[POV 3rd person]
The skies above Hogwarts were stormy. The school year was about to start, but the skies had no care for that. It rained, and rained, and rained–all day. Even the Black Lake had swelled considerably, flooding an entire clearing with its rising waterlevels.
The first years gathered by Hagrid were saved from the pelting rain riding the little boats only by virtue of an umbrella charm erected by hands unknown.
The thick curtain of rain between these excited and anxious students and the illustrious grey castle was so thick, even Hagrid had a little trouble making it out in the distance. Occasional lightning strikes illuminated the storied building just enough to show the entire outline against the cloudy sky. It was enchanting, giving these young firsties a different kind of experience from any other roster of students before them.
Just as the massive form of Hagrid reached the top of the slippery stairs and made sure all students made it up, too, a light flashed, blinding everyone. Thunder boomed and echoed so loudly, all first years flinched.
With all their ears ringing, nobody noticed that the deputy headmistress had slammed open the large wooden entrance doors to check on her newest charges out of fright. That last thunderstrike sounded much too close.
"Hagrid! Is everyone alright?" She shouted urgently, eyes scanning the fresh first years behind the large groundskeeper.
"Just alright, I reckon," Hagrid answered, breathing out an enormous sigh of relief. He didn't turn to face Gryffindor's head of house and instead continued counting the students.
He came up with the correct number just as another lightning bolt struck the ground an arm length away from the half-giant.
*BOOM!*
The sudden explosion next to him made even the extra-tall bearded man flinch. Rock and dirt was flung in every direction. With his thick skin and thicker clothing, Hagrid barely felt it, but the young students yelped as they were pelted with small projectiles. No real harm came to them, they had all turned away, shielding their faces because of the bright lightning.
When Hagrid brushed some of the debris from his beard, he turned to where the bolt struck.
…and was immediately dumbfounded by what he saw.
[POV of Talion Macnair, as recommended by 10 out of 10 dentists [we got the last one]]
I brushed down my black Hogwarts robe with both hands after my wand disappeared seemingly into thin air and looked around.
"Uh, sorry?" I asked, scratching my nose.
The lightning strike had done quite a bit of damage to the paved path in front of the main entrance of the castle. I pretty much stood knee-deep inside a crater I could use as a shallow bathtub.
"Talion?" Hagrid asked unsurely.
"Yeah, hi Hagrid," I greeted with a small, awkward chuckle. Turning around as I took a huge step out of the crater, I asked, "Must be the new firsties? Looks like I just barely made it?"
"How did you–?" Hagrid didn't finish the question but I knew what he wanted to ask.
I looked down at the hole where that bolt of lightning had struck the earth together with him and fixed it with several waves of my wand.
"Yeah, my bad. It's a new spell I picked up in Brazil. Lightning travel. Very convenient on a cloudy day like this. A little faster than a portkey. The feeling's electrifying," I explained with a chuckle. "Good pun, right?"
As the thunder of the regular storm rumbled off in the far distance, I once more addressed the new students because Hagrid was too stupefied to say anything, "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to scare any of you. Just wanted to see how close I could go with that spell despite the Hogwarts wards. Closer than I thought. Uh, but lightning's really hard to control, you know."
"Inside with you, now!" Professor McGonagall sternly ordered out of nowhere and I almost flinched.
"Greetings, professor," I said with a smile that was not as charming as it needed to be to calm her down.
She only stared at me with exasperation and a hint of hostility. With a wink toward the first years, I turned into a raven, made sure not to fly anywhere near the transfiguration professor and made my way into the Great Hall where the feast was about to begin. My entrance escaped everyone's notice, just as I planned.
Only Luna looked in my direction and waved with a dreamy smile as I landed on an iron torch holder near the the grand door.
I returned Luna's smile when I changed back in the shadows of said door, cast a notice-me-not charm, unhurriedly walked over, and sat down beside her.
"Had a nice summer?" I asked as if nothing had happened.
She hummed with a pleased nod.
"I'm glad," I said with a small sigh.
"Your girlfriend is very angry with you," she said, looking through me instead of at me like only she could.
