September 1st. The Hogwarts Express rattled along the tracks, but I wasn't sharing in the usual first-day excitement. Instead, I sat in the corner of a crowded compartment, watching the scenery blur past the window while deliberately tuning out the tension in the air.Being a Black in this era meant enduring a relentless barrage of whispers and stares. Inside, my dragon side chafed against the scrutiny, a primal urge flare-up to show these people exactly who the top boss was. But I leaned heavily on my Occlumency, erecting a cold, seamless mental barrier to lock those intrusive instincts away.To keep my mind occupied, I mentally reviewed the rewards I'd amassed over the last thirty days from my Legendary Gacha: Heavenly Dragon package. It had been an incredibly productive month:Day 1: Summon: Artoria Pendragon (Permanent)Day 2: Summon: Zorua (Permanent)Day 3: Urban gray and purple camouflage outfit (Common)Day 4: 1 million British pounds (Uncommon)Day 5: Golden Dragon Claw from Skyrim (Rare)Day 6: 9x9 Rubik's cube (Common)Day 7: 100 yards of Nerscylla spider silk (Rare)Day 8: Asus-TUF Gaming A16 laptop (Common)Day 9: 5-subject notebook (Common)Day 10: 1 million British poundsDay 11: Urban gray and orange camouflage outfit (Common)Day 12: Men's aviator bomber shearling sheepskin jacket (Common)Day 13: First aid kit (Common)Day 14: Metal training sword (Uncommon)Day 15: Blessed Rain (Mizutsune Bow Form) from Monster Hunter (Epic)Day 16: Nintendo GameCube (Common)Day 17: Ichiraku Ramen Ticket: 1 Free Meal (Rare)Day 18: Skill Orb – Musician (Master)Day 19: Skill Orb – Cooking (Master)Day 20: Skill Orb – Drawing (Master)Day 21: Zorua plushieDay 22: Felix Felicis (Epic)Day 23: Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder (Rare)Day 24: Gaomon M10K drawing tablet (Common)Day 25: Fire Stone (Rare)Day 26: 5-subject notebook (Common)Day 27: Compass (Common)Day 28: Icha Icha Paradise (First Edition, Signed) (Rare)Day 29: World Ticket: Konosuba (Legendary)Day 30: Ocarina of Time (Mythical)My daily life had transformed completely. Sword training with Artoria was sharpening my reflexes with every passing afternoon. Training Ebony, my Zorua, was a bit trickier without a dungeon system or other Pokémon to pit her against, but pushing her limits against Artoria and myself had done wonders for her strength. She was brilliant, but a massive prankster—frequently trying to engineer "compromising" situations between Artoria and me. More than once, my dragon instincts had nearly pushed me to claim Artoria right then and there, a lapse in control that earned Ebony a series of disciplinary training sessions she never seemed to learn from.When I wasn't training, my Master-tier drawing skill kept me busy. I had spent hours sketching out the first episodes of classic manga and anime that didn't exist in this universe: Pokémon, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and Dragon Ball. (Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama). Copyright infringement? Maybe. But this universe desperately needed to experience the greats.A sudden click broke my train of thought. The compartment door slid open, and Hermione Granger stepped inside, her bushy brown hair bouncing with her steps. I offered her a brief glance before turning back to the window."That's awfully rude of you," Hermione said, her tone instantly spiking with spite. "My name is Hermione Granger. And you are?""Kyros Black," I replied smoothly, not bothering to look at her. "Don't bother remembering it. You'll call me whatever everyone else does soon enough."I closed my eyes, letting my Occlumency filter out the ambient noise. Over the next few minutes, the compartment filled up. Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott slipped into the remaining seats. When I opened my eyes, I met a trio of starkly different reactions: Neville looked at me with pure fear, Susan radiated palpable hatred, and Hannah stared with deep disdain.I rolled my eyes. "Take a picture. It lasts longer.""Of course," Susan shot back bitterly. "Would you prefer a portrait, or a mugshot like your father's?"The compartment went dead silent. I reached into my backpack, causing all four of them to sharply suck in their breath, expecting a wand. Instead, I pulled out my 9x9 Rubik's cube. Ignoring their glaring eyes, I began twisting the layers. By the time the train finally steamed out of the station at exactly 11:00 AM, the cube was fully solved—a crisp thirty minutes of mental calibration. While I worked, Susan quietly filled Hermione in on the Black family history. When I finally looked up, Hermione was staring at me with deep suspicion. Go figure.An hour later, boredom set in. Ebony must have felt it too, because she suddenly poked