The Articles and Arrest

Hogwart Grounds

It wasn't until nearly a week and a half after since Aries last attended Care of Magical Creatures that he decided to attend the class once more. He could see the uses the class provided but the half-giant's atrocious accents and pure idiocy was rather a turn off for him. He had snooped some information from the minds of fellow students and concluded that there was something seriously wrong with Hagrid. Apparently, the man had a tendency to get a massive boner for dangerous creatures. The bigger and nastier the creatures are, the better.

Many would argue that peeking into another person's mind is the highest form of breach in privacy, but he could care less. He highly doubted that Hagrid knew the concept of Occulemency, much less its existence. If people had problem with others rummaging through their head, then they should've learn to protect their mind. The world is a cold and harsh place, where only the strong had what it takes to survive. It wasn't his fault that these imbeciles didn't have what it takes to learn Occulemency, or know of its existence.

Ignorance wasn't an excuse.

If they truly valued their privacy, and in some cases their survival, they'd learn it.

Rumors weren't an accurate source of information, thus the Denarian decided to glimpse into the half-giant's mind discreetly to confirm the sources. From what he'd discovered, the man had quite a record for making mind-boggling decisions.

Four years ago, he decided to raise a baby dragon in his wooden hut and had a three-headed dog, a cerberus, named Fluffy as a pet. What kind of an idiot decides to raise a fire-breathing dragon in a wooden hut? Or for that matter, how could anyone adore a god-damn three-head cerberus as an adorable puppy?

The next year was even more bizarre. The Chamber of Secrets had been reopened and Hagrid had been arrested because he was blamed as the culprit the last time it had been opened. Apparently, he had a pet Acromantula named Aragog, which was accused of being the "monster" of the Chamber and was promptly released into the Forbidden Forest. Over the years, it had grown into a gigantic size proportional to a small elephant. The spider eventually formed its own colony in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, which was right next to Hogwarts.

And just last year, he brought out a hippogriff for third year classes. Hippogriffs were notorious for their strong pride and easily offended, that even fully grown wizards had trouble dealing with them. Their size, combined with razor sharp claws and beak, made them formidable creatures. Hagrid thought it was a brilliant idea to bring one for a class of thirteen year old, snotty nosed brats. Naturally, it had backfired spectacularly when the idiot, then-thirteen-year-old-Malfoy, insulted the proud beast and was injured by its claws.

This year, the lumbering oaf came up with yet another brilliant idea. He decided to crossbreed a fucking manticore with a fire crab (which the very concept was just mind-boggling), resulting in an entirely new species of critters he named Blasted-Ended Skrewt. Aries didn't know or care about the Wand-Wizarding world (or the entire world for the matter), but he knew there was a law called Ban on Experimental Breeding. While fire crab was a docile, albeit somewhat dangerous creature, manticore was classified as a highly vicious creature due to its natural aggressiveness and toxic poison. He very much doubted the Ministry of Magic, or I.C.W. for that matter, would allow the half-giant to create such creatures. And best of all, he was actively introducing the dangerous critters to a class of fourteen year olds and above.

He had witnessed many incredible acts of stupidity throughout his short but full life, with most of them coming from the Wand-Wizards. But Hagrid had earned a special place in the Hall of Stupidity with his decisive decision making that defied any understandings. Despite his job as a Ground Keeper and a newly appointed professor, he seemed actively trying to murder his classes (albeit accidentally and unintentionally) instead of teaching the students. The irony made him laugh until his ribs hurt. Aries knew it was only matter of time before a student was seriously injured by a Blasted-Ended Skrewt, if not, then by a bigger, nastier, and meaner creature Hagrid would be sure to bring out eventually.

He couldn't wait for the inevitable accident to happen.

"Alrigh' gather around!" Hagrid boomed. "They're called Blasted-Ended Skrewts. Yeh'll be feeding 'em frog livers and some ot'er things today."

"I don't remember any creatures called Blasted-Ended Skrewts." A Gryffindor said with a slight frown.

"That's cause I just crossbred 'em recently." Hagrid said as he rubbed his massive hands.

"And what did you crossbreed with?"

"Manticores and fire crabs." The half-giant said proudly causing quite few of them to pale.

The class blanched when they looked more closely at the crates.

Aries gave a flat stare at the skrewt close to him. They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about two feet long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small "phut," it would be propelled forward several inches.

"Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things - I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer - I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake -just try 'em out with a bit of each."

"No fucking way that I'm doing that shit." Aries muttered sourly as another skrewt's tail let out a small explosion.

'Remind me again why I can't just kill them and be done with it?' He asked exasperatedly.

'I'm sure butchering and burning them would be a great way to earn brownie points with Dumbledore. He'll be so impressed that he'll give you a boy scout badge for being an animal lover as well as traumatizing the entire class with blood and gore.' Meciel replied dryly.

'Your sarcasm is noted.' He snorted.

'Sarcasm aside, we've been pushing Dumbledore quite a lot recently. He is very powerful and it'd be prudent for us to not push him too much.' Meciel advised with a serious voice. 'He may have great patience but even he has his limits. I don't want to find out just how far we can push him.'

'Oh c'mon Meciel. Things I did were totally justified on our parts!' Aries grunted. 'The Goblet thing was just definitely not my fault. They should know better than to try bind a demon into a magical contract. Especially an unwilling one.'

'And the others?'

'Snape was being a douche. Their Ministry is full of shit and you know I hate it when others try to control me. Lucy and Purebloods should learn to not pick on someone who'll pick them right back.' He finished with a huff.

The rest of the class, especially the Slytherins, looked extremely reluctant to go near the Blasted-Ended Skrewts, much less feed it. The Gryffindors, who cared for Hagrid and saw him as "one of them," grudgingly picked up long forceps and used them to pick up frog livers and other nasty looking things. The Slytherins, on the other hand, looked repulsed by the mere idea of feeding the ugly beasties.

"I don't even know why I'm bothering to take the class with this oaf teaching..." One of the Slytherin boys muttered mutinously.

The Gryffindors scowled at their silver and green counter parts but couldn't come up with decent reproach. It was rather disgusting and they'd have preferred not to deal with the skrewts at all.

Aries watched with distaste as the class picked up the frog livers, ant eggs, and bits of grass snakes to feed the skrewts. It was very nauseating and he could practically feel the disgust rolling off from each and every students.

"Yeh' alright 'Arry?"

Even before the half-giant could finish his sentence, the Denarian had spun around and pointed his wand up at Hagrid's face. The half giant looked startled at how fast he had acted and stumbled back a step.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." Aries scowled at him. "It'd be a one sure way to get your head blown off."

Hagrid stammered for an apology.

"Whatever." Aries grunted. "Now, what do you want?" He asked bluntly.

"We-Well, I was wondering why yeh were doing at back of ter class."

"There is no way I'm going near those disgusting things." He flatly responded.

Hagrid fidgeted uneasily from his piercing glare and almost looked dejected at his distaste but the Denarian couldn't bring himself to care.

"Tell me Hagrid, what's the point of them? What do they do?" Aries asked ruthlessly as his cold eyes glared at the black, beetle-like eyes of the half giant.

Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there was a few seconds' pause, then he said roughly, "Tha's next lesson. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today."

Aries ignored his feeble excuse and attempt at dodging the question.

"Do you even have a license, or even a permission, to create these skrewts?" He asked archly.

Hagrid fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Judging by your fidgeting and silence, I'd say you don't have it."

"Well.. I did ask for ter permission to ter Ministry..." The half giant trailed off.

"And do they know you are introducing a crossbreed between a manticore and a fire crab to a class of fourteen and fifteen year olds?" Aries asked as he arched on eyebrow.

"They won't 'arm yeh-"

"Right." He retorted disbelievingly. "That's exactly why they have tails that explode, shooting fire at the students."

By now, their argument, or rather Aries giving a thorough chew out to Hagrid, was attracting the attention of rest of the class.

"I thought it'll be good idea ter raise 'em yerselves." Hagrid defended feebly as his eyes grew watery. "Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

'Don't tell me he's nothing more than a big cry baby.' Aries thought exasperatedly as he spotted tell-tale sign of tears.

'Some people are just weak minded.' Meciel snorted unimpressed. 'Just goes onto show that maturity doesn't always depend on the age.'

"And I assume that it'd be a year-long project?"

Hagrid just nodded.

"You actually thought that it'd be a good idea to raise these ugly critters?" Aries deadpanned. "Not to mention how dangerous they'd probably turn out to be considering they're manticores' offspring?"

