A Young Wizard's Journey - Goblet of Fire

Attempted Slander

Y/N awoke the following morning before all of his friends. They'd all drifted off together in the different armchairs and sofa in front of the fire. None of them seemingly wanted to be the first to rise and move away.

He awoke with such a vicious burning in his stomach that it took him a few seconds to quickly confirm that nothing was actually wrong. Then he recognised the feeling. Hatred, anger, a need to do something.

He pried himself gently out of Hermione's arms and began his trip across the Common Room, out of the portrait hole and through the castle, his mind wandering backwards.

At the start of the school year, right when all of this began. He'd been taking issue with the idea of using the Imperius curse, a necessary evil. Though, he swore he wouldn't touch any of the others. Then last night, without even thinking about it, he used the Cruciatus curse on Caroline.

It had all seemed so cut and dry back then. There were the good guys, and the spells they didn't use. And the bad guys, with the spells they did. But now Y/N had taken several of "the bad guys" spells. Snow's illusions and the Cruciatus curse. And what if this is what would be necessary to win?

Caroline had killed Ves. An innocent creature, with no regard for her life. She'd even laughed once the owl had perished. And continued laughing whilst Y/N took the minute to grieve for his fallen friend. And in retaliation, Y/N had fought back so violently he had not only conjured magic he'd never even heard of before, but completely shattered Caroline's arm.

Then... he'd tortured her before trying to kill her.

He wondered how he'd have felt if he'd taken her life. Right now, he felt angry. Angry that he'd let Snow get the drop on him. Especially with his sense. Snow shouldn't have been able to do that, but he clearly hadn't been thinking straight.

But what if he had killed her? Would that bring satisfaction? Would he be able to mourn in peace? Or would he still continue on this vendetta?

He was only fourteen. Doing things that wizards three times his age couldn't and hadn't achieved. Yes, the Dominators were allowing him to find them, but he was winning. Dracius had gone down almost effortlessly and whilst Caroline did begin to win, she too fell prey to Y/N's talent and rage. How much further was this going to go? He still had three full years of magical education left, and that wasn't including the few months remaining for this year.

He arrived at his destination. The training room. Practically his second home for this entire year. He gave the password and strode inside. The dummies wheeled into position at once, almost as though they'd been waiting for him. Y/N's wand shot out of his holster.

A necessary evil.

'Imperio.'

The dummy span to face one of the others alongside it, which promptly shattered, the pieces slowly gathering to reform.

'Sometimes, you need to take a step down the wrong path, to make sure that you know that it is the wrong path,' said a voice.

Y/N wheeled around just as the door closed behind-

'Professor Snape?'

'I haven't properly looked at this room,' said Snape, glancing around at the arranged spellcasting areas. 'The headmaster has covered most of the basic needs. Cushioned areas, things to fight back, I can see how you've managed to get so powerful. Your mother would be proud of you.'

Y/N's mouth was very dry. He stowed his wand.

'You told me, the night that you caught me going to see Hermione back in my second year, that you knew her,' said Y/N.