"Here you go, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Herschel."

It was late at night, nearly five hours after he'd told Dumbledore they were going straight back, and somehow some way they were instead at the same diner that Hellena loved. Mrs. Herschel had brought him a mug of butter beer, and he sipped the childish drink with a scowl on his face. Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and, for some reason, Mrs. Herschel's second husband Gregory were all sitting together and slowly picking at their meals and chatting.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald were probably older than the other third of their triumvirate, but Mr. Herschel certainly looked the most ancient. He didn't talk much besides giving out the occasional grunt or nod. His body slowly shook like it was a strain to even sit up in his wheelchair, and there wasn't a single hair on his wrinkled and liver-spotted head. Hydrus didn't have the faintest idea as to why his mentor practically begged him for the chance to stop by and talk to the near-dead man, and the only thing that had actually changed his mind was the thought of getting some of Mrs. Herschel's cooking.

"How's school?" The old woman asked. "Are you behaving yourself?"

He spared her a bemused glance. "Of course. Don't you think I'm a well-mannered young man?"

"I think you know better than to act up in front of old Mrs. Herschel," the woman said, hooting out a laugh. "Have you had enough to eat, dear?"

He was torn between finally getting to bed and getting some more of the woman's food, and his stomach won out. "I could go for another plate."

"Oh, I do love when you come around." The woman beamed a toothless grin at him. "No one appreciates my cooking the way you do, little Hydrus."

As the old witch set about fixing him another plate, Hydrus asked the question he'd been pondering ever since they'd arrived. "How does Mr. Herschel know Professor Dumbledore and Grindelwald anyways?"

"Oh, everyone knows my Greggy, dear." The woman sat another brimming plate of bangers and mash down in front of Hydrus. "He was quite the stud back in our day. Order of Merlin first class, honorary General of the Seventh Infantry. They've even got a ward in St. Mungo's named after him, donated by your great-great grandfather, Phineas."

"Huh." Hydrus gave an impressed frown as he was tucking in. He spared a glance back at the trembling man, and tried to imagine him even standing up, let alone atop a battlefield. "Guess you learn something new every day."

"Oh he had all the girls pining for him," Mrs. Herschel said with a smile. "I remember being so miserable, so jealous because I was stuck with Ol' Howard."

"How'd you two end up meeting?"

"I had known him from all the way back in our Hogwarts days," she said with a pleasant sigh. "We were the Hufflepuff prefects. I'd always hoped he'd manage to scrounge up the funds to marry me, but it was too late." She shook her head. "He was the one who delivered the news to me that Howard finally messed with the wrong man. He came in person, with a letter of dishonourable discharge for Ol' Howard, and a ring and some roses for me."

Hydrus laughed. "Not someone to waste time, eh?"

"I wouldn't have him any other way." The old woman picked up his already-emptied plate and carried it off to the sink. "What about you? Have any girls you keep your eyes on?"

"Just one," he said with a grin.

"Oh, that's wonderful, love." Mrs. Herschel had stepped around the counter. "I'll be right back."

As she made her way over to the centenarians' table, Hydrus reached into his pocket and took hold of the galleons she'd managed to 'sneak' into his pocket. No doubt the exact same ones he'd teleported into her lockbox the last he'd been in here with his Slytherins. He glanced back at the old folk, and this time vanished the coins away into Greggy's shirt pocket.

Just as he was about to get to his feet and demand they leave, Mrs. Herschel had made her way over and set a plate down in front of him. There was half of a steak and a smattering of vegetables still on it.

"Albus said you'd want that," she said. "I'm going to go get the dishes started."

Hydrus sighed at having been read so correctly, and delayed his eviction for a little while longer.

Hydrus killed another one of Voldemort's followers. He didn't even know where the bastard's forces were still finding the poor sods after all these years, his own recruitments hadn't been going nearly as smoothly. This latest batch of Death Eaters was actually worth a drop of sweat at least; the foreigners might have even stood a chance at wounding him if it weren't for the fact that they had all the coordination of a pack of toddlers. Each was a fair enough witch or wizard on their own, but they moved individually and independently.

The only man who stood a chance against him with tactics like that was dead.

For now.

"Turboferrum!" he called, launching a swirling gale of wind that eviscerated two more of them. "Come on, people, is that all you got?"

"Puta!" One man roared as he began firing spells at him like a machine gun. Hydrus was stunned for a moment, and backed away slowly for the first time since the battle began. "Bastardo!"

Now this was a real duel. Hydrus grinned as the man's arm whipped back and forth faster than his eyes could follow. He was forced to rely on shields and dodges, too slow to be able to deflect the work directly, and only managed to sneak in an attack of his own by the skin of his teeth. The cutting curse, one of Snape's inventions, was narrowly dodged by the Spanish-speaker.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Hydrus called, wanting to aggravate the other man further. "That all you got you… You…"

He was back in the Ministry's jail cells. Sirius stood across from him, and his father threw out a killing curse that Hydrus just narrowly dodged. The two duelled silently for a while, their background changing from the cells to the forests to the wastelands to everywhere he could remember spending time with the man in. By the time he'd finally managed to stun Sirius, they'd wound up in the same rainy and dismal landscape he'd watched him die in.

