The Next Generation

[DucksRMagical]

Galena quickly ran down the stairs leading to the Hufflepuff common room. She was immediately reminded of all the times she snuck back down in the dead of night when she was a student. She pushed all her memories aside as she strode down the corridor. No time for reminiscing now.

Galena stopped in front of the portrait guarding the Hufflepuff common room. "Amarillo Sunset," she said, and the portrait immediately moved aside.

The room was deserted. It was also incredibly neat and tidy, which meant that the House elves had already been there. The fire had long since died out and not a sound could be heard. She imagined all the kids asleep in their beds, unknowing of anything that was going on in the castle.

She sighed and pulled out her wand. She pointed it at her own throat and whispered, "Sonorus." Galena walked over to the door leading to the boys' dormitory. She opened it and shouted, "Attention Hufflepuffs! Please come into the common room for a very important House meeting! Everyone must be there! Quickly please!"

Once she heard the audible groans and complaints of the students, she opened the door to the girls' dormitories and shouted the same thing. She muttered the counter charm for the Sonorus charm and waited for the students to assemble.

A few minutes later, the entire Hufflepuff house was congregated in the common room. Most of them looked annoyed and vaguely curious. A few of the first and second years looked scared. They were all clad in pajamas and looked exhausted.

Galena took a deep breath and began. This seemed harder than telling the other teachers, she thought. "I know none of you are happy about being woken up at this hour. But I have to inform you that there is a battle going on right now in this very castle."

Galena went on to explain that the headmaster had been killed and that someone was trying to bring back Voldemort. She explained that she was going to ward the common room and dormitories and that anyone who was of age could fight if they wanted to.

Every single seventh year and one sixth year who had just turned seventeen immediately ran to their dormitories to put on robes. They appeared minutes later, wands at the ready. Galena assured the younger students that they would be safe, and pushed open the portrait hole. The older students left and Galena followed. She muttered a few charms and wards that would protect the occupants of Hufflepuff.

Galena instructed the older students to make their way to the Entrance Hall and wait for her there. First, she had to ward the other common rooms. Off to Slytherin, she sighed. Even as Headmistress, Galena really didn't feel comfortable entering that particular common room.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Everyone gave a start as Liam burst into the room. He looked half mad as he lurched over to Valencia. She steadied Liam and guided him over to a chair, where he slumped, only half conscious. Valencia wished he hadn't come. Geneve would surely manipulate him into fighting against her, and she did not want to be forced into hurting him. But it seemed Liam had acted on impulse and had no idea what was going on or what he was going to do now. With a start, Valencia realized it was something Harry might have done. Valencia did not pause to think on this but turned back to Geneve and Marcellus. Geneve was looking at Liam with a curious look on her face. Not a good sign.

[choki]

There, the pensieve sat, mysterious yet alluring.
"You will find the right one..." Dumbledore said softly. Nikolaus did not look back. He had his eyes on a particular strand that seemed to be duller than the rest.
"How do you know..." Nikolaus swirled around to face Dumbledore. Instead of the portrait, he saw the corporeal body standing in front of him. It was Albus Dumbledore during his teens.
"Gellert! Look what I found!" said Albus excitedly, waving the book in his hands.
"Brilliant!" a voice came from behind him. Nikolaus turned around and was astounded by the resemblance of the teenager who just walked past him. That was when he knew he was within Dumbledore's long forgotten memories.

The pair never separated from the memories he was shown. They spent their times together, be it in the library, searching for books, or in the open field, practising their duel. It was hard to tell who was the better out of the two as they complement each other well.

But eventually, the difference between the two grew when their dreams became tainted with one's dark desire. A desire Nikolaus knew too well.
And then the fateful day mentioned by Aberforth came. The quarrel, the fight and everything went blur. Nikolaus looked around, surprised by the sudden haziness. The memories were fading, but as sudden as it came, everything resumed back to its original state. Then, a heartbreaking howl startled him. There they were, the two brothers clutching their dead sister with the younger one shouting madly at Albus.

The surroundings quickly shifted. Albus Dumbledore was no longer the young 18 year old teenage. He was alot older now. His journey around Europe, his quest to stop Grindelwald, the concluding battle between the two greatest wizards known at that time, all the events, one by one, unfolded right before his eyes, and then he saw a familiar face.

