Hydrus sat on a spot of grass, surrounded by trees and idiots. His father had kidnapped him at the behest of his younger self because, as Sirius quoted, 'there was no way they were going to let Hydrus run away from this'. His father had managed to convince Dobby that Hydrus had wanted to be here so the elf just popped him over before he could say anything. For a man who hated his own house elf so much, Sirius sure had a way with them. Hydrus began to slowly pick apart a strand of grass as he waited for this stupid game of capture the flag to begin.
The forest air was nice, at least. It wasn't quite winter yet so the cold hadn't settled in, and the trees were stopping any winds from making it truly chilling. The air smelled of cherries and foliage. If it had been just a tad bit warmer, Hydrus might've wanted to have a picnic with Bella here.
Still.
This was all so damned annoying.
Hydrus had all but forgotten he'd even arranged this little bit of theatre. At the time he'd just wanted to humble his younger self and get closer to Ron or Hermione, whoever was left to pick second. Now he was wasting precious time that could be spent on his efforts to find out where Arcturus was. Kreacher was already back on his feet, more devoted and surly than ever, but Hydrus was thirsty for the old man's blood.
And instead of getting that, he was stuck here playing with children.
"You're still sure about this?" Ron asked. "You're not, like, sick or anything right?"
"I'll be fine," Hydrus assured the teen, trying to keep up his inscrutable, arrogant persona. "I was out for personal reasons. Just make sure you win."
He could hear Remus's magically amplified voice in the distance calling out the rules for the game; his inability to leave the flag, everyone's inability to leave the playing field, and all the rest. Hydrus rolled his eyes at how unsubtly Daphne and Blaise were sidling up towards him, just waiting for the others to leave so they could interrogate him. As Remus wound down his speech, Hydrus began brainstorming some lies.
"Three!" Remus called. "Two! One! Begin!"
Ron called out for everyone to get to their positions, then stopped and looked back when the two Slytherins didn't move. "Hello?"
"Give 'em a minute," Hydrus said, holding up a hand apologetically. "I'll get them sorted and out of here."
"Whatever," Ron muttered. "Don't need them anyways."
He stormed off after the others and Hydrus sighed. "Alright you two, what do you want?"
"Where have you been?" Blaise hurriedly asked. "Draco won't tell us anything."
"Good for him." Kid knew how to keep his cards close. "I've been dealing with family matters—"
"What sort? Like trying to put your uncle's boyfriend on an African throne?" Daphne interrupted. "Or something to do with the fact that our Head Opposing Barrister is now on furlough?"
Hydrus glared at the girl's sudden tone change and she had the good sense to look away. "Greengrass, if you want to know so bad, here's a tip. Go pick up a newspaper, check the obituaries, and ask me to autograph it afterwards."
The girl paled even further and bowed her head.
"You killed my great-aunt Vernessa?" Blaise asked with mock-offence. "My mother may just send you flowers."
"If you're serious, then my condolences to your family," Hydrus said, shutting the joke down. "Both of you, follow Weasley's orders. Now."
"Sir, yes, sir," Blaise muttered. "Nice to see you too, Hydrus."
The two began to trudge away. Hydrus buried away the guilt it brought up in him and fed it to his madness. He wasn't sure why he seemed to be the only Black around who wasn't at the madness's mercy these days. It was much more wild and powerful than before to be certain, but it wasn't like he couldn't put it under his heel. Maybe he was just the only one who was too arrogant to accept giving away control like that.
A loud, echoing sigh rang out throughout the forest from Remus's amplified voice. "And our first disqualifications in the game go to: Fred and George Weasley. Eliminated via voluntarily leaving the play area."
"Idiots," Hydrus muttered under his breath, already guessing what the twins were up to. "I told them not to touch it."
Oh well. They'd never get the sign off the wall, and the attempt would only cost them pride, pain, and time. Maybe he'd just let them stew in their mess until the charm wore off naturally, drop them off at the Burrow and let Mrs. Weasley enjoy getting to take care of the twins as toddlers again.
"Protego Maxima," Hydrus muttered. The runes in his arm flashed as the magic waved through them, creating a domed shield as thick as Hagrid around him. Technically Protegigante would've worked too, but he wasn't sure if that was actually a spell on the syllabus. "Have fun, kiddos."
Iris stepped in time behind Katie Bell, walking beside Ginny. The three of them were 'the main squad'. The others were all off on their own but somehow, some bloody way the three of them were supposed to be the ones who got the flag from Hydrus. She wasn't sure how they were supposed to do that, her brother had been a little sparse on the details, but she didn't care enough to question it. Once this was all over with she could go back to her books and—
"Did you hear that?" Ginny asked. "It sounded like a twig breaking."
"Twigs are prone to such breakages," Katie said sarcastically. "Come on, we can't stop."
They'd just entered the other team's forest and things were already a good bit warmer. Iris's eyes darted back and forth as they adjusted to the much smaller amount of light. She wondered where her god-brother could even be in all this mess.
"What if someone's coming?" she asked, suddenly paranoid. She hadn't heard the twig herself but if Harry's obvious crush had… "They could take us out before we get to the flag."
"All the better," Katie muttered. "Just keep moving."