"It's alright," Sirius said, looking calm and almost bored despite the fact that he was dead. "Just relax, kiddo."

"It's not alright," Hydrus argued. "Nothing is alright."

"It's alright," Sirius repeated as the branding on his forehead grew. "It's alri—"

"HYDRUS!" He snapped up. "Hydrus are you alright?"

He was in a bed. He was in Bellatrix's bed. His arm was wounded. He'd wounded his arm himself. There wasn't a threat. There was just his Bella.

"I'm alright," he muttered. "Sorry, bad dream."

"Poor baby," she cooed, pulling him close. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Hydrus wrapped his hand around her wrist, enjoying the stabilisation. "It's alright," he said more to himself than her. "I'm gonna go work on something. You get back to sleep."

"Hydrus, it's nearly two in the morning," she said, trying to tug him back. "Get some more rest."

"I can't. Need to figure something out." He patted her arm and pulled free. "I'll be in the Study Hall until breakfast, I promise."

He left his love behind, and made his way out. Once he was back in the safety of the hall he'd built, he summoned Dobby with a thought.

The elf's head shot back and forth for a second. "What can Dobby do for you, Master Harry?'

"Just call me Hydrus," he said with a smile. "I don't want you having to figure out what you can say each time I need you."

"Yes, sir, Master Hydrus!" The elf beamed at him. "What is you needing?"

"There's someone I wanted you to meet," he started. "Just to give you a heads up: be patient, and try not to be too insulted. He is the Black family's house elf, and he can be a bit cranky, alright?" Dobby nodded. "Kreacher!"

"Lord Master Hydrus." Kreacher bowed. "What can Kreacher do for you?"

"Kreacher, this is Dobby." The cantankerous elf looked over his compatriot with a sneer. "He once belonged to the Malfoys, and I took him from them. They assured me he was born from the best stock, and I know from experience that he is exceptionally talented. I understand how hard you've been working, and didn't want to continue burdening you with having to fulfil the countless requests I have on top of the usual family business."

"Kreacher can handle it," the older elf said with a scowl. "Kreacher does not need any assistance."

"Have you managed to find any information on muggle gods?" Hydrus demanded. Kreacher wilted. "Listen, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. The Black family will only have one elf, but I am more than just this family's future. I am responsible for another house, and have plans that will go far beyond the scope of what any one elf is capable of.

"Dobby here will be there to look after the other house, and less important matters." He knelt down and placed his hand on Kreacher's shoulder. "Besides, won't you feel better knowing that there's someone to look after me even when Arcturus's requests keep you away?"

"Hmmmmmmmmmm." Kreacher was gnashing his teeth as he apparently thought it over. "Kreacher understands."

"Wonderful." He gave the elf's shoulder a squeeze before standing. "I just wanted to make introductions in case either of you ever need assistance with something."

A lesson he'd learned from the rebellion. One of the only things more useful than a house elf, was two house elves. More than two house elves? Three. So on and so forth. The more house elves you had working towards a common goal, working as a united front, the more exceptional the feats they could accomplish. The only problem with the little miracle workers was that their devotion often led them to suicidal acts of protecting the less valuable people they were sworn to.

"Keep up the good work, Kreacher," Hydrus said. "Let me know if you find anything." The grouchy elf bowed and left, so he turned to Dobby. "Can you get me a book from the library on healing spells? The bigger, and older, the better."

His friend's head bobbed up and down before popping away. Hydrus could've tried using the enchanted bookshelves in Quiet Side of the Study Hall, but they weren't quite the best at handling nuanced requests like that. If he requested a medical textbook, it'd bring him the latest edition used in pre-apprenticeship learning. If he asked for the oldest medical textbook, it might just bring him some snake oil pamphlet that had been bookmarking some forgotten novel that a student was reading a thousand years ago. He only had to wait a few more minutes before Dobby reappeared, struggling to carry a tome nearly twice the size of his head.

Hydrus snorted. "Here."

He used a levitation spell to take the massive book from the elf, and the little thing sagged down in relief with a massive grin on his face. "Here's you is, Master Hydrus!"

"Thank you, Dobby," he said. "If you could, bring me some tea and biscuits."

The elf departed once more, and Hydrus got to work. He pulled his 'throne' up to one of the Study Hall's desks, and began to try and understand Compendium Magyk Medicinae's index. The text was an awful hybridization, if not bastardization, of Old English and Latin. Some things were easy enough to piece together, 'ofer' was 'over', 'sawgh' was 'saw'. Words like 'februum' went right over his head though. Before long an hour or so had passed, and he had more question marks than answers in the notes he'd begun to scribble down on a spare piece of parchment, even in spite of the Latin dictionary he'd gotten.

He jumped and nearly murdered his love when she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Bella," he said after a calming breath. "I really, really need you to make more noise when you approach."

She just giggled and gave his cheek a kiss. "But you're so cute when you're scared."

He glared at her but she just giggled again and sauntered around till she was beside him, looking over the same index he'd been trying to decipher. She ran one of her nails over the page, and Hydrus nearly shivered thinking back to the way she liked to do that up and down his back.

"Why are you studying medicine?" she asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "Seems like the last thing you need to learn."

"I want to learn a numbing spell," Hydrus said. "Something I should've done a long time ago."

