The Greedy Frog
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Hey, I Ruin Stories Chapter 25
🕑 Added 2024-05-15 06:33:28 +0000 UTCChapter: Fall of One, Rise of Another
[Saturday — Order of Phoenix Headquarters]
{Nymphadora Tonks}
This… was insane.
“I consider you all to be the most capable of your art.”
Professor Dumbledore had never shown this much attention to me. But well, the matter in hand required him to be attentive to everyone, and win everyone over.
“Each of you are skilled enough that you can save yourself and the ones around you.”
Pretty funny when I couldn't even protect myself from the dementors.
“And above all else.” He smiled looking at us. “You are all honest and trustworthy.”
This circle, this wide range of people had been a little nerve-wracking.
From professors of Hogwarts to members of the Ministry —which was especially embarrassing for me as I just left my job— were in the room. Some very famous names, and some that I didn't recognize.
“Tonks.” He suddenly called my name, making me fumble a little.
“Y-Yes, Professor Dumhledore?”
He showed his grandfatherly smile, one that he has been wearing since I was a student. “I know you are no more an Auror, but I do know that your skills are still above most of them.”
That…
That wasn't wrong. But I also fell short when it came to certain aspects.
“This is not an order, this is just a request.” Despite his smile, he was pained. “Not from a headmaster or an old professor, but from a grandfather who wants his children to be protected.”
I wanted nothing to do with being an Auror, jumping around and saving people. But the current situation was different, quite different.
“Please, protect the children.”
I wasn't forced to. I wasn't ordered to.
But I was requested to.
Even if I didn't, he would find someone else. But, if I am here… maybe we will be able to save an extra life.
It is all so confusing. It makes no sense.
How can he-who-shall-not-be-named even return? He was defeated and killed, but they claim that he had returned.
But if by any chance it is true. It will be my idiocy to run away. I am selfish, I want a life for myself —a peaceful life.
Yet not at the cost of everyone around us.
“I…” I took a deep breath, “I will do my best professor.”
“Of course, she will!” That voice made me look down, a little embarrassed. “This idiot might have left her job, but by heart she is still an Auror, one that helps others.”
Mad-Eye.
My mentor and one of the men that I look up to. But here he was wrong.
I was no more an Auror, even by heart. I was just a person, a person with feelings that felt for others.
Almost everyone did, and I was one of them —just a normal person.
The old headmaster of Hogwarts nodded at that.
“Then I can be assured.” He said, “As for the others, the new addition to the Order of the Phoenix.”
Yes, I was not the only one that was added as a new member of the Order of the Phoenix.
There were quite a lot of famous individuals that had already been part of this order —But there were quite a few new additions as well.
“Professor Sinistra, I know how much you love the children.” Aurora Sinistra, she joined quite a few years after I left Hogwarts. But I know that she is skilled. “You are outstanding at predicting the movements of stars and understanding the flow of magic. Dark Arts is very unpredictable, so I am glad that we have someone capable of analyzing magic flow with us.”
Professor Dumbledore himself was a great wizard and I doubt anyone can top him in this room when it comes to understanding magic —but it is always good to have more people with you than against you.
“I will try my best to not disappoint you, professor.”
She was a great professor, children loved her and she was extremely skilled. But somehow, for some reason… I disliked her.
I cannot explain why, but I disliked her.
“We have quite a few new members, mostly from the ministry that I am thankful for joining us.”
Most of the members of the ministry gave the professor a nod.
“You are all the people that I can trust, and from time and time you all have proven that you all are for the people and are willing to risk your safety to save others.”
Quite true. Most of these people, the members of the ministry and some of these professors have quite the fame for helping others.
“But as you know, the Dark Arts, especially of the caliber used by the Death Eaters and especially by him… Is beyond the ones that we know and face. The Dark Arts used by him are capable of killing people on the spot —even if they are skilled users of magic— with a single spell.”
