The Fall of Dumbledore: The White King

Ascension

In the aftermath of the Second Task's grim culmination, Hades found himself accelerating his plans for establishing a proper elite guard befitting his newfound supremacy. The time for incremental maneuverings had passed—recent events demanded he consolidate his power base with only the most devoted and capable allies.

Draco was the first he summoned to the manor late one evening, the blond's pale eyes widening in surprise at finding the opulent chamber transformed. Hades stood before a broad marble plinth, a shallow basin filled with an ominously glowing crimson liquid at its center. Arcane runes and sigils had been meticulously etched along the plinth's edges, glyphs of power humming with barely contained metaphysical potential.

"You asked to see me?" Draco ventured, shooting a wary look at the eerie setup.

Hades inclined his head fractionally. "Indeed. Tonight marks a seminal juncture in my ascendance, dragon. One that will require unprecedented loyalty and fortitude from those I would elevate by my side."

He extended an upturned palm toward the glowing basin. "This bath holds the distilled quintessence of the most exalted of pure-blood dynasties, preserved and sanctified over generations of occult practices. Those who partake will be forever bound by ancient covenants and harness energies exceeding mortal comprehension."

A tremor passed through Draco at those weighty words, gray eyes locked on that shimmering crimson pool with trepidation and longing writ across his chiseled features. After a moment's pause, he stepped forward and grasped Hades' hand in a grip that far exceeded any physical joining.

"I'm with you," he said simply, conviction thrumming in every syllable. "To whatever end."

Hades' lips curved in a darkly approving smile, and he guided Draco to the plinth's edge to begin their profane baptism.

One by one, the rest of the most elite Slytherin circle were initiated—Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, and finally even Hades' father Severus Snape himself. Each took part in the unholy blood-bonding ritual, irrevocably sealing their allegiance to the dark prince's indomitable will with mind, body, and metaphysical essence.

When the last sacred sigils had been inscribed into their very souls, the hand-picked cadre stood arrayed before their lord in a tight circle, power thrumming through the etheric threads pulling them into an unbreakable synchronicity. Hades surveyed each taut face with glittering emerald eyes. This was now HIS coven, his inner coterie ready to be loosed upon the world at last.

"This marks the genesis of a new era," he intoned, inflecting every syllable with the weight of an inviolable covenant. "We are the vanguard of the old ways reborn, protectors of our magical heritage. Through us, the very pillars of this decadent society shall shake and crumble to make way for the preservation of our sacred traditions."

His handsome features hardened into planes of uncompromising severity and majesty.

"Our cause is nothing less than the absolute remolding of the wizarding world in our exalted image. No compromise, no restraint from the fullest expression of our dominion over the lesser breeds," he declared, emerald gaze sweeping over each enraptured face. "Unshakeable loyalty, forged and tempered by the darkest of arts and most occluded arcanum, shall be the foundation upon which we elevate."

Raising his arms in a benediction, dark energy crackled like incandescent tendrils through his robes from some etheric wellspring.

"Who among you would proclaim fealty to my unholy covenant? Who would be exalted as princes and generals astride the new order descending upon this accursed world?"

As one, the circle immediately sank to one knee with cultish fervor, each slashing their palms to renew their vows in mingling streams of blood and viscera.