48 Home Sweet Home Part 2

Time quickly passed by, while Kaiser busied himself with his ongoing project, which already produced a working prototype. They were only testing it for potential bugs and fixing any they came across. There was also the issue of how they were going to mass produce the wizarding equivalent of the "phone", but they already had the concept in hand. They only needed more time.

Kaiser was in the room of requirement, that currently took the form of a gym, working out.

He was alternating different series, from push-ups to squats to jumping jacks, he tried to fit as much exercises in a short amount of time while multiplying the series. Training was all about intensity will and the ability to push yourself to the limits with a calm mind that can withstand the amount of pain an efficient workout might have; it came out as no surprise that with Kaiser's Occlumency training, he held longer than any total beginner.

He engaged his whole body in all fields wishing to accomplish everything at once, which only resulted in his body burning up, his lungs aching and his muscles quivering from over exhaustion. It was time to call it quits.

"Why are you doing this again?" Daphne asked after he finished, handing him a towel which he gratefully accepted.

"To increase my stamina, speed and to stay fit. And to kill some time." he added. "Not to mention, studies have shown that fit people tend to last longer… in a duel." he added the last part hastily. If he wasn't already red from working out, his blush would have been glaringly obvious. 'That was a completely clean sentence! Is that all my mind can think of?! Stupid teenage hormones!' he raged inside.

"You hardly need it." Daphne denied, before her eyes widened in realization. "I mean… with the rituals and the potion… Your magic is on another level…" Kaiser quietly nodded, as they walked back to their home.

"My father told me to inform you about an event Hogwarts will be hosting this year." Daphne said after composing herself, observing his reaction very closely. "The Triwizard tournament has been reinstated."

"I see." Kaiser nodded, though he seemed to be thinking about something else.

"You don't seem surprised at all." Daphne remarked.

"Should I be?"

"Yes. Assuming this is the first time your heard about it." Kaiser stopped and turned to his blond friend. He frowned at her word that made no sense to him.

"What are you trying to say?" he believed they were past the point of beating around the bush.

"You already knew about it." Daphne said matter-of-factually. Kaiser didn't say anything.

"You're awfully sure of yourself." he said after a long silence.

"Maybe that's because this isn't the first time you know something you're not supposed to." Kaiser was to retort, but Daphne beat him to it. "Don't deny it. There many cases where you just happen to be conveniently prepared for whatever is about to come. In your first year, you extracted memories from Potter and sent it to the head of the DMLE, which means you spent an uncanny amount of time learning Legilimency for someone who just discovered the magical world.

"Second year you went to the Chamber Of Secrets where you found a Horcrux that you conveniently could identify. I have no idea what you were reading to stumble upon that knowledge, not to mention that you spent the rest of it practicing the killing curse." she said leaving Kaiser in a confused state. "Third year, you asked me to go with you to retrieve a lost broom, but that was obviously not what you were expecting."

Kaiser had already hidden behind his Occlumency shields, thinking about how to shake this accusation. His greatest secret …. nobody can know… it was too dangerous…

He was about to say something but Daphne beat him to it: "You don't have to say anything you know." Kaiser was once again shocked. Why did she confront him if she wasn't expecting an answer? "We trust you. My father believes that whatever it is, you must have a good reason not to tell us." Karl and his daughter had already discussed the possibility of him being a seer, but they dismissed it, simply because of his lack of interest in the subject.

Daphne retreated to her room, leaving him behind in deep thought rooted in place.

"You haven't told anyone yet, have you?" Rowena's voice interrupted his musing.

"Tell her what exactly?" it seemed that everyone was determined to confuse him today.

"That you are not from this world, of course." Kaiser's mouth hung open, eyes nearly popping out from their sockets. 'What the hell was going on?' he did not know how to process this anymore. There is only so much a person's brain can handle. Was everyone reading him like an open book? How could a portrait figure it out?

'Wait…' Kaiser raised his Occlumency shields, letting rationality take over. 'This was a Hogwarts' portrait… they were linked directly to the castle... And Hogwarts already knew his secret, at least the sorting hat, Hogwarts' spokesperson, did.

"I thought the sorting hat kept its findings to itself." Kaiser asked with narrowed eyes.

"Magical contracts are not absolute, child." Rowena said calmly, her demeanor never betraying the lifetime she spent witnessing the wonders of magic, proof that she wasn't called the wisest founder in vain. "There are always ways around them."

"And there are ways to void them as well." Salazar added.