I have heard of them, read about them —never faced, but knew about them. I know how terrifying they are, as I have seen the chaos they spread and the lives they take.
I was only a teenager when it all happened, but I am aware that this is not a child’s play. If he has returned, it will be chaos once again.
And many will die, no matter how much we try, we cannot save everyone.
“Dark Arts is terrifying, it is difficult to counter it.” True, Dark Arts was the most unpredictable form of magic. “And a single dark spell can cause more harm than most of the strongest orthodox spells can do combined.”
Almost everyone nodded. We all knew how terrifying Dark Atts was.
“But if we are smart enough, we can counter the Dark Arts and thankfully for us, some few here have studied Dark Arts extensively.” He looked around and a few people nodded. Most of us studied it but some had studied it for far longer than any other. “And I believe you all will be able to help us with defensive arts and to figure out counters to the spells.”
Again, a few nodded while others said that they will try.
“But we also have someone who knows much more than any of us about Dark Arts, someone who knows about Dark Arts of different places and magic not known to the ones of Britain.”
The man in question was leaning on a wall to the corner of the room, listening and understanding the situation —like most of us were.
But he was a little special.
“I hope you can help us with Dark Arts.” Professor Dumbledore smiled at the man, “Because if there is someone that can surprise the Death Eaters with different magic, it is you.”
Of course, it was him.
“Professor Safar.”
Who else but Darius? Only he can surprise even the followers of the Dark Lord.
And maybe even the Dark Lord himself.
But that's why he was so interesting.
No one knew much about him, but everyone knew that he was a good person and a person we could trust.
An honest person.
…
…
[Sunday — Unnamed Woods]
“YoU jOiNeD tHe OrDeR oF tHe PhOeNiX.”
I could have just let Tonks tell me about the Phoenix as I already knew she would join. But sometimes, it was better to listen directly than through someone.
No matter how close or trustworthy you think that person is.
“Because of which, you now know the plans of the Order of the Phoenix.”
This however made the tiny yet chubby person next to me quite angsty and angry.
“I-I w-was al-already t-there t-to t-tell M-Master a-about t-their p-plans.”
But by God, this guy was one nasty looking rat.
“Better to hear the same story from two mouths than an altered story by one.”
The rat looking man was furious at that. But no matter how angry he tried to sound, with his look and him stuttering at every single word, it was just not possible to take him seriously in any way.
“A-Are y-you c-calling m-me a l-l-liar?”
“No.” No point in arguing with him. “Just that words can be misinterpreted.”
“Y-Y-You—”
“QuIeT!” The voice yelled from the wheeled crib that the rat carried. “Do WhAt YoU tWo CaMe HeRe FoR! bAnTeR aFtEr YoU aRe DoNe!”
“I-I a-apologize M-Master.” The rat bowed and apologized multiple times.
But I didn't.
Instead I was more interested in the structure ahead.
That is one marvelous castle.
“That's magnificent architecture.” I had to praise it. It was an ominous looking castle, more like a tower with a modest size castle attached to it.
But for such an architecture to be built in such a place, a hilltop, more of a mountain and standing so perfectly well despite the sheer danger of it crumbling down into the abyss —it truly was marvelous.
“He Is An IdIoT. oNe tHaT lOsT tO dUmBlEdOrE.” The voice hissed, “A fOoL.”
In a way, I agreed.
“But a skilled fool.” I mused and the voice agreed.
“YeS. AfTeR mE, hE pRoBaBlY wAs ThE mOsT fEaReD dArK lOrD. An IdIoT bUt A gEnIuS oF aRcHiTeCtUrE aNd MaGiC.”
Being praised by this person on its own was an achievement. But the person in question was praised by almost everyone —until he threw away everything to pursue a dark dream.
“I can do the rest.” I definitely can. “But I will need the exact location of where he is.”
Otherwise it will be too messy and I do not want to draw that much attention.
“Do YoUr WoRk PeTeR.”
