Celestial Ascendancy

Celestial Ascendancy

Chapter 18: Arrival.

Elias Blake

Hogwarts

October 30 (3 weeks later)

"This is some bullshit!" Iris scowled at me, sprawled out on the floor of the fluffy plain inside my hollow. She was breathing heavily, a mix of exhaustion and irritation written all over her face.

Hermione shot her a smirk from her seated position, her arms folded across her chest, clearly enjoying the spectacle. Iris had always been the better fighter out of the three of us. It was rare that I ever managed to win against her, but ever since I got the Cryomancer perk, I had managed to beat her eight times out of ten, unless she pulled some sort of unexpected trick out of nowhere.

Iris had more magical power than most people could ever dream of, and her creativity in battle was unparalleled. Hermione was the opposite. She fought with less creativity than Iris but had immaculate control over her magic and had a perfect dueling stance, comparable to the professionals. They focused on different methods, but both were useful in their own right.

I couldn't help but laugh at her now. My grin was smug, and I couldn't hide the pride in my voice as I said, "I can finally beat you consistently."

"You are cheating, you infuriating bastard!" Iris snorted, her eyes rolling with frustration. Despite the mock annoyance, her expression was of genuine happiness.

I hadn't thought about it before, but the Cryomancer perk hadn't just given me control over ice; it had changed me on a deeper level. My body was part of that Ancient Bloodline now. It wasn't a sudden power-up but a gradual shift, and I was still changing.

My training with the girls had started to feel less like a challenge and more like a casual workout. My muscles were no longer sore after each session, and I grew faster, stronger, and quicker than ever. I wasn't a superhuman, at least not yet, but I could tell I was improving at an alarming rate. How far would this go? I didn't know, but I was excited to find out.

Looking down at my body, I smirked at the changes. Iris had somehow managed to disintegrate my shirt during our sparring session, but it wasn't like I minded. The reactions from the girls, particularly Iris, were more than worth my mild embarrassment. The abs I had once been proud of were nothing compared to what I had now. It was almost ridiculous how much one roll could change a person.

The good thing about Hogwarts uniform was that it hid the changes my body had undergone over the past three weeks. For now, only Iris and Hermione knew about the changes, and I planned for it to stay that way.

"You know you love it, Iris," I teased, winking at her. "For what other reason would you target my shirt so often?"

Iris raised an eyebrow, giving me a hungry look that widened my smirk. "It's better this way, Eli. If I'm going to lose, at least I want to enjoy it."

I shook my head, a chuckle escaping my lips. "At this point, I'll avoid wearing a shirt whenever we practice." I grinned, rubbing it in. "At least it'll help during my duels with Hermione."

Iris's eyes sparkled with amusement as she looked over at Hermione, who had gone pink in the cheeks.

"She gets flustered so easily," Iris laughed softly, her voice filled with affection. "She's adorable."

Hermione, who had been trying to hide her face between her hands, let out a small whine. The attempt was cute, but it didn't stop her from peeking through the cracks between her fingers. She was clearly embarrassed but enjoyed the sight enough to disregard it.

"You are adorable, Mione," I said, my voice softening as I smiled at her. "Whenever you get like this, I just want to eat you up." I grinned playfully, and it made her squeak, a reaction I totally didn't expect. Absolutely no clue why. Not one.

Iris's smirk widened at the interaction, though Hermione couldn't see it from her position. "She's so precious," Iris mumbled, more to herself than anyone else.

"You both are," I agreed, glancing at them. Our dynamic had shifted a little over the past few weeks. Since Crouch Jr.'s death, we'd all grown closer. The looming danger united us in a different way than the past years. We enjoyed each other's presence whenever we could, as if it was the last time.

"What's the plan for today?" I asked, breaking the comfortable silence once Hermione had calmed down. We had just finished the morning classes and were practicing during our free time after lunch; we only had potions left for today.

Hermione tilted her head, her brows furrowing slightly as she thought after a deep breath. "I think the other schools are arriving today, and Potions was cancelled. Also, we're meeting Sirius tomorrow at the Shrieking Shack."

"I can't wait," Iris said, her grin wide and excited. "I don't like that Sirius is so close to the Aurors, especially now that Dumbledore has brought the whole department to the school. But Sirius wouldn't listen."

It was true; the school was filled with Aurors right now, and while Iris had exaggerated a little bit, there were at least twenty Aurors in the school alone, not counting the ones situated in Hogsmeade and the other Hamlets near the school. Dumbledore had fulfilled his promise the very next day after Crouch's death; he had gone all the way to the Ministry to talk to someone, probably Amelia Bones and then Fudge, but I had no idea what he had told them to obtain so many Aurors in school.

