theBlackStaffAndNightMarE

ACT4CH4 - Among The Deathless

The Room was getting destroyed.

The entire place shook as if it was the epicentre of the greatest of earthquakes. Explosions fired off so rapidly that it was easier to consider the chain of them to be one massive phenomena, than try to recognize each one as an individual event. Nothing could remain in place or intact. All fell to the ground, either as projectiles or makeshift shields to defend against projectiles, or transfigured and retransfigured into objects to attack, bind, neuter t...

ACT4CH3 - The Dogs Of War

The wall of junk before Albus Dumbledore was ripped up and flung aside from the path as a bolt of pure crushing force blasted forth from faux-Grindelwald’s wand. At a closer look, the Dark Lord wielded an exact facsimile of the Elder Wand, but unlike Dumbledore’s legendary weapon, faux-Grindelwald’s one was merely a copy — a speck of illusion temporarily made real. The very air screamed and the world around them shook as that terrible spell impacted Dumbledore with a deafening noise. ...

ACT4CH2 - The Prison Without Locks

They were standing next to the statue of Barnabas the Barmy.

Harry took a deep breath. After confirming with Dumbledore about some of the do’s and don’ts related to the Lament, and an impromptu lesson on traditions from his accursed, ghostly ancestor, Harry had performed a Vow, with Dumbledore acting as a Binder and witness to the event. Revoking Iacomus Potter’s decision to cast Wystan Potter out was a no-brainer, but it was really after this point that the problems began.

...

ACT4CH1 - The Bloody Baron

The return to Hogwarts was just as expected, listening to the song and dance of what ‘supposedly happened’, gossiping about what they thought was the ‘accepted’ version of the truth.

Neither Draco nor Chang had returned to Hogwarts. The events at the wedding had led to a cascade of increasing faceloss for the Malfoy family, and even greater financial downfall, with the news of what happened transpiring across the breadth of Wizarding Britain. Having lost close to half of their f...

INTERLUDE - The Master Of Death

Somewhere in Trier, Germany.

The house had a gothic feel. Greyish gargoyles stood at the corners of the roof, with black iron gates glowering at the front, and statuary lined the walk to the front door. Long grassovergrew his ward, giving the impression of it being less than the house of a disgraced Head of the German Auror office, and more like an ominous speaker to the dead. Psychics, the muggles called them — squibs that retained some sensitivity to the whispers of...

ACT3CH32 - House Of Cards

December 6, 1995.

From the Front page of The Flying Post…

HOUSE OF MALFOY SHAMED AT ROSIER-SANTOS WEDDING!

MALFOY-PARKINSON BETROTHAL DISSOLVED! QUINTUS PARKINSON FILES FOR INFIDELITY CLAUSE!

HOUSE BLACK DECLARES DRACO MALFOY BLOOD-TRAITOR!

IS THIS THE END OF A GREAT HOUSE?

Harry had thought he had see...

ACT3CH31 - The Fall Of The House Of Malfoy

What a difference being in a different country could make! Had this been Britain, Fudge would probably be midway painting this as yet another glory-seeking attempt on Harry’s part coupled with some kind of insane conspiracy against removing his biggest supporter, the Malfoys, out of the equation. Knowing the fool, he probably thought that too. Unfortunately, the fickle winds of fortune were in his favour this time, so all he could do was manage a soft word or two requesting Draco Malfoy to ...

ACT3CH30 - Blood In The Water

Everything was going according to plan.

It had all been such a brilliant idea. Draco had trusted Chang to get Potter to sign his wealth away, but there was always something that could go wrong in the end. When he had seen Potter bring Greengrass into the mess, Draco inwardly knew that the situation would plummet.

But the way it did… he had never imagined it to happen like that.

Greengrass had outmanoeuvred Chang, forcing both of them into taking the secrecy oath, with Chan...

ACT3CH29 - Sucker Punch

“Bob-what?” asked a flustered Cornelius Fudge. “Is that supposed to be a joke, Mr. Potter?”

He did look like Harry had kicked him in the stones. Fudge didn’t debate well and his buttons were almost as easy to push as Draco Malfoy’s. His red-faced, open-mouthed expression told Harry that he was feeling insulted and wanted to lash back. It didn’t help that he was standing right next to the Spanish Minister of Magic, who looked just plain amused.

“Apologies, Minister ...

ACT3CH28 - How I Met Your Mother

“Oh, yes! It’s fantastic to meet with you too, Madam Tinkerbell,” gushed Harry, his voice overflowing with saccharine as he shook hands with eighty-seventh person in a row. Not that he was keeping count or anything.