"Wait." Bella turned around to face him, mouth slightly agape. "You can regrow almost an entire arm but you can't numb it?"

"I needed a new arm." He held up the crippled limb now. "I did not need it to be painless."

"Oh, poor Hydrus," she whined. "No more letting yourself get hurt!"

He couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Right. Well, unless you can understand this, I need to get back to work."

"Hmmm." She mouthed a few of the words out. "Purifying the dragon's curse. Purifying the… Something pox."

"Wait, you can understand this?"

"Of course, silly," Bella said. "You should see some of the manuscripts we have tucked away at home."

"Right." He should've known. "Alright, well, I'd love the help."

Bella, of course, took the best seat in the house and once she was comfortable settled in his lap they got to work.

Hydrus unfolded another letter as his house mates continued to chat and eat their own breakfasts. He had more or less perfected the art of eating and drinking without looking, and it left his hand free to hold up the latest earnings report from the Weasley twins. He'd already gone through some letters from a couple of Greek families that he'd met during the winter break, a coded message from Quinn that he was nowhere near caffeinated enough to begin to decipher, and some investment request from a wandmaker that he'd promptly burned.

Just as he finished reading the last of his missives, one of the doors to the Great Hall slammed open. He craned his neck around to see what had to be the ugliest 'owl' imaginable.

The thing probably would've come up to just past his waist, and its feathers were an odd shade of tawny orange that looked like it'd been coloured in with half-browned crayons. It had a pointed, tubular beak that jutted out nearly a handspan from its wrinkly, unfeathered face. It glanced about the hall for a moment, and then to his less-than-surprised annoyance began to waddle towards him like a penguin.

Everyone was staring at it in shock, none more so than Hagrid who'd leapt to his feet with a milk-soaked beard. Hydrus just waited for the creature to finally reach him, and when it did, the ugly bird actually smacked him with its wing.

"Craw!"

Clipped to the inside of its wing was a roll of parchment which he took with a sigh. The thing just kept staring at him though, and after a few seconds it began to slap him again with the appendage.

"The hell do you…" He scoffed. "Oh."

He reached out and grabbed a sausage link and handed it to the bird who swallowed it down immediately. It turned on its heel, Hydrus now noticed that its feet were pointed backwards, and it began to waddle right back out of the Great Hall.

"What on earth was that?" Draco asked, still transfixed by whatever the weird creature was. "It like some... demented mix of an owl and a goblin."

"No clue." Hydrus unrolled the parchment and immediately handed it to Hellena. "What's that say?"

The linguistically gifted girl's eyes swam across the page as she mouthed out the words. "It says 'I'll do it, one-hundred galleons a day, plus food, drink, and board.' I think." She hummed. "The handwriting is a bit messy."

"One-hundred," Hydrus scoffed. "I'll kick his ass. Which is probably what he wants…" He shook his head. "Whatever. Write something back saying we'll be there at the beginning of July, please."

"Okay."

Hellena nodded at him then set the letter aside and got back to eating. Draco cleared his throat. "Uh…"

"Just some personal business." Hydrus was going full steam with the rest of his breakfast now. "The same business that has Hellena tutoring Longbottom."

"Ah," Draco said. "Right. How's that going?"

"I have confidence in Hellena's skills, I'm sure he'll get it figured out." Tamina beamed at him for the praise for her girlfriend. "Besides, even if he doesn't, won't change my plans for him."

"Right." Draco shook his head. "Is there anyone you don't have plans for?"

"Only those I haven't met yet." A familiar sensation was approaching, and he turned to see Fleur closing in on him. "Delacour. What can I do for you?"

"May I speak to you?" she asked, stiff. "In private."

"Is it about the tournament?" he asked. "Because if so, I'll feel bad about leaving Krum out."

"Non."

'Geez, must be serious if she's letting the French slip.' He stood. "Alright, let's step outside. Draco, if your aunt freaks out and tries to follow, tell her to quit being so faithless."

The blonde winced at the thought of confronting the woman, but nodded. "You got it."

He allowed Fleur to lead him out of the Great Hall, but she didn't stop there. They kept going until they were outside, along the shore of the Great Lake, and she folded her arms over her chest when she stopped to face him.

"How did you know Marianne de Beauvoir?"

"Who?" Hydrus asked, brows furrowed.

"You were at her funeral?"

"Oh, Marie." He winced, hoping that he offended the girl with the way he'd said the word in an accidental imitation of the old man he'd met's accent. "I didn't know her. I accidentally interrupted her funeral when I went there to mourn someone else."

"Who?" Fleur demanded. "And who showed you that place?"

Hydrus knew she wasn't going to like his answer, but it wasn't like he could tell this shade of his former love the truth. "It doesn't matter, she's gone now. She's also the one who showed me."

Fleur glared at him, but her allure didn't so much as begin to tempt him to change his mind. It was almost baffling how much of an effect it had had on him when they first met in this timeline; compared to the mature version, it was like a candle beside an inferno. As he continued to stare her down nonplussed, she huffed at him.

"Everyone I know, everyone I know on that side of things, is freaking out," she said. "My great-aunt said that you blessed Marianne's journey."

Hydrus blinked. "It wasn't me who did that. It was just Magic using me as her instrument."

