Sirius pricked the tip of his finger with his pocket knife, desperate to try and stay awake. The quarter-veela girl was singing to the manticore, and even from this far away its effect left his eyes feeling like they were being weighed down with cinder blocks. He even appreciated the nudge James gave him.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," he grumbled. "Talk about a snooze fest."

"They don't get points for being exciting," James said. "I wonder what Hydrus will try."

"Hopefully he'll do a better job than the Bulgarian."

Krum had actually attempted to fight the beast, launching spell after spell at it and dodging almost half as well as the quidditch star could've on a broom. The teen might've been his son's competition, but Sirius still had to give him credit for the fight he'd put up. If it weren't for the fact that there was a life-time career in the quidditch industry for him, the auror might've tried to recruit the foreigner. This Fleur girl's veela magic was impressive as well, but all he really wanted from her was for there to be some truth to the gossip rags saying that she was secretly trying to seduce his son.

Better her than Bellatrix.

James yawned, so Sirius cut him off by stepping on his foot. "Jerk."

"You're welcome."

"Hush, you two." They gave quiet grunts at their boss's invisible arrival. "Sirius, go find a spot to take your cloak off. I'll cover you so you can watch Hydrus."

"You don't have to do that."

"No, I do." She snorted. "We both know you won't be paying attention to anything besides that."

Sirius gave a grin even though he knew she couldn't see it. "You're the best, Bonesy."

"Not at work, Black," she hissed at him, switching back to his last name. "Now go."

He patted James on the shoulder, or at least he hoped it was his friend's shoulder, as he went. It was a quick jaunt to the portable bathrooms that had been set up around the arena, then he was back out and made his way towards the box he knew his family would be in. The thought of having to deal with them nearly drove him to choose another location, but the view he could get took precedence over that. He threw open the door and immediately began to second-guess that decision.

"Yeesh," he said. "A full reunion."

Arcturus grinned at his arrival. His parents and his uncle looked annoyed that he'd shown up. Narcissa and her husband both immediately made faces, and if it weren't for the fact that he was in the middle of trying to get back into the circle he would've asked them if they'd finally remembered they'd skipped their baths. Bellatrix hadn't acknowledged his presence at all, and obviously Andromeda wasn't there, though his brother Regulus was.

"Hey, Reg," he said. "You're looking good."

And he was. The younger man had grown his hair out to the point where it was longer than Sirius's own rebellious mane. He was clean shaven and wearing stylish robes, leaving Sirius wondering if he'd be able to get some advice for his next date with Amelia. His brother gave him a nod and a small smile.

"First time he's bothered to show his face in years," Arcturus said, and Sirius winced, realising that he'd probably just reignited a rant. "Look at him! He's wearing makeup!"

"I'd wear the stuff too if it meant people wouldn't recognize I was related to the rest of you," he said with a glare. "Leave him alone."

"Hmph." Arcturus glared back at him. "You aren't a member of this family yet, boy."

"Go ahead and call security." Sirius moved to lean against the box's open window to stare out into the stage. "I'll tell them I'm conducting a thorough search for potential dark wizards."

"Quiet down," Bellatrix snapped at him. "It's nearly Hydrus's turn."

A wave of disgust rolled through Sirius at the affectionate tone she used in reference to the boy, his boy.

Bellatrix was as cruel as they came. He'd seen more than enough of her duels, some of them were even used as training materials at the auror academy these days, and she represented everything that he hated about his family. She would torment her foes, playing with them like a cat does a mouse, and using all manner of curses and hexes that straddled the rules in such a way that it left him wondering just how many bribes his family had to give the judges.

"It's good to see you too, Sirius," Regulus said softly. "I look forward to seeing my nephew in action."

Merlin it was strange to talk to his brother again. The man still sounded so young. "Yeah. I've only seen his work once, but it was something else."

"Of course it was," Bellatrix butted in again. "He's this family's future, our next lord." Sirius winced as his father loudly cleared his throat, but the woman just giggled. "Maybe you'll even see why."

'The hell does that mean?'


"Mr. Black?" Hydrus's eyes shot open. "You're up next."

Hydrus yawned and stretched. He scratched at his jaw and tried not to let his amusement show from Bagman's shock at his napping. After making a scene of rolling his neck back and forth and brushing off his robes, he made his way towards the door. Stepping out nearly brought a wince to his face at the bright light of the sun beating down on him, but he shaded his eyes and cast his gaze around the massive crowd.

There had to be well over a thousand people there, perhaps even two thousand. A decent chunk of them were students, but a larger portion were adults come to see what he, and he supposed the other champions too, could do. His eyes eventually found the Black family box, but it was opposite of where he stood and the small group of people inside it were just a blur. He stepped further out into the arena.

"And our last contestant!" Hydrus turned to see Bagman had already made his way back to the judge's table. "The youngest champion and the representative for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Hydrus! Blaaaaack!"

A roaring cheer brought a smile to Hydrus's face. All his life he'd been ashamed of the praise and near-worship people dumped on his lap, feeling himself undeserving and entirely overwhelmed at the way they propped him up. In a world like this though? He could just put his feet up and enjoy the simplicity of it all. Nobody thought he was the next Merlin, nobody expected him to do the impossible and slay Voldemort, nobody blamed him for the deaths of their entire family and expected him to take vengeance on their behalf. Instead they just thought he was a powerful young wizard from a powerful old family, and wanted to see him try and survive against a manticore.

