The house remained silent.
Not peaceful.
Never peaceful.
Silence in ancient houses carried weight.
The sort that pressed against the ears until even breathing sounded intrusive.
As if the very home itself was storing generations worth of memories, wood beams flexing as if the structure were breathing.
Cassius sat motionless upon the floor, wand resting across his knees, eyes closed as magic flowed slowly through his body in carefully measured circuits.
The room around him darkened further as the candles guttered lower.
The old wards woven through the manor answered his presence instinctively.
He could feel them.
Layers upon layers.
Defensive enchantments centuries old curled through the stone like veins beneath skin.
Some were elegant.
Some brutal.
A few were disturbingly alive.
His father's additions stood apart from the rest—precise, clinical, efficient.
Severus Snape trusted almost nobody.
So his wards trusted nobody either, each built and designed with a safety measure in case any and i do mean anyone who was accepted by them could equally be targetted by them in a moments notice.
Cassius exhaled slowly.
Then paused.
A vibration touched the edge of his senses.
Subtle.
Wrong.
His eyes opened instantly.
The room remained unchanged.
Dark walls.
Silver-green curtains.
Low candlelight.
But the wards had shifted.
Not breached.
Acknowledged.
Someone was moving through the manor.
Not aggressively.
Deliberately.
Cassius rose soundlessly from the floor.
His wand slipped into his hand in one fluid motion.
The hallway beyond his door stretched empty when he stepped out, moonlight spilling in through the tall windows lining the hall.
The Grimauld Place creaked softly around him.
Ancient wood settling.
Distant pipes humming.
Then—
Footsteps.
Barely audible.
Descending from the upper staircase.
Cassius moved without hesitation.
By the time he reached the landing below, he already knew who it was.
His father, the old bat himself (Professor Snape) emerged from the darkness near the library entrance, still dressed in black travelling robes, the edges faintly damp from mist outside.
Severus stopped when he saw him.
Neither spoke immediately.
The resemblance between them became sharper in silence.
The same face, same posture, same composure.
Only their eyes differed.
Though where Severus carried exhaustion like a permanent stain upon his soul, Cassius carried something colder.
Purpose.
As a man born anew in this magical world he had set himself the goal of becoming the very best, and with his system assisting him he would achieve that.
But to be the best one need more than just raw power, they needed people behind them, a loyal inner circle to follow him.
"You're awake," Severus said at last.
His voice was smooth but roughened faintly beneath the surface.
"I could say the same."
A flicker crossed Severus's expression.
Not amusement.
Acknowledgment.
"Dumbledores message only reached me an hour ago."
"Slow response time."
"The situation was precarious, the world cup wasn't the only site attacked tonight."
"Indeed," Cassius agreed quietly. "Though i'm willing to bet, the force we encountered was the true main force at work."
Severus studied him carefully.
His eyes moved once across the soot still lingering faintly near Cassius's collar.
"You engaged directly?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Enough."
That earned another silence.
Severus stepped further into the corridor, removing his gloves one finger at a time.
"The Dark Mark?"
"Confirmed."
"And?"
Cassius already understood the real question beneath the question.
How bad?
"Organized," he answered. "Disciplined. Coordinated entry and withdrawal points. They weren't drunken purebloods amusing themselves."
"No," Severus murmured.
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
"They're preparing, even Dumbledore himself believes something big is about to happen now."
Cassius watched him carefully.
He had the entire series's plot within his head safetly protected thanks to high level Occlumency preventing any spoilers from getting out, however his own existence in this world had already well shifted the Hendersen scale if you will with the plot only just barely holding on to its natural course.
Severus moved toward the drawing room slowly, gesturing once for Cassius to follow.
The room beyond remained dimly lit by floating candles above the hearth.
Heavy green furniture sat untouched in perfect arrangement, a series of glasses sitting perfectly in the center of the coffee table awaiting use by the owners or guests, prepared for just such an occasion.
Severus poured two fingers of firewhisky into a glass but did not drink it immediately.
"Hogwarts will be different this year."
Severus spoke with even measure in his tone attempting not to let anything slip.
"The tournament is coming i suppose?"
Cassius calmly responding having followed the man into the room and taking a seat across from him.
"You already know?"
"Back when i was summoned to the ministry the Magical sport office had some papers out in the open mentioning the Triwizard, educated guess from your previous statement indicates the intent."
Severus finally took a sip.
The amber liquid caught firelight briefly before vanishing.
But even as harsh as Firewhisky was to consume Severus show none of it upon his face.
"I hope you realize i fully intend to participate in this tournament."
Cassius drolled out almost as if he expected his father across from him to already be prepared for this from him.
"You're still underage."
"So are plenty of others."
"People die in this tournament."
"People die, everday."
Each time Snape produced a reason to prevent him, he instantly shot back his response.
In the canon, the ministry would try to prevent underage wizards from entering the contest, but as shown by Karkaroff a strong enough Confundus charm could force ones entrance into the tournament and even make sure their choice was the 'correct' choice made by the cup.
Of course there was the underlaying issue with such a magical contact but cassius wasn't worried he was a willing participant unlike his brother Harry who would miss his opportunity to opt out and avoid the entire thing, instead being forced to participate in probably one of the most humiliating displays of his entire life.
"Since you're so assured of yourself, don't do anything to bring shame to yourself or your house."
Severus perhaps affected by the firewhisky sent out this almost touching remark, before getting up and leaving the room.
Only the moment after he left from the side room the door burst open and a gaggle of girls practically came storming in to confront him.