Iris glared at the back of the older girl's head but didn't argue. What the hell was going on? She wasn't any more excited to be here than the quidditch player, but at least she was planning to give it her all. As they went deeper into the new-grown trees that just nearly connected to the forbidden forest, her heart began to race.
Harry and Dahlia were the brave ones amongst her siblings. From the day she was first sorted into Gryffindor, Iris had felt like it was a bad fit. She'd wanted to go to Ravenclaw, but the stupid hat said the red and yellow house was where she belonged. Moments like these were exactly why she knew it was wrong.
Something suddenly launched from the forest to her left, where Ginny was walking. Without thinking about it she shoved her friend aside. Once the redhead was out of the way she realised it was a bouquet of whip-like vines racing towards them, and she didn't have more than a second to react before they were strangling her. She felt the thorns digging into her skin as her vision began to fade, and the last things she saw were the shocked expressions of the other two girls.
Neville leapt between the branches of his trees. He'd purposefully pruned and grafted the limbs to be as strong as possible up near the boughs where he was, leaving much more frail branches down below. The only tree that wasn't like that was a short distance away from the start of the field, where Neville had climbed up to get here. It was amazing to see how well it had all come together. His smile hadn't faded once since he began his trek through and above the forest he'd raised.
Everything was beautiful. The trees were all imports that Perenelle had helped him pick out, of just two varieties. The first was a type of cherry tree that grew so lush that it was all but impossible for anyone to see him if he was in one and they looked up. The fruits that had just begun to sneak up throughout the branches were already the size of regular cherries, but when they were fully grown would be as large as pumpkins but half as tasty. Apparently leprechauns loved them.
The others, which Perenelle insisted he had to pair with the cherry trees, were called 'Pulsing Spruces'. They were marvellous trees that grew skinny as his arms but whose roots grew and spread like wildfire beneath the earth. They were called 'Pulsing' Spruces on account of the way the roots also died off in less than a week, leaving a veritable smorgasbord behind for worms and beetles and other insects to come and feast upon. Then the roots would regrow, literally eat all the little bugs that moved in, and the process would start all over.
Of course, there were plenty of other plants everywhere too. Most of them were meant as traps for the other team, but a decent amount were just pet projects of his. He'd invited Perenelle to come watch the contest since she'd helped him out so much, but he had no idea if she would actually or not. If she did, hopefully she wouldn't have bullied Mr. Flamel into coming with her.
The immortal alchemist scared him.
Neville paused his journey to the other side of the field as he heard Professor Lupin's voice ring out.
"Our second elimination: Iris Potter! Via what I can only assume is some kind of… Particularly aggressive Devil's Snare?"
"Yes!" Neville exclaimed. "Knew that would get someone."
He began to pull on his necktie to try and loosen it as the excitement rolled over him. Ron had confided in him just how serious Hydrus was about them not needing any defence, and the redhead had decided to have Neville play the role of 'backup' despite that. Although he wasn't sure just how much help Hydrus really needed, Neville had made it his goal to make sure no one got near the Black heir. If he did that, then no matter what, he'd call it a win for himself.
"And there goes our next eliminations!" Remus's voice called again. "Katie Bell and Ginny Weasley! Both eliminated by that same patch of vines!"
"Oh w—" Neville coughed, still trying to pull his tie loose. "Wow. I didn't think it'd get two people, let alone three."
At the rate things were going he wasn't going to find out about any plants besides his Filipino Devil's Snare. He almost felt bad for Harry though, over half of his team was already eliminated. It wouldn't be long before… Before…
Neville wheezed out his next words. "What the heck?"
His necktie was strangling him, probably not unlike the way the vines did to his classmates just a short while ago. He just merely managed to get the fingers on his right hand beneath the fabric, but the neckwear wasn't loosening up at all. He choked out another breath and pulled as hard as he could.
Something popped.
He nearly fell out of the tree when the end of his tie suddenly yanked up into the air and threw a firework from its end. He watched the incendiary burst through the few branches above him before exploding high in the sky into a very particular shape.
'W.W.W.' he read. 'Those… Jerks.'
"And our next elimination: Neville Longbottom!" Remus's voice called. "Eliminated via a… prank neck tie?"
Hydrus snorted and shook his head. Even after getting themselves disqualified the twins still managed to get a 'point'. He wondered how the rest of the kids were taking the current odds. The only ones left on his younger self's team were Hermione and… Shoot, who else did the kid have?
"Here's you is, Master Hydrus!"
"Thank you, Dobby." He smiled at the elf as he laid down a plate of fruits in front of him. "Would you like to join me?"
"Dobby would be honoured!"
Hydrus had, after quickly growing bored once he realised Remus wasn't going to provide running commentary, decided he should use this break in his schedule to at least eat some food. He couldn't even remember what the last thing he'd eaten was… Maybe some pork? He was making do by picking food up wherever he went on his murderous odyssey to eliminate Death's followers. A bite off someone's abandoned dinner plate here, a raiding of their pantry while he waited for them to wake back up there.
"Master Hydrus?" Dobby said. "May Dobby ask a question?"
"Of course," Hydrus said. He waved his hand to peel and slice an apple. "What is it?"
"Is Master Hydrus feeling okay?"
