Left to Rot

[Early Morning — Minister of Magic's Office]

{Cornelius Oswald Fudge}

"Minister."

No.

"Minister."

This is not good, this is disastrous.

"Minister Fudge!"

"Huh? Oh." I had to drop the paper on the table, words down. "Yes?"

"Do we release a statement?" He was just as worried as I was, even the thunderous wind was calmer than this situation. "They are forcing us to release one and if we don't, the press will only worsen the situation."

The press, that darn Rita Skeeter…

"We cannot release all the names." We couldn't, too many political figureheads were involved. "If we do, it will flip the power hierarchy and ruin the current political scenario."

"But sir… we have to." He had a point, a very fair point. "If we don't, we will be the one to take the hit."

I definitely could not afford that. This was a fraud that had to be dealt with, even if I tried, it cannot be hidden.

"Just who found out about it? And what do they want to achieve?"

The shift in the power hierarchy. That's what they want, of course. But who is it? The top families will not want that or else they will be affected as well.

When you are at the top, you are not without stains. 

They will not want the light to fall on them… or will they?

"Jeremiah." I once again had to flip back the paper, the names of families that supported me were on it. It would be a stab in the back if I go against them, but if I don't… it will be a stab to my neck. "Figure out the names and ages of all the current heirs and heiresses of the Sacred Twenty-Eight and also the families of higher wealth who have links with the trading world."

It might be possible to lower the damage of the blow, or maybe… maybe even figure out the motive behind the whole scene if this hunch comes out true.

"I can do that in four hours, sir. The list might include some bastards that they might be hiding or distant relatives with claims. So, I will need a little while."

I looked at him, dead in the eye. "Two. I want it in two."

"Sir—"

"Jeremiah." I did not have the luxury to wait. "By tonight, someone or the other is going to end up in Azkaban. And you best hope that it is not you or me."

"I…" He was a smart man. "I understand sir."

Lowering his head, he took a step back. "The list will be at your table within two hours."

It best be, because after this… there might be an entire new power struggle between the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

…

…

"You can, no, you should take a longer break, Professor Safar." 

Sometimes, I wonder if Dumbledore truly cares about the people under him or he just acts like he cares. 

"I am hoping to resume classes by next week, sir. The course is yet to be completed and my wound will be healed by then."

He took a deep breath, "Physical wounds can be healed with magic, Safar. But what you went through, being swarmed by dementors requires more than just magic. It requires time, time can only heal the pain you suffered."

"I appreciate it, professor. But I am fine." I simply did not want to be stuck doing nothing.

He sighed out, "I can only request. But I hope you will not push yourself too hard."

I gave a smile, the old man was great with words. Even if it was just an act, he was good at it.

"I will keep that in mind, sir."

He was a good man, a controlling man but he had good intentions in the end.

"Then I will take my leave."

"Take some rest." He suggested, "Magic might have healed you enough to walk around, but you should still not push yourself."

Nodding, I decided to walk out. 

It had been a few hours since I talked to Minister West. He woke up for a few moments to make a statement, but fell unconscious again soon after.

He suffered quite a bit, both physically and psychologically from the dementors. And while he can recover, it will take him some time given his old age.

But gosh darn does this wound hurt.

Maybe I should get rid of the pain, I had the perfect magic for that. But no, I needed the wound and the pain.

"I swear I would have hit you if not for the wound that you carry."

My feet paused, breathing steadied and a smile bloomed. "I would prefer that pain over this, Aurora."

Her eyebrows frowned, not from anger but from worry.

"Sometimes, being adventurous is not a good thing, Darius."

"True, but at least by getting hurt I got my name on the paper." She shook her head hearing this, "But don't worry, I am fine. The wound is also healing quite well."

She did not seem convinced, but she did not say much either. And this was what I liked about her, she understood when to pry and when not to.

"Should I come to your room later?" She asked, "With some food of course."

Sadly I could not accept, "That would be too much to ask for. And my diet is predetermined by the healers for the time being."

She stared at me for a while, "Is there something you are not telling me?"

"Of course, not. I am just telling you what the doctors have told me." 

I would have loved to spend some time with her, sadly I couldn't.

"So, where are you off to?" She crossed her arms, "Better not be work."

"It's not." It wasn't, not exactly. "I just have to meet Draco since the boy seems to have been struggling a little."

"It is work." She said, but once again, I shook my head.

"Counseling, not work."

She crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow and sighed. "You are not going to listen to me, are you?"

"Unfortunately, I can't." I gave her the honest answer, "I have my duty as a teacher to help the students. And in Draco's case, since he found no one to lean on back then, he sees me as a mentor. And I can't let him down."

"I can see why he likes you." She said, walking a bit closer. "You are good with your words. But promise me that you won't push yourself too hard or get hurt again."