By now, the entire class had stopped what they were doing as they stared at the spectacle. It was quite the sight. While Aries was taller than most of his classmates, he still only reached up to Hagrid's chest. Despite being taller than him, Hagrid seemed to flinch and fidgeted like a child before a reprimanding parent. Slytherins muttered and snickered at the sight heedless of glares the Gryffindors gave them.

"What were you thinking?" Aries snapped. "Wait, don't tell me. You didn't think."

"They weren't dangerous ter me." He mumbled.

"Of course they weren't." Aries sneered. "You're a half giant, and therefore, the creatures you brought didn't pose much threat to you. But you're forgetting that students are humans, and they are fragile and so easily broken."

The Slytherins smirked. Finally, someone was stepping up and pointing out the flaws to the oaf. Sure, Hagrid had skills with animals but his teaching skill was decidedly third rate.

Hagrid stayed silent and gloomily looked down at his feet.

"I highly doubt there are any Blasted-Ended Skrewts out in the world which makes me wonder why the class is even learning about them in the first place." He snorted.

Without further words, Aries turned on his heels and walked back toward the castle. Leaving behind a silent class, again.

Slytherins glanced at one another and shrugged. Angelos was right. The class was suppose to prepare them for the world but seeing as the only skrewts in the world are found inside the crates, it was highly unlikely that they'd come across a skrewt anywhere. And besides, they'd rather not deal with such disgusting creatures if they can avoid it. They returned the equipment and picked up their bags and left. Leaving sounded much better option than standing awkwardly or feeding disgusting things to equally disgusting creatures. The Gryffindors looked uncomfortably at one another and at Hagrid, before silently departing like their silver and green counterparts.

Some of them sadly looked back as they approached the castle and could only see as the figure of half giant grew smaller and smaller.

.oOo.

The Great Hall

Needless to say, Aries rapidly became the school's sole focus once more. It was quite amusing; the Gryffindors seemed to glare at him fiercely as if wishing that he'd drop dead. The Slytherins, particularly the purebloods, alternated between looking amused and terrified by him. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, on the other hand, were more reserved. However, he did make a good point. Hagrid had rather strong obsession with dangerous creatures. The last year's incident with hippogriff was still fresh in their minds.

As for Hagrid, he looked more subdued whenever Aries saw him. The half giant rarely ate in Great Hall now and seemed to be stuck inside his wooden hut most of the times. Potter and his cohorts sent him particularly nasty glare at him whenever they saw him but refused to draw their wands. The beat down he gave them previously seemed to have ingrained at least a sense of caution in their minds although the red headed idiot, Ronald Weasley, sometimes had to be held back physically.

Professors hadn't taken kindly when they learned of the incident. Dumbledore just gave him I'm-disappointed-in-you-look whenever he saw him while McGonagall made him stay behind after a class and exploded at him, giving a severe tongue lashing at him until he snapped back at her rudely and told her to go screw herself and left the classroom after blowing off the door on his way out. After that, the professors knew better than to reprimand him.

Regardless of what others thought of him, Aries sauntered into the Great Hall after usually waking up late. The breakfast was already halfway over and he noticed that they seemed rather excited judging by the way most of them were hunched together as if in an important conversation. Mentally eye rolling at the stares he received, he lazily strutted to the Slytherin table as his pimp cane made clank sound every time it hit the ground. He exchanged customary morning sneers with the pureblood and took particularly vindictive pleasure at the anger shown on the pale face of Malfoy.

"-told you that he's a dangerous degenerate..."

"Can't believe that he actually attacked her."

His sensitive ears easily picked up the mutterings around him but none dared to meet him in the eyes. The newspaper seemed to be in possession of every student and judging by the way they intently focused on it and occasional pointing toward his way, it wasn't hard to deduce that the newspaper was the source of consternation.

"Hey you." Aries drawled to the nearest Slytherin.

The Slytherin in question flinched and almost leaped out of his seat when he realized the undisputed King of Slytherin focused on him.

"Y-Yes?" He stuttered. He may be older than Angelos but he was too terrified of him to oppose him. The way Angelos decimated the purebloods was still fresh in the minds of Slytherin house.

"Give me that newspaper." Aries commanded.

The Slytherin boy hastily complied with the order and hurriedly moved away to the other part of table.

'You have them scared out of their wits.' Meciel mused.

'As they should be.'

The Denarian quirked an eyebrow as he scanned the front page of the Daily Prophet. It seemed that it was a special edition and printed out two stories.

The Daily Prophet

Special Edition

Aries Angelos: The Next Dark Lord?

By Rita Skeeter

Just yesterday, this reporter had the pleasure of attending the Weighing of the Wand ceremony. As many of you know, Weighing of the Wand has been a tradition almost as old as the Triwizard Tournament. Despite being newly dubbed as the Tetra-school Tournament, the judges decided to keep the ceremony to prevent any cheats. The ceremony's intention is to make sure the champions' wands are tempered with to give unfair advantage. One of the Champions, Aries Angelos, formerly known as Aries "Harry" James Potter, soon proved himself to be a quite disturbing individual.

As you remember, he first revealed his existence on the Halloween night nearly a month ago when he sneaked inside the Hogwarts and destroyed the Goblet of Fire. Not only did he destroy the precious historical artifact, he endangered the lives of student population and the foreign guests when the goblet exploded, which ended up destroying the fabled ceiling of the Great Hall (later fixed by the Ministry workers and school professors). He was then summarily sorted into Slytherin despite his family history, making him the first Potter to be sorted into the House of Snakes.

From what this reporter had been able to find out, he had a rather violent confrontation with the Ministry, involving Minister Fudge, Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, Head of the D.M.L.E. Amelia Bones, and Head Aurors Rufus Scrimgeour and Frank Longbottom. The exact nature of the meeting was unclear but use of force was clearly involved.

However, it wasn't until the Weighing of the Wand ceremony that revealed how violent and disturbed he was. Despite making a simple request for an interview, Aries Angelos reacted with violence and attacked this reporter! Not only did he physically assault a reporter, he broke my wrist and cracked several of my ribs! As for the headmaster Dumbledore, he didn't even see fit to give him any punishment whatsoever, again. Meaning that it's not the first time he blatantly disregarded the rules in such manner.

When his wand was being examined by the wandmaker Garrick Ollivander, it was revealed that his wand was deteriorating because of his descent into Dark Magic. In the rare cases in which the wand begins to deteriorate, it's because the owner no longer is found worthy by the wand. Aries Angelos' wand was revealed to be more suited toward the Light Magic, but because of his dark tendencies, it was rejecting him. For a further shock, Aries Angelos freely admitted before the gathered champions and judges that he preferred Dark Magic.

I must implore the Ministry to act and lock him up in Azkaban before his destructive nature harms any more of our society. After all, if he can assault others at whim without any punishment, then how far will he go before he is stopped?

With burning need to determine his threat, I was able to gather some disturbing information regarding him.

It was heavily hinted that he was the one who was responsible for what is now known as Quiddditch Massacre this summer. As you recall, numerous Death Eaters were found dead this summer during the Quidditch World Cup. The investigation revealed that judging by the way Death Eaters were found, Dark Arts likely had been used by unknown assailant(s). The Ministry had declared the one responsible to be a threat to the public and have announced a bounty on the assailant.

If Aries Angelos is indeed the assailant responsible for such massacre, then Hogwarts is clearly in danger from within. I can only hope that the mad dog is put down before any more casualties happen.

For the history of the Triwizard Tournament turn to page 2

For Weighing of the Wand turn to page 3

For Quidditch Massacre turn to page 4.

'Well, looks like Skeeter isn't wasting any time.' Meciel chuckled.

'Oh look, there is another one.' Aries hummed.

The Daily Prophet

Special Edition

15 Pureblood Heirs and Heiresses Hospitalized

By Rita Skeeter

As many of you know, Aries Angelos, formerly Aries "Harry" James Potter was sorted into Slytherin when he enrolled into Hogwarts. Making him the first Potter ever to be sorted into Slytherin. However, immediately upon his sorting, he's shown to have been disrupted and highly unstable individual.

"He blatantly disregards the rules and even attacked Professor Snape!" Flora Carrow, a 5th year Slytherin exclaimed.

Through interviews with other students, it has been confirmed that he indeed attacked a Hogwarts professor, in front of an entire class no less. Not only did he attack the potion's professor, he humiliated him as well.

The Potion Master Severus Snape was unavailable for comments.

