"Figures." Draco spits out, a bit dejected at the final obstacle in his path towards greatness. A stupid mirror, one that shows him back in his world, in his body, around his crew, around his brothers in the KBG. Obviously such a thing is impossible, exposing the trick to this mirror, but despite knowing what he does, it leaves him no closer to his goal of retrieving the Philosopher's Stone.
It was easy enough to get past the guard dog, the weak excuse of a Cerberus, and he truly only struggled not to kill it. Chess was child's play, and the other obstacles were even easier, but this final roadblock seems to be insurmountable. A part of him wants to try his hand, to destroy the mirror or tamper with the enchantment, but as a Malfoy he cannot risk it all on a mere chance for greatness. If he's wrong, or if he fails at his task and doesn't retrieve the legendary stone, the disappointment from his father will be immeasurable and the harm to his family will be irreparable. Because of that, Draco experiences his first setback, his first failure since he 'changed' at the ripe age of 9, and it is a bitter taste that he never wishes to replicate. Of course he had several minor 'failures', such as failing to convince his father to buy him a Dragon, or failing to enact proper punishment upon Potter and Weasley due to Uncle Sev's interference, but those were mere setbacks, mistakes that could and would be corrected whenever he pleased. This…is permanent.
Nevertheless, he has a reputation to uphold, and fear to corral, so he walks out of the forbidden third-floor corridor, head held high, with many stories of triumph to relay to his constituents. The very next morning, Draco sits among his people: Blaise, Nott, and the new member of his group, a girl name Pansy, voice ringing proud as he draws their attention.
"So there I was, coming face to face with none other than a deadly Cerberus." He starts the tale, causing the girl to gasp, Nott to blink in surprise and Blaise to…well Blaise seems to be well-adjusted, accepting it, and everything he does, as normal, no matter how spectacular it is. He isn't sure yet if he likes that or if he'll have to correct that. Regardless, he continues. "Of course, I'm not bothered by such a paltry excuse for a guardian beast, and I cut down the beast with my bare hands!"
"Wow! Draco you're so strong!" Pansy, his biggest fan sings his praises.
"Yᵒᵘ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ᵇᵉᵃᵗ ᵃ ᶜᵉʳᵇᵉʳᵘˢ?" Nott expresses a bit of fear along with his disbelief.
"Somehow I'm not surprised." Blaise answers, sipping whatever he has in his cup for breakfast. Likely lemon juice or something wicked.
"Yes, yes, it was light work for me, and it only got easier somehow." He then recounts how he conquered the Devil's Snare with a flick of his wrist, and how he passed through every obstacle without effort, as only a true Slytherin could, and more importantly, only a true Malfoy could. "After that, I decided to, in my infinite grace and mercy…" Blaise can't help but to snort at that. He's seen what Draco does and it's not mercy. "…leave the prize for another to take. With the ease that I reached the stone, it is clear that neither I, nor the Malfoy family, are in need of such a silly trinket." He finishes his grand story, clearly embellishing when it comes to the ending, utilizing his natural charisma and shown ability. None call him out on it, and from what he can tell, none disbelieve him either. Even Blaise, the usual cynic and critic, seems to go along with his braggadocios tales, and that is enough for him…for now.
The next thing Draco works on, besides challenging for the Philosopher's Stone, and massaging his bruised ego, is establishing and managing his new system, his new order in the Slytherin House, one with him on top of course, and the recipient of some increasingly favorable conditions. Conditions that applied especially to the older Slytherin girls and the…favors they owed. As the heir to the Malfoy throne, Draco is naturally a consummate gentleman and a classy young man, and because of those features of his, he has taken it upon himself to draw a clear line when it comes to the aforementioned…favors. Looking to live up to his self-proclaimed descriptors, Draco so generous targets only the older girls of House Slytherin, those in years 5, 6, and 7, for these favors, and through his grace and mercy, he gives the younger girls time; time to marinate, time to grow into themselves. After all, eating fruit before it's ripe is of no use to anyone.
While pleasure is being taken care of, Draco also focuses a lot on the main business at hand: power. Far more important than fast girls and frivolous children, are the honing of his skills. Through constant practice and determination, Draco manages to create yet another Star Wars-inspired spell, one more suited to his past life. The spell is simple, acting much like Sith Lightning, with streams of lightning shooting from a wand, or in his case, his hands, to not only intimidate, but to shock, burn, and electrocute any who would dare challenge him. The other spell he creates is even more sinister, and somehow more fitting to his persona in both this life and the last. It is a fear spell, one that is as self-explanatory as they come. Anyone hit with his fear spell will inexplicably see him in a scary (or scarier) light, as their heart races and the flight or freeze mechanism triggers in their brains. It's in the preliminary stages right now, but soon he plans to add some flare to it: having the victim see him as and conflate him with their deepest and darkest fears, and some tricks of the trade such as theme music, flickering lights, and other horror movie tropes.