"I cannot promise what might happen in the future, but I will do my best to not end up in the hospital."

Once again, she could only stare at me. "Well then, I hope to see you again soon. Maybe for dinner and this time, it will be on me."

"Never said no to a date with a pretty lady, and never will."

I mean, she was pretty —like really pretty.

…

…

[Soon afterward — Old Storerooms of Hogwarts]

{Draco Lucius Malfoy}

It feels good when people look up to you, when they admire you and when they want to learn from you.

"So, tell us, Draco." She might sound annoyed, but she was definitely excited. "When are you going to tell us about the magic?"

Is this how professors feel? Is this how Professor Safar felt when I went to him?

"I do have notes to complete but this sounds fun, so tell us, Draco." Even Theo, the ever-bored guy, was keen to learn.

"You better teach us, we too want to keep our names above that traitor Potter." 

Potter, from being one of the most liked, had now become the most hated among the students. At least in the pureblood circle.

And obviously it was the only circle that mattered.

"I will not teach you." I said, drawing frowns from all of them.

"Do not… tell us that you brought us here as a prank." The heiress of Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass did not look pleased. "I do not appreciate my time being wasted."

The others were quick to judge too.

"Do not waste our time, Draco. We are not as free as you think." Blaise Zabini, one of the pureblood heirs, seemingly shared the same sentiment.

"Well—"

But I did not have to answer the purebloods.

"As he said, he won't be teaching you anything."

This new but familiar voice drew everyone's attention, which included — Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson and of course, Crabbe and Goyle.

 "Professor Safar?"

They all had a look of surprise, rightfully so, at the arrival of Professor Safar.

"As he said, he will not be teaching you anything."

And he truly meant that. 

Why? 

Well because—

"Does that mean…" Daphne was quick to pick on, "You will be the one to teach us?"

She was smart, and one of the students that gave that Granger girl a run for her money during exams —not really, but Daphne was still smart.

But yes, Professor Safar will be teaching them. And it is all because of me.

"I contemplated it for a long time." He said and I knew that he did. "But yes, after thinking for the past few days, I have decided to teach you a few things that the school does not teach."

It did not matter if the mudbloods and the traitors did not know about the skills and greatness of Professor Safar, but he had to be known by the purebloods. He told me not to tell anyone about the Dark Arts, and I haven't. But it is also a loss if no one knows of the amazing spells and skills that one can use through Dark Magic.

And as he said, Magic is never evil, it is the user who is evil.

So, after days of convincing, he finally agreed to teach a little about the truth of Dark Arts and how it can be used for good as well as to make life easier to a few pureblood students.

And once again, it's all because of me. He didn't agree at first, but once I convinced him that pureblood people have been exposed to magic and the magical world since birth, hence we have a better and more open mind when it comes to these topics—not that I will ever let those mudbloods learn these spells.

"What is it professor?" Pansy asked, somewhat curious. "What are you going to teach us?"

Their minds are about to be blown, I am certain of it.

"Well… I am still not sure if that is a good idea…" He looked at me. Wait, is he hoping for me to say it's okay? Does me want reaffirmation from me?

"I-I think you should tell them, professor." He was not from Britain. So he did not know about the views we had. But he too was a pureblood from some powerful Iranian family. So, he must also have the same beliefs as us in one way or another. "We are not like those narrow minded mudbloods. We are not blind like them, and you can be sure that we will follow your teachings."

He kept looking at me for a while, but then he smiled. "Maybe you are correct." He said, "You all are somewhat brighter than the rest."

That somewhat hurt a little, but it still means that he agrees we are better than those mudbloods.

"Tell us, professor." Blaise walked forward, his eyes fixated on Professor Safar. "We are curious about what you are going to teach us."

"Yes, Professor Safar." Daphne too was interested, "We saw how Draco defeated Potter even after Potter was guided by most of the other professors. So, we are curious about how we can get that strong in that short amount of time."

I had to spend so much effort to convince him. And it was all worth it.

"Well, since you all seem that curious…" He sighed, and placed his hands behind his back. "Then let me ask a question first."

Everyone looked at one another before they nodded.

"Tell me, which magic is inherently evil?"

They all froze, most because they knew what Professor was insinuating, and the others —namely Crabbe and Goyle— because they didn't know what he meant.

"The…" Daphne frowned, "Dark Arts?"

"Don't tell me…" Blaise raised his eyebrows.

And while they all looked astonished, Professor Safar looked at me. "Draco."

Hearing him call my name, I instinctively jumped forward. 

"Show them what I taught you."

Nodding and without uttering another word, I took out my wand and pointed at the old bookshelf near us.

"Corrosius Carcon!"