"Eh," I waved away. "When isn't she?"
Luna didn't comment and only tilted her head. "Why are you late?"
"In general or just today?" I countered.
"Try today," the blonde suggested with a giggle.
"I lost track of time in the Black library," I answered with a shrug. "Only got one more year left on my free ticket, you know."
Lord Arcturus Black had granted me entry to the Black Library at their ancestral home until I was 18, which would be next summer. After my recent studies in Italy and Brazil, I had many new things I wanted to discover and explore.
"I don't know," Luna said with a small shake of her head.
"Uh, that was rhetori- never mind."
Until the sorting was done, nobody else had talked to me. My concealment charm was still going strong, drawing away all and every attention from me. Except for Luna, of course, who was also under the same charm. She had cast it herself.
I overheard a few people talking about me, complaining about my continued absence, or just my general lack of respect – as they perceived it. The Ravenclaw's even complained that I didn't help them win the House Cup last year, as if it was the fault of a single student that well over two hundred of them failed to keep the streak going.
The thunderstorm was still blasting outside, my arrival through lightning travel conveniently obscured among the stormy weather. Countless flashes were lighting up the enchanted sky, making for an exciting backdrop to our meal. But then a bang echoed through the Great Hall that wasn't thunder. I noticed a door behind the teacher's platform opening almost explosively.
Looking at the newcomer, it was finally my turn to tilt my head like Luna did so regularly.
Entirely different from canon, Snape was already the teacher for Defense and Slughorn was already the potion master again. I had no idea why he was here.
*Ding ding ding*
"May I have a moment of your time," Dumbledore requested loudly after tapping his sugar spoon against a chalice and standing up. "With the timely arrival of our newest addition to the staff, I would like to introduce everyone who has not yet had the pleasure: Alastor Moody!"
Excited claps rang through the student body. Moody was a legend. Many were aware of who he was after he came to Hogwarts two years ago to arrest a band of miscreants, those with the 'rapist' branded into their forehead by the ward of the two founders living on in the 'Forge', a piece of Eden. Two years ago, the stories about how the long-time auror came to earn his scars and protheses circulated to everyone.
Though, looking around, there were still students among the older students who wore a headband. His arrests clearly didn't stick.
Well, I could mock him for his failed attempt at justice. If the man getting introduced by Albus Dumbledore even was Alastor Moody.
"My dear friend has been assigned by our new Minister of Magic to function as a High Inquisitor. I agreed without question to his appointment, a new wave of violence has sadly become the new normal here at Hogwarts. Something had to change, and even old and stuck in my ways as I am, I could only make way for change. With our esteemed friends from afar coming to visit Hogwarts two months from now, it won't do to uphold the status quo."
Nobody seemingly questioned how incompetent the headmaster must be for there to be a mandated retired auror keeping an eye on the students on behalf of the ministry. They were all excited to hear about the confirmation of the event hitting the school this year.
Dumbledore held up his hand to silence the excited murmurs and exclamations.
"Yes, the rumors do have merit in this case! Many of you have already heard from friends and family: A delegation each from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang will arrive in late October and stay with us for the rest of the school year! The Triwizard Tournament is indeed taking place right here at Hogwarts!"
Loud cheers erupted as a large part of the students stood up to clap and holler.
"We all from the teaching body are as excited as you," Dumbledore lied as I watched Professor Sprout frown. "A little over 200 years after its discontinuation, we here at Hogwarts will host the new and improved tournament once more! A champion of each school will be able to fight for their school's honor in three daring tasks, decided by the Ministry and a joined council of all three headmasters. The champions will get chosen by an impartial judge, all willing hopefuls must enter their name by Hallow's Eve, two days after our guests arrive."
More cheers rang out, the Weasley twins earned a lot of attention as they eagerly asked about the rules of who could be a 'hopeful'.
Addressing them, Dumbledore patiently explained, "To enter your name, you must have your magical maturity and your O.W.L.s."