"Even though he attacked a professor, Dumbledore let him get away without any punishments." Draco Malfoy, 4th year Slytherin commented.

It makes me wonder just what kind of institution headmaster Dumbledore is running. Student blatantly attacking a professor would result in immediate expulsion from the school as well as charges on assault and serious punishment. With the headmaster clearly not doing anything, students couldn't even turn to a professor for help. After all, if the headmaster allowed the deviant to get off the hook without any repercussion, what could the professors do? And thus, the Slytherin house as a whole, led by Draco Malfoy (4th year), Atticus Carrow (5th year), Maximus Lestrange (5th year), and other pureblood heirs and heiresses confronted Aries Angelos about his behavior.

"As heirs and heiresses of the Noble Houses, we felt that it was our duty to correct any wrongdoings in school so we may set forth an example for others to follow." The Lestrange heir explained.

"We want to show the society that as future leaders of prominent families, we will not tolerate such misdemeanor." Theodore Nott, 4th year Slytherin added.

Despite their noble cause, Aries Angelos retaliated with unnecessary violence and injured all of them. All of them suffered heavily but Pansy Parkinson, heiress of Noble House of Parkinson, and Atticus Carrow, heir of Noble House of Carrow, were seriously injured and had to be transferred to St. Mungos for further treatment. When the parents of the injured children demanded that Aries Angelos punished, Dumbledore brushed aside their demands. Giving even more privilege to the delinquent.

And in a shocking turn of events, it was revealed that Aries Angelos is a Parslemouth! He even has a Diamondback snake as a familiar. Diamondback is a one of the rare breeds of magical snakes with extremely potent venom that could kill a man within few minutes of injection. Upon further research, it was revealed that Aries Angelos used his parsletongue to command the snakes to bite the heirs and heiresses.

"It was just terrifying." One of the anonymous Slytherin said. "It was like watching You-Know-Who."

"I heard strange hissing noise coming out of his mouth before the snakes bit them." Another Slytherin said terrified. "He had already defeated them but ordered the snakes he conjured to bite them for more pain and humiliation."

Now the entire house is afraid of going against him as he practically bullies everyone with iron fist. The school is meant to be safe environment where our children can learn and grow. However, with delinquent such as Aries Angelos bullying the entire house, Hogwarts had become a place of despair for young children. With the headmaster doing nothing and the professors unable to help the students. One must wonder the eerie similarity between Aries Angelos and the Dark Lord. They were both Slytherins and Parslemouths, and used brutality against everyone who stood in their way.

I must implore the Ministry to act before it's too late. It's our duty to protect our children and if the headmaster refuses to act, than the Ministry must.

For more information, turn to page 2

For information on Aries Angelos, page 3

History of the Potters on page 4

As he finished reading, Aries became aware of the almost quiet Great Hall, broken only by the murmurs of students. The students were bunched together and looking at him with wariness, hatred, and fear. Shifting his gaze, his eyes landed on triumphant looking purebloods who sneered at him nastily.

'Do they honestly think that I'm actually afraid of them? Much less care about this piece of shit?' Aries idly wondered.

'Just goes onto show that the Wand-Wizards have yet to experience the Renaissance like the muggles. I can't think of better example of how pathetic humans can be without a grain of logic.' Meciel snorted. 'Despite their magic, I'm beginning to believe that they are actually the inferior version of humans.'

Aries met their stares evenly and gave a cold, bloodthirsty smile, which caused many of them to pale and hastily shift their eyes lest they incur his wrath. Snorting at such weakness, the Denarian turned his attention to the staff table.

On the far right, Snape was looking at him directly with sneer on his face. He still looked furious, but there was a certain smug vindictiveness in his coal black eyes. Aries merely cocked his eyes and gave an amused grin in return, which he knew would further drive him up the wall in rage. As expected, Snape grew even angrier as his sallow face turned dangerously purple.

Filius Flitwick and Pomona Sprout looked rather distraught as they conversed together. Judging by their heavy frowns and occasional gestures, it was rather serious discussion. Mad-Eye Moody, the paranoid DADA professor, looked grim as ever and was looking at him intensely with both eyes. Aries narrowed his eyes as he carefully studied him in return. There was just something off about the man and he couldn't quite point out what was wrong with him. He would need to be watched carefully.

And then he came across Minvera McGonagall and Lily Potter, the Deputy Headmistress and Muggle Studies professor seemed to be in conversation. However, when they turned to look at him, they found he was closely studying them. The Transfiguration professor looked stern as ever but to him, who was an expert in reading the body language; he could tell that she was less than pleased about the content of the article and absolutely furious at him. Considering the fact that he rudely told her to go screw herself when she reprimanded his behavior against Hagrid, she looked as if she'd transform into an angry, fire-breathing dragon. Lily Potter, on the other hand, looked even more distraught as she hauntingly gazed at the familiar emerald eyes.

After giving a mocking smile at the incensed Transfiguration professor, he finally turned to the man sitting at the center of table, headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The old man lacked his usual customary twinkle and looked gravely back at him. Aries merely quirked an eyebrow as he coolly met his gaze.

What will you do now?

As if answering the silent challenge, the door to the Great Hall banged opened and strode in a dozen of Aurors, all dressed in red robes. At the forefront was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary, and grim faced Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Dumbledore rose from his seat as the Ministry entourage marched up to the staff table.

"Minister, Madam Umbridge, Madam Bones." Dumbledore greeted them politely. "What can I do for you?"

"Dumbledore." Fudge greeted curtly. "I'm afraid I'm not here for a social visit."

"Yes, I assumed so from the Aurors you have brought with you." Dumbledore said mildly but there was a hint of cold steel behind his benign facade.

"Hem-Hem." Umbridge interrupted in her usual grating voice. "The Minister is here to issue an arrest order for Aries Angelos." She said silkily.

The students gasped in surprise before hurriedly talking to one another and the noise level began to increase. Many of them shot a look at the cold, emerald eyed teen as he stared intensely at the Minister and his entourage.

"Perhaps this discussion should be moved to my office?" Dumbledore suggested so further drama would be avoided.

"There is nothing to discuss Dumbledore." Fudge shook his head impatiently. "I've been getting several howlers since the morning and the Wizengamot was called in for an emergency meeting."

"Wizengamot convened this morning?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Then why was I not notified?"

"It was called in after that newspaper got out." Amelia interjected. "I asked why you were not present but the Minister said that the Wizengamot needed to meet immediately."

"I see." Dumbledore responded. "If I remember correctly, as the Chief Warlock, I'm required to sit in on Wizengamot meetings, especially if it's an emergency meeting like you said."

Fudge looked distinctively uncomfortable under Dumbledore's piercing gaze.

Aries narrowed his eyes at the particular piece of news. Fudge and his pet toad probably didn't want Dumbledore to be there. With the public clamoring for his blood and the purebloods in charge of the Wizengamot, they probably wanted Dumbledore to remain blind to their decisions.

"There is nothing to discuss Dumbledore. The public is demanding the Ministry to act and Wizengamot had decided that Aries Angelos taken into Ministry custody so he may receive trials for his crime." Fudge answered as he shifted his weights nervously.

"Aries Angelos is Hogwarts' responsibility and as the Headmaster of the school, he is under my jurisdiction." Dumbledore said firmly as he drew himself up to his full height. "The Ministry cannot interfere with Hogwarts."

"Hem-Hem." Umbridge interrupted, causing the staff to glare at her with dislike. "The Ministry is the supreme law of the land and thus has the right to interfere, especially considering how important the children are to our society." She said with false sweetness that dripped of poison.

'I'm seriously going to murder that bitch one day.' Aries vowed silently. 'It'd be a crime to let that horrible voice continue grating on my ears. It'd be a public service anyway and I'd doing something good for once.'

Before anything could happen, the door to the Great Hall banged open again and strode in angry looking James Potter and Sirius Black.

"James! Sirius!" Lily Potter yelled as she ran up to them in fear written across her face. "You have to stop them! They're going to arrest Aries!"

James quickly hugged his wife and whispered soothing words. "Shh it's alright Lily. We'll fix this right now."

Quickly ending the hug, he glared at the entourage the Minister had brought before focusing on the man himself.

"Fudge!" James snapped. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Auror Potter! I'd be careful of how you address the Minister!" Umbridge shrilled.

"I'm talking to him as the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter!" James snarled at the toad like woman. "So do kindly shut up!"

"And I speak now as the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black!" Sirius announced as he flashed his House Ring.

Umbridge's already ugly face became even uglier as a shade of puce colored her cheeks.

