41 Back In Hogwarts. 

You wake up in the endless ocean of oblivion, where realms immemorial are born and die in the name of the Daedric Princes.

A dark, vengeful light burn and shifts in front of you, asking you a simple question.

"Would you like to read ahead?" It laughs at your enthusiasm "Here is my link, follow it if you dare!"

At this instant you knew, you truly knew...

Chapter 43 was released.

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They say only two things are absolute; death and taxes. Well, Magnus wasn't an expert but he could add another one; The start of a new school year.

It was a common enemy of all students, be they muggle or magicals. That haunting deadline in September, the reminders of family who seemingly forgot just how boring school was in their time.

Or maybe they didn't, and are just perpetuating a vicious cycle of hatred.

Magnus considered himself lucky, he studied in a freaking magic castle coming straight out of a fictional book. He wrote essays on tickling charms and elemental spells, not advanced algebra he'll never use again.

Still, he did not look forward to this year's more mundane subjects...especially with his now McGonagall approved plans.

While his family did come to see him off, they weren't as intense as their first departure. He still remembered his awkward father and red eyed aunt with a mix of fondness and discomfort.

The train ride became a ritual he enjoyed, the view of the idyllic British countryside of course never grew old. It inspired Tolkien's writing for a reason.

Unfortunately, he found neither Padma nor Luna in time. Being too lazy to get up and seek them out, he enjoyed a articularly lonely ride with his books and plenty of sweets.

Of course, he still had to scare off the first years who had yet to learn that Magnus Black wasn't networkable goods.

He found it rather amusing, those children were almost all related to some of his victims from the Quidditch World Cup. Their kinsmen's flesh was burned and their bones vanished, and they came here to try and give his arse a licking.

Soon enough, he traded trains for carriages and solitude for the company of his two closest friends...and technically speaking, his only friends.

'Damn, that sounds sad.' He thought, shaking his head.

He only half listened to Padma and Luna making small talk, something he still couldn't grasp fully. Why act interested in something that doesn't matter?

Thankfully, they knew him well enough not to be offended by his lack of attention.

He didn't pay attention in the carriage, nor did he pay attention on the way up to the castle. Magnus could hardly remember how he arrived at the Ravenclaw table, clapping politely and listening to yet another variation of Dumbeldore's speech.

Remus had left his spot as a teacher, preferring to open that bar in muggle London with the help of Sirius and his nearly limitless capital.

He didn't particularly mind, Remus was a much better teacher than the clowns and psychopaths they once had. But compared to the one and only Mad Eye Moody...the werewolf could only fall short.

The limping mass of scares in front of him was the real deal, of course.

He had checked with the Weasley's map for any sign of foul play, even with Crouch senior joining his son in Azkaban for dereliction of duties and illegal imprisonment of Sirius Orion Black.

This meant that Voldemort's plans were ruined beyond repair, with most of his soul shards secured, all he had to do was get that diadem and wait for Sirius to properly dissolve his cousin's marriage.

'Maybe I could convince him to retract Narcissa's marriage too.' He mused, but didn't think about it too long.

"Magnus, you have that look again." Padma said, she sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"The World domination look." Luna nodded, not looking nearly as bothered as her friend.

"Oh."

"Oh, indeed." The Indian girl said flatly, "So, whose life are you ruining this time?"

Now that was a hard question. Was he planning the demise of Voldemort? Or the new bastard status of Draco? Technically, both of these would also wreck Lucius's life pretty badly…Not to mention Bellatrix and the imprisoned death eater who shall never know freedom in his reality.

"It's complicated."

"Somehow, I don't doubt it." she shook her head fondly.

"I have some good news, though." Magnus smiled "The Maj-tv has been developing quite nicely, I was thinking about a test run this year"

"A test run? Don't tell me you want to cover that article about Hornsracks…" she looked appalled.

"No, of course not, I was thinking about something more...glorious." He chuckled. "You'll see."

And see she did.

None of them cared about the annulment of this year's Quidditch tournament, not with the new entertainment and all the opportunities it opened. Meeting foreign students and learning about other schools was a worthwhile pursuit, not to mention the possibility of covering the match with their invention.

Padma did contribute to the creation of the recording lenses he used in the Maj-tv filming device, and has been involved in the project ever since.

"After the mess in the world cup, you'd think the ministry would be more cautious." She complained for the sake of the argument. "What were they thinking, bringing back a tournament with such an absurd death toll?"

"That's the problem, they weren't thinking." He joked, earning himself a stern look. "Fudge really didn't have a choice anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"His popularity is at an all time low, he can't afford to be passive anymore. Bringing back the Triwizard tournament is a gamble, but unless things go insanely badly, he will benefit from it." Magnus explained.

"That...sounds very silly." she said.

"It is." He said, shrugging. "But that's how it is, we elect our leaders based on popularity contests."

"You're against democracy, now?" She looked at him wide eyed.

"I am not." He frowned "We simply aren't in a democracy."

"…"

"What? It's true." He served himself some chicken breast. "We have the right to choose between a lot of incompetent and or corrupt pricks who will make a whole bunch of fake promises before leaving."

Padma looked to Luna for support, but was quickly reminded of the latter's love for conspiracies and other anti-government statements.

The little blonde had stars in her eyes, while she scribbled Magnus's rant on a napkin as if his words held the secret to immortality.

"If we were in a real democracy, every major decision would require a vote from the citizens. The government would be nothing more than a tool to carry the will of the people, not an institution with its own agenda." He said.

"Well, when you put it that way…." She sighed "You really like doing this, don't you?"

"Doing what?"

"Making me lose faith in our society." she said flatly, playing with her potatoes.

"Oh, that." He grinned. "I absolutely love it."

They finished their meals in a merrier tone, including others in their conversation while debating who'd make the best champion among the sixth and seven years.

The debate got rather heated, with more than a few younger students disappointed in their exclusion. But all in all, it was very entertaining.

He himself didn't particularly care, the promise of eternal glory was nice, but not nice enough to risk his life. As for the thousand galleons…well, money is unlikely to ever be a problem for the scion of House Black.

'If Sirius doesn't gamble away our fortune, that is.' He joked internally, as if he didn't have a contingency plan for that.

Magnus made himself scarce, eventually. Meeting his favorite teacher in time to receive his extensive curriculum and a study plan to get him up to speed with his now even greater aspirations.

Taking his owls early had been a tough call, no matter how skilled he was in the more practical aspects of magic, he would have to grind his teeth and study an unholy amount of perfectly useless information for some mind numbing quiz down the line.

However, if he wanted to pursue his goals freely, he had to suffer through it.

Nothing and no one can keep him in school longer than he needed to, magic or not.

'I don't know why, but I feel like I forgot something.' He thought, reviewing his work before going to sleep.

With his ordinary wizarding levels exams to take, priceless artifacts turned horcruxes to destroy and a blonde with the prettiest eyes clouding his mind, Magnus came to the inevitable conclusion that he had a very busy year ahead of him.

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Author Note:

Hey guys! It's uncle sheo!

As promised, here's another chapter for everyone!

See ya all on Saturday, or earlier in the secret cheese society. The triwizard tournament is about to start, and with it will come a lot of trouble for our dear silly named protagonist.

I almost pity him...almost.

Peace and Cheese!