The night hung heavy over the desolate pathway, the pale moonlight casting long, jagged shadows across the ground.
Disguised flawlessly within the physical form of Rose Granger-Weasley, Voldemort walked with deliberate, smooth steps.
His hand remained thrust deep into his coat pocket, his cold fingers curling tightly around the dark magical artifact he harbored. A twisted, sinister smile spread across Rose's stolen features, his mind burning with purely dark intentions.
Walking directly beside him was Kael Night Shade, entirely oblivious to the monster walking in his beloved's skin.
Kael kept his eyes locked on Rose, a doting, romantic smile fixed upon his face as his mind raced with unfiltered adoration.
"Rose is looking far too pretty tonight," Kael thought, his heart fluttering foolishly. "I simply can't stop thinking about her... I wish I could just pull her close and kiss her right now. The night is young, and my beautiful Rose loves me just as deeply as I love her."
Kael gazed at her with soft, romantic puppy eyes, lost entirely in his own delusion.
A few paces behind them, Scorpius Malfoy slowed his stride, his sharp eyes narrowing as he watched Kael and Rose walking side by side.
Dagger, who was walking right next to Scorpius, suddenly reached out, grabbing Scorpius's sleeve and dragging him closer to whisper urgently in his ear.
"I always thought James was completely in love with Rose," Dagger murmured, casting a bewildered glance at the pair ahead. "But lately, I constantly see Kael and Rose together... and James has been acting so distant toward her. Did some massive argument happen between them? Does James even still love Rose?"
Scorpius let out a soft, heavy sigh, his expression darkening with unspoken sorrow.
"Yes, Dagger," Scorpius answered quietly. "As far as I know, James has been deeply in love with Rose ever since we were young children. Rose never knew this because they were always bickering and fighting with each other on the surface, but James always secretly treasured every single thing that belonged to her."
Scorpius paused, watching the distant back of his friend.
"To say he 'loves' her is an understatement. You haven't seen the way James loves Rose—it has always been deep, unconditional, and entirely selfless. Yet, he never once proposed to her or admitted his true feelings."
Dagger frowned in confusion. "Why on earth wouldn't he?"
"Because he was utterly terrified," Scorpius explained softly. "He was scared that if she didn't love him back, he would lose her from his life forever. James is the kind of person who is ready to sacrifice absolutely anything for Rose's safety, but he cannot tolerate her being distant toward him or facing her cold silence."
Scorpius shook his head, his brow furrowing.
"But even I feel incredibly strange these days. James has totally changed. He acts like he doesn't care, even though it clearly breaks him inside to see Kael and Rose together. And honestly, I am shocked by Rose too. She is a wonderful girl, but she never had romantic feelings for Kael before. She shouldn't be choosing Kael... because she once explicitly told me her ideal dream boy's qualities, and Kael doesn't match a single one of them."
Dagger shook his head in exasperation. "I swear, I will never understand women. Who actually goes around constantly dreaming about a fictional prince?"
Scorpius offered a faint, bitter smile at the remark.
Suddenly, a violent, suffocating panic flared inside James Potter's mind.
His vision blurred, a localized pressure exploding behind his temples. Without a word of explanation to the group, James turned abruptly and began to run wildly away from the path into the blackness of the surrounding woods.
Dagger yelled out, startled. "JAMES! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"
"I will be back in a minute!" James shouted back over his shoulder, his voice strained with rising agony. "Don't follow me!"
Scorpius immediately surged forward to run after him, but Dagger reached out and firmly held Scorpius back, stopping him in his tracks.
"JAMES!" Frank and Bobby shouted in unison, their voices echoing uselessly into the night.
James sprinted deep into the pitch-black shadows of the forest, his desperate steps grinding against the rough dirt until he finally halted beside a massive, gnarled tree.
An oppressive, unnatural silence blanketed the dark woods around him.