"That's basically the same thing!" Fleur said, eyes wide as she discovered what she'd heard was true. "You worship Magic?"

"And she has blessed me in turn." He shrugged and grinned. "Why is this such a big d—"

"Hydrus!"

It was funny how easily he could read her now. Everything about her was… Childish, in comparison to his old flame, but the pieces were still there. There was a twitch in her eye, a shiver in her hair, a heat pouring off her that told him she was on the verge of losing some control over her form. But she wasn't angry, she was… afraid?

"Hydrus, do you realise how many beings are learning about this? How they're reacting?" She bit her lip. "Of course it's a big deal. I'm getting called to the Rassemblement Massif over this."

"First, I don't even know what that is." It did sound important at least. "Second, why are they getting you involved?"

Fleur looked at him like he was crazy. "How do you know where my people's sacred resting place is but not about the Rassemblement Massif?"

"I guess my deceased love was never invited to one." He hated having to come off cold like this, but it was his best shot to ward off more questions. "I'll try not to hold it against her."

"Oh." To his relief, Fleur did seem to flush in embarrassment over that. "She… She was a fille perdue?"

'Lost daughter…' Hydrus internally translated, giving nothing away with his expression. "What's this mastiff thing?"

"Rassemblement Massif," Fleur corrected with a roll of her eyes. "It's not something that happens often, and calls all of the Veela in France, Belgium, Canada, and more together to discuss something important. Something like, I don't know, a human worshipping Magic."

"And you're involved because…?"

"Because I know you!" Fleur said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Hydrus, there has never been a human who worshipped Magic before. There are a few who worship Death, or named versions of other gods, but Magic…" Suddenly she locked up. "Wait, do the goblins know this?"

"I mean, depending on what they've been told—"

"It's because of you!" Hydrus growled a touch at the way she stabbed his sternum with her finger. "You're ze reason zat zey have gone mad!"

"Just because Death and Magic have gotten into a pissing contest over me doesn't make it my fault," he said, glaring at the French girl who winced and stepped back. "Listen, it sucks that you're getting caught up into whatever the hubbub is on the veela side, but that's on your people, and not my fault either." He waved his hand dismissively. "If you need shelter or problems arise, just ask me to help and I will. You're my friend. That doesn't mean you can snap your feathers and spit your fire at me just because everyone's going crazy."

"Snap my…" Fleur was squinting at him now. "Have you been speaking with my mother?"

Hydrus gave a befuddled head shake. "No?"

"She always says that when my sister or I are causing a fuss." The veela didn't sound like she believed him. "And I'm sorry it's just… Hydrus, you don't understand. This could change everything for us."

"I promise you it won't." Fleur winced. "I might have grand plans, but my faith does not affect them. I may worship Magic, but I do not answer to her."

Hydrus turned and left before she could convince him otherwise. The guilt that had been building up throughout that conversation had nearly spilled out, but he had kept it down with the reminder that she had been the one to support his plan in the first place, and that he had his Bella now. No matter how different this version of Fleur was from the powerful, domineering fighter he knew; the obvious similarities were haunting.

He knew he should probably be more concerned about the supposedly massive implications of the sentient magical creatures community discovering his connection to Magic, but right now he just wanted to get as far away from Fleur as possible.

'At least I don't have any reason for Ginny to bug me.'

Bellatrix hummed a song to herself as she ran her hands over Francis's snout. Hydrus still had another class to get through before he was free, so she'd decided to spend some time with their 'child'. Apophis had led her to the much larger serpent, and although it had annoyed her at first to be dragged outside in the muddy ground, now she was contemplating something. Despite the reptile's gargantuan size, the hydrus's scales were relatively small and soft. It felt like particularly well-worn leather.

'I wonder if my love can find another one…' she thought. 'I'd love to skin it and have it made into boots…'

The thought of wearing her future husband's namesake against her flesh made her giggle.

"Bellatrix?" She turned with a frown to see the awful half-giant had approached. "Was wondering if you knew when Hydrus was out of classes."

She nearly snapped at the half-breed, but remembered her little water snake telling her to be nice. "He's in Astronomy until six."

"Ah, well, you think 'e would mind if I stopped by to visit during Study Club?" The oaf rubbed at the back of his head. "Wanted to ask 'im about that chickcharney that visited."

"He wouldn't mind." Bellatrix tried not to emphasise 'he' too much in that sentence. "Are you referring to that hideous looking creature who delivered him a letter?"

The half-giant chuckled. "Aw, 'e wasn't ugly." He scratched at his beard. "Or she. Couldn't rightly tell from so far away…"

"Right, well, I'm sure Hydrus will know more." The teen seemed to have a fascination of his own with various beasts. "Is that all?"

The half-giant nodded, but didn't leave. Instead he'd begun petting Francis the same way she had been doing, and Bellatrix grit her teeth at the company. For just a brief second, Apophis's head appeared, and the oaf's face split open with a grin.

"Well lookie here!" Hagrid said. "If it ain't lil Pophy."

Bellatrix wanted to snarl at the man not to call her love's familiar that, but she managed to restrain herself at the last second. She watched as the half-giant 'mimed' the action of lifting the basilisk up, running his hands along its scales, and gently bringing his head down to give it a gentle headbutt.