"Großvater?" Nikolaus gasped when he realised the man Dumbledore was talking to, was his grandfather.
"My brother and his wife told me to keep it a secret, my parents too... that man did so much evil but I believe he deserved the right to know," said Erich Herrmann, Nikolaus' grandfather. Dumbledore gave an assuring nod.
"Tell him that his grandson, the child of my brother and sister-in-law, is safe in our care. The child is named Axel." Nikolaus was utterly stunned when he heard his father's name being mentioned.

The scene quickly dissolved and was replaced by another. But the surrounding changed to a duller tone. They were at the infamous Nurmengard.
"Gellert..."
"Albus... my friend... what brought you here..."
"My first and last visit, old friend..." said Dumbledore, clearly depressed at the turnout which two best friends had became.
"Why my friend, why do you have to come..." said Grindelwald whose eyes avoided Dumbledore's.
"Axel, your grandson..."
"What?"
"You have a grandson. He is being taken care of by your in-laws, the Herrmanns." After a long talk following the revelation, the two had a teary hug. Nikolaus, upon the realisation that he was the great-grandson of Gellert Grindelwald, was dumbfounded.
"Take care, my old friend..." said Gellert as Albus left. This would be the last time the pair ever saw each other again. At the end of this memory, Nikolaus expected to return back to reality but there was still the one last final memory Albus kept for him.

This time, they were back to the early days of the pair.
"Is Axel a nice name?" Gellert asked, hoping to get a response from Albus who was engrossed in the books.
"What does it mean?" replied Albus, curious by the happy tone Gellert seemed to be in.
"Father of peace... it is a nice name... I shall use this name for my son in the future."
"Peace... indeed... it is a nice word"

And finally, what seemed like ages in the pensieve, quickly vanished and was replaced by the seemingly emptiness of room that had appeared to be grandiose in his mind, only moments ago.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve’s eyes fell on Liam as he raced into the room. She sighed, and pointed her wand at him. “Accio Liam!” she shouted, and he slingshot back from where Valencia had placed him. She pointed her wand at the table beside her, which he hit with a sickening crack and fell to the floor. Valencia took a careful step forward, her wand still ready; Geneve had her own wand defensively pointing at her. ‘I know I can’t harm you, and I know that you also know, I can’t harm him.” She said, as she pulled Liam’s head up with her free arm. Liam had a cut on his forhead that was starting to streak red down his face, and on Geneve’s face, a smaller, but similar cut was forming, and a tiny trickle of blood mimicked the stream on Liam’s face. “So, he must live, and he has a use for me. But you., you can rot in St. Mungo’s. I expect being completely without your magic will make you mad enough, but from what Marcellus has revealed, you have a web of memories so tangled in your soul that I expect being stripped of that… just might kill you. Tell me about the book, Valencia. “ And with that last sentence, Geneve shot an unforgiveable curse across the room, trying to bend Valencia to her will.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Valencia stepped to the side so quickly she was a blur. The curse whipped past, just missing her, and smashed a nearby cabinet.
"The book?" Valencia asked innocently. "I don't think there's any need for me to tell you anything. Surely you've already wheedled it out of my dear Grandfather. Then again," Valencia paused with false reconsideration, "Marcellus here is known for his mistakes and misinformation. Maybe you don't trust what he says to be true. Just like the fact that stripping me of my memories will not bring me maddness. I'm already half-mad from having them. What could taking them away do?" Valencia flicked a curse in Geneve's direction, not really expecting it to hit it's mark, just experimenting with the factors in this situation.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve crouched to the floor as Valencia's curse fired past her, and in one motion grabbled Liam and pulled him behind the teacher's desk. She knelt down, feeling him stirring. "Liam..." she whispered. She stared into his face. His eyes fluttered and he opened them. When he saw Geneve his eyes narrowed and he tried to shout and lifted his arms to strike her. She grabbed one arm, and then the other, and pushed her weight on him. "Stop it!" she hissed. They were nose to nose. "I'm sorry for calling you weak." she said, her eyes looking away for a moment. "The truth is, you have the potential to be more powerful than me. But I can't afford to let you reach that peak... unless you are on my side." Liam turned his face away from Geneve's. Geneve spoke in his ear, her voice less kind now, and very serious. "If you want her to live, Liam, if you want any part of her soul to survive this, you will join me. Oh.." she paused, as Liam stopped fighting her. "I see. How... touching." Geneve brushed her lips on Liam's ear, and he cringed. She leaned back and looked at him, he stayed on the floor, ignoring her. "Don't you see Liam? It is your destiny to rule by my side. Youth has more power than I ever realised. I will not make that same mistake again, as I did with Potter and his friends. Now stay put, if YOU want to survive this. " And she stood up and faced Valencia once more.