Hydrus blinked at the question. "Of course. Better than usual, in fact. I'm finally back in my element."
"Dobby just thinks…" The elf whipped his head back and forth. "No! Dobby is bad elf! Bad elf!"
"Stop," Hydrus ordered, snapping his fingers to vanish away the lemon halves Dobby was about to squeeze into his own eyes. "I already told you that you're forbidden from punishing yourself." He reached over and rubbed his hand over his friend's head. "Tell me what's on your mind."
"Dobby… Dobby is scared Master Hydrus is not alright." Dobby placed his hands over his chest, like he was clutching his heart and wringing his palms at the same time. "Dobby can feel Master Hydrus's soul is in pain."
"My soul's been through a lot worse," Hydrus assured him. "I've just been taking care of a lot of business lately. Once everything is settled, I'm sure it'll heal."
He wasn't sure of that in the least, but he didn't have any reason to believe it wasn't true. As far as he knew, what made horcruxes so horrifying was that they involved taking the shards of one's soul and ripping them out of yourself entirely. Dumbledore had said that the small impressions of one's soul that are lost in magical painting weren't harmful. Assuming he wasn't being artsy or making horcruxes, what harm was there? If he was keeping the shattered pieces of his soul in one place, it should all be fine.
Or if it wasn't, he didn't particularly care.
"Dobby hopes so." The house elf's ears were stool drooping. "Dobby wouldn't want anything to happen to Master Hydrus."
"I know." Hydrus flashed a smile at his friend. "Don't forget, I'm the strongest wizard in the entire world. There's nothing I can't handle."
Dobby finally perked back up, beaming back at him. "Right! Master Hydrus is the strongest!"
"Damn right I am!" Hydrus laughed and popped another apple slice in his mouth. 'It's everyone else you should be worried about.'
Draco silently casted an Incendio charm, burning away yet another suspicious bit of plants. Longbottom would probably cry later, but that was his problem. For now Draco just wanted to find someone to eliminate so no one could say he didn't at least contribute. Unlike seemingly everyone else in the game, besides the man himself, it seemed like no one understood that Hydrus would sooner die than let someone take his flag.
And Hydrus wasn't one to die easy.
"Hello!" Draco called, half-sarcastically. "Anyone there?"
"I'm here!"
"Fuck!" He leapt nearly a foot in the air, spinning around and whipping out his wand. He immediately dropped it to his side once he saw who it was. "Damn it, Luna."
She laughed at him, and he glared to the side in embarrassment. He used to, silently and only in his thoughts, mock Hydrus for how much he complained about Aunt Bella sneaking up on him. Now here he was getting cosmic punishment. After a deep breath to calm himself, he looked back at his girlfriend.
"We're on opposite teams, you know," he muttered. "You should just keep heading for the flag."
"No way! I came to find you, silly," Luna said. She grabbed hold of his hand and began to pull him away. "Come on, I think I saw a pollen sprite wander into the Forbidden Forest!"
"We're in the middle of—!"
"Come on!" she whined. "You got mad at me the last time I went chasing after a creature, so I came and got you like we promised."
"I… That's…" Draco sighed. "That is what we promised."
He knew she was acting 'ditzy-er' than normal on purpose. She probably hadn't seen anything and was just trying to eliminate him. Still, it wasn't like this game really mattered. It almost brought a smile to his face when he thought of his father potentially watching from the stands as Draco eliminated himself.
"Fine," he said. "Let's go."
Hydrus's madness nearly broke through to his foreconscious when something 'knocked' at his shield. Memories of his battle with the rude manticore had come flooding through his mind, and with them the sensation he'd felt the very first time he'd snapped. The closest thing he could think of to surmise the sensation was like dealing with Snape's more tricky attempts at training his occlumency. It was like the nostalgia had opened up a chip in his defences for the madness to get through.
"Who is it?" he called in a high-pitched voice, letting off some of the madness's steam. "You better not be playing knock-door-run!"
"It's me, Hydrus!" Hermione called. "I… I challenge you to a duel!"
'How interesting.' Hydrus waved his hand and his protego shield came down. "No you don't. What do you really want?"
His one-time best friend was tensed, like she hadn't expected him to actually lower the shield. He gave her a bemused look and scooped up another apple, taking a loud and crunching bite of it. The teen's eye twitched.
"I need to beat you if I'm going to get to the flag, right?" she said. Hermione lifted her wand and pointed it at him. "So let's do this."
"If you're not going to be honest with me, then I'm afraid to say that I'm far too stupid to find out your true intentions," Hydrus said. "But I'm not too stupid to know better than to not just get rid of you."
Hermione gasped. "Wait!"
"No."
He made a gesture like he was clenching his hand around Hermione, and a bubble-shaped shield appeared around her. He called out 'Protego!' to cover up that the spell wasn't part of the curriculum, then 'Wingardium Leviosa!'. Hermione was pounding her fists on the walls of the shield, but in this case she was near-literally hoisted on her own petard.
His left-hand woman had been the queen of shield spells back in the war. Whether it was digging up old ones or inventing new ones, she'd honed her knowledge in the charms to a mastery. Tom was the only one in the entire world who could probably boast a wider arsenal of attacks than Harry, but there was no one who rivalled Hermione on the opposite end of the spectrum. Her main priority, at any given point in time, was always on protecting the others.