"Imagine my surprise when I found out that you had convened an emergency meeting this morning with nearly half the Wizengamot missing!" James snapped murderously as he glared at the suddenly nervous looking Minister.

"Mr. Potter I-"

"That's Lord Potter to you right now." He sneered.

Fudge flushed in anger but acquiesced with his demand. "Lord Potter then, the Wizengamot had already decided." He said impatiently.

"Right. I'm sure it was only attended by the Dark Family consider the other half was plainly missing!" Sirius snapped heatedly. "And they unanimously voted for his arrest!"

"Regardless, your absence was your responsibility and the Wizengamot had already decided." Umbridge said with poisonous smile. "Aurors! Arrest Aries Angelos!"

"Cornelius, I must implore you to reconsider! This isn't going to end well!" Dumbledore spoke to the Minister.

"The public demands his blood, Dumbledore. Perhaps you should've been stricter regarding your punishment." Fudge snapped at him.

Despite the vehement protests from James Potter and Sirius Black, the Aurors strode to the Slytherin table. It didn't take long to find Aries Angelos since he sat alone in middle of large space.

"Aries Angelos. By the order of the Minister and the Wizengamot, you are hereby under arrest." A grim looking, tall black man said professionally. "Surrender your wand and you'll be taken to the Ministry holding cell until your trial."

The Denarian didn't respond but gazed back at the grim looking Dumbledore. "Dumbledore, you better tell them to piss off, or I'll do it for you." Aries said coldly.

"Cornelius, I cannot allow you to take Mr. Angelos just because of a farce meeting!" Dumbledore thundered as his old, barmy image was replaced by a veteran warrior who had weathered a century of storms.

"You dare to resist the order of Wizengamot and the Ministry?" Umbridge accused as she pointed her stubby fingers at them. "Aurors! Arrest them! Arrest them all!"

Auror Dawlish strode forward and gripped the Denarian's shoulder. Before he could speak Aries cut across him.

"You better get your filthy hand off of me or what happened to Skeeter will be a mercy compared to what you'll get." Aries hissed.

Dawlish merely tightened his grip and raised his wand. "Stup-"

Aries swiftly grabbed the offending hand and gave a savage twist, breaking the hand. Dawlish screamed in pain and the Aurors beside him fired off their own spells. Placing the screaming Auror in front of him as a human shield, Aries blocked the oncoming volley of spells and kicked him away just as he dived under the table.

The students screamed out as fight erupted. More sensible ones dived under the table like Aries had done but more stupid ones panicked and ran toward the exit, causing pandemonium to erupt.

Aries exited out from the other side of the table and snapped his wand toward the Aurors while his other wand created a shield to block a spell head toward him from the back. The Aurors cried out in surprise as the food, plates, and utensils on the Slytherin table suddenly began bombarding them without mercy.

"Lestak! Reducto! Bombarda! Iraviel!" He snarled.

The chain of deadly spells impacted against harassed Aurors and Aries watched with cold satisfaction as they were blasted off their feet and crumpled on the ground. Some of them cried out in pain as they felt their bones break while others swiftly succumbed into unconsciousness. Few remaining Aurors retaliated with their own spells but the Denarian simply ducked under the table once again. The stray spells flew over and collided with the adjacent table and students screamed out in terror when it was about to hit them.

A golden, shimmering shield snapped in before the students and protected them from the stray spells. Behind the students, Dumbledore stood tall with his arms outstretched, as he strode toward the confrontation angrily. His face was white and furious as power oozed out from his body.

"Watch your spells! You'll hit the students!" The tall black man shouted in alarm.

"I can't help it! He's-"

The remaining Aurors cried out in pain and surprise as rapid series of spells shot out from beneath the table and impacted against them. One of the female Aurors, who had a shocking bubblegum pink hair, collapsed when a piercing hex impacted against her shoulder, spraying blood.

"Tonks!"

Before any of them could do anything, Aries slipped out of his temporary hiding place. With a cold, feral smile, he closed in on the last few remaining Aurors but there was a bright flash of light and all wands were ripped out of their owners hands.

The wands sailed over to furious looking Dumbledore and those around him cringed from his intense output of magic. The very air around him seemed to sizzle with power as his cold blue eyes surveyed the Hall.

"There will be no fighting whatsoever in Hogwarts!" He snapped. "Because of your pettiness, the students were nearly harmed!"

He turned his icy gaze to the cowering Minister and his Undersecretary. "I will not forget this Cornelius. The Hogwarts is under my jurisdiction and rest assured that Wizengamot will hear what happened today."

Fudge could only nod fearfully under Dumbledore's gaze and even Umbridge seemed lost for words. Without another words, the duo scampered out of the Great Hall.

"The staffs take the wounded to the Hospital Wing. Prefects, take your respective houses to your dorms and stay there until your Head of the House gets there." Dumbledore quickly gave out the order.

The staffs and prefects alike hastened to obey and as the mass exodus from the Great Hall began. Aries watched with dispassionate gaze as the wounded Aurors were carted off to the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was speaking quickly with Amelia Bones and gestured at Aries to join him.

"May I ask why you felt the need to create such a pandemonium in the middle of the Great Hall?" Dumbledore asked coldly when the Denarian sauntered over to join them. "Because of your actions, innocent students were caught in the crossfire and numerous people were injured."

Aries merely cleaned out his ear with his pinky as he listened to Dumbledore's less-than-pleased rant.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't really listening. Did you say something?" He asked after a moment.

Dumbledore and Amelia Bones' faces grew even colder at the apathetic attitude.

"Mr. Angleos, you do realize that resisting arrest is a serious crime? Now the Wizengamot might have a valid reason for your arrest." Amelia snapped off angrily. "Not to mention, you injured all of the Aurors with severely injuries for some."

"I'm doing exactly what my 'mamma' taught me to - resisting arrest." He said cheekily. "Right alongside with murder, arson, and thievery."

Amelia seemed visibly trying to restrain herself from outright lashing out at him. "And the children? They might have been seriously injured!" She snapped.

"Do I look like I care about who gets caught in the crossfire?" Aries deadpanned. "It wouldn't be the first time it happened."

"And what of your magical oath? You swore-"

"The deal is off." Aries snapped. "The oath would only be valid if and only if you were able to keep your stupid Ministry from my affairs. Since you've failed, I don't see why I should bother with it."

Any further conversation was cut short as James Potter and Sirius Black strode forward to join them.

"Aries! Are you alright?" James asked immediately as he scanned his son's body for any injuries.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm more than capable of defending myself." Aries grunted irritably as he waved away James' wand. "You should be more worried about your precious Auror buddies."

"Which reminds me; you just seriously wounded some of my Aurors!" Amelia snapped before Sirius could interject. "With Dark Arts no less!"

"Of course I'm going to use Dark Arts! What the hell do you think?" Aries snarled at the head of the DMLE. "Do you think I survived this far by throwing around weakass stunners or disarming spells when I'm being threatened? "

"Aries, one of the Aurors you injured was my relative." Sirius said in strained tone as he remembered Tonks being one of the injured who was carted off to the Hospital Wing.

"Well so sorry for not realizing that this was supposed to be tea party. But hey, I'll be sure to remember to bring the cups, teas, and plates the next time Aurors start throwing spells at me." Aries responded sarcastically. "I'm sure we'll have wonderful time together. It'll be just like one of those classical get-togethers, except we'll be trading spells instead of words while drinking teas."

Looking at their faces, they didn't seem to appreciate his sarcasm.

"That was extremely foolish thing to do Aries, you've only given them more ammunition." Dumbledore said gravely as he shook his head.

"And what the hell was I supposed to do? Just let them arrest me?" Aries snapped waspishly.

"It is a due process of the law for the guilty to-"

"Blah. Blah. Blah." Aries cut off Amelia Bones. "Like hell I will. Your fucking Ministry seemed to have a policy of 'guilty-until-proven-innocent' and I wasn't going to subject myself to those ridiculous laws, especially when I didn't do shit!"

"You're hardly innocent of any wrongdoings Mr. Angelos." Amelia Bones said frostily. "And because of you chose to resist arrest, innocents have been harmed."

"Are you telling me that I should've let them arrest me for the sake of others?" He asked incredulously.

The looks on Dumbledore's and Bones' faces clearly answered his question.

"People die all the time." Aries retorted ruthlessly. "And it's not my fault that you Wand-Wizards have brains size of peas. Honestly, don't they know the first thing they do when spells fly over their heads is to duck down onto the ground?"

