Author's Note:
Celestial Ascendancy is officially back, baby!
I want to be upfront with you all. After writing roughly 500k words in a single year, I genuinely needed the break I took during December. It was not burnout in the dramatic sense, but it was necessary to step back, reset, and make sure I could come back to this story with the care and consistency it deserves.
Because of that, there will be a change in schedule.
Going forward, I will be aiming to update Celestial Ascendancy once a week. Chapter length will remain the same, and updates will usually go up on Sundays. This is the pace I can realistically maintain long-term without sacrificing quality or my own health. I would rather promise less and deliver consistently than overextend myself again.
Thank you, truly, to everyone who stuck around, waited patiently, or even just kept this story in their bookmarks. Your support is the reason this story exists at all.
For those who want something else to read in the meantime, you might want to check out A Marvelous Devil. It follows a demon from Marvel reborn into the DxD world as a member of the Andromalius house, and it has been a lot of fun to write alongside this.
Once again, thank you for being here. I am glad to be back, and I hope you enjoy what comes next.
Celestial Ascendancy
Chapter 93: Founding Sanctuary.
Hogwarts.
Dumbledore PoV.
The morning sun hung pale over the school grounds, reminding me of better times. Not that things were bad now, or anything like that, but they certainly were… complicated.
The air felt heavy under the weight of young Elias's magic, his ward shining in the distance, with its golden glow showing every single citizen, from the youngest to the oldest, that they were protected in a way I never managed to do.
Everyone could feel them, even if most didn't understand what half of them did. For Merlin's sake, I had been one of the ones who created it, along with some of my professors and Miss Granger. And I still marveled at the sheer miracle it was.
Mister Elias was a man of so many secrets, but I no longer cared or even wondered about them. He, along with his girls, had grown so much, to the point that I no longer had an interest in involving myself with them. All I would do was slow them down.
The younger generation was fierce, I knew that. They were forging their own paths, and we were dragged by them to new heights. The only question was, would we burn brightly, like a shining star before disappearing, or would we shine, just as Elias's light, for the next generations to follow through.
I honestly didn't care anymore. I was a relic of an older era, and the future of the wizarding world was in the hands of my previous students. All I could do was trust them and hope that they knew what they were doing.
Even if at times like this, I wondered if it was a good idea to let them deal with other factions without supervision.
While Miss Potter's idea could be seen as benevolent, beneficial, and advantageous for us, I doubted that she realized at the time how many ways everything could go wrong.
The repercussions of mixing two cultures vastly different will complicate matters, a lot.
I still remember the moment we learned about the attack by those blasted devils. My eyes had been opened, I couldn't deny that there were good devils, like Miss Seekvaira Agares who helped create the ward, as well as her father and the other few I had met thanks to Elias, but I was also shown that many of that faction were vile things.
The fact that the same could be said about wizards was the only reason I kept my mouth shut. Elias's paramours, Miss Rias and her peerage, as well as the current Satans, tried, and I was optimistic that they would help when they could, if only to keep Elias close at hand.
But the moment the news arrived; it filled many of us with… conflicting feelings. There was so much loss of lives, with most of the Japanese Ministry officials dying without expecting it, as well as their Auror force.
Leaving them alone was something we could do in good conscience. They simply had no way to protect themselves anymore, and as much as I'd like to say that we would help, we weren't in the best situation ourselves.
The war had left Wizarding Britain in a bad state, and the relocation to Hogwarts grounds complicated things even more. I could only sigh in relief that the goblins were amicable to help, as long as we… opened a portion of the forbidden forest for them.
How they moved the entirety of Gringotts here was something I didn't understand, but I couldn't deny that their help had been sorely needed.
The wizarding world had to be united to face the attention of any other faction. Still, many countries didn't want to cooperate, whether due to their egos or fear.
