Albus Dumbledore stood motionless before the tall window of his office, hands clasped behind his back. The night sky above Hogwarts was unnaturally clear, the stars sharp and cold, as though watching.
Behind him, Professor Sinistra lowered her voice, still shaken. "It came again, Headmaster. Stronger this time."
Dumbledore closed his eyes. "Prophecies," he murmured, more tired than amused. "Why must they always speak as riddles when clarity would suffice?"
Sinistra swallowed and recited the words exactly as they had appeared in the stars:
When drums unheard begin to sound,
Born of loss where hope is drowned,
One marked twice by death and breath,
Shall walk the line of life and death.
Blood shall bind him, fate shall break,
A child born pure another wakes,
One shall fall where light is torn,
One shall rise where drums are born.
Silence followed. Dumbledore opened his eyes and stared upward, searching the constellations as if Merlin himself might answer back.
"1977," he whispered. The stars did not reply.
"May Merlin protect us all."
I woke to a sound. Thadum.
Deep. Slow. Like a heartbeat that wasn't mine. Thadum.
My eyes fluttered open. Stone ceiling. Flickering shadows. Smoke clawing at my throat.
I tried to move—and couldn't. Panic surged. My body felt wrong. Smaller. Lighter. Everything around me was too large, too tall, too close. Fire burned beside me. A circle of people stood over me—figures draped in ragged robes, faces carved with age and malice, chanting in a language that scraped against my skull.
"What the fu—" My voice came out thin. Childlike. That was when terror truly set in.
Why can't I move?
Why is everything so big?
Where the hell am I?
A crooked woman stepped forward, her eyes gleaming like wet stone.
"Welcome," she crooned, "little offering." Before I could scream, the sound returned.
Thadum. Louder now. Then the world… paused.
Words burned themselves into my vision, not written—felt.
[THE BEAT HAS CHOSEN YOU]
Survive the next 24 hours.
Reward: Knowledge.
Failure: Erasure.
My heart slammed against my ribs. "No. No no no—this isn't real—"
Another line appeared.
You have received a Beginner Package.
Open?
I didn't hesitate. "YES," I gasped. "Open it. I don't want to die."
[ACCEPTED]
The chanting faltered. Something answered back.
Pain exploded in my chest. Not tearing—binding.
The Ashen Drum
It wasn't placed inside me.
It became me. A small, invisible relic fused to my heart, its rhythm syncing with my blood. Thadum. Thadum. I could feel lies in the air now. The witch's spellwork stank of control and hunger. The Drum beat faster in warning.
I understood instinctively: If this breaks—I die.
The Veinbound Ring
Cold iron burned around my finger. Pain didn't weaken me anymore. It stored. Every fear. Every wound. Every scream—compressed into potential. Too much, and my soul would scar.
The Codex of Unwritten Spells
Nothing appeared. And yet I knew it was there—waiting. Spells that could only be earned by surviving. Spells that vanished once learned.
The Hollow Crown
A presence hovered above my thoughts. Ancient. Heavy. Authority without mercy.
Power that erased ego, piece by piece. I screamed then—not in fear, but in defiance.
The fire flared wildly. The witch staggered back.
"What are you?" she hissed. The Drum answered her.
THADUM.
Host detected. Trial One active
Survive.May liberation be with you.
The ropes snapped. The circle shattered. And for the first time since dying as Raj— I chose to live.