her dark, fox-like head out from inside my jacket. Susan gasped, watching closely as I pulled out a pet grooming kit and began brushing her fur."I thought we were only permitted to bring a toad, an owl, or a cat as a pet?" Hermione questioned, her rule-abiding nature instantly flaring up.Ebony let out a mischievous little fox giggle. In a flash of dark illusion energy, she transformed into a perfect tabby house cat, leaving the compartment gasping."The Hogwarts charter states I can bring a familiar," I said calmly. "Ebony is mine."To prove the point, Ebony shifted again—this time taking the exact form of Neville, wearing a wide grin full of sharp, predatory fangs."She's a Zorua," I explained as Ebony shifted back to her natural fox form, leaning into my brush. "An illusion fox. They're natural pranksters, but fiercely protective of the ones they care about."Susan narrowed her eyes, but I ignored her. Before curling up to sleep on my lap, Ebony darted across the floor, deftly snatched Trevor the toad from where he'd escaped, and dropped him right into Neville's lap. Neville jumped in surprise, murmuring a panicked thank you.When the candy trolley finally made its rounds later into the trip, it skipped our compartment entirely, leaving before I could even grab a snack. Deciding I needed to stretch my legs, I stood up and walked down the corridor with Ebony draped comfortably around my shoulders.Peering through the glass of a compartment near the back, I spotted an unexpected sight: Helena, the Girl Who Lived, sitting entirely alone.I slid the door open and stepped inside, taking the seat across from her. "Now, why is the Girl Who Lived sitting all by herself?"Helena looked up, her green eyes bright with unshed tears. "I wasn't alone. Some redhead was in here talking about how great he was, going on and on about how the Girl Who Lived was going to be his new best friend. As if. The very first thing he did was insult me."I nodded slowly, a cold irritation settling in my chest. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Where is he now?""He left a while ago," she said bitterly. "Said something about getting more candy."A sharp squeak echoed from the floorboards near the corner. I looked down and spotted a fat, gray rat with a missing toe. Scabbers.Without breaking stride, I reached down, scooped the rat up, and slipped him into my pocket—seamlessly transferring him straight into my system inventory.Target secured. Peter Pettigrew captured."I'm guessing the rat belongs to him," I said with a slight smirk, trying to lighten her mood. "Tell you what, I'll feed it to my familiar as payback for him insulting you."Helena sniffled, a small, genuine smile breaking through her gloomy expression. "Thank you. I guess... I guess I was wrong about you. Everyone keeps saying you're going to turn out to be a dark wizard or a traitor, just like your father."I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the cushions. "Yeah, I hear that one a lot. Just remember the old saying: assuming makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'."Helena laughed softly, wiping her eyes."Well, I just came by to check on you," I said, standing up. "It's getting dark out, which means we're getting close. You might want to change into your school robes."I stepped back into the corridor. With a brief thought, I used my system inventory to discreetly equip my own Hogwarts uniform. As I walked back, I slid my hands into my pockets, subtly using my Sacred Gear to begin forging a set of senbon needles. Over the past month, I had mapped out the exact rules governing its power:I can create any item I have previously seen.The greater my knowledge of the item's structure, the higher its final quality.I must know the material composition and have physically touched it at least once. The object must also weigh at least one and a half pounds.Mythic or conceptual weapons—like the Yamato from Devil May Cry or the Sword of Rupture, Ea—are currently impossible to forge.
Any armor I create is strictly bound by these same limitations.
I cannot create other Sacred Gears, but I can extract them without killing the host (which is how I accidentally obtained a Twice Critical).
Thanks to the ancient Black family vaults now under my control, I had physically handled a massive array of raw materials. My current forging repertoire included iron, copper, steel, bronze, silver, goblin silver, gold, emerald, sapphire, ruby, diamond, lapis, topaz, and the exotic components from my Nerscylla and Mizutsune rewards.The train hissed to a violent, steamy halt as it pulled into Hogsmeade Station. I looked out into the dark, rainy night, a sharp grin tugging at the corners of my lips.Look out, Hogwarts.
A Black has returned.