Peter Pettigrew, one of the friends of Harry’s parents and the one who betrayed them and was mostly responsible for their deaths.
He was ugly, quite intolerable and honestly bad company. But he was useful and obedient to the noseless one in the wheeled crib.
“Y-Yes M-Master.”
At his order, Peter instantly shrunk his body and transformed into a smelly rat.
The art of animagi. Similar to the metamorphmagus that is Tonks, Animagi is not hereditary and can be learnt. But most could only transform into one creature and Peter was the same. And justified by his personality and appearance, his transformation is of a rat.
Not something amazing like a mythological Pegasus or Dragon, not even a distinguished looking raven —but a damned rat.
At least it's useful, since he can sneak almost everyone without anyone noticing him.
Like he did now, crawling past the guards at the gate and running inside.
“YoU tOo MaKe YoUr MoVe.”
“Haste makes waste.” I reminded the noseless man. “This place is risky, and I will have to hide you with Dark Arts which is difficult and if they notice you even after that, then I will be in trouble. So let me think this through.”
“HuRrY!”
Scouting the place from afar a little, I knew that it was possible to make a move.
“I will use my magic to hide your presence.”
What I used was quite complex. I neither had magic that could make someone invisible nor magic that could make others not see a certain something.
Even with all the different forms of Dark Arts that I knew, invisibility was nowhere.
But I knew one way to achieve invisibility.
And that was through light.
Light was one of the elements that I could control. And I knew a little bit of science —which usually would have been useless here— and surprisingly it is kind of useful.
Light is reflected and refracted. And some objects absorb light. This is what makes things visible. The process of absorption and reflection, but if we can make light pass through something —the object can theoretically become invisible.
And that's what I did. Scientifically it is almost impossible to achieve it, but not with magic.
Magic did allow me to make the light pass through both me, him and the crib. Doing so got us effectively removed from the visible spectrum and thus to any naked eye —we were invisible.
It was difficult to make the light continuously pass through us as we moved, but even though it was difficult, it was still possible.
I know that the noseless man in the crib is somewhat impressed, but he would definitely not say a word.
As for his presence, it was easily masked with Dark Arts.
And so moved forward, towards the castle —towards Nurmengard.
The castle turned into a prison.
It was not difficult to figure out who we came here for. There was only one man for whom and by whom this place was built and tragically the same man ended up being imprisoned here.
Neither of us talked or made any noise, as while I made us invisible and hid our magic, it would be quite troublesome if they heard us.
But somehow, we ended up inside —past the guards and through the trapping mechanisms.
It was not Azkaban, but it still held prisoners —quite a lot of them. It didn't have dementors, instead it had wizard guards.
But what made this place unique was that it was quite the maze. While Azkaban’s prisoner keeping hierarchy was clear with different floors designated for different individuals.
Nurmengard was a maze where one certain individual was kept at the deepest part of it from where almost no one can come out of.
Not that many can enter there either.
But that's where the rat came into the picture.
After waiting for well over a couple of minutes, we finally noticed the squirming rat moving out of a certain pathway.
Neither I, nor the noseless one could reveal ourselves so the noseless one used his power to telepathically tell the rat that we were there.
The rat shuddered and frantically moved towards the path that it came from.
Of course, the meaning was clear. It wanted us to follow. It found who we were looking for.
Right, left, left, right, straight, straight, straight, left, right, right and finally left.
It took us eleven turns, long turns to finally reach the cell. It was a cell made of dark steel bars and I am certain that it was not normal steel but some magical alloy that prevented others from breaking out.
But there were no guards here. We left all the guards behind on our way, and this cell was so deep that no one could reach anyway and thus needed no guards. And of course the countless layers of magic that protected the gate to the cell meant it was impossible for anyone to break out.
Sadly, it was not made to block my magic.
“HuRrY!”
The impatient voice rang again, and this time I wanted to hurry too.
So, I undid the invisibility magic and placed my hand over the gate.
