Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

On our first detention, we were accompanying Professor Slughorn into the potion's classroom as he intended to use us as his little helpers. This was the most fun of all the detentions I have ever had to attend. Even though I am not a potion aficionado like Quincy, I still enjoyed learning about the different ingredients and how to prepare them. I mostly remained silent, knowing when not to embarrass myself, and let Quincy do the talking and questioning.

"Outstanding, Miss Black!" He laughed, adding the prepared beetle wings to the potion, seeing how they were sliced up almost to the same size, prepared to perfection. "I couldn't have done it better myself! Hah… probably not even as good as you did, as my eyes are not what they used to be!"

"Thank you, Professor!" She smiled, accepting the compliment wholeheartedly, which seemingly further raised the Professor's approval of her.

"It is nice to see someone accepting the praise, ahaha! Now! What was it you wanted to say when we were coming down?" He asked, stirring the cauldron before leaving it to simmer a little.

"It was this, Professor!"

I was eagerly waiting for this moment when Quincy finally presented the recipe she translated from Slytherin's book. At first, there was nothing… then I saw the Professor's head turn white, then red, and start to sweat, letting it drip onto the paper. After finishing it and reading through it twice, he hurriedly waved his wand, locking the door and windows.

"W-w-where did you get this?!" He stammered, looking at Quincy, trying to stop his hand from shaking.

"We pieced it together, Professor, from books found in our families!" She replied, pointing at me.

"I only provided a few things; Quincy was the one translating and making out what was what!" I quickly added, not wanting to rob this achievement from her.

"This is… this is invaluable! This would… shake up the wizarding community! I never heard about something like this! Do you still have the original recipe?!"

"We can't bring that!" She hurriedly explained that it was part of our family's legacy and some generic lie we made up so he wouldn't press too hard for it. "But this is the best translation we came up with, and we hoped the Professor could look at it… maybe even validate it!"

"I already see it working!" He exclaimed, walking up and down, thinking what to do. The fact that there was a complete recipe in his hand quickly made him forgo getting the original, at least for now.

"We thought of giving it to the Professor…" She murmured, making him stop in place and look at Quincy. His eyes were no longer that carefree, and he looked at us like an adult would look at a trading partner.

"I am not as thick-headed as I seem to be." He whispered, drawing a chair close and sitting down, watching us silently for a minute. "You want me to stand on your side, yes? Is this a gift from your Father?" Professor Slughorn asked, turning towards me now.

"No." I shook my head, "Father is too preoccupied with what is happening. The recipe's source is me, my family." I answered firmly as it was a half-truth. I don't know if he can use legilimency or not, but I felt it would be best if we worked with half-truths. That way, we can get through this the safest! The source was indeed me, as it was the fruit of me doing that ritual last year… or we wouldn't have the chance to get to Salazar's scriptorium. "And it was Quincy who made sense of it and translated the recipe. This has nothing to do with our parents! This is entirely on us, Professor!"

"..." His eyes slowly swam towards Quincy, and I saw his gaze soften and get much, much warmer. "Oh, you two… I understand that what is happening is horrible! Most horrible! Especially to two such promising youngsters, to such talents! I will… take this." He added, gently folding the parchment and sinking it into his breast pocket, patting it. I couldn't help but smile inside, as I already knew he was convinced to help us. "I can't promise a lot of things, but… I can show my support and maybe send a letter to some of my friends and ex-students! Yes… I think I can do something that shows that this ugly squabble has to be handled between families!"

"We agree!" We said simultaneously and smiled at him with relief and happiness.

"I will also speak with the Headmaster… but this doesn't mean you are out of detention! From tomorrow on, you will come here every day, and we will start working on our… little project!" He giggled, slapping the recipe now hidden close to his chest. "Before anyone else knows about it, we have to do… tests! See if we can truly make it! How effective it is! This could be a multi-year project, so don't slack off!"

"We won't!" Came another answer from us at the same time, and when we finally left the classroom, it was hard not to laugh. This was an immense success, more than any of us had expected!

…
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…..

As the weeks went on, things looked like they were settling down. Quincy and I ordered a few Daily Prophets following the news, and more and more people came through on our side, refuting claims from the Malfoys' side. People with whom we had no contact at all, to my knowledge! Probably the work of Professor Slughorn. Still, the most significant support was the fact that HE remained silent. HE didn't make a move, nor did HE make any statements. As if what was happening was beneath HIM… which, thinking about it, was true.

This, in turn, raised Lucius's anger and annoyance, but he couldn't express it directly, not after the warning from the Headmaster. So, instead, it was back to the old tricks… I was the test subject for any new spell, performing all that we were learning before everyone's eyes. He was checking my homework first, looking for any fault he could find, and so on and so on. Did it bother me? No. Not anymore. I even welcomed it and gloated that I always performed in such a way that he had nothing to criticize.

...

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When it was already February, I got into such a rhythm that I was once again enjoying school. My only disappointment was that just as the Malfoys couldn't resort to some underhanded methods, I also couldn't touch Draco and his gang…

"Conrad!" Quincy rushed up to me as I was coming back from a bath, deciding to head to bed. It was a long day, and we only left Professor Slughorn's office at eleven! She clearly just received some important news as she was already in his pajamas, her loose hair flip-flopping behind her as she rushed across the empty common room.

"What happened?" I asked, my heart rate increasing while catching her before crashing into me.

"Read this!" She gasped for air, pressing the Daily Prophet into my face.

What caught my attention was that the date was signed for tomorrow. Where did she get a copy so fast? It was still only past midnight! Well… that question was quickly pushed out of my mind as I read the headline: The Anguines challenge the Malfoys!

"What?!" I read on quickly, my eyes growing wider and wider.

Angus Anguine directly issued a challenge to Lucius Malfoy, inviting him to a duel to the death! According to our inside sources, Lucius Malfoy has refused the offer multiple times! Now, the head of the Anguine family presented his request directly to the Head of our Ministry, Lord Voldemort himself! All of this was happening in the background, but now, we got confirmation from the Ministry itself that the issue will be resolved directly at Hogwarts at the end of the month! We can report with 100% certainty that Lord Voldemort himself will oversee the subject and the conflict between the two prominent families, and it will be resolved once and for all! Our reporters will be at the scene and-

But I didn't read it any further. Instead, I was looking at Quincy, not knowing what to say. Was there even anything to say? Probably not. We had no way to say anything or influence anything… this would be decided right here, once and for all. This was not something that Lucius could weasel out of, not anymore.

"If my Father did this… he is confident," I said, breaking the silence, but it was mostly to calm myself down. This was a duel to the death!

"If…" Quincy opened her mouth and quickly closed it, shaking her head. "No. I won't even think about it!"

"Um… don't! Because he is for sure a better and stronger duelist than that idiot!" I replied, steeling myself to what was coming. Somehow… I had a feeling this was spiraling out of control really fast…