However, if this were to work, other nations might see that it could be done. I didn't want a repeat of what happened to our Japanese counterparts if I could help it, but… we didn't have the manpower to offer any help, and simply put… we were weak.
My strength had waned thanks to Voldemort's last attack, and I simply wasn't the great Albus Dumbledore from before. A part of me that I tried to keep buried was bitter. But… I was happy to do what I could, and teaching the next generation to be something more was, in a way, freeing.
The Ministry had undergone many changes since the war ended, and many practices that were previously banned were gaining popularity, as long as they were conducted openly and under careful supervision. There were things no one touched, obviously, like necromancy. However, many of the other practices were thriving, and the younger generation was growing rapidly.
Just like the Weasley twins, Miss Luna Lovegood, and other young ones who left Britain to join Mephisto Pheles' organization to learn about the supernatural world and their everyday practices. According to the devil, they were sponges, soaking up everything they could. I knew deep in my heart that when they returned, Wizarding Britain would gain over ten capable people who would open many paths of commerce and innovation.
A presence approached me from the back. The balcony of my office was where I usually spent my mornings, observing everything with a keen eye. The fact that I wasn't alerted to someone seeking entrance significantly reduced the number of possible candidates.
The sound of Amelia Bone's boots crunched over the stone, making me wonder what she wanted.
"Dumbledore," she greeted me briskly, her hair almost in disarray.
I bit back a chuckle, ignoring her limp. Ah… young love, she and Sirius acted as if a fire had been lit under their behinds, and I just wondered when the next line of Blacks would pop up. I doubted that Elias was interested in taking the mantle of his family's Lord.
"Amelia," I nodded at her, smiling softly. But as good as I was at controlling my expression, it was for naught. Her eyes sharpened as she glared at me.
"Not a word, old man. Your pupils dropped a mess on my lap and I've been putting out fires in the Wizengamot ever since." She scowled, but there was no heat behind it.
"I wasn't saying anything," I defended myself with a chuckle, "what brings you here, Amelia? Is it time?"
The new Minister huffed but nodded direly, "Miss Granger called me ten minutes ago. They should be arriving soon, then the Satan alongside Elias will bring the Japanese Wizards here, along with their infrastructure."
"I just hope this works as well as they hope," she murmured softly enough that my old ears barely heard.
"We can only hope they know what they are doing, Amelia," I sighed, before I straightened myself. My old bones groaned in protest, but I hid the pain with a smile. "And we must ensure that our counterparts feel welcomed."
"It's a good thing that the majority of the Dark families perished, then," Amelia laughed darkly, earning a disapproving frown from me. As much as I felt bad for the loss of life, I couldn't deny that she was right.
Since the darker families perished, the whole Ministry was under the control of the light faction, since the neutral one was forced to join when they saw the way the wind was flowing. Racism was no longer… ignored, and no one raised complaints.
I didn't doubt that many years down the line, that kind of people would return, but I hoped that we would have at least a decade to work the Ministry into something more progressive.
"What about Sirius and the others?" I asked as I walked towards the door, grabbing my old wand, and waited for Fawkes to appear. Amelia stayed with me, looking impatient and not a little bit miffed at the mention of her other half.
"He's waiting in the courtyard for them, as for the ones already here, they are herding the kids and people that can't help to the dungeons. We don't want to risk anything, since we barely know what Elias and his friends have planned." She grumbled, "I know that the lad is one of us, but his lack of explanations is irritating."
Chuckling, I waved my hand airily, "I doubt even he knows, Amelia."
She raised her eyebrow as she waited for me to continue. It was something that I had been thinking about lately, and while I didn't know everything that they were doing, I knew my students.
"Elias's relationship with the devils was complicated. The same could be said for any other faction he deals with. I know that you've been working to get up to date with the supernatural world politics, but things are not as easy as they seem."
"Tell me, Amelia," I looked at her seriously, "How would you rate us as a faction, if you discount Elias and his group?"
