The Next Dark Lord

Department of Mysteries

The hallways were empty, as they always are at this time of the day. Getting down to the level 9 from the atrium was not a big deal for the seasoned warrior, who had the invisibility cloak donned for extra protection. 'Constant Vigilance', he thought to himself.

For the past month and half Moody had been hearing Dumbledore yammer about protecting the one piece of information that Voldemort doesn't have. But what has been done about it? Nothing, absolutely nothing. He had no illusion that Arthur or even worse, Mundungus could stand up to an assault from the death eaters, never mind Voldemort himself. Arthur may stand his ground against a couple, but Dung would flee at the first smell of conflict. 'What is Albus hoping to achieve with this pathetic guard?', he thought for the hundredth, maybe even thousandth, time. "I hope I can end this nonsense here and today", he muttered to himself as he approached the Department of Mysteries.

He made his way forward, scanning for anybody present there. None of his scans picked up any trace, so he entered the top-secret department in the entire ministry. Once the customary confusion inducing spin completed, he strode forward and said, "Hall of Prophecies" and tapped his wand on the wall which morphed into a door giving him direct access to the hall of prophecies. 'Perks of being a celebrated Ex-Master Auror', he thought to himself and made his way forward to the row number 97 where he knew the prophecy in question lay waiting.

Without wasting time, he whipped out his wand and took aim. As a master spellcaster and duelist he had silent casting down for even the deadlier and dangerous spells. But his silent casting attempts at casting a reductor at the orb was not doing anything. "That's disturbing, I haven't had to say out that spell since graduating Auror Academy", he muttered.

"Even saying out the spell is not going to help you", said a voice from behind him. Moody whirled around only to see blackness all around him. "You are out of your boundary Alastor", said the voice again and he knew no more.

A man of short stature became visible with shimmering of air. "You can take your man and leave Albus", he said and turned around to walk further into the depths of his realm.

"Thank you, Saul", said Dumbledore materializing on the other side of Alastor. "I knew I could count on you".

Whirling around with barely contained fury, "You can count on nothing. I did this for his sake", growled Saul Croaker pointing at the prone form of Moody. "Despite his rash decision, he means well for people around unlike you. I don't want him to lose further body parts attempting what he did. You Albus disgust me, and I'm still set against you. With all the power you wield, all you have done is manipulate people dragging our society back by decades. Pray I never get a chance to pit myself against you. Even with your enormous power, I have my entire department's arsenal. Begone". Saying so Croaker turned around and stomped away into the darkness.

'He surely is a dangerous man to be my opponent. I can't even detect presence of his mind anywhere. I need to deal with him as soon as possible, but not within his domain', thought Albus.

Modifying Moody's memory, he apparated out of the ministry to the headquarters.

Once inside the hastily erected privacy wards in the drawing room, Albus retrieved a vial of clear liquid and poured the contents down Moody's throat. 'There, that should give me backdoor access to his mind for a whole year', he thought. It hasn't been easy slipping the potion to Moody, what with all his paranoia. Giving the potion a couple of minutes to set in, he enervated Moody and chastised him for getting caught like a newbie by Lucius.

Scratching the scarcely present hair on his head, "I suppose I have to thank you for saving me again. Maybe I'm getting old and should consider retiring rather than be a liability", said Moody.

"Nonsense Alastor, you are one of our best. But it would certainly do you good to heed my advice and follow my lead. Guarding the prophecy is the best thing we can do for now", said Albus. "Take rest, I will see you at the next meeting", he continued while exiting the room.

Too confused and dead tired to do anything, Moody lied down on the couch and feel asleep, although not before constructing a maze of protections around him.

Back in Hogwarts, Hermione was working on her homework in the library when an approaching set of footsteps alerted her. She looked up holding her wand under the table to see it was Neville. Her grip on the wand relaxed and she smiled at him as he took a seat.

"I wanted your help with what we discussed on Saturday ", started Neville before noticing Hermione's eyes doing a quick flick to the side. A quick glance showed Malfoy and his goons spying on them under the pretense of studying. "I'm completely out of depth with potions and since Professor Snape scares me, I did not learn much the past 4 years. Please help me review the material before our next class", Neville altered what he had been about to say seamlessly.

"I'm almost done with my essay. If you wait, we can discuss your problem", Hermione replied without stopping the incessant writing.

Neville sat down and settled to wait. Only a fool would interrupt Hermione when she was doing her homework, and Neville was no fool. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see their spies losing interest by the second and eventually leave. Hermione's wand was in her hand in an instant and she quickly put it back in after casting something quick.

"That was some quick thinking on your feet Neville. The only other person that I know of who could have come up with a better story is Harry. So, coming to the matter you wanted to discuss, it is possible that you are the prophesied one now. But personally, I think prophecies are a big load of dung bombs, but that doesn't matter now. Voldemort believes it, even though he knows only half of it. Dumbledore believes it even though he has sat on his ass all these years without doing anything", said Hermione silently without stopping her essay.

A thousand thoughts exploded in his mind. He shook his head and asked, "What was that spell you threw when Malfoy's gang left?"

Hermione paused writing and looked up with a smile. "You are a good wizard Neville, never let anyone say otherwise. Not many would have noticed me doing that and not many more would have asked about it after all I had to say. This is showing me how much more like Harry you are, though thankfully without his recklessness. It is a spell that will keep our conversation secret, I can teach you later".

"Alright, do you think I should take on the destiny or whatever that Professor Dumbledore explained on that day?", asked Neville.

Hermione paused her writing again and placed the quill down. Looking into Neville's eyes, she gave him as much an honest answer as she can. "Neville, destiny is not handed out like the lemon drops that our headmaster is so fond of. It is yours to make. Voldemort is the problem of magical society and not the destiny of any fifteen-year-old, be it you or Harry. The previous generation messed up big time at the end of last war and we are looking at the ripples of it now".

Looking around to make sure no one new has come into their vicinity she continued. "Will I be in the magical society past my O.W.L.s? I don't know. I might go back to the muggle world where I'm not treated like some vermin". Seeing Neville about to retort she ploughed on, "I know all magical people are not blood purists, but even the small amount has been sufficient to drive me to tears multiple times over the years. Not to mention the sheeple of wizarding world. Anything written in that rag is acceptable and believed as truth. Saviour becomes the villain and again Saviour, now finally dark lord".

Shaking her head, "I'm going off on a tangent. My point is your destiny is yours to write. You have suffered because of Voldemort. The previous generation who should be fighting are next to useless. So, if you think it is your calling to take up the fight then do it. Or if you think the Longbottoms have suffered enough for ungrateful people then get away and live your life. I'll help you as a friend, but right now my top priority is to in some way help Harry out of Azkaban".

Looking up at his face again she found him in deep thought. "I guess I've given you a lot to think about, take your time. Let's talk before next meeting with headmaster tomorrow". Hermione packed up her books and left the library after she took down the Mufliato from the entrance.