The noble art of ataraxia will likely never find its way into my life – especially not today.

I couldn't care less about the rattling of the panes and the accompanying splinters from the window of the girls' lavatory on the second floor, it's merely a logical consequence of my impetuous trajectory.

I'm not concerned with the glass cuts on my face and hands now that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets has obviously been opened – and by no means by its rightful heir.

In my same old routine, but faster than ever before, I follow the tunnel vertically into the the washing basins, deep into the underground of the castle, all the way into the dimly lit connecting antechamber and its continuing paths.

I can hear Echidna's hissing from a distance – with plenty of echos, but the hatchway must have obviously also been opened already.

Only Nagini was able to do this. And, in an ironic twist of fate, she's also the only one whom Echidna would have trusted enough not to kill each of her companions in a bloody mess immediately.

"Forgive me, my dear –"

The walls carry the echo of Nagini's voice along with a mighty snarl.

"No!" I hear Echidna whisper. "You said they meant no harm!"

"You'll only worsen it if you fight back –"

"Duffy, step aside, you're too soft!" I hear Krafft shout in clear impatience, his voice that of a jaded butcher. "See, this is how you break a monster to achieve compliance! Crucio!"

Oh, there will be blood.
I hear Echidna in pain, and rage doesn't even begin to describe just what I feel. How the hell dare these useless subjects even approach her in all their unworthy idiocy!

I should have cover, I should proceed in a calculated way – but I have no patience for prudence.

No, I simply dash from the cylindrical anteroom into the low, dark corridor until I find the massive iron gate standing wide open as suspected – and I don't hesitate.

MacDuff and Krafft have come alone. They haven't even been smart or reverent enough to seek reinforcement in the catacombs, and they're going to regret it.

Several things happen at once.

The two are utterly startled as I sweep through them like a slap of smoke and darkness before I throw Nagini behind Echidna with a wave of my wand for her own protection.

Well surprised by this, Krafft releases his Cruciatus, and not a heartbeat later I forever free the tormented Queen of Serpents from her grotesque blinders with a magical tug.
The so-called crown instantly goes up in flames, as do the torches along the platforms, for never again will a human soul approach Slytherin's basilisk with such disrespect and safety from her deathly gaze.

Krafft hurries to fire another Cruciatus at Echidna, probably to restrain her, but I land right in front of her in my corporeal form and throw him away from us with aSectumsempra. "Accio!" I then shout and promptly hold Krafft's wand in my hands.

"Avada Kedavra!"

I dodge MacDuff's murder attempt, just as I learned with Edwin during duelling exercises in every free minute we spent with him. But I'm still irritated.

"Are you insane?" I yell. "Grindelwald wouldn't be exactly happy about my death!"

He doesn't seem too bothered by my objection. "Avada –"

"Expelliarmus!"

His curse meets my defence, and it's not because I don't want to kill him as well – I simply wish to kill him differently.

His green meets my red and gets pushed back with force. During the rituals, wasting that much strength would've been unthinkable – not only my soul, also my magic, was about to be split in two.

But that is no longer the case. It took two, probably three weeks – and then I could feel it throbbing within me just as before. Pure, raw magic, undivided, unforgiving – and by then also strengthened by the agonies of hell.

So now, to MacDuff's utter disbelief, he can't stop his wand from flying right towards me. I let it disappear inside my pockets without taking my eyes off him.

He seems genuinely horrified – not only because he's unarmed all of a sudden, he's also concerned about the ever-growing pool of blood that begins to reach his brogues by now.

"What have you done to Krafft?" he gasps. "He keeps on bleeding!"

"Probably for a while now," I reply. "I'd guess he has a bit over six litres to spill. The curse was on the back of an ancient Horcrux note, and now I finally got to try it out."

"What have you done?" MacDuff repeats, already kneeling over his friend in visible panic. He can only crouch and turn in my direction anyway, for fear of death by yellow eyes …

"I'd love to examine those cuts up close," I call out, "but see, I don't particularly like blood …"

For a moment there, our uninvited guest is busy lamenting and taking care of his old friend. While Krafft's moaning and MacDuff's desperate sobbing echo through the catacombs, I hear Echidna shake behind me, still dazed as well.
Heaven and the two acolytes alone know how much torturing she's already had to endure today …

But the agony of those that caused her pain only intensifies as they, out of the corner of their eyes, watch Echidna's shadow become larger and larger on the ground behind them. The two gentlemen surely begin to sense what might still be in store for them.

"Son of the Master," Echidna eventually whispers, bowing her head to me as I watch MacDuff, "you are here, you have not abandoned me … But you said I must not open my eyes in the presence of strangers, and I did not …"

A mistake. My fault alone. But those that will be punished are already bitterly regretting it.

"You mustn't die," MacDuff whimpers to his friend, but that can't touch me.

"If it consoles you – you'll follow him right into darkness. Also he's not the first to die down here." I turn to Echidna and fully ignore Nagini's shock as I watch the spectacle at the other end of the chamber.

