"Up!" Hydrus cried. "We're going up!"

Without waiting for the two teens to comprehend what he said, he began to transfigure the rubble around them into a platform that shot them back up through the hole they came through. He couldn't attach the pieces of brickwork to their old positioning, but he could at least magically push his companions off the construct before leaping away himself. Once they were clear of the cavern, his head snapped back and forth to try and figure out what to do next.

The room they were in was different from the others. It was extended into a hall and had pillars lined up from one side of the space to the other with iron braziers wrapped around them that cast everything in a dim orange light. There was an old, ornamental carpet on the ground, no doubt meant to 'welcome' the victor to their end, but Hydrus could only consider how flammable it was. At the end opposite of them was the Goblet of Fire, standing on a plain looking stone sarcophagus. Behind that was a shattered throne.

'Behold, behold,' he thought. "Come on! Let's go!"

They rushed towards it. Hydrus's heart felt like it was about to slam out of his ribs, but he couldn't pause to calm it. Just like on the battlefields he'd spent most of his life in, all he could do was acknowledge it and move on. When they got close, the sarcophagus burst open, sending the goblet clattering to the ground as a creature began to rise from it.

It was some sort of skeletal being that had a purple aura surrounding its bones, and a sense of death and decay began to fill the room. It wore a crown on its skull and the robes loosely draped around its bones looked far too impressive to have been down here for so long. Inside its eye sockets the aura coalesced into matching sprites of fire.

Various other undead beings besides inferi ran through his mind, but his best guess was that it was some sort of pseudo-lich, perhaps a recreation of what had originally ruled over this tomb before the curse breakers got their hands on it. The monster's magic harmonised with his own Black power, but it was a rotten and sour note that didn't benefit him at all.

Before it could even sit up all the way, Hydrus demolished it with his magic, sending shards of bone and scraps of cloth in every direction as the final challenge of the third trial failed to withstand even a fraction of his power.

"There," Hydrus said, pointing towards the goblet. "It's a portkey, and on three we'll grab it all at once to get away from here. Do you two understand?"

He had no idea if that was true or not. The dossier had only mentioned the sorts of dangers he'd meet along the way, not what the end game was. He just had to hope that the trial wasn't too far off course from the original timeline, and he had to say it with enough confidence to get the other two to believe him.

Luckily, Krum and Fleur both knelt down beside the cup and the panic in their eyes told him that they'd listen.

"Alright," he said, calm as he could manage despite his own terror. "On three." The other two nodded. "One… Two… Three!"

Fleur and Krum's hands shot forward and grasped the cup even as Hydrus's pulled away. The other two didn't even have time to properly face him in shock before they were whisked away, and he turned back to the hole that the inferi were slowly piling themselves up from and through. He ran his hand through his hair as he finally came to grips with the situation he was in.

This was the army, the weapon, that the Catholic church hadn't been willing to reveal until Leorex had forced their hand. It wasn't until Greece and most of Turkey were in ruins that they unleashed this curse upon the earth, and although it had failed, the hesitation the pope and whomever else was involved with the decision had shown for it wasn't unwarranted. Hydrus had only stolen a single glance at the disturbing numbers held below the tomb proper, and that was enough to know he couldn't just let it go.

If he did, how many thousands of millions of people would die?

"Incendio!" He jabbed his wand forward and the jet of fire that launched from his wand immolated all but a few of the undead that had managed to escape the breach. "Incendio Maxima!"

Once more flames burst through his wand, though this time his arm had lost a good portion of itself as well. He couldn't afford to waste any power suppressing the uncooperative portions of his magic now, he just had to deal with it. No matter what, he had to put an end to this before it was too late.

"Albus," he started as the inferi once more began to pile up and out of the hole. "You're the only one I can trust to hold this next spell back."

Fleur gasped when she and Krum appeared in front of a crowd of horrified spectators. Their countries' leaders were standing on a stage with their jaws slack or clenched. No one even bothered to acknowledge their arrival, too busy staring at the massive magical display which showed that Hydrus had stayed behind. All around them people who should've been fleeing were instead paralysed by terror as they watched him stand and turn around to face the hole he'd pulled them from.

"What is he doing?" She demanded from no one in particular. "Why didn't he come with us?"

"He knows what he has to do." The quarter-veela turned to stare in disgust at Krum and the unaffected tone he'd used, but when she did she realised the man was practically strangling the hand that had grabbed the cup. "He's going to try to hold them off."

"What?" Fleur scoffed despite the fact that she believed him. "He'd have to be insane—"

"We will watch." The quidditch player finally let go of his hand and took a deep breath. "And we will clean up whatever he leaves behind."

"You're both insane!" Fleur shouted. "Even if the entirety of my people gathered together we wouldn't be able to handle that!"

"We still have to try," Krum said. "I promised to pay him back."

She wanted to call him an idiot, but Hydrus's voice came echoing through the display.

"Albus," he started. "You're the only one I can trust to hold this next spell back."

"What the hell is he doing!" Arcturus shouted to Bellatrix's annoyance. "Get the fuck out of there, boy!"

"He can't hear you," she snipped at him, wishing he'd be quiet. "Just watch."

"Watch?" the Black patriarch hissed at her. "What in Merlin's name is wrong with you? He's going to get himself killed!"

"He won't," she argued petulantly. "Just watch."

