Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

Returning home, we exchanged a quick look, hurriedly determining that none of us were injured, and let out a long sigh of relief after confirming it.

"How many did you find or fight?" I asked, making Quincy think for a moment.

"It was utter chaos. I think I managed to break off the cuffs from four or five prisoners while spells were flying everywhere. I blew up two Death Eaters, though, before I saw your flare and escaped. What happened?"

"I ran into the Headmaster."

"Snape?!" She flinched while I decided to leave out the more dangerous details.

"Yeah, and he killed one of his own and told me to leave. It was... weird."

"..." She said nothing, just stepped closer, holding my hand, smiling at me.

"Let's head in! Whatever happened now was anything but normal... Let's hope the Professor's trip was much more fruitful."

"You tell me! Ugh... The Dark Lord went completely nuts; this was too much even for him! Isn't he afraid of turning his own people against himself?"

"Breaking up his soul so many times caused his rationality to suffer from it." Herpo explained, which I then repeated for Quincy to hear.

We had just entered our home when Grindelwald appeared, apparating straight into the living room.

"How was it?" I asked, looking at him. There were no visible injuries or exhaustion on him, which made me sigh with relief.

"They massacred the whole camp. In the end, the members of the Order left, leaving the prisoners behind... but the Death Eaters continued killing right until nobody remained. Then they burned it down… I stayed for so long because something happened, and I am pretty sure I felt right that he created another Horcrux secretly."

"Shit... did you see what it was?"

"If I'm not mistaken..." He explained, thinking back to what he saw and felt. How Voldemort appeared on a giant snake, keeping it close to him all the time, letting it feed on prisoners while he killed anybody coming close to him. He was visibly enjoying the wanton destruction. It was his way to release all the frustration and go wild in the most brutal way imaginable. "The snake."

"What snake?" We asked, listening to him describe it in great detail. "I am pretty sure because after he was done, he looked worse for wear and also kept reinforcing the snake with magic. He placed multiple protections on it, things that I would need a lot of time to break through. If we want to end that snake at once, it must be done with an artifact and a powerful one at that."

"At least we know..." I whispered, crossing my arms and thinking about it. "I wonder... would my Basilisk form be able to control it? Command it? It is the king of snakes, or so they say."

"Maybe." Quincy hummed, hugging my arm, "Just don't get your head twisted away!"

"By a snake? Please!" I laughed, knowing she was just joking around.

It was then that Professor Lockhart appeared, not alone but accompanied by three people, each of whom had a face that we recognized. Two of them were students, and one of them was a teacher at Hogwarts.

"Young... Conrad? Quincy?" He stuttered, looking at us, wearing rags and looking way more thinner than I originally remembered.

"Professor Slughorn." We answered at the same time, nodding our heads. "It is a welcomed surprise to see you again." I smiled, glancing at Lockhart, who spread his arms, sighing, telling me he had no choice but to bring them over when it was time to escape.

...
....
…..

Ensuring our guests were not thinking about escaping, Grindelwald placed down many more security spells, preventing anyone from apparating out without our permission. Although the kids wouldn't recognize him, there was a chance Professor Slughorn would, so he didn't stay long or introduce himself to anyone. For now, it didn't seem that the old Professor realized it, as he was way too overwhelmed to make conscious connections between the history books and the man standing in front of him.

The students were two boys, one from Gryffindor and the other from Ravenclaw. When talking with them, it was clear that they were captured by the Death Eaters on suspicion of working with us. The moment we asked, they tried to tell us straight that they said nothing about Quincy and me. Not that I would be angry if they did. Their memories were about being appropriately treated while being imprisoned, questioned multiple times, trying to recruit them as double agents, and tasked to go after us, but they kept refusing it. Which… for a Death Eater prison, it was weird.