The manticore itself was a bit of a surprise. From what little Hydrus knew of them, the beasts were only supposed to grow to around twelve feet tall, but this one was nearly twice that. It was a bit smaller than the dragon he'd out-flown last time, but it still raised his hackles a touch. Besides its size it looked like he'd expected, with a gigantic lion's body, a scorpion's tail, a pair of leathery wings that he doubted let it properly fly, and a hideously 'human-like' face. Honestly its face looked more like a pug the way its features were all scrunched up and bloated, but he supposed if he was drunk or blind enough he could call it humanoid.

"We've seen Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour face-off against the manticore, now let us see what Hogwarts' prodigy has to show!" The man's deep breath was audible. "Three! Two! One! Begin!"

The latter half of 'begin' was cut off by a loud firework that nearly deafened Hydrus. He slowly made his way towards the manticore, who did the same to meet him a bit more than half-way. After bowing to the beast, he began to measure it up.

"Greetings," he called. "What's your name?"

"Manners…" the manticore drawled. "How dull. What use are names between predator and prey?"

Hydrus smiled. "I'm sure you've figured out that this is all just a game to them. There is no 'prey' here. They won't allow you to kill me."

"Twice I've failed, but there won't be a third time," the manticore said quietly, or at least, quiet for a massive magical animal. "Come, polite one, make this entertaining for me."

"Wouldn't it be more entertaining to ruin their sport?" Hydrus asked. "They expect you to dance to their tune, why should you?"

"Quit trying to escape your fate, human." The manticore was beginning its approach once more. "You shall be my meal."


"I wonder what they're discussing," Sirius mumbled. "Can't imagine that thing is much for conversation."

"No doubt just a stalling tactic," Bellatrix said. "Every second can matter."

Sirius allowed a grunt to show his agreement. He'd only seen a manticore once before, and it had been a good deal smaller than this one. That had been one of his earlier busts; there was an illegal creature smuggling ring that he, James, Frank, and half a dozen other aurors had raided in the middle of the night to try and catch them with their pants down. The human defences weren't anything to write home about, but it turned out the beasts weren't just there for sale. The manticore would've sent them on the retreat if it weren't for Frank, the man hadn't earned a mastery in both Defence and Creatures for nothing, and he'd been able to subdue it by conjuring a series of chains and ropes that Sirius couldn't even dream of trying to untangle. The feat had helped him earn his captaincy a few years later. Poor bastard.

Considering there wasn't anything for Hydrus to use as transfiguration fodder, not to mention the manticore was massive in comparison, Sirius doubted his son would be using that particular strategy.


Hydrus jumped back to avoid the massive paw the manticore tried to crush him with. "Aw, come on." He swept his wand to the left, sending a blasting hex to knock away the manticore's next blow. "There's really no need for all this." Rather than respond, the manticore dove at him. "Protego Maxima!"

The shield formed a small dome around his entire person, and he smiled at the sound of the beast bouncing off it. Despite his earlier joke to Fleur, if being a dick was enough of an excuse to kill whomever he wanted then there'd be a lot less roadblocks on his path to the top. Another blow to the shield nearly deafened him, so he cast a mild sound-dulling charm around himself. The next several thumps on his walls were hardly even noticeable. Each one drained his magic reserves by only the slightest amounts, and he knew that he could wait the beast out for at least half an hour.

'Don't get points for being exciting,' he thought. 'If we did, I don't know what I would've done.'

The thought of trying to dodge manticore's attacks like he was a matador brought on a laugh. Another benefit of this fresh start was the lack of people constantly complaining about his 'habit' of doing foolishly brave things. The last thing he needed was to earn those nags again. In fairness, he could hardly remember too many actual instances of such nagging happening now. He remembered Hermione doing it constantly before she went a bit loopy, as well as Molly before she died, but he was certain there had been more.

'The graves are filled,' he reminded himself. 'The graves are filled.'

The last thing he needed was to have a breakdown in front of such a massive crowd.

There was a gargantuan crash that shook the earth around him. What had the beast done to cause that? Within his shield he was safe, but it brought back even more old memories of his time with the rebellion, from their time during the 'Quiet Year'.

The Quiet Year had been simultaneously the safest period his forces had witnessed since the start of the war, and also the most harrowing. A young muggle born wizard who called himself 'Leorex', his real name of Giannis Pappas apparently wasn't 'flashy' enough for him, had started his own war, against both Voldemort and all of muggle kind. It wasn't quite fair to call it a war though, it was more of an 'I want to destroy the whole world' situation, and if he'd not chosen to make an enemy out of Voldemort so early on he might've pulled it off.

Hydrus was confident that, even in his current body with its inability to wield magic precisely, he could've easily defeated the younger man. He only had a few human followers, including Hydrus's spy Charlie Weasley, and from what the dragon handler had told him Leorex wasn't much of a fighter. What he was, however, was even more terrifying. He had an ability with runes, enchantment, arithmancy, and alchemy that put any one, even Hermione or Remus, to absolute shame. He used his gifts to forge an army that decimated most of the population of continental Europe.

Of course, comparing that to the 'measly' rebellion Harry had led meant that Voldemort immediately turned his attention to the golemancer instead. The Statute of Secrecy had already been all but flagrantly destroyed at that point, but the existence of magic had gone from being a conspiracy theory to an undeniable fact in muggle eyes. Thus, it wasn't just Voldemort who was on the hunt for Leorex, it was the entire world.

And the world didn't particularly care if a few more magical people got caught in the bombs they dropped than they intended.