I doubted he told the truth since, even with his considerable political power, I didn't believe he could convince the minister of something like this without the backlash he suffered during the fifth year.

"It must be important to him," I shrugged slowly. "Also, he was a hit wizard during Voldemort's first rise. I'm sure it is a piece of cake for him to remain undetected from the magical Bobies. From what we learned about the Marauders, they probably excelled at something like that."

"Professor McGonagall had a lot to say about them," Hermione smiled softly with a hint of respect, even if her face soured after remembering some of the other tales. "They were worse than the twins, and that is saying something. I genuinely can't imagine something like that."

"They were awesome," Iris smirked proudly, "I wish we could learn more about them. Hopefully, Sirius and Remus can help with that in the future."

"I'm sure they will," I nodded at her, knowing Sirius would do it without a doubt. On the other hand, Remus was a coin toss, but we could convince him with enough effort.

"Besides that, most of the Aurors are pathetic compared to the ones when Sirius was active," Hermione noted slowly, her eyebrow twitching in frustration.

"That's true," Iris nodded with a frown. "The Ministry and multiple Headmasters had damaged everyone's education with their actions."

I sighed in frustration, "I swear, it's like they wish for the Ministry to fall under a Dark Lord. They think they know what they are doing, but we can see how this is going. When Voldemort returns, he will have an easy time against our country's Law Enforcement, probably the world."

Hermione shook her head sadly but firmly. "The Headmaster is a good man, Eli. I'm sure he did what he thought was right."

"That's what he believes to this day, and in a perfect world, he would be correct," Iris scowled, her voice dripping with frustration. "But we don't live in a perfect world, and we need to know how to defend ourselves against Dark Wizards, and they expect us to win with all those rules and regulations."

"With all the bans on what kind of magic we're allowed to learn, the level of the wizarding world has dropped through the floor. That book about Grindelwald's war was inspiring in that regard. Everything the fighters did during that war was on another level compared to the present," I nodded at Iris with a soft frown. "We are good compared to some adults now in this age, but we wouldn't hold a candle against the people who fought during the Grindelwald War."

It was true. Even with the help of the Room of Requirement, we couldn't learn everything we wanted to. I had entered the Room expecting a place that could conjure any knowledge the world had to offer, but the reality was much less glamorous. The Room was powerful, no doubt about it, but it was restricted. The only knowledge available was what had already been at Hogwarts and no more.

I could summon every book in the library, including the restricted section. Still, since the past three or four headmasters and the Ministry had selected what was accessible, there was no forbidden knowledge, hidden secrets to uncover, or fast way to power.

I was sure most of the changes in the school started with Headmaster Black, who mainly did it because he was a jealous asshole who wanted purebloods to have access to more knowledge compared to the muggle-borns. Headmaster Dippet was soft, but he tried to fix Headmaster Black's mistakes and give muggle-borns opportunities to learn more at the school, not that it helped much since everything worsened when Dumbledore became the Headmaster, since he blocked everyone, including the purebloods, from accessing some knowledge. Now, the only way to learn about that was through family libraries, and very few families had access to one.

Some of the pureblood families' libraries were sacked after Voldemort's defeat, and since most of their members were rotting in Azkaban, no one could stop the government from doing so, even if the neutral families opposed vehemently; they just didn't have the support against the light families.

There was nothing on rituals, Dark Magic, or spells capable of large-scale destruction. All the things that could genuinely help in times of war and change history were hidden away, locked behind an impenetrable wall of bureaucracy. That was the easy theory, one I had my doubts about. If only the Ministry and the headmasters had been the cause of this, Britain would have been the only wizarding community with this problem, but it wasn't like that. It was the whole world, and that made it scarier.

It frustrated me before because the only way I could see back then that would allow me to survive was that knowledge, but with the appearance of the Celestial Grimoire, I now had other options.

I couldn't help but think of Grindelwald. During the war, he had decimated the population of Warsaw, Poland. There were countless theories, but no one knew precisely what he had done. The only thing everyone agreed on was that the cause of death was asphyxiation for every single person in the whole city.

The retaliation from the good guys had been driven by fury and vengeance. They fought with enough fury that there was enough wizard's blood to fill an entire lake after those skirmishes. It had taken Grindelwald to make a public apology and make an unbreakable vow to never use that spell in his life for the International Confederation of Wizards to calm down. Even then, it was too late.

It had been a brutal time. But it also raised questions. Just what kind of spell had Grindelwald used in Warsaw? I never believed in my past life that Wizards from the books of Harry Potter were capable of such destruction, and now I was living in this reality, with the danger of someone even more vicious than that Dark Lord.

