Author's note: Guys, please… if you can spare some power stones, I'd really appreciate it.
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At Hogwarts, unless a task was taking place, life did not seem much different despite the Triwizard Tournament. The days followed the same routine of classes, food, and more classes, though the castle now held a few more faces, with the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons studying here this year as well.
The second task ended in the cold of late February, and it was a resounding success, the newspapers headlining about it for days. Nothing worth noting, at least on the surface, happened during the following months, and soon March rolled into April and April likewise into May, the skies above Hogwarts clearing as the lingering winter chill slowly faded from the castle grounds.
Only, in other years, this would have been the time when certain students in the castle began nervously preparing for their exams, but this year was different.
Rather than worrying about tests, everyone was eagerly talking about and waiting for the third task to begin, which they could already tell would be spectacular, seeing the exaggeratedly large barrier covering the school's Quidditch stadium and stretching well beyond it as the area was transformed into the field where the final task would take place.
For the second task, a similar barrier had been placed over the lake to create the field, so it was not hard to guess. But so far, no information had been provided about what precisely the champions' objective would be, nor had any information been leaked.
That did not stop the students from speculating though. Rumors, theories, and completely made up stories spread through the castle like wildfire. Suffice to say, the closer the final task approached, the more the excitement among the students grew.
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Time passed like an uninterrupted river. One weekend, around dinner time, Harry had just walked out of Maverick's office when he was confronted by his two best friends waiting for him in the corridor.
"More secret training?" Ron raised an inquisitive brow, while beside him Hermione, although she did not say anything, wore the same look on her face as well as she looked at Harry.
"Uh..." Harry rubbed the back of his head, looking a little at a loss for words. "It's really not what you're thinking. We just went to visit Sirius," he said after a moment. Then, letting out a sigh, he walked up to them, and the three of them soon began heading toward the Great Hall.
"This is like the fourth time this month you suddenly had to go visit Sirius, Harry..."
Harry glanced sideways at Hermione and simply shrugged his shoulders. What could he say. It was certainly suspicious, and they were not wrong either... but he also could not explain things clearly to them. Although they were his best friends, he had made a promise to Professor Caesar and his godfather not to speak a word of what he was up to, not even to his best friends.
"Come on, mate, tell us something... Is it really about the third task? Are you secretly doing some training for it with Professor Caesar?" Ron began second guessing, nudging him shoulder to shoulder as they walked.
"The champions aren't allowed to receive special training for the tasks anymore, Ron, so it can't be that," Hermione chimed in from the other side, wearing a thoughtful expression. She paused after saying that, then turned to Harry uncertainly for confirmation. "Right?"
Normally, she would not press for things when she knew they were secrets, whether it was Harry or even Ron keeping them. But it was becoming increasingly obvious that Harry was up to something, and even she was itching to know now.
"I promise you it isn't special training for the third task," Harry said, shaking his head at the two of them. But that was all, and he did not elaborate further.
He couldn't blame them for their pressing behavior, because he knew that if it were him in their shoes, he would also be itching to know as well. And his movements, at least to them who were with him almost every day, had been very obviously suspicious.
His strange behavior had started a few days after the end of the second task. In fact, he was not surprised by it, and he had long been expecting the summons.
Last year he had already been briefed about the behind the scenes actions that would take place during the final event of the Triwizard Tournament, and he would have a big role to play in it.
And because it was about bringing down the bastard who murdered his parents, he had agreed without question. The routine "disappearances" he had been doing over the past couple of weeks were precisely about that, his godfather Sirius and Professor Caesar had been walking him through the practice, his role in fooling Lord Nosejob.
He tried diverting the conversation elsewhere and asked, "By the way, how long have you both been outside Professor Caesar's office waiting for me?"
But his best friends were his best friends for a reason, and they knew exactly what he was doing. Ron immediately rolled his eyes at him. "There you go, changing the subject again whenever we ask about it."