The man she'd once respected above all others worked his jaw up and down. His cane shook and trembled as much as he did and for the first time in her life Bellatrix saw weakness in his eyes. She saw fear. In the ancient lord's defence, it wasn't like he knew what all her future husband had done. What all he'd conquered and overcome.

Still though, she couldn't feel the same disrespectful worry that he did.

"You really have gone beyond the pale of sanity, haven't you?" Arcturus snapped at her, his magic flooding the box they were watching in. "Did you even see how many of those monsters are down there? That is my heir! Our family's future! He's trying to throw away his life—"

"Enough!" Bellatrix screeched, throwing her own magic against her grandfather's and for once managing to push it back. "You will be silent! And you will behold the one true Lord of House Bla—"

"Albus." She spun around to hear her love's words. "You're the only one I can trust to hold this next spell back."

"What the fuck?" Sirius's words echoed Albus's thoughts. "Professor, what the fuck?"

The headmaster's grip on the orb that maintained the shields around the tomb grew tighter and tighter as his hand creaked and cracked in protest. All three of the teens' projections had shown the same thing: an army of undead monsters that they had no hope of containing. It would take weeks to put the horde down at best, months more likely, perhaps even years at worst; and there was zero chance they could stop the muggles from discovering it. He was watching the end of the Statute of Secrecy play out before his very eyes.

And the first casualty would be his makeshift grandson.

"Professor!" Albus turned and saw Sirius had fallen to his knees, sweat pouring off his face. "I can't—"

The ancient warlock sucked in his breath to settle his heart and reclaim the magic he'd been unconsciously flooding the small room with. "My apologies."

He needed to do something, but what? Things would've been better if their roles were reversed and it was him down in the tomb while Hydrus maintained the shield, though the headmaster didn't think even he could kill them all. Perhaps if Hydrus—

"Albus." The ancient warlock stiffened as he heard his name being called. "You're the only one I can trust to hold this next spell back."

Giannis was kicking out his feet on the edge of his seat as he watched Hydrus turn away from where the big cup that had sent the other two away used to be. His best friend was looking almost bored, but it was hard to think that was true when all those zombies were down there trying to get up at him. The real question was what he was going to do about them.

"It's my fault." Giannis turned to see Bill had practically doubled over in his seat, covering his mouth and nose with his hands while his eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his skull. "I fucked up. If I hadn't…"

"What's the matter?" Giannis asked, head tilted the side.

"Giannis…" Bill looked at him like he was an idiot, and it hurt a bit. "Giannis, Hydrus is in a lot of danger."

"No he's not." He glared at the older wizard and looked away. "Hydrus is the strongest."

The other redheads that had joined them since his early-morning breakout were looking no better than Bill, they all seemed like they wanted to cry. Mister Weasley was the only one who looked even a little bit calm, but even he was staring up at the sky like he was trying to think of something.

"Dad?" the one with an earring said. "I know you said there's anti-apparition wards, but maybe we can find—"

"It won't work," Bill interrupted. "The rune scheme itself is in Cairo. I don't know why, but the Ministry demanded complete and total transportation lockdown until five hours after the trial was supposed to end, which isn't until another day from now."

"But…" Charlie or whatever the other Weasley's name was started. "There's gotta be something. We gotta at least get moving."

"We've just got to believe in Dumbledore and the other school heads," Bill said before standing up. "Actually, I should go make sure they're doing alright. If need be I can maybe help give some magic to the shield—"

"Albus." Giannis grinned at his best friend speaking up. "You're the only one I can trust to hold this next spell back…"

"It takes fire to kill inferi, so I'm gonna fill this place with the stuff. It's on you to stop me from roasting the spectators." Hydrus took a deep breath. "I'm not a hundred percent sure I'll make it out this time."

The ancient warlock was more than capable enough to stop the blaze he'd start. With a sandy environment like the desert, there was no way for it to spread too far, but he needed to make sure he wouldn't decimate the audience. Magic only knew how many members of his family, adopted or otherwise, were watching him now.

"Tell the people I love that I love them, spit in the eyes of people I hate." He tightened his grip on his wand as he prepared his final working. "Raise Giannis into a better man than I, and make sure Apophis doesn't do anything stupid." His arm continued to ache. "You are the best—"

He was cut off when his shoulder caught fire. For a brief moment he wondered if he'd lost control of the spell he'd been preparing, but when Fawkes appeared from the flames he realised what had happened. The phoenix squawked at him, but he just grinned at its admonishment and attempts to pull him away. The bird even began to try and slap him with its wings when his magic refused to be moved by the phoenix's.

"Sorry," Hydrus said. "But I don't have any other choice."

Although he couldn't draw on the phoenix's magic, its presence did allow him to influence his own power. It felt similar to Dumbledore's, and his body began to heat up as he leaned into that nature. His soul had once been connected with the phoenix's, he had become in all but name the next Dumbledore in his time, and the transition was easy.

Very, very easy.

As he realised the strength the power was giving him, the inferi who'd climbed out began to move forward.

"Fawkes…" he muttered. "It's you."

His arm had begun to burn when he gave his last requests regarding his two 'children', but now it was as fine as anything. He continued to imagine his power flowing through him with the visualisation of a phoenix, and it grew stronger with every second that passed.

"A being of fire." The hall grew hotter and hotter. "Stretching your wings to soar across the winds." The spell he was building up to grew stronger. "A being who has died countless times." The heat in the room died away, and was replaced with a truly spectacular and magical presence. "Because you are as immortal a being as can naturally exist."

