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In the wizarding world where tea parties and balls were the only source of entertainment among the nobility---it was known that Barty Crouch Jr was a genius. He was an example among the upper class to show their children, to compare them too---a prodigy. Slated to end up in Ravenclaw before he even stepped foot in Hogwarts, and expected to be great. It was not meant to be.
Because in the grand scheme of things, people forgot Barty Crouch Jr. was a child. A child whose father expected too much and had little to give in turn. A child who woke up to empty houses and ate alone at grand tables. A child whose only comfort was hidden letters sneaked in the dark of night by house elves, letters that promised he was loved. Barty Crouch Jr. was a child when his furious father burned the letters from his paternal grandparents in a fit of rage. When his righteous father had declared them evil and forbidden him from becoming like them.
Barty Crouch Jr. was a child, and he was curious. A child who asked 'Why not?' when told something. In one world this would have been his fall and this was not this world, here Barty had his Reggie. Here Barty did not seek assurances from the dark lord, did not preen on the smallest of compliments, did not blind himself to the atrocities, and did not lose himself in the devotion to the only person who understood his worth. So, it goes like this, a curious child meets the spares of houses as great as his on the ride to Hogwarts and finds himself befriending them. They have each other when the storm comes rolling in and that is enough.
This is a world where they live and Barty changes the future if only for the idiots he called friends.
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INT. KNOCKTURN ALLEY - DAY
The camera passes through a plethora of dubious shops before stopping, focusing on the two figures.
"I...I have no words." Narcissa sighed, staring at her uncle's outfit in pain. The yellow tie did not suit him...at all.
Alphard looked at his future self proudly.
Cygnus Black and Alphard Black walk side by side through the shadowy streets of Knockturn Alley. Tension crackles between them, evident in their guarded expressions.
"I can smell the tension~~~in the air." Remus smirked, making his friends turn to him in surprise at the pun.
"He can smell it alright." Peter snorted.
ALPHARD, dressed in a flamboyant crimson velvet coat with golden embroidery, scans the dimly lit shops with a mix of curiosity and apprehension.
ALPHARD (smirks before sighing dramatically): Ah, dear brother Cygnus, here we are, back in this wretched place. Who would've thought our paths would converge once more?
"You talk as if you are mere acquaintances instead of blood brothers." Frank Longbottom quipped.
"I wish."
"I wish."
Alphard and Cygnus said together before turning to face each other in sync and glaring.
"Do not copy me, imbecile." Cygnus told his brother politely.
"Brothers indeed." Walburga's lips twitched vividly remembering their childhood mischief.
CYGNUS, his stoic demeanor never wavering, glances at Alphard with a dry expression.
"Careful, he will burn you, Uncle." Andromeda tsked amused.
"Father! I forbid it." Bellatrix burst out abruptly.
"What do you mean Bella---" Cygnus tried to soothe the upcoming storm.
"You cannot burn someone without me present! It was supposed to be our bonding father-daughter bonding!" The Black witch stomped her feet on the floor. Rodolphus face palmed, his wife was too excited in the matter of destruction, he just hoped the manor remained standing in the future.
"Bella---" Cygnus tried again.
"No one is burning anything! It was a muggle saying!" Andromeda interrupted before her father could try and plot arson to calm her sister.
"This is why I don't like muggles." Barty whispered to Evans sagely.
"I thought you didn't like them because they burned our ancestors on stakes." Evans asked incredulously having flashbacks of his friend's rants on the subject and how his father was an imbecile for siding with them.
"...That too." Barty paused his spiel.
"I wouldn't mind burning that hat, no one would miss it I am sure." Narcissa mumbles under her breath.
Alphard shifted away.
CYGNUS (dryly): Fate works in mysterious ways, Alphard. Just like your taste in fashion.
"Well said Father." Narcissa clapped in delight.
"Thank you, Cy. I am glad you find me mysterious; it was all I ever wished for." Alphard bows down with flare towards his brother tipping down his fedora.
ALPHARD (grinning); Ah, but my fashion sense is a testament to my vibrant personality. Can't have everything be as dull as you, Cygnus.
"Well pardon me, Alphy. But anything is better than your cowboy boots on a robe." Cygnus smiled meanly.
Alphard looked mockingly up and down at the charcoal gravy robes and trousers Cygnus wore.
"Do not throw stones at others when you live in a glass house." Narcissa drawled.
"What glass house? Why wasn't I invited? I am always up to some Property damage." Sirius had been silent for a long time but this simply won't do!
"It is a saying, doofus." Alphard had had enough.
"Ah, I should have expected it, a glass house is too amazing for you to have a hand in it." Sirius shot back.
