Link : https://m.webnovel.com/book/rise-of-house-cason_14290767005885305
WC : 90k+ ( 92 chaps, dropped )
Plot : Artland Cason lost everything at a young age to the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. Though it is years later, his anger and hatred burn just as hot.
Chapter 1 : Happiness to Horror
October 31st, 1978
"Almost there dear, keep pushing!" a young female healer said, encouraging a woman who was giving birth.
"Ahhh!" she screamed as she pushed. Her brown hair was stuck to her perspiring forehead, her blue eyes bloodshot.
Outside of the room, one man paced back and forth while the other was sitting down in a large chair.
"Don't worry Todd, Marge may be young but she is a gifted healer and experienced at childbirth." the man in the chair comforted the pacing man.
"I know Greg, I know but this is Sherry's and my first child, of course I am nervous." Todd said, still pacing.
Greg just smiled and took out his wand, he gave it a swish and a bottle of firewhiskey and two cups appeared. "Sit down and have a drink. Today another child will bear the powerful and ancient name of Cason. We should be celebrating."
Todd stopped pacing and gave a strained smile. His brother had always been free and unbothered by most things and seemed to enjoy life to the fullest. Todd went over to Greg and poured himself a cup of firewhiskey and downed it all in one go.
Pouring himself another one, he suddenly stopped when he heard the cries of an infant in the other room. Dropping the glass, which shattered on the floor, he quickly went into the other room. Greg shook his head and eyed the spilled firewhiskey on the floor. It was aged over a hundred years and it pained him to see it wasted like that. Greg waved his wand and the cup repaired itself. He then finished his cup and followed his brother into the next room.
Entering the room, Todd saw his wife holding a baby and looking at it lovingly. He quietly walked over to her and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Look at his eyes." she said, slightly exhausted.
Todd looked down and saw that the baby's eyes were gold in colour, shocking him. This was a sign of the Cason family bloodline. Todd's eyes himself were not gold but had a gold ring around the iris. Ancient records from the family's history said that this was a sign of magical power.
"So do I have a nephew or a niece?" Greg walked in and asked obnoxiously.
Sherry glared at her brother-in-law but softly said, "Nephew."
"Hahaha a strong boy to carry on our name! Let me see him!" Greg said loudly, walking over and craning his neck to get a look at the child. When he saw his eyes, he was shocked before laughing even louder.
"The Cason blood in him is strong! He will do great things!" Greg proudly said, as if the child was his own.
His loud laughter woke the baby up and he started crying, earning glares from the parents. Greg scratched his nose, looking embarrassed. He went over to the Healer and quietly paid her. She thanked him and left the mansion.
"What do you want to name him?" Todd softly asking his wife.
"Artland. After my brother." she said looking at Todd.
A sad look flashed across his face before nodded his head. "Artland Greg Cason it is then."
Greg heard this and was shocked before tearing up. He walked over and hugged his older brother fiercely.
They were a happy family.
3 years later…
"Art! Leave Tinky alone!" Sherry yelled, scolding him.
Art was a three year old kid but was tall for his age. His dark hair coupled with his gold eyes gave him an adorable appearance. His parents found out soon after he was born that he was unnaturally strong for his age, almost injuring their house elf.
"It fine madam, Tinky love playing with Young Master Artland!" the tiny house elf said happily.
Art laughed and said, "Thanks Tinky." Which earned a scowl from his mother.
"Your uncle with be here soon so go get cleaned up." she said, not leaving any room for debate.
Art sulked to his room where Tinky helped bath and dress him. Putting on his robes he rushed out of his room and waited for his uncle eagerly. Uncle Greg spoiled him rotten, always bringing new toys and candy for Artland. So when the fireplace suddenly turned green, Art gave a cry for joy.
Stepping out of the fireplace was Greg Cason, who still had a smile on his face. When he saw Artland, he dropped down to one knee and welcomed the boy into his arms.
"Jeez Art, you might have to go easy on me, you are getting too big and strong." Greg roughly said, trying to steady himself.
"What did you bring me uncle!?" Art said, looking at his empty hands for toys and treats.
"Is that all I am to you? Someone to bring you presents?" Greg said, faking being hurt.
Artland seemed to ignore his fake hurtness and nodded his head vigorously.
Greg crumbled and brought out a couple chocolate frogs for Art, who snatched them out of his hands quickly.
Seeing Art runoff, he approached Sherry. "The kid seems to be getting stronger everyday. I think I might need someone to heal my back." he complained.
Sherry nodded her head. "Not only that but he apparated again, almost causing me a heart attack." she said, worry in her eyes. Her son was already able to use magic this young, showing how much of a genius he was.
Hearing this caused Greg to swell with pride. "Cason blood."
Sherry rolled her eyes at him, not taking it seriously. Greg credited everything Artland did to their bloodline.
