Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

The Dark Lord was no more. The news of his demise spread like wildfire, and even if many didn't believe it at first, after a week, the fact that Voldemort never appeared again was enough proof to push the remaining Death Eaters into chaos. The loss of connection within their marks was the final nail in the coffin; the remaining highest-ranking Death Eaters, the likes of Bellatrix, disappeared without leaving a trace. Well, the smarter ones, that is, because a few of them decided to contact those they heard about, people who paid good gold to make them disappear. Only to be met with Grindelwald, Conrad, and Quincy's spell, which extinguished their life on the spot.

Many from the Order came out to the open, searching for clues and remnants of Voldemort's followers, returning to the light in splendid glory as their forces began dismantling any dark wizard's stronghold they could locate. The first bastion to fall was Hogwarts itself, retaken by Dumbledore himself. With the Order of the Phoenix at the helm, they established a new Wizarding Order, aiming to act as peacekeepers until a new ministry was established and Britain was cleansed of the influence of twenty years of filth.

Everyone knew it wouldn't be an easy transition as thousands wore the tattooed mark of Voldemort, and nobody could deny the fact that countless families were forced into servitude against their wishes. The most significant proof was those who took the bribes from the emerging third faction, escaping the clutches of Death Eaters, slowly beginning to return.

"We need to keep our eyes peeled." Dumbledore exclaimed, sitting within the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts, meeting with the core of the Order, many of them being old Professors who finally had a chance to return to their old Alumni. "Even with Tom dead, we can't relax."

"But the prophecy…" Moody spoke, making Dumbledore shake his head.

"I am not talking about that. I believe Neville and Severus! It was the prophecy that guided young Neville's hand in defeating Tom and not letting his last fragment escape and hide in the vast world. I am talking about the two Anguines. They won't stop just because Tom died… Not with their current Master standing with a rejuvenated body behind them."

"It is an opportunity then." Moody chuckled, "We bested the worst Dark Wizard; we can best the second worst, too. Get rid of him for good! Not to mention, this one should have only one life, yes?"

"Yes. Only one." Dumbledore nodded, his voice going softer and calmer, "Finding him will be more challenging, and this is why I told you to keep alert at all times. Their methods will be not like Voldemort's. Grindelwald was never one who ruled by fear; he never collected followers with force but by charisma. We don't know the extent of the wealth they have amassed by emptying out Gringotts… but they could most likely continue their plans and bribe everyone for years to come. Think of how many families are there now, in desperate need of a helping hand, of money to start anew."

"Are you trying to say… we can't trust nobody?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked as many of them watched the old wizard play with his beard, slowly nodding his head in the end.

"Yes. For now, we must be strong and vigilant, my friends. We must oversee the rebuilding of the wizarding families, of the Ministry of Magic, and most importantly, of Hogwarts. We will make the critical decisions until everything is settled and we are reorganized as a nation. Everyone who will be tasked to lead our people will need to be heavily scrutinized and examined by us! For now, we will delegate the lower-ranking members to keep searching for Death Eaters and dissidents, people who are a danger to our peace. Alastor."

"Yes?" He asked, leaning on his staff.

"I will have you to go and travel to Azkaban. We need to re-establish it as we will need a prison to hold the captured Death Eaters until their trial. In the meantime, I will need you to keep an eye out for people who would be great Aurors when we re-establish the system."

"Most certainly."

"Thank you. We will have a lot of work ahead of ourselves!" Dumbledore smiled, turning towards the people in his office, "It will take years to get back everything to how it was… We can't rest, not for now. Where is Hagrid?"

"Should be in the forest surrounding the school." Professor Flitwick answered him, making Dumbledore nod his head.

"I will need him to travel around the country, contact the magical creatures, and broker our new agreements now that Voldemort has fallen. We need to bring them in line and remind them how it was before!"

What he didn't notice while delegating everyone's new orders was the slight twitch of McGonagall's eyebrows as she let her gaze scan the other wizards and witches in the room, her thoughts returning to the talk she had with Neville not that long ago. Maybe… Maybe he was right, seeing much more than anyone gave him credit for.

…
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"I am a bit worried, Conrad."

"What about?" I asked, looking up from my book, glancing at Quincy as she was sitting opposite to me, holding a long parchment that was a recipe she and Professor Slughorn were working on. If I recall right, it was a new potion in the making, with the effects revealing and reversing curses hidden in the body.

"That Hermione and Krum haven't contacted us yet. I don't know if we can trust them… it has been a month already."

"Well, the Dark Lord died, and it is possible that they think they no longer need to support us. I wouldn't fault their thinking if that is the reason."

"Maybe…" She whispered, unsure of it. "But I thought that Hermione understood that one side's defeat is not the end. That it isn't enough."

"Going against Dumbledore may be more difficult because he is seen as the savior right now. Our latest propaganda pieces also result in fewer volunteers as the news spread that Voldemort is truly gone."

"There are still multiple volunteers." She added, but she knew I was right. Since the fall of the Death Eaters, fewer wizards and witches have been willing to become spies for us. I wasn't afraid of it; I knew it would happen. They needed time to realize we were right, and when they did, it would pick up once again. "For now," I continued, "I asked Professor Lockhart to write different pieces of news. We are also going to try to establish a proper news magazine via Luna's father."

"The Quibbler? With that weird name? I like the True Prophet moniker more…"

"It will become a section within it. Let's see if Dumbledore allows it or would take preventive measures against a different voice in his saved free world. We already published a flier stating that we are going to try and become legit, not an underground propaganda piece. People will look on suspiciously if we get silenced. I can't lie; I do hope he would try it. It would be such an easy way to stab back."

"I like it when you are sneaky…" She giggled, making me smile back at her.

"With the riches we earned thanks to the goblins, we have ample resources, not to mention our inheritance. Through the muggles, we already wormed ourselves into their highest levels. If the Order acts as Master predicts, when they had re-established the connections between muggle leaders through the new Ministry, we would have already been a step ahead of them."

"And they won't be the wiser of it! Unlike Voldemort, we are not blind to the muggles' usefulness and that we need to coexist. Not to mention, recruiting young wizards from pure muggle families is our greatest advantage!"

"Exactly. Plus, I am going to go more and more legitimate. I will establish businesses and go wholly public about it. I will confront Dumbledore in the open and compete with him there. I will frustrate him well enough that he drops all pretenses and shows us what he really wants." I added with a smile, looking towards the little box that had the Resurrection Stone within it. "While we crushed Voldemort behind the curtains, in secret, we will do the opposite to him."

"What will be your first step? I know you talked with Master while I was working with Horace."

"Would you want to return to school?" I asked, making her look at me with surprise.

"To Hogwarts?"

"Yes." I nodded, "If they are really what they say… would they refuse two students who want to return and two of the old teachers who worked really hard to bring Voldemort down?"

"I wonder… I don't think he would agree to it."

"Severus." I clapped, making her realize it, too, "If the right-hand man of Voldemort is revealed to be a hero… aren't we also deserving of a pardon?"