"Not well," she said after giving me a deep look, one filled with anger at the unfairness of all, and perhaps, a fair bit of anger at my hand, since it was primarily because of me that we were weakened even further.
It was something she had drilled into me a lot since the war ended, but in truth, I didn't think I was wrong. The existence of Elias is a mystery to everyone, and no one, absolutely no one, would have thought that someone like him would be born from us. No, the best path for the wizards was to attract the least attention possible, and by weakening us further, I had accomplished it.
It obviously brought a lot of trouble with Voldemort and the rise of Dark wizards, who were upset about the changes. Still, it was something I deemed acceptable in the grand scheme of things.
Not that I would admit that out loud, at least, not yet. As much as the Wizengamot knew about the dangers of the supernatural, they hadn't lived that and wouldn't understand how much I had protected them with my actions.
"We are weak, Amelia," I said, nodding at her. "You must understand… we're nothing compared to most factions around the world. Even a magician organization would be a threat to us as we are now. You saw what Voldemort was capable of during his second rise; now imagine several beings of his caliber standing against our Aurors and every adult wizard. We would lose."
Her face twisted into an ugly scowl. I knew Amelia, and as much as she fought against the pure-bloods, she was proud of being a witch. It must sting to hear how poorly we fared against the wider world. I had felt the same pain when I first learned the truth, so I understood.
"Then tell me," I continued quietly, "why are we receiving help from so many of them?"
"Because of Elias himself," she sighed. "What are you getting to, old man?"
"That's the thing, my dear." I shook my head slowly. "Do you truly believe Elias alone, or even if you count his girls, is enough to make so many factions lend their aid? The devils, the Shinto gods, Asgard, and the other powers across Britain?"
Before she could reply, I pressed on. "No, Amelia. Realistically speaking, and as proud as I am of how much they've grown, it isn't enough to justify this level of generosity."
She frowned deeply. "What are you trying to say, Dumbledore? That we shouldn't trust them?"
"It's not as though we have another choice but to trust them," I said with a dry chuckle. "What I'm trying to say is that, as much as they help us, they do it for reasons of their own, and Elias knows that. They're banking on his potential, either because they fear the risk he represents or because they expect his power to benefit them later on. But one thing you must understand is that Elias isn't yet at a level where he can demand explanations, and he's wise enough to bide his time until he is. We don't know more simply because he hasn't asked, and the others aren't volunteering answers, since they still see him as beneath them."
Letting out a dry laugh as Fawkes appeared in a flash of fire, I shook my head as I grabbed one of his feathers and motioned for Amelia to do the same. Before the fire consumed us, I looked at Amelia one time before I closed the conversation.
"Or at least, that's what makes more sense according to what I know. That's what I think, unless Elias continued to grow as absurdly fast since the last time we saw him."
Before Amelia could respond, Fawkes flashed us into the courtyard, which was filled with the Wizengamot as well as my precious professors, as some of the most experienced aurors.
"Dumbledore," Sirius greeted us after flashing a smirk at Amelia, making the redhead flush before she huffed angrily and began barking at some Aurors.
Sirius did look much better than last year, thanks to Elias, obviously. However, some stress lines were already appearing on his face, even now. Considering that he became the Chief Wizard not that long ago, it was impressive.
Not that Miss Tonks' situation helped him. Their family had been distraught, and I doubted that we knew all the details, which meant something bad had happened to her and Miss Greengrass.
At least they will see them today. I'm sure that, as much as they trust Elias, knowing and seeing were two different beasts.
As soon as we walked to the sidelines to speak before their arrival, I felt something shift in the magic around the school. It felt as if it came to life, even more than usual. A green magical circle appeared in the center of the courtyard as multiple people appeared on it.
"It seems that our guests have arrived, my friend," I said, looking at Sirius, who looked at the center with his utmost attention.
"It appears so, old man," he nodded, looking serious, before a soft smile appeared on his face.