As the spell nearly burst from his wand despite his holding it back, he raised the weapon.

"Pestis Incendium Maxima!"

A reflection of Fawkes, coloured black with highlights of green, twice the size and a thousand degrees hotter, blossomed from his wand and began to immolate the tomb as it continued to grow. The stones beneath Hydrus's feet melted away and he sank down to the next level amidst a crowd of inferi who were instantly cremated to ash. The sandy ground beneath his feet dissolved into glass and he watched the pseudo-phoenix he'd birthed grow larger and larger as his magic continued to burn out of him in a flawless and hyper-efficient manner.

Black madness fueled his visualisation, consuming everything in his mind as he gave himself over to it entirely. Logically he knew it was hot, that everything including himself should burn, but in his soul it didn't even occur to him that it would hurt him. That it could hurt him. He was the phoenix, risen once more from the ashes and destined to burn all that opposed him from his resurrection. The wounds on his arm faded away as the healing aspects of the phoenix's power spread through his bones.

His fiendfyre hadn't even begun to fly, its wings were only just now reaching their apex-spread, but it had already grown to nearly half the size of the tomb's height. The off-coloured flames were the most potent form of destruction he'd ever wrought. The unbreakable stone above him melted as easily as the sand beneath his feet, and inferi were being wiped out by the heat before they'd even touched a lick of the working.

Fawkes vanished away, too weak to withstand the fires that burned everything besides Hydrus himself. It was exactly as it should be, weaker phoenixes fled in the presence of stronger ones. He continued to pump nearly every last drop of his strength into the working that should've evaporated his flesh. Even as the flames blinded him from seeing the inferi boiling away, he knew their threat was slowly fading. His wand, protected from the flames as his magic poured through and around it, rose up into the air once more as he cast his next spell.

"Materventus." Unlike the last time he tried to direct fiendfyre, the spell immediately came to him and drove the phoenix to fly upwards, destroying every level of the tomb as it soared. "Materventus."

Now his creation came diving back down directly towards him. The makeshift nuke crashed into the ground and flooded his surroundings; the fire swallowed him up and nearly brought a drop of sweat to his forehead. Even the sparks that popped and cracked off of the explosion were shaped like the familiar he and his master had shared.

The flames and fledgling pseudo-phoenixes they spawned devoured everything they came across on the bottom level of the tomb. He cackled as madness consumed him. There wasn't even any pain as the flames danced across his skin, acknowledging his presence but not denying it. There were still more of the undead creatures on the boundaries of his workings, so he slashed his wand through the air and his fires spread further out, eating away at everything until he was certain he was surrounded by nothing but glass and finally-freed souls.

With one last flick of his wand, the fires died away, and Hydrus was free to stare up at the ash-clouded sky. His feet began to sink down into the molten glass but, even as the madness slipped back into hibernation, his visualisation stayed strong and protected him. Much like he'd done to get into the tomb in the first place, he raised the near-liquid substance and transfigured it into stairs for him to climb up and out of the hole. He continued the working into a bridge to walk across back onto 'solid' sand.

The tomb itself was completely gone, anything that had survived he and the other two's trek through it had no doubt perished, though something told him the sphinx had gotten away. The taniwha definitely had, probably dove down into its moat and magically appeared back in its home currents. The dementors… Well, he'd just hope they had the good sense not to try for him again. He might not've been magically exhausted thanks to his new found visualisation, but it wasn't by much.

"Hydrus!" The time traveller shook his head to clear his thoughts and discovered Dumbledore dashing towards him. "Thank Merlin!"

"Screw Merlin," he said with a grin, realising he still had a show to put on. "I'm the one who—, Oof."

The headmaster had embraced him and it didn't take much for Hydrus to decide to return the gesture.

"You did it," the ancient warlock said as he released him. "You did it."

"It was easier than I thought it would be." Hydrus brushed out his robes. "I thought I was gonna die when I saw that fucking atrocity down there, though."

There was no avoiding the fact that he had tried giving a classic, heroic 'before I die' speech, so it was better just to embrace it and laugh it off. Act like he surprised even himself with his greatness. The same man who was now looking him over for injuries had taught him this. It's okay to show your flaws, they just have to be overshadowed by your better qualities.

"So did I," Dumbledore said as he continued his inspection. "I'm going to tear the IWC to shreds for not properly ensuring your safety."

Hydrus wanted to point out that maybe if the organisers had allowed Bill to continue his exploration, they could've discovered the dangers lying beneath, but that would've given away that he knew more than he should've. Instead he just shrugged and kept moving forward. Right now what he wanted, what he needed, most was some food, some drink, and someone he loved to share the peace with. Just like back in the war he wanted to fall into the arms of the woman he loved, and that meant Bellatrix.

"You've figured it out then?" Dumbledore asked as they went. "How to fully—"

Hydrus cut him off by raising his wand to dismiss his sprite entirely. The headmaster blinked when he no doubt realised what he'd been about to reveal. "Yes. A phoenix. It's the perfect visualisation for my magic."

Fire. Wind. Death. Immortality. It combined all four aspects of his magic in perfect harmony, and even if he had to deal with his spells being a rather noxious colour, that was fine. Slowly over time he would learn how to properly allocate his magic for lesser workings, and then—

Fawkes cut off his thoughts with a trill, and Hydrus suddenly remembered he was even there. "Yes, yes, thank you. I wouldn't have figured it out without you."

