Volume 26 - Legacy - Begins
Volume Info:
- Harry Potter Main Mission will end with this Volume
- The Arc related to Verse Fusion Timeline will end with this Volume
- The Arc related to Key Fate Timeline will end with this Volume
- The Arc related to The Wand will end with this Volume
- The Bubble Wars will start with this Volume
- And much more...
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There was something wrong with this world.
It was cursed.
The fate of its people was cursed.
The fate of past, present, and future, of all the world, was cursed.
Lord Black Phoenix, looking out from his Headmaster's office window, couldn't help but come to that realization.
Black flames, mostly ethereal in nature, flickered around him as a part of his dark robes, becoming true tongues of fire by the time they reached the ends.
The same blackish fire, half illusion and half real, lingered on his black beard and hair.
It also dwelt in his dark, depthless eyes, silently churning, like a menacing maelstrom.
Despair had become a part of him.
No, it had become more than that — a decisive, inseparable, existential trait.
Often, it felt like all the wrong that happened around him happened because of him.
Despair begot Despair.
His more so than others', it seemed.
In a short few months, he had seen himself giving people hope. He had seen the eyes of the same people losing the hopeful light they had carried, too. Then, in the end, he had seen those dwindling flames of defiance and bravery gather, laying the foundation of the goal he had been walking toward all this while.
An Organization that wouldn't submit to dark influences, no matter how grim the situation might seem.
An Organization to take the world's fate in its own hands.
The Order of Black Phoenix!
It had come at a cost, Lord Black Phoenix remembered. A great cost.
Remus Lupin, a good soldier, a better teacher, and an even better man, was dead, killed by Lord Voldemort, who had fooled all of the world with Lord Yellow Warlock's help.
Now, an even stronger version of his past self, the Dark Lord was out there, gathering his Death Eaters and dark creatures under his banner, taking a separate path from the Dark Alliance — an open path, not bound by any Unforgivable Vow.
But that was something people could have steeled their hearts against.
Remus Lupin had died, but the Order of Black Phoenix had risen from his ashes.
Yes, it would be he, Dumbledore, who would be leading it.
Yes, its goal would be nothing but to destroy all those who sought to sow chaos in the world.
However, no member of the Organization, not even he, the leader himself, would deny that the Order of Black Phoenix stood on the shoulders of Remus Lupin's memories — as his legacy.
But this was not about the Despair.
This was not about the dark forces plaguing this world.
This was not about giving people hope and reminding them of Lupin's legacy.
This was about the cursed fate of a world that didn't seem to catch a break… ever!
First, it was the destruction of the Forest Vault.
The Sleepwalking Curse, forcing the people to sleep and making them sleepwalk, hadn't affected him much. However, the students and the wizards and witches of Hogsmeade weren't protected by a Half-Deep One like him.
Now, the entire population of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade was under the Curse's effects.
With the Battle Workshops, the upcoming Intercontinental Tournament, and the threat of Lord Voldemort, everyone already had their hands full.
Who would have thought that a Curse that disrupted their busy schedules would become the most hated and dreaded one for them?
Still, that was something manageable with each other's help.
All they had to do was look out for each other, wake the person up the moment he or she fell asleep and show the symptoms of sleepwalking.
Moreover, teachers were already working on a mass Invigoration drive, eliminating the Sleepwalking Curse for good.
The event had been an annoying disruption, corrupting people's valuable time the most.
Regardless of its cursed arrival, Dumbledore had full trust in his students, teachers, and the good folks at Hogsmeade to pass this tribulation soon.
But… what about this?
As Dumbledore looked on, the dark clouds lingering in the sky parted.
They revealed a whitish, grainy part of the sky that didn't feel like the sky at all.
Slowly, as the wind picked up, the bulbous clouds scattered even more, revealing the thing that hung in the sky, cursing this world's fate… a hundred times over.
It was a massive white globe.
MASSIVE.
It blanketed the distant moon behind its broken edges.
There were gray patches scattered over its surface, like craters, but much more unnatural, looking man-made.
Then there was one crater… covering half of its top surface… so deep that if it wasn't for the moonlight, it would have been impossible to tell it apart from the night.
It had appeared yesterday.
Since then, it had been looming over the world, cursing people.
This curse was not as simple as Sleepwalking. It was attacking people's morale, their renewed hopes, and their courage. It was attacking their sense of reality, imbuing their hearts with dark imaginations and questions.
Questions… that he himself had no answer to.
The Order of Immortal Lotus could answer those questions, he knew.
But, as usual these days, they hadn't replied to his request for an audience.
Perhaps, they themselves were cursed, Dumbledore believed, staring at the massive object. Otherwise, it was impossible to imagine a bunch of Immortals suffering… time after time.
"Death Star," a voice echoed behind him. "That's what it's called."
Lord Black Phoenix didn't care to turn around and see the person because he knew exactly who it was.
The self-proclaimed leader of the five Contestants who had barged into his cursed world over two years ago, making bombastic claims.
Now, three of those five were dead.
Dumbledore didn't even want to know why this woman could freely walk outside now.
"I can finish Yellow Warlock," the Contestant claimed, her sweet voice trying to enchant him. Sadly, it fell into the bottomless pool of his Despair and went unheard. "All I need is more Luck. Fortunately, I have acquired a unique ability. I can steal people's Luck by touching them. You wouldn't believe it, but you yourself have tremendous Luck. If you let me steal some of your Luck, I can give you all the information you need on the Death Star. And more."
Silence.
"Haha…" Lord Black Phoenix chuckled. "I doubt that will make a difference, but… why not?"
"It will," the woman said strongly. "With your help, I will become the strongest…"
"I doubt it, because your fate is cursed, too," Dumbledore said, turning around. "It's just… You don't know it yet."