Ever since Altair had been called to the office by Professor McGonagall, he would follow her, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Tonks out of the Great Hall after dinner, exactly at half past seven in the evening.
Even the Slytherins were confused as he would not return to the dormitory until midnight, and Altair kept tight-lipped about what was going on.
He did not even tell Aurelia, Cho, and Gemma anything, only saying that he was working on a surprise.
They were just relieved that he was not in trouble and dropped the matter, not raising any questions.
By the time March started, the students began to get busier and busier, especially the Seniors, who were preparing for the end-of-year exams in June.
At the same time, the Castle was once again abuzz with excitement as the Primus Cup, the most prestigious competition of Hogwarts, approached, and on the first Saturday, another prestigious competition took place.
Starting at nine o'clock in the morning, three Sixth and Seventh Year Students from each House participated in the brutal Ancient Runes Decipher Dash, and by five o'clock in the evening, only one remained...
The students roared in cheers when Gemma became the first ever winner to decipher every single Ancient Rune since the competition's induction four years ago. She had achieved something that even amazed their Ancient Runes Professor, Bathsheda Babbling.
Later that evening, Professor Fairwind announced in the Great Hall that he had accepted Gemma Dumbledore as his Apprentice, and she was going to study and train in Magical Law and Contracts under his tutelage.
It was strange to announce Apprenticeships before the NEWTs, but given Gemma's academic record, which had never been short of Outstanding, no one raised any questions.
Once the day was over, the focus was entirely on the Primus Cup, and the excitement was so much that by the end of the second Friday of March, everyone was only talking about the Duelling Cup.
On Saturday, 9th March 1991, the Primus Cup started.
Sixteen participants were representing each house, and on each weekend every one of them was going to have a duel.
Eight groups were constructed, and each group had two participants from every house. They had to face everyone in the group stage except for their Housemate, which meant a total of six Group Stage Duels.
Altair was given the number 13, and he was officially slotted as Serpent 13 in Group G, and he had all of his matches on Sundays.
In the Duelling Hall, four Duelling Platforms were raised, and four duels were simultaneously going to take place with Professor Fletcher, Professor Flitwick, Professor Snape, and Professor Vector serving as Judges.
Professor Montclair, as the Chief Judge, was going to keep an eye on all the duels from the Staff Balcony together with the other teachers.
The first weekend ended with seven participants earning the bonus point with their wins, and they were Altair Black, Charles Weasley, Cordelia Selwyn, Damien Rosier, Darius Warrington, Nymphadora Tonks, and Theodore Diggory.
However, by the time the group stage matches concluded on 14th April, only three of them had maintained a perfect score: Altair Black, Charles Weasley, and Nymphadora Tonks.
The three of them managed to maintain their perfect streak through both the Round of Sixteen and Quarter Finals, but in the Semi-Finals, Altair was up against Charles Weasley, and Damien Rosier was up against Nymphadora Tonks.
At least one of them was bound to lose.
On Saturday, 4th May, 1991, at nine o'clock in the morning, Altair Black and Charles Weasley met each other at the centre of the Main Duelling Platform.
The nerves were tense, not just for them but for everyone in the Hall.
Their steps echoed as they walked back to their stations, wands out at their sides, in full view of the crowd.
The magical hum that signalled the start of the battle tested their patience a lot, but it suddenly rang over a minute later, and Charles took the initiative as if he were possessed.
One after another, he sent out powerful curses and hexes at Altair, which made a lot of people frown. It almost felt like there was some personal enmity, but only those closest to the Weasley knew that the young Black had become a nightmare for him.
He really needed to win this duel at all costs to keep what remained of his pride after seeing someone so much younger than him besting him and everyone else at the Castle.
"Reducto! Bombarda!"
The platform under Altair's feet exploded, but he still managed to block the debris that rushed at him.
Seeing him effortlessly defending against Charles finally eased the nerves of a lot of people, but as time passed and Altair's defence seemed invincible, the Gryffindors started becoming very nervous.
Charles, having expended a lot of his energy on powerful curses and hexes, was visibly exhausted, and by the half-hour mark, he was sweating profusely.
He started losing heart when he saw that Altair was still wearing an indifferent expression, and then he did something he would regret for the rest of his life.
"Reducto!" He used the curse right on Altair and not on the Platform, and was instantly followed by "Expulso!"
Altair, however, to his and everyone's dismay, effortlessly deflected both with his shields, but was soon busy dealing with the magical vines that sprouted from the broken station to bind him.
Charlie threw another curse, which pushed Professor Montclair up on her feet.
