Whatever hostility existed between Julian and Dumbledore had to be shoved aside while a threat like Grindelwald was loose. Julian might despise the old wizard, but even he understood how disastrous internal conflict could be with something that dangerous moving freely.
Julian held Dumbledore's gaze for a long moment, then slowly mouthed two words.
Leave me alone.
He turned away immediately after.
Dumbledore exhaled in quiet relief. Julian had essentially told him that as long as the Headmaster did not try to pull him into anything, he would be ignored.
It was not the outcome Dumbledore wanted, but considering how badly he had wronged the boy, it was more than acceptable.
...
Julian knew one thing with absolute clarity.
He needed to grow stronger, and quickly.
That did not mean abandoning his foundation. It meant finally building on top of it with intent. His lightning spell was powerful, but it was also straightforward. It flew in a direct line, and that made it something that could be blocked, dodged, or prepared for.
Most spells were like that.
There were exceptions.
The Killing Curse could not be stopped by magical shields and demanded a physical barrier instead. The best practical defense against it was transfiguration, but since transfiguration in combat was difficult for most, dodging was what people relied on.
Julian's mind immediately went to other options.
And some of them were ugly.
...
One idea in particular crossed the line into something that would absolutely be considered a war crime in the Muggle world.
He wanted to modify the Smokescreen Charm into something else entirely.
Not smoke.
Poison gas.
Something like mustard gas.
In Muggle law, that kind of thinking would get him arrested on the spot. The wizarding world, however, treated modified spells differently. A spell had to be ruled against specifically before it was considered banned.
Which meant that unless he used it again after it was officially outlawed, he could potentially cast it once without consequence.
At worst, he would be labeled a wizard dabbling in dark magic once the ruling came down, assuming it ever did.
And even if that plan was too extreme, he had a long list of other spells he could reshape into combat tools.
Julian had no doubt that with enough work over the remainder of the year, he could become a genuine nuisance to most adult witches and wizards.
...
Dinner ended, and students drifted back toward their dormitories, heavy with anxiety about what the future might hold.
Time moved forward.
Aside from Astronomy being shifted to midnight on Fridays, life at Hogwarts continued on schedule, as if routine alone could keep danger away.
During that stretch, Julian spent far less time with his friends. He was busy preparing. He did not vanish without explanation. He warned them ahead of time, and they were understanding of his need to focus.
...
In that period, he crafted a piece of equipment that drew attention the moment anyone noticed it.
It was also, without question, the most powerful thing he had ever made.
[RING NAME: Bestia Finis
Grade: RARE
Abilities: Autosizing, growth, walker charge, outburst, entropic flow
Description: A loose ankle ring comprised of smaller rings that each harmonize with the others to form a powerful defense ability. This item has no power at the beginning of its creation but with each step the wearer takes it stores kinetic energy that can be sacrificed all at once to slow an area of ten meters around the wearer to a standstill.
System appraisal: A powerful single use protective item created by an up and coming ring smith.]
...
It was his first attempt at a multilinked enchantment, and in his opinion it had turned out well. The ankle ring jingled with every step, but that annoyance was a small price for what was essentially an instant stop button against incoming danger.
He had built it by enchanting each individual ring with a separate, incomplete portion of the final effect, then linking them together so the whole became greater than the parts.
...
He had also continued working on his mindscape, dedicating at least an hour every day to it.
The effort was paying off.
He now had twelve permanent fixtures inside the mindscape, and the environments he conjured were lasting far longer before collapsing completely.
...
Today was Halloween.
Much like in the original timeline, Ron snapped at Hermione during Charms class, and she finally broke down. Julian found it suspicious that something so small was what triggered everything that followed, Ron and Harry going after her, rescuing her, and Hermione softening afterward.
It had not happened yet.
But when dinner arrived, Quirelmort rose to perform his familiar act.
"Troll in the dungeon!"
The hall erupted.
And Ron and Harry slipped away to find her.