I instantly threw the one spell that professor taught me not long ago, and directed it at the bookshelf.

"H-How…" Theo paled as he saw the aftermath of the spell hitting the shelf. 

Why? 

Because the moment the spell hit the shelf, the shelf melted —not burned but melted— like it was plastic, like it was made of some synthetic material instead of wood. And in seconds, the whole shelf had melted into a pudding of brown goo —melted wood, something that should not be possible.

"Dark Arts." Professor finally explained, "Not a magic that is inherently evil, but a magic that makes the impossible… possible."

"Dark Arts…" Pansy was shaking, "It is forbidden. It is bad to use."

I was about to say something at that, but Professor Safar decided to correct her instead.

"I taught you all in class once, Miss Parkinson. No magic is evil, it is the user who decides what the spell will be. Would it be used for good or for evil." He walked closer to her, "And Dark Arts does have a tendency to make users strong minded, in a way that they don't listen to others and that leads to quite dangerous results. But if you train your mind enough and know where not to use the Dark Arts, it can create phenomenons that are not possible with normal magic."

They still didn't seem convinced, and this time, I added to his words. "He helped me when no other professor did. No evil person or man consumed by Dark Magic would do that. He even used it for healing which is known to be done only through the purest form of magic, so Dark Arts is not evil."

"That does not sound possible." Blaise was quick to judge, "Dark Arts is used to harm others, that's why it is frowned upon and even forbidden almost everywhere."

"Yes, and if the others learn of this, both you and Professor will be in trouble, Draco." Crabbe sounded worried.

"That—" I wanted to counter. People are naive and maybe the ones who knew Dark Arts did not want others to grow strong like them hence kept it hidden and made it forbidden. But before I could say any of that, the Professor decided to show them instead.

Show, instead of tell.

"Then look at this." Professor Safar slowly pulled his robe, making everyone's eyes go wide.

Why? 

Because what he revealed was not just his naked torso, but a massive and barely healed wound that was covered with bandages.

"This is a wound I received from the dementors."

"D-Demontors?"

"Yes, dementors. The creatures that most don't even dare to think about." He said, slowly removing the bandages and showing his wound, the horrible wound. "And even the purest magic that they consider holy, could barely do a thing to close this wound."

"That…" They shuddered looking at it.

"But what if I tell you that what the holiest of magic could not heal, could be healed using Dark Magic?"

Wait!

I know…

Back then he removed my pain when I had an injury. 

But wait…

"I know what you are thinking, Draco." He said, without looking at me. "But back then I could not have shown you this as you would have been more scared than impressed. You were depressed back then, and I did not want to make you worry more."

Oh…

He was… He was worried about me?

"But now, I think you all should know something." And with that, he placed one of his fingers over his wound. "And it is that Dark Arts, when used correctly, can be the greatest form of magic."

And with that, he slowly moved his finger over his wound and a dark smoke like aura followed his fingers.

"H-How is that possible?"

And just like them, my mouth dropped too.

"This is not Dark Arts, surely not."

With his finger moved the dark smoke, and with the smoke closed the wound, leaving no scar, just clear skin.

"But I promise you, it is Dark Arts." 

I have made the best choice following him, haven't I? 

"And this is the form of magic that I am going to teach."

Yes.

Yes, I certainly did.

…

…

[Deep in the night — Hidden behind Ayrshire Hills]

{Lucius Abraxas Malfoy}

"M-Master, you have to help me."

Why, why did he not want to listen!

"ThIs Is YoUr PrObLeM tO sOlVe LuCiUs. Do NoT DrAg My DeAtH eAtErS iNtO tHiS!"

"M-Master—"

"SiLeNcE!" His voice hissed around, "YoUr WiFe AnD cHiLd WiLl NoT bE hArMed. BuT yOu HaVe To FiX tHiS mEsS oN yOuR oWn!"

"I served you for years!" I gave him everything, "Please, master. For that loyalty, please help me this once…"

"QuItE!" He was giving up on me. After everything I had done for him, he was giving up on me. "AnD lEaVe ThIs OnCe! Or EvEn YoUr WiFe AnD bOy WiLl Be PuNiShEd."

Master… He… he had abandoned me.

Why?

But Why!!!

"LeAvE nOw AnD i ShAlL pRoTecT yOuR fAmIlY."

He… he had truly abandoned me.

"LeAvE bEfOrE i BuRn YoUr BoDy!"

Of course…

Of course the dark lord was not going to help me. Of course he was not going to help a Death Eater. I was a part of his inner circle, I had always supported him, I had worked behind him like a dog.

But in the end I was just another pawn to him, wasn't I?

No.

No, I refuse to go to prison!

I refuse to go to Azkaban! Even if it means going against the orders of the ministry!

Yes! Yes, even if it falls to that!

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