The shield charm he'd used just now was one of her originals. It was designed to be used in groups who had enough strength to carry one or more people over literal mine fields safely. In this case it should serve his purpose of floating her up and well out of the playing field.
Remus's voice came loudly sighing over the intercom. "And our next eliminations. Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood. Voluntarily exiting the playing field."
Hydrus's mouth fell open, and this time he allowed the madness through. He cackled at the hilarity of the audacity of his cousin. Merlin, just how badly had Tom twisted the poor Malfoy family? In his own timeline they were nothing more than a bunch of rotten, arrogant wretches. In this one, well, they still had their downsides. But they were certainly much more loving.
'He really is the perfect understudy,' Hydrus thought. 'I hope he's practising safe sex.'
"And right off the heels of that," Remus's voice said. "Our next elimination…"
"Hermione Granger!" Remus's voice called. "Eliminated via forced exit of the play area."
Harry slumped down to the ground and buried his face in his hands. His whole team was eliminated. That wasn't how this was supposed to go at all. Ginny, Iris, and Katie were supposed to be the distraction. Draco was going to be the 'real' threat, Hermione the realer one. Fred and George were meant to be the ones who took care of all of Hydrus's teammates.
Instead Fred, George, and Draco all just left. Katie, Iris, and Ginny got beaten by some dumb plant. And Hermione… Well, he wasn't sure who took out Hermione, but at least she hadn't failed as bad as the others.
On the other hand, his god-brother's team had only lost—
"Well, well, well," a voice called. "What do we have here?"
Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, and Pansy Parkinson were all approaching him directly. Harry immediately looked behind himself to see Hannah Abbot coming up from behind him.
Where was Ron?
"What are you, some kind of movie villain?" Harry called back at Blaise. "Seriously, man, that was just bad."
"It's just the role I was born to play," Blaise said, coming closer with the two Slytherin girls in tow. "How about you though? If I'm gonna toss up an easy serve like that, the least you could do is spike it back."
"How's this for a retort." Harry drew his wand. "Stupefy!"
Blaise threw up a shield, but Harry wasn't aiming at the Slytherins. He'd immediately wheeled around to take out Hannah Abbot. The girl threw up a shield, but his stunner smashed through it and knocked her out. Harry slowly turned back around to face the now frowning Slytherins.
"I'm guessing Ron's around here somewhere too, right?" he asked. "I ain't some genius like Hermione, but I'm not stupid either."
"Please." Blaise shook his head. "He's not gonna be coming to save you, Potter."
"What?" Harry frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm sure you know better than anyone that Hydrus hasn't been around lately," Blaise said. "He put Weasley in charge to make sure we wouldn't come up with a plan to steal all of the glory for ourselves. He's got weird hang-ups about house unity for some reason…"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry demanded, tightening his grip on his wand. "What'd you do to Ron?"
"Nothing Hydrus can get too mad at us for." Blaise's smile said the exact opposite had happened. "But there was no way we were gonna let anyone but Slytherin shine today."
"Bastard." Harry began twisting his wand. "Confringo!"
And like that the duel was on. Harry had never duelled two people at once, let alone three, but he thought he held his own pretty well. Blaise was the most obvious threat, the boy had gone from rank fourteen amongst their year in the duelling club to third in the span of less than a year. Daphne wasn't a part of the club, but if Harry had to guess he'd say she would've been around sixth or seventh. Pansy was… Well, it was a good thing she wasn't in the club.
For her own sake.
The spell combo he'd chosen seemed to be working well. He'd asked his dad over the summer to teach him some auror combos to try and one up the hyper-paced rhythm Draco had used to beat him at last year's finale, and this one had seemed like the best fit for group combat.
First he cast an oil slicking spell. Following that was another charm, one that pulled things forward. Third was a simple Incendio to light the oil. Finally, a shield spell that formed more of a pole than a proper shield. It was meant to ricochet spells away or at least split them in half to stop them from hitting him.
All three Slytherins managed to avoid his first round of the spells. Pansy had fallen for the second. Blaise and Daphne both succumbed to the third. Remus had assured him before the competition that even something as dangerous and explosive as this combo wouldn't hurt anyone, and if his seeker eyes didn't deceive him, then the house elves he'd seen saving the students were the explanation behind that.
Harry grinned and ran his hands through his hair.
He could settle for a draw.
"And our next round of eliminations!" Remus's voice called. "Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Hannah Abbot! Eliminated via combat!"
"Take that, ya arrogant bastard," Harry muttered. "We'll see how—"
"Also! Harry Potter!" His eyes snapped wide open. "Eliminated via illegal spell usage!"
"Illegal—!" He scoffed. "What?!"
The next thing Harry knew he was popped away by a house elf. He began a mad dash towards where Remus was sitting behind a desk in front of a massive crowd of bleachers. As soon as he arrived the werewolf held up a hand to stop him.
"You made the rule yourself, Harry," Remus said. "You were only allowed to use spells taught at Hogwarts."
