"How are they?" Dumbledore asked as he entered the infirmary for the second time tonight.
His first visit had been cut very short when he had came right as Moody had raised his wand, glowing with a sickly color that could only be attributed to a rather nasty curse, and getting ready to bring it down on the unconscious form of Cedric Diggory.
Obviously Dumbledore had taken issue with that and disarmed the man before he could do anything, followed by several charms to immobilize him. Shortly after that, 'Moody's flesh started to melt off and reveal the figure of Barty Crouch Jr. Someone that he was quite sure was supposed to be dead.
This was the second supposedly dead person turning out to be alive in his castle in two years and both of them had been Death Eaters instead of someone he would have been happier to see alive. Shame.
Barty had not exactly taken the fact that he had been caught well. His former student was basically frothing like a rabid animal as he fought against his bindings while threatening Dumbledore in rather imaginative ways.
He still wasn't sure how exactly Barty was supposed to use a rubber chicken like that but the answer was probably magic.
"The curse placed on Diggory is somewhat complex but it's not dangerous. It merely keeps him in a state of unconsciousness, he probably will wake up by himself in an hour." Pomfrey's words were truly good news. Dumbledore didn't want to deal with the fallout with Amos Diggory, a very proud father, if it turned out that his heir was in danger.
"What about young Rose?"
"Her situation isn't anything I can do about. She's not cursed, she is simply exhausted and likely under a lot of stress. It's honestly a miracle that she didn't crash earlier this year, or during any of the previous years." The school healer ended her words with a very pointed glare in Dumbledore's direction and the headmaster could only wince at the unspoken accusation.
Honestly, there probably wasn't another student in all of Hogwarts' history that had faced as much as danger as Rose Potter during these last four years. She had faced a merlin damned Hungarian Horntail this year and that wasn't even the most dangerous beast she faced in these last four years!
In Dumbledore's defense, he didn't mean for her to be in danger and she tended to run after the danger herself quite a bit as well so it wasn't entirely his fault. Not that he had the courage to explain that to a pissed of healer in a confined space.
"I see." So he decided to just take the safe route and walk away.
Things were not good. He had known that Rose's forced participation in the tournament was likely more than some prank by a mean spirited student but Voldemort's resurrection, for there could be no one else that Rose had meant by 'him', was far out of his expectations.
He needed time, he had yet to find out how exactly Tom was cheating death even if the diary he had gotten from Rose gave him some rough ideas. The theory of a horcrux had seemed possible but Tom hadn't died after the diary was destroyed.
Could he actually have done it? Split his soul more than once? It sounded like madness to Dumbledore. Everything he had learnt about souls throughout years of journeys and research would say such a thing should be impossible.
Yet it might actually explain the deteriorating mentality of the once bright wizard had shown during the last war. How he seemed more and more deranged with every meeting.
But if Tom really had created more than one Horcrux, what were they? Where were they?
And what did that mean for Rose's scar?
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"Whelp, that was easy." I said to myself as I put my new ring on my finger. The curse on it that would have caused necrosis on anyone touching it dispelled and the soul fragment in it reabsorbed into my own soul. Rinnegan was definitely a great choice in that CYOA.
It was a rather surreal situation but the memories of the original Voldemort, what was he thinking when he chose that name, had helped quite a bit in getting me in character.
Still, there were a lot of differences to this world compared to the books and that was without considering the crossover with Marvel I had chosen. New families that seemed familiar, new magic that was closer to fanon and those who were the wrong gender.
There was also a lot of differences in my history too, some of which would likely be very important soon. Though at the moment, I was more interested in the one change I did myself.
Cedric Diggory was alive and he was supposed to be a good friend to Rose, I wondered if me sparing him would lead to some sort of difference or if the ministry would just stay the same group of morons as the books.
"I can't wait." I said with a chuckle as I finally reached my destination. Twelfth Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home of the Black family and the place where one of my Horcruxes resided.
I had decided that the whole splitting soul thing was ridiculous. That was the reason I had taken the soul from Rose's scar, retrieved the Gaunt ring and never made Nagini into one. Leaving only four horcruxes. One of which I was about to reclaim.
Sure, there was some amount of danger doing this so early since the last of the Blacks was completely in Dumbledore's camp but I doubted that Sirius Black would be in this building where he suffered for years unless it was his last choice. And even if he was here, I had little to no interest leaving a part of my soul in a place where the enemy side had so much presence in; I was already stressing about the one in Hogwarts enough!
"No meaning in waiting." I muttered to myself as I raised my hands and started to create a pathway for myself in the wards. They were rather impressive, capable of cursing those unwelcome in a very gruesome fashion.
It took me a while but soon my path was created and I entered through the front door after a little 'Alohamora'.
"Lovely place." I muttered as I ran my finger through the walls covered in dust. At least it was somewhat peaceful.
"THIEF!" Emphasis on 'was'. 'Unworthy curs trying to rob the house of ancestors! Begone before I have you pathetic intestines..."
"Oh shut up." I said with a roll of my eyes as I send a small ball of fire at the wall the painting was on, leaving a huge burn mark right beside the portrait of one Walburga Black. "You have your son and niece pledge loyalty to me but welcome me like this?" I asked with a sneer, making the portrait's eyes widen as she realized who I was.
"My lord, but how?"
"Fuck you, that's how." I said with a snort before putting a silencing charm on the painting, uncaring of the words that the dried paint with shit personality may had. "Now where's that old elf." I said to myself and as if called by my words, a very old and ugly house elf appeared before me with a pop.
"Intruders?"
"Nope, not dealing with this." I said with a roll of my eyes as I thrusted my hand forward, which caused the old elf to levitate and come near enough for our eyes to properly meet.
"Legilimens." I hissed the spell as I dived into the elf's mind.
"Fuck!" And then hissed once more as an headache struck me. "Forgot how weird it is inside the mind of you buggers."
Little trivia, the species known as house elves were not actually elves. They were magically bio-engineered creatures that could be best described as 'living household spells'. The reason they were called house elves was because there used to be actual elves in the world that wizards fought wars against till one day the elves just decided to say 'fuck these people' and disappeared. The name 'house elf' was simply a way to insult the actual elves and then the name just stuck.
The point being that house elves were far more magic than flesh so their minds were... weird. The closest analogy I had is that if a wizard mind was a picture book then a house elf's mind would be abstract art. Which made getting what you want from their mind rather tricky.
Fortunately, being me had it perks so I got what I needed. After that I took the locket horcrux from where elf had hidden it, a cardboard box in a closet, and left the house.
Only two horcruxes left, both of which were currently out of my reach.
Still, tonight had been fruitful so I went on my way with a smile. Most of my still free followers should have gathered by now, which gave me a good opportunity.
I was hoping to have a chat with Lucius after all.
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