"You think your dog house is the eighth wonder?"
Sirius gasped.
"Well, it is better than your Maze of Thousand Mirrors." In a rare moment of indecision, Cygnus took the side of his nephew.
"You do not insult my masterpiece." Alphard was not pleased.
"Guess what? I just did!"
"Do not make me resort to kinslaying."
"YOU—"
"Ladies, Ladies You are both pretty, can we move on? Thank you." Melania stopped the argument with a sweet smile daring anyone to say anything at all.
"Are we all going to ignore that they are in Knockturn Alley? Like the super dark, super dangerous, and super illegal dark alley?" A rather brave random voice in the crowd mused.
"We are? Okay."
They approach a dimly lit shop with a flickering sign that reads "Obscurio Oddities." A sense of foreboding hangs in the air.
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INT. "OBSCURIO ODDITIES" - DAY
The brothers are shown stepping into the shop, greeted by a murky atmosphere filled with peculiar objects and dark artifacts. Whispers of forbidden knowledge seem to dance around them.
"That's straight out of a mystery movie." Mary marveled.
"What is a movie?" Marlene asked curiously.
"It is a-----leave it. I do not how to explain."
ALPHARD (whispering to Cygnus): This place reeks of secrets, Cygnus. Just the kind of ambiance that makes my pirate instincts tingle.
"Those pirate references are getting old now Uncle Alphy. They are not cool, anymore---just like you." Let it not be said Sirius Orion Black did not hold a grudge.
Cygnus snorted. Walburga whispered in his ear, "You are the older brother, Cy. If Alphard is old then you are..."
Cygnus ignored her.
Alphard gasped in offense. "I am not old. Tell him ladies do I look old?"
"I certainly do not think so." A Ravenclaw fifth-year, answered dreamily.
CYGNUS (raising an eyebrow): Pirates, Alphard? Is that what we're calling your brief stint on the open seas now?
Sirius laughed mockingly. Peter looked at his friend weirdly.
ALPHARD (grinning mischievously): Oh, come now, Cygnus. It was a grand adventure! Besides, family matters called me back to shore. No point dwelling on past escapades when we have business to attend to.
"Family escapades? Is that what we are calling it now?" Orion sighed.
They navigate the cluttered shelves, their eyes scanning for any sign of the elusive golem. The shop's eccentric owner, a MYSTERIOUS FIGURE, observes them closely.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE (whispering, eyes gleaming): Looking for something rare, gentlemen?
ALPHARD (raising an eyebrow): Something rare indeed. Sir Asura sends his regards.
"Sir Asura? That is Perseus, right?" Barty asked out loud.
Regulus hummed.
"Do you have a code name too?"
Silence.
"You do right?! What is it?"
Regulus' lips twitched.
The MYSTERIOUS FIGURE's smile drops, a hint of fear in their eyes.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE (threatening): Careful. That is not a name to be said in vain.
"Someone has a reputation." Evan sing-songed, entertained.
ALPHARD just smirks and pulls out a coin with a crow on it.
The man hissed in warning.
"He is afraid." Bellatrix smirked. "Good."
CYGNUS (coolly): We're well aware. Here, this should be proof enough.
Figure: So, the rumors were true. The Talons are back in business.
"The Talons?"
He breathes in.
Figure: Come then, I have a delivery for the Lord. Call me Gerry.
With a nod, Gerry leads them to a hidden alcove within the shop, where a locked chest sits atop an ancient pedestal.
INT. SECRET ALCOVE - CONTINUOUS
Gerry produces a key from beneath their cloak and unlocks the chest, revealing a shimmering golem, small yet radiating an aura of potent magic.
"What is that?" Fredrick nudged his arch-nemesis.
"A golem." Jasmine answered absentmindedly her voice filled with awe.
"...and that is...?" He tried again.
"Anything you want it to be." She proved to be as annoying as ever.
ALPHARD (laughs): Marvellous.
CYGNUS (smiles): Finally.
As they cautiously retrieve the golem, a shared understanding passes between the brothers, unspoken words laden with a mixture of hope and uncertainty.
They apparate out of the store leaving behind stacks of galleons.
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A street with cookie-cutter houses is shown on the screen, there is something disconcerting about it. It was normal. Too normal, with no distinctive feature to differentiate them from each other. It was almost an illusion.
A crack sound echoes in the street, followed by multiple pops as more and more people arrive at the mouth of the street. Each dressed as if frozen in an era gone by.
"Aunt Cassie is on the move." James laughed in relief, his daughter will be safe now.
"Hide while you can." Sirius warned in vain, the people of the future did not have the power to hear his wise words.
