"It all started when I was a child," Xeno started, leaning back in his seat after we relocated to the living room part of the office. "Differently from most magical children, I didn't take magic for granted, I always wanted to know more about it."
He frowned before taking a sip of his tea, "My father encouraged me at first, he even pushed Lucius to do so too!" He snorted, "But he quickly realized that I had no interest in the Dark Arts and that he couldn't take advantage of what did interest me."
"Magizoology," I said, nodding at his obvious love for the subject.
"Yes," He nodded. "So he mostly ignored me, focusing more on Lucius and his starting at Hogwarts than my interests. Until I was sorted into Ravenclaw a year later, that is."
I leaned forward, taking the chance to clear a doubt I had since my last say in this world. "I keep hearing it mentioned, but why give so much importance to what school group someone was part of?"
"Ah, I always forget that you don't have the cultural context to know these things," Xeno smiled apologetically. "Alex, Hogwarts isn't just a school, it is the center of magical Britain as a nation. It came before the Ministry, and it has been a major part of our children's development since its inception. The Four Houses are a big part of that."
"But why keep it up after school?" I could understand the affection for the place you spent most of your childhood in, but to keep its divisions?
"Because the Founders made the system too well. Your house does become your family after a while, and we spent most of our time growing up with them, after all, so to many parents it feels like a betrayal when their child does not go to the same house as them, almost like a direct statement of irreconcilable differences between them."
"That's…" I start, unable to properly form the words.
"Idiotic, I know, but it doesn't stop even the most open-minded parents from feeling hurt when it happens." Xeno gave me a sardonic smile. "My father wasn't open-minded."
"So, what happened?" I asked.
"Nothing big at first, his focus was solely on Lucius for our first few years at Hogwarts and I was fine with that," He shrugged. "But then, I became friends with Pandora in my fourth year and discovered that love and curiosity for magic could go much deeper than I ever imagined."
He smiled wistfully. "After that, my wild, baseless theories on what creatures I wished existed became magically sound hypotheses on what creatures could exist." He smirked. "And, of course, I fell madly in love with her."
"I take it your father didn't approve?" I asked.
"Oh no, he more than approved! And that was the problem, he didn't approve because it'd make me happy or even because she came from a nice pureblood family, he approved because he believed I could get her to join his master's cause." Xeno's face contorted in disgust.
"His… master?" I prodded.
"Voldemort, the same one those cultists at the World Cup followed." He nodded.
"He's been at it for long enough to be your father's master?"
"Yes, their group started when they were at Hogwarts together," He took another sip of his tea. "I managed to push him off for a while, and Lucius covertly helped where he could, but by the time my sixth year came around, I was all out of excuses, so instead of going back home on Summer break, I went to Pandora's house."
"Her parents were very supportive, and with Lucius having graduated the previous year, my father couldn't really reach us," Xeno spent a long moment staring at his tea. "But that was when the attacks started. Very spaced out and subtle, most went barely noticed or ruled as freak accidents, and Pandora's parents were some of the first targets."
"When the news arrived, she was heartbroken, of course, but she never blamed me, so I vowed that when I married her, I'd take her name and make her parents proud of the man I had become as a Lovegood." He gave me a melancholic smile. "And I think I did alright with that."
"But that got us involved in the conflict, so when we finished Hogwarts, I started my paper, and she delved deep into the secrets of magic, hoping to find something to help when the war finally started."
"You gave hints before, but what did she find?" I asked.
"By herself? Not much. Knowledge in our society is jealously kept by those who have it, and every discovery means years of dedication without direct access to previously researched material in the area." He sneered. "The amount of progress lost every time someone dies without sharing their knowledge, the time and effort spent rediscovering that knowledge…"
He shook his head, "Hogwarts is the reason the basics are so widespread, but it also gave rise to groups of witches and wizards forming outside of their families and neighbors."
"So the houses are what got like-minded people in contact with one another, pushing them to maintain connections with them instead of their families, which in turn made families fall in line with the house system," I summarized.
"Correct," Xeno nodded in approval. "But more than that, it divided people by their strengths. It didn't take long for people to figure out that a balanced approach was better than the alternative, so families started to make alliances, usually by letting their young adult members form covens."
"Group of magicals dedicated to one goal?" I guessed.
"Dedicated to the advancement of the group," Xeno corrected. "It was a haphazard time, where the beginnings of a magical society separate from the non-magical started to take form, but it wasn't until a coven specialized in research found an unmovable mystery that it coalesced into something tangible."
"That mystery was deep underground, right in the middle of London," He said with a snort. "So the coven had to relocate to keep researching it. But as other subjects for research kept appearing, the coven grew bigger, needing management and bureaucracy to keep everything in order. Until the crown formed the Ministry of Magic and gave them authority and responsibility over all magicals in the Kingdom."
