Returning home was lovely, especially now, with Quincy permanently staying with us. Father hosted a party for us, and even my mother couldn't turn it into something back… though she did try after a few glasses of wine, but Quincy very quickly shut her down with a simple sentence:

"Even with my family gone, I still have purer blood than you."

She had no chance of arguing back as my Father prevented it with a simple look, making her leave us early and return to her own wing in the mansion. It was a good night, something I will remember for a long time. The following day, both of us slept in, walking out of our rooms at the same time, close to noon. Even though we were married on paper, Father didn't let us get the same room… at least not yet.

"Young Master, Young Mistress!" Squeaky approached us at once, wiping her hands in a towel, "The breakfast had gone cold already; I can make lunch instead!"

"Nah, breakfast will do; just heat it up or something!" I waved with a yawn while Quincy agreed with slow, big nods, rubbing her eyes.

"Will do!"

"Is Father home?" I asked before she could snap her fingers.

"No, Young Master! Lord is out; he said there is a very important thing he must do, and he will be only home on and off in the next three days!"

"Probably my fault…" I sighed, thinking that he was undoubtedly tasked with many things because of what happened to me… or maybe because of the upcoming competition. "Quincy, what do you say? Should we visit Neville after breakfast?"

"Sounds good!" She immediately agreed, "We can have another duel to see who improved the best!"

"Good idea! I am confident I can take you both on at once!"

"Oh?" She grinned widely, pointing at my chest, "We will see about that!"

…

….

……

Well… we didn't. We walked to the town and found it empty. Everybody was… gone. As if nobody had lived here for centuries. The houses were emptied out, covered with age-old dust and cobwebs. This was… not neutral. Not. At. All!

"Hey…" Quincy nudged me, worried, "Am I going crazy? This place looks like it was abandoned in the last century! Everything is overgrown and… empty!"

"It… is. And no, you are not going crazy because I am seeing the same thing! Whatever happened here is heavy! I will have to ask Father about it! For sure!"

"What if he… um… what if he doesn't say anything?"

"Then I will press on! This is way too weird, and I want to know what is happening! I have a right to know!"

We walked around the town, going into all the houses, but we found nothing besides more dirt, dust, and spiders. We even found a hidden cellar, but nothing was down there besides the rock walls, empty wine barrels, and clutters from a bygone era, displaying old family crests of died-out wizarding families. I couldn't wait for the night to come. While Quincy went to bed at midnight, I stayed up until Father returned home, emerging from the main living room's fireplace at around 3 a.m.

"Conrad?" He asked, surprised to see me there, sitting on the sofa accompanied by four empty cups of coffee.

"Father, we need to speak!" I stood up at once, and before I could continue, he simply shrugged.

"The town is empty. Always had been, and it is a part of the scenery. A so-called muggle-charm… A kind of reservation, as they would call it. They love those things, so when someone stumbles nearby, we can send them away with the reason that they are trespassing government grounds."

"Both of us know that is not true!"

"I am telling you. It is that. Do you understand me?" He repeated, looking into my eyes, and it was not something I had a chance to argue about.

"Where is Neville?"

"You don't know anyone called that. Neither do I."

"..."

"Any additional questions? Ask them now because I won't let you do so from now on!"

"What is going on?" There were too many things to ask about, so I decided to go for the obvious one… I wanted to know what the hell was happening and why I was not told about it!

"War." He said simply and with a voice that was so cold; I never heard him speak like this. I even… I even saw his eyes burning in a scary fire. I saw his gaze slowly fall onto my forearm, where the same tattoo was placed on him.

“Is it… because…”

"No." He walked up to me, gently hugging my body and patting my head with a kind of love that only a parent can provide. "There are times when we must choose a side, son. I just hope when you make your decision, you will choose what is best for you! Not for me, not for our family name, not for anybody else! For you and for Quincy. That is what will matter."

"I… don't really get it…"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"You don't have to. Not right now. It's late; go up and sleep! You will have to practice this summer, and I will make sure we have time so you and little Quincy can duel me! If something, I am confident in my skills!"

"Really?!" I yelped as that fired me up much more than any of the coffee I drank to keep myself awake. I even forgot about my questions about what was going on!

When the morning came, I couldn't wait to tell Quincy about it before she steered the conversation back to what it should have been about.

"He said war?"

"Yes." I nodded, biting onto my toast, sitting at the dining table while Squeaky poured tea for us.

"Choosing sides… Do you know what this could mean?"

"Is this a rhetorical question? Because I really don't, besides that the Ministry expects something bad to happen."

"It expects war! And if the Ministry does, that means HE does too!"

"We are already in a war, no?" I tilted my head, watching her spread jam over her toast, "The Order is doing all it can for the past twenty or how many years to overthrow HIM. It isn't news."

"No, it isn't… but what if the war escalates this time? It could easily happen with two other, mind you, pretty strong schools coming over!"

"Then let me also ask you a question!" I shrugged as I thought about it. To be honest… the moment Father said the word war, I already thought about the trouble that was brewing behind the scenes. Thinking there had to be some kind of plan going on orchestrated by Lord Voldemort. Father, being a renowned duelist, would also have a crucial role in a conflict… I wasn't told much about Father's plans, but I am not stupid. I have eyes and a brain of my own! The missing villagers could only mean that he already started moving his people and getting ready for the task he was given by HIM. Of course, that was a question if Lord Voldemort knew about his followers… I don't think so. And it is best if I don't ask or think about it. "Quincy… say, if you would even know all the details and answers to any of our questions, could you change things?"

