"Did you see how I hit Neville? He could not resist," said Ron. Fred and George talked incessantly about the Dueling Club, which he almost did not join because he was tired of hearing about it. Now, he knew what kind of mistakes he had made.
"Yeah, you did well," nodded Harry.
"So were you." Ron sighed, "If only Draco were not such a coward. You might have beaten him up."
"Just like Christian said, it's so typical of Slytherin," sneered Harry.
"Christian? Let's not talk about him," said Ron. "Are you sure you don't want to join the Wizard Chess Club with me?"
"No, I have Quidditch practice."
Christian had left ahead of them, so he did not hear that conversation. But Hermione rushed after him.
"Do you need something?" he asked politely.
"How can I…How can I become as powerful as you?"
Christian did not expect this question, so he paused briefly before answering. "I saw your duel. You should have won easily, but you cracked under the pressure."
"I did not," she denied vehemently.
"Do you know any offensive spells besides the basic one that Professor Flitwick taught?"
"I do, but–"
"Why didn't you use it?"
"I thought we were only allowed to use it."
"That's not much of an argument as you think it is. To me, this shows that you do not think outside the box and are limited by the rules," said Christian. "The way I saw it, the pressure got to your head, and you forgot to use other spells."
Hermione was quiet for a moment before walking away without a word. Christian smiled as he understood this was how she was in the early books, and adding the pressure his excellence brought her, her stubbornness was magnified.
Since it was Saturday, Christian returned to his room to answer some letters. When he saw he had one from Professor Quirrell, he immediately opened it.
'I was right. There is no way for Quirell to have such a deep insight into curses and how to counter them,' thought Christian with a smirk. Although he knew he was playing with fire, he could not resist the temptation to have the Dark Lord as his DADA teacher.
'Since I will only have you for one year, let's fully use your knowledge, Dark Lord.' He wrote an answer, asking even more profound questions and even asking about 'forbidden knowledge.' Then, Christian bewitched the letter to ensure it would burn after Quirrell read it. He did not want it to get into the wrong hands.
Of course, if the headmaster or someone else finds the letter and questions his motive for being interested in such dark arts, he will reveal the truth without hesitation, ousting Quirrell and Voldemort. After handing the last letter to Sango, Christian focused on his homework, including Arithmancy. Although he did not have to hand it in or have it graded, the homework was one of his ways to assess what he was learning in class.
Finally, he headed to the Room of Requirement, summoned a snake, and communicated with it through Parseltongue. Then, he began reading about the Extension Charm; this spell was more advanced than he anticipated, so he wanted more knowledge from books and Professor Flitwick. Finally, Christian ended the session with magic practice, trying to see if he could master more nonverbal spells.
…
Eleanor walked into the mansion, slamming the door behind her. She immediately removed her large earrings and randomly kicked her heels away as she headed inside.
"Eleanor? What's going on?" asked Tiara.
"I need booze," said Eleanor, removing the blue blazer and unbuttoning a few buttons on her black shirt and long pantsuit. She walked directly to the basement, ignoring Tiara, who followed her. She took one of her most expensive wines and expertly removed the cork before guzzling it in one go.
"Now you're scaring me," said Tiara, but still no answer.
"Not strong enough," said Eleanor before taking a large bottle of Vodka and doing the same. It was a wonder how she drank it in one go.
"Okay, that's enough," said Tiara, taking the bottle from her.
"No, let me drink."
"Tell me what happened first."
"I was assassinated," replied Eleanor.
"What? You're serious?"
"While on my way to a gala, a bunch of men cornered my car and immediately started firing as soon as they got out, killing my driver and all my security detail. I would have been Swiss cheese without the house elves who protected and apparated me away."
Eleanor took the vodka from her hands and continued drinking.
"Things are already this serious?"
"Well, a few old Russian oligarchs have already foreseen the collapse of the Soviet Union and are preparing to make a fortune. As you can imagine, they are not happy with my intervention. If I had to guess, this is how they chose to solve this problem."
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"I'm now even more sure. I cannot let these kinds of people control the world," Eleanor replied.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I need my own army," she replied. "I will start investing in defense contracts and hiring mercenaries. I don't believe I can't create my own team after throwing hundreds of millions of dollars."
"I don't like this plan," said Tiara. "If they try once, they will do it again." Eleanor knew this, but this was the path she chose. "Let's not talk about me; what's going on with you?"
"Me? Nothing going on, just missing Zed."
"That's obvious. The few times I come home, I see you staring at the wall like a lost puppy."
Tiara smiled wryly, "Now that he's at school and you're busy, I'm left alone and have nothing to do."
"Then, find something to do."
"Like what?"
"Didn't Christian have many unfinished experiments? You can focus on magic research or return to your old job as a Curse Breaker."
"You're the one who told me to stop doing such a dangerous profession."
"I meant for you to stop gallivanting around the world in dangerous places — alone and with little to no preparations. I have no issue with you organizing a proper expedition with many experts to help you. Anyway, your life does not have to evolve around Christian."
"Hmm, you have a point." Tiara thought it was a good idea to return to work. And if she can hire other Curse Breakers, she will have plenty of aid and time, which she can also dedicate to magic research. She knows the speed at which her son absorbs knowledge. If she does not improve, she won't have anything to teach him in 2 to 3 years.
"I'll get started immediately."
"That's good," nodded Eleanor, who finished her third bottle of strong alcohol. "It's time for me to leave."
"Where are you going?"
"To the gala."
"Are you joking?"
"You don't understand. If I don't show up, news of my death will spread like wildfire, and Massive Dynamics' stocks will plummet. We just started, and our foundation is weak, meaning we cannot suffer any turbulence in the stock market. So, I must show up with a bright smile, acting like nothing happened."
"And how do you plan to explain the assassination attempt?"
"Double. I will tell people I always travel with a double for security measures."
"That might work, but are you even fit to attend any public function with how much alcohol you've consumed?"
"That is a problem," said Eleanor, who could already tell she reeked of alcohol. And now that the adrenaline was coming off, she was starting to feel dizzy.
"Can you do something?"
"I can use the Sweating Jinx to have you detoxify the alcohol in your system and the smell. However, you must do something else for the smell in your breath."
"Good enough for me."
Tiara sighed before taking her wand to cast the jinx. She then helped Eleanor change clothes before thanking the house elves, Tinkle and Snatcher. She paid them extra for their hard work today.
After watching her leave, Tiara sent a letter to her son, telling her about her upcoming expedition. As for what happened to Eleanor, she did not say a word.