"Incendium Veneficum!"
A serpentine dragon made out of ominous grey flames rushed at Altair, but the young Black managed to block it by creating a vortex, which sucked it in and transformed it into a sphere of flame, using it to eliminate the magical vines that were trying to catch him.
He then blocked the Expulso from Charles with it, and then did something unbelievable as he cast two spells together.
One of them was used to open a portal on his station to suck the dangerous sphere of poisonous flames, and the other was used to create dark tendrils that sprouted from Charlie's own shadow.
The Weasley was dismayed when he found himself unable to move, but in panic, he cast another illegal spell.
"Ossis Frangere!" He wildly slashed his wand three times, sending three Bone Breaking Curses at Altair, who, somehow, managed to block them all.
The next moment, Charles could not move any of his limbs as shadow bindings had covered them all.
"Why do you wish to harm me, Mister Weasley?" Altair indifferently asked instead of ending the battle, and the red-haired boy furiously looked at him.
"Don't mock me, Black." He coldly said. "Just bloody end it!"
"Calmare..." Altair gently intoned the spell, which instantly helped Charles calm down. "Expelliarmus."
Next, the boy's wand left his hand and the young Black, who was walking towards the centre, caught it.
"Finite."
In an instant, the shadow bindings let go of Charles, who stumbled and then stood there in silence as he stared at the floor of the platform, clenching his fist.
The entire hall was deathly silent as no one dared to say a word.
Professor Montclair's footsteps echoed in the hall as she descended from the Staff Balcony and moved towards the platform.
Everyone flinched when she stepped on Charles' station and grabbed him by the collar, and then she dragged the boy to the centre of the platform.
"Have you lost all your honour, Mister Weasley?" she coldly asked, and he tensed up at her question.
When she let go of him, Altair politely bowed in a greeting and offered him his wand back.
Everyone thought the boy would just turn around and leave, but Professor Montclair's cold voice rang in the hall again.
"Mister Weasley!"
Charles quickly bowed to Altair and took back his wand. To his short relief, the young Black turned around and walked away without saying a word, but then he felt humiliated.
The immense shame broke loose, and his body quivered on the platform.
"Don't look down on me, Black."
Altair stopped at those words and the students in the Hall were furious at his nonsensical behaviour today.
"I don't, Mister Weasley. You are a very talented Wizard, and you probably don't even realise your own potential." He sighed. "I am merely disappointed at your behaviour today."
His last words were almost like a whisper, but since the Platform was enchanted, every single student heard him.
Charles felt another wave of great shame hit him, and he apologetically bowed to Professor Montclair and walked towards the Gryffindor Stand.
"You are no longer welcome in this Hall, Mister Weasley. You are eliminated from the Primus Cup, and the one who loses the next Semi-Final will be considered the winner of the Bronze Final." She said, loud enough to tense everyone with her cold words. "I am also deducting a hundred points from House Gryffindor, and we will be discussing the matter of either your suspension or expulsion from Hogwarts in the Headmaster's Office this evening. And yes, Mister Weasley, your parents will be present."
Charles froze at her words and only then did he realise the true consequences of losing his mind in the heat of the moment.
"Do I need to count to you the number of illegal curses you used today with the intention of doing serious and potentially permanent harm to Mister Black?" She was not just upset but furious. "Get out..."
The boy glanced around, and everywhere he looked he saw disappointment, anger, and disgust.
Even his own Housemates did not dare meet his eyes. His own little brothers were deeply disturbed by his actions today.
Keeping his head lowered, he walked out of the Hall, and the door was loudly shut behind him, making everyone in the Hall snap to attention.
"Serpent 13, for the display of impeccable defence, the ingenuity to get rid of the poisonous flame, and keeping his cool throughout the duel, has earned a bonus point." Professor Flitwick announced, and everyone finally applauded Altair for his win.
Once Professor Montclair started her analysis of the duel, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape quietly left the Hall to check up on Charles Weasley.
They did not return even for the second Semi-Final, which was an exhilarating duel between Nymphadora and Damien, and even though the Slytherin Prefect lost, the Head Girl did not earn any bonus point.
Under the ruckus applause, Professor Tonks awarded Damien the Bronze Medal, and the boy was just happy to secure more House Cup Points for Slytherin.
At lunch, everyone noticed that Altair was absent, and when Gemma and the girls checked up on him, they found him studying in his room.
Given how important tomorrow's final was, no one disturbed him.
However, at six o'clock in the evening, Professor Tonks came to his room and asked him to come with her.