I grinned to myself unseen by all. Since I was emancipated and earned three of my O.W.L.s, I could enter my name under these rules. I had every reason to and a decent chance of being selected since I was rather outstanding in my honest opinion. Winning the cup would bring honor to Ravenclaw and therefore lessen the betrayal Flitwick felt when I left the school for a year.
Ravenclaw hadn't even won the house cup or the quidditch cup with me gone. Or so Luna told me and overheard as people grumbled about why I had to 'flee the country'.
After Dumbledore finished his announcements, I lifted the concealment charm on me, stood up and raised my hand. A hush of silence fell over the Great Hall as all eyes fell on me.
"Talion!" Flitwick exclaimed, both surprised and angry.
I kind of dodged his continued scolding in Brazil by disappearing on him after my tournament win.
"Yeah, hi professor," I greeted with a disarming smile. At least Sprout began smiling brightly. Flitwick not so much. Less needed to be said about Dumbledore and Snape.
"Did you want to announce your return…?" Dumbledore managed to ask with a playful twinkle in his eyes. It looked forced, or so I wanted to tell myself.
"No, no," I waved off and pointed to 'Moody' sipping from a silver flask off at the side. Dumbledore carefully managed to avoid too much attention on the ex-auror. Following the announcement of his forced position where the headmaster portrayed himself to be fully behind the employment, he immediately announced something big. He didn't give anybody the time to think about why Moody had to be here or question Dumbledore's failing.
But, if I did want to go for the Triwizard Tournament, there was no way I would willingly accept running into a deathtrap, no matter my previous preparations. That would simply be too stupid.
"I just wanted to ask if you truly want to accept an imposter running around your school endangering the students? I'm afraid your reputation can't take another hit, headmaster," I innocently asked midstride. I turned toward 'Moody' looking at me and everyone with a scowl. "Isn't that right, Barty?"
During my grand announcement, I slowly but surely stalking toward the teacher's table and shrugged off my Hogwarts robe as I reached the end of the long student tables. My sleeves were rolled up, no wand holster was visible as I spread my arms wide in provocation. I lulled the Moody imposter into a false sense of security. I showed that I didn't have my wand anywhere near me.
When I called the fake moody Barty, the man's sole human eye constricted and I brought both hands forward to forcefully clap my hands with outstretched arms in his direction.
*BANG!*
'Moody' shot backward into the wall behind the podium for the teachers, the wand in his grasp and his cane clattered at my feet.
Every teacher had reacted by drawing their wands pointing them at me. Even Flitwick and Sprout. I just held up my hands in surrender as the runic tattoos on my back burned through the cloth of my shirt and glowed a menacing blue for everyone behind me to see.
To truly overwhelm Moody or, well, Imposter Moody, I overcharged the combination spell massively. But the resulting heat was a familiar pain. Learning how to cast spells like that in Italy had left me with countless burns and fading scars as I learned how to modulate the magic with this form of spellcasting the hard way.
Looking at my professors with a disbelieving smile, I pointed in the direction of Moody with a thumb and asked, "If that was the real Alastor Moody, could I have really done that? Go check his flask already. If it isn't a potion like the Polyjuice Potion, I will snap my wand and forfeit my magic right here."
My eagle vision already told me that this bet would only have one outcome so the high stakes were instead a foregone conclusion. After considerable training and copious tests, I could even faintly see the outline of the real person beneath the appearance changing potion as well as any glamor or illusion spell. I wasn't quite sure if the man posing as the legendary auror was Barty Crouch Junior like it was originally because I never bothered to look up his picture, but was that really so important?
Snape rushed toward the fallen and unconscious Moody after hearing my promise, rifling through the cloak and getting out the silver flask. He was probably eager to see me without magic and easy to get rid of after all the humiliation I put him through. After all, without magic I was no longer a student or a lord. Just a sad, powerless nobody without any extra protection. Or so he likely believed.
Sadly for him, one whiff of the opened flask and the potion's master was certain.
Inside 'Moody's flask was the Polyjuice Potion, without question. Slughorn, always ready to gain attention, hurried over to his 'dear friend Alastor', only to theatrically exclaim that it was indeed just such a potion and crying foul.
