Ever since Halloween, that cold trace of magic had lingered at the edge of his senses — faint, cold, and ancient.
And tonight…
He was done ignoring it.
Wrapped in winter robes, wand holstered at his wrist, Alexander stepped into the corridor long past curfew.
He didn't bother with stealth at first.
He simply walked.
Listening.
Feeling.
Magic, to him, was like temperature.
Most spells were warm — flickers of heat, harmless and fleeting.
But this…
This was frost creeping under a door.
He paused near the moving staircases.
There.
A pulse.
Faint — but real.
Alexander cast a quiet Disillusionment Charm, his form blending into the stone as he followed the sensation downward… deeper into unused sections of the castle rarely patrolled during break.
The air grew colder.
Not physically, but magically.
His breath slowed.
Wand hand steady.
The pull led him to an abandoned chamber hidden behind a warped stone archway.
Dim green light flickered inside.
Alexander pressed to the wall… then peeked.
And froze.
Professor Adrian Blackwood stood in the center of the chamber.
But not the composed, textbook professor students knew.
His robes were shredded, sleeves rolled, and his wand raised over a massive ritual circle carved into the stone floor.
Dark runes glowed faintly.
At the circle's center…
Something was forming.
A creature — half-constructed from condensed shadow and bone-like magic — its shape unstable, twitching as if trying to exist.
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
Monster construction…?
He listened.
Blackwood muttered as he worked.
"…enough power… enough mass…"
"…Dumbledore first…"
"…the boy second…"
Alexander's gaze sharpened.
The boy.
Him.
So the suspicion had been right all along.
Blackwood wasn't just dangerous.
He was planning an assassination.
Alexander stepped forward, dropping the Disillusionment.
"Well," he said calmly, voice echoing through the chamber. "This feels wildly illegal."
Blackwood's head snapped around.
For a split second — shock.
Then the calculation.
Then cold amusement.
"Mr.Chen."
His wand lowered slightly.
"You were always too observant."
Alexander's wand was already raised.
"You're building a monster to kill the Headmaster," he said. "A bit extreme for a teaching position."
Blackwood's lips curled.
"You should have ignored what you felt."
"Yeah," Alexander replied. "I get told that a lot."
The half-formed creature screeched faintly as magic poured into it.
Blackwood sighed.
"I suppose I'll test it on you first."
Blackwood struck first.
A slicing curse tore through the air.
Alexander reacted instantly.
"Protego!"
The shield flared — the impact shuddered through his arm, forcing him back a step.
Strong.
Blackwood followed with rapid-fire jinxes and curses —like a machine gun.
Alexander dodged sideways, deflecting what he could.
Stone pillars cracked where spells struck.
Alexander countered.
"Stupefy!"
Blackwood dodged lazily.
"Predictable."
He retaliated with a binding curse that snaked across the floor like living chains.
Alexander leapt, rolling across the floor.
He's fast… and experienced.
Not a friendly duel, but a real one.
Blackwood escalated.
Dark magic flooded the chamber — cold, suffocating.
The forming monster twitched, feeding on the ambient power.
Alexander cast again.
"Stupefy Duo!"
The enhanced red blast roared forward.
Blackwood's eyes widened slightly as he erected a barrier — the impact forcing him back a step.
"…Impressive."
But Alexander's breathing had already quickened.
Blackwood's magic was heavier — strong killing intent — pressing on his senses.
He kept firing spells one after another at Alexander until-
Alexander made a mistake, and a cutting curse grazed his sleeve, slicing fabric.
He grimaced.
He's trying to overwhelm me.
Alexander changed tactics.
Instead of trading power…
He shifted to misdirection.
He cast light distortion across the chamber — bending angles, warping sightlines.
Blackwood fired where Alexander was — missing as the boy repositioned.
Alexander struck from the side.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Blackwood twisted — the spell grazing his shoulder but not binding fully.
He retaliated, "Confringo!" intense fiery explosions caused a shockwave that blasted Alexander backward into a pillar.
Stone cracked.
Alexander hit the ground hard — breath knocked out.
Blackwood advanced slowly.
"You're talented," he said. "But you're still a child."
Alexander exhaled slowly… forcing calm.
Fear worked faster than pranks.
He remembered that.
He let Blackwood approach.
Let him believe the advantage was secured.
Then —
Alexander vanished.
Disillusionment Charm
Blackwood's eyes flicked left — wrong direction.
Alexander reappeared to the right of him.
"Depulso!"
Sent Blackwood flying.
Then Alexander followed up with.
"Stupefy Duo!"
The blast struck squarely in Blackwood's chest.
He slammed across the chamber floor, skidding through the ritual circle — runes shattering as the spell disrupted the magic.
The half-formed monster shrieked…
Then collapsed into dissipating shadow.
Silence fell.
Blackwood groaned, struggling to rise.
Alexander didn't give him the chance.
He stepped forward, wand steady.
"Petrificus Totalus."
This time it landed clean.
Blackwood's body locked rigid, falling stiff against the stone.
Stunned.
Bound.
Neutralized.
Alexander exhaled slowly, adrenaline fading.
He looked at the destroyed ritual circle…
Then, at the conscious professor.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "Definitely reporting that."
If Blackwood was willing to attempt an assassination inside Hogwarts…
Then, forces outside the castle were already moving.
And tonight had just confirmed it.
Alexander turned and picked up Blackwood's wand, and he left the ruined chamber to alert the Headmaster.
Behind him…
The last fragments of cold, predatory magic faded into nothing.