They ascended from the dungeons in silence, until Andromeda finally revealed what the matter was.
"Mister Weasley consumed the Self-reflection Potion on Monday because he needed to clear his thoughts and wished to understand himself better."
Altair looked at her in surprise and understood in an instant what was wrong with the boy.
"It backfired and made his insecurities more evident." He whispered, and she nodded her head.
"Yes," she sighed. "Professor Snape gave him a Mind Clearing Potion in the afternoon to neutralise its effects. However... what he did in the duel was not entirely under the influence of the potion. If he did not have the intent to harm you, he wouldn't have lost control."
"I know." He smiled. "But in the heat of the moment, a lot of us think of doing things that we would never act upon with a sober mind."
"Yes..." Professor Tonks curiously looked at him. "You are not upset?"
"No."
"Why?"
"It was fun." He grinned, and she frowned as she saw the madness of Altaira in her child.
He was just like his mother, a battle-maniac, and knowing her cousin, she had probably trained him using even more dangerous curses than the ones Charles had used today.
"The Weasleys have requested you to forgive their son so that he can avoid getting expelled."
A few minutes later, they entered the Headmaster's Office, and instead of looking at the people present there, he excitedly rushed to the window where he spotted a Phoenix perched on a stand.
Yes, a Phoenix.
It was the first time in his life seeing one and he gently touched it and scratched it on the head, and the magical bird let out a melodious cry of delight.
"You are beautiful." He sincerely said, sensing its magic, and the bird felt quite the pride at his praise and rubbed its head against the back of his fingers.
The Weasleys, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Tonks, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Professor Montclair, and even the Headmaster stared at his interaction with the bird in shock.
"Ahem, Mister Black."
Hearing the call, Altair gently smiled at the Phoenix and then respectfully turned to face the people present in the room.
"My apologies, Headmaster. I had never seen a Phoenix before so I got a little carried away."
"It's alright, Mister Black. And I am happy to see you have taken a liking to Fawkes. He seems to like you too."
"That's a thoughtful name, Professor."
"Thank you." The old man gently smiled, and his half-moon glasses glinted a little with magic.
Altair quickly turned to look towards Lord Weasley and his wife, and politely bowed to them in a greeting.
"Professor Tonks informed me that Mister Weasley had consumed the Self-reflection Potion on Monday, and I understand that what happened today was under an influence..." he sighed. "And I also understand that he is at fault."
His words tensed up the Weasleys, and just when Charles' mother was about to approach him to plead with him, he spoke again.
"However, I do not wish to see Mister Weasley's life get ruined over what happened today. I do not hold any resentment against him, and I request the Professors present and the Headmaster to neither expel Charlie nor suspend him. It's his Final Year at School. Let him sit his NEWTs and allow him to graduate from Hogwarts. If you would indulge another request from me, please don't ban him from the Quidditch Cup. I am really looking forward to the match against Gryffindor. The last one was... climactic."
His words stunned them all, and even the Headmaster looked at him with meaningful eyes.
"That's very kind of you, Mister Black, but..."
"Please, Professor." He cut off Victoire's words. "I don't want to spend the rest of my time at Hogwarts thinking someone ruined his career and life, and that I was involved in it. I also don't wish to see Charles live the rest of his life in resentment and regret. That's too harsh of a punishment."
His words made them all frown, and Professor McGonagall lowered her head, holding back her tears at his kindness.
"Now, if you would excuse me, I need to return and finish my reading. It's important for tomorrow's final." He lightly requested.
"Good luck for tomorrow, Mister Black. And please know that you are a very honourable and kind child."
"Sanguis, Honos, Superbia." He bowed as he said those words, and then turned to look towards a certain Headmaster's Portrait before bowing in a greeting.
It was the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black.
Altair greeted Fawkes again next and then left the office after saying goodbye to him.
He heaved a sigh of relief once he was out.
The Headmaster really gave him a very bad feeling, and he really did not wish to stay and chat with him.
He was just about to leave the corridor when he heard someone running after him, and it turned out to be Charles.
"Thank you." The boy bowed to him. "And I am sorry for what happened today."
"I know. Let's just forget about it." He shrugged and drew his hand forward, and Charles looked at him in surprise and shook his hand.
"Thank you..."
"Yes, yes." He chuckled. "Oh, your wand will no longer work right for you. Be careful with it. After graduation, get another wand. Fir, about twelve to thirteen inches, and dragon heartstring. That would be a perfect match."
The boy looked at him in surprise and nodded, saving his words in his heart.
He stared at his back in newfound reverence, and promised himself to one day earn Altair's respect.