"Forget it, Ron," Hermione finally said. It was obvious Harry was not going to tell them no matter what. "I'm sure Harry will tell us when the time is right, won't you?" she said, turning her head to look at him with the Granger equivalent of puppy dog eyes.
Harry couldn't help but chuckle. She looked really cute, he had to admit, and he was almost tempted, but he still held the urge back and nodded. "Absolutely."
Meanwhile, back inside the office, Maverick observed the trio walking away with his magical sense. When they had walked far enough, he withdrew his magic and glanced ahead at the man sitting leisurely with his eyes closed, leaning back with his head tilted toward the ceiling as if he were thinking deeply about something.
"What?" he asked, also leaning back to sit more comfortably.
"Hmm?" Sirius opened his eyes and gave him a look, then leaned forward and sighed. "I'm just thinking. James and Lily would probably crawl out of their graves to hex me to death if they knew I was about to put their son through such a dangerous task."
"Not probably." Maverick chuckled. "They would definitely give you a proper beatdown."
"You're not helping."
"Why?" Maverick's smile grew wider. "Having second thoughts?"
"No." Sirius shook his head, reached for the teacup in front of him, and took a slow sip. Putting it down again, he looked at Maverick again, "I'm just worried for him. Even though it has only been a year since I got to know the kid, I already think of him as my own son. I'm worried."
"I understand... To be honest, if it was my own son, I do not think I could agree to let him get involved in such danger. Even if I knew nothing would happen to him."
Sirius arched a brow at that.
"A bit hypocritical, right?" Maverick chuckled.
Sirius chuckled as well. "Well, at least you're honest, kid... cough... I mean, boss man." Saying, he leaned back again. "Alright then, what's next?"
Maverick thought for a moment. "Hmm... nothing has changed. Next week we will visit my teacher. You, me, Lupin, Dumbledore, and Maxime... get everyone synced with the plan. That is it for the time being." He paused, then added, "we will also have Harry go through one more practice session... a few days before the third task begins."
"Again?"
"Yeah... practice makes perfect, as the saying goes."
Sirius nodded, humming softly. "And so we wait..."
"And so we wait..." Maverick also said.
A moment of silence passed between the two men, the steaming tea sitting between them.
"You know," Sirius added with a thoughtful smirk, "I really wish I could be on the other end with you lot. Why do I have to substitute for little Harry and be stuck here while all of you go off and raise a ruckus over London?"
"Your task is just as important, Black. Besides, what can you do? When Riddle is resurrected, he will not be just some random mage. A casual wave of his wand could crush you into nothing, so it is better you stay far away from the action."
"I'm not saying I want to swing my wand at that monster. There will still be his Death Eater goons there, won't there? I could whack a few of them at least."
"There is no need. When the action begins, they will be dealt with properly and quickly. The main objective, and everyone's focus, will be to lure Riddle toward London."
"Yeah, yeah..." Sirius waved a dismissive hand. "I get it." He pushed himself to his feet and glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Anyway, I'm heading out. You can keep planning, as you so eloquently put it, turning the world upside down, while I, on the other hand, have a lady waiting tonight."
Maverick smiled knowingly. "I'm curious. How did you manage to convince Amelia to go out with you?"
"Hey..." the mutt chuckled and flipped his coat confidently. "I may not be some overpowered conspirator like you, but I'm certainly leagues ahead of you when it comes to wooing ladies."
"Is that so..." Maverick smirked back at him. "Then I'll be sure to tell Amelia you said getting her to agree to date you again was a piece of cake."
"No, wait... that's not what I meant."
The fireplace flared with a burst of green, and as soon as Sirius Black left, Maverick's earlier playful expression turned serious and his gaze became somewhat absent minded as he stared ahead.
Within his field of vision, a transparent window appeared, his status panel, and his focus fell on the total points he had.
At the beginning of last year, when he copied the Tesseract's second extraordinary characteristic, the one that increased his Magical Energy by ten thousand points every time it was replicated, his total magical energy had jumped to just over thirty three thousand units, and at the same time, his system points was at seven thousand seven hundred.
