The disappearance of Fleur Delacour during the Second Task had cast a pall over Hogwarts, but behind closed doors, the true implications were being discussed in hushed tones. Several nights after the tragedy, Hades made his way to a disused classroom in one of the castle's more isolated towers.
The heavy oak door creaked open at his approach, revealing the imposing figure of Mad-Eye Moody silhouetted in the flickering flames of a handful of braziers. The ex-Auror's magical azure eye swiveled to fix Hades with a penetrating stare.
"Come in, lad," Moody's gruff voice beckoned. "We've got business to discuss."
Hades strode into the dimly lit room, unfazed by the ominous atmosphere. Ancient tomes and strange artifacts littered the broad desk before Moody.
"I expect you have thoughts on what happened with the Delacour girl?" Moody asked, his normal eye glinting with dark intensity.
Hades paused for a moment before responding. "It was clearly an accident. An unforeseen complication, nothing more."
The corner of Moody's mouth turned up in a parody of a smile. "Is that so? Well, our...mutual benefactor may see things differently."
A flicker of apprehension passed across Hades' face before his expression cooled once more. "I await further instructions then. This changes things."
"Indeed it does, lad." Moody leaned across the desk. "The plan accelerates from here. You would be wise to embrace what is to come. Darker forces are aligning."
Hades met the ex-Auror's stare levelly, though he could sense there were larger machinations afoot than even he was aware. "I'm listening."
Over the next hour, Moody laid out a new set of directives, allegedly from their "mutual benefactor." Hades committed every detail to memory, his mind already strategizing how to maintain his position despite this unanticipated upheaval.
When they were finished, Hades rose to leave, his emerald gaze inscrutable. "I will proceed as instructed. Unless there is anything else?"
Moody grunted. "That's all for now. But stay ready, lad. The game's afoot now, whether we will it or not."
With a curt nod, Hades turned on his heel and quit the shadowy chamber, mind already parsing the new realities before him. While Delacour's death had been an unintended tragedy, he could not deny the sense of darker forces aligning in its wake.
Dumbledore and the champions were now acutely vulnerable in ways they could not fathom. And Hades fully intended to exploit every advantage that afforded as the ominous plan accelerated around them all.
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The Fall of Dumbledore: The White King
FanfictionThe Boy Who Lived is a well-known tale. Because that's what it is, a tale. The boy who lived never actually survived Voldemort. He never existed in the first place. The boy known as 'Harry James Potter' is actually 'Hades Evan Snape.' A product of h...