Apophis hissed something, and Hagrid chuckled again. "And an 'ullo to you too, little fella. You been behaving yourself?" There was no response, so the half-giant laughed again. "You best be keeping your nose clean, mister. Don't want your da' getting in no trouble, ya hear?"

Maybe the oaf wasn't so bad, if he at least recognized the familial bond between Hydrus and their 'son'. Her love had mentioned that Hagrid was watching over Apophis, and although she hadn't approved at first it seemed like maybe he had been right to introduce the two.

"Has there been any expenses regarding Apophis's care that we can reimburse?" Bellatrix asked. "Hydrus is very keen on making sure people know that we take care of those who do well by us."

One of her favorite things to do was to refer to two of them as 'us', internally knowing it stood for their future marriage but if anyone called her out on it she could simply say it was their family ties.

Hagrid looked up for a moment, about as dignified as a troll with how obvious he made his thinking. "Nope, not that I can remember anyhow. I made him up a nest box outta some wood I already had lying around, but he don't hardly use it."

"I'll let Hydrus know so he can still send you something for your time." She stuck up her chin, daring the man to try and argue with her. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"Nope." The man gave one last loving ruffle of his hand to where Bellatrix assumed Apophis's feathers were. "I'll get outta your hair. It was nice chatting with you, Bellatrix."

"Hmph." She didn't argue with him out of respect for her little water snake, but she certainly wouldn't agree. "Come here, Apophis."

The basilisk wound its way back around her, and as soon as the half-giant was out of sight she began to try and cast cleaning spells. She wasn't sure if they were actually effective given the creature's magical imperviousness, but it was better than not even trying. After a few different variations, including a failed attempt to remake one she'd seen Hydrus use, she sighed and gave a gentle kiss to the snake's snout.

"I don't know what you or Hydrus see in him." A pout formed on her lips. "Honestly, he's just some hairy oaf—"

Apophis hissed at her and she recoiled.

"Fine, fine." Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you're just like your father."

Hydrus grinned in wicked delight at the sight of all the shivering children as they stood in the massive field of snow, some all the way up past their waists. Either Dumbledore and the other professors had come through with his request, or they'd hired someone to do it with his family's money, but either way. The clouds were still occasionally coughing out lone snowflakes and not a single one of the kids he'd dragged out of the castle at six in the morning on a Saturday were happy to be here.

'It's been too long,' he thought. "Alright everyone! I'm sure you're wondering why I've invited you to share my company."

The 'invitation' had come with a threat of expulsion from the club if they didn't show up without an excuse he couldn't break, so most of them glared back at him.

"It was brought to my attention that our little club doesn't have enough 'special activities'. Things like the Duelling Club's rankings and tournaments, or the Creatures Club's special guests and lecturers." That wasn't entirely a lie, Dumbledore had said he should come up with something to sell to the board. "So, I and my co-founders Fred and George Weasley came up with an idea."

The twins hadn't been involved at all, but they were still trying to tear down his sign, so he decided to put them on the hook for this too.

"Gryffindors and Slytherins! You'll be one team. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw the other." A flick of his wrist transfigured their winter cloaks into appropriately coloured equivalents that would do a much better job of keeping them warm. "Your task is to build a snowman. One per team, the bigger and badder the better.

"When the clock strikes seven at night, the creations shall do battle." That drew confused and excited looks in equal measure from the crowd. "Winning team will earn one-hundred points for their houses. Losing team will be forbidden from entering the Study Hall for a week."

Hermione's hand shot up, and Hydrus gave a bemused grin at having finally caught his adopted relative's attention. He nodded at her. "What are the rules?"

"No impeding or sabotaging the other team's work."

"And?" Hermione demanded. "What else?"

"That's it." Hydrus sat and used his magic to form the snow beneath him into a 'throne' of ice. "In fact I'd suggest you all get started already."

And like that, the children were off. The Ravenclaws began to strategize, the Hufflepuffs were casting warming charms on themselves and each other. The Gryffindors were already beginning to pile up a massive mound of snow while the Slytherins were spreading out in the field. He was pleased to see his tutors stepping up easily into leadership roles, and surprised when he realised how little infighting was going on.

'I should really be used to it by now…'

"How are you liking the snow?" Hydrus glanced over to see the headmaster had joined him. "I hope it was worth the rush order."

"It's all about how the kids use it." He folded one leg over the other and cast a privacy charm. "It's a variation on a training 'game' Ron came up with during the quiet year."

"Oh?"

"We didn't have enough information on Leorex yet. Hell, we didn't even know his 'name'." Hydrus snorted when one of the first years tripped and immediately disappeared into a snowbank. "We were doing some experiments on his golems, trying to reverse engineer the rune schemes he used. Hermione, Remus, and the rest of their team would tear them apart, but Ron glued 'em back together.

"We weren't quite able to recreate what Leorex did, but eventually Ron managed to get the others to come up with a spell to animate them manually." The more bookish portions of his forces were annoyed at their strategist's unrelenting insistence on getting them functional, but Harry had agreed with the man. "It was important that we knew how to fight them if the occasion ever came up."