“Is he inside, rat?”
“H-How d-dare y-you-call me r-rat!”
“SiLeNcE!” Voldemort hissed, “AnD aNsWeR!”
“H-He i-is I-inside M-Master. B-But h-he i-is v-very w-weak a-and o-old.”
“Does not matter.” I slowly melted off the magic with the corrosive Dark Art. “I just want him to be alive.”
It took a while, but I was able to melt off the multiple magic that was applied on the gate. And with the final corrosion, even the gate melted —leaving an open path and hissing sounds, on both sides.
“HuRrY!” One from the noseless one.
“W-Who?” And another from the inside of the gate.
…
…
[Evening of Sunday — Deepest Chamber of Nurmengard]
{Gellert Grindelwald}
Time.
What time was it?
It was too early for food and too late for routine check ups.
But time here was only a concept of the mind. There were no clocks, no sunlight, and no voices to tell the time.
It had been over half a century, or so I believe. Because again, time was only a concept of the mind in here. I can only speculate what time it was and what year it was.
Only my fading memory kept reminding me things. But now, I didn't even remember how long an hour felt, or how nice a day or how dark a night was.
It was forever dark in here, illuminated only through the candles.
I built this place, I knew that there was no escape from here.
Should have I built an escape?
No, then I would have been placed in Azkaban. One place or the other, suffering would have followed.
But what was this noise?
I had not been told there would be a checking at this hour.
Checking, food and even water was given only at specified timings and my mind tells me it is not time yet.
But the sound has seemingly been growing louder.
I hear hisses, like a serpent’s noise —but it is trying to form words.
What is it?
I was chained, bounded by steel that sucked out magic and made spell casting impossible.
Curious and unable to move, quite the tragic combination. But there was nothing that I could do, absolutely nothing.
I could only wait for an answer.
And an answer I got as after a few moments, light, light of candles came bursting inside. As despite candles being outside this cell, there was never a single candle in here.
But now I could see candle light, how?
This made me ask.
“W-Who?”
I expected no answer, maybe just the loudness of silence.
But no, I got an answer. To my absolute shock and disbelief —I got an answer.
“Visitors.” A man’s voice. “Visitors that will help you escape this cell.”
My heart raced, mind confused and eyes widened.
Unfamiliar faces.
I saw them walking inside, two men with a moving crib. One was ugly, short and with a despicable face.
And another tall, handsome and with expensive looking garms.
“The legendary Gellert Grindelwald, it is an honor to witness your presence.”
Well spoken.
“What if I tell you that you can get out of this place?”
Lies.
“Idiocy.” I told him. “It is impossible to escape.”
“And I was told that it was impossible to enter as well, but look at us.”
Confusion. It plagued my mind.
It was true that it was impossible to enter this place. How did these two enter here?
“Who are you?” I asked, but once again —I got the same answer.
“Visitors.”
Confusion.
I hate confusion.
“What do you want?”
I asked, and again I got the same answer.
“To get you out of this place.”
How? It was impossible.
“Not possible.”
He laughed, “I expected so. Your mind is not as sharp as it used to be. You are old, weak and have lost most of your sanity trapped here.”
But then, I heard another voice —Horrifying voice.
“HuRrY uP!”
It came from the crib, a child's crib. But how can a child have such a horrifying voice?
I wanted to look inside the crib, but I was chained. I couldn't not move that far.
“Your body is old and weak, and your mind has dulled.” He analyzed. “For what I want, you need to be stronger and younger than this.”
“HoW wIlL yOu Do ThAt?”
He seemingly thought for a while, before looking at the ugly man next to him.
“Dark Arts require sacrifice.” He said, “Equivalent exchange. To gain a life, another life has to be sacrificed.”
I was old, not stupid. I understood immediately what he meant.
And so did the ugly man next to him.
“N-No!” The ugly man roared out. “Y-You c-cannot b-be f-fooled b-by h-him M-Master!”