"What spell—"
"That oil slick you made isn't in any class's curriculum." Harry's mouth dropped. "If I remember correctly, it's an auror academy special. Originally designed by the third head of the DMLE to stop criminals who were attempting to flee the scene of a crime."
"That's… But…" Harry stumbled. "Either way it's a draw, isn't it? Hydrus is the only one left and he can't leave the flag."
Remus gestured behind Harry. "See for yourself."
Harry turned to see two large screens in the air. One was completely white, and he could only assume it was Hydrus behind some sort of shield.
On the other was Ron, pulling the flag free from where it was buried in the ground.
"They lied to me," Harry said. "I… I thought they just found some way to take Ron out of the picture without you noticing."
"You assumed the worst in your foes, and they lived up to your expectations," Remus agreed. "It was, as Mr. Zabini said, the role they were born to play."
Harry watched as Ron began to stroll back to the other side of the field, twirling the flag in his hand. If he was being honest with himself he wanted to throw a tantrum at the sight. He wanted to shout for everyone to hear about how unfair it was, about how this was a dumb competition, and about how if they'd just fought fairly he would've won. It wasn't just his pride that stopped him from doing that though. It was a memory of a moment that had had a larger effect on him than he'd ever admit.
It was that brief moment when he'd confronted his god-brother after he saw him getting up to something sneaky with Dahlia. The other teen had chastised him and pointed out how judgemental Harry was being, saying that he'd done nothing but help people since coming to Hogwarts. It was one of the first times in Harry's life that he actually couldn't come up with anything to say. When he'd gone to complain to Ron about it, knowing Hermione wouldn't agree, the redhead hadn't agreed either.
'He's Sirius's son, isn't he?' he'd said. 'It's like he's our man on the inside.'
Harry still wasn't sure what the hell was going with Hydrus, where the kid was these days and what he was up to with all that vampire business, but he did know one thing.
Hydrus was a hell of a lot better than him at getting along with people.
Hydrus clapped Ron on the back as he slid the other teams flag into the hole beside their own. He flinched on instinct as a sound like mortars being launched came out, and fireworks went shooting off into the sky. Ron laughed in delight as they exploded in the air.
"Guess you were right," his old friend said. "Wasn't so hard after all."
"Damn right I was right." Hydrus grinned. "By the way, how'd you get Harry to use an illegal spell?"
Ron shrugged. "I didn't. I was planning to limp into sight, acting like the Slytherins put a beating on me, to lure him out of his restricted area."
"Ha!" Hydrus barked. "What an idiot. He's gonna be kicking himself for that one."
"Uh, yeah…" Ron rubbed at the back of his head, clearly not wanting to join in on the teasing. "Anyways, let's get out of—"
"Hydrus!"
Hydrus spun around. Draco was making a mad dash towards him, blood gushing from somewhere up in his hair. The boy yelped when Hydrus swung his hand at him, but the healing magic didn't miss. His friend came to a sliding stop just before him as he rubbed at where the wound must've been.
"Oh, uh, thanks," the teen said, panting. "Hydrus, we were attacked. Me and Luna went into the forest looking for some stupid fairy or something, then these centaurs started shooting bows at us. Hagrid came to save us but they wouldn't stop. Luna… Luna was unconscious but Hagrid told me—"
Hydrus took off, following along the blood trail Draco left behind. Every time trees got in his way he'd swing his hand and shred them to dust. His heart was beginning to race as it kicked into 'exercise' mode, and before too long he was making his way into the Forbidden Forest.
'You fucking bitch,' he thought. 'You want in on this war, Magic? You think I wouldn't know whose centaurs those are?
'Then welcome to the fucking party.' He clawed through the air, launching a wave of miasmic power that disintegrated a large enough portion of the forest to leave his way clear at least half a minute of running. 'Welccome to the fucking massacre. I'm gonna break our bargain and start hunting. I'll kill that fucking veela from the island. I'll kill that fucking whatever it was called that put the hit out on Sirius. But first I'm gonna rip your fucking centaurs to shreds.'
Albus frowned at the sight of Fawkes tapping at one of Nicolas Flamel's windows. He still had another few days before the ritual would be over, but…
"It'll be fine," he muttered. "Even if this delays things by another day."
After all, whatever was in the parcel his familiar was carrying might be important. He most certainly didn't just miss his fiery feathered friend. Fawkes flew in with a gusto as soon as Albus opened the window and he watched in amusement as the bird took his time circling above him before finally landing on his shoulder.
"It's good to see you too, old friend." He scratched at the phoenixes cheek before reaching for the parcel. "Now let's see what you've brought for me."
Inside was a letter and a vial which seemed to contain a memory. He set the bottle down on the ground as he sat back down in the centre of the rune array and opened up the letter. Today was the day Hydrus was holding his little capture the flag game, so Minerva or Remus had probably written it this morning to chastise him for not being there.
Albus,
Where have you gone? I'm worried about Hydrus. No one knows where you are and I think we really, really need you here. He's starting to remind me a lot of what I saw in his memories. He mentioned that you'd already seen all of his memories, but now I'm wondering if that's true. If it is, how are you able to cope with the knowledge?
I'm worried that you haven't seen all his memories. That you just saw the ones he wanted to show you, or that he woke up before you had seen enough of them to truly understand my concerns. Please, assuming you're able, look at the one I've sent you.