"How can you be so selfish? Doesn't the blood of innocent nothing to you? Especially those of the children? You disgust me!" Bones finally exploded.

"Yes, I'm a selfish and heartless bastard and I'm damn proud of it." Aries said in bored manner as he waved away her fury. "Tell me something that I actually care about."

Unable to tolerate his presence any longer, the head of DMLE stormed away from the Great Hall in rage.

Dumbledore looked gravelly back at him. "Was it truly necessary?"

Aries gave him a deadpanned stare. "No stranger's life is worth more than mine."

With a sigh, Dumbledore returned his wands. Aries snatched them quickly and searched for any sign of damage or tampering.

"It is our choice whether we choose to become a monster or not Aries. Be very careful. When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you."

"I fully admit I'm a monster and I don't particularly see why others make so much fuss about it." He rolled his eyes. "And for the record, I already threw myself bodily into the abyss long ago."

Dumbledore nodded solemnly before moving away with swish of his robes.

"Aries." A hesitant voice called out from the side.

The Denarian turned with a bland expression as Lily Potter fidgeted nervously from next to James Potter and Sirius Black. The red headed woman looked torn between approaching him and staying away.

Aries stared at them for few moments before grunting out. "What?"

Lily bit her lips nervously as she regarded him. It seemed that Aries had received her explosive temper as proven by his rather violent reactions to those he considered hostile. Ever since the Goblet of Fire incident and the following meeting in the headmaster's office, Lily, along with James and Sirius, had opted to heed Molly Carpenter's advice and remain at distance from him. It turned out to be a sound advice considering the fact that he mentally attacked Snape and smashed his face onto the dungeon floor as well as seriously maiming Slytherin students.

But now, he violently retaliated against the Ministry and judging by several bleeding Aurors who were carried out of the hall, he had a ruthless tendency to ignore all authority. Then there was also the fact that he completely disregarded the innocent lives of the students who were caught in the crossfire. And to watch as he casually admit that he was a monster, Lily wasn't sure if her heart could take much more.

"Are you alright?" She asked unsurely.

"It was a piece of cake." He snorted. His piercing emerald eyes turned to James Potter and Sirius Black, who were still wearing red Auror uniforms. "Frankly, they were quite pathetic. I was expecting more of a challenge."

"About that… do you always use Dark Arts? I mean, you just nailed our colleagues as well as my cousin." Sirius mumbled.

"I use whatever methods that work the best." Aries answered. "It just happens that when I fight, I fight to kill and Dark Arts are just right up my alley."

James, Lily and Sirius flinched at his blunt and ruthless admission.

"Well, in any case, stay sharp Aries." Sirius sighed. "The public is clamoring for your blood and the Ministry will be after your head."

"Sirius and I will calm the things down, so you don't need to worry." James reassured.

Aries shrugged. Even if the verdict was made against him, he doubted the Ministry would be able to do much. If worst comes to worst, he can just slip back into the muggle world or enlist the help of the White Court vampires. Over the years, he had done some nebulous errands for the vampire court and they owed him a favor or two.

"Aries, I heard that you don't really go to potions anymore." Lily hesitantly changed the conversation.

The Denarian's eyes darkened at the mention of the subject. "The last time I went to the class, that worthless excuse of human waste insulted me and mentally assaulted me." He said flatly. "Unfortunately for him, I'm far better at Occulemency than most people and smashed his ugly face on the floor."

James and Sirius gave a weak smile.

"I'm afraid it's our fault." James apologized. "We went to the school at the same time and we hated each other. Snape must have transferred anger onto you."

"Well… since you are not learning potions, I thought… maybe I could teach you myself." Lily fidgeted under her son's piercing gaze. "I may not be a potion's professor… but I did earn Mastery over the subject."

Aries narrowed his eyes as he studied her. It was quite obvious what she wanted and he didn't feel like indulging anyone.

'Learn to swallow your pride Aries.' Meciel advised sternly. 'As you've said yourself, the potions have much potential. I know you're far too pragmatic to dismiss learning a useful skill just because you don't like how or whom you learn it from.'

'I know how to swallow my pride Meciel.' Aries replied petulantly. 'And for the record, I bashed Snape's face because I really really didn't like him. And if I remember correctly, you actively helped me in screwing him over.'

'That man was an extreme example, and not suited for his role as a professor.' Meciel sniffed.

Aries closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He just hoped he won't come to regret his decision but he didn't hold out much hope.

Snapping his eyes open, he looked at nervous looking Lily. Her eyes had the usual haunted look in them but also a bit of hope.

"Fine. I'll learn from you." He grunted sourly.

At once, Lily broke out in smile and James and Sirius also seemed to relax a bit.

"But make no mistake. I'm only doing this because I feel it can be beneficial skill to me. I will not be indulging whatever stupidity you've cooked up." He snapped.

Her smile diminished a bit but she still looked rather happy. "Come to my office Monday, Wednesday and Friday after dinner."

Aries let out a grunt and walked away.

Sirius squeezed Lily's shoulder as she continued to gaze after her firstborn. "One step at a time Lily. One step at a time."

Lily gave a watery chuckle. "I thought for a moment he wouldn't accept." She confessed. "It's good thing he didn't receive James' arrogance."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" James squawked indignantly. Sirius merely snorted next to him and James glared at him. "Don't you have a cousin to look after?"

"Oh Merlin! I've forgotten about Nymphy!" Sirius exclaimed before dashing out the Hall in hurry.

James shook his head. "Prat."

Lily merely rolled his eyes. "It seems Aries received my temperament unlike Benjamin." She muttered with a small smile.

"What do you mean by that?" James asked.

"Unlike you or Benjamin, he knows how to swallow his pride and ask for help when it's needed." Lily answered simply. "And from what I've learned about males, it's one of the hardest things for them to do."

James fidgeted uncomfortably. "I do ask for help." He said stubbornly.

Lily merely arched her eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe not as often." James acquitted.

"Males and their testosterone." Lily muttered. "I wonder what kind of woman he met would force him to swallow his pride."

"What makes you so sure it's a woman?" James asked curiously.

"Strong men swallow their pride only on the behalf of a woman." Lily said wisely. "And besides, it worked on you didn't it?"

.oOo.

Headmaster's Office

Dumbledore was not having a good day. Looking at the mountain of paperwork on top of his desk, he couldn't help but to sigh heavily and lean back as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. It was times like this that he regretted taking all these positions. Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of I.C.W. were all full time jobs and they kept him quite busy. Yet ever since the start of the school year, he faced disaster after disaster and his inexhaustible patience was slowly nearing its limits. The Dark Mark and Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup, the Tetra-School Tournament, the Goblet of Fire, pureblood heirs and heiresses being hospitalized, and now he had to deal with the fallout from Fudge's stupid decision.

At the root of all these problems was the current bane of his life; Aries Angelos. He never thought it was possible for someone other than Voldemort to give him this much headache but Aries Angelos had a certain flair for raising his blood pressure without even trying. The Denarian all but slaughtered the Death Eaters at the World Cup and, from what he had discovered, utterly humiliated the Malfoy family. Then, he was somehow dragged into the Tetra-School Tournament which turned out to be a complete fiasco. After his surprise sorting into Slytherin, he hospitalized the pureblood heirs and heiresses and nearly caused disaster. And now, he blatantly resisted government arrest and injured the Aurors sent to apprehend him.

The aged headmaster couldn't help but to wonder when the entire thing would just fall apart. Thanks to the Denarian completely blowing off Rita Skeeter, the vile woman sneaked around and gathered his impressive rule breaking record. And now, the public was out for his blood and in turn, moved the Wizengamot to take action.

Dumbledore couldn't help but to frown as he contemplated the issue. The Wizengamot had unanimously decided to push for Angelos' arrest and apparently, it was only attended by half the members. It didn't take long for him to figure those who attended the emergency session were the Dark Families, most likely belonging to the families of pureblood heirs and heiresses the Denarian had injured. He had no doubt that these families would try something again to have him executed or thrown in Azkaban, which would undoubtedly end in catastrophe.

Aries had already proven just how contemptuous he was toward the Ministry of Magic and didn't hesitate to retaliate with lethal force, regardless of innocents caught in crossfire. He was still furious as he thought about the confrontation earlier when Aurors and Aries fought in the Great Hall. It was only due to his quick thinking and quicker wand work that prevented students from being harmed. At the end, almost all Aurors were hospitalized with few of them suffering from more grave injuries.