The phoenix puffed out his feathers, and Dumbledore chuckled. "If you wouldn't mind, could you take us back now?"

With another trill and a burst of flame, Fawkes vanished them away from the open desert and into a crowd of people. Those around them yelped or shouted at their sudden arrival, but he took it all in stride and began to move towards the stage at the centre of it all. Shacklebolt and a few others were up there, and they looked as awestruck as everyone else at his presence and performance.

More than anything Hydrus still wanted to get back to his Bella, to allow her to comfort him, but that could wait. It would have to. He made his way through the throngs of people and onto the stage, then held out his hand towards the minister. The man realised immediately what image he was trying to portray, and met him with a handshake and one-armed hug as the younger man whispered.

"Let me handle this," Hydrus whispered as he clapped Shacklebolt on the back in a 'manly' manner. "I won't fuck it up, but you have to pick up the pieces."

"Deal."

When he was free from the minister's grasp he stepped up towards the podium.

"Thank you all for your concern," he started. "Let me start by saying that I'm fine, that I don't blame the IWC or anyone else, and that I'll answer all the questions I can."

"Scion Black!" a voice called. He cocked his eyebrow at the reporter. "Willie Felton, The Baltic Bugle. What the fuck was that?"

Hydrus grinned at the crass question. "It was a simple oversight. It doesn't take a genius to look at the cavern we fell into to see that the IWC had no idea about it, nor do I believe they would ever kill that many people just to set up a trap in a childish game."

"Hugo Johnson, the Daily Prophet," another reporter shouted immediately. "Hydrus, how did you kill so many of them all at once?"

"With dark magic," Hydrus replied easily. "I would never, ever, recommend fiendfyre to my peers, but I truly hope that you all will forgive me for such actions given the nature of our circumstances. I was only able to survive the fiendfyre because I am who I am."

"Dick Holdsum," a voice in the crowd said. "The Marseille Minutes. How do you feel coming in second place because of your sacrifice?"

Hydrus snorted at the man's name and question. "Sacrifice? What did I sacrifice? A thousand galleons is nothing to me, and any celebration for my name is far more than lost in the wake of today's events.

"What you have all witnessed today is nothing less than what should be expected of a wizard of my calibre. Fleur and Viktor are both excellent young talents that should be celebrated for their performances. If this were any other year, it would be one of them you're interrogating rather than me. I just had to do what those with abilities such as mine must." He shook his head. "Please, don't allow my nonsense to distract you from their victory. They, the both of them, are your Triwizard Champions. Let's give it up for them!"

Before anyone else could ask a question, he began to clap his hand against the stump of his wrist. A roaring cheer rang out through the crowd, more than just reporters had gathered around the stage to question the minister and whomever else had been here. He tried to smother his pride at the sight of people tearing up and breaking down as the realisation finally settled in that they had survived what could've been one of the most disastrous days in wizarding history.

This was what he still lived for now that Voldemort was gone. Not some war between gods that started over petty fears, not out of an ambition to keep leading the free world, not whatever anyone else might try to ascribe to him. He was here to protect people, and—

The shouts and cheers turned to screams and confused gasps. He turned and frowned at the site of an inky cloud of darkness that had suddenly flooded another section of the area. The black cloud was spreading further and further out, but as far as he could tell all it was doing was stealing away the light from the area. Who on earth had…

A voice suddenly screamed, "It's the Shadow!"

Hydrus cocked his head to the side. 'The fuck is 'The Shadow'?'

Regulus dashed away as Plan E commenced. Plan E had involved him having to make a break for it across the desert sands, so he'd purchased enchanted boots that would allow him to run atop the treacherous terrain until he made it to his stash spot. If it weren't for the damned wards blocking plans A through D he could've just apparated or portkey'd away, or at least destroyed the rune scheme before coming here, but this was still fine.

Where would the thrill be if everything went as easy as it did with Smith Manor?

He'd left his robes behind to stop them from getting in his way, so now was only wearing a loose, all-black set of clothes that allowed him to sprint without worries. There was a plain mask covering his entire face except for the eye-holes, and even those had a mesh over them to protect him from the sun and close observations. His hair billowed in the wind, giving off an impression that he could be either a man or a woman. He was the Shadow, a name even more infamous than his brother's, and he was the world's greatest thief. He was—

"Stop!" a voice roared behind him. "Stupefy!"

He leapt into the air, aided by magic he usually used for getting up and into windows, and cast a family spell that sent a wall of nightmarish illusions at his attackers. The two aurors in pursuit had come from seemingly nowhere, and somehow were managing to keep up with him. It only took a few seconds after landing to hear they were still hot on his tail.

'Morganna's tits,' he thought. 'Persistent shits.'

Maybe… Maybe he'd bitten off more than he could chew. At the beginning of the trial when he discovered that the Goblet of Fire was nowhere to be seen, he'd thought his final heist was a bust. He'd settled down to watch his nephew's performance, been amazed with the teens skills, and horrified to discover that he couldn't escape when he saw the inferi waiting below the final level. He'd thought half the world was about to be snuffed out until Hydrus wiped out the inferi, and it wasn't until after his house's future lord had saved them that Regulus even noticed that his target was unprotected.

Or so he'd thought.

"Stupefy! Stupefy!" Regulus growled and dodged the spells. "Stop! Or else!"