It had only taken one air raid to set Hermione to task regarding safety, and before long they'd had a massive, physical protection shield not unlike the one he now used, but on a scale large enough to cover a bunker which could house upwards of five-hundred people. Not that they ever had that many, of course. The Quiet Year had been both a respite, and a living nightmare, because no matter how sure his right-hand woman was that her work would hold, he knew the muggles would never stop.

A series of rapid tink sounds against his shield shook him from his reminiscence, and he imagined the manticore politely knocking on it with one of its massive claws.

"It's too late for diplomacy!" he called, though he didn't think the beast could hear him behind the wall. "Should've taken me up on my offer the first ti-"

He was cut off when one of those tinks was accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. Jerking his body to the side, he was only able to move a few inches; enough to stop the scorpion tail from piercing his sternum, but not enough to avoid the blow completely. He stared at the bulbous, needle-tipped appendage stuck through his shoulder and nearly removing the already-handicapped arm attached to it. It was quickly jerked free and upward, tearing through all the skin above it, and he stumbled back. There were some screams from the crowd, and his world began to spin. Everything seemed to slow down.

He'd 'survived' the killing curse twice. An inferi had once bitten a gaping wound into his throat. His skull had been bounced against the ground more times than a soccer ball. An entire manor had once been dropped on him, even if it was his own fault, and he'd come out with just a few bruises. Was he about to die because of this?

That brought on as strange a feeling as he could ever remember. It seemed he'd be having a breakdown after, albeit one unlike any other he'd had before. Up was down, left was right, and he was Hydrus Black.

He cackled.


"No!" Sirius had drawn his wand even before the manticore's handlers had jumped into the arena, but when he tried to draw on his magic, the power refused to listen. "Wh-, What?"

Pure, unadulterated terror began to fill his entire body. Hydrus's shield had seemed impenetrable at first, the manticore had even gone so far as to defy the laws of gravity by flying nearly a hundred feet into the air on its weak-looking wings, then came crashing down on it with enough force to even shake the box they were in. After that it had begun to strike the exact same point with its tail, and after just a dozen or so hits it shattered and his boy was skewered.

"What's going on?" he nearly shouted. "My magic isn't-"

Laughter. He looked back down into the arena and saw his son had thrown his head back and was shrieking in laughter. The handlers who were trying to approach slowed down, and then were thrown back as magic began to fill the entire arena.

It felt like Sirius was a child again, hiding under his covers and too scared of the boggart in his closet to dare a peek. The air turned so cold he could see his trembling breath hang in the air in front of him. Had a dementor wrapped its arms around him at that moment, it might've been more comfortable than what was washing over him now. It was the Black family magic, but more potent than he'd ever felt before. The magic his family wielded, the magic he wielded, could never feel this… This powerful.

"He's snapped," he whispered. "He's got the madness."

Sirius had never suffered from his family's affliction, at least, not in any way he couldn't manage. If there were a scale for it, he'd be on one end, his cousin Bellatrix on the other. He'd hoped, hell he'd even prayed, that his son wouldn't be affected by it like him, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

"Behold," Bellatrix said, her voice sounding nearly as manic as Hydrus's own laughter which still echoed around them. "The one true Lord of House Black." She swept an arm out and turned to face the family as a whole, and Sirius took a moment to appreciate the awe and horror they shared with him. "Our magic is not our own. It is his, and his alone."

It made no sense to Sirius on a rational level, but as his own reserves continued to dip ever-so-slightly and refused to obey him, he couldn't argue with her. He turned back to the arena and gasped. Large tendrils of black, miasmic energy had sprouted from the ground, nearly two metres across at their base and towering over the manticore, attacking the beast like vicious whips.

"What on earth is that?" he whispered. "How is he doing this?"

Bellatrix didn't have any answer for him this time. Hydrus finally craned his neck down from where it had been strained back during his laughter. Sirius pulled up his omnioculars, technically a bit of ministry hardware meant for the stakeout, and stared at his son. The boy had a maniacal, blood-thirsty smile on his face and he placed his wand against the wound the manticore had given him. The tip of his wand glowed, and then he drew out a red… ribbon? No, it was blood that he was manipulating into a streamer at the end of his wand. Was he trying to draw out the poison?

Sirius sucked his teeth when Hydrus suddenly swung his wand and the ribbon of blood attached to it, while his other arm nearly fell off. The crippled limb was hanging on by just a bit of muscle and skin and swayed limply on his side.

He lowered the omnioculars when the manticore suddenly roared in pain. It was harder to see now, but between the frothing tendrils of magic attacking both the manticore and keeping anyone besides Hydrus away from the beast, he managed to glimpse that the blood Hydrus had drawn was now wrapped around the beast's neck like a collar. He once more used the magical binoculars to get a closer look, and saw that the liquid was spinning around its neck, choking and cutting all at once.

"Incredible…" Sirius looked over to see Arcturus had gotten up from his seat and was now standing beside him, an enchanted monocular attached to an ebony stick held up to his good eye. "He's managed to cut through the monster's flesh."

"How is that possible?" Sirius asked. The manticore's throes and roars were growing weaker. "I thought manticore hide was impervious to almost everything?"

"Seems like the boy has got something besides 'almost everything' in his blood," Arcturus said with a gnarled smirk. "And that isn't just a boast."

Sirius glared at him. "What would that be?"

Bellatrix gasped then giggled. "Oh I bet I know exactly what it is."

"What is it?" Arcturus demanded, and for once Sirius found himself on the same page with his grandfather. "Out with it."

"Oh, you remember don't you?" She giggled again. "The story of how he lost his hand, and what he's doing to ensure it doesn't happen again."