He's also been in the library, easily slipping by any of the set up defenses, in order to reach the forbidden sections and look for the most promising forms of magic he can find. Along with some juicy, incredibly dark spells, Draco finds himself diving nose first into several books on Legimency and Occumulency: mind reading and the blocking of said mind reading. He's not worried about defense, but the former is…very enticing, and soon he finds himself visiting every night, finishing books cover to cover as he searches desperately for anything on the cover. Sadly his curiosity remains unsated, and thus he soon finds himself face to face with his 'dear' Uncle Sev, a wizard well-versed in the unnatural and dark arts.
'Come again, mate?' Is what Professor Severus Snape would like to say to his young charge, his student, and heir to the Malfoy name, who stands in front of him. 'You're out of your bloody mind, you fool!' Is also something he'd like to say, but instead, he reaches deep down inside and pulls on all of his Occumulency training to stifle his emotions and reel himself in, so he can respond properly.
"Would you care to repeat that again, Mr. Malfoy?" He drawls on as he somehow manages to keep his composure, responding to his 'nephew' and his ridiculous request. Legimency? As a first year? And with Draco's temperament? It's immediately clear to him that such a thing would be so disastrous, so cataclysmal, and possibly apocalyptic if it is done wrong, that he does the only thing he can do. "Surely you are not suggesting that I, an esteemed Professor and Head of House Slytherin, give lessons to a first year student, on such a dangerous and dark magic that can only be learned of through the forbidden sections in the library. I surely must have heard wrong." Despite reeling internally, Severus manages to keep his shtick going and maintain his authority, even in the face of the oddly terrifying pre-teen that stands before him.
"So is that a no?" The young boy asks with a bit of edge to his voice, and Professor Snape knows he has to play a bit of peacekeeper.
"Mr. Malfoy, you are far too young for such…controversial magic. Of that I can assure you. You should focus your efforts on more…" The older man pauses to gather his thoughts, but he doesn't get much of a chance to finish.
"So your talk of 'helping' me was just that then? Talk?" Draco interrupts the professor with purpose in his voice, a tone that unnerves the Potions Master, as it reminds him of someone long dead, someone who he was happy to see slain and vanquished for the wickedness and evil he brought into the world. And this feeling coming from a first year student, and one he is supposed to be close to, is all the more troubling. Swallowing his feelings, and regathering himself, the Head of Slytherin attempts to respond, but by the time he opens his mouth, the boy has already turned his back and left the classroom, having made his point. Now alone, Severus Snape cannot help the shaky exhale that exits his long, as he wrestles with his feelings of extreme concern and loyalty to the Malfoy family.
With Snape being confirmed as a dead end, Draco finds himself with one more avenue to explore to learn the Dark Arts, one he intended to travel regardless of the outcome, but one that can now serve multiple purposes. Azkaban.
It takes the young boy some time to find the dark prison, and to make his way there at a time when no one would miss him nor notice that he is gone. He does well, at first, avoiding detection and direct contact, but his plans soon fall apart when he gets a bit too close to the famed wardens of the dark Wizarding prison: The Dementors. In an instant, he feels himself being affected by their powers and by their presence, as his sad moments swim around in his head, in his soul, torturing him with his own emotions, with his own feelings. He relives the death of his mother, his original mother, the most catastrophic time in his life. He remembers when he felt like harming himself, when he felt like killing everyone in his path and going out as the world's greatest mass killer, and more importantly, with far more devastation, he remembers the sensation of being immolated, if being burned alive and reduced to ashes, a pain that was so great, it remains indescribable, a pain that should've lasted only a second, but seemed to last for an eternity, the greatest failure of his existence, and the only moment in his lives where he truly felt fear. These feelings last for only a moment, but they are enough to elicit an involuntary gasp from his lips and to shake him as a person, and to shake his confidence.
He heard about Dementors, read about Dementors and what they do, but he just…assumed they wouldn't affect him much. This experience, these feelings, those memories are humbling, and he cannot help but feel angry at himself, at his weakness, his stupidity and… He takes a deep breath to calm down, as he tries to ignore his sanity chipping away bit by bit. This…is bad. Disastrous even. Detrimental to his well-laid plans from yester-year. As it is now, he can stomach the presence of these Dementors, utilizing a powerful disillusionment charm to hide himself, but not for nearly as long as he predicted. With this…impediment, he finds that he only has enough time to locate his target, rather than engaging in full conversation as he was aiming to do. It is with a heavy heart, and an even heavier head that he departs from the dark, depressing dungeon that doubles as a detention center, with only part of his plans complete. He will go back to the drawing board, he will do his research, he will figure out how Voldemort and other Dark Wizards controlled these…things, and he will be back. With a Vengeance.