“Uh, it’s actually Winterfell, my dear,” said the posh-looking lady.

My apologies.,” said Harry, beaming with his best fake smile. His cheeks were already hurting, and he swore to make Daphne spend hours giving him a massage just for putting him through h...

ACT3CH27 - Opening Salvo

“Interesting,” said Albus Dumbledore. “The patterns are absolutely interesting. In all my years of dealing with my fair share of experience with magic, this is a conundrum I had to come across.”

Harry and the Headmaster were standing in the middle of the war-struck Defence classroom. After listening to Sue Li and Hermione recount their experiences about reading about the diabolical spell suffix from a book that Dumbledore claimed was authored by the Dark Lord Ekrizdis to create ...

ACT3CH26 - Diabolica

Back in Ananta Shesha’s Lair, Harry had read a book about Emotive Magic and its effect on standard spellcasting. It was there that he had found out that apart from the standard ‘Duo’, ‘Maxima’ or the rarer and exceedingly dangerous ‘Horribilis’ suffixes, there was a fourth suffix, one that was redacted from the pages of wizarding history. A suffix so powerful and so twisted, that it could only unleash destruction of indefinite magnitudes.

Diabolica.

The tome had actu...

ACT3CH25 - Finale

It was time for the duelling finals, between Daphne and Sue Li. Li was obviously the crowd’s favourite, with her experience as a professional Under-17 duelist representing Britain two times in a row already. If anyone at Hogwarts was supposed to be skilled at silent casting, the clear bet would be on her.

Excluding Harry himself, that is.

On the flip side, Daphne was Harry’s fiance, and everyone knew just how skilled Harry himself was. It was a no-brainer to think that he’d ...

ACT3CH24 - Cruel Intentions

If there was one thing Cho understood about Draco Malfoy, it was his immense inferiority complex. That was just about the most prominent fact about his character, followed by his impossible desire for opulence. Not the wealth part, of course. Becoming wealthy was something everyone should aspire to, and being someone from a climber family, Cho understood it very well. The Changs had a rich ancestry back in China, but here in Britain, they held a middling position at best, and the pursuit of i...

ACT3CH23 - Perfection And Stagnation

“Thank you for accepting our invitation and indulging our curiosity.”

Harry shook Theodore Nott’s hand. Just as Daphne had intimated, she had arranged a meeting with a group of interested people whose politics matched with Daphne’s own interests. It was a Sunday afternoon, and despite Fleur’s initial hesitance, she had ended up coming to this meeting, as his friend if nothing else. Daphne had warned the girl from pulling any shenanigans, because Harry would be judged according...

ACT3CH22- Destiny And Doom

A pair of bright, yellow eyes opened in the darkness.

Only to blink, and this time, they had turned emerald green.

It took him a while for the memories to come back, but Harry soon realised that he was perched on one of the stone pillars in the dark and empty corridor. How had he come here? Had Hedwig—

No. Hedwig was away delivering a letter to Gringotts, to Griphook in particular, asking him to send the Potter family pensieve to Hogwarts. After his experience in the summe...

ACT3CH21 - Duels And Detention

Hermione Granger had thought she had seen the worst when Umbridge had redecorated the Defence classroom to fit her needs. That confidence shattered the moment she entered the woman’s office. Lacy covers and cloth draped all over the walls, with several vases of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolor kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. Hermione liked pink as much as ...

ACT3CH20 - Lord Voldemort's Request

“Kitkat.”

The gargoyle immediately began to spin around as it moved up, revealing the staircase behind it. Harry stepped forward and allowed the revolving stairs to take him upward. And this time, he didn’t even bother touching the door knob, and just waited there.

“Come in, Harry.”

He rolled his eyes. A proximity ward on the knob, and another on the outside then. He wondered if they were applied on the floor, and activated through pressure or if they were applied ...

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For that reason, we're adding PDF and EPUB copies of every chapter from now on. 

Enjoy!

ACT3CH19 - Golden Rule

HARRY POTTER APPOINTED AS THE NEW DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS PROFESSOR! NEED, WHIM OR CONSPIRACY?

BY RITA SKEETER

Special Correspondent to the Evening Prophet (November 23, 1995)

Some people in our world need no introduction. They have left a lasting mark on our world whether we wish for them or not. The eccentric Headmaster of our prestigious Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, is one of them. Harry Potter, the Boy-...