only the wall was soft. Tearjerker's eyes focused just in time for him to see a werewolf's claws slash him open, from neck to hip. He fell slowly, and his head turned to see the rest of the kingdom.

It was burning. Homes and buildings that had withstood thousands of years of warfare were being destroyed in a single afternoon. Howls filled the air, accompanied by the screams and desperate pleading of goblins as they were slaughtered in their stronghold. Tearjerker felt horror as he managed to turn his head back to the werewolf, who was watching him with something akin to amusement in his eyes.

"Why?" Tearjerker gasped, blooding coming out. The werewolf shimmered, becoming human, turning into a naked woman with dark eyes and a cruel smile.

"Because we serve the immortal alchemist," she said, before raising her hand. It glowed with hellish light, and Tearjerker's world faded to black.

Magic Break Can't Be Seen

Alexander Dantes

Thirteen Years Ago

Despite his desires otherwise, it took Alexander almost a month to finally read the stolen libraries that Devin and his thieves had procured him. His chief focus was on the Acropolis, after all, and he needed to make sure the builders knew what they were doing, as well as welcoming new arrivals. It was a neverending chore.

They numbered in the thousands now. Alexander had begun to delegate the welcoming to volunteers who had proven their loyalty and dedication, as the numbers were starting to overwhelm him. He still remained highly visible, welcoming the new arrivals as a group each night, and teaching wandless lessons during the day, but he began to step back as he found competent people to help him.

Anastasia, for example, was a witch who lost her non-magical husband to cancer. The pair had tried for months to have children before he died, only to fail, leaving her quite heartbroken. Alexander had no issue with her welcoming the children and teenagers who figured out the Riddle Coins, almost adopting them as her own. It was good for the children, while a more direct overture was made to their parents.

And that was a sticking point. Alexander had no issue with an adult bringing their children to Cape Horn, often assisting in the relocation efforts, but he was much more cautious about bringing a child's parent to them if they had yet to solve the Riddle Coin. While he knew some would accuse him of wanting to indoctrinate the children, Alexander's reasons stemmed from the fact that the parents who couldn't solve the Riddle Coin while their children did, were more often than not abusive.

Which was why careful scouting missions were undertaken to determine the personality of the parents. If found genuinely concerned, their Riddle Coins were used to portkey them to Cape Horn, where the situation was explained to them. If they, and their children, both agreed to leave, they were Obliviated and returned to their homes safely. The children, of course, were still allowed to voice their own opinions, being allowed to stay or leave, regardless of their parent's wishes.

It might have been biased, but Alexander's Riddle Coins searched out specific characteristics, and he was loathed to allow them to slip through his fingers. To date, he had only had to Obliviate ninety people, which spoke of how detailed and specific his requirements were, as well as how accurately the Riddle Coins found them.

Those who arrived without solving their Riddle Coins were placed in highly specialized classes that helped train them into the mindsets needed to solve them. It was slow work for some, but it had a very high success rate, especially when the new arrivals realized the reward for solving it were lessons in wandless magic. Everyone wanted to achieve the long considered "highest" level of magical skill in history.

The increase in new arrivals had led to more homes being built, as people had their families join them, or started new ones with one another. Recently they had their first birth, and a celebration was thrown to celebrate. Everyone came out to congratulate the new parents, Alexander and Daphne included.

Life went on. Work resumed, golems mined, wizards shaped, and slowly they continued to build. Dozens of stone pillars pierced the ocean's surface, and Alexander taught his people how to build a magical scaffolding that would hold them in shape and place, supporting the weight of the structure. Golems were still used, pushing blocks of stone taller than a man up the ramps they made, and magicals worked alongside them, directing them as needed.

Alexander showed the builders how he wanted the pillars to rise, branching off to connect in arches. He reminded them, and the new arrivals, that they were not just building a stronghold for themselves, but for their children, and their children's children, and so on. Alexander desired a world where they would no longer suffer, that they would be equals, able to rise even higher out of personal achievement and skill. Everyone worked toward that vision.

But Alexander had many things to do, such as reading texts that contained such twisted and vile acts, he reasoned that even Voldemort would have been impressed. After all, magic that concerned the soul was rarely pretty or clean, and even more rarely was it painless.

Soul based magics seemed to follow a few, consistent paths. Longevity or immortality, by splitting off a piece of your soul to preserve you in the mortal realm. This had the unfortunate side effect of crippling insanity and mental destabilization, leading Alexander to dismiss it. Another aspect dealt with forcing your soul to reincarnate into a specific vessel. However, from what Alexander could tell, this usually ended with whatever foolish wizard attempting this shredding his own soul to smithereens. It seemed the soul did not like to be forced.

But the largest amount of texts that Alexander found predominantly focused on boosting a magical's power and control using the soul as fuel. Not their own soul, of course, as that was where their magic was in the first place, but the souls of others.

There were a variety of ways and methods to do this, but Alexander's chief focus was on a ritual he discovered that allowed one wizard to strip another, or many others, of their blood and magic to restore themselves, while increasing their longevity. It wasn't true longevity, like what a Philosopher's Stone would grant you by restoring your body to prime physical shape, but it did increase the number of years you could theoretically live while slowing your body's natural degradation.

Most importantly of all, the text included the runes and chants needed to perform this ritual, and Alexander recognized it as the same one he witnessed Nicolas Flamel perform years ago. But what caught Alexander's eye were notations made to the text in two distinct handwriting styles, written in French.

The first talked about how they could refine the process, giving up the regenerative power of the blood to increase the target magical's control, objectively granting them the ability to cast wandlessly. It had the added benefit of requiring only one sacrifice, making it much more economical. It was written with the air of an excited child showing off for their parent.

