Hogwarts Raven (Harry Potter)

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Aurora laid out the full picture while Ian casually nicked some of the rare treats from her plate. The German girl didn't appear to mind.

"How do you even know all this?" Ian asked, raising an eyebrow as he casually dumped his unwanted broccoli into Aurora's bowl.

That finally earned him a sharp glare from the usually composed witch.

"If you don't like it, don't take it."

Aurora picked out the offending broccoli with a look of disdain. Clearly, she wasn't a fan of the "healthier options" either. Understandably, everyone knew the more nutritious a meal was, the less palatable it tended to be.

"The elves sneak it onto my plate," Ian explained, sighing. "They're worried I'll grow up all scrawny. I've been forced to drink three goblets of milk a day, absolutely vile stuff, just because I complained about not being tall enough."

Still, the results were undeniable.

Ian had grown nearly a whole centimetre over the past few days. He couldn't help but wonder whether the elves had added something... extra to the milk.

"You are rather picky," Aurora noted dryly, eyeing his plate stacked high with roasted meat.

"This is all protein of high quality," Ian declared firmly. "Besides, I dip my fried chicken in loads of powdered fire pepper. Gets the heart racing and helps burn the fat, so it's a perfectly balanced diet."

"Back to Daphne and the others," He continued without missing a beat. "She's been subtly nudging others to go along with me rather than fight. I'd say Daphne and her friend are quite sharp."

"If you were to extend a friendly hand to her, and perhaps her entire House, I doubt they'd turn it down. Hogwarts secrets rarely stay secret for long."

Aurora's tone was more than suggestive. Ian was fairly certain she already knew about You-Know-Who, and her words hinted that he wasn't the only one aware of such things.

"Do they have spies in the castle? No… It must be the portraits. They're the ones keeping watch."

Ian recalled that there had been enchanted portraits hanging in that peculiar underground chamber.

Aurora didn't answer directly.

"Or perhaps it's Dumbledore, carefully stirring the waters on your behalf." She offered her own theory without hesitation.

"Stirring what exactly?" Ian blinked.

"You're a first-year, yet you've already done things most adults couldn't dream of. Whether you like it or not, you're bound for something extraordinary. As my grandfather always said, when fate bestows someone with talent, it often saddles them with a historical purpose, just as it did with Albus Dumbledore." Aurora looked across the table at the young wizard seated opposite her as she spoke.

"That sort of calling doesn't depend on your intentions or your choices. Wherever you go, great events will gravitate toward you like moths to a flame. My grandfather believed that no one understood this better than Dumbledore and he did. So if Dumbledore is stirring momentum for you, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising."

"You've powers beyond either of them, and the marvels you might achieve could far surpass theirs… You're treading a road they can no longer walk."

Perhaps Aurora was repeating the views of Gellert Grindelwald himself, and that would certainly explain why the greatest prophet of the last century had taken such an interest in Ian, yet allowed him to grow freely without interference.

Grindelwald must have believed, without doubt, that even if he did nothing at all, Ian would eventually step onto the path of destiny he himself had been forced to abandon.

"I've no interest in duelling Muggles, nor do I fancy carrying the fate of wizardkind on my shoulders," Ian grumbled, lips curled in a sulk. He certainly didn't appear to share the grand ambitions shown to him in the Mirror of Erised.

"The powers you hold… whether you accept them or not, they'll guide your steps along that road. Just look at how Daphne's changed her tune, you ought to see why."

"Ian, the wizarding world has longed for a king," Aurora said, her tone oddly solemn despite the occasional childish glint in her eye. In some ways, she was clearly more mature than Ian.

"Isn't there already a Dark Lord? And two more lurking around? My uncle's going to be the third," Ian replied, blinking innocently as he finished off his plate.

"I mean a true king… one for all wizards, not just a tyrant pretending to wear a crown." Aurora placed her fork down, watching as Ian cheekily swiped her remaining beef ribs.

"I fully support this grand cause," Ian announced, grinning as he bit into the ribs. "Really, Aurora, since we're mates, just name me the Wizarding Treasurer with the power to conjure gold, and I'll call it even."

He clearly thought her talk was far too lofty and abstract, hardly fitting concerns for a couple of first-years still getting used to castle life.

"My grandfather says you're the only one with a chance. I don't have your gift or strength," Aurora replied quietly, shaking her head.

Ian continued munching, jaw hard at work.

"So, if I've got this straight, your grandfather's saying that I'm meant to be king… simply because I've got power?"

His question made Aurora's eyes glimmer slightly.

"See? You're already awakening to it."

The German girl's voice was soft but earnest.

"…"

Ian nearly blurted out that she was quoting a line from a game he used to play, but stopped himself. If Aurora asked which game, he'd have to explain the whole thing, so he just coughed awkwardly and reached for his water goblet.

"Let's talk about Miss Daphne Greengrass, you seem to know quite a lot about her… and that so-called 'Prince Resistance Alliance.'"

Ian steered the conversation elsewhere.

What he hadn't expected was for Aurora to hesitate, then reply with an uncharacteristically bashful expression.

"Because I'm in that alliance too," She admitted softly.

The German girl bowed her head, eyes fixed on her empty plate.

Her voice had none of the confidence it had carried just moments before while talking about wizarding monarchs.

"???"

Ian nearly choked on his water.

"What in Merlin's name?!"

He gawked at her as if she'd just sprouted horns.

"To try out some of those strategies you taught me, of course, I had to blend in. Make a few friends. Now they all think I'm the spy they planted to keep an eye on you." Aurora said this in a voice laced with mock calm.

"Ugh~ Can they get any dafter?" Ian looked horrified.

"You didn't notice that lately, the Slytherins have stopped being so openly hostile to you? In fact, they've warmed up a bit?" Aurora's sudden shift in tone made him pause.

"Now that you mention it, they have been more civil. Even a touch respectful," Ian muttered, recalling how oddly polite the Slytherins had been of late.

"That's my doing too," Aurora declared, puffing up just slightly with pride.

"My grandfather said if I spread this book through the common rooms, it'd help soothe tensions at school. And it really has worked wonders."

"I've also made quite a few galleons from it, and I fully intend to give you half." As she spoke, Aurora produced an old, well-bound book and a rather full-looking pouch of coins.

She opened the pouch in front of Ian, letting him see it glinting with galleons.

"What kind of book could fetch this much?" Ian asked, picking up the volume titled 'The Weakness of Human Nature: The Prince's Secret', bearing a signature in Gilderoy Lockhart's flamboyant script.

It was unmistakable: Grindelwald had published a book under a pseudonym, right within the castle.

"Is this meant to teach other young witches and wizards how to admire me?" Ian asked as he flipped through a few pages.

His smirk faltered. His cheerful demeanour vanished.

After a long, stunned pause, he slammed The Weakness of Human Nature: The Prince's Secret shut.

"Bloody hell! Isn't this just a Muggle parenting guide dressed up in fancy robes?!"

His face went crimson, like a beetroot or a potion gone wrong.

His voice rang out, livid and wounded.

It truly felt like he'd just suffered a personal betrayal of the highest order.

(End of Chapter)