Okay a little clarification about Xanxus' age. Physically and mentally he's at LEAST 16-17. His birth certificate however claims he's 14. I don't see the mafia NOT abusing the hell out of time turners just to keep their kids from being tied down to the magical enclaves, especially since they have enough trouble with the Vindice already. Which means Xanxus is already experiencing the hormones that come from being a teenager, even if he should be about fourteen officially.
Sorry about that confusion!
Xanxus ignored the staring and whispers of the magical morons with ease. He wore the "King's Aura" which was part of the "Amber Aspect" or Sky Flame like a cloak that fitted him naturally.
Students and adults looked at him with uncertainty, awe, or in a few cases lust.
Xanxus snorted. He had no need of these sycophants who had let a weak bastard son of a dead line make them cower because a tainted Sky Latent had dulled their fangs and claws.
Or it could be because he had found a rather useful room that had turned into the perfect forge for him to use. It had taken him a week, partly because he had to wait for the wand wood to be delivered, but he had his newly forged X-Guns at his side. It amused him greatly that because of how outdated the pure blood morons were that they had no idea what a gun was. The muggleborns, however, had taken one look at them and gave him a wide berth without a second thought when they realized what they were.
He was just heading out to the boring little tourist village when he heard a familiar "VOI!" outside...and smirked.
He made quick strides with his longer legs to find a less than amused Squalo there already arguing with the old cat and the senile Sky.
"VOI! Boss, what the fuck?! Do you have any idea how much bitching I've had to endure because Daniela found out you escaped and didn't think to let her know?!" shouted Squalo in Italian.
Xanxus grinned...before he nearly broke Squalo's jaw.
"And how the fuck did you miss the fact that Ottabio was the traitor who was spreading the lies, shitty shark?!" he countered with a sneer.
Squalo blinked.
"Voi. Ottabio?"
"Fucking old geezer said that he had reports from someone high up enough in the 'coup' that I was planning to take over the title of Decimo by force. Levi's too stupid to pull a stunt like that, but Ottabio was far too smug when we went in," snapped Xanxus.
Squalo looked pissed, as did the others.
"Ushishishi... can the prince gut the traitor?" asked Belphegor hopefully.
"Can't. Rules state only a challenger for the position or the Boss can eliminate an officer. Otherwise we would have dealt with Levi already," said Squalo in annoyance.
Belphegor pouted at that.
"May I ask who these gentlemen are?" asked Dumbledore. He was clearly pissed.
Xanxus sneered at him.
"My blood brother," said Xanxus, clasping his hand on a surprised Squalo's face.
"My cousin," nodding to Mammon, on Squalo's shoulder.
"My trusted healer," nodding to Lussuria who beamed prettily at them all, smile full of teeth and radiating bloodlust.
"And my ward," he finished, patting a happy Belphegor on the head.
"The prince is no one's ward," said Belphegor pouting.
"Until you've reached your majority or passed the secondary exams, the Boss is your guardian in both worlds. Deal with it," said Mammon flatly. Belphegor sulked, but that went away when Xanxus rolled his eye and scooped him up with one arm.
"I see," said Dumbledore not happy.
Mammon smirked at him.
"I don't think you realize the full implications of Xanxus being in this tournament. While Squalo, Lussuria and I will remain at home, you'll have to contend with a bored Xanxus and Belphegor, since as a ward of the House of Black, Belphegor needs to stay close to the boss."
Dumbledore frowned.
"I thought you said you were from a branch family of the Potters."
Xanxus smirked.
"With how often your 'pure' families intermarry, do you really think that Dorea Black is the first one to marry into the Potter family," he shot back. "I'm a Black by deed if not blood and the closest blood relation to your precious 'savior'."
All true, without giving anything close to the full story.
Besides... Arcturus Black had summoned him before he was thirteen and made him perform a simple test.
He had to put the heir ring on and get it to accept him. If the ring resized itself to his hand, then he was the next head of the family. If not, well then Sirius would still be the head...even if the ring had rejected him.
The ring hadn't even taken a full minute before it resized itself to his hand and bonded itself to him. It was well hidden under a Mist illusion by a happy Viper, who had been fully reinstated in the family and was a proper Black again.
There was a reason Viper called Xanxus their favorite cousin.
Arcturus had cackled, before he proudly stated that with Xanxus as the new head of the family the Blacks would rise again, as proud as they had been when the Vongola were still in their infancy.
Dumbledore...did not look happy. At all.
And Xanxus honestly did not give a shit.
Sirius Black was rather confused as to why Dumbledore was currently bitching...er, complaining about the fact that he had not told his old headmaster that he was not in fact the next head of the Black family, but an arrogant youth by the name of Alexander "Xanxus" Black was.
"Honestly, I completely forgot about that. I mean all the Blacks, both estranged and those who married out of it, were given a notice via the Black Family Elf that Arcturus had picked a new heir a few years ago that would take the mantle upon his seventeenth birthday. Andromeda was pretty pleased with the new heir, because he brought her back into the family along with her daughter...even if he didn't do the same for her husband. And Narcissa was pretty annoyed because this meant Draco wouldn't inherit the titles."
"I was under the impression you were the next head and Harry was your heir."
"He would have been, if the current head hadn't heard of another Black with a rather rare talent showing up on the true family tapestry claiming his vaults and called him in to find out what the hell was going on. Apparently the kid impressed him, because he was given a chance to put the heir ring on and it accepted him almost immediately."
Dumbledore frowned. He didn't like unknowns, and this Alexander Black was very much a wild card that made it abundantly clear he did not respect him or his titles. If anything, "Xanxus" despised authority figures regardless of how important they were.