Voldemort was perhaps not as strong as Grindelwald, but I wasn't sure. One thing that Grindelwald had that Voldemort lacks is humanity. Grindelwald genuinely cared for the Wizards and Witches, in his own way, unlike Voldemort, who saw everyone as pawns or enemies who needed to be destroyed. Tom didn't care about some lines that shouldn't be crossed, and he was our problem to deal with.

Whatever, there was no point thinking about it right now.

"We should relax for a bit before meeting the delegations, then," I shook my head with a wry smile, "Maybe we could cuddle again?" I asked with a soft smile directed at Hermione, already knowing that Iris was up for it whenever she could.

Hermione smiled softly and nodded, showing how accustomed she was to our new relationship. Knowing I had two amazing witches for me always warmed my heart.

"Let's go then!" Iris grinned from ear to ear before jumping my bones, not allowing me to get ready.

Three hours later.

"Ugh," I groaned, feeling the weight on my chest makes it hard to breathe. If not for that, I would have missed the delegations' arrival with how in bliss I was, but even with my new strength and durability, having the whole weight of someone on my chest was uncomfortable, no matter how much I loved the person doing so.

I opened my eyes slowly to avoid looking at the bright sky. I rubbed my eyes since the scene was somewhat blurry, but I smiled softly, seeing the lightly snoring Iris on top of me, Hermione hugging my arm, and Ash perched on her head. I was surrounded by heavy sleepers, something I realized these past three weeks.

Ash could be forgiven since she was still a baby, but these two girls didn't get a pass. Hermione would wake up after several pushes or pokes, but Iris? She was a complete pain in the ass when she slept. You could push her, shove her out of the way, even carry her to another place entirely, and she could sleep through it. It was strange since she always told us she was a light sleeper during her stay with the Dursleys or the Gryffindor's bedroom, but whenever the raven-haired girl slept in my hollow, she was really hard to wake up.

Brushing Hermione hair softly, I grabbed her waist to wake her up slowly.

Hermione groaned and whined, but before long, her eyes opened slowly as she yawned and saw me smiling down at her.

Shushing her quickly, I pointed at Iris with my eyes and a smirk on my face.

Iris was even drolling, and the worst part was that I didn't have a shirt to soak that up. She was going to pay for this injustice.

Hermione smiled mischievously as she moved out of my arm and walked back toward the house with a skip on her step.

I shook my head fondly, and I observed Mione walking away. " She is up to something," I muttered under my breath, then went back to gazing at Iris. Looking at her being so peaceful and tranquil was good. She deserved it more than anyone here, and I was glad to help her with this whenever she wanted for now that we could. Since Beabuxatons and Durmstrang were arriving today, our days of peace were getting shorter and shorter.

I tried shifting slightly to ease the weight of my chest, but it was for nothing. Iris just mumbled something unintelligible and snuggled closer, soaking my chest even more in the process.

"You are making me regret not using a shirt, Iris," I teased softly, tickling her sides to wake her up to no avail, "And you will clean me up later; I love you, but I don't like the feeling, girl," I muttered only for me to hear, still not being brave enough to tell her that.

It had been on my mind for a while, but I was afraid of pushing them and making them uncomfortable, so I tried to keep it to myself until I could feel it appropriate.

Eventually, Hermione returned with her face filled with amusement as she carried a magical camera that Iris had gifted me during our second year. I didn't know how she managed to obtain it since she didn't visit Diagon Alley, but it showed how much she cared for me.

Hermione smirked as she silenced me with a glare. She walked to my head, pointed the camera at Iris and me, and used the flash to wake up the log on top of me and immortalize the moment.

Closing my eyes painfully, I groaned, both knowing the war that was about to start and the pain in my eyes at the bright light. Hermione had a mean streak when pushed, and Iris had been having fun teasing our little bookworm lately.

Iris shot up with a startled yelp, her hair in disarray, as she looked around incomprehensively. Without her glasses, she was almost blind.

"Uff," I grunted in pain as Iris leaned into the soft spot on my stomach to stand up in confusion.

"What the fuck-?!"

"Good morning, sleepy head," Hermione chirped with a tone far too cheerful, but considering her vengeance, I admit it was pretty funny. I would laugh once the pain disappeared.

"You bitch!" Iris growled, glaring at Hermione before turning her Ire toward me. "You let her do it! I was so comfy!"

I raised my hand slowly and placatively, but I could not hide a wide grin on my face at her expense. " Don't look at me, Luv. I'm a victim here, the same as you. I still have bright spots in my eyes."

