𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒽 | 𝒟.𝑀.

28 | ﴾ Draco's Demise ﴿

A tense atmosphere clung to the air like an invisible static. The once eye catching castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in ruins, having been in such a state for years and falling apart more so each day that passed by. Hovering possessively above and twisting in the dark clouds, the skeletal symbol of Voldemort loomed in the atmosphere.

Theodore Nott sat on the bottom side of the viaduct bridge with his legs dangling precariously in the air, thoroughly enjoying such a gloomy day. With practiced ease, he had climbed out of a gap between two wooden supports and down the cedar clad side, then swung to the underbelly of the structure and sat on a thick beam in the very center of the spandrel.

In his resentful time spent as a student at the institution, it had been one of his favorite spots to escape from petulant peers and eavesdrop on other's private conversations. Many students had found solace in confiding their personal lives to one another on the bridge, and it was an absolute magnet for useful information to use and manipulate those around him.

He watched as a piece of wood from the abutment broke off and flung itself in a violent spiral down to the river below, which bled out of the Black Lake like a thick vein. Harry Potter was scheduled for death the following day via a ritualistic witch burning. The sound of shouting Death Eaters and the irritating slamming of the stake construction rung out unimpeded as a signal of the war's coming termination.

Amusingly, a boy with silly golden curls and a bizarre French accent had been caught creeping around the property line that day and hideously sacrificed. Well dressed, clearly of a high class, and with utter shock as though he had just wandered by accident into the area, he had begged pathetically for his life in front of the dark lord before his inevitable demise. He had reached longingly and helplessly for the Malfoy girl that was so famously known as the dark lord's now prized possession, which had peaked Theodore's interest substantially.

During the unexpected gathering Theodore had kept his Death Eater mask in place, watching with brightened eyes as Draco was forced to publicly murder the pathetic Frenchman. He had wandered, circling silently along the back wall and trained his eyes on the girl with flowing white hair and pitch black eyes.

While she had likely considered herself to be of little target in the exchange, he had kept his gaze tacked to her facial expression. If one was cunning enough, one could read visible distress below her attempts to conceal it. She knew the boy who had been sacrificed, and it had been notably upsetting for her.

Afterwards he had gone to the bridge to silently contemplate. He had never been a boy to feel feeble emotions such as loneliness or attachment, bothered not by a smidge that his father had left immediately for some unexplained business and with no affectation.

Depending on how the next day went, he would then decide how to move forward in his life with a higher degree of control and authority. His focus was, and always had been, to insert himself into the Department of Mysteries. Whether or not that was under the dictatorship of Lord Voldemort was still to be determined. Much like the topics of physics amongst muggles, the subjects of Xylomancy, Ancient Runes, Ancient Studies, Earth Magic, and Astronomy had been Theodore's strengths. He had not only excelled, but achieved top O.W.L's in each subject.

The mystery of the universe, ranging from it's basic functioning to it's most complex concepts had always driven his mind. He wanted to comprehend in every possible format just exactly where magic was derived from and how it could be wielded, shaped, and employed.

He leaned his long brown mop of hair against a pine support beam and dragged carelessly on a cigarette in his Death Eater robes as the sun began to set.

Suddenly, and to his great amusement, the loud clapping of shoes on the ancient stonework above drew his rich amber eyes upwards.

The breathy and antagonistic voice of Draco Malfoy reverberated off of the interior of the linear structure, "What did he see in your mind?"