The Denarian bluntly told him that it wasn't the first time that his fight had injured innocents and considering his apathetic attitude, he didn't care about it in the slightest. It was this mindset that made Dumbledore so wary of him. Civilian casualty seemed nothing but collateral damage to him.

He needed to stop the Wizengamot from acting against the Denarian. The last thing he needed was an all-out war amidst the Tetra-School Tournament. Not only will the foreign dignitaries be in danger, it'll worsen already less than stellar reputation British Wizarding World had.

The Denarian needed to be brought under some sort of control, however, try as he might, there was simply no way to tame Aries Angelos. In order to control him, he needed leverage against him but there was simply nothing. Aries didn't care about staying in Hogwarts, and considering the fact that a fallen angel with eons of experience lived inside his head, there was little Hogwarts could offer him. Also, the Denarian was extremely independent and just apathetic toward the society in general. He cared little about others and had no guilty consciousness.

Normal methods such as expulsion, suspension, detentions, or taking away house points didn't have any power over him. Dumbledore then turned toward more distasteful methods: blackmail, extortion, and threats. He briefly mused on the subject before immediately discarding the idea. Not only did such methods disgust him, he doubted they'll work on the Denarian. Aries Angelos had no family member or friends he could threaten and Potters didn't count. He highly doubted the Denarian would bet an eye even if his biological family was threatened. Considering his hostile attitude toward them, especially Benjamin, Aries was more likely to let them die than negotiate for their survival.

He had no monetary property he knew of and if his suspicion was correct, it was probably outside Britain and impossible to touch. He'd probably fall in line if he was offered money for his cooperation but it'd only be a temporary solution. Aries Angelos would no doubt ask for extraordinary sum of money for his cooperation.

Lastly, his unpredictability and hostility would more likely to result with his plan blowing up on his face.

As much he didn't like it, the Denarian was the one holding all the cards.

Well, there was one thing Aries wanted: knowledge.

He had been subtly keeping an eye on the Denarian ever since he was sorted into Slytherin. Imagine his surprise when Severus reported a secret chamber inside the Slytherin common room. From what he understood, only a Parslemouth could enter it and he was filled with gnawing dread at the thought of what Denarian found in it. He mostly guessed it'd be tomes and maybe occasional dark artifacts. He may be the headmaster of the school but he didn't think that the secret chamber would open for him unless he blasted his way through. Salazar Slytherin was notorious for his paranoia and probably constructed his dorm so that a Parslemouth would have absolute control over it.

He could offer to teach the Denarian personally but it wouldn't work for several reasons.

First, he was a judge of the Tetra-School tournament and he was a champion. The rule forbade him from actively helping a champion. Second, even if he somehow found a way around the rules, would he really want to teach the Denarian and equip him with even more powerful spells?

Dumbledore had no delusion that Aries Angelos was an incredibly gifted wizard despite his lazy attitude and habit of skipping classes. The fact that he thrived under environment and adversaries that would've broken any others was the testament to his strength. Under his tutelage, Aries would grow stronger almost at exponential rate and last thing he needed was to teach someone as dangerous as Aries Angelos. He could pretend to teach him in exchange for his obedience with the rules but it won't last long. Not only was the Denarian powerful and clearly intelligent despite his age, he was most likely to be incredibly perceptive as well. One didn't survive nor thrive like the Denarian did out in the world without being perceptive. Aries would quickly realize that Dumbledore wasn't keeping his promise and definitely cause another major catastrophe in retaliation.

In a chance that the boy didn't figure it out, the fallen angel living in his head certainly would.

Sighing once more, Dumbledore rubbed his tired eyes and reluctantly took a parchment from the mountain of paperwork. Wizengamot wasn't pleased at all at the Denarian's decision to resist their arrest order nor the hospitalizing their Aurors. The tensions were building and neither side would back down from the fight. He would have to visit the Ministry to calm things down before it got out of control.

.oOo.

Slytherin Dorm

Aries stared thoughtfully at the flickering flame as he sat in the middle of the common room. Nightfang currently lay in front of the fireplace as it basked in the warmth of the fire while the Denarian sat on the couch with Judgement lying across his lap. He absently polished the angelic blade despite the fact that it needed no need of maintenance. No matter how much punishment the blade received, it'd forever remain as perfect as the day it was created. Blood, gore, dirt, or anything that coated it all came off from the angelic blade.

All around him, there was a wide array of emptiness as the rest of the Slytherin kept their distance from him, occasionally throwing fearful and wary glance at their undisputed leader. Aries didn't mind the empty seats around the sofas in front of the fireplace, in fact, he rather preferred it.

He didn't like socializing in general, especially with fools.

With the Aurors now in hospital wing receiving emergency medical treatment before moved to St. Mungos, the students eventually returned to their dorms as the classes were cancelled for the day… again. By the time the order was restored, nearly half the day was already wasted and professors didn't see the point in having classes when it was clear that no one would pay attention anyway.

And thus, most students chose to retire to their dorms. After all, they just had to discuss and gossip the newest turn of events.

Slytherin dorm was unusually quieter than usual due to the presence of Aries. Normally, he'd retire to his secret chamber behind the wall and remain reclusive but today he chose to spend time in the common room. Students quietly whispered to one another in fear of attracting unwanted attention.

The purebloods sat near the corner while glaring murderously at the apathetic Denarian. They had hoped that he'd be arrested by the Aurors and thrown in Azkaban but it seemed their plan had failed again. With their parents unable to move directly at him, they decided to turn the public against him. Imagine their surprise and joy when they discovered that he had completely blown off Rita Skeeter. Seizing the golden moment, they discreetly gave Skeeter personal interviews and the woman was simply delighted at the chance to ruin the one who assaulted her.

The plan had gone without a hitch and the public was suitably outraged. They cried out for Angelos' blood and their family swiftly called for emergency meeting, without Dumbledore and "light" sided families attending. Naturally, the Wizengamot unanimously decided to arrest him and probably throw him into Azkaban.

However, they had grossly underestimated his power. Not only had the Denarian resisted the arrest, he hospitalized the entire battalion Aurors sent to arrest him. It was clear that if they were to regain the control of the Slytherin house, they'd need much stronger force than the Aurors.

The Denarian, on the other hand, pensively stared at the fire as he contemplated his next course of action. It seems the purebloods still had not learnt their lesson. They had moved against him despite his warning and what a move it was. Turning the public against him (not that he cared), assembling Wizengamot to push for his arrest, and sending the Aurors in with the Minister himself leading the arrest.

They needed to be punished.

However, he wasn't sure if hospitalizing them again was a good course of action. While he could easily kill off the Aurors and whatever force the Ministry would throw at him, waging a one-man war against a government wasn't exactly a smart move. Dumbledore would probably seek to calm the Ministry down and as much as he didn't like to admit it, he needed the old man to get the Wizengamot off his back.

'It seems we have reached a point where your usual tactic won't work.' Meciel mused in his head. 'Any further physical retaliation will no doubt cause things to spiral out of control.'

Aries merely grunted in reply. As much as he wanted to slaughter the purebloods, it'd end up worsen his situation and doing nothing against them was out of question. Inaction on his part would be perceived as a weakness and there was no way in hell that he was going just let it go.

'Which means I have to find a way to retaliate without making it seem like an attack.' Aries deduced silently.

Murder, torture, or any other bodily harm was sadly out. Dumbledore would no doubt know about his involvement if some of the pureblooded heirs were to suffer an accident. However, complete and utter humiliation on the other hand…

Aries stilled before his mind furiously worked in overdrive at the new idea. Dumbledore, the public, and DMLE will be closely observing him for the inevitable retaliation. But what if it wasn't a physical attack like last time? What if it's something they can't justify arresting him over? Something that's perceived harmless…

Meciel chuckled in his head as his lips curled up in cold, vicious smile. 'Yes, that'll do nicely.'

'You don't need to resort to physical violence to punish your enemies.' Said Meciel. 'Sometimes, outright humiliation works just fine as well.'

The Slytherin dorm watched as one when Aries swiftly rose up and walked toward the wall. After hissing out in Parsletongue, Aries entered the secret room. Many breathed a small, relieved sigh when the door slid shut, causing the atmosphere to revert back to its normal state as chatter slowly filled the room.

However, a certain midnight serpent lay curled up in front of the fire. Its golden eyes observing the students with surprising scrutiny.

.oOo.

Hogwarts' Hospital Wing

Nymphadora Tonks groaned weakly as her consciousness slowly returned to her. Her limbs ached with pain and she could feel that she was lying on bed.