Iris huffed with puffed cheeks; she looked adorable as fuck as she promised vengeance with a glare. She probably learned from McGonagall, considering how much alike they looked now.

The effect was ruined when Ash chirped indignantly from the floor beside me, and she flapped her wings to jump into my head.

"I hate you both," Iris muttered as she looked at Ash with love. "This isn't over, and my vengeance will be sweet. You know how much I can hold a grudge."

Hermione shuddered before smirking, "Bring it on. You may learn not to tease me that much."

"Girls, calm down," I said softly as I sat down, petting Ash on the head. She chirped as I pulled both girls toward my chest, "Now that we all are awake, we should get ready and head out. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are arriving in a bit, remember?"

"Ewww!" Hermione whined as her cheek was directly on top of Iris's droll, something I did as my personal vengeance, also hoping it would calm Iris's. "Iris, your saliva!"

Iris looked mortified but also smug as fuck before she groaned, "Do we need to go? I would rather stay here."

"Yes," Hermione said firmly, already walking into my house to freshen up. The sun, even when blocked by clouds, was bright enough to make us sweat. "I'll take the first turn; you can decide who will go later."

One hour later.

We were running late, and it was totally not my fault. We had left Ash in my trunk with some Ashwinder eggs we managed to obtain from an apothecary in Diagon Alley since we were still thinking about the best way to hatch them ourselves in my trunk, even if all our tries were met with nothing.

I still wasn't sure that it was because my trunk was basically a pocket dimension, but incendio was probably not the specific fire needed to make that snake appear. We hoped that Sirius would know better since we couldn't ask for a spell like that from the professors without making them wonder where we would use it if they even did teach us something like that.

Running across the school, I enjoyed my newfound physical state with a smirk, not feeling winded at all. I could see the girls puffing their chests behind me, panting for breath. I needed to increase my training regimen if I wanted to enhance my body further; the one I was doing was not enough anymore.

The books Professor Flitwick gave me to prepare for the sword lessons were helpful in that regard, but maybe I could ask him soon. Thank Merlin; he was almost healed from the burn of the purple fire. He had really frightened us, but Madam Pomfrey was spectacular at her job and managed to fix the blisters on his skin in the past few days.

One could notice the power of those flames just with that. How potent those flames were was genuinely scary, and we still knew nothing about them.

Either way, he was almost in full health, and I could see the interest in his eyes as I continued to follow his instructions. He was dedicated to teaching, and I expected that he was excited to finally teach sword arts to someone interested.

Smiling at some acquaintances we encountered, we finally stopped at the entrance of the great hall, where every student was waiting for directions from the professors.

Multiple Aurors were in the hall, and I could see a pink-haired woman in their midst.

Hello, Tonks.

It was the first time I saw her, and honestly... she was one of my crushes whenever I read fanfiction in this setting, but since she had already graduated when I came for my first year, I completely forgot about her.

She was beautiful and, from what I could feel, powerful.

Well, no matter. I had my hands full with this pair.

Looking at Iris and Hermione, who were catching their breath, I smiled at them softly. Iris gave me a stink eye when she saw I was barely winded.

"You are bullshit, Eli," Iris scowled, and Hermione nodded firmly.

"I'm awesome; that's what I am," I lifted my chin proudly, earning groans from the girls.

Before I could continue, Dumbledore pointed the deathstick to his throat and started addressing the student body.

"Students, the delegations from Beauxbatons will be arriving shortly. Please follow us in an orderly manner and follow the instructions from the Aurors and Professors." He said seriously, his half-moon glasses glinting in the light.

"Wotcher, kids," A peppy voice alerted us from the arrival of said woman I was just thinking about, "Professor McGonagall will be at the lead with the headmaster, and she asked for my help taking you ducklings to the arrival point." She said happily.

I watched in complete shock as the first thing she did while approaching us was nearly tripping over her own feet while trying to look composed.

"Huh," I marveled as the bubblegum hair turned brown briefly before returning to that bright color. "Nice entrance," I said, giving her a thumbs-up for the effort.

Tonks glared at me, but I just grinned at her. She was feisty.

She clapped her hands, her smile returning despite glaring at me two seconds ago. "Alright, everyone, follow the prefects and keep things moving! I know you are excited, but let's not have stampedes. First impressions matter!"

As we followed her instructions, I nodded in satisfaction when I saw more Aurors waiting outside: "The headmaster really delivered."

Hermione nodded absentmindedly, "And they are way better than the Dementors."

Tonks was walking next to us. I didn't know if it was fate or something, but she stumbled again.