"How?" Kaiser prided himself in his intelligence, and given the subject of magical contract was a quite straightforward one, he thought he already had a firm grasp of it. Alas, he was only deluding himself in believing so.

"The answer is quite simple really." Rowena said, clearly enjoying Kaiser's cluelessness and her own ingenuity. "If you were from this world, you would never have gained access to this chamber."

Needless to say, Kaiser's questions only increased in number at her supposedly simple answer. What exactly was that supposed to mean? How could a chamber distinguish whether someone was a native of this world or not? Unless it performed a Legilimency attack on him, which couldn't have gone unnoticed. The only time a full Legilimency probe was done was during the sorting ceremony, which means that they somehow found a loophole around the silent contract, but what?

Finally taking pity on him, afraid his brain might fry, Rowena explained: "The sorting hat is part of this castle. The castle merely allowed anyone she knew wasn't of this world to this chamber, which isn't a violation of the contract. The fact that we know this particular condition, and also happen to have access is merely a happy coincidence." she finished with a grin.

'Happy coincidence my ass!' this was obviously calculated. It seems that this room was designed to allow only those that satisfied a set of conditions, but here is the problem: To design such conditions, one needs to know they would be satisfied someday. Otherwise, why would Rowena waste so much of her time on a meaningless endeavor.

"So you were expecting me?" Kaiser only wanted to hear a confirmation, and Rowena's nod was all he needed. "Let me guess… a prophecy?"

"You're very close to the answer." Rowena praised. "A prophecy is usually met in the same century. The same millennia at worse. There are no records of prophecies that lasted thousands of years. There are also conditions for prophecies to be made." After explaining to him a few theories about divination, a subject he never took seriously because of how vague and absurd it was, she told him that a friend of hers who owed her a favor, was a very prominent seer at the time, made the prediction for her, though she refused to give him more details of the contents as that might ruin her efforts.

Kaiser made his way to the shower, where he spent a suspiciously long amount of time thinking about the coming year. This was the year where the war would start again. The rise of Voldemort was imminent. He needed to make sure it doesn't happen, at least not yet. He was not ready. No one was.

The dark faction was definitely the deadliest one among the others, for the simple fact that all families affiliated with it were renowned for their practice of dark magic. Meaning that in terms of raw power, they were the uncontested number one. Add in the fact that they are the second richest after the neutral faction, and it becomes a deadly combination.

The blood supremacy war was inevitable in magical England. As long as they did not eliminate the problem from its roots, it would always come back to bite them in the ass. While musing over the options available for him, he could only think of few.

To eliminate the risks of a new war, they could destroy the belief itself, that pure-bloods are the superior race. But it was never as easy as a simple belief. No, it was much more. They wanted to eliminate Muggle-borns not only because of their blood status, but also because of the job opportunities they take away from the pure-bloods. As for those in position of power, they wanted to eliminate them because of their rising numbers, and the shifting power balance. How can they maintain their power, when Muggle-borns are now becoming Aurors, Hit-wizards and ministry officials. In fact, several Wizengamot seats have been occupied by muggle-borns in the past century.

The second option would be to make the prospects of war hopeless. Dumbledore was currently the beacon of light, the man who defeated the worst dark wizard who ever lived: Gellert Grindelwald. It was rumored that Gellert once faced more than a hundred Aurors at once, killing more than fifty single-handedly. The man who defeated him in a duel was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Yet even with all that power, he was weak. At least in their eyes he was. Weak because of his inability to be ruthless. Weak because he preferred mercy over violence. His 'no killing' policy was one of their favorites during the previous war. Add Voldemort to the mix, an immortal who is ready to face him should the need arise.

The third option would be to eliminate them. Every single one of them. But that was easier said than done. Unless he could convince Dumbledore that this was the only way, which was obviously impossible, there was no way to pick this option.

Kaiser got out of the shower, feeling refreshed. He cast a drying charm all over himself, eliminating any need for a towel. He did not like this spell because of the feeling that comes with it. The drying spell is actually a variant of the summoning spell. It calls out a percentage of the water covering the skin (to avoid drying it completely), then the caster can dispose of the water anyway he sees fit. He would've used a towel if it wasn't for his sore muscles.

Kaiser laid down on his bed, thinking about his plans for this year over and over again. Until this moment, his life could be described as smooth sailing. His careful planning never failed him, armed with his knowledge of the future. But he had a feeling things wouldn't go according to the plan this time around. It didn't take long for him to drift to sleep.