CHAPTER 1

Prison cells during the winter are extremely damp and smelly; especially the prison cell situated at the highest tower in Nurmengrad prison. The sole occupant of the prison however was staring blankly, irrespective of the cold and the dampness.

Gellert Grindelwald sighed….. after so many years in prison he didn't care for the cold, he had faced more cold in the German jungles, besides being a wizard always has distinct advantages such as….

He was interrupted from his ruminations when somebody suddenly rapped on the bars of the prison…..

"Visitor for you", said a guard, in German.

Grindelwald nodded, imperceptibly… He had a strong suspicion as to who the visitor was.

The guard returned almost immediately, the visitor following in tow. The visitor stares at Grindelwald for a long time while the guard leaves.

"Scared that I am going to die soon, boy?", cackled Grindelwald.

"Don't Flatter yourself",said the visitor in a low voice, in fluent German."You are going to die anyway one day, regardless of my wishes. I am trying to think"

"Now that would be a new thing for you, considering that you are a listener, not a thinker",said Grindelwald, trying to get under his skin.

"Is there any way to destroy them?", asked the visitor, completely ignoring Grindelwald's diatribe…

There was a pause, a deafening silence, almost suffocating in nature. The visitor waited, but after waiting for almost 10 minutes, he turns to walk away…

"There is always Fiendyfire…"

The visitor looks back and says in a deadpan voice, "Considering the fact that a wizard of your caliber can't control that spell, I am not foolish enough to try something as remotely dangerous as that….."then continues "Is there any other way?", a little bit of frustration seeping into his voice…

"Basilisk venom is powerful enough to destroy them, at least in theory…"

The visitor stalks towards Grindelwald and says in a barely controlled voice,"So you mean to say that from your aforementioned knowledge which you have gathered after living such an illustrious and long life, the only two options you can give me are the impossible ones?"

"Considering the fact that your father created more than one of them, which is almost impossible in itself, I Would say that an impossible question deserves an impossible answer….", countered Grindelwald, almost gleefully….

The visitor looks at Grindelwald for a long time before saying,"we are done here…..",and starts walking off before suddenly being interrupted

"Seven".

"What?"

"It is said to be the most powerful number both in numerology as well as in wizarding culture… both three and seven are considered very sacred numbers in the wizarding world…"Food for thought,"said Grindelwald in a serene smile….

The visitor looks at him again, before walking out…..

HPARSGDG

Selene Greengrass couldn't help but roll her eyes…

It was almost nearing 9:30, the train was supposed to depart at 10, and she had been waiting near the fireplace for a damn half an hour…

"Ugh", she thought, "Can't believe I will have to deal with more of these brats for an entire year"…

In spite of her irritation Selene Greengrass was proud; she was the first apprentice to be selected by Proffessor Severus Snape for higher studies in Potions Mastery; becoming a potions mistress had been her lifelong dream, and say what you would about the man Severus Snape was a damn good, if not the best Potions Master alive right now in Britain; Horace Slughorn might come in a close second, but since that man is a recluse anyway, he didn't count.

But gaining the role of an apprentice also meant doing the work of an Assistant Professor which is basically looking after the students of the class and also decreasing the workload of her guide, which was what she was dreading. Dealing with her youngest sister was already a chore, she was a real she-devil, she thought chuckling. Thank god her middle sister was more reserved…

As if on cue, both sisters started gliding down the stairways, and by gliding she meant exactly like the way all pureblood women start gliding on the floor as if the entire surface was frictionless. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that…

Daphne came to stand beside her, her expressionless mask of a face in place, being the Ice Queen of Hogwarts meant she has a reputation; if rumours were to be believed, she is also nicknamed the Ice Queen because of her almost accurate ability to freeze the balls of any irritating and obnoxious male student…..

"Need to learn how to do that, could be the Glacius charm; will come in handy that's for sure".

Beside Daphne, stood Astoria; unlike her elder sister, she was filled with a giddy excitement and was smiling, could be because this year Hogwarts would host the Triwizard Tournament after a long time and Selene would have to admit that she herself was also very excited…..

"Tori, would you please stop smiling like a loon and get to the floo, we are going to be late…", said Daphne in a bored voice

Tori looked at her angrily and said "I am not a loon, stop being a bitch already, school hasn't even started yet".

"ASTORIA…LANGUAGE", cried her mother, who had come down the stairs just then; Evelyn looked scandalized, "Apologise, now".

"She called me a loon"; "That's because you are smiling like one"; "And you are acting like a bitch";"No ,I am not"….

Selene standing at the side looked at the expansive foyer of the Greengrass Manor, trying to put it in her memory; she wouldn't be seeing her home for an year; then she shook her head, listening to them squabbling and their mother trying to put a stop to it; she then looked at the clock on the mantelpiece, it read 9:45…..