"And those researchers formed the Department of Mysteries that you've mentioned before." I realized.
"Yes," He nodded. "After the war started, there were opportunities to get the knowledge Pandora was after, and the best one she had was a recent attack in the Ministry. She didn't get much, just the files on the original mystery, but those files had notes mentioning related research."
"Apparition!?" I exclaimed, remembering our talk from when I learned it.
"And more," He nodded. "Although that was the only one Pandora recognized."
"How is apparition related to an unmovable mystery, though?" I wondered.
"Because, Alex, the mystery was a portal, or a gateway, into parts unknown, a one-way trip to somewhere else, far enough away that they never returned by any other means," Xeno explained.
I was on my feet before Xeno stopped talking, this was the missing link I had been looking for, it had to be! With it, I would finally be able to find out what the hell is going on with magic in this universe and maybe even bridge the gap between our systems of magic.
"Now is not the time to go there, Alex," Xeno said with a shake of his head. "You already understand what role we hope you play, and while breaking into the Ministry wouldn't kill the movement, it'd give our detractors enough reason to discredit us to the public."
"I can sneak in," I said, just a glance at it should get me enough information to move forward.
"Did you master the Disillusionment charm?" Xeno asked with a defeated sigh.
"I did, although I don't understand why the book said the expected result would be for me to take the color of the environment around me like a chameleon instead of the full invisibility it gives," I said.
"Because that's the result for normal people," Xeno rolled his eyes. "And you are definitely not normal."
"Makes sense," I nodded. "So, when do we leave?"
"In a few days," Xeno said, moving to sit down at his desk.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"Because I have to find out where it is," Xeno said, setting up a parchment and some ink to start writing. "And it'll take some time for my contacts to get back to me."
I groaned in defeat as I fell back on the sofa.
"Xeno, I just wanted to ask, why a Paragon? Why not literally anything else?" I asked him.
"Because, Alex, that's what you already are, that's why Campione in your world are treated as they are. Because all of you are Paragons of humanity, equal to the Gods themselves." Xeno said, turning to me. "You'll just need a little bit of polish, so the people here believe it too."
"And I can't use force, why?" I wondered.
"Because we want them to change, not go back to old habits when you're not looking." Came his reply.
A few days later, I was getting ready for the Ball when Severus arrived.
The letter with the location of the Department of Mysteries had arrived earlier that day, and I wisely decided that it could wait until after the Ball.
If the glare Xeno gave me when I said we could sneak in and Door out before the Ball didn't make me reconsider, him mentioning how sad and disappointed Luna would be if I didn't get there in time definitely did.
So there I was, giving my dress robes a final check, enjoying the look of the new, shimmering purple velvet lining the inside, contrasting with the black outside and golden accents, when I saw Severus behind me in the mirror.
"How do I look?" I asked, turning so he could get a better look.
He clinically stared at me, his eyes passing over every single detail of my outfit in search of a flaw.
"Acceptable," he nodded.
"Really? Just acceptable?" I looked at him incredulously.
"It's good quality and has a better design than most will have there, but it's nothing particularly groundbreaking, even for a school event," he rolled his eyes.
"Damn, I'll have to up my game later if I want to be taken seriously." I grimaced.
"Once you're an adult. Until then, I don't see where you'll find the need for it when your title should be more than enough." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you ready?"
I gave myself another check on the mirror before turning back to him, "Yeah, how are we going there?"
"Floo," we both grimace at that. Though it's still black, it was clear that he was also wearing dress robes, so getting it dirty with the Floo was not a particularly nice thought, even if we could clean it with magic.
Moving toward the fireplace, Xeno hands me the corsage I made for Luna and waves me off with a knowing smile.
Severus gets in first, throwing his pinch of Floo powder down and stating, "The Three Broomsticks!" before disappearing in the green fire.
I do the same, and I'm quickly stepping off into what looks like a medieval tavern. The place was empty except for a blond witch talking to Severus.
"Well, at least whomever he came to meet will have a nice surprise," she said with a smile.
With a roll of his eyes, Severus said, "Thank you for the help, Rosmerta."
"You know I'm a romantic at heart, Mr. Slytherin," she said with a teasing tone, I noticed Severus' ears got slightly pink. "And how could I say no when the Headmaster explained it was his first time seeing the castle? That is a magical sight everyone would have when first seeing it!"
"On that, we agree," Severus nodded before turning to me. "Let's go. We still have to walk to the castle, and you will have to get up Ravenclaw Tower to meet up with Miss Lovegood."
With a nod at him, I politely thank the blonde witch before following out of the tavern.
A/N: We got a whole lot of information from Xeno! And a nice spot of B for after-the-ball entertainment.
Next Chapter: Valentine's Day Special! Just two weeks late because I forgot that the American one is different than here in Brazil and I barely managed to write it on the day itself for the advanced crowd.
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