BXBX NOVEL Chapter 272 - 272. Plot Develops
When the world was engulfed in wars and other crises, Magnus was busy training the team of Slytherin who would be going to France. There were in total 50 students selected and out of them 20 were from Slytherin, and this was a good number, seeing how other houses numbered less. Gryffindor at 11, Ravenclaw at 14 and Hufflepuff at 5.
Most people think that Hufflepuff was a worthless house and didn\'t have any talent. But Magnus would say otherwise. Why? Well, the thing is, Hufflepuff was the best overall house. Sure, they didn\'t have many extraordinary achievers but all of the students in the house were average and above average. They would help each other and make sure the whole house gets average marks at the very least.
Due to this, if you were to go to the Ministry, Diagon Alley or any other magical business you would find a lot of Hufflepuffs, maybe not in high positions but surely in decent positions. They earned good, lived earnestly and had no dreams of world dominance.
And Magnus respected this house a lot. Even in his companies, Emrys Construction and MEDA, the majority of wizards were from Hufflepuff. They didn\'t take much interest to join the Army of Merlin though as they are not very good at fighting, most of those were from Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.
Due to this respect, Magnus had also decided to train the 5 Hufflepuffs and would try to make sure they win the medals.
"ONCE MORE! REMEMBER, Fear no man who knows 1000 spells, fear a man who has practised one spell a thousand times. I want you all to develop muscle memory when it comes to moving the wand.
"You shouldn\'t have to think about moving the wand correctly when you hear the name of the spell. It should be automatic and immediate. I am only 13 and have already mastered the Patronus charm, if I can do it, all of you can too. But today we\'re not doing it, I want you all to master the main 6-7th year charms. The potions team though needed to go to Ragnar. He will advise you. The quidditch team, you all go and practice. Transfiguration team, you can also practice all 6th-7th year transfiguration spells.
"I want each of you to practice every spell at least 500 times. If you get hungry, don\'t worry, we got food. If you want to sleep, don\'t worry, I will let you sleep for 6 hours only. REMEMBER! This is a matter of Hogwart\'s honour." Magnus instructed them like some dictator. And it was funny to watch, most contestants were 6-7th years, and the majority of them were taller than Magnus. So Magnus looked like a comical Napoleon.
"Talk about being overzealous... is he sure it\'s about honour and not because he\'s a British and we\'ll be competing against the French?" Ragnar muttered to Emma on his side.
"I think... I don\'t really know, Rag. Maybe it could be both." She was confused too.
"*Sigh* All right, I\'m going to teach potions too. Bye," He left Magnus for his training.
...
Headmaster\'s Office
"The current batch looks promising. I\'m sure Hogwarts will win the most medals." Barty Crouch Snr, the current head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, said. He had come to visit Dumbledore.
"Yes, they are getting special training from those that exceed in various subjects," Dumbledore replied uninterestedly. He had too much work and didn\'t need to entertain people like him.
Before, Dumbledore had to greet and treat every ministry heads like they were kings because he needed their support. But now, not only was the Minister on their side, but the whole Wizengamot was in his and Magnus\' pocket. And whoever controls the Wizengamot controls the ministry.
Just then Barty Crouch Snr had a change of look and looked shrewd. "Headmaster, how is my son doing? How did he perform in the selection? I assure you, he\'s a bright student. If you send him along he will give his best."
Dumbledore didn\'t even look at him and replied, "Mister Crouch, you should know this, the minimum requirement for a candidate is to be a 3rd year. Mr Crouch junior is in 1st year. And I should tell you that he\'s up to no good.
"He has joined the Gang of Slytherins, the gang once headed by Lucious Malfoy, the well-known followers of the dark lord. And Mr Pendragon is currently the leader of Slytherin house. Your son... Is going directly against him."
The meaning behind his words was simple. Your son was a dumb kid and chose the wrong side.
Barty Crouch Snr\'s face shrank immediately. He had no idea his son was being so stupid. He had specifically told him to become friends with Magnus as soon as possible. Because the boy was going to be the king of Britain, and most likely it won\'t be just king of muggles this time.
"May I meet my son, headmaster? I would like to persuade him to leave the bad company," he asked.
Dumbledore allowed. One less future death eater was a good deal for him. "Yes, you may meet him. Ah, Mr Crouch, one more thing. The funds for the inter-school competition have not arrived yet. I hope you can rush it so I can start planning for all the expenses."
Crouch was honestly afraid right now. He knew the cost of going against Magnus. Dolores Umbridge was a good example of it. "Hehe... sure, headmaster. I will immediately pass it through the bank."
Crouch soon left the room silently. It may be a bad day for him, but he was soon going to make sure his son had a worse day.
...
Later in a garden outside the palace,
"Hey, Halloween is coming. We should do something special. The Hogsmeade weekend is arriving on the same day, this will be the first time we are going to go out." Magnus suggested to his friend. Magnus, Emma and Ragnar were currently having an outdoor snack. Severus was still in the potions lab.
"What do you suggest we do?" Ragnar asked.
"I don\'t know. Maybe we can go trick or treat." He suggested.
"OH! We can also dress up. Why not make everyone dress up? It can become something like the dress code for the night. We will wear them all the way until special dinner." Emma gave her own ideas.
And Magnus loved it. "Absolutely, let\'s have a full party in the Great Hall instead of just dinner. I will sponsor the food and beverages and the school will do the decoration. The dress code will be scary, gothic or anything horror related."
"Hmm, I guess you will be becoming a dragon then?" Ragnar asked.
"Nope, I will become a nun. You will too, also Sev and Emma. We\'re four going to be scary nuns." Magnus decided.
"WHY? I don\'t want to wear that." Ragnar protested.
"I can do it. I can also make them for you three." Emma accepted immediately. And due to this Ragnar had to agree too.
"Cool, then let\'s start preparing for that day. I\'m gonna host a private party in the common room too. It will be mainly to bring the other Slytherin close to each other and mainly me. I want them to openly admit that Voldemort is evil and no good." He planned.
As always, nothing Magnus did was as simple as it looked. There was always some secret purpose.
...
Later, Severus was informed about the plans for Halloween by Ragnar. And indirectly the news reached Voldemort.
Voldemort was still living in the same place where he had made Severus appear. "Tell all the team leaders that the date is October 31st and the location is Hogsmeade."
"But... my lord, there will be too many students. What if we kill bystanders?" Rodolphus asked, because no matter what, he still didn\'t want the blood of pureblood kids spilt.
"THEN SO BE IT. They are blood traitors. Tell the special team I have assembled. They are allowed to target anyone in the vicinity, but the main target will be the mudblood prince. This is my order." He sternly announced, eyes shining and his face was showing excitement.
He could finally see the day he\'d see Magnus\' dead body. He could finally kill the so-called "descendant of Merlin.".
"Lucious, come here, my student. How do you want to kill that boy? With the wand? Or a blade?" Voldemort asked his student, whom he had promised vengeance.
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