Moving quickly, I grabbed her arm and pulled, my new strength working wonders as I prevented her face from meeting the ground.

"You good, Miss Auror?" I smiled at her.

Her hair circled different colors, attracting the girl's attention away from the confusion at seeing a professional law enforcer being so clumsy.

"Thank you," She nodded, somewhat embarrassed.

"No problem," I nodded slowly.

"Excuse me, Miss Auror. " Hermione wondered, "How are you doing that?"

Tonks straightened and smiled brightly. " I'm a metamorphmagus," she explained softly. "I can change my body however I want."

Before Hermione could start asking the poor Auror questions, I grabbed her waist and pulled her toward me. "Presentations first, dear."

Hermione's cheeks went pink, but she nodded with a smile, "I am Hermione Granger, fourth year. This goof hugging me is Elias Blake, and I don't think this one over there needs any introduction but Iris Potter."

Iris glared at Hermione, showing her maturity by sticking her tongue out.

"Nice meeting ya," Tonks smiled, "My name is Tonks, Auror Tonks."

"Just Tonks?" Iris asked.

The Auror's hair turned red momentarily before nodding firmly, "Just Tonks."

"Okaay..." Iris stretched the word confusedly but did not care enough to ask for more, "How long ago did you graduate from Hogwarts, Auror Tonks?"

Nymphadora nodded appreciatively, "Five years ago, one year before you came the first time. I just finished the Auror Academy."

"Nice," I nodded, "Do they teach useful stuff?"

Tonks looked at me carefully, "Have I met you before?"

Wondering what she was talking about, I shook my head, "I don't think so."

"You look familiar," she muttered low enough to strain my ears. "Well, whatever. As for your question, if you are asking about spells, no, they don't. They just teach us to use them in better ways to incapacitate our targets."

Huh... She was Black, but she didn't have any relationships with other Blacks alive. Maybe her mother had an album or something.

Iris nodded softly, "So, useless."

After a moment of staring at the girl who lived in shock, Tonks snorted and nodded, "The only way for you to learn handy stuff is if you get the attention of a seasoned Auror and he takes you as an apprentice."

"Did you get lucky?" I continued the conversation as we walked, "You feel strong."

Tonks puffed her chest out in pride, something that did wonders to her form, but after Lavender, I learned to hide it better, looking from the corner of my eyes.

"Yeah!" she nodded with a grin. "Moody took a liking to me, but the headmaster called for a favor, so he couldn't teach me that much before he came here."

I nodded; it made sense, after all. From what I remember, she was his student, but I wasn't sure when they started that relationship.

"Look," Hermione interrupted us with a gasp, pointing her finger at the sky.

And there it was, a distant shimmer in the dark sky. Gasp echoed through the crowd as the enormous carriage appeared, pulled by a team of MASSIVE winged horses. They were so damn big, rivaling the Hippogrifs from last year, probably bigger.

Their manes glowed gold, and they left something akin to stardust as they grew closer. Then, the carriage descended gracefully with not a single thump on the ground.

The students from the French school began disembarking, their uniforms pristine and beautiful, in contrast to the more practical uniform of our school.

Leading them was Madame Maxime, towering over everyone, including Hagrid, who was looking at the Pegasus in shock. Her voice carried all the way as she greeted Dumbledore, almost lifting him from the ground with the hug.

"Damn," I whistled, "She can probably bench press Hagrid."

Hermione hit me on the shoulder as Tonks snorted.

"You don't have a filter, kid?" Tonks asked with a guffaw.

"Nah, never cared about that," I smirked, "Besides, I doubt any of you will repeat it in public. From what I read, she is one of the best duelists in her country. Also, call me Elias."

"You got it," Tonks nodded with a grin.

Before we could continue the conversation, a massive Horn blared from the direction of the lake.

"Looks like the Durmstrang lot like to make an entrance," Tonks remarked, crossing her arms as she leaned into a tree.

"That's impressive," Iris nodded, her eyes sparkling as a couple of flying students lifted from the mast of the ship.

Hermione grinned, "Did you know that that warship is fully capable of warfare? I remember reading about it last week."

Iris looked even more impressed, the battle-junkie she was.

The ship docked flawlessly in the lake as a gangplank lowered smoothly to the ground.

As the students descended, they continued to show off their militaristic efficiency, awing the students at Hogwarts who were painfully average in everything.

"It appears that there are some strong people over there," I remarked softly, feeling the auras of multiple people in each school.

"The tournament will be exciting," Iris grinned with bright eyes.

If only you knew... I just hoped that my interference was enough to change that.

200 CP awarded

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