Unfortunately for their more combat oriented forces, Ron had inherited some of the crueller side of Weasley twins mischievousness. He'd been showcasing the 'lifeless' golems to squads one at a time, and after showing off what they'd learned about them, he'd wake them up and sick them on the fighters. The soldiers had been furious at first, but eventually it became a right of passage. Even when the Quiet Year was over and Leorex was dead, every new batch of trainees were given the same lesson.

Always be prepared. Never let your guard down. Trust no one.

Constant. Vigilance.

"Speaking of 'Leorex'," Dumbeldore said. "Have you spoken to Giannis recently?"

"I know what you're doing." Hydrus glared at the ancient warlock who met his gaze unflinchingly. "Quit trying to break my bargains."

"I merely—"

"You merely don't know when to quit meddling." He took a breath. "I love you, Albus. You're one of the most important people in the entire world to me. You made me into the man I am today. But if you keep this up, keep trying to hurt me like this?

"I will kill Grindelwald. I will make him suffer. And I will leave his head as a paper weight on your desk."

The silence inside the invisible ward he'd cast finally matched how it would've sounded to anyone outside it. A nagging guilt tugged at his heart strings, but he was done playing games. He'd already made it clear to Magic he wouldn't be dragged into her war against Death; it was time he made it clear to the only person he respected more that he wouldn't be dragged into his games either.

"Okay." The older man's hand gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sorry."

After a second or two, he nodded. "As am I."

Dumbledore gave his shoulder a pat and the silence became much more comfortable. Hydrus tried to loosen the tension in his posture as slowly as possible to not make it too obvious how strung-up he'd gotten, but he doubted it worked. There wasn't anyone in the world who was able to read him as easily as his mentor could. Back in the day he'd attributed it to the endless hours they'd spent together, the countless trips into his mind the man had made to review and 'grade' his battles.

Now he just wondered if it was just an old person thing.

Eventually Dumbledore fabricated a seat of his own, a simple thing compared to the ostentatious one Hydrus had, and the two began to discuss what the various students were doing. The older man kept chiding him for making obvious gestures towards the individuals they brought up, but it was too much fun to see the way they'd squirm knowing that they were being talked about.

Other teachers came and went throughout the day, including Bellatrix who brought him food with each meeting. She was busy grading essays and modernising the text he'd borrowed, otherwise he was certain she'd have been here all day alongside him and Dumbledore, but he appreciated the still-frequent visits.

His mother only checked in once, thankfully. She'd wandered out into the snow proper to give some of the students advice, and it had actually done a good bit to help out the Hufflepuffs who'd apparently overpowered their warming charms and thus were melting the snow around them. Flitwick had only come out briefly, walking atop the snow with enchanted boots, and turned around after giving an appreciative frown for the rapidly-growing titans. Hagrid was making frequent trips, though he'd 'betrayed' his almamater house by mainly paying attention to the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who were making more of a snow-centaur than a snowman. Snape hadn't even bothered talking to that team, however, and instead was solely coaching his Slytherins.

What a strange man his former potions master was. In the previous timeline, he had been a bitter and reclusive hermit who never spoke to anyone if it wasn't demanded. He'd just lock himself up in whatever the dankest, darkest section of their current base was and stare over his cauldrons. He still didn't exactly seem like the sociable sort in this time, but at one point Hydrus could've sworn the man had smiled at something Draco said.

"It's almost time," Dumbledore eventually said. "I'm looking forward to seeing how this spell of yours works."

"More Remus's than mine," Hydrus replied. "Honestly it's not that complicated, it wouldn't work at all if I was the one who built the snowmen."

"Oh?"

"It's all about the unharnessed intent built up by the creator, and using that to provide an artificial 'consciousness' to the being." He shook his head. "Still don't know how the hell Leorex managed to infuse each of his works with such powerful intent, but with all these kids spending half a day working on them, it should suffice to give these the same thing."

Dumbledore hummed. "And then your spell will simply power them?"

"And hold them together," Hydrus confirmed. "I doubt they worked out full blown artificial muscular and skeletal systems for the things."

He definitely didn't know how Leorex had managed that.

"Are you going to tell them their time is almost up?" Dumbledore asked, staring at a pocket watch. "Only a minute left."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Hydrus." Dumbledore frowned at him. "You are going to make the snowmen fight each other, aren't you?"

He grinned. "I'd hate to repeat myself, so let's get this show on the road."

Dumbledore sighed, but Hydrus had already begun his wand movements. Luckily for him, if there was one thing Remus had the edge on Hermione with, it was spell crafting. The man liked to keep his wand movements and verbalisations short and sweet, and so after just a few seconds Hydrus called:

"Animatorius!"

A few children screamed and yelped as their creations began to shake. They all ran to one side of the now almost entirely snow-cleared field, and after just a few seconds the two pseudo-golems were alive.

The Slytherins and Gryffindors had gone for a mostly traditional snowman. It had three segments, each smaller than the other from the bottom to the top. In place of arms, someone had managed to grow ivy up its sides that coated its bottom segment and grew up into its second before splitting off into twisting, rope-like arms. What was most impressive about it was its size, standing at nearly three-stories tall.

