Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

Voldemort was sitting in the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts, looking at the multiple-page newspaper lying on his desk for the past three or four hours. All the paintings within the office were empty, and the army of previous headmasters was gone from their frames, leaving the Dark Lord alone with his brooding. The only telling sign that he was still alive was his occasional cold breath escaping through his nose, lingering before his face. At the same time, the snowfall, covering the land in pure white for the past three days, started to pick up in intensity, further lowering the room's temperature.

"The Elder Wand..." He whispered, hissing like a wounded snake, his eyes becoming more bloodshot than usual.

It was finally making sense. Of course, Dumbledore could stand up to him. Defying the greatest wizard to ever live! He had something that made him his equal... a legendary weapon! As for what it really was? To make sure the propaganda didn't lie, he had to look it up personally and finally find an old legend telling about it and how it appeared from time to time. After uncovering the ancient children's tale, while the other items were never mentioned neither in the 'news' nor in other codexes, the wand within it had to exist, and the information had to be authentic. It was the one missing piece he needed to finally understand everything about Dumbledore and his success! With his research within the school's library, he managed to verify everything, including the fact that the wand was used by Gellert Grindelwald before. All the evidence that after his defeat, his wand had fallen into the hands of Albus Dumbledore. 

"I must make sure that the wand will be mine. To gain control over it, I will have to kill Dumbledore... I have to do it and nobody else! Yes... I will murder that old bastard, take the wand for myself, and become even more powerful! After that, I will no longer need to hold back and conquer the magical world!"

With a maniacal laugh, he couldn't help but pick up the paper from his desk, read it once again, and run his crooked fingers over the title. The True Prophet... A guerilla paper that has been popping up all over England in the past weeks. It was being delivered to every possible household and was seen to be airdropped from enchanted toy airships flying over Diagon Alley. It was provided to him by Wormtail, the sneaky bastard who managed to survive the Order's assault on Hogwarts. He even blew up multiple students around him, leaving behind a gory crater and a severed finger to sell his death to Sirius. Even many Death Eaters considered him dead until he returned as a rat, a secret that Voldemort kept as a unique weapon within his arsenal. 

"At least he is more useful as a vermin. He is much better at spying than he was as a teacher. Heh! And I never thought you would survive and go this far... Young Anguine." Voldemort whispered, licking his lips and turning the paper over. "I should have killed you, but then again, I would not have learned about this vital information. As a thanks, when we meet again, I will make your death painless and quick."

At the end of the paper, after multiple stories, crying out against both the Death Eaters and the antics of the Order, Conrad and Quincy Anguine laid the signature for everyone to see. Since its appearance, there have been multiple different reactions to it, coming from all segments of life. Some were laughing at it, throwing it into the fire; others silently observed while another group whispered secrets, voicing their agreement with many points of details within it.

"It doesn't matter... They will be all singing my tune when all this ends!" Voldemort giggled like a child, for the first time since his 'death' feeling alive once again.

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.....

"Albus, is this true?" Moody asked, as the Order was having an emergency meeting in their Headquarters, where all of the most important leaders, mostly ex-professors of Hogwarts, were present.

"About the wand? Yes, Alastor. It is true." He nodded calmly, presenting his wand before everybody. "I took it from Grindelwald himself."

"You kept it secret for all these years..." McGonagall gasped, looking stunned at the fact that it was two kids who had revealed the truth to the world.

"It was the best way. It is a powerful weapon, especially in the wrong hands. If I announced it, it would have only brought more and more trouble onto my head, onto the school, and onto everybody here. It was the logical step to keep it secret."

"And now HE knows..." A thin, squeaky voice added, belonging to Professor Flitwick.

"Which was unavoidable. I am only surprised it took this long for it to be revealed. You all must understand that I kept this secret to myself to make sure he doesn't know about it and gets desperate. A weapon is best used when the enemy is unaware of it. Also, you must understand something!"

"..." Everyone looked at Dumbledore, without exception, waiting for him to continue after scanning the room with his blue eyes.

"The wand is still just a tool. It may be a unique instrument, but nonetheless, it is a magical device. It is the wizard that makes it work and not vice versa. We must work together better than ever to win this war! After evil has vanquished and peace returns... Everything will be much clearer."

"What about the other rumors, Albus?" McGonagall asked, looking at the collected papers lying on the edge of the old ex-headmaster's desk.

"We can only do our best to disprove the lies of our Order mentioned within them. Don't try to argue it with words; show it with your actions, that it is untrue."

...

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......

"What do you think?" Hermione asked, reading the same paper as Neville and Krum, staying in a muggle motel within the heart of Manchester.

"I never heard of this blue fire..." Neville whispered, reading about the part where Conrad was explaining how the Order was implanting it into his agents, making them burst into flames and killing them when they were captured. He was explicitly stating that the Order was just the same as the Death Eaters, a group of ruthless wizards who were angry about being usurped by another tyrannical force.

"Me too not." Krum nodded, biting his lower lip. "But I had seen... clues. Same clues here. Rerports death, by blue fire."

"We need to take this with a grain of salt!" Hermione concluded, closing the paper and crossing her arms, thinking, "I am not saying they are lying, but it can easily be a ruse tactic. They aim to gather allies from those wizarding families and people who are fed up with decades of wars and want peace."

"We will know more tomorrow." Neville smiled, looking at the diary that was lying on the table where they were sitting.

"We must careful!" Krum grunted, making the other two smile as it was the hundredth time they went over it.

In the past weeks, the activity within that shared diary tripled, including Quincy and Conrad continuously writing into it, instructing their old allies from school to act if they can, leaving the 'new Prophet' in dead drops, letting others collect it and help them distribute it amongst wizarding kind. 

There would be another drop to be collected tomorrow, and this time, they were going to get there to meet up with one who volunteered to get it. It would be Hermione who steps forward as a girl, which would be less frightening than if Krum or Neville appeared all of a sudden. Of course, the others would still be present, disguised and ready if it was a fight, preparing multiple escape scenarios and scouting the location for two days straight.

"Be careful." Krum exhaled, looking directly at Hermione.

"Don't worry, I will be. Amongst us three, I think I am the most prepared." She joked, grinning at them.

"You are making a good pair." Neville blurted it out, making Hermione blush, while Krum simply nodded back at him, thanking him with a simple gaze. "Heh, your chemistry reminds me of Conrad and Quincy... I do hope we will meet them again and we can talk. I just... I know there are rotten eggs amongst the Order's rank recruited because we were constantly pressured... but I still can't believe everything they wrote in the papers."

"We will." Hermione chuckled, leaning back on her chair, maintaining a little smirk on her face.

"What?" Krum asked, making her wink at him.

"I sent multiple copies back to Beauxbatons. I am interested in how people will react there..."