'They already know about the ring? About him being a Slytherin?' It stung a bit, to know his son had confided in them. 'Shit, what does that have to do with his blood?'

It felt like he was forgetting something.

"Ah…" Arcturus stroked his goatee. "But how would he survive such a… transfusion?"

Bellatrix stuck her jaw out, and Sirius knew whatever she was about to say was either a lie or nonsense. "How could he not? He is the Lor-"

"The ring is still on my finger, girl," Arcturus growled. "Remember that."

Bellatrix gave a childish 'hmph' and turned back to the arena. Sirius did the same and nearly jumped out of the box when one of the tendrils suddenly slammed into the ground directly beside Hydrus. The boy didn't even acknowledge the near-death experience, and instead pointed his wand at the rubble that now lay beside him. The manticore was twitching on the ground, laying on its side, and although Sirius couldn't hear it he wouldn't doubt the beast was whimpering. Hydrus's wand was now encased in a layer of stone that extended all the way into a massive, double-sided axe.

'Where have I seen that before?' Sirius wondered.

As the boy drew nearer to his downed foe, Sirius once more pulled his omnioculars to his eyes. The ring of blood around the creature's neck had left a gaping, already-rotting wound across its throat, but it was clearly still breathing. The tendrils of power had stopped attacking the beast, but were now guarding the corpse-to-be from interference. Hydrus, no doubt with the help of some magic given the size of the axe, lifted his arm into the air. He said something, no doubt something cruel, and brought it down hard on the beast's only wound.

It took four more swings to finish decapitating the manticore, and by the time Hydrus was finished he was soaked in its blood. The axe crumbled away to dust when he was finished, but instead of putting his wand away, he pressed it against the now-seperated head and levitated it up into the air.


The crowd exploded in cheers and Hydrus laughed once more. How dare this beast wound him? How dare it reject his offer of parlay? It even had the audacity to try and order him to kill it, as though he would've done anything else after toppling the behemoth. Finally the roars of the crowd began to die down, so he dropped the head which had been splattering blood upon him and sat down atop it.

He took a few long, deep breaths through his nose and let them loose from his mouth. It was something Hermione had taught him when they were still just teenagers, and for once it actually helped him calm down.

The first thing he'd done once… Whatever that was, happened, was stop the bleeding, but now he would need to properly treat his new wound. His magic reserves were doing better than he'd expected, but he supposed he knew who to thank for that. He hoped Bellatrix wasn't passed out from his expenditure, but he knew that such a small thing wouldn't bother her in the long run. If anything she'd thank him for the opportunity to help, and it would further enforce his made-up claim about it being proof that he was the true lord of House Black.

He wished he knew what they'd done to cause the connection. In theory he was technically only around ninety-percent a Black, specifically Sirius, but he didn't see how that would give him any sort of power over the woman's magic. It wasn't something he could be upset about, not with how handy it could come in situations like this, but it left him wondering if it was one of the other 'parts' of himself he had to thank for the gift. Either that or if Bellatrix somehow fucked something up when she did whatever magic allowed her to know where he was at all times.

"Y-young man." Hydrus glanced up to see one of the wranglers had approached him. "You need to get proper treatment for that-"

"I refuse." He tried another flesh-mending charm but that too was unable to do anything for the massive, gaping wound. "The judges will try to use my earlier exit as a reason not to declare my victory, despite the fact that I can stay here indefinitely."

"B-, But Master Black…"

Hydrus glared at the man who winced before rushing away to the judges table. Deciding that he was just going to have to put up with the discomfort for a while, Hydrus holstered his wand with a sigh. His skills with medical magic weren't anything to scoff at, but neither was the fact that his arm was almost entirely removed. At least this time it would be susceptible to some potions and elixirs.

He stared up at the box that his new family sat inside of. Bellatrix and Arcturus were certainly both inside, but he had no idea how many of the other members of House Black would come. Perhaps his 'grandparents' would be there, but the thought of dealing with Walburga nearly made him want to run away. Her portrait at Grimmauld Place had been one of the nastiest, most vile creations of magic he'd ever seen, and he'd held three of Voldemort's horcruxes.

The people in the crowd were finally growing impatient. Their discontented murmuring was practically rumbling around him, but he refused to bow before their wants. They could leave now for all he cared, he would not be denied the victory that had nearly cost him the rest of his left arm. Instead he tucked his legs to sit criss-cross style atop the manticore's head and closed his eyes, just enjoying one of the rare, sunny days Britain had to offer.

'Probably just a bit of magical weather-changing,' he thought. 'Still, I ain't complaining.'

Honestly he felt better, mentally anyways, than he had in a long time. This might not have been as therapeutic as actually having one of his rare breakdowns, but it was like a nicotine patch in comparison to a cigarette. Back before his return he'd always had someone, whether it be one of his forgotten lovers or just his friends, there to support him. The closest thing he had to that now was Bella, but she was the absolute last person on earth he could trust with his secrets. Perhaps someday he could tell Dumbledore, but he was certain that wouldn't be for some time.

The rumbling annoyance was growing louder, but just when Hydrus was about to cast another sound-dulling charm a voice boomed out.

"The judges have come to a decision! Since Hydrus Black has slain the beast, and seems to have done a fine job of applying first aid to his wound, he has been declared the ultimate winner for the first task!"

Another round of cheers came out, though far duller than expected thanks to the time they'd been waiting. Hydrus smiled and dropped down from his make-shift chair. His knees buckled, but he caught himself and brushed off his robes. It was just for a show though given the sheer state of disrepair they were in between the hole and copious amounts of blood. He ran his hand through his hair, pulling free knots and smearing more of the liquid into it.