'Or else nothing,' he thought. "Tenebria!" Eating away at even more of his magic, another massive cloud of black 'ink' spread from his wand. "Volutaremens!"

The last spell all but finished off his magic, but was key to escaping now. It would completely destroy anyone caught in its wake's sense of direction, and so even if the aurors escaped from his vision-stealing working they'd almost definitely be running the wrong way. If he was lucky, they'd even get separated and go different directions entirely.

'Almost there,' he thought, before a more morose thought occurred to him. 'Almost retired.'

Soon there'd be no more thrills. No more astounding and daring escapes. His infamy would cease to grow, and before long "The Shadow" would be nothing more than the one who got away; a quickly brushed over stain on the Ministry's books. He'd have to give up the one thing he'd ever truly been proud of in his life, the one thing where he was objectively better than his brother.

They were both Blacks, but Sirius was the heir and Regulus just the spare. They were both wizards, but Sirius was a prodigal monster while Regulus was the runt of the litter. They were both involved in crime, but Sirius had never and could never catch him.

Well, the game might've been over, but at least this time Regulus had won.

As he came upon the oddly arranged chunks of limestone that marked his hidey hole, he nearly didn't have enough magic left to dispel the illusory charms hiding it. Once that was out of the way though, he dropped down into the tiny bunker and nearly fell to his knees as he doubled over with exhaustion. There might've been a gym in his house, but he used that for looking good, not actually getting in shape. After a moment to catch his breath, Regulus straightened up and made his way over to the small shelf that held a portkey. Even if this far out it didn't work, he could just burn the rest of his magic and recast the illusory charm to—

Thump.

He spun on his heel, and his heart sunk into the soles of his feet as his brother's face appeared from nowhere, then the rest of him as he dropped the invisibility cloak he'd been wearing.

"Finally," Sirius said with a wolven grin. "You have no idea how badly I've been waiting for this."

Regulus slowly backed away, scared his voice would give him away. He was only a few steps away from the portkey, if he could just…

"Stupefy."

He tried to put up a shield, but was too exhausted to even get his wand all the way up in time. The back of his head hit the shelf and he slowly slid down to the ground as the Goblet of Fire clattered away. He put up a futile effort to glare at Sirius as the bastard knelt down in front of him, still grinning as he ripped off his mask.

The grin fell away immediately.

"Reg?" Sirius more whispered than spoke. "No, no that doesn't…"

'Why'd it have to be him?' Regulus wondered. It was like his worst nightmare had come to life. 'Why does it always have to be him?'

"Sirius!" a distant voice called, and his brother's head snapped back to look up at the hole. "Where are you?!"

"Shit, shit, shit!" his brother hissed. "I can't-, you can't-, shit!"

'What is he doing?' Regulus wondered. 'Why isn't he just…'

"Reg." Sirius looked around for a second then grabbed the portkey he'd been so close to grabbing. "Get out of here. Just… I love you. I can't abandon you again. Rennervate."

Finally free, Regulus's jaw fell open. Even now, even after all this time, even knowing who he really was, his brother still looked down on him. Still thought he had to save him. Still pitied him. "You—!"

"Go!" Sirius roared.

A woman dropped down into the space and Regulus blanched. No longer caring about the pity, he called out his boyfriend's name, and to his relief the portkey activated and carried him away.

"Go!"

It took Amelia a quarter of a second to realise what Sirius had just said to the Shadow. Another quarter more for her to realise who the Shadow was. Half a second for Regulus Black, her future brother-in-law to portkey away. A whole second more for everything that had just happened to fully settle into her mind.

Not a single moment passed after that before a righteous fury took hold of her.

"What did you just do?" she asked, almost desperate for him to tell her that he hadn't just let the most wanted criminal in the wizarding world slip through his fingers on purpose. "Sirius?"

It took him a while to respond. He turned around with his eyes cast down at the ground, and just shook his head.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" she whispered. "You're sorry?"

"Amelia, I—"

James dropped down behind her, and the thud of his boots hitting the sand was like a beater's bat cracking against the bludger of her anger.

"You bastard!" she shouted. "I trusted you! You knew how much this case means to me, how much it meant for my future, and you let him go?

"Do you know what they said about you when you graduated from the auror academy? That you were a 'good wand made from bad wood'. I was there when Captain Moody picked you for his squad, and the only reason he did was because he wanted to keep an eye on you since you came from a dark family." Sirius's shoulders slumped even further down, but she didn't care. "I was the one who got Scrimgeour to keep you off Goyle's squad. I was the one who kept the brass from breathing down your neck for half the stunts you pull. I was the one who said yes when you asked me to marry you because you wanted to be close to your son who doesn't even like you, and this is how you repay me?"

James got a fraction of a syllable out of his mouth but she kept going.

"You want to choose the rotten family you swore you hated over everything else? Fine! You're fired." The Potter lord gasped, but she didn't care. Amelia tore the ring off her left hand and threw it at his feet. "And we're obviously through. Send someone else to get Giannis's things because I never want to see you again. I don't care if its Potter, Remus, or hell, even that bitch of a cousin of yours."

She scoffed and forced out a laugh. "Oh wait! Apparently you're back on their team, so sorry, Scion Black, for calling your cousin a bitch."

Amelia wanted to keep going, she wanted to keep spitting the venom that every part of her was filled with at the man she loved's betrayal, but she was struggling just to not cry at this point. She turned away from him before she broke.