"How are things at the Ministry?" she asked a bit tense.
"In shambles. You-Know-Who's influence is growing rapidly and the Ministry can barely keep up. Everyone is fearing for their lives. I hope Crouch takes over soon so we can fight back." Greg said, his usually easy going smile gone and replaced by a serious look. He was an Auror at the Ministry and his job was getting harder each day.
Suddenly the door opened and Todd ran in looking terrified. "Death Eaters are here!"
Greg and Sherry's face turned terrified as well. Sherry turned to grab Artland but the door was suddenly blew open. Fifteen Death Eaters charged in, firing spells. Todd, Greg and Sherry were quick to react and pulled out their wands and returned fire. Though they were vastly outnumbered, all three of them were gifted wizards, they were able to fight evenly and even kill a couple of them.
"Is this all you brought you bastards!? You think this is enough to destroy our family!" Greg yelled, cutting two Death Eaters in half.
Todd didn't say anything but fought fiercely, killing some Death Eaters himself. Sherry looked back and saw that Art was sitting on the floor with a terrified look on his face, staring at the Death Eaters.
A cold voice suddenly filled the room. "As expected from the Cason family. Do you think I am enough?" A pale man with red eyes suddenly appeared behind the Death Eaters.
The room's temperature suddenly plummeted.
"Tinky take Artland somewhere safe!" Todd yelled, not stopping with his spells.
"Like I would let it." the pale man said, waving his wand.
Tinky who was about to grab Artland suddenly froze, unable to move.
"You bastard!" Greg yelled, attacking him. Todd soon attacked him as well.
The fight went on for a bit but the pale man hit Greg with a curse. Artland watched as his uncle fell to the floor lifeless. Before he could scream, his father was hit by another Death Eater and fell as well.
"Art you must live!" Sherry screamed pointing the wand at her chest. The pale man's eyes narrowed before yelling, "Shield yourselves!"
A huge explosion happened, causing the room to shake and windows to shatter. Art sat there in terror, "Mom… Dad… Uncle." he whispered, tears streaming down his face.
Tinky, who was injured from the explosion, weakly crawled over to Artland. "Must… live." slowly putting her hand on Artland.
"No you don't!" the pale man yelled, sending a curse at Art. The curse missed its mark but grazed Artland's chest, leaving a large gash.
The next second he disappeared, sent away by the house elf's magic.
Hundreds of kilometers away a boy appeared on the lawn of a muggles house. Blood covered his clothes as he cried loudly. A couple heard the child's screams and ran out of the house. Terrified of what they saw, the man quickly picked up the child and took him to the hospital.
Chapter 2
The Sullivans
After three days in the hospital, the doctors and the police were stumped. The child refused to speak and say what happened, all he said was his name. Finally the police gave up trying to figure out what happened and were going to send him into an orphanage but the couple that saved him offered to adopt him. After a lot of paperwork and dealings with social workers, the adoption went through.
A man with an army haircut and built body guided the boy out of the hospital. His eyes were sharp and no energy was wasted in his movements. Following him was a beautiful blonde woman with green eyes. She gave a soft and gentle feeling to those around her. Artland walked out of the hospital, looking despondent and lifeless, his golden eyes looked visibly dimmer than before.
Entering a car, the couple and Artland drove away. After a few hours, they arrived at an acreage outside of London. The blonde woman, named Bella, gently guided Artland into the house followed by her husband Tim.
1 year later…
"Eyes forward, always keep your enemy in your sights." Tim said, circling Artland.
Artland had his hands up, in a defensive stance. He was watching Tim carefully, his movements, his eyes, everything. Though the child was only 4 years old, his intelligence and physical strength inspired Tim to teach hand to hand combat. Tim Sullivan was an ex-special forces for England but was dishonourably discharged after a failed mission. He met his wife, who was a nurse, after the mission in the infirmary. She was from France and the two fell in love. After his discharge she followed him to England, where they tried to have kids but were unable.
After training, Tim and Artland went into the house where Bella was cooking dinner.
"Hello Artland, are you hungry?" Bella said in french, causing Art to frown. Bella was teaching Art french and he was having trouble with it.
"Yes… I am hungry." he slowly spat out in choppy french.
"Very good." she smiled, putting food in front of him.
Artland quickly dug in, his appetite larger than most children his age. Bella ruffled his hair and sat down beside him. Tim also sat down, he was a quiet type that didn't say unnecessary words. In the middle of dinner there was a knock at the door, startling everyone. Tim frowned and got up to see who it was, while Bella looked at Artland in worry. Artland fist was clenched tightly around a knife as he stared at the door.
"It's okay sweetheart, no one will hurt you." she said softly, placing her hand over his.