From the flash of green stepped a group that radiated authority even before their forms could be seen. Ajuka Beelzebub appeared first, his eyes cold as he surveyed the area. He had an air of boredom around him, one that disappeared as soon as his eyes locked below the school grounds.
Then, Serafall Leviathan followed. She had a broad smile on her face, looking cheerful as she twirled her magical wand, leaving specks of pink dust as she walked.
… And people made fun of me for my choice of attire.
Perhaps it was true what Elias said many months ago: all monsters in the world had their quirks. She was dressed in a way I had never seen before, her skirt short enough that it left nothing to the imagination.
I did my best to ignore the pained yelp coming from Sirius as Amelia stepped on his foot quite hard.
Elias himself stepped in between them, his grey eyes shining with power. It was incomparable from before. His expression was neutral as he observed the welcoming party.
Just seeing him made it hard to breathe. I could say proudly that I was one of the best at sensing magic around these parts of the world, and Elias's felt even deeper than the weirdly dressed devil. I could feel nothing from the green-haired one, but I could feel the depth of the Leviathan.
And Elias wasn't below her. Just how?!
How could he stand beside them so fast?
Behind him, the rest followed, but I noticed some missing faces around them. Miss Iris, most notably. Rias Gremory and her peerage, which shockingly included Miss Granger, Miss Fleur, and my old friend Pranitha, walked behind him, their heads held high, but their expressions were welcoming and filled with wonder.
The conversation around the Wizengamot died, hundreds of eyes watching as the group advanced toward us across the field. Even the most cynical among our group fell silent.
Their rehearsed skepticism dissolved faster than I could believe under the weight of their power.
Elias' gaze swept across the assembly and found mine.
For a heartbeat, I glimpsed it again… that impossible weight behind the boy's eyes, a reflection of something beyond mortal comprehension. Yet, within that light, I could still see the same quiet kindness I remembered from previous years. No… It was even more pronounced than before.
"Welcome home, Elias," I finally found my voice before I got lost in the sheer depth of his light, "You have been sorely missed."
Elias smiled faintly as he nodded, his eyes locking with mine, "It's good to be back, Headmaster."
A screech fell from the sky as my eyes widened, a phoenix, bigger than anything I thought possible, and shining brighter than the sun itself, appeared on it. The song that came from her beak made me realize who she was, and I felt my mouth falling open. What had happened to Elias's phoenix?!
Her golden fire fell on us before anyone could do anything, and I felt the familiar feeling of teleportation around my navel.
Ajuka Beelzebub.
Room of Requirements.
Ajuka bit back a sigh of irritation as the teleportation finished. He observed the room that housed everyone with curiosity as it began to change by itself. A rounded table appeared at its center, large enough to seat every person present, with stone seats rising from the ground, chalices materializing from nowhere before they fell into each seat.
Quite a marvelous invention. He almost brought out his Kankara formula to learn how it worked before he remembered how chaotic wizard magic was. And he knew for sure that it would take more time than what he had available.
It was supposed to be something simple, he almost grumbled to himself. Strengthening the wards around the wizard's school, make sure it was potent enough to delay a godlike being from entering while alerting Elias that something was wrong.
At least that was what he intended to do.
Everything changed thanks to Serafall. Ajuka wondered if her infatuation was making her act this way, before he reminded himself that she was always this way.
Politics were troublesome. It was the reason why Ajuka preferred to stay inside his lab most of the time instead of dealing with devil nobility. He didn't have the patience to deal with them.
But no, Serafall insisted, that it would be better to do something grander for her pet project. Not that Ajuka doubted that having Elias indebted to them was… a necessity, now more than ever.
He was not blind to see that there was something strange happening in the world, and that things that should stay buried were stirring up. Having someone as unknown and unpredictable as Elias was helpful.