Since then, more than a year had gone by, sixteen months to be exact.
It was now the month of May a year later. During that entire period, he had not spent a single system point, while the number had simply continued to grow on its own, increasing by ten points every day without fail. Month after month it accumulated, until the total had now reached a staggering twelve thousand seven hundred points.
Moreover, his magical energy had not remained idle during this time either. With its slow but steady natural growth over the months, it had increased by another two thousand points, bringing his total magical energy to a little over thirty five thousand.
And just a few weeks ago, he had once again used the extraordinary characteristic points he obtained this year and applied them to the Tesseract's second extraordinary characteristic, in other words, the magical energy battery characteristic, increasing that number by another ten thousand.
Altogether, his magical energy now stood at an incredible forty five thousand, which, if considering magic alone, meant that barring Dumbledore, there was no other archmage alive who could best him.
He leaned back and rocked the chair slowly while thinking.
To break through to Warlock rank, according to the system, his magical energy had to reach the fifty thousand mark, but that was hardly a problem since he had twelve thousand system points available which he could freely use, whether to push his magical energy to the required threshold or raise any spell to Master rank if he wished.
But he did not need to think hard about it, because the decision had long been made.
For now, increasing his wizard class rank and becoming even more magically powerful was the top priority, especially with the drama he was personally orchestrating set to unfold in another month.
Although everything seemed to be going according to plan, and he had layers upon layers of contingencies to ensure no innocent person would be harmed when it all took place, he still wanted an overwhelming personal advantage in case something unexpected happened.
For example, if Riddle were to suddenly pull something unexpected out of that nonexistent nose of his. If Maverick's rank was an entire tier above his, it would not be a problem even if he somehow brought help from another archmage, and Maverick could deal with everything easily.
Besides, he could not quite explain it, but for the past few weeks he had been feeling uneasy. It was as if things might not go according to the script exactly as planned, so he was especially determined to break through to Warlock rank before everything began.
He sighed, brushed the thought aside for now, and focused again on the transparent panel.
His expression turned resolute, and with a decisive movement of his fingers, even though he could have done it with just a thought, he began frantically clicking the + sign and consuming the system points.
45,500
45,900
46,000
47,000
48,000
49,990...
In one sitting he consumed nearly five thousand points, the first time he had added such a large amount directly to his magical energy.
A wave of power washed through him, filling him with a dense, overwhelming energy, yet never crossing into discomfort. It felt like a storm contained within his body. Still, under his absolute control, the power remained sealed, and not a single spark of magic leaked from the immense ocean inside him.
Having tired his fingers, he took a slow breath in, then exhaled, a smile curling at his lips. Then, with another wave of his hand, a shimmering raven made of pure white energy materialized before him, his corporeal Patronus... also known as wizarding world SMS.
"Go," he instructed, and the bird flapped its wings, rose into the air, and phased through the window before disappearing into the night.
Since he was about to break through to Warlock rank, which according to Merlin was essentially shedding one's mortal skin, body and soul alike, to step into a higher realm the old man described as the demigod realm, it would undoubtedly cause quite a disturbance no matter where on Earth he attempted the breakthrough.
Therefore, it was best to have people layer the area with magic wherever he chose to break through. He could of course ask Merlin or even the Sorcerer Supreme for help, but he did not want to depend on those two relics for everything he did, especially when this was something he could handle through other means.
So he decided to ask Dumbledore for help, and not only him, but his teacher as well.
Dumbledore was apparently at the peak of Archmage rank, and witnessing his breakthrough might give the old wizard some insight and perhaps allow him to take that final step himself.
As for his teacher, he had to be involved, if for no other reason than the fact that he was the one Maverick respected most. Who knew. Just like Dumbledore, it might give him some insight as well.
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Author's Note:
🔥 Drop those Power Stones! 🔥
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