"Potter. Go put out a warrant for the arrest of Regulus Black." There was a crack in her voice but she just kept going as she picked up the stupid Goblet of Fire. "That's an order."

Amelia left, and Sirius just kept staring at the ground, trying not to let his eyes wander over to the engagement ring she'd rightfully thrown away. James was still standing there, but he wasn't Remus. The man was about as useful as tits on a bull when it came to emotional support, and right now Sirius just wanted to be alone alone for once. James tried to say something, but Sirius brought up a hand to stop him.

"Just go," he muttered. "Ask Molly if she'll look after Giannis for a little while. Please."

"Right." James cleared his throat. "Um, I'm uh, always here for you, mate. Just… Just make sure to stop by my place soon so Lily doesn't worry, okay?"

"Right."

After a moment of nothing, James sighed and left as well.

Finally alone, Sirius bent over and picked up the ring before walking back to the wall he'd stunned Regulus into. He pressed his back up against it, sighed, then sank down to the ground. None of what he'd just done and heard really got through to him yet. The sorrow and self loathing hadn't really kicked in at all. He just stared at the opposite wall, refusing to let the emotions sink in, refusing to acknowledge any of the pain, and wallowed in the numbness.

Hydrus was alive. Regulus hadn't been abandoned this time. Everything was fine. He was fine. He wasn't going insane. He wasn't going mad. Everything was fine.

Albus sighed as he crumpled and tossed the apology letter from the DMLA into his fireplace. They'd failed to catch the Shadow despite their best efforts, though his identity as Regulus Black had been revealed. Truthfully the headmaster didn't feel like they owed him any apology, it wasn't like he'd been particularly invested in the thief's capture beyond being willing to offer what limited support he had for their clandestine operations. If anything, he wondered if he should reach out to the young man to see if he needed any assistance in a time like this.

The ancient warlock could've spent all day pondering what had driven Regulus to such frivolous activities, but there were much more important matters to attend to.

The fallout of the third trial was, thanks in large part to Hydrus's lackadaisical demeanour regarding how dangerous everything had been, relatively minor. Nobody had gotten hurt outside of the expected bangs and bruises on the champions. The governing bodies responsible for the trials were taking their lumps for not properly ensuring the safety of the young men and woman. The papers were filled to the brim with massive spreads showcasing either Hydrus, his spell, or both.

All in all? It could've been a lot worse.

"It was about time he learned a good visualisation." The headmaster closed his eyes and sighed as his pastel counterpart spoke up yet again. "A rather fitting one too, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, yes." He rubbed at his forehead. "I'm sure he'll be working on better measuring his magic in the coming days to utilise it."

"I know he will," the portrait said. "It's how we raised him."

Before Albus could respond, his fireplace burned green and Hydrus stepped out of it. "Speak of the angel."

"The expression is 'speak of th—" Hydrus paused. "Well, I guess you aren't technically wrong with that one."

Albus grinned at his apprentice. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I believe you said you were planning on relaxing at home until it was time for final exams."

"Got bored," Hydrus said as he took one of the seats in the office and Fawkes flew over to his shoulder. "Figured I should make sure you can't do the same."

"I'm afraid the likelihood of that happening is very slim these days," Albus said. "I'm surprised you've been so unbothered by familial drama."

The younger man shrugged. "Arcturus is having a conniption since Regulus won't come home and face the music, but other than that things are fine. Orion is preparing the legal defences. Cygnus is preparing the illegal bribes."

"And Sirius?" Albus asked. "Have you spoken with him recently?"

"No." The man might've been in his thirties mentally, but the petulance he said that with was much more in line with his physical form. "I've already told you—"

Apparently it was to be a day full of unexpected visitors though, and once more his fireplace flashed green.

'Very unexpected,' Albus thought. "Misters Lupin and Potter, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Hydrus groaned at the sight of his 'real' father. The two men were looking tired and nervous, but that didn't stop James from throwing his hands up at the welcome.

"Seriously, kid, why do you have a problem with me but not Remus?"

The werewolf turned to look at his friend with a 'Don't drag me into this' expression.

"Cus you're an Aries," Hydrus said sarcastically. "What do you two want?"

"Have either of you seen Sirius recently?" Remus asked. "No one's heard from him since the third trial."

Albus and his apprentice both frowned. He'd only asked that same question to the boy because he wanted to try and encourage him to get over his fears of bonding with him, but now he worried something was wrong. What had happened to the Black Sheep?

"I'm afraid to say we haven't," the headmaster said. "Do you believe something happened to him?"

James winced and rubbed at the back of his head. "Well… He's the one who let Regulus get away. Amelia saw it. They broke up and…" He shrugged.

"Stupid bastard," Hydrus muttered. "I tried keeping him away from all this nonsense and now look at him."

"Hey!" James snapped. "He's your father."

Albus nearly snorted.

"He's a drunk who's probably in a gutter sleeping one off by now." Hydrus waved his hand dismissively. "Kreacher!"

The elf popped up beside the teen. "Young Lord Master."

"Where's Sirius?"

"Kreacher will find out." The elf popped away, then returned a moment later. "He is being in a hole, Young Lord Master."

"There you have it." Hydrus folded his arms over his chest. After a second he cocked his head back and forth. "He, uh, he was alive, right?"

"Yes, Young Lord Master."

"There you have it!"

"A hole…" James snapped his fingers. "He never left! That—"

"Come on," Remus said with a sigh. "Let's go get him."