The other team had gone for more of a snow-sculpture. Their centaur, thanks no-doubt to Hagrid's input, managed to be perfectly balanced with four, bowed-in pillars that supported its lopsided top. They had done a lot to compact the snow which helped Hydrus manage the magic-required to keep it together despite its intricate nature. The top of its head just barely cleared the other creation's second segment, but it certainly looked more impressive.

The two artificial beings stared each other down, nodded, then immediately turned to the excited students and attacked.

"Defeat your creations, and all four houses get the points!" Hydrus called with a sonorous charm. "Lose, and nobody gets anything!"

He cancelled the sound charm and fell back into his icy throne with a laugh. Dumbledore was side eyeing him unamusedly, but Bellatrix had returned as well.

"Weren't they supposed to fight each other?" she asked, subtly sliding her hand across the nape of his neck as she passed behind him. "What happened?"

"It would seem Hydrus is indeed his father's son," the headmaster said, echoing an earlier statement Hydrus had made. "Perhaps to our detriment."

"You're just mad I didn't let you in on the truth," Hydrus replied, unconcerned with the man's annoyance. "I told you I wanted to promote inter-house unity, and believe me when I say this'll do it."

"Yes, because we're truly lacking in that from your perspective."

This time he had to admit the man had scored a point against him. The way the teams had worked together had more than exceeded his expectations in the building phase, so he probably should've changed his explanation by now. He came up with something on the spot.

"It's still going to be educational for them," he said. "The Study Club was founded to make better wizards and witches out of your students, and now that they've given all they thought they had to give to make the snowmen, they'll be able to see just how much they still had in reserve by trying to destroy them."

And trying they were. The bedlam that their creations' betrayal had caused meant that the houses were almost entirely integrated amongst each other. There were a few groupings that stood out, like Draco leading Hydrus's fourth years or his younger self and former friends working together flawlessly. Cedric was holding off the centaur almost entirely on his own as the rest of his house held back, but even the other Hufflepuffs were standing by Ravenclaws and Slytherins to hear what they should try and do. It was only a matter of time before one of them made the obvious play to…

"Incendio!"

He heard Hermione's voice amongst the clamour thanks to years spent fighting together, but that just made it easier for him to cut her plan down at the knees. He flooded the field with his and Bellatrix's magic, relying on his love to make up for the fact that his own power was being drained by the pseudo-golems, and Hermione's spell died just a few inches from her wand.

The snowmen took on a more vicious appearance, their soft and slowly-melting features hardening into proper ice. The air became even colder than the artificial weather had already made it. The shadows being cast as the sun fell past the cloud line began to tremble.

"Well that's hardly fair," Dumbledore muttered. "Don't you think?"

Hydrus cocked an eyebrow at him. "Then do something about it."

The headmaster returned the challenging expression with a stoic one of his own. Then, to Hydrus's surprise, the man caught fire in the same manner he would've had Fawkes been around to…

Dumbledore reappeared on the opposite side of the field alongside the children, and the looks of relief on their faces only encouraged Hydrus to try even harder to overwhelm them.

The battle raged on for nearly a full twenty minutes. Hydrus had stopped overwhelming the rest of his magic with the Black portion, and switched back to the slightly less-draining dual casting of healing magic. Whenever the other side gave his two 'soldiers' a moment to rest, he'd pause his animation spell and instead cast something to disrupt them further. Sometimes it was sweeping gales to send them slipping and sliding on the icy grass, other times it was confounding charms to make them forget what they were even doing there.

The centaur was running back and forth across the field with speed despite its clumsy architecture. It had retrieved a stock pile of icy boulders that the Ravenclaws had apparently hidden away, and it was 'bowling' them at students fast enough to be dangerous, but not so fast as to be undodgeable. The vine-armed snowman was using its tendril appendages to grab and throw the students into snowbanks, bury others under the snow, and hopped about with such massive leaps that it shook the earth.

Still, despite his best efforts, he was using snowmen to fight a team lead by a man who's talent for fire-based spells was legendary.

Eventually Dumbledore winnowed the creations down to just pint-sized imitations of themselves and Hydrus had to throw in the towel. He decided to declare his loss by just throwing the lifeless pseudo-golems at Dumbledore, and watched as they melted away entirely long before they reached him. Once they were gone, the students began to cheer.

"It's not fair," Bella muttered with a small frown. "You could've won if—"

"It's just a game, dear," Hydrus cut her off as he stood and approached Cedric, who was grinning a broad smile. "Well done, Diggory."

"That was a mean trick you pulled." Cedric gave him a slightly-too-hard clap on the shoulder. "How'd you know about the stock pile of ice balls we set up?"

"I didn't," Hydrus said. "But the snowman did. Well done to you two as well."

His younger self and Draco had both stepped up towards him, the former grinning while the latter scowled.

"Are you going to fix my cloak?" Draco demanded. "I look ridiculous."

He wasn't wrong. As it turned out, Gryffindor red and Slytherin green came together to make their wearers look like the gaudiest Christmas decoration imaginable. With a snap of his fingers Hydrus cancelled out the mass transfiguration, and there were several gasps and squeals as students suddenly found themselves in much-less water resistant clothes dripping in melted snow.

"We've got to do this again next year," his 'god brother' Harry said. "I'll be ready."

"We'll see," Hydrus replied, surprised to see his younger self so much friendlier. He cast his sonorous charm again. "Everyone! Get inside and get some hot chocolate in you, I warned the house elves ahead of time."