And please also, return soon. People are dying, Albus, and I don't if I should stop him.
I don't know if I could.
Yours truly,
Remus
Albus frowned and set the letter aside to pick up the memory. "Hedgie!"
One of Hogwarts' house elves appeared. "Yes, Mister Master Albus, sir?"
"Could you retrieve my pensive for me?" he asked, smiling. He'd once asked the elf to simply call him Mister Albus, but instead she'd added 'Mister' to the beginning of his title. "It should be on the third shelf of my office cabinet."
"Right away, Mister Master Albus!"
Albus's smile faded away now that the small creature was gone. He stared down at the vial in his hands, trepidation bubbling up inside of him. Was Remus correct? Had he not truly gotten the full picture of Hydrus's character when his apprentice was unconscious and he'd gone delving into his secrets? Or was Remus just paranoid and fearful?
"Here's you is, Mister Master Albus!"
"Thank you, Hedgie." He put his smile back on. "That will be all, dear."
The elf popped away and Albus stared at the pensieve she left behind. He stared at it for far too long, and the ritual began to fade away. With a sigh he popped open the cork on the bottled memory and poured it in.
'There you go again,' he thought bitterly. 'Causing all sorts of problems with your indecision.'
After shaking his head, Albus dipped it into the pensieve.
In the memory, he was following behind Remus, who was following behind Hydrus, or Harry as this older version preferred to be called. The memory itself was odd looking, like he was seeing everything besides Remus through the first stages of cataracts. It was just a side effect from being in a memory of a memory, but it was still dizzying.
Eventually Harry came to a stop beside a door, and Albus tried peering in through the crack. It was completely blank until the memory of Remus did the same.
Inside were much older and wearier versions of Neville Longbottom and Remus himself. The Longbottom scion looked nervous but Remus just seemed tired. Albus wasn't sure if he remembered seeing this memory…
Eventually Remus snapped at the young man to say something.
"Sorry, sorry," Neville said. "Just don't know where to begin…"
The room they were in looked rather dilapidated. The walls were made of concrete, with the occasional hair fracture running over them. There was some sort of plinth in the middle of the room bt if it served a purpose besides allowing Remus to lean on it then Dumbledore wasn't sure what it was. It all feeled very… Prison-ish, to Albus.
"What are we going to do about Harry?" Neville eventually asked. "He's getting worse and worse everyday. Just yesterday he snapped Bilguun's arm. I know the kid is tough, but it's too much. The kid's not—"
"The kid's not going to be coddled like you were," Remus snapped. "You might've thought Mad Eye was hard on you, but he wasn't."
"There's a difference between coddling and common sense!" Neville snapped. "Even if they weren't kids, they're still human beings! Just because we have healing magic to put them back together, it doesn't mean we need to rip them apart like this!"
"And how are you going to live with yourself when they get torn to shreds in a real fight and don't know how to handle it?" Remus hissed. "Like what happened to your friends?"
Albus pulled back. Both men were… Were so gentle in his time. Neville was his favorite sort of Gryffindor, the type who were cowardly until it mattered. Then they were the bravest of all. And Remus had a temper when he wanted, but for the most part he was a perfectly calm and especially rational man. Seeing them like this was like seeing two whales trying to fight.
"There's a line, Remus!" Neville shouted. Albus noted the sound of shaking earth, and although he couldn't feel it, he assumed the young man was flaring his magic. "A line that Harry has more than crossed!"
Albus was now certain he'd never seen this memory.
"Neville, listen to me," Remus said. It seemed he'd calmed himself down. "You're right that he's crossed the line, but it's the only choice he has. Because you wanna know what happens if he doesn't?
"People will die. I know that better than anyone. I tried protecting so many of you when you were younger, and you know what it got me?" The werewolf's voice was so quiet that Albus strained to hear it. "It got me a lot of front row seats to a lot of funerals. So if you have a problem with the way things are being run, then you're gonna have to go through me to get to him."
Silence reigned, and Albus looked down at the goosebumps running across his arm. He'd only retained the pleasure of Remus's acquaintance recently, but hearing the man he knew speak like that was unsettling.
"And what about when this is all over?" Neville asked. "What are we going to do then?"
"You'll have to figure that out on your own," Remus muttered. "Once this war is over, I'm putting a silver bullet in my brain."
Albus's heart dropped into his stomach. He didn't hear anything else for a few seconds, but eventually a door opened and shut from the other side of the room. Another few seconds passed and the door he, Harry, and the memory of Remus were standing in front of opened the rest of the way.
Neville stepped out and immediately turned and gave a quick bow of his head to Harry. "What do you think?"
"Definitely still loyal."
Albus blinked. Had… Had that all just been a test? For Remus of all people? From the memories he had already seen, Remus had been the most faithful soldier Harry had. At the very least he was the one the war leader trusted, and needed, the most. Why on earth was he being suspected?
"Told you," Neville said. The young man pulled a flask out of his pocket and began unscrewing the lid. "He just missed, Harry. That's all it was."
"That 'miss' nearly killed me," Harry growled. "Either way. We need to make sure that we keep someone on him if we ever manage to get the last of those fucking horcruxes."