[*Riley*]

Liam began trembling all over, those words she whispered into his mind were like death notes, trying to strike hm down.
He sat up and he felt cold sweat drip from his forehead, he passed a shaking hand over his heart to find it was still beating. He felt like someone had frozen him and his heart had made him turn into an icycle.
He wanted power. Power to end this whole thing, no more than he wanted life, he wanted to help the evil that inhabited the very room he was in. He slowly arose from his position and when he finally stood tall he saw Geneve was a very different person; to look at and to talk to.
He examined his wand with his bleeding hand, and he noticed with satisfactin that Geneve's hand was pouring blood but she ignored it. Liam loved the fact that he was one with his mater-to-be.
He finally made his mind; who would want friendship over power ? Power was all that mattered and soon, the only one that would matter was the almighty Geneve, she would rule him and he would let her.
Liam stood tall next to Geneve facing Valencia. He saw the shock and hurt in her eyes but she quickly masked it with grimness.
"And now Valencia Marcellus, we have some serious business to attend to" said Geneve n a deadly voice.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve noticed Liam standing at her side and felt a surge of emotion clutch her heart. Liam put his hand in Geneve's right hand and lifted it to his lips and kissed it, still keeping his eyes on Valencia. As he did this, his wand rose as well. Together they stood before her, children to behold, but deadly darkness surrounded them. Liam's eyes had gone black too. Geneve suddenly pointed her wand at herself, or so it seemed. She was pointing at the potions carry case, and she muttered a spell, and it vanished.

In the Griffindor common room, the students still slumbered under Geneve's spell. The carry case had reappeared in the middle of the room, and as it appeared, the contents within it shattered and mixed, making a potent gas that drifted around the room and up the stairs. An image of Geneve formed in the smoke. It was this smoke that filled their lungs, preparing them for Geneve's spell of suggestion. "Know now, your youth is your greatest power. I come now to release it."

Geneve spoke these words as she stood in the potions room. Liam looked at her as she spoke with adoration on his face. When she had finished, she looked above her and around the room. "Ahh... the wards are still down in Hogwarts. What foolish person has not established that yet? oh.. your new headmistress thinks the children need protecting. Watch yourself Valencia, the children are mine." And she disapparated with Liam into Griffindor Tower, leaving a signature for Valencia to follow if she did choose.

[choki]

The silence that threatened to take one's breath away surrounded the room as neither of the two spoke. All of the previous scenes replayed continuously in his mind. After a long while, Dumbledore broke the silence.
"Which path will you choose?" Nikolaus remained silent as he stared into blankness.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve arrived in Griffindor tower to the students rising from the floor coughing on the fumes of the potion. More students were coming down the stairs, and soon the common room was filled with the full quota of Griffindor students. They stood before Geneve, attentive as if to a teacher.
"You have all come here to become fully qualified wizard's and witches. But I tell you know, you don't have to struggle under their rules any longer. You can have the power you work so hard for right now! It was always in you, and all it needed was to be released. They wanted you to be controlled and do things their way. We don't have to listen to them. Will you join me? Together we can have it all right now!" Geneve's voice was almost as intoxicating as the fumes from the potion. The students started to cheer and respond. Some were struggling with their thoughts, but they were too inexperienced to fight the suggestion.

