The night fog swirled around the imposing entrance pillars of Gaunt Manor, giving the place a ghostly and menacing appearance. Aurelian walked along the path with his hands in his trouser pockets, his relaxed posture contrasting with the magic that saturated the air.
When he reached the main gates, Aurelian stopped. The scene that awaited him was almost comical, were it not for the lethality emanating from the visitor in front of him.
On the other side of the mansion's magical protections, a wild-looking man with tousled straw-colored hair and an oversized stolen robe held Peter Pettigrew by the neck with one hand, lifting him off the ground as if he were a rag doll.
Peter kicked uselessly in the air, gurgling, his eyes bulging and his face slowly turning blue.
The intruder was clearly Bartemius Crouch Jr. He turned his head slowly when he heard Aurelian's footsteps. His bulging eyes fixed on the newcomer and a crooked, toothy smile spread across his pale face.
Instead of releasing his prey, Barty tightened his grip on Peter's throat, causing the human rat to let out a muffled groan.
"Well, well," Barty murmured, tilting his head to one side like a curious bird. "You have his face. You have his nose. You have his bearing. Who are you, young man?"
Barty took a step toward the invisible barrier, dragging Peter with him.
"Who are you, pretty boy?" He repeated the question with a raspy laugh. "And why do I sense my Master's magic in this place?"
Aurelian watched the scene indifferently, ignoring the question.
"Let him go," Aurelian ordered in a calm voice, but with a tone of authority that brooked no argument. "I need Peter to keep breathing, unfortunately."
Barty looked at him for a second, assessing the threat. Then he simply shrugged with exaggerated theatricality.
"If you say so."
He opened his hand and dropped Peter.
Mole hit the gravel with a thud, coughing violently and clutching his throat.
"T-thank you... thank you, Master Aurelian!" Peter gasped between coughs. Without waiting for a response and terrified by the presence of the madman who had just strangled him, Peter transformed into a gray rat in the blink of an eye and darted toward the safety of the mansion, squeaking as his little legs scratched the ground in search of a safe place.
Aurelian and Barty were left alone, separated only by the translucent sheet of blood protections.
Barty moved closer until his nose almost touched the barrier. He raised a hand and traced the air, causing the protections to sparkle with golden and white light upon contact.
"Mmm," Barty hummed, licking his lips. "A beautiful job. It's been a long time since I've seen such solid protections. So... cruel to anyone who dares to try to pass through them. Most wizards today use paper shields. This... this is art."
Aurelian watched him from inside, his face impassive, his eyes analyzing the man's every move. He could feel Barty's magic; it was chaotic, vibrant, and dangerously dense.
Barty noticed the scrutinizing gaze and winked at him, letting out a nervous chuckle to try to lighten the tension, even though his free hand was already brushing against his own wand.
"What's your level?" Aurelian asked suddenly, breaking his silence.
Barty's smile widened, revealing a fierce pride that momentarily displaced his madness. He straightened up, sticking out his chest.
"My level?" Barty repeated, as if the answer were obvious. "I'm a Invoker. One of the few left in Britain."
Aurelian's eyes sparkled. A genuine, sharp, predatory smile curved his lips.
"A Invoker," Aurelian repeated, savoring the word.
It had been a long time since he had fought. At Hogwarts, no one would want to face him, the teachers wouldn't take him seriously. Dumbledore would just smile at him and wave him away, and the students were ants. Aurelian had felt stuck, bored with his own superiority. But a Invoker... someone who was theoretically on his level... that was interesting. He definitely had to face him.
"Excellent," said Aurelian.
"May I pass now?" asked Barty, stepping forward. "My master awaits me."
Aurelian let out a loud laugh.
"Oh, no. Not yet."
Aurelian raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
BOOM!
A brutal telekinetic shockwave, invisible and silent until impact, pierced through the defenses and struck Barty in the chest.
The Invoker was thrown backwards as if struck by a giant's fist, flying ten meters through the air before landing with feline agility on the damp grass, skidding and kicking up dirt in his wake.
Barty looked up, surprised, but far from angry, his eyes shining with pure excitement.
"If you want to see your master," Aurelian shouted from the doorway, his voice magically amplified to echo in the night, "you'll have to earn the right. You'll have to defeat me!"
Barty slowly stood up, brushing the dust from his robe. A maniacal laugh bubbled up in his throat as he drew his wand.
"Play?" Barty shouted back, a demented smile spreading across his face. "I love to play!"
Barty didn't wait for a second invitation. With a speed that belied his scruffy appearance, he waved his wand and unleashed a storm of magic.
"Confringo! Reducto! Expulso!"
Three high-level curses shot out in rapid succession, lighting up the night with flashes of orange, blue, and white. The spells crossed the distance in a blink, aiming directly at Aurelian's chest and head.