With his display of lackadaisical arrogance and power out of the way, he made his way towards the tunnel that the beast's handler had been trying to get him to go towards. He was ambushed less than a few steps into the shadowed hall by Nurse Pomfrey who practically levitated him towards a tent that had been set up for medical needs. The greeting he received there was annoyingly loud but he stopped himself from snapping at the child when he realised who it was that screamed.

The Delacours; Fleur, her parents, and Gabrielle, she'd been the one who yelled, were all gathered together by one bed where Fleur seemed to be mostly unharmed. Krum as well as an older woman Hydrus didn't recognize were in and beside another cot, and the teen had a mummy-esque look going with how many bandages the nurse had decided to try and smother him with.

"Settle down, dear," he said to the youngest in the room. "I'm fine."

"You most certainly are not!" Pomfrey argued. "Look at what you've done."

Hydrus preferred not to as he allowed the mediwitch to help him out of his robes and shirt. "Its not as bad as it looks. Don't bother with any antivenom, just get me some blood-replenishers and something to knit some flesh and build some bones. Tonight after dinner I'll go to your office to pick up a brace to wear to bed. Oh, and I'll still need something to stave off infection, its specifically the venom that isn't an issue."

Pomfrey huffed and practically shoved him into a bed. "And just how in Merlin's name would you be immune to the manticore's venom?"

"Family secret," a new voice cut in. Hydrus glanced over to see Arcturus had joined them, and much more surprisingly Sirius was in his wake. "Nothing for you to know."

"Lord Black." Pomfrey gave a stiff bow. "I was just about to begin treatment on Hydrus."

"Get on with it then." Hydrus conjured the man up a chair and he took it with an acknowledging grunt. "Don't mind us."

"Thank you for coming, Lord Arcturus, Father." Hydrus bowed just his head so as not to disturb Pomfrey's diagnostic spells. "Forgive me for getting injured, but I've still brought us the first win."

"Bah, save your apologies for when Bellatrix finishes haggling and comes to see you."

"Haggling?"

Arcturus grinned. "You don't think she'd let your first trophy go that easy, did you?" He laughed. "And besides, the message you sent to the Macnair's was devilishly done."

Sirius looked like he finally understood something, but Hydrus was left confused. He supposed he had modelled his axe after the one Walden Macnair had been sharpening to end Buckbeak's life in his previous timeline, but it hadn't been done with any message in mind. What was it meant to say? 'You are nothing but a tool that will fade to dust when we're done with you'?

"So you did kill it?" Fleur suddenly chimed in. Arcturus stiffened at the quarter-veela's interruption, but the old man didn't say anything. "Is that how you got that injury?"

Hydrus was grateful for the elixir Pomfrey handed him, as it gave him an excuse to delay answering. When he was finished, he said, "More like I killed it because I got this injury. I kind of… I don't even know. It was like…"

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

"Quiet, boy."

Sirius scoffed at Arcturus's anger. "You quiet. It's not like people don't know that about our family already. Hell, Bellatrix is mad half the time even when she isn't stressed." He turned back to Hydrus. "You need to be careful. It's like dislocating a joint or getting knocked unconcious, the more often it happens, the easier it is for it to happen again in the future."

"Right," Hydrus said. "Either way, I probably went a bit too far. I could've spared the manticore, but I was too caught up in that 'madness'." He gave Fleur as regretful a smile as he could manage with Pomfrey poking and prodding at his wound. "I did try just talking to it at first, told it we should spend the next hour chatting to annoy the judges, but it wouldn't listen."

"Well… At least you tried." Fleur gave a haughty sniff. "And it was, as you said, a dick."

Hydrus laughed but it was cut short thanks to a stern glare from Pomfrey and a none-to-gentle poke of her wand. Arcturus wasn't saying anything; the man probably didn't care for the friendly tone he'd used with the 'non-human' witch, but Hydrus couldn't bring himself to care. After the display of power he'd performed today, Arcturus would have to have a bout of madness himself to try and deny him any familial rights.

"So, Fleur told us you were hoping to have a meeting with us, Hydrus?" Apolline, Fleur's mother, asked. "Is it alright to call you that?"

"After I accidentally stuck my nose into your business at the last round of interviews? You can call me whatever you like." Hydrus was allowed another pause to contemplate his next words as Pomfrey gave him two more potions to swallow. "But yes, I was hoping to get the chance to raid your cellars, as it were. Your reds are my absolute favourite, and if I manage to play my cards right, I can convince my great-grandfather here to pay for it himself. That way we can call it a birthday gift for my Aunt Bellatrix."

Arcturus snorted, but Sirius suddenly butted in. "When is your birthday?"

Hydrus shrugged. "No clue, now quit standing in the way of me getting my hands on the finest wine this side of the alps."

Apolline gave a laugh that strained all of Hydrus's willpower not to react to. "I'm happy to hear you hold our product in such high regard."

"Are you kidding me?" Hydrus asked with an exaggerated scoff. "They've been serving us the best imitations of French food the Hogwarts house elves can manage, and it's all I can do not to cry at having to drink water, cider, or 'pumpkin juice' with it instead of one of your vin de tables."

"Oh trust me, dear, Fleur has gone to great lengths to complain about the meals here."

"Maman!"

Hydrus laughed at his old friend's embarrassment. "The first time we technically met was when she came over to my table to ask for the… What was it called, Fleur?"