When the two left Albus shook his head at his apprentice. "Hydrus, please. Do you really not see how cold you're becoming? You didn't even bat an eye when they said Sirius has been missing. You've lost parts of yourself, physically and—"

"I swear to Magic if you bring up that stupid prophecy again." Hydrus stood and glared down at the ancient warlock. He snapped his fingers and Albus fell to the ground as his chair vanished from underneath him and reappeared above Hydrus's lone hand. "Here's your empty throne."

With a wave the chair flew across the office and crashed through the window, sending it and shards of glass out onto the school grounds. Fawkes squealed at the clamour and flew off his shoulder. The man's magic, stronger and more intimidating than ever, flooded the office and for a moment Albus's breath caught in his throat.

"The only person responsible for, and capable of changing, my future is me." Hydrus cut off his magic. "For all your fears and worries about my worshipping of Magic, you sure do put a whole lot of faith in Fate."

"Hydrus—"

"I was literally about to sacrifice my life for everyone's sake, and you're still concerned about me going dark?" Albus closed his mouth. "I acted like that to make sure those two didn't go telling Sirius I was concerned, and because I have the utmost confidence that he'll be fine." Hydrus rolled his eyes, finally settling down. "Seriously, how many times do we have to have this conversation?"

The portrait cleared its throat. "As many as it takes for you to quit defenestrating school property and generally acting like a hormonal teenager, I imagine." Albus sighed. "Oh wait! You are one of those now, I'd forgotten."

"Where'd he learn sarcasm?" Hydrus asked with furrowed brows. "You're not sarcastic."

"I believe it came when I added Fawkes to the portrait," Albus said as he began to rub his forehead once more. "Because of how intricately our souls are intertwined, I believe it caused a crossover effect."

"I liked him better before."

"You and I both."

Hydrus waved his hand and the window repaired itself. "You can get your 'throne' yourself."

With that he left, and once more Albus was left in the company of no one but himself.

"Well," the portrait said. "I certainly thought we raised him better than that."

"Please just be quiet."

Arcturus Black sat in excruciating pain. His life had become a series of never ending meetings, legal or otherwise, ever since what should've been the most extraordinary day of his life. If it hadn't been for his least favourite grandson's latest fuck-up, he would've been practically living in his pensieve as he re-watched the miracle his heir had pulled off. The boy had become a hero overnight, done something that even that fool Dumbledore said he wouldn't have been able to, and everyone from Arcturus's closest allies to his most hated enemies were sending the family letters of gratitude and awe.

In a rare moment of weakness, the patriarch actually groaned as his hip gave a particularly harsh throb of pain. The weather outside was dismal as always in his home country, and for the thousandth time today he wished Hydrus was of age already so he could take over this damn family and he could retire.

The sound of the floo going off caught his attention, and he grabbed his cane to see if that little shit Regulus had finally come home. When he stepped into the den, he instead found his second-least favourite grandson messing with some of the knickknacks along the wall, no doubt trying to remember which one would open the door into the liquor cellar.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Arcturus snapped. "Don't think I don't know about your part in this mess, boy."

When Sirius looked over at him, a chill ran down the patriarch's spine. "Not now. Not today. Just… Just don't."

"Hmph." Arcturus clapped his cane into the ground, and almost gasped at the shock of torture it gave him. "You think you can just walk in here after throwing away your career for that waste of a brother of yours?"

Sirius stiffened.

"Do you even realise what you've thrown away?" He continued. "The only reason I let you back into this family was because you were bringing me an alliance with the Bones, and you threw it away for some puffed up, light in the—"

"Shut up." Sirius's voice was cold, hard. Arcturus would've been impressed if he weren't so angry. "Don't ever—"

Crack.

Arcturus nearly fell to the ground when he slammed his cane into the side of his grandson's head, but he managed to catch himself. The madness kept the pain at bay to some degree, but he was done playing along with this child's little game.

"You do not tell me what to do in this house, boy!" he roared. "Your life has been nothing but one disappointment after another, and I'm sick of it! The only one of you failures who's worth a damn is Hydrus, and you and that idiot brother of yours practically ruined what should've been the greatest moment this family has had in a century!

"You should be on your knees begging me not to burn you off that damn tapestry again," he hissed, pointing back at the family tree hanging behind him. "Thanks to your stupidity, you've lost your job, your fiancee, your son's—"

"I said shut up!" Sirius roared at him, blood dripping down the side of his head as his magic snuffed almost all the light out of the room. "Incendio!"

The fire that burst from his wand immolated the family tree, and the Black lord's rage redoubled. "How dare you—, urkh."

"I said," Sirius whispered. "Shut up."

Arcturus didn't know what was more beautiful. Finally, finally, seeing the madness in his grandson's eyes; seeing him finally embrace the greatest gift their family had.

Or the fact that he was pain free.

He looked down to see a tendril of black energy, a mirror to the ones Hydrus had used to defeat the manticore, stabbed through his chest. Blood dripped out of his mouth as there wasn't enough left of his lungs to cough it out. He looked back up at his grandson, and the madness in his eyes faded away in time with the black energy. Horror quickly replaced the insanity, but that was okay, he'd finally broken. Finally knew the greatness of their family.

