Chapter 41

Dumbledore popped a few lemon drops in his mouth as he paced around in his office. The year of 1995 had proven to be one of the worst for him.

He hadn't expected Fudge to get him ousted. Though it could be remedied after Voldemort made his return known. But now, a large chunk of his political power was taken away and he had no way of getting it back, other than accomplishing a great feat, something similar to getting rid of a dark lord. He could have done just that, but there was a damn prophesy stopping him.

The Potter girl was under his thumb. So, he took a gamble to increase his influence in her life by getting her involved into that tournament. The plan was perfect. But that boy, that infuriating boy jumped in and turned the girl against him.

Edmund's rise in power had been so drastic and quick that Dumbledore didn't know what he could do against the young lord. The boy was destroying his plans he had been making for so many years.

To some extent, Dumbledore agreed with Gelert and his greater good concept. Sacrifices were necessary for the world to prosper. Iris was the perfect sacrificial pawn but also a huge threat that needed to be eliminated.

The prophesy had said that she'll be the dark lord's equal. Voldemort was a monster who had used several rituals to increase his power and was more than fifty yeats old. Which meant she'll continue to get more powerful after defeating Voldemort.

Dumbledore had made many mistakes in his life. After defeating Gelert, he had vowed to never let another dark lord to rise in power. But, he failed and Voldemort rose to begin another reign of terror. He saw the signs quite early and had the power to stop Tom, but he let things happen.

Iris Potter had a similar childhood to that of Tom and there was a huge possibiltiy of her rising to be the next dark lady. This time, Dumbledore wanted to destroy the threat before it even became one.

It was like shooting two birds down with one stone. Getting Voldemort and Iris kill each other was a way for Dumbledore to correct his mistakes.

But the girl was getting too powerful. He could see it in her eyes. There was a constant glow in them which was a clear sign of overwhelming magical strength and the glow was intensifying at a visible rate. If this went on, Voldemort would be quashed under her foot and all Dumbledore could do would be to watch Iris destroy the world.

No, he had to do something. He had to stop Iris from getting more powerful.

(ROTS)

Edmund was sitting with Iris and some of their friends in the library. The new DADA professor was not any better than Lockhart and knowing that the two were exceptional in the subject, their friends had approached them for tutoring.

Soon after they began their study session, a pair of Slytherin girls walked towards their table.

Edmund looked up from his book and immediately recognized them.

"What can we do for you, Greengrass? Davis?"

Daphne was a little nervous now that she stood in front of Lord Whirlpool. Her father had warned her about him and had asked to be as polite as she could. She had shared her grievances with her father about the declining teaching quality of DADA professors and inquired if she could ask Edmund to tutor her and some of her friends. Lord Greengrass advised her to try as Edmund was a reasonable person and would always listen if the problem was genuine.

Plus, they were acquaintances while they were kids and had met each other during balls. Though Edmund always remained distant, he was always around other kids when they used to play around.

Clearing her throat, Daphne began, "Lord Whirlpool, Heiress Potter, as you know our DADA professor leaves much to be desired in his methods of teaching and this being the OWLs year, we are a bit desperate. Knowing that the two of you are exceptionally good in the subject, we would like to ask for you to tutor us in the subject."

Edmund and Iris shared a defeated look and turned towards them.

"Actually we've been approached by quite a few from other houses," Iris said. "If you agree to work out your differences and not cause trouble with Gryffindors, we can organise the sessions for the whole group in a secluded area."

Daphne immediately nodded. She, along with her friends, had no particular problem with any of the houses. But...

"We are not like Malfoy and his cornies. We have no problem with others. But can this be said for those who think of us as budding dark lords and ladies?"

Edmund looked her in the eyes and smiled coldly, "There is no place for bigoted fools among us. I don't tolerate such nonsense. Tell me how many of you are there and we'll inform you when we start the tutoring sessions."

Daphne flashed a charming smile and thanked him before rushing out of the library with her friend.

Edmund just stared blankly at her retreating form. 'Hmph, trying to charm me? You've got nothing over Iris.'

(ROTS)

A group of masked men apparated near a backwater village in muggle London. The plan was to simply kill every man and boy and take the women and girls as spoils.

One death wanker casted the dark mark into the sky, hoping to cause chaos among the simple minded fools of the village.

But, the villagers stared back at them with disdain.

The wankers were taken aback but then sneered at the filthy muggles. Were these trash looking down on them?

They ran forward, casting hexes and curses at the muggles but none were hit by the killing orbs of magic.

The stupid wankers panicked. How were they able to dodge their spells so easily?

Suddenly, a muggle jumped onto the back of a death eater and whispered in his ear, "Art is an explosion. Boom."

Edmund's clones began to glow and before any of the death wankers could react, the entire village was engulfed in an explosion, killing each and every wanker except the one held by the clone.

That unfortunate wanker was taken to the ministry where he was brutally interrogated.

The next day, headlines in the daily prophet read,

[Tom Riddle Jr. Returns. Death Eaters Attack Muggle London]

Back in his lair, Voldemort scowled at a piece of parchment that read,

[Hey Dork,

Take that you son of a bitch.

The baby that defeated you]

He immediately threw the parchment away and burnt it. When he was about to laugh, a jet of brown foul smelling substance was sprayed into his mouth, the parchment read,

[P.S. eat shit you idiot]

Gagging, he shrieked, "POTTER!"

(ROTS)

A shady figure manoeuvred through a thick layer of wards as he rushed towards a single prison cell in the whole building.

Upon reaching it's door, the figure opened it and greeted the weak man sitting on the floor.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Gelert Grindelwald."

The old balding man looked up and asked in a gravelly voice, "Who are you? What do want?"

Edmund smirked, "You don't need to know that."

Next he grabbed Gelert's head in his palm and said, "Let's see what secrets Dumbledore is hiding."