My Dark Lord

Chapter Seventeen: Rebirth

Halloween Morning -- Slytherin Girls' Dormitory

I awoke before the others.

For once, not because of stress. Not from dreams tangled with riddles and dark forests. No... this morning, I awoke with purpose pulsing through my veins.

It was Halloween.

The most powerful night of the year. The night when boundaries blurred-- between worlds, between forms, between what one was and what one could be.

Tonight, I would cross a threshold.

Tonight, I would become more.

I slipped out of bed with an uncharacteristically soft smile, careful not to disturb Eileen, whose dark curls were sprawled across her pillow like seaweed. I felt a flicker of fondness. Guilt, perhaps. I had kept too many secrets from her. But this one-- I couldn't share.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

By breakfast, the castle was awash in festive splendour.

Pumpkins hovered above the long tables, charmed to flicker like lanterns. Bats flitted in swirling formations along the enchanted ceiling. The smell of cinnamon and roasted squash clung to every breath.

But I barely tasted it.

My mind was already at midnight.

Still, I let the day carry me like a leaf caught in the tide, letting each moment pass deliberately, deliberately... building toward something larger.

And then-- Transfiguration.

Professor Vector had been assigned to supervise in Professor Dumbledore's absence, and she had clearly decided to impress.

"Today," she announced, "we'll be attempting cross-species transformation. Specifically: turning a beetle into a button, and a hedgehog into a pincushion. It requires intense focus and intent. Control the mind, and the body will follow."

I could barely sit still.

Every nerve in me felt tuned to a higher pitch. Tonight I would become magic. But for now-- I would prove it.

"Miss Grindelwald," Vector called, "demonstrate, if you please."

I stepped forward, wand at the ready, breath steady. The hedgehog quivered in its cage. I met its eyes with a silent apology.

"Mutatio punctatus."

The creature shimmered—its spines retracting into orderly little pins, its soft body stiffening, cloth wrapping tight around it.

A perfect transformation.

The class gasped.

Vector blinked. "That... was flawless."

I smiled, pride blooming in my chest.

"Yes, it was."

From the back, Tom's eyes were on me.

Cool. Appraising.

Eileen whispered across the table as I returned to my seat.

"Show-off."

"Jealousy's unbecoming, Eileen."

"No," she said with a smirk. "You're glowing. What are you so pleased about? Halloween sweet-induced high?"

I glanced at her-- then at Tom-- who hadn't looked away.

I should've stayed silent.

I should've smiled and moved on.