Serafall had visited him in his lab a day after a meeting with Amaterasu, mostly to deal with the situation of Rias's Nekoshou sister. It was a mess and a half, and Ajuka was glad that he wasn't involved in it. But Serafall managed to surprise him, as she, somehow, managed to get Amaterasu to explain the workings of the Yokai's separate dimension.
Obviously, Ajuka knew a fair bit about the topic; he was one, if not the brightest mind, the devils had to offer, and he had studied them for the rating game stadiums a long time ago, but the underworld did not have Leylines at its disposal.
Serafall, either because of her infatuation or whatever she saw that Ajuka didn't, asked him quite insistently that he could study their method to replicate it for the wizards, saying that it would keep them safe and earn Elias's gratitude.
Ajuka knew that she was right, even if she wasn't explaining everything properly. But he had centuries of knowing Serafall, and knew that as much as he wanted to grill her over the extra work, if she didn't want to, she would not explain a single thing more than what was necessary.
So, Ajuka gave up. Something that had been common during their friendship.
He studied the Yokai methods and found them fascinating. He, obviously, had to change a fair bit of things from the ritual, since Kyoto had over five Leylines converging, while Hogwarts only had three.
The only reason he accepted it was that it would be something new and interesting, and Elias would be the one using the battery instead of him. He wouldn't have bothered if Serafall had asked him to power it up.
"Sorry for Ash, she forgets that she has to wait for my orders," Elias sighed with twitching lips as he glanced at the now small-sized phoenix playing with his hair, "She's been spoiled rotten."
That brought a few chuckles from the wizards present as they took their seats, looking at him with faith.
Ajuka had never felt that in his long life, so he couldn't understand. It was one of those things that confused him, and he preferred to leave them alone.
He didn't understand putting your fate in the hands of someone else, asking for guidance and the like, for every move.
"It doesn't matter," Ajuka replied dryly as he took a seat next to a beaming Serafall. Her eyes were sparkling as she giggled to herself.
She was excited to see Elias's reaction to the change of plans.
Ajuka wondered if she realized how different she was acting around the Messianic wizard, but decided to keep silent. If Elias managed to win her over, she would have less time to bother him with ideas for her show or something dumb like that. He had better things to do, after all.
He cleared his throat, and everyone turned to look at the green-haired devil. "Let me explain how we're going to do things. I have other things to do."
Serafall pouted in his direction, but Ajuka ignored it with practiced ease.
"The original plan consisted on strengthening the wards around the school and bringing the Japanese wizards here, but Serafall managed to get some information on a ritual that could benefit you more," he explained, "So, Elias and I will make a ritual to bring the school grounds and the area around it into a new dimension, that way you wizards can be safer, considering how many eyes will be on you thanks to one of your kind."
Elias's and the rest of the wizards' eyes widened, some looking hopeful, some interested, and some confused. Ajuka ignored them all, especially Serafall's squeal as Elias smiled gratefully in their direction.
"Elias will have to follow my instructions to the letter, there's little risk as long as he does that," Ajuka rubbed his head. "The first thing we'll need to do is bring the Japanese wizards, then we can work on it while your government deals with them."
"Any question?" he asked, swallowing the urge to glare them into silence.
"This dimension," the older headmaster began, "How secure are we talking about? How easy would it be for us to come back to Britain?"
Ajuka poked Serafall's knee without anyone noticing, earning an eyeroll from the fearsome Satan.
"Let me explain," Serafall replied with a peppy tone, and so she did. She spent over half an hour answering the questions to the best of her ability before everyone was happy with the plan.
And so, they began.
Amelia Bones.
Hogwarts, courtyard.
Thank Merlin, I remembered not to use my monocle this time. The last time I'd tried to focus on Elias through it, I'd nearly gone blind… the bloody thing had melted itself from the inside.
I wasn't going to make that mistake again.
The air in the courtyard buzzed with tension; everyone looked expectantly, yet with a fair bit of confusion. As much as Serafall Leviathan had explained, I knew that all of us understood exactly what they were doing. Dimensional magic was not something familiar, since even regular teleportation was carefully observed around the world.