'Merlin, what the bloody hell happened?'

Fluttering her eyes open, she was greeted by the familiar sight of Hogwarts' Hospital Wing. Taking in the surroundings, she tried to push herself up but sharp pain in her shoulder prevented that.

"Ugh!" She grunted.

"Nymphy! You're awake!" Came a cheerful voice.

Throwing an annoyed glare at the target, Tonkes growled. "If I wasn't stuck like this, I would've just hexed you Sirius."

Sirius Black easily ignored his cousin's threat and took a seat next to her bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I don't know, you tell me." Tonks retorted sharply. "My shoulder hurts like hell."

Sirius winced in sympathy. "Yeah, Aries did quite a number on you guys." He said apologetically.

The memories came crashing back and Tonks instantly tried to sit up again, only to fall back in pain. "The duel! What happ-" She asked frantically.

"Easy Tonks." Sirius tried to calm her down. "You're still injured."

"What happened? I remember the fight was rather nasty and I got nailed by one of the curses." The metamorphmagus asked once she calmed down.

"Well… you lot just got your arses handed by Aries." Sirius said bluntly.

Tonks' eyes widened in disbelief. "What! There is no way-"

"Look around you." Sirius gestured around her.

Now that she took in her surrounding more closely, she could see that majority of the beds in the Hospital Wing were occupied by her fellow Aurors. They were either unconscious, injured, or groaning in pain as Madam Pomfrey moved between each beds.

"Bloody hell." She whispered. "Did an entire battalion of Aurors seriously got their arses handed by a mere fifteen year old school boy?"

"That mere fifteen year school boy you just mentioned was able to go toe to toe against Albus Dumbledore himself, even if it was only for few minutes." Sirius pointed out.

"What about him? Did the boy have any injuries?" She asked.

"As far as I know, he suffered no injuries whatsoever." Sirius answered.

Tonks gaped at him incredulously. It was almost impossible for any wizard to take on an entire battalion of Aurors by himself and emerge victorious without any injuries. As far as she knew, only wizards who could pull of such feat were Dumbledore and You-Know-Who.

"You should consider yourself lucky that you weren't too injured, or worse, killed." Sirius interrupted her thoughts grimly.

"What do you mean?"

"Aries wasn't throwing around schoolyard spells when he fought you guys, he was using Dark Arts." Sirius said.

"What! Dark Arts are illegal to use!" She sputtered.

"Considering his attitude, I highly doubt Aries cares." The dog animagus snorted.

"Well, where is he now?" Tonks asked irritably.

"Probably in his dorm." Sirius shrugged. "The classes were cancelled for the day because of the morning's fiasco."

"Fudge actually let him go?" She asked incredulously.

"About that… Fudge actually overstepped his boundary as the minister and he didn't have much choice with Dumbledore, James, and me pressuring him to back off." Sirius said sourly.

The minister's actions left a rather bad taste in his mouth.

"So… what's gonna happen now?"

"Dumbledore, James and I are going to take this up with Wizengamot to sort it out." Sirius answered. "Oh, and Madam Bones wasn't pleased at all when she learned what happened."

"Boss was here?" Nympahdora asked in surprise.

Sirius nodded. "She and Dumbledore got quite mad at Aries for starting a fight in middle of the Great Hall amidst the students."

"Was anyone injured?"

"No, Dumbledore stopped it before it got out of hand."

"I still can't believe that he resisted arrest and fought off an entire squad of Aurors." Nymphadora grumbled. "What if an innocent was injured?"

At the comment, Sirius shifted uneasily.

"What is it?"

"Well… Aries apparently didn't take too kindly at being scolded by Madam Bones and Dumbledore and told them go screw themselves. According to him, he doesn't particularly care about who gets injured and it seemed to have happened in the past." He said with a frown.

Tonks shook her head. "No offense Sirius but your godson is insane if he acts that way."

Sirius ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Aries was nothing like he imagined. He originally expected another James Jr., a bit like Benjamin, if not, a miniature James with Lily's persona. Instead what he got was a sociopath with rebellious streak a mile long and violent tendency that would make his ancestors proud. Other than his looks, Aries received almost nothing from his parents. Sirius was beginning to believe that only thing that he did receive from James was his love for breaking rules. And what a rule breaking it was!

He blatantly ignored societal constraints, spat at the Hogwarts' rules, and openly resisted arrest with absolute impunity.

His brazen attitude and sheer audacity still made him gape whenever he thought about it.

Still, Aries was his godson and no matter how much of a hellion he turned out to be, he'd do his best to fulfill his duty as the kid's godfather.

"Just rest for now cousin." Sirius said as he mulled over how to approach his godson. "I'll see if I can do something about my godson."

"Maybe you should just grow a pair and tell your godson to stop being such a psychopath." Tonks muttered sourly.

Sirius didn't bother to respond as he left the Hospital Wing.

.oOo.

Hogwarts

Gryffindor Common Room

Benjamin Potter, one of the Boys-Who-Lived, brooded quietly as he sat in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Tower. It's been already two days since Aries Angelos had resisted arrest and started a fight in middle of the Great Hall. He honestly didn't know how he should've felt when the Minister barged in along with a dozen Aurors demanding his sibling's arrest. Things were happening too fast for him to comprehend and before he knew it, fight erupted.

Now that he had the time to calm down and think, he couldn't help but to feel fear and dread every time he thought of his biological brother. The sheer bravado and guts to openly resist arrest, in front of Minister of Magic, Head of DMLE and Chief Warlock no less, and to wipe out a battalion of Aurors was nothing to scoff at. In all his life, he never met such person with openly rebellious attitude. Well there were Death Eaters like in Quidditch World Cup, but Aries Angelos was at whole another level.

To openly defy the law of the land, one needed tremendous amount of power to do so, which Aries unfortunately possessed in spades. Ever since his first introduction to the Wizarding World, Aries had gone on and destroyed whatever opposition he faced. In a period of a month or two, his faith in Ministry, Hogwarts, and society was shattered irrevocably. No matter what rules he broke, his brother seemed to face no consequences. Dumbledore couldn't punish him, much less the professors, and now, even the Aurors were unable to stop him.

Not even he, the Boy-Who-Lived, could've gone against such odds.

'Why?' He thought gloomily for a millionth time. 'Why is he so damn strong? What does he have that I don't?'

It just wasn't fair. Did he not save the entire Wizarding World as a baby from You-Know-Who along with Neville? The greatest Dark Lord of the century, nay millennia, was vanquished by him as a mere baby! So how could it be that his estranged brother was stronger than him?

Dumbledore had been occasionally training him along with Neville since the early childhood and yet, he was nowhere near his brother's level. Not only had Aries dueled the legendary Albus Dumbledore himself and held his own, he also was the one who butchered the Death Eaters during the World Cup. Now, he brought down a dozen of Aurors in span of few minutes.

Benjamin clenched his fists as his thoughts turned darker. Absolutely nothing had gone right ever since he showed up. His parents were falling over themselves to reconnect with him, Dumbledore rarely spoke him now and even that damned French veela wasn't interested in him!

It was all his fault.

"Benjamin." A soft voice interrupted his brooding. "Are you alright?"

Looking up from the dancing fire, Ben saw that Hermione had sat down on the sofa close to his and looking at him worriedly.

"I'm fine Hermione." Benjamin replied with slight tiredness. "I'm just thinking."

The bushy haired bookworm hesitated for a moment. "You seemed a little troubled."

His mouth opened to give a scathing retort but he fortunately held it back just in time. She was only worried and it wouldn't be fair to be rude just because he was in bad mood.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked when he remained silent.

"I'm thinking of my so-called-brother." Benjamin answered after few moments.

At the mention of Aries Angelos, Hermione's countenance grew stormy before she calmed herself. Benjamin's elder brother was everything she despised; he was even on par with Malfoy in her dislike of him. While he clearly didn't support pureblood bigotry given how he smashed the Slytherin hierarchy, Aries blatantly disregarded the rules with absolute impunity in ways even Malfoy and his ilk couldn't.

Not to mention, she still vividly recalled their encounter on the third floor when he easily swatted Benjamin, Neville, Ronald, and herself, aside like annoying insects. The subsequent trip to the Hospital Wing wasn't pleasant at all.

"What about him?" Hermione asked with displeased frown.

Benjamin hesitated. Should he talk about his worry with her? The feeling of inadequacy and jealousy was something he was very unfamiliar with. He was always used to others looking up at him as he reveled at their attention. It was always others who felt jealous of him. He had the fame, prestige, and money as a member of Potter family. Now, however, he was the one on the receiving end in the face of Aries' overwhelming power.