“HoW?” However, the voice from the crib ignored the ugly one.
“By exchanging the years one has to live, another person’s youth can be restored.”
“N-No!” The ugly man cried out, “Y-You c-can-not l-let h-him d-do t-that M-Master! I-I s-served Y-You f-for y-years!”
He panicked, “Y-You c-can u-use a-any o-of t-the g-guard i-in h-here!”
The man shook his head, “This magic only works with those that are unwilling to give up their life. It is a Dark Art, and it is never kind. Guards are ones that have given up their normal lives and do not mind losing their lives. So their life will not count.”
“N-No!” The ugly one protested, “L-Lies! M-Master! K-Kill h-him! H-He l-lies!”
But the voice from the crib did not do what the ugly one expected.
“YoU hAvE sUpPorTeD mE wElL, PeTeR!” The voice hissed, “YoU aRe My MoSt TrUsTwOrThY fOlLoWeR! AnD yOu HaVe AlWaYs DoNe WhAt I aSkEd Of You!”
“M-Master…” The ugly man showed a happy expression, “I-I k-knew y-you w-would n-not l-let m-me b-be h-harmed!”
This fool…
“YeS!” The voice said, “YoU wIlL nOt Be HarMed.”
The ugly one showed a proud expression as he looked at the handsome man.
“AnD aS a LoYaL sErVaNt It iS yOuR rEsPoNsIbIlItY tO gIvE yOuR lIfE fOr Me!”
“M-Master!”
“Do It!”
“As you wish.” Said the handsome man as he extended his arm. The ugly one tried to run, but it was too late.
“W-Why!”
“You just aren't important enough.” Said the handsome man, as he grabbed the ugly one by his neck —preventing him from running away. “Now, Mr. Grindelwald, would you like to be young again? To be back to your past days? Young and strong?”
My eyes glowed, I knew what he meant. I knew exactly what he meant.
I was no saint, I was no wizard without a mind.
I was Grindelwald, I took opportunities when they presented themselves.
“I accept!”
He smiled as the ugly man choked in his hand, “I am glad that you do.”
He extended his arm, “Then take my hand.”
He had reasons, he had plans. But the most important thing now was being free, being young and being strong.
“Very well…”
And so I took his hand, and with that he chanted something. Words that I could not understand, spells that I have never heard before.
But I felt something familiar, something very close to me.
Dark Arts, but one stronger than what I felt in the past. This was horrific, almost demonic. But it made me feel good, it made me feel excited!
“S-Stop—” The ugly man cried as he choked, “I-It h-hurts!”
I saw his face growing pale, his hair growing gray and face wrinkling up.
He was growing old.
And on the other hand, I felt stronger, sharper and I felt my wrinkles vanishing. My skin softened and grew smoother, my hair felt stronger and my vision grew brighter.
I-I was growing young!
I, Gellert Grindelwald was going back to my youth! To my prime!
“M-Master!” It took minutes, but those minutes felt the most pleasurable that I have ever felt.
I grew younger, I grew stronger and I grew to my past!
I saw the ugly man in his hand rotting, his flesh melting off and his last breath leaving his body.
The man died in his hand, rotten away and only remaining as bones.
“Well, that should do.” He said as he threw away the skeletal, the one that broke apart the moment it landed on the ground. “And as I expected, you truly are strong.”
I was.
I felt my strength, my magic flowing back. Still not enough to walk free, all because of these darned chains that sucked away my magic. But if I was free from them, I could regain the strength of my past with ease.
“So, how does it feel? Mr. Grindelwald?”
“It feels… It feels like I am alive again. Like I can relive my dream, like I can fulfill my dreams back!” It was insane. No magic should be capable of doing this, but here I was. Alive and well. “Tell me… Tell me what you want and I will give you that! As long as you promise me that you will break these chains!”
He shook his head, “I do not want anything, sir. But my lord here wants something.”