"How did you know?" Flitwick asked over the ensuring cacophony of voices as he lowered his wand.
Ready to shit on Dumbledore, I just tilted my head, looked at the aged headmaster, and asked, "How did you not?"
— — —
An hour later, I sat in Flitwick's office, shirtless.
"I'll say it again, your use of runic tattoos is astonishing," my mentor once more praised with a sigh as he inspected the burn on my back. A brush was applying an ointment through a spell of mine under the critical eye of Madam Pomfrey, Hogwarts' mediwitch. She had insisted I have it treated as soon as possible and under her care.
But regular magical remedies could instead turn to poison. The alchemic materials for the runic tattoos had the most volatile reactions to certain potion ingredients. That, too, I learned the hard way when I scrubbed the first iteration of the runic marks off with a scented soap potion in Italy.
The mediwitch at Stati Magia had to replace the entire skin on my left arm before I learned that the medium I applied on my skin turned corrosive when mixed with Tricolor Buffaloberry. A common magical herb used in male skin care products.
I did not want a repeat performance, so I was insistent that Pomfrey should first watch and listen to my explanation before she tried to get the runic tattoo off of me on her own before treating the burn from the magic overcharge.
"You probably thought I was only playing around at the tournament for a short moment just now," I pointed out with a laugh to distract him from further scolding.
"Indeed," Flitwick easily agreed. "But I suppose this is the result of forcing the magic through the tattoos and overpowering the spells? You were right to be methodical instead of brute-forcing your way to victory."
"And I still won pretty easily," I gloated with a grin.
Pomfrey lifted her brow, unsure if she ever heard me boast like that.
But Flitwick just shook his head in exasperation instead of taking me down a peg. "I created a monster. You were doing no-hands cartwheels to dodge spells, for Merlin's sake."
"The crowd ate it up," I said in fond reminiscence.
Shitting on my competition by humiliating everyone who didn't do physical training felt great. My overwhelming victories only further ridiculed everyone who initially called my new fighting style a 'clownish farce'.
"They did indeed," Flitwick agreed, gently placing a finger on one of the fresh rune scars that was freshly coated in my herbal cream. He allowed his finger nail to dig into my skin, making me wince, as he asked, "And why do you assume I would just let you go? Because you're outstanding? You're glad the Hogwarts charter doesn't expel students for non-attendance because of arcane rules decided on during a time where muggleborn children still had to help out at home scavenging for food after a crop yield had been especially bad. Still, I could insist you get sorted once more!"
With a pained smile, I turned my head and asked, "You want to hand this year's House Cup winner and Triwizard Tournament champion to Professor Sprout?"
Flitwick faltered for a short moment and took his finger out of the scar – he hopefully knew it was only uncomfortable instead of painful with the ointment applied.
A spell of mine expertly wrapped my back in bandages.
"I guess I don't," Flitwick decided with a scoff as he walked around the table and hopped on his high chair. "Are you satisfied, Poppy?"
The mediwitch nodded. "Yes. I guess it is only natural that a madman such as yourself gained such proficiency in first aid, Talion."
I gave her a thumbs up, promising, "I'll still come visit you whenever I have the need of a more professional opinion than my own after I got into trouble again."
"Just stop touching cursed objects like a blind man choosing his food in the vegetable section of a grocery store," the mediwitch spat with an all too muggle allegory. "Otherwise, of course, my doors will always be open to you. Your hijinks in your first two years allowed me to apply for better funding."
"Glad to be of help," I said with a wide smile as the mediwitch left Flitwick's office leaving the two of us alone.
"Now then, Talion," Flitwick practically growled out. "Tell me your plans for the Triwizard Tournament."
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AN (copied from one my replies to a chapter comment for visibility):
Talion was too powerful for my plans for third year. As I wrote the next chapters, I hated how it played out. Everything my MC did felt like plot armor or a grown up fighting toddlers. The introduction of the two founders as reincarnated Isu was much too early.
Hence the break. I didn't know how to continue and still make it enjoyable to read...