Sirius stood beside me, and Dumbledore was on the other side; both of them were quiet.
Around us, dozens of Aurors, professors, and members of the Wizengamot watched in uneasy silence as Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the most unsettling creatures I'd ever met, fiddled with a phone.
Magnificent creations, in truth. Ever since Elias left us some means of communication, it has changed how things worked in the upper ranks of wizarding Britain. I was sure that once we began to recover from the relocation, many lords and workers would request that we make it the official means of communication.
"Is he seriously…?" I gaped at the terrifying devil, wondering what could be more important than this.
I was thankful that only Sirius heard me, since after my conversation with Dumbledore, it was clear what the devils thought of us.
Sirius shot me a look that said Don't ask.
Elias chuckled softly from the other side of the circle, his voice carrying over the distance with surprising ease, "He's letting Iris know to begin. She's planting runes around what's left of the Japanese Ministry."
Ajuka slipped the phone back into his coat, unbothered by the stares. Several rings of green light unfurled beneath his feet, the kind of magic that made even Dumbledore squint to follow. He tilted his head, studying the energy readings, looking serious.
I had no idea what he was doing, and I doubted any of the wizards fared better than I, including the old man.
"There's a mountain range northwest of the school," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Best place to anchor the import. I can drop the entire infrastructure there instead of sectioning it."
He glanced at Elias, "You can handle that?"
"I can handle that," Elias said, deadpan.
I frowned. Handle what, exactly?
Elias caught my look, sighed, and rolled his eyes like a boy asked to show off at a family gathering. Then, without another word, he began to float.
It was not the first time I had seen him flying without aid, but it was no less shocking. Voldemort was the only other wizard from memory capable of that.
The light spread in a slow wave, brushing over us like warmth from a hug. My lungs forgot what breathing meant for a second. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be around Elias when he acted. It was easy to understand why many of our citizens venerated him.
He opened his eyes, which were filled with the same light, and turned toward the northern ridge, "There's no living being there, and I just scared the animals," he murmured, "I'll begin."
I looked at Sirius. He just shrugged helplessly, a half-smile forming on his mouth.
Elias turned to Ajuka, "Put up a barrier, please. Don't want to scare the locals."
Ajuka gave a long-suffering sigh but snapped his fingers all the same. A translucent dome shimmered across the horizon, sealing the area in a quiet mirage of green light.
Then the pressure changed.
Elias's presence swelled like a storm held in human shape. The air grew heavy, thrumming against my skin, and the warmth turned sharp, making me forget to breathe. For a heartbeat, I could taste the light.
He lifted one hand toward the heavens. Then, the sky cracked like glass.
A miniature sun flared into existence above him, painting the clouds in its golden light. He looked at it without awe, looking as if it were nothing new.
Then he took a deep breath and lowered his arm.
A column of radiance wider than the entire mountain range fell from the newborn sun. The horizon turned to molten gold; the light swallowed everything. I heard screams, orders, something about shielding charm… all for nothing.
Even with my eyes closed, I could still see it, burned across my mind.
And then, silence.
When I finally dared to look, the sky had stitched itself back together; the false sun was gone, as if it had never existed. The mountains were gone, too. In their place stretched a smooth expanse of crystallized glass that caught the light like a mirror.
Around me, everyone stood frozen. Even Dumbledore looked stunned. Sirius let out a low whistle under his breath.
Before anyone could speak, Ajuka clicked his tongue. "Inefficient. You need to learn not to waste your magic," he said flatly.
Elias lowered himself back to the ground, expression calm. "Efficiency is overrated when you can refill your reserves like me. At least for something as simple as this."
Ajuka gave him a sideways look and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "You are too like Serafall for my taste, Elias. At least I'll get some good information when you visit my lab."