'Screw it, I can't exactly talk about this with my parents. I doubt Ron and Neville could give me good advice.'

Besides, Hermione was usually the one who came up with the plans and was the voice of reason.

"Why is he so powerful?" Benjamin questioned angrily. "I'm the Boy-Who-Lived but how can he do things that I can't?"

The bookworm's lips thinned in displeasure.

"I don't know Ben." She said quietly. "The way he blatantly shows disrespect to the faculty and even resisting arrest shows how much of a… a bastard he is."

Ben felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Hermione was usually so prim and proper that she rarely swore, even at Malfoy and his ilk. She must be seriously be pissed off at him to use such word.

"Do you think that he dabbled deeply into Dark Arts?" He asked seriously.

The bushy haired girl bit her lower lip as she pondered her friend's question. "Well… he certainly admitted that he liked to use Dark Arts, not to mention he killed before… like those Death Eaters back on Quidditch World Cup." She said slowly.

"What should I do Hermione?" Ben asked with a deep sigh. "I'm the Boy-Who-Lived and yet, Angelos is able to do things that I can't even imagine doing."

"This wouldn't be happening if you and Neville didn't put your names into the Goblet of Fire you know." Hermione said sharply. "Even after my warning, you and Neville, as usual, charged straight into it."

Benjamin winced. She did warn them to not do anything stupid after the original Triwizard Tournament was announced. Of course, he and Neville ignored her warning and thought that it'd be an excellent way to test their prowess in the deadly tournament.

"C'mon Mione, I need help." Ben pleaded his friend. "There has got to be a way to beat Angelos! Besides, don't you want to see him get pegged down too?"

Hermione huffed at that particular argument. While allowing Benjamin and Neville to lose would be an excellent way to teach them a lesson, there was no way she'd live it down if Angelos was allowed to win. His rebellious nature and rude behavior just grated on her nerves.

"Alright, I'll help you but if you do anything like this again, you'll regret it." She said dangerously.

Benjamin smiled but couldn't help the gulp that followed. Not only was she the one who held the top scores in their year, she was the reason why he, Neville, and Ron was able to get away with their misadventures. Without her, they would've been in far worse situation.

The door to the common room opened and Amanda Carpenter stepped in. She seemed little grumpy as she plopped down on the sofa like Benjamin and Hermione.

"Ugh, the Potions class is a nightmare." She grumbled.

Hermione couldn't help but to sigh in agreement. Ever since his humiliation at the hands of Aries Angelos, Severus Snape had been growing fouler and fouler as he terrorized his students. His brother's violent coup of Slytherin hierarchy hadn't helped the foul-tempered man either. Unable to retaliate against the new reigning king of Slytherin, Snape took his frustration out on the students.

"Ever since Angelos, he's been taking out his frustration on everyone else." Benjamin scowled.

Amanda nodded grumpily and ran her hand through her hair. The young Potter couldn't help but to run his eyes up and down her figure as Hermione engaged her in a conversation. The American witch was strikingly pretty with her long blonde hair, wide storm cloud eyes, and a full figure that was on par with some older years'. Ever since her sorting into the Gryffindor house, she quickly rose in ranks of popularity with her cheerful demeanor, and friendly personality.

Of course, being easy on the eyes was a definite bonus.

Benjamin occasionally overheard Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan fantasizing about Amanda's body with lewd descriptions and agreed wholeheartedly when they said her breasts were rather well developed for her age.

'If only I had something he didn't…' Ben thought absently.

Wait.

Amanda Carpenter was familiar with Aries Angelos. From what brief explanation she gave him, Angelos had saved her life as well as those of her family. While his so-called-brother showed little interest in her, or anyone else for that matter, he still knew her. So what if he were to make her his? It'd certainly show Angelos his superiority if he were to take her as his girlfriend. Perhaps even needle him into jealousy.

The more he thought about it, the more appealing it became. He recently turned fourteen this summer and was in full swing of puberty. His hormone was making him difficult to sleep at night with erotic wet dream and he sometimes found it difficult to walk around thanks to his raging boner. During the classes, his concentration slipped more often now that he could appreciate female beauty to its fullest.

Thank the Merlin for small mercy since Hogwarts robes hid so much. Otherwise, everyone would be treated the sight of his embarrassing erection.

If he played his cards right, perhaps he might even have some quality times in broom cupboards with her. Benjamin once again ran his eyes up and down her slim form. Such a shame that Hogwarts robes hid much of her figure, he would've liked to see just how she looked beneath the robes.

Yes, she'll do nicely. With that French veela spurning his advances, and Daphne Greengrass hardly showing any interest in boys, that left Susan Bones and Lavender Brown as some of the most attractive girls in his year. However, while Susan was polite, she didn't seem interested in him and Lavender was too much of an airhead.

Amanda, on the other hand, was in his house as well as somewhat of a friend who was in regular contact with him. If she were to become his girlfriend, perhaps he might learn something about his estranged brother's weakness…

'Yes, she'll be mine.'

.oOo.

Hogwarts

Headmaster's Office

Albus Dumbledore conversed with the other judges as he waited for the last champion to arrive. The champions needed to be told of the upcoming First Task and unlike the previous tournaments, there had been major changes for this one. Traditionally, there were three tasks in total but with the addition of Salem Academy of Magic, the original plan was scrapped for a new one. The Americans pointed out that three tasks were too few and wanted to add challenges that relied more on intellect and "thinking outside the box" as they would say. Not to mention, there were some glaring flaws that were previously overlooked.

Karkaroff was less than pleased and wanted to stick to the tradition but with Madam Maxime and himself agreeing with the Americans, more challenges were added. Of course, Ludo Bagman immediately pounced on the new plan as it would increase publicity.

While the judges talked quietly to one another, the champions were scattered around the office. Viktor Krum, as usual, lean against the wall with brooding expression while Cedric Diggory and Richard Banks, the Salem's Champion, was having an animated discussion judging by their grins. Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbaton 's champion, was shooting glances at the Denarian while conversing lightly with him.

Dumbledore made sure to keep an eye on him despite the slight surprise. Aries Angelos had proven himself to be rather antisocial and rude ever since he started living in the castle. Yet, judging by the quarter veela's interaction with him, he didn't seem to react hostile to her. She would occasionally send him curious and shy look whenever she thought he wasn't looking. Seemingly innocuous physical contacts by both parties as well as small smiles were telltale signs of interest.

He had been a professor for more than half a century and had seen more than his share of teenage romance and could tell that the veela was rather taken with him.

The conversations stopped as the door to the office opened and strode in Neville Longbottom and Benjamin Potter.

"Ah it seems that everyone has now arrived." Bagman said jovially. "The reason for the meeting is to inform you of the First Task."

Taking the cue, Dumbledore stepped forward. "Traditionally, there were three tasks but we have decided to increase the number. The First Task will be 'treading the water' so to speak as each champion will have the chance to prove their skill to each other and audience."

His blue eyes swept across the room and he could see that champions were paying him more attention now.

"We are proud to announce that the tournament will kick off in an explosive start with a duel!" Bagman exclaimed proudly.

"Each champion will be randomly selected in a duel and the winner will be the last one left standing. This is also a chance to impress your Ministry as well as foreign dignitaries since the tasks will be broadcast to select locations throughout the world." Dumbledore concluded.

The champions straightened as the news sunk in. With the tasks broadcasting to the world, it was their chance to show off their skills and forge connections that would become useful. Foreign Ministries, not just Ministries of schools participating will also bear witness to the legendary tournament. Dumbledore saw that Aries' usually bored expression morph into thoughtful mask with small spark of interest in his eyes.

It was a dangerous game they were playing. With such announcement, there was no way that their enemies would stay still. Voldemort was on the move and would no doubt capitalize the chance to regain his physical body. The Order of Blackened Denarius would also be drawn out from the shadows.

As Albus Dumbledore's deep blue eyes met the Denarian Renegade's piercing emerald eyes, understanding and grim resolve passed between them. While the champions would play the game of impression, they would be playing far deadlier game of cat and mouse.

'The stage is set, the prize hangs in the air, and the clock is ticking. Your move.' Meciel whispered.

Author Note: Damn, I can't believe it's been almost 5 months since I've updated. Now before you break out the pitchforks and torches, I've been overseas during the summer for a vacation. As for the rest… college is no laughing matter. Not to mention, we authors sometimes suffer from lack of motivation and laziness.