It didn't take long to convince them to let Professor Lockhart do a quick examination that quickly revealed to us that their memories were tampered with. It took both of us working in tandem to gently revert it to its original version, learning that they were interrogated by Snape himself. He successfully extracted all the needed memories and found one of their notebooks, delivering it to Dumbledore. It had to be the one the Order still had in their possessions. Then, he made sure to cover his tracks, but at least he didn't plant false feelings within them, brainwashing the two to spy on us. Maybe he knew that we would notice it if they were under the influence of a mind-altering spell. Well… it just happened right now, so yeah. The Headmaster knew us well.

For now, we welcomed them to rest, recuperate, and think about what they wanted to do next. Sending them back to England would be dangerous, so I did offer them the option to go to Durmstrang. I was sure that with our connections there, they could find a place there, away from any troubles. It was the least we could offer… One glance into their psyche was enough to see that they wanted nothing but to disappear, yearning for a simple life, and I could understand that. I did not want to force them into servitude either.

As for Professor Slughorn? That was a bit different. Examining him showed that the Professor was a different breed with a much deeper extent of mind alterations. The worst part was that he was well aware of it yet could do nothing about it. He also knew he had no options but to subject himself to our examinations, letting us prod inside his mind, running into walls and barriers at every turn.

"This is not just a mess; it is a labyrinth built into his mind." Lockhart groaned, leaning against our bookshelf, holding a glass of whiskey, trying to ease his headache.

"Is it really that bad?" Quincy asked, munching on a muffin and looking at me while I sat in my comfortable armchair beside the fireplace.

"It is; the Professor doesn't say it just to be dramatic. It is multi-level protection on his psyche with added defensive hexes and confusion spells."

"What does that mean?" She mumbled through munching on her snack.

"His brain is like a library where every book is behind a lock and then placed on a shelf under an obfuscation spell." Lockhart continued, "THEN! Yes, then, that shelf is transfigured into something else, scattered around randomly. Now, we need to find these objects and decide if they are indeed real memories we are looking for or fakes. Transform them back to their original form, letting Professor Slughorn's mind acclimate to it, and then place them back to their rightful spot. So yes… it is extreme work."

"O-okay." Quincy mumbled, looking at me and smiling because it was her first time seeing the Professor this frustrated and motivated at the same time. He was really in his element.

"Can you do it?" I asked, making him think, rubbing his forehead before pinching the ridge of his nose.

"Yes, yes, I can, and the Professor is also cooperative, which helps a lot. It would have been much harder to locate his memories within his mind if he hadn't been. Whatever had been hidden in there is important."

"Do we have an idea who did it? The Order or HE?" I asked, finding it fascinating. "We know that Severus Snape is a double agent, so most of it has to be him, but…"

"Both, I think." Lockhart answered me before I could continue. "There are two methods running parallel within him. I think both parties were confiding with him and also removing memories from inside his head. One for sure belongs to the Dark Lord, and the other is the work of Headmaster Snape."

"I wonder why the big man didn't just kill him back there. Isn't he important to the smartest and greatest wizard alive? He could have smashed through all the defenses within his mind, no?" I asked with deep sarcasm in my voice, making Lockhart think, tilting his head before answering me.

"A good question, but I think it was because of Headmaster Severus."

"Huh?" I hummed, sitting up straight.

"The Dark Lord ordered Severus to work on him. Sometimes, HE also came to take a personal look from what I gathered, but at least HE still had enough control within himself not to kill Professor Slughorn. From the very little I could decode, HE believes that the Professor is key to learning about Dumbledore and his wand. HE also knows that Dumbledore had to be in contact with Slughorn in some weird way, and HE wants to know why or how. That is why the Professor's life was spared, and Snape was tasked with uncovering the truth!"

"So not all cognitive capabilities are gone from the master of Horcruxes." I mumbled, smiling, "But he did choose the worst guy for the task. No wonder it was going so slowly! I bet Snape is relieved Slughorn is gone… I wonder how the two camps are at the moment, after everything!"

"Angry." Quincy giggled, sticking her tongue out after licking her fingers clean, "I can be sure of it!"