Then Geneve felt something pull on her mind. Something dark. She turned her head and breathed deeply.
"What is it?" Liam asked
"Nicholas." Geneve breathed. She turned to Liam. "Stay here with the others, practice some spells, and if anyone shows resistance, deal with it."
"Where are you going?" Liam said.
"To find Nicholas. " Geneve spoke with her back to him. Liam grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around.
"He can never be as powerful as me." Liam said angrilly. Geneve reached up to his face, stroking it affectionately.
"Of course not. But if he gets powerful at all, and realised his potential, he could be a threat, my dearest. So.. I must find him now. I will return soon. " And she leaned forward and kissed him. He closed his eyes and stumbled back when she released him. Then, she disapparated to the Headmaster's office.

She said the password she had learned what seemed a lifetime ago, when she was only Geneve. She walked up the stair case and entered the room. "Nicholas, what troubles you?" She felt the child like heart in her chest go cold as the dark magic in the room clutched dangerously at her fragile body. She held herself awake only with the powerful darkness she herself possessed. Nickolaus, she thought, how dangerous you can you be.. I'm aching to know...

[*Riley*]

Liam stumbed backward as Geneve kissed him,a few first years sniggered and only when he gave them a deathly stare did they move to the other side of the room.
"Now" Lam said while tapping his side with his wand, "Anyone who shows resistance upon this trainng session will be dealt with most severely" he said,
He felt a tug, Geneve had found her target, and she was furious.
"Stupefy!" Liam screamed while poiting his wand at a seventh year. The girl immediately sprung to her feet and shouted 'Protego'.
"Good, good..." Liam said while glaring at the girl.
"Be grateful I didn't use an unforgivable. You know there is no defense for that?" Liam sneered.

[choki]

His mind snapped at the moment he heard the comment.
"What do you know..." His eyes darted furiously at the girl who just entered the room. The gravity of the atmosphere turned intense as the dark rising power the two held was gaining a upperhand against each other.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve took several more steps into the room. Then she noticed the portraits. "You!" yelled Severus Snape's portrait. Geneve squinted at him.
"Severus! Oh, you're still not mad about me killing you are you?" Geneve smiled widely at him.
"Tom." Dumbledore's voice spoke from over the desk. Geneve turned around, and folder her arms.
"Even in death you are so annoying." she scowled at him. She tilted her head. "It's not very nice to interupt someone's conversation. Nicholas is a big boy. He can take care of himself." Geneve opened her mouth and raised her wand, and the magic that expelled was so potent it rocked the room, so that all the picture frames shook on their hinges. The people inside them shook out of them, and the frames stood empty and dark.
"Ah." said Geneve, pulling a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Now where were we before we were so rudely interupted. I think you must know by now, I am Geneve, Voldemort's grand daughter, and one in the same." She bowed deeply and mockingly.

[*Riley*]

Liam continued his speech and several times people asled questions which he quickly answered and moved on.
"Now, an unforgivable spell is easy. You just have to really mean it" Liam instructed showing a first year that she was holding her wand backwards.
A loud running noise caugt Liam's attention and he spun around to see Dumbledore standing in the prtrait which hung above the fire.
"Liam, do not do this. Genve is giving Nikolaus her love" he said
Liam felt jealousy overwhelme him, "Leave you foolish old man!" Liam bellowed at Dumbledore.
He finally knew, Dumbledore had tried to make him jealous by poking his weakness; love.
"Nice try but I don't fall for such nonsense" he spat
"Accio Portrait!" Liam screamed, Dumbledore collapsed as the portrait flew through the air and landed in Liams hands.
"Goodnight" Liam said sarcasticaly.
Liam saw Dumbledore's eyes widen with fear as h extracted a knife from his pocket, Liam put the knife and dug deep into the canvas, immediately Dumbledore began sreaming in pain as Liam drew scars on his withered body.

[choki]

Without removing his hardened gaze at Geneve, Nikolaus spoke, "So... what do you want from me..."

"I could show you... your future..." Geneve replied, coolly. Though it cannot be seen, Geneve sensed the dark aura seeping out from Nikolaus was intensifying every moment. But she had nothing to fear.

"I have seen enough for today!" Nikolaus roared, his temperament was rising beyond his control. The magic flowing within him began to stir in an erratic manner. Geneve was curious. She had earlier sensed a disturbing dark magic and was intrigued by it. She needed to put a stop in this, before he could threaten her position- But if she could lure him towards her side...

"I can help in your desires..."

Then finally, the magic pushed to the brim, overflowed and sent a surge of wave across the room, radiating across the castle.