A camera zooms in to show Cassiopeia Black dressed in Black. A view covers her face and silk gloves hide the whitening knuckles as she clenches her fists, her fury not yet abated.
"Dressed for a funeral, maám? Who died?" Frank Longbottom asked Madam Spinster rhetorically.
Cassiopeia's lips twitched, "I have not decided yet."
She nods at her companion and waves a hand sending them scattering around to investigate the site.
Cassiopeia Black raises her wand and mutters spells in quick successions. There is silence and then a blood-red dome appears on a house. NUMBER 4.
She saunters towards the door and presses the doorbell. Her demeanor takes a 180 turn and changes to a curious rich lady.
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Barty Crouch Jr. is shown staring blankly at the wall, his expression one of despair. He clutches his left hand tightly, with desperation.
"Barty...." Regulus trailed off.
"What happened, mate?"
"Reggie is in a coma, you in Azkaban, and Evan dead. What do you think happened!" Barty replied frustrated.
He finally looks down at his hand, and the screen zooms in on the dark mark that stands stark against his pale skin. Barty stares at the mark for a long time before he starts laughing.
"He has gone crazy." A first-year looked between the stone-faced Barty and the screen Barty.
"Death Eater."
"Scum."
"Murderer."
"Filthy Slytherin."
"Careful of how you speak, he is still the Crouch heir." Evan sneered, silencing the majority of the voices.
"No more, I disown him." Barty Crouch Sr. sneered. "No son of mine will be a filthy death eater."
Many of the purebloods who knew exactly what it entailed gasped and stood up.
Barty screamed clutching his chest as the family magick heard the decree of the Head and left his veins, forsaking him.
Regulus wanted to kill the man on the spot. Only grounded by the desperate grip Barty had on his wrist.
Barty chuckled his voice hoarse from pain, "It is better to be Barty No name than carry your legacy, Father."
"Quiet, boy."
"You lost that right, Lord Crouch. I am no longer your son."
He laughs and laughs and laughs until tears come down his face. He fumbles towards his wand and looks at it as if in a trance. His eyes close for a brief moment and he takes in a fortifying breath.
With his wand pointed at his scarred arms he whispers, Diffindo.
"Why would you do that you idiot?" Regulus wanted to strangle his best friend.
"Did you expect me to wear a mark of someone who was the cause of Rabastan's imprisonment? Your condition?" He stuttered out the last word, still out of reality.
The screen blackens as a laugh and a scream is heard, followed by a thud.
The screen lightens up again showing a luxurious suite, it zooms up to the figure sitting on the bedside, BARTY CROUCH JR., a stump where his left hand should be.
Barty hissed feeling a phantom pain in his arms.
BARTY CROUCH Jr.: You shouldn't have tried to be a Gryffindor, love.
Regulus turned to his best friend in offense before red dusting his cheeks at hearing the endearment.
He chuckles wetly, tears streaming down his cheeks as he squeezes the hand of the man lying on the bed.
BARTY CROUCH Jr.: Foolish recklessness does not suit you, Reggie. You---You cannot leave me.
He sobs.
"I won't. I won't." Regulus whispered repeatedly to Barty.
"You better not."
BARTY CROUCH Jr.: Not after Evan and Mother and Rab----. You can't.
"I feel loved." Evan cannot stop himself.
"Not the time Evan." In a rare moment of common sense and emotional intelligence, Rabastan elbowed him in the stomach.
"Mother?" Barty's voice was all heartbreak.
Even Barty Crouch Senior could not his heartbroken expression. "Amelie." He whispered.
He wipes off his tears.
BARTY CROUCH Jr.: So, wake up, okay? Wake up.
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The camera shows the familiar office of the Headmaster. Dumbledore sits on his desk with an uncharacteristic pensive expression.
His fingers tap on the desk as if mulling over things unknown. The portraits in the room watch with bated breath as the headmaster seems to come to a conclusion, another convoluted scheme that would likely be in favor of the 'greater good'.
His magic flares out bowing to his fury and irritation knocking down a few of his odd showpieces. He throws the DAILY PROPHET in anger.
"I have never seen the headmaster angry." Molly Weasley says surprised.
"Me neither." Arthur, her husband continues his voice hushed as if voicing out a terrible confession.
The camera zooms in on the Headlines to show 'JAMES POTTER ALIVE: RUNAWAY COWARD OR UNSUNG HERO?' 'JAMES POTTER WINS CUSTODY BATTLE: ASTER POTTER TO LIVE WITH HER FATHER' 'WAR SUSPECTS TO RECEIVE TRIALS! SIRIUS BLACK FIRST IN LINE' 'HIDDEN BLACK HEIR: WILL THE BLACKS RISE AGAIN?'