"Fuck; this is going to be a seriously long year"….

HPARSGDG

Harry Potter woke up, having dozed off….He was resting by leaning on his seat in the compartment… He was having strange dreams recently, the most prominent being the dream about that old man entering the room in that house and being suddenly killed by Wormtail with a killing curse….He couldn't forget that curse, that green light, the curse that defined him, made him from Harry Potter to The Boy-Who-Lived…..

But there were questions in Harry's mind, questions that he needed answers, questions that he didn't know who could answer….contrary to what Hermione believed Harry was quite smart, he knew that these dreams weren't normal; that these are real occurrences he was seeing; but if he was seeing stuff like that, then what did it mean?

Who was that old man? Where is that house? If wormtail is in that house then that means Voldemort must be there, and he must have been that voice which came out from behind that armchair…..but if voldemort was there then how did he reach there? His soul ( or that's what Harry believed, if that shit even had one) latched onto a body, how did it do that? How could a soul be so unstable, because if a soul was stable it wouldn't need to occupy another man's body like a creepy circus horror show, or just disappear when the body was destroyed; and who was that other man present, talking to the thing in the armchair? If it was one of Voldemort's followers then what was he planning?

"Harry?"

If they were planning something then he was definitely going to be involved; he was not being arrogant if he thought that Voldemort had almost an unhealthy obsession with him…..

"Harry, oh Harry?"

Then again if he was a dark lord and if he was defeated by a 1 year old kid who had no magical core, he would be seriously pissed…..oh great, if he was empathising with voldemort , that means this shit is seriously messed up….

"HARRY JAMES POTTER"

"huh, yeah Hermione?"

"Where were you?"

"Oh I was dreaming of the veelas at the Quidditch World Cup, you see…. They were truly goddesses, right Ron?"

"Yep, true"

"Stop Lying Harry, you were thinking about the dream again, weren't you?"

"NO no no, what would make you think that, I could have been dreaming of you , you know?"

Hermione, on hearing this, flushed scarlet, and Ron chuckled. Harry couldn't help but smile at her.

"Seriously Harry, were you dreaming again?"

Harry looked down, thinking about how to say it without worrying them and then finally sighed "Yes".

"You could always take a dreamless sleep potion, you know?"

"Maybe"

"Or you can go to Dumbledore", said Ron.

"Dumbledore already thinks that I am a trouble magnet, and besides he is the headmaster of Hogwarts, not my shrink…"

"Not your what?"

"Shrink, Psychiatrist, you know, Mind Doctors".

"You mean healers right?"

"What are…?"

But his questions were stopped when the compartment door opened and in came Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his two bodyguards.

"What do we have here? A scarhead, a weasel and a mudblood….League of losers, right here", he guffawed.

"Tell me Malfoy", said Harry," are you into boys?"

Ron's jaw dropped, while Hermione closed her mouth with her hand to stop giggling..

"Huh, what?"

"Are you gay, Malfoy?"

"No, stop saying stupid things Potter".

"Really, because last I checked for the past three years you are the one who has been following me, trying to get a rise out of me, thinking yourself to be my rival…. You know, I finally realised that you want my attention, and that maybe you are interested in me; are you?

No sound from Malfoy.

"Well if you don't want to say anything, let me say this to you; you are nothing, you are not my rival, and in your language, you are a slug to be scraped of my boot…So," he said, coming towards Malfoy and standing face to face" If you have nothing to say, nothing substantial or concrete, please stay away from this compartment before I make you".

"You think you are so smart Potter", snarled Malfoy," Well this year I will see how much attention you get once the Tournament begins….You are not special Potter, whatever you think you may be".

"What tournament?"

Malfoy looked flabbergasted…."You don't know….Oh Sweet Merlin, Weasley you don't know too", he couldn't help but laugh.

Ron stood up and drew his wand…"Explain what you just said Malfoy", said Ron, his face growing red.

"Ron", warned Harry.

"It's funny Weasley, but then again considering who your father is, I would be surprised if the ministry would even consider informing him of such a monumental decision, after all The Office of Muggle Affairs is a joke….who cares about mudbloods anyways?"

"Ron, No…." warned Harry

But before Ron could even fire a spell, the carriage door closed right on Malfoy's faces…Malfoy getting hit on his nose.

Both boys turned back to see Hermione, lowering her wand. She looked at them and said "I think we owe ourselves to having a peaceful year, and the first order of business would be to ignore whatever the git says, don't you think so?"

Both of them looked at each other, turned to her and said "Yup", popping the p.

"I thought so", she said smiling.