"Bouillabaisse."

"Right, that." Hydrus gave a pleased sigh of relief at Pomfrey finally casting some sort of numbing charm on his still-healing wound. He probably should've learned one of those by now. "I had no choice but to surrender it. I was worried that if I didn't, I'd be the cause of an international incident due to the students around me making an attempt on my life for refusing her."

It was a tricky line to walk, joking about a veela's aura would either win a commiserating laugh or an angry scowl. He lucked out and got a snort from Fleur and a restrained laugh from her mother.

Krum finally joined in, saying, "The blonde one's resolve was tested."

"He got over it quickly enough," Hydrus said, still not used to having to defend his old enemy. "Unlike you or I, he's never had the chance to practise his defences against the allure. He didn't even know she was a quarter-veela."

Apolline cocked an eyebrow at him. "And you did?"

"It's good wine, Mrs. Delacour."

That earned a particularly loud laugh from Fleur, who remembered the repetition. Apolline made to speak, but before she could no-doubt tell him to just call her by her first name, Bagman entered the tent.

"Hello, everyone!" he said. "We're ready whenever you are for the press conference, though obviously you're excused, Mr. Black."

"Nonsense." He stood and ignored the tut it earned him from Pomfrey. "Like I'd miss this chance to put my nose into some business of Viktor's, to keep it fair with Fleur."

"You most certainly will," Pomfrey said, puffing up her chest. "Young man, you need to stay in bed. The weight pushing down on your hanging arm runs the risk of destroying what little is left connecting the limb, and at that point we'll have to grow the whole thing back."

Hydrus rolled his eyes. "Grandpa Arcturus, could you put a weightless-charm rune on my arm so that our school nurse doesn't actually try and chain me down?"

"Hmph." The ancient wizard glared at him but still freed his wand from his cane. "You only call me that when you want something from me."

"Well, I don't actually know much aboOUUt wines," he said, momentarily exclaiming as the rune was branded onto his skin. He probably should've known better than to expect a less painful method from the old man. "When it comes to how much they should cost, so I was hoping you could strike a bargain with our French dignitaries over there." He leaned in conspiratorially to 'whisper', "Give them whatever they want, it's my favourite."

Before he could go after the impatient Bagman, Sirius stopped him to give a one-armed, lop-sided hug, completely avoiding the injury but still managing to crush Hydrus. "I was so worried, and am so proud of you, son," the man properly whispered in his ear. "And not just because of your flirting with that French bird."

Hydrus snorted but returned the hug, just as one-armed but with less than a fifth of the pressure. "Thank you."

"Here." Sirius broke the embrace and took a step back, drawing his own wand. "Excourigify!"

The blood and grime covering Hydrus vanished entirely. He turned his hand over and saw even the dirt beneath his fingernails had vanished. Without bothering to care for propriety, he sniffed at his armpit and discovered that, although his deodorant had apparently vanished too, he smelled as neutral and undistinguishable as ever before.

"It's a modification of the scourgify charm," Sirius said. "Wish I could say I made it for long hours in the office, but my friend Remus made it to help clean up from practising pranks."

Hydrus nodded. "Thank you again. I should get going now before poor Mr. Bagman over there explodes."

Bagman gave a grateful smile of his own and took off. Hydrus allowed the head of the DMGS to lead him and the other champions out and onto a stage not unlike the last one they'd used. His arm was practically floating beside him, and earned a loud round of gasps and whispers at his appearance. The same chairs he'd transfigured last time were there for them, saving him from having to waste any more magic today, and he took his seat without letting loose the relieved groan that came to him at finally getting back off his feet.

'Note to self,' he thought as Bagman introduced them and the other champions settled in. 'Kill the manticore before it punches a hole in your shoulder next time.'

"Peter Cranus, Daily Prophet," the first reporter said. "First of all, congratulations, Scion Black. Your performance was truly astounding, and I'm glad I won't have to be the one writing up the play-by-play of the action itself." There was a polite round of chuckles, and Hydrus nodded in acknowledgement. "My question might be a bit blunt, but given what we're all looking at here I think it's necessary, how do you feel?"

"I feel wonderful," he said calmly. "Hogwarts' in-house mediwitch, Poppy Pomfrey, is an exceptionally talented woman and I wouldn't be able to accept your generous compliments without her help. It was almost a harder fight to escape her care than it was to earn it."

"You next!" Bagman called.

Hydrus was almost relieved when the next question went to Krum. Apparently the Bulgarian had courted death just as Hydrus had, even if his injuries hadn't been quite as drastic. The teen rumbled something about not being able to face some quidditch team if he was scared of just a manticore, and that got another laugh from the crowd.

"Next up, Mr. Weasley!"

After introducing himself, Percy said, "A question for Hydrus. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying we've never seen anything like those 'tentacles' you used to subdue the manticore's movements. Was that a spell from the Black family's grimoires?"

"If it was, then I've reinvented it." Hydrus wanted to scratch at the healing wound, but decided it wasn't the best idea to mess with the mangled limb right now. "In truth I would say it was something more akin to accidental magic, but on a much more grand scale."

It seemed his victory over the beast was all people wanted to ask about. Krum got a couple more questions, Fleur's only one was quickly shut down by Bagman reminding them to stick to questions about the tournament, and the rest all went to Hydrus. They asked him what he planned on doing with the manticore, if he'd taken the hit on purpose, if he was going to live, what it felt like, and more. He probably could've cut things short thanks to his injury, but if he was going to have done that he wouldn't have bothered coming out at all.