"Let me just set up a remembrall," Neville muttered sarcastically. "You really think we'll ever find them all?"
"Of course we will," Harry said. "Even if I have to burn the whole fucking world down to do it."
"Right…" Neville shook his head. "But why do we need to keep an eye on him?"
"Cus I'm not letting him off that easy; he doesn't get to call it quits when the war is over." Harry took the flask Neville handed him and threw back a swig. "I'm gonna be king, but we both know he'll be the one running the show."
Neville laughed. "All hail King Harry."
"I'm gonna get fat," Harry said, passing the flask back with a smile. "Gonna make Hermione invent a broom strong enough to carry my fat ass around. Gonna wear a crown and everything."
"And I'm gonna be head of the royal guard," Neville said, grinning along with what must've been a well-trodden joke. "We'll make Ron the treasurer."
"Hagrid, the stable master. Hermione, the Crown Inventor," Harry continued. "All hail King Harry and Queen Fleur!"
The two men laughed, and Albus was left with the most uncomfortable feeling imaginable. It was a wholesome, humanising moment. It was coming after a tale of Harry breaking a teenager's arm for training and the admittance of a planned suicide. Worst of all, it reminded Albus far too much of the sorts of conversations he used to have with Gellert before the war.
He'd always been a touch discomforted at how much Hydrus reminded him of his former lover, but seeing him as a grown man was even worse.
"By the way," Harry said. "Where are we at with the Death Eater we picked up?"
"I actually had to put him down before this little rendezvous," Neville answered. "Heinrich broke him. I told the kid next time it happens, he goes in the pit instead."
"Damn it," Harry muttered. "He's lucky you already gave the warning instead of just doing it. That's the third—!"
"I know, I know." Neville placed a hand on Hydrus's shoulder. "I'll take care of it if anything happens again. I promise."
"You better." Harry placed both of his own hands on Neville's shoulders now, and Albus winced in time with the Longbottom scion at how hard he squeezed. "Because the next fuck up is on you too. So if it does happen again, you better make sure I don't feel the need to dole out further punishment."
"I won't," Neville said. "I promise."
Albus hardly even recognized when the memory faded away. The runes around him on the ground of Nicolas's spare bedroom were completely dull, delaying the ritual by another day, but he could no longer bring himself to care. Fawkes cooed at him in concern, feeling the dread spreading across their bond. Albus reached up and lifted the bird off his shoulder, pulling him into a tight hug.
The phoenix was more than just his familiar, it was the power he'd formed a pact with. Fawkes was the embodiment of what made him a warlock rather than just a run of the mill wizard. Their enhanced and codified bond had supplied him strength and control of the massive amount of power he already wielded when he was younger, yet it was times like these that he most truly loved his familiar.
"Remus said he's getting worse," he whispered. "I was trying so hard to break the bargains that I thought were weighing him down, but perhaps they were all that was keeping him on track."
He felt Fawkes's sympathy and love pour between their bond, and it did a great deal to ease his heart. He ran his hands over the phoenix's feathers, and Fawkes responded by catching fire. The flames danced along his skin and he welcomed their embrace. It had been well over a century since such a thing could hope to singe him, so for now he allowed the fire to lick at every inch of his skin.
"Alright, my friend," he said after nearly a minute. "I need to return to my work."
Remus would probably get a bee in his bonnet over Albus not responding to his letter, but the sooner he got through with this ritual the better. He was probably back to needing another full week to complete it, but once it was done he'd have the strength he needed. When it was done, Hydrus just might listen to him again. Or even if he didn't, at the very least Albus might be able to reign him back in line if he ever went too far.
The time traveller had tasked Albus with 'putting him down' should he ever go too far. A part of him doubted he'd ever be able to pull that off, but at the very least he should be prepared for the worst. Even if he failed, at least no one would be able to say he didn't try this time.
Hydrus finally reached his friends. Hagrid was doubled over on the ground, clearly shielding something, probably Luna. The centaurs who'd moved in to the Forbidden Forest at Magic's command were circled around the half-giant and there had to be at least a dozen arrows in his back. The centaurs all turned to stare at him, but Hydrus was watching Hagrid. His heart slammed against his ribs as he waited.
Finally, the half-giant heaved a breath.
'Thank Merlin…" Hydrus sighed. "Right then. Time for you all to die."
The lead centaur stepped forward. "We are not afraid of you, Fallen Ch—"
"Avada Kedavra."
The green bolt struck the centaur, and the whole herd began to attack.
Hydrus said nothing as he wiped them out.
He simply evaporated any arrows that got too close while transfiguring the ground and trees into implements to murder the others. A few escaped his first attempts at ending their lives, but they were too suicidal to realise the foolishness of keeping up their own attacks. It was like a pack of lemmings running straight off a cliff and into the awaiting blades of a woodchipper.
Hydrus didn't have a watch handy to check, but he guessed it took around a minute to finish them all off. Once he was finished he stepped up beside Hagrid and knelt down. He ripped out the first arrow, eliciting a low groan of pain, and he winced.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Lemme cast a numbing spell."