A lord, in a crib. Humorous, but who was I to judge the people that helped me.
“Then tell me, what does he want?”
“WhErE…” The voice came from the crib, increasing my curiosity to know what was inside it. “WhErE iS tHe ElDeR wAnD.”
“What…”
Silence, silence befell as he said that.
“What do you say?”
“ThE eLdEr WaNd! WhErE iS iT!”
Oh…
That's what they wanted. That's why they came here.
It made me laugh, it made me laugh aloud. If not for this place being a void that prevents sound from traveling, the guards would have come running in.
“The Elder Wand you say.” These idiots, “No one but I can wield the elder wand!”
“YoU Sh—”
But the handsome man cut the words of the one in the crib, “Let me handle this, Lord. You need rest.”
The voice hissed, unhappy at being cut off but still it let the man continue.
“Of course we know that only the owner of the wand can wield it, and you being the owner of it in the past can wield it back.”
That was not true. But he didn't know that.
“We simply do not want Dumbledore to use it.”
Now it makes sense, now it makes a lot of sense.
They are the enemy of Albus.
But it also made me laugh.
“Then quite tragic for you, since Albus now has the power to wield the wand. He is the current master of the Elder Wand. And he keeps it hidden in that forest of Hogwarts, which only someone with blood of the founders of Hogwarts, their heirs or the headmaster himself can find.”
These two were none of that. The one in the crib is most likely a disabled freak and this one does not even look British.
They can never find the wand, and they can definitely never wield it.
“Thank you for the answer.” The man smiled, “I didn't expect you to reveal the location so easily.”
I felt myself scoffing at that.
“You can neither find it, nor can you wield it. So it matters not.” I looked at the chain on my feet. “Now free me, and I will fulfill an actual wish of yours.”
The man shook his head.
“It is alright, my wish is already fulfilled with you revealing the location of the elder wand.” He looked at the crib, “Is that enough, Lord?”
“YeS.” The voice hissed, “NoW dO iT!!!”
Do what?
“Sir Gellert Grindelwald. It was truly an amazing and humbling experience meeting you.”
What was he…
“But I guess this is all the talk we will ever be able to do.”
What?
“What do—”
But it was too late.
I understand it too late.
“Ugh!”
The bastard grabbed me by my neck. My strength wasn't fully back yet, and my magic was being soaked by the chains.
It left me helpless, and I could not fight off his hand either.
“But you have served your purpose.”
I was foolish.
“We needed the location of the wand, and obviously your body, in a healthy state as well.” He smiled, the devilish smile.
I was stupid, stupid enough to fall for his words. Stupid enough to give in to my old senile mind!
“But Peter’s body would not have been enough to revive master since his body has already been destroyed more than twice and his soul is fragmented.” He explained with the same smile, yet I was unable to fight off his hand. His grip around my neck tightened, choking me.
“We needed a dark lord, someone with magic and power equal to his. And Peter obviously wasn't that, but you too were old and were accepting death. And this spell does not work on ones who have given up on life.” He shook his head, “So, I apologize for awakening your hopes and will to live again, but it had to be done.”
His hand moved to the crib and that's when I saw him picking up a grotesque, malformed, snake skinned and noseless freak.
“Your life, for his life.” He explained, “That's what it is.”
And that's when I saw the man’s body growing healthier and stronger —all while my body felt weaker and pained.
“Ugh!”
“You might not know him since you have been imprisoned here for half a century. But he is your successor, he is the new age Dark Lord.” The man laughed, “Lord Voldemort. And I thank you for dying for his rebirth.”
This… psychopath!
My vision blurred, my hair fell out, body ached and my skin started to rot.
All while the grotesque freak began to grow bigger and taller, into a bald, pale skinned and yet still noseless man —but one with powers, horrifying powers.
Dark Powers.
And that was the last face I saw, before everything went forever dark.
The face of the Dark Lord.
The face of Voldemort.