Elias chuckled as we all heard a whoop from the Leviathan.
Ajuka didn't waste time with compliments. One blink, and he was gone in a flash of green light, appearing on the new plain.
Elias followed without a word, vanishing in a streak of gold that left my hair standing on end.
Being next to them showed me how small we really were.
I sighed and grabbed both Dumbledore and Sirius by the arms before either of them could start talking, "Come on. I know we're not helping anywhere, but we need to know what's going on."
The world lurched as I apparated after them. We reappeared at the edge of the new plateau. The air here tasted sharp…too clean, as if fire had burned until nothing was left behind.
Ajuka was already at work. Dozens of magical circles bloomed under his boots as he walked in circles. Within minutes, an enormous array covered the entire plane.
He flicked his hand as he squinted at the magical circle before nodding, "All parameters are under acceptable risks."
Then, he looked at Elias, "You can start powering it."
Elias gave a slight nod, stretching his fingers as though warming them. His light came back instantly, brighter than before but more controlled.
The air trembled. The light built to a single deafening hum before it detonated upward.
When it faded, the plateau was no longer empty.
Where there had been nothing seconds ago now stood a sprawling city. The entire Japanese Ministry dropped into place as if it had always been there, with all the inhabitants present.
Over four thousand of them, easily.
I heard someone mutter a prayer. Could've been me. Because right now, I was a believer, too. After everything I had seen.
Ajuka didn't even look up from his readings, "Apart from some damage in the far north, everything worked, Elias. Good job."
Before he could say anything else, a ripple of power tore through the air.
Something fast and dark hurtled toward us, too quickly for my eyes to track. I tensed, already raising my wand until Elias moved. One instant, he was beside Ajuka; the next, he'd caught the incoming missile effortlessly, golden energy cushioning the impact.
I realized it was Iris. She laughed breathlessly against his chest, threw her arms around him, and kissed him like none of us mattered.
A startled chuckle escaped me before I could stop it. "Young love," I muttered.
Dumbledore chuckled next to me, looking at me with amusement.
Sirius snorted beside me, "At least someone's enjoying themselves."
Another burst of energy flared behind them, this time softer. A black-haired woman appeared, carrying a small blonde girl in her arms. The healer who helped us so much during the war beamed as soon as she saw Elias. The older woman looked strikingly familiar; it took me a second to realize she resembled Rias's Queen, though this one radiated far more seriousness.
The newly arrived pair touched down gently. Ajuka gave a curt nod in their direction but said nothing.
Duty pulled me back to reality. "Alright, people!" I barked to the Aurors and staff clustered nearby. "I want a full tally of everyone who arrived, names, professions, anything you deem important. Move!"
They scattered at once. Thankfully, some habits from the war hadn't faded.
Moriyama, the new Japanese Minister, approached us with a small entourage of wizards.
He bowed stiffly. "Lady Bones, Headmaster Dumbledore, Lord Black. I believe we owe you…"
"Save it," I said, waving him off. "There's the most important part still missing. Follow us back to the courtyard."
He blinked but followed as I turned toward the castle. Elias fell into step ahead of us, Iris still holding his hand, the golden light around them dimming at last. Ajuka and Serafall trailed behind, murmuring to each other.
Two-thirds of the plan had gone flawlessly; I just hoped the last one was the same.
Amelia Bones
Hogwarts Grounds
We stood in silence; hundreds of eyes turned toward the glass plain. British Aurors, professors, and goblins shoulder to shoulder with Japanese wizards. All of us were holding our breath as Ajuka Beelzebub began his work.
It had taken little time to 'explain' the new plan, and just as we didn't understand, none of them complained.
He hadn't said a word since they returned. The green-haired devil hovered over the stone floor, his magic encompassing everything around the area. Elias stood beside him, eyes closed.
No one dared speak. Even Serafall had kept her silence, but that wide grin on her face was unmistakable.