Aurelian didn't move. He didn't even raise his hand to block. He didn't even blink. He kept walking forward with his hands in his pockets, expectant.
The spells struck... or so it seemed to Barty.
Just millimeters from touching Aurelian's skin, the magic stopped. It didn't hit a visible shield, it just slowed down. The bright lights compressed, vibrated violently, and then, unable to cross the final distance, vanished into nothingness, dissolved into harmless sparks.
Barty stopped laughing for a second, tilting his head with genuine curiosity.
"Oh? Interesting," he muttered, casting a cutting curse that suffered the same fate. "It's not a Protego. What... could it be?"
Aurelian smiled. Finally, someone who wasn't just trying to hit him harder, but was analyzing him, trying to figure out why they couldn't hurt him.
"My turn," Aurelian said.
His lips moved. A sharp, vibrating hiss filled the room, the language of snakes cutting through the air in a second.
"§...Haaaaiii... Ssssaaaaa...§"
The magic in the air reacted violently to the Parseltongue. The air around Aurelian darkened, and with a fluid movement of his right hand, he fired a torrent of emerald green energy. It was not a simple lightning bolt, but a dense and heavy mass of magic, powered by the noble language of the Serpents.
Barty opened his eyes with delight.
"Yes! YES! Come on, attack me!"
Instead of dodging, Barty dug his heels into the ground and conjured a wall of earth and stone that shot up from the ground. The impact of Aurelian's spell pulverized the defense in an instant, sending splinters flying everywhere. But Barty had already moved, launching counterattacks from the flanks and laughing maniacally as the earth exploded around him.
Aurelian felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: excitement for battle. How he had missed this feeling. His blood boiled. Barty was fast, unpredictable, and deadly. Perfect for practice from now on.
"More!" Aurelian shouted, letting his mask fall to reveal a battle smile. "Show me why you are a Invoker!"
Aurelian channeled his core. The space around his hand distorted, glowing with a reddish-purple hue.
"Zero!" Aurelian roared, finally able to put his ultimate spell into practice.
A devastating bolt of purple energy tore through the night, carving a deep furrow in the earth as it advanced toward Barty. The Invoker didn't have time to dodge completely. He crossed his arms in a desperate defense, reinforced with his magic, taking the full brunt of the impact.
BOOM!
A cloud of smoke and dust covered the area around the mansion. Silence fell for a moment.
Aurelian paused, watching the smoking crater, waiting to see if he had gone too far. In theory, that spell should have unearthed everything it touched, but he had cast a low-power version... he couldn't kill his future training partner.
Then, a coughing laugh emerged from the dust.
The breeze dispersed the smoke. Barty Crouch Jr. was standing. His robe was torn on the left side, and he had a large, ugly burn on his shoulder that was bleeding profusely, but his smile was wider than ever. Blood dripped from his teeth.
"Magnificent," Barty gasped, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
He raised his index finger and pointed at Aurelian, his eyes shining with keen understanding.
"It's been a long time since I've fought someone of your caliber," Barty said, analyzing. "You nullify external magic by dominating the space around you. That wasn't a shield; my magic simply couldn't reach you. You're incredible, kid."
Aurelian nodded, genuinely impressed that someone could deduce something about the mechanics of his "Infinity" so quickly.
"Not bad for someone who thought he was dead," Aurelian acknowledged. "You have talent, Mr. Barty."
Barty lowered his hand, relaxing his combat stance. The madness in his eyes tempered with a sudden, reverent seriousness.
"Your magic... you have Pársel... and that face," Barty murmured, taking a hesitant step forward. "Tell me, who are you?"
Aurelian brushed the dust off his shoulder and looked at him with a small smile.
"I am the son of your Lord," he replied in a clear, powerful voice. "My name is Aurelian Gaunt."
The effect was immediate.
Barty's eyes widened so much that they seemed to pop out of their sockets. His mouth opened in a perfect "O." It opened, but no sound came out at first. Then understanding struck his broken brain.
Suddenly, Barty threw his head back and screamed into the night sky, waving his arms like a preacher in religious ecstasy.
"HE IS ALIVE! HIS LINEAGE IS ETERNAL!" Barty howled, laughing and crying at the same time as he spun around. "THE BLOOD OF THE DARK LORD HAS NOT DRIED! THERE IS AN HEIR! A PRINCE! HAHAHAHA!"
Aurelian watched the spectacle with a raised eyebrow and a stunned expression.
"Wow," thought Aurelian, watching Barty fall to his knees and kiss the ground while babbling thanks to fate. "All that time in Azkaban has definitely turned his brain to mush. He's completely insane."
Aurelian smiled slightly.
"But a loyal and powerful madman... that's useful."
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