He was of the opinion that respect had to be earned, no matter what past deeds or what power they held...magical or otherwise.
And there was the matter of the teen's ward. As a member of the ICW, he was well aware of the 'missing' Prince of magical Russia. He had grievously wounded his twin Raziel, and he might have changed his name, but there was no mistaking who that child was.
Though any backlash Prince "Belphegor", as he now proudly called himself, might have received for his attack on his twin brother had been dealt with by the boy's new guardian.
Alexander had delivered viable reports from healers and professionals who wouldn't ignore the truth because of a royal bloodline and to keep face.
Belphegor's core and mind had been rendered inherently unstable due to the complete rejection of a natural twin bond with Raziel. A condition only made worse because of his parents only wanting their eldest to inherit, thus encouraging the elder brother to treat the younger as a lesser prince that he was allowed to torment.
The fact Belphegor had snapped was only an obvious conclusion in hindsight. That his behavior stabilized and his core was well on the way to mending after bonding with Alexander showed that his birth parents had been utterly unfit as his caretakers.
As such a stipend for the now "exiled" Prince had been set up to pay for his care and wellbeing, with the blessings of his parents who were happy to be rid of the boy.
That was the official story anyway.
Unofficially Xanxus had identified the early stages of schizophrenia and the fact Belphegor was one of the 'early bloomers' when it came to Activating his flames. The fact his twin bond had been unstable to the point he almost killed his brother had caused his mind to fracture itself, making him even more damaged than before.
As such Lussuria had managed to get a trustworthy doctor who could help come up with a special medication that wouldn't be completely useless because of Belphegor's Storm flames that would help stabilize his mental condition while Xanxus' magic and Sky Flames helped to mend the damage to the twin bond.
In the words of Xanxus, when he fully explained to Belphegor why he had to take his medication or else, there was nothing actually wrong with him. He had simply been born with a quirky brain that made him extra unique. The medicine was simply to keep him on an even keel so he didn't make himself a complete embarrassment to his new family. Xanxus did not want his new "little brother" to act as deranged and unhinged like Bellatrix Lestrange simply because he was being a stubborn brat.
With a comparison like that, Belphegor didn't fight taking his meds every morning, even if he disliked the taste.
"What can you tell me of Alexander Black?" asked Dumbledore.
"Never met the kid," said Sirius immediately. "All I know is that he was adopted into the branch family of the Potters and has a blood connection, but that his Black blood was stronger so he was made heir of that first. He can't try to claim the titles to the head of the Potter family until Harry has past his seventeenth birthday and fails to claim them for a year."
"What can you tell me of the branch family then?"
"Only that the third son of the head at the time split off about four hundred years ago and set up his own line in Italy," said Sirius. "I'm not a Potter and James wasn't really interested in that family history...and all the books are currently in storage in the Potter vaults, which only Harry can access when he's old enough."
Dumbledore was not happy and it showed. There were too many variables and a burning question of why the Goblet summoned a complete unknown such as Alexander Black when it had been young Harry's name that was chosen.
Xanxus stared down the pissy mother dragon, with Belphegor cheering him on to murder from the stands, safely in Lussuria's lap. She wasn't the only one up there...Squalo and Mammon were as well, with the miser taping the entire thing the second they heard the word dragons.
It took him a few seconds to mentally translate what the female dragon was saying, but when he did he saw red.
That bitch did not just call him fucking weak! He'd put this lesser female in her fucking place before he allowed her to win!
With a roar not unlike what the bitchy mother dragon was letting off, Xanxus pulled at his core and allowed Tenebrae (which was what he had named his dragon side) out. He didn't even realize he was pulling on the famous leylines under the school to make up the power difference needed for the first full transformation.
Once his core got used to the form the extra boost wouldn't be needed, but for the first transformation it was a necessity.
Magic rippled across his skin as the human form melted into a more powerful shape.
His body turned black as the diamond hard scales replaced skin. Hair turned into massive spikes that flowed down his back to a powerful tail. Hands and feet became talons and claws. His face elongated to reveal massive fangs. Wings sprouted from his back, massive enough to lift even his impressive bulk into the sky.
When the transformation was complete, he roared his dominance for all to hear and know.
This wasn't a mere fire-breathing lizard like the paltry creatures they housed in sanctuaries.
This was a fucking King of the Sky, ruler of the hoard.
The Horntail, sensing an unknown male dragon near it's nest, roared in return and attempted to take a protective stance around it's clutch. It knew better than to try and match flame with this beast... even an animal knows when a superior carnivore was around. However the chains prevented it.
With a swipe of it's massive claw, complete with talons sharp enough to bisect a man in half with one blow, the chains were shattered with contemptible ease.
The Horntail curled around it's clutch, breathing fire to keep it warm.
Tenebrae growled. The Horntail knocked the false egg, hoping that would appease the greater beast as tribute.
The dragon handlers, who had rushed in at the first roar, looked at the exchange stunned with disbelief.
They were quick to remove the smaller dragon from the arena while Xanxus roared to remind everyone who the dominant one was. Then to the complete disbelief of the crowd, Belphegor who had been waiting for this chance, promptly escaped Lussuria's hold...and proceeded to use Xanxus' tail as a sort of makeshift slide down to the arena.
Everyone watched this with baited breath. Everyone knew that those who completed an animagus transformation often weren't in full control of their instincts...especially for the first one.
Tenebrae lowered his head to look at the giggling prince, before snorting and letting Belphegor crawl onto his head.
Today had been a very, very good day for him.
On an unrelated note, the judges were too scared shitless to dare give Xanxus anything short of a perfect score.