"What did I do?" Sirius whispered. "Grandfather…"

Arcturus fell down to his knees just as an annoyed looking Hydrus appeared, Kreacher clinging to his sleeve. The old patriarch wanted to smile at the way the boy didn't even flinch at the sight of his dying great-grandfather. His brows furrowed a bit, his shoulders rose as he prepared to sigh, but it wasn't the same weakness and horror his father had shown.

Sirius had succumbed to the madness.

Hydrus was positioned to be an even greater man than him.

Arcturus, for the first time in decades, sat pain free as his life came to an end.

Hydrus sighed as he watched Arcturus's body slump down to the ground. He flicked his wrist and put out the fire that one of the two idiots in front of him had started. Kreacher sniffled and began to cry, to his annoyance. Sirius took another second to find his voice.

"I didn't…" he stuttered. "I don't…"

"You went mad." Sirius flinched at Hydrus's accusation. "It happens in this family."

"What do I do?" his father whispered. "I don't know what to do."

Hydrus rubbed at his forehead. It was a good question. Why couldn't the man have waited a few years to commit some well deserved patricide? Or would it be grand-patricide? He shook his head, now wasn't the time for morose jokes.

"Take his ring," he started. "I refuse to serve Cygnus. I heard from Potter you got fired, so don't try and give me any excuses about how you don't have time to lead this family."

"You, what…" Sirius half-glared at him. "How are you so calm about all this?"

At first Hydrus hadn't wanted Sirius to get to know him. To know how dark his son was. To truly understand just what sort of monster he'd become in order to survive in the past. Just the thought of the man he loved more than any other understanding just how awful of a person Hydrus was made his heart ache.

But it was better he knew than to think of himself as something worse.

"Because I would've done it myself eventually." He shrugged. "The man was a bastard. He abused and nearly ruined this family with his 'parenting', and something tells me he wouldn't have been in a rush to give up his title when I came of age."

That wasn't true. From what he'd gathered about the man, he probably would've dumped the lordship into Hydrus's lap as soon as he possibly could. What mattered now though was trying to make Sirius feel better, even if that meant completely turning over his plans for the Black family. He could just do what he said to Bellatrix a long while ago, leave the house and force House Slytherin back into political prominence.

"I didn't want this," Sirius muttered. "I hated him, but—"

"But nothing," Hydrus interrupted. "You've made a mess, and now it's time to clean it up. I'll take care of everything, just grab the damned ring already."

"You shouldn't have to take care of everything!" Sirius snapped. "I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you!"

'You already did you stupid…' Hydrus sighed. It was time to bring out an ace in the hole. "Dad." Sirius froze. "Take. The damned. Ring."

The soon to be patriarch's lip quivered for a moment, but he finally did as he was told. His hands were trembling but eventually he managed to twist the Head Ring from Arcturus's clenched finger, and after a moment to stare at it, he slid it onto his finger. The ring morphed as he moved it down the digit, growing slightly larger to fit snugly against the edge of his palm.

"There." Hydrus turned to the still sniffling house elf. "Kreacher, do you think you can clean Arcturus up enough that no one who doesn't look for it can tell he's been murdered?"

Sirius flinched at the word, but the elf nodded and gave a hard snort. "Yes, Lord Master Hydrus."

"Good. See it done."

Kreacher levitated the sagging corpse up, and slowly began to float it towards the master bedroom. Hydrus drew and began to wave his wand, returning the room to its previous state. He started with the gorier mess Arcturus had left behind, then moved onto the fire damage. When he was finished, the family tree that had been burned slowly began to re-dye itself to show off its ancestral lore once more. After watching it retrace the family's roots back through history, a thought occurred to him, and he turned back to see Sirius still just standing and staring at the ring he now wore.

'Looks like we were both wrong, old man,' he thought, sadly. 'Behold behold.

'King of an empty throne.'

BBaRtS

41, dun-dun-dun. Chapters coming a bit late, but man I wish I had even MORE time to work on it for obvious reasons. So, so much going on here. The conclusion to the Triwizard Tournament, Hydrus finally getting a visualisation/proper fix for his magic, the death of Arcturus, the truth of the prophecy, and me really hammering home that I like to give the reporters phallic names.

Man, the visualisation. First off, shout outs to Westeller for being the one person to correctly guess (and post) what it would be. Like I've said in previous notes, this was actually the second idea I had for a visualisation for hits, with the first being the muggle gods idea. The reason I had said "it even looks like I accidentally foreshadowed/hinted at it' or whatever I said, was because when listing the various aspects he was hesitant to include immortality since it was more of a Voldemort trait than a Slytherin one, but did so anyways. Once I figured it out though, I did drop a few little cheeky lines here and there like when Dumbledore talks about the portrait needing the phoenix to balance him out. (Though that obvs wasn't meant to give it away lol)

On AO3 this fic has the major character death tag, and this chapter was the reason why I knew from the start it needed to be there. We'll see in the coming chapters how Hydrus and Sirius are going to handle this moving forward. We'll see more of the fallout for Hydrus's performance as well, in case you were worried it seemed anticlimactic cutting to just Dumbledore mentioning it being in the papers.

I wish I coulda squeezed some more Bellatrix into this chapter, but it just wouldn't have gone with the vibe, we'll see her next time.

Anyways, its late at night, so not really gonna go into the reviews. Lots of people leaving compliments, which I always really appreciate. Lots of people complaining about earlier parts of the fic. Lots of emojis, lots of nit picks, lots of everything. I appreciate it all, appreciate YOU all, see you all next Saturday, lessthanthree.