"Daily Prophet may as well be the Black Gazette." Alphard drawled, happy his threats worked.
He stares at the fallen newspaper for a second too long before he starts to chuckle. Combing his beard with his hand gently. His crooked nose twitches as if in a reminder of the last time his plans failed. Gellert had never let him forget.
He hummed twirling the elder's wand.
"The Elder's wand." Charlus gritted his teeth, that was a Peverell heirloom. It should have stayed with the Peverell.
DUMBLEDORE (thoughtfully): Old friend you may yet be of use.
"It feels ominous."
Phineas Nigellas Black quietly disappears from his portrait.
"He has some use after all." Sirius said with great reluctance, he never did like the old coot, that snitch---. Maybe it was a good decision not to burn his portrait.
A blonde woman with a long thin face and high cheekbones opens the door with a sugary smile on her face, her blue eyes curious and welcoming.
Lily Evans gasped, that was her sister. Her worst fear was coming to life, Her darling darling daughter in Tuney's care.
Cassiopeia Black: Are Miss Petunia Evans?
Petunia Evans: Yes, and you are?
Petunia does not suspect a well-dressed woman, who exudes grace and class to have nefarious purposes.
Cassiopeia Black: Cassiopeia of the House of Black.
Petunia (still smiling): And what is your business, Madam?
"Ignorance is bliss." Xenophilius Lovegood smiles dreamily.
Cassiopeia Black: Are you Lily Evan's sister?
The smile that decorated Petunia's face drops abruptly her face pales as she finally equates the name Black with the scoundrel that had graced the steps of her house when Lily still lived there.
Lily winces. She remembered her sister's screeches and rants about the encounter vividly.
FLASHBACK: Evans Cottage, COKEWORTH.
A younger Petunia stands enamored in front of an open front door as a young Sirius Black kisses her gloved hands, all the fairy tales she ever read coming true.
"I remember that. It was fun." Sirius' lips twitch.
SIRIUS BLACK(lips twitching): Evans did not mention the presence of a lady.
James sighs in exasperation, "Even her, Paddy?"
All the fantasies Petunia had conjured die a swift death in the name of her sister.
Petunia's expression changes as she yanks her hand from his phantom grip and grimaces at the boy in front of her in disgust.
"Merlin." Sirius' lips curled in delight. "Now that is a reaction I rarely witness."
"Snape makes it every time, you are in the vicinity, Black." Evan reminds the eldest Black of the generation amicably, lest he has any delusions.
Sirius sneers, "That is his face, Rosier. You shouldn't shame him on something he cannot control."
James snorts, nodding in agreement.
Severus snarls, taking out his wand to perform the darkest of hexes in his repertoire only to stop as every eye in the vicinity turns on him.
PETUNIA: You must be that Potter.
"Oh, He wishes he were me." James quips teasingly, ignoring the way she spat out his name in disgust.
"So do your flings, mate." Sirius shoots back.
Remus bursts out laughing, making James look at him in betrayal.
Sirius smirks unconcerned and wipes his hand from a freshly conjured handkerchief making Petunia flinch in fear, his expression taunts her.
SIRIUS: Not Potter, I am Black. Sirius Black.
PETUNIA: I do not care, who you are witch. Get Out of here.
"Witch?!"
SIRIUS BLACK (tsks): Such pretty curls, you have my lady. Shame you are so uptight.
Lily wants to rage at the humiliation of her sister only for all the anger to wash away as she remembers what exactly her sister is capable of.
PETUNIA EVANS (flushes red): GET OUT!
SIRIUS BLACK (raises his hands): Ah, Ah, no need to shout lady. I am not deaf.
He starts backing away.
SIRIUS BLACK (smirks): Though you may need some glasses because I am quite sure I am a wizard. Farewell, fair lady.
Lily laughs at the sheer offense and anger on her sister's face, only to stop abruptly when Sirius turns towards her sharply, his eyes shining with promises.
Petunia shrieks in anger as he disappears with a pop.
THE FLASHBACK ENDS
She closes the door on the lady's face. Her heart beats frantically as she locks the door and ignores the knocks.
"Tch, digging her own grave." Orion observes.
"A novel task I am sure." Abraxas agrees, with his old friend.
She shakingly picks up the telephone ready to call Vernon when the doors blast open.
"That won't save you lovely. Nothing would." Cassiopeia cackles.
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Hello, my chocolate muffins,
This is it. The chapter that was promised.
XOXO
darkly amused
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Question of the day:
Who do you want dead more, who do you want to kill more:
Barty Sr.(here) or Umbridge(cannon)?
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to be edited.