He heard Hermione ask Ron about what house elves were as the crowd shuffled back into Hogwarts, and quickly decided to avoid her for the foreseeable future. It wasn't until everyone was gone that Dumbledore approached.

"I really shouldn't be surprised anymore, but you still manage to impress me each time I see your talents for myself," the headmaster said. "I never thought I'd actually work up a sweat fighting off snowmen of all things."

Hydrus laughed. "I learned from the absolute best. What do you think of the kids though? Potter, Malfoy, and obviously Diggory were the three standouts in my opinion."

"They were all certainly something," Dumbledore agreed. "I wonder how helpful those talents will be in quidditch, leading a family, or holding political office."

"Does everything have to be a lesson with you?" Hydrus asked with a sigh. "I get it, the world doesn't need more people like me in it. I just wanted to have some fun."

"That wasn't my—"

"Have a good evening, Professor." He turned and walked away, Bella in tow. "Let's get some dinner, we both need to refuel."

"Don't worry about him," she cooed once they were out of earshot. "He just doesn't understand."

'Neither do you.' The air was beginning to bite at him, but he didn't want to risk wrapping an arm around her for warmth. 'No one does. And it should've stayed that way.'

BBaRtS

Thirty-five, barely staying alive. This heat wave is killing me y'all. Got over 40/105 degrees yesterday, I ain't got no AC, and the popsicles and ice packs can only do so much. My apologies if this chapter is bad in any way but ya boy ain't doing well. If down the line I randomly disappear, just know I'm dead and naturally cremated. Anyways, enough of my bitching lmao

Minor thing real quick, I started another fanfic, but this one is the main priority and will never be delayed because of that one which is just a side project for when I want to write a cookier idea lol

Dumbledore up to his usual shenanigans, meeting up with his fellow ancient folk and manipulating Hydrus into letting him get away with it. Hydrus FINALLY trying to learn more nuanced healing spells, something he said he should've done a bunch of chapters ago, as well as Dobby and Kreacher meeting. A weird bird, side plot and god plot moving forward. Bellatrix making some creepy plans regarding reptile skin, and a conversation with Hagrid.

Wasn't the biggest fan of their interaction, I just couldn't get their dialogue right. I wanted to show Hagrid being more... Idk, 'civilized' than he was in the original series/timeline. Bellatrix being easily swayed despite his status just because he said Hydrus was Apophis's dad, thus affirming the 'family dynamic' she's desperate for. Still being stuck up as all hell though. Idk, maybe it's just me, maybe not, Idk this heat is frying my brain.

We also got to see what Hydrus wanted the snow for. I promise I didn't just write all that in a heatstroke-induced delusional desire for snow. It was to show him being more upbeat and 'fun', set a stage for him and Dumbledore to 'fight', and more. He finally put down some boundaries between himself and the grandfatherly figure, something he struggled with doing before as we saw with him always giving away more info than he wanted to and what not. Hopefully they'll be able to eventually settle into a middle ground where they're both happy.

On to reviews!

"Its so heartwarming seeing Hydrus be a snarky little shit to Tonks" - I enjoy getting to write for Tonks. Despite her being an oddball in her own right, compared to some of the characters we see she's almost becoming a 'straight man' for the story lol. It's a fun dynamic of Hydrus almost bullying her directly, but also the only witch he considered her equal in strength was his former love Fleur, which, you know, no biases there...

"Speaking of Bella, seeing her love finally get reciprocated was perfection!" - I'm going to enjoy getting to slowly 'unwind' Bellatrix. She'll still be insane, obvs, but I want to over time have her slowly gain a new... Idk what to call it, self-assurance that she's loved. Maybe someday Hydrus won't even have to warn Draco to hold her back just because someone else wants to talk to him in private lol. And for Hydrus's part, it'll be more about him learning to trust and respect her beyond just it being the same value-proposition he accepted her for in the beginning.

"Gang Gang. more of le fluff." - I don't normally respond to short, just-appreciating comments like this but this one sent me for some reason. 'Gang gang' indeed lmaoo

"The only thing that could've been better is a paragraph more to give some hint on what next chapter is going to be about, this end felt a bit abrupt to me." - Lol this is one of those times where it works better/more effectively when you don't have to wait a week for the next chapter. Going from "We're definitely going straight back this time" to the exact opposite situation after hitting the next button hits harder then. (Though, this chapter also doesn't really set up what's coming next, because next chapter will be more of a 'things starting' chapter as opposed to the bridging nature of this one)

"also was that blackhole thing because of me or was it preplanned?" - Yeee, like I had said, I figured I could at least include the ideas people suggested along the way even if they didn't work for me personally. They were still fun to play with and readers enjoyed them, especially this 'made up' one.

"I would love to see more Gianias " - I'm glad people enjoy Giannis being around, I love writing him. He'll have more to do later on, but in the mean time we'll still get occasional glimpses at what he's up to. I wish I could talk more about him, but that would ruin the fun lolol

And that's that! Again, Idk if this was my best work by a long shot, but have mercy on me and send cold thoughts my way. I'm gonna go grab another icepack, thank you so much for reading and reviewing, love you all, lessthanthree, see you next Saturday!