Ajuka's hands moved faster, his voice low as he began guiding Elias through the final stage. "I disconnected every ward from the Leylines. You can begin to mix the Aetherius with it."
Elias nodded once, his expression calm, but for everyone who knew him, it was clear that he was hiding his nervousness. Then he spread his hands.
Magic poured out of him. Incomparable to anything he showed before.
My knees buckled under the weight of it. Around me, Iris and Rias's peerage acted instantly, raising barriers of crimson and black to shield the wizards before they could collapse. A silver-haired woman I recognized from the battle in the Ministry joined them, her magic resembling the Nordic runes taught at Hogwarts after the third year.
Even with their protection, my heart pounded like never before.
The British wizards stared in awe, whispering to each other. But the Japanese didn't speak. They knelt. One by one, they lowered themselves to the ground, heads bowed toward the figure rising slowly above us.
Elias.
All his wings unfurled, hundreds if not thousands of tendrils on his back. He rose higher, hovering beneath the clouds, every beat of his wings scattering arcs of his light.
Then something changed.
Ajuka froze in movement. His head snapped up, with wide, alarmed eyes. Serafall's grin died on her lips as her face paled.
The great array of runes under Ajuka's control flickered before unraveling like a web burning from the edges. He cursed in a language I didn't know, sounding genuinely shocked, and dare I say, afraid. I had never thought to see Ajuka Beelzebub afraid.
He looked at Elias.
The young man's eyes were still closed. He floated higher as the clouds parted above him, splitting open into a single, brilliant wound in the sky.
White light poured down.
It was something else. It carried a warmth not so dissimilar to Elias, but it felt more mature. It sank into him, wrapping him in light that threatened to consume him.
The two lights seemed to be in conflict for a moment before they merged.
And in that fusion, he changed.
The black of his coat turned white. A crown of golden thorns appeared around his head, each point glowing faintly, and behind him, a cross of pure holiness formed, rising higher and higher until it dwarfed the castle.
He smiled.
His eyes were still closed, as if listening to something only he could hear. Elias moved his hands again, slower this time, but somehow, he felt more confident. Ajuka stopped trying to direct him; I could see it in his face. Whatever was happening, Elias wasn't following his plan anymore.
Something else was guiding him.
A soundless shockwave rolled through the world. Above him, reality itself cracked open.
It was like watching glass shatter.
A tear in existence spread across the sky, and from it poured the same blinding gold that had burned the mountains away. Then came color, a mix of iridescent colors bleeding into existence, threatening to consume what was outside. The void beyond trembled, wanting to come out, but before anything could happen… Elias reached into it with the same confident smile, and his light flooded in to fill it.
Creation. That was what it felt like. There was not a single doubt in my mind.
The fracture widened until it consumed half the sky. The light inside turned violent, expanding faster and brighter until I could no longer see the iridescent colors. My knees hit the ground. All around me, the wizards cried out, some in fear, some in prayer.
Elias's light flickered. The brilliance faltered. And like a candle snuffed out, he fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
I gasped as his body plummeted from the sky, all that divine light vanishing in an instant.
Ajuka moved first, hands slicing through the air to deploy barriers, layers upon layers of impossible magic. I could not feel anything from him before, but his magic exploded out of his body, and I almost fainted. He was a monster.
"Contain it!" Serafall shouted, spreading her arms wide. Ice erupted from her fingertips, covering the sky until it was the only thing I could see.
For a moment, I thought they had succeeded.
But the light didn't stop.
It passed through their magic as if it didn't exist, as if everything we knew about power simply didn't apply anymore. The air trembled.
I could see the world bending.
And then the light swallowed us.
There was no pain. Not a single sound could be heard, even as I saw everyone shouting in alarm. Just pure warmth, a feeling as if someone you loved told you everything was all right.
As the brilliance consumed everything around us, I had one final thought.
Maybe this was what it felt like to be part of something more.
Then everything became light.
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