"Echidna, the two men who helped with the reconstruction work about two centuries ago – where are their bones?"

"Tom, no!" Nagini weakly protests, obviously taken aback. "Tell me you don't want to –"

"On either side of the moats," Echidna hisses.

I knew exactly why I didn't feel like swimming down here …

But so be it. The Queen of the Chambers gets her revenge and fresh meat as well, and I know it's frowned upon to play with food – but in this case, it might just be too tempting.

I smother the flames alongside the snake statues – becausetheydon't like heat – and then I glare at Grindelwald's acolytes in cold fury.

Not that I've ever needed a reason to justify the Dark Arts to myself – but given their actions towards Nagini, Vivian, Queenie and Echidna, mercy is not even up for debate. They deserve a dose of their own medicine as far as I'm concerned.
Didn't Krafft also think about touching Harper?

It's the proverbial last straw – and Halloween won't get to humble me for another six months …

I close my eyes and focus, just for two or three heartbeats long. I take a deep breath and raise my hands.

"Tom! Don't do that!"

I ignore Nagini, my curiosity is too great, my anger too burning.

Loud and clear, I chant, "Vivos plango, mortuos voco!"

Then I open my eyes, and as the water to the left and right of Krafft and MacDuff begins to tremble, they, too, seem relatively aware of what's about to happen.

"Breaking a monster to achieve compliance," I repeat Krafft's words, slowly wandering towards them. "A foolish idea down here if you don't have a split tongue or a wand at hand …"

Krafft is almost fainting by now, and MacDuff cowering above him can only stare at the ground of the platform as Echidna is following me.

"Come on, boy, we can talk about it," he at least tries to save his life. "The Dark Lord just wanted to –"

"And that's why I seeyou, instead of your mighty Lord, crawl on your friend's blood now?" I interrupt him. "Dauntless for a man that won't even thank you?"

The pale hands of the dead burst from the surface of the water left and right to us, no flesh covering those greenish bones anymore as they find their footing at the edge of the platforms. And yet the creatures of the underworld seem to know exactly what they are regaining their strength for.

"Tom, stop it!" I hear Nagini cry, another novelty of this absurd day. She also hurries closer to ultimately cup my face with her cold, shaking hands, but she should know she can't truly reach me anymore.

"You led them here," I almost whisper, "I'm just getting rid of them for us."

To each side, a skeleton pulls itself up from the shallow water to the platform.

They're just not as fast as I'd hoped …
They don't walk, they crawl. At least in the right direction – aiming for the two grown man that won't stop crying. Steady the dead are, but without any sense of urgency …
I take a mental note. I'll need to work on guiding their speed and movements –

"You've played around enough," Nagini tries to talk sense into me again, "two Inferi, I can see them with my own eyes. Chapeau! Now call back the dead and heal Krafft! Don't get your hands dirty with scum like –"

"Shall we let Echidna break their worthless necks instead?" I let my right hand glide over the scaled head next to me and shrug my shoulders at Nagini.

"Tom, no! If the Ministry has any idea Echidna exists, they'll –"

"People disappear all the time, Nagini," I let my voice cut across hers, and out of the corner of my eye I notice MacDuff trying to pull Krafft away from the slowly but surely approaching Inferi.

"You've seen too much," I say. "You can't just walk out of here."

"Erase their memories – but don't lead the authorities here with two deaths, Tom! We don't know how many acolytes were privy to the fact that the two were looking for the chamber –"

"Don't try to manipulate me," I say under my breath and shoot Nagini a warning glance. "The authorities – if they ever even do their duty properly – will be just as suspicious of profound amnesia, so it won't matter just how we silence them."

"I'm starving," Echidna hisses at me.

"That, actually, makes my decision easier." I grin, causing the Inferi to pause with a snap of my fingers. "Echidna's starving …"

Nagini shakes her head in despair, still trembling as she takes my arm as gentle as she can. "If Grindelwald wins, Tom, then his revenge will be –"

"I don't give a damn. If he wins, there's nothing we can do to make things worse." I briefly glance back at Krafft and MacDuff. "They would have scratched her eyes out. They tortured her. Vivian, Queenie and you – you know exactly what kind of men they are, don't you?"

Nagini gulps.

"Krafft's already told Vivian that she'shisshould his noble Lord prevail … Doesn't that make you sick to your stomach?"

Nagini closes her eyes and quickly nods as tears stream down her face.

"You're aware of the fact that I know no mercy."

"So you won't forgive me either?" she asks, sniffling, "I brought them down here, Tom, I –"

"You had no choice, as though I didn't know that," I retort. "But do get out of my way now. Get out of the way of either the dead or Echidna."

She swallows, struggles with her morals, herself, me … But she doesn't move, giving me a pleading gaze instead. "You're plenty of things, Tom Riddle, but … you're not a murderer …"

I screw up my face in mock remorse. "No, I do think I am. So move!"