Chapter 500

(AN: Leave a comment and a review, your feedback helps me a lot.)

If you want to support me and read ahead!

Patrë-on.com/Se7enX

Yeah! Here's the new chapter!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor Snape was not the only person who had sensed that there was something strange and bad happening at that moment.

Headmaster Dumbledore, Nick, Penny, Sirius, and some other experienced and powerful wizards and witches also realized that the situation inside the maze was a little abnormal.

And besides them, those very close to Krum also noticed this abnormality when they noticed the strangeness of the Bulgarian boy's actions.

However, as they all just felt that something was wrong and had no certainty or proof that something darker was happening, they remained in their seats, deciding to continue watching the rest of the tournament.

Of course, the two-way mirrors picked up the sounds of what was happening in the maze, but since they were high up and not that close to the champions, they were only able to pick up and transmit the loud sounds of the fights.

And that was exactly why no one hear when Krum started saying the Killing Curse incantation when he cornered Fleur, making everyone think he was about to cast just another ordinary spell.

"Hmm..." Headmaster Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat on the judges' stand.

He, of course, knew that there was much more at stake in this task than just one champion and one school winning the Tri-wizard tournament.

However, even knowing this, he did not have any concrete and truthful information about what was really happening, and with only assumptions and theories there was not much he could do.

'It seems the hidden gears that drive this dark plot have finally begun to turn,' he mused, having waited for this moment since that Halloween night when Harry's name came out of the goblet.

Headmaster Dumbledore then leaned back in his seat, 'But well, for now I will just watch and wait, and when the criminal reveals himself I will act' he thought, running his hand through his long, white beard.

And with a calm and serene expression he returned to paying attention to the scenes that were passing in the large two-way mirror, and as he looked at the two students who were going deeper into the maze a calculating and serious glint briefly flickered in his blue eyes.

------------------------------------------------------------

-Back to the main fight-

[Ethan – POV]

While Harry and Fleur went back to searching for the cup, and while some powerful minds outside were lost in deep thought, in a place in the maze far from everyone's eyes a very deadly and violent fight was still going on.

"Huff... Huff..." I was panting lightly, gripping my wand tightly as I coldly looked at the dozens of corpses of magical creatures around me.

'It's finally over' I thought, no longer feeling any magic belonging to magical creatures, showing that I had eliminated all the creatures that were nearby.

After casting my tremor spell that caused a disaster in this area of ​​the maze, I began massacring all the crazed magical creatures that had been lured here.

And because there were so many creatures in this place, it took me a while to eliminate them all, which consequently tired me out, even though my resistance and energy were very high.

But now that this one-sided battle was over I could finally take a break and breathe, realizing that somewhere in my struggle I had let my emotions get a little out of control.

I was feeling my heart beating violently as my blood boiled, excited for some more action and fighting.

And the sight of the bodies around me and the strong smell of blood and iron that was spread throughout the place were triggering my senses, causing a strange and unfamiliar feeling to arise within me.

A violent, dangerous and wild feeling that asked to be released.

'This is.. disturbing' I thought with a frown, using my empathy and Occlumency to try to extinguish these chaotic feelings.

As I tried to suppress my wild emotions and bloodlust, and control my ragged breathing, I heard some clapping sounds coming from behind me.

And snapping out of my thoughts and turning around I saw Barty Junior standing a few feet away from me, applauding with an excited, almost manic look on his face.

*Clap! Clap! Clap!*

"That was really exciting and bloody! And I must say, watching that massacre inspired me!" Barty Junior said, grinning wildly at me.

"Oh, you're still alive," I said in a clearly disappointed tone of voice.

And hearing this, Barty Junior put his hand on his chest, "That hurt my feelings, you know?" He looked at me with a false expression of sadness.

"Good, but your feelings aren't the only thing I intend to hurt," I said dryly, raising my wand with the intention of casting a violent spell at him.

"Wow, let's calm down a bit. We don't need to solve everything with violence," he said, raising his hands in surrender, not realizing or ignoring the hypocrisy of his sentence.

But I wasn't fooled by his act, especially since he still held his wand in his hand and I could feel his malice and cruelty.

And just when I was about to start attacking him, he started talking again.

"You know, there aren't many people who can say they killed nearly 100 dangerous magical creatures in one night, especially not in such a cruel and bloody way."

"And looking at you and thinking about everything you've done so far I can't help but be impressed, and that's why I wanted to make you a proposal" he said, and even though I wanted to rip his head off, hearing him talk about a proposal made me stop for a moment.

"Proposal?" I raised an eyebrow in curiosity, still not lowering my wand.

"Yes, a proposal," he nodded.

And noticing my curiosity and slight interest, Barty Junior continued to speak.

"You are powerful, Night, and on top of that you are also clever, cunning, and have a talent for magic rarely seen."

"But above all you do not limit yourself to unimportant things like morals or ethics, as evidenced by the violent and dark spells you cast and by your cruel and bloody methods."

"And all of this shows that you have almost everything needed to become someone important and recognized in the future, but know that with your weak and common origins it will not be possible for you to truly show your full potential to the wizarding world" he looked at me seriously, as if this was a definitive fact.

"And knowing this I can't help but feel sad, seeing that a wizard with such great abilities and skills as yours is just wasting his gifts following the stupid laws of the ministry and Dumbledore's absurd and cowardly rules."

Speaking up to here Barty Junior then paused, letting his 'serious' and 'concerned' words sink into my mind.

And when he talked about my future he really did sound indignant, disappointed and worried, and if I didn't know him and couldn't feel his emotions I probably would have been fooled by his acting.

'I think I know where he's going with this sentimental speech,' I thought, narrowing my eyes as I resisted the urge to let out a disdainful snort.

Unaware of my thoughts, Barty Junior just saw that I was still paying attention to him, which made him nod to himself before he spoke again.

"And well, Ethan," he began, changing the way he called me to show that there was a certain closeness and familiarity between us, "I don't want you to have your future and potential limited because of these simple problems and issues, and luckily for you I know of a way for you to change that."

"And that way obviously has to do with your proposal, doesn't it?" I asked calmly.

"Yes," he nodded.

Barty Junior then paused again, perhaps to create suspense and dramatic effect, or to reorganize his thoughts, but after a few seconds he opened his mouth again.

"My proposal to you is simple Ethan... I want you to join me," he finally said, looking at me seriously, "Join me, our cause, and serve the great and powerful Dark Lord!"

And as he spoke about his master a fanatical and crazy glint flashed in Barty Junior's eyes, which made me grimace.

But without noticing my frown and my strange look at him, Barty Junior continued with his passionate speech, "Support us wholeheartedly in this noble cause of ours that seeks to purify magic, expanding our influence and ideology until we, the true heirs of magic, dominate the world!"

"And when we have control over the entire world, you, as a follower of the Dark Lord, will be duly rewarded, and then all the chains that bind and limit you will be destroyed."

"And so you, Ethan, will be able to show everyone your true power!" 

"So what do you say, Ethan Night? Will you join my lord's cause and serve him faithfully?" and with that last sentence Barty Junior extended his hand to me, smiling confidently.

End.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------