"Last question for the conference, let's go to, er, Mr. Lovegood…"

Hydrus perked up.

"Xenophilius Lovegood, The Quibbler," the man started. "Hydrus, when you were battling the manticore, I couldn't help but notice the way your friggles were conducting the tendrils you summoned. How did you manage to train them to such an extent?"

You could've heard a pin drop, but Hydrus just smiled. "I'm sorry to say that I haven't trained them at all. Perhaps, if you and I's busy schedules allow an overlap, we could study the way they interact with my magic. Perhaps its something about my familial abilities that draws them to obey?"

"I see, I see…" Xeno was scribbling in his notebook. "Have you ever visited the Panama Canal?"

"Why don't we save further discussions for individual interviews." Hydrus turned to Bagman. "Was there anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, there is!" Bagman grinned. "All three of you received a particular object when we were drawing lots to see who would go first, well, guess what?!" Hydrus rolled his eyes as the man paused for dramatic effect. "They are your clue to just what the next trial shall be! Wait until you're back to your respective residences, but if you tap your wand against them and say 'revelio', it shall-"

Hydrus had begun to tune the man out and had already cast the spell. An all-too-familiar, ear-piercing sound made him regret that decision , but at least he wasn't alone in his suffering. He was tempted to set the chunk of bone down on the sound amplifying table, but decided that no amount of post-wound grumpiness would excuse it. It went on for just as agonisingly long as it did in his last life.

"Well, that was certainly something," he said when it finally came to an end. "You could've warned us it was Mer-"

"Ah-ah-ah," Bagman interrupted, sounding almost panicked. "Don't want to give your competitors any hints, now do you?"

Hydrus scoffed. "Like I care. Its in Mermish. We'll need to listen to them underwater, and this probably implies the next task involves water." He paused to 'think'. "Let me guess, it's something to do with the Great Lake?"

"W-well, that is certainly-"

"If so, kind of unfair advantage Viktor and I have, given Fleur's heritage." He made a show of sliding the bone back into his pants pocket. "Oh well, I suppose coming into this competition expecting fairness would be rather foolish. Fleur's the greatest student in all of Beauxbatons, so I'm sure she'll be fine." He stood. "Percy, Mr. Lovegood, shall we have a three-party interview?"


Hydrus had changed into a silken shirt and the loosest robes he could get away with wearing without appearing unfashionable for dinner that night. All around him his housemates were smiling and joking, except for Crabbe. The oaf had clapped him directly on his bad shoulder, and Hydrus had repaid the favour with a long-lasting stinging jinx that was clearly testing the boy's desire for dinner as he squirmed in his seat. Considering the food hadn't arrived yet, Hydrus wondered if Dumbledore was somehow in on his tormenting of the pure blood buffoon. When the man stood, he realised something else must be afoot.

"Good evening everyone," the headmasters started. "First off, allow me to offer my most sincere congratulations and 'well done's to our Triwizard Champions!" He paused for the cheers and applause, the loudest of which were centred around Hydrus. "And to build off our own champion's accomplishment, I have an announcement to make, one I'm sure will come as a total surprise to you all."

'Ah,' Hydrus thought. 'Announcing it already?'

"Yes, the rumours are true, Hogwarts will be starting a new Study Club, headed by our own Hydrus Black." Hydrus stood and bowed to the other students and their next round of applause, before sitting back down with a wince at his shoulder flaring in pain. "Sign ups will be open for students of all ages, and we are currently seeking students who would like to participate as 'head tutors' for particular subjects. Professor Black will be the club's staff advisor, and the registry will be posted in her office."

Now Bellatrix stood for a bow of her own. "Thank you, headmaster. I shall be working with the other professors to filter and select appropriate students to take up positions as 'head tutors'. We expect those who succeed in claiming the titles for themselves will find the positions to be rewarding both inherently, and as a means of furthering their future career prospects."

She paused to allow her 'subtle' hint to settle in before continuing.

"The founding meeting shall take place the first Wednesday back from Yule break at five PM, and I shall look forward to seeing as many of you there as would like to participate. I would also share invitations towards our guests, should any of you like to extend your educations beyond the typical curriculum offered here or at your own schools."

'Interesting,' Hydrus thought as the Defence teacher sat back down. 'I wonder if she made the decision to allow that, or if Dumbledore insisted.'

"Do you think anyone from the other schools will actually come?" Draco asked as Dumbledore commenced their dinner and food began to appear before them. "If what you've said about the duelling lanes you've set up is true, we could have some real fun on our hands."

Hydrus stopped himself from scowling at the mention of the project and gave a noncommittal grunt in response. He still hadn't managed to figure out the rune network for the dummies, and it was the last thing stumping him and the twins. It was all he could do to stop himself from writing to the now-stranger Remus and asking for advice. Back during the war, the man had been second only to Hermione when it came to enchantments and runework, and Hydrus didn't doubt he could come up with a way to make something as 'simple' as this work.

Remus had been a god-send back then. He wasn't the greatest at any one thing in particular, but he was second-best at almost everything, which made him the second most valuable man in the entire army, behind only Harry himself. Hermione was better at projects like this, Ron was a better strategist, Bill was the most talented curse breaker they had before he died, Tonks, Sirius, and Neville were all able to hold their own in a duel against anyone besides Harry or Voldemort, and Sirius had also been a father to him. Remus was able to fulfill almost any one of those roles and countless others with only the slightest loss in quality, and the war would've been lost long before it was if it weren't for him.