Artland didn't relax, he knew that even though these muggles cared for him that they wouldn't be able to protect him from his world.
Tim returned and looked at Art, "There is someone here for you Artland."
Artland's eyes turned fierce as he slowly stood up with the knife in his hand. Tim saw this and shook his head gently. Behind him was a tall square jaw woman with short cropped grey hair. She wore jeans and large oversized jacket that she didn't look comfortable in. The serious look on her face softened when she saw Artland.
"Artland…" she said softly, her voice slightly breaking.
Artland looked closely at her before saying, "Aunt Amelia?" Artland remembered her coming over as she was a friend of his parents.
Her serious face broke as she approached him and dropped to her knees, cupping his cheeks. Tears filled her eyes before she pulled him into her chest. Artland's eyes turned misty as he buried his face in her neck.
"They're dead… all dead." he softly sobbed into her neck.
Amelia rubbed his back. "I know child, I know." she murmured softly.
Tim and Bella looked at each other surprised. They had tried to get Artland to talk about what happened for the last year. After awhile, Artland stopped crying and pulled away from Amelia.
"Can you tell me what happened?" she asked softly.
Artland nodded his head.
Amelia looked at the couple. "Can we talk in private?" she politely asked the couple.
"They can stay, they will have to find out sooner or later." Artland said, wiping his tears.
Amelia looked at him surprised, "You mean…?"
"Yes, I plan to stay with them." Artland said with a smile.
"Artland you know that you don't belong in this world. These muggles obviously care for you but…" she trailed off.
Bella and Tim frowned at the conversation. It sounded like this woman was going to take away Artland but then she said words like 'muggles' which they didn't understand.
Artland smiled and nodded his head. Seeing this, Amelia let out a defeated sigh before inviting the Sullivan's to sit down. Amelia slowly explained the wizard world and how Artland's family was nobility. She then told them about the war and how the dark wizard and his followers terrorized Europe. Bella covered her mouth in shock while Tim's eyes hardened before standing up and looking fiercely at Amelia.
"March 1st, 1975. My squad met four individuals dressed weirdly that easily stopped our bullets. They then hit us with a red light that made us unable to move. They then tortured us with unknown means. They killed my squad but let me alive. At first I thought they had advanced weapons but hearing what you said…" Tim voice had an edge to it.
This was the first time Artland had heard Tim speak so much at once. Amelia looked at him before letting out another sigh. "This sounds like Death Eaters. We have no record of this encounter." she said quietly.
"When I reported it to my superiors I was called a liar and discharged." he said with anger.
"I will look into this, you have my word." Amelia said, taking out her wand and mumbling a spell. Mist starting coming out her wand and formed pictures of men with skull masked covering their faces. "Did they look like this?"
Tim's fist unconsciously clenched as he nodded his head.
Amelia nodded before putting her wand away. "I think we should here Artland's story now."
They three adults turned towards Artland and he explained what had happened a year ago. He told them how 15 Death Eaters attacked their home and how his parents and uncle fought them bravely, even having the upper hand.
"But then… he showed up." Artland's eyes showed terror.
"The Dark Lord himself showed up…" Amelia said, fear in her voice.
Artland told them how they fought him but how his father and uncle died and how his mother pointed her wand at her chest before exploding.
"She concentrated her magic into a single point, causing her body to explode and buy your house elf time to send you away. House elf magic is still very mysterious and powerful." Amelia said, sadness and admiration in her voice.
"One of that man's curses hit me." Art said, taking off his shirt and showing a nasty scar that started at his right shoulder and ended at his left hip.
Amelia quickly ran over and closely looked at the scar, taking out her wand and muttering some spell. Finding nothing wrong she let out a sigh of relief. She went back to her chair and sat down.
Amelia sat there in silence as she tried to picture her friends fighting against the Dark Lord himself and their child witnessing the entire thing. The Cason family had a high reputation in the wizard world and known for their loyalty and fearlessness.
"I am your magical guardian now Artland. You can come and live with me if you want." she offered to Artland.
Artland shook his head and looked towards Tim and Bella. "I will stay with them. They have treated me well and I hope to be the child they never had." he said with a smile.
Bella had tears in her eyes as Tim tightly grabbed her hand.
Amelia nodded, seeing he wasn't going to change his mind. "I will visit you regularly." she said getting up and giving Artland a hug.
"Can you send over the books from our library? I wish to get a head start before school starts." Artland said in her ear.
"Of course." she said, "But make sure you don't practice actual magic."
"Okay." he said, leaving her embrace.
"He was defeated Art. The Dark Lord is dead and he will never harm you again."
Amelia left shortly after that, promising to look into Tim's situation.
After she left, Bella grabbed Artland and pulled him in her arms. Art didn't fight it and hugged her back. He finally was able to tell them what had happened to him and he felt they had become closer because of it.