"..." At first, she fell silent, thinking about it long and hard. She opened her mouth multiple times to speak, but then no words came out. "No. I don't think so."

"Exactly! Whatever will happen is out of our control! We can do nothing but react to it! So we either worry about it or we prepare for it! Whatever will come will happen during the tournament! So, I will only focus on tackling that first and foremost! Besides training with Father, I will have you teach me more recipes and how to recognize plants! Hopefully, we will have a storm, too!" I chuckled and couldn't help but move my tongue a little as the little leaf was still under it, having to keep it there for a month. After the previous run I had, this time, it felt much more effortless. More natural. I could even eat and drink without worrying about it!

"You are right…!" She sighed, letting her shoulders drop, "Worrying will cause more problems!"

"Worrying is bad!" Squeaky joined in suddenly, "Young Master and Young Mistress should enjoy the summer! Squeaky knows school is hard! Squeaky will do her best to make sure there is nothing to worry about while at home!"

"Ahaha… Thank you, Squeaky!" I laughed, grinning at the elf, which, in turn, made her smile, too. Sometimes, that was all one needed. A smile and a little bit of encouragement.

…

….

……

Training with Father was anything but easy. He didn't hold back at all, and although he only used stunning spells, we were being flung up and about in the garden, landing hard on the grass repeatedly. He didn't let us rest at all, and when our spells met mid-air or got deflected, the bushes caught on fire, or the marble statues got blown to pieces. It wasn't something that a quick repair spell couldn't fix, but… it created a mess in our garden.

Unlike when I faced Lucius or was in any other, dangerous situation, I could never really call on my instincts as in those moments… but I did not mind that. This was much more raw and exactly what I needed. Facing Father without any advantage and getting used to how a duel is and how fast things can happen was the perfect training. Relying on my blood could fail me any time... What if it won't activate next time? What if something blocks it? This experience was what I needed the most!

"Not bad!" He laughed, patting his robe, putting the fire out, and chasing the smoke away.

"Which part…?" I asked, groaning, frozen from the waist down, stuck in place.

"The part where you two worked together well and caught me in the end!" He added, winking at Quincy, who was behind him and the one using the flames, setting his robes on fire.

"Ehehehe!" She couldn't find the word to answer him, so she skipped forward with a bashful and happy smile, getting me out of my icy prison.

"How's the ritual coming alone?" Father asked, looking at us with a satisfied glint in his eyes. He knew about us doing the Animagus ritual and about Quincy's owl form. He wasn't angry about it, quite the opposite. He was supportive and wanted to help before learning I had already completed the first part. Now, we were waiting for the storm that seemed to elude us as the weather was keeping up its excellent, sunny form with a surprisingly intense heatwave.

"All fine!" I answered, finally able to move again, "I didn't forget to repeat the mantra, and we are just waiting for a good thunderstorm! Can't you… conjure up one?"

"I'm not that good of a wizard!" Father laughed, coming over and patting our shoulders, "But there should be a storm coming in the next week."

"Is this literal… or?" Quincy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Both. I won't be here as the Ministry will go and meet with the delegation of the other two schools. They are coming to survey the grounds and the place where they will stay and where the competition is going to be held!"

"You mean they are coming to check on Hogwarts," I replied, shrugging.

"How do you know it will be held there?"

"It is easy!" Quincy explained instead of me, "Even though Severus Snape is a known right-hand man of HIS, Hogwarts is still neutral ground! It is ancient, protected, and overseen by magic predating all of us! The same is true for the other two schools! Its magic is sacred and something that is to be respected! They wouldn't trust or even come if the tournament is not held there!"

"Smart kids! It is exactly as you said, Quincy! So I won't be home for the foreseeable future."

"Can't you tell us about what the tasks will be?" I asked, trying to be cheeky, but he just knocked on my head.

"Nope. Believe me, I would, but I am not the one coming up with them! When it was decided that the tournament would be revived, for fairness's sake, the three Headmasters put their ideas for tasks into the Goblet of Fire and let it choose them!"

"It is said that the Goblet is even more ancient than our schools! An artifact from an unknown date!" Quincy blabbered on with excitement.

"Maybe." Father chuckled at her explanation before turning around and fixing the garden. "The thing is, it did choose three trials, and it was agreed to go from there! I wasn't informed what it would entail; my work is simple: I am to oversee security. The problem is, I have to work with Dementors… tsk. I hate those wretched things!"

"Wait a minute…" Quincy spoke up, looking at me then back at Father, "If it will be as in the old stories… the champions will be selected by the Goblet, no?"

"Oh yes, that is true." Father looked back at us over his shoulder, "And the Goblet is in Hogwarts right now. People will have a chance to sign up, putting their names into the fire! But our choice is already predetermined."

"Others won't be happy about it!"

"Who said you will be the only participant, son?"

"Huh?" Asked both of us, looking stunned.

"It is agreed upon that every school sends two champions into the competition…"