'I really need to figure out how to turn water into whiskey without setting off school alarms,' Hydrus thought. 'Or I need to get those dummies working already so I can blow them to bits.'

"What's on your mind?" Blaise suddenly asked. "You came in first but are the only one not smiling."

'Besides Crabbe,' he thought spitefully. "Just trying to figure out how to break the laws of magic in order to get the Study Hall working." It wouldn't hurt to share a rare deficiency in the wake of such a monumental day. "We want our practice targets to be able to move freely from the rune network they're attached to."

"Why would that require you to break the laws of magic?" Tamina asked. "Just don't have them attached."

Hydrus nearly rolled his eyes. "If they aren't attached, the base network won't be able to repair them after what we do to them."

"Then don't repair them," the short girl said. "Replace them. Have the network rebuild them from scratch each time."

'Son of a bitch,' he thought. "I could kiss you."

"Take Hellena to the Yule Ball instead."

"Done." Hydrus stood, not even caring that he'd just broken his plans to take a girl from another school, and picked up a dinner roll. He honed in on the tracer-rune he'd subtly planted on Fred weeks prior, and hurled the bit of bread at the Gryffindor table. "I'll see you all later."

The roll hit the opposite twin he'd expected, but they both lept to their feet. He waved at them with a smile and took off, hoping they wouldn't send a curse after him before following. His lame arm was nearly wailing in pain from the exercise, Pomfrey's numbing charm having long since faded, but it hardly registered in his foreconscious as he made his way to the Study Hall.

'We'll need to start the scheme from scratch,' he thought. 'But that's fine. If we turn the Daggar rune to the north and the Syluphian rune set to the east, we can-'

His leg suddenly jerked out from underneath him, and his heart nearly stopped as he expected pain to explode from his shoulder. Luckily it seemed the twins had some sense of mercy within their hearts as he instead hit a soft cloud of air. It took him a moment to still his own heart as he pushed himself back up with magic and finally allowed the boys to catch up.

"Well, well, well…"

"If it ain't the Champion of Construction."

"The Baron of Bread Tossing."

"The Lord of Loaf Launching."

"The-"

"Hello to you two too." Hydrus straightened himself up and his robes out. "We three idiots have work to do. One of my housemates pointed out the obvious."

The twins shared a look. "What would that be?"

"Replace, not repair."

The boys immediately took his meaning, and the trio rushed off.


BBaRtS


Just to be clear, there will be no Harry/Hydrus x OC in this fic. Maybe I'm just painting my own paranoia against OC's on to y'all, but I wanted to be real upfront about that so as to make sure I don't scare anyone off. As I said in an earlier note, the OCs are just here cus I needed more action figures in my 'side characters' toybox.

Also like I said in a previous note, this will be the last Wednesday upload (at least for the time being.) I'm still working on this story every day, but I've been doing a lot more editing than writing as of late, and it's got me worried that I'll be 'late' if it keeps up. Last time I did a google doc word count, which is always like, 500 words per chapter less than FF's word count, I was at 115K. I think once I get over this chapter 16 hump I'll be fine, I don't have writer's block, but I do feel like I'm spending a lot more time worried about the quality of the writing itself.

Random fun note, I had no idea the Tempus charm for telling time was a fanfiction invention. I thought that shit was cannon. Another, as someone who reads a ton of extremely poorly translated manhwas, I've always wanted to shoe-horn the term 'courting death' in somewhere, and now I have.

Lastly on to the reviews, and as always, thank you all so much for the kind ones less-than-three-sign. I stand by being okay with people disliking/feeling uncomfortable with Bellatrix x Harry stuff, because again, that's how it's supposed to be. Someone brought up 'if the genders were reversed...' and I agree, then more people WOULD find it creepy, even though that was way more common back in the time period the wizarding world seems to be stuck at. Some random count's 12 year old daughter would get married off to some 50 year old duke to secure an alliance, and it was seriously fucked up. And Hydrus, rather than 'fighting the man, man!', is instead playing the game and going along with it. He might technically be like... 33? 35? somewhere in there, mentally, but he's still supporting the system. If that makes you uncomfortable, I 100% understand and support your choice to voice your displeasure at it. Harry/Hydrus is not a paragon of virtue, let alone Bellatrix, and we'll see even more examples of that (though of a very different variety) later on.

Someone said they hope this continues to be more slice of life/political-intrigue than the original adventure/action story. I can say that it definitely will be MORE on that side, but the occasional chapter like this one will still happen, where action is the main course. As you might be able to infer based on the perspective we saw it through though, I have more fun writing about the results of/reaction to those scenes. I wouldn't say this story will be 'slice-of-life' in the sense of there being no plot/progression, which is my biggest problem with those sorts of works, but there'll definitely be more scenes where he's just helping teach in classes compared to fighting manticores. The main conflict of the story as well will definitely be more on the political side, I think that'll ramp up a LOT after chapter 15, but there will be the occasional fight where I feel it's appropriate.

I really do love reading all the reviews, so please keep them coming. We broke into triple digits recently, and that's awesome. A lot of compliments towards my dialogue, which I've reversed engineered to mean I need to work on the other aspects of my writing more. (Don't get me wrong, the compliments tickle me pink, I just meant it when I said I'm trying to improve my writing here.) If any of y'all are reading this and going 'you know, Beauly could do X, Y, or Z better' be sure to let me know and I'll work on that. I know I've made more than my fair share of typos along the way, little things like forgetting a " or messed up capitalizations (In my editing I notice I keep typing it SIrius instead of Sirius for some reason), but beyond that, lemme know.