But the second set of handwriting was almost chiding as it corrected the first's mistakes, explaining how to use the other sacrifices to increase their aptitude for magic forcefully. The two handwriting styles devolved into a friendly argument over the pros and cons of increasing one's magic without increasing their level of control over it.

But most importantly of all, Alexander's attention was on the names they used, confirming the latter to be Nicolas Flamel, and the former to be Uunta Banoo, the Headmaster of the Uagaduo School, who was revealed to be Nicolas Flamel's illegitimate son.

From what Alexander could tell from this, and the other texts, Uunta was born almost four hundred years ago, when Nicolas strayed from his wife while they traveled. He brought the boy back with them to France, where he began his education and helped his son return to the land of his birth to take over the Uagaduo School. He used various pseudonyms over the years, eventually revealing his birth name to be Pierre Flamel.

Perenelle Flamel never grew attached to the young man, leading to a rift in their family. It grew so bad that Perenelle orchestrated the rise of Britain as a world power, simply to conquer the lands Pierre called home, although it didn't amount to much. It continued until just a few years ago, when Nicolas, finally tiring of his wife's threats to expose his dark deeds, killed her, taking her blood and magic for himself.

Alexander read how the Perenelle and Nicolas used this ritual over the centuries instead of using the Elixir of Life, finding it more reliable than having to bleed blood onto the alchemical marvel constantly to maintain it. The blood and magic of thousands of magicals ran through their veins, and it greatly increased their magical might. And their favorite source of magic and blood? Mudbloods, who no one would miss.

As Alexander put the texts to the side, he began to plot, leaning back in his seat. Nicolas Flamel was a dangerous foe; he had been alive for centuries and killed thousands of magicals in order to feed his own power. Alexander knew he would only have one real chance to kill him, to kill the only threat to his own ambitions.

Alexander smiled.

Magic Break Can't Be Seen

AN: J.K. Rowling revealed other wizarding schools after she finished writing the books. The Uagaduo School is famous how many of its students are accomplished Animagi, as well as capable of wandless casting. My little theory on why this is so is because they take the "weakest" half of students in the graduating class, and sacrifice them to empower the other half, granting them these abilities. That the halves sacrificed are usually Muggleborn should be no surprise.

Zhen: Originally I had her in the interrogation room with Harry in chapter one, trying to break into Daphne's mind to find her secrets. I could never get the scene to work right unfortunately, but I didn't want to get rid of the character. So now she serves the immortal alchemist.

Dementors: Yes there is a concentration of Dementors in Utah. Feel free to guess why.

Magical Vows: When you think about it, wizards are highly illogical. There is a piece of magic that kills those who betray the conditions sworn upon. Have graduating wizards swear not to cause undo harm, to attempt to conceal the secrecy of their world, and to work toward the safety and well being of all magicals. Maybe not that exact one, but the oaths could be tweaked, and 99% of their problems would disappear. Sadly, wizards have 99 problems and logic is number one.

Harry: He's still a good guy, but if you look at canon he's had very little free will. Now that he's an adult and "has" it, he won't want to give it up willingly. Fiendfyre is dark magic, and he's had a bad experience with it in the past, so his shock at it being used is likewise understandable. I do think that if Fiendfyre can destroy a Horcrux, a Dementor would likewise be destroyed by it.

Flamel: Nobody living knew he had a son in the form of Uunta (Pierre). The two men have been alive for centuries, and Perenelle wasn't happy to have a "bastard" in the family (got to love those ancient prejudices). Nicolas killed her because she threatened to reveal his actions throughout history, even though she was also doing them by his side.

Astoria/Riddle Coins: The final riddle of the Riddle Coins is to perform wandless magic. Alexander has an "easy" time teaching the people who arrive in his haven wandless magic, because the coins have already insured they have a decent grounding, even if they don't realize it. The Riddle Coins do have exceptions in it, they won't allow anyone who already knows wandless magic in, for example, as they're usually ancient, set in their ways, wizards who he knows he can't work with. This is why Flamel, his son, and the graduated students from the Uugaduo School never join him there. They also do not permit those who served Voldemort entry.

Muggle London: Is covered in cameras. Combined with the cellphones, the Wizarding World was just blown wide open by this attack. The veil of secrecy is shattered, and the Muggles are aware magic exists. The alley Daphne walked into is a blind spot, so they didn't see her eyes transform.

Daphne: Sorry, no spoilers.

Goblins: I had an issue when I plotted out this story, namely; what the hell do I do with the goblins? Then I realized what I needed to do, so I wrote Mikael attacking them, invading their kingdom, as a showcase of how dangerous he is, as well as advancing the next part of the story. He's destroyed an ancient school and now a species (for the purpose of this story, the goblins are only native to England, even though they have branches all around the world.). I did throw in some references to canon, namely the Thief's Downfall.

Acropolis: It's important to remember scale. Alexander is, quite literally, building a mountain to protect himself and his people, that he intends to Transmute once it's finished to fortify it. Even with the aid of the thousands mentioned in this story, it's going to take a long time. A large portion of the bottleneck is the speed at which resources can be collected and refined, and the only way to solve that is by throwing more bodies at it. Which they are.

Rituals: I would think Necromancy, Blood, and Soul magic would be the only area where rituals really have an impact. Blood and Soul magic actually have a large role to play in the creation and use of Runic Languages in this story, using ritualistic methods. That'll be important later on.

Right now, Alexander's realized that Nicolas has most likely been performing that ritual he witnessed a few years ago for centuries, and that he (Flamel) is a massive threat to his end goals. So he needs to be removed, as well as his son, who also has knowledge of these rituals.

I hope you're all enjoying the story! The NEXT UPDATE will be in THREE DAYS!