Once he did that he healed the first wound, then moved onto the next arrow. One by one he ripped the double-barbed projectiles out of Hagrid's back, each time dampening his old friend's back further. By the time he was done the half-giant looked like a red and brown leopard.
"There you go, big guy," Hydrus said. "You did good."
"Urgh," Hagrid grunted, slowly sitting up. "Merlin's beard, 'ydrus. You sure know your way around an 'ealing spell, eh?"
"Something like that," he agreed. "Luna, you alright down there?"
"I'm fine!" Hydrus knew the girl well enough to tell she was just putting up a brave face. "D-, Darn nargles."
"Right." He held out a hand to her. "Up you go."
Hydrus helped Luna to her feet, then hit her with a cleaning spell to get the mud off her robes. Once that was done she practically tackled him in a hug. After rolling his eyes, he returned the gesture, running his hand along her back.
"Thank you!" she said, half-muffled with her face in his chest. "You saved us."
"Be sure to give my cousin an even bigger thank you later," he replied. "I wouldn't have any idea you needed help if he hadn't come to get me."
Hagrid managed to get up on his own, and was rolling one of his shoulders over. "Good lad, that one. Last thing 'e said before I told him to take off was to protect little Miss Lovegood here."
Luna blushed and smiled at that, and Hydrus gave a grin of his own.
"I told you I'd straighten him out," he said. "Come on you two, let's—, Protego!"
The shield came up just in time to stop a boulder the size of a microwave from smashing into Luna. He dropped the charm and watched as a Cyclops nearly a metre taller than Hagrid stomped into the clearing they were in.
"Seriously?" Hydrus muttered. "Is this the best you got?"
The cyclops roared and charged at them, but Hydrus snapped his fingers and its eye burst. The creature immediately tripped and fell to the ground, shrieking in pain. He cast a quick Sectumsempra to behead it, and turned back to the other two.
"Come on, no dawdling."
Hagrid didn't need to be told twice. He scooped Luna up like she was an infant and began running back to the stands, Hydrus dashing behind him. As they went, Hydrus launched spells into the trees around them to scare off anything from coming closer to them than he felt comfortable with. He probably killed a few innocent beings along the way, but that was a small price to pay to make sure his friends were safe.
Around two-thirds of the way there they were met by Remus and a few other professors. They immediately began looking over the half-giant and the much smaller blonde girl, except for the Defence teacher who made a beeline for Hydrus.
"Come on," the werewolf muttered, grabbing Hydrus's elbow to try and pull him away. "Tell me what—"
Hydrus jerked his arm away. "I'll tell you everything once we get everyone to safety. This is Magical business."
Remus blinked at the 'subtle' hint, then scowled. "Right."
At a much slower pace now, to Hydrus's chagrin, they made it the rest of the way out of the Forbidden Forest. Now that he had a proper audience he threw up a massive umbrella shield so they could move forward safely, not wanting any lectures from Flitwick or McGonagall about wantonly attacking the forest's inhabitants. Once they were clear of the tree line, he stepped up to his Transfigurations professor.
"Professor McGonagall," Hydrus said. "I need a moment to talk to Professor Lupin alone, would you mind if we stuck around here for a moment?"
"Of course not." She turned to Snape. "Severus, please take control of the situation here. Have someone escort Rubeus and Miss Lovegood to the medical ward. I need to speak with Remus and Mr. Black."
Hydrus blinked. That wasn't what he'd said at all. "Professor—"
"Tell us what happened, Hydrus," Remus said. "As much as you can."
He glared at the werewolf as the others shuffled away. "Draco came running for help. Luna and Hagrid were under attack. I went to save them. I killed a pack of centaurs, a cyclops, and a few other things along the way there and back."
McGonagall levelled him with a glare that actually made him flinch. He'd forgotten how intimidating the Scottish woman could be when he was a kid. "Mr. Black, if there is something going on at my school that's leading to a dear friend of mine suddenly no longer being welcomed in a forest he's helped grow, I demand to know about it."
"Alright," he muttered. Remus's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, Hydrus was already going. "This was a shot across the bow from the goddess Magic. She's aligned herself with the god Death, whom I was already at war with. As soon as you two leave, I'm going to go wipe out the rest of her forces living in the forest."
Remus was facepalming while McGonagall looked like he'd just said he was a martian. She shook her head before saying, "Excuse me?"
"Hydrus," Remus jumped in. "It's the Forbidden Forest. You can't just—"
"I'm dropping out of school. If Magic's going against me, I don't need her fucking bargain anymore," Hydrus snapped. "And if either one of you thinks you can stop me from fucking—!"
Remus slapped him. Hydrus blinked. The madness which had taken control of him fell back into the depths of his soul.
"Better?" the werewolf asked.
"Uh, yeah." He rubbed at his cheek. "Thank, Remus. You're the best."
"Mr. Black! Remus!" McGonaggal shouted. "What in—"
"My apologies for the rudeness, Professor," Hydrus said. "But I was right in one thing. I'm dropping out."
Remus sucked his teeth. "Hydrus, you can't—"
"I can and I am." He turned on his heel and started heading towards the forest. "If either one of you thinks you can stop me, then try." He clenched his fist as he prepared himself for what he needed to do. "Just be sure to do it one at a time, so the other can carry the first one back."