The psychic disturbance in his brain escalated into a violent, throbbing headache. James clutched his head with both hands, pressing his palm forcefully against his forehead as if trying to hold his skull together.
"Ah!" James gasped out, his eyes squeezing shut as a searing wave of agony ripped through his conscious mind.
A terrifying, vivid vision forced its way into his thoughts.
Before his inner eye materialized a heavy Blue Box, sealed tightly with ancient dark magic. From within the depths of that container, a malevolent spirit began to chant in a chilling, unbearable, silent tone that vibrated directly into his soul.
"Mhmmmmm... James Potter..."
The entity's voice rasped with pure, sadistic pleasure.
"I am waiting for you... The very day I finally lay my eyes upon you, I will kill you mercilessly, inflicting unspeakable agony upon your body... I will systematically murder every single one of your loved ones, one by one..."
The spirit's laughter echoed coldly through James's mental space.
"I will slaughter them by inflicting merciless torture directly in front of your eyes, ensuring your heart feels a thousand deaths before you perish. I explicitly warned you before to stop loving the people around you! I ordered you not to bring them along... yet you foolishly brought all of your friends with you..."
The voice dropped into a dark, mocking snarl.
"Leave everything behind... for I will kill everyone you care about. I am waiting for you... HA HA HA HA!"
The spirit's tone shifted, mocking him with cruel amusement.
"What a pitiful pretense, James Potter... pretending that you do not love your pretty little girlfriend, Rose..."
At the mere sound of Rose's name, James's heart began to hammer violently against his ribs, panic surging through his veins.
Still clutching his head with his eyes shut tight, James screamed out in absolute torment.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Rose is not my girlfriend!" James roared into the darkness.
The spirit laughed uproariously within his mind.
"I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU, JAMES! I CONTROL YOUR FEELINGS AND EVERYTHING YOU THINK! Rose is your deepest, truest love!"
"NO!" James shouted back, tears of pure agony leaking from his closed eyelids. "I DON'T LOVE HER! I HATE HER!"
As those bitter words left his lips, James silently wept in his heart, memories of his reality piercing his soul. He recalled seeing Rose walking comfortably alongside Kael, remembered the unbearable sting of having to step back, and remembered weeping in absolute solitude.
"I love Rose..." James confessed silently in his broken heart. "And I have to leave her side purely for her own happiness and safety..."
This was not the first time he had suffered these terrifying mental invasions. James recalled experiencing these exact agonizing visions long before Voldemort had launched his devastating attack on Hogwarts.
Driven by desperation, James had spent months trying to figure out who was invading his mind and manipulating his visions. He had scoured restricted libraries, traveled to obscure places, and sought out ancient knowledge until he finally uncovered the existence of the dark entity tied to the mysterious Dark Shades Family.
"I DON'T LOVE ROSE!" James screamed aloud into the empty forest, his voice cracking. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
With a final, desperate burst of willpower, James forced his eyes open.
Instantly, the horrifying vision snapped away, and the paralyzing physical pain vanished from his skull.
Breathing heavily, James found himself standing alone in the pitch-black woods. He frantically glanced around his immediate surroundings, letting out a ragged breath of pure relief upon confirming that none of his friends had witnessed his hidden torment.
Recalling the catastrophic day his father was brutally attacked and Hogwarts was thrown into absolute peril, tears streamed freely down James's face.
The weight of the world crushed down upon his shoulders; his knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the damp earth, breaking down into quiet, grieving sobs.
"What am I supposed to do?" James whispered in a fragile, heartbroken tone. "How do I save my friends, my family, my school... and my beloved Rose?"
The horrific memory of why he had been forced to act so cold and distant toward Rose swept over him once more.
Back at Hogwarts, during a peaceful afternoon, James had been laughing joyfully with his friends, playfully feeding a sweet to Rose. In that exact moment of happiness, a sudden panic attack had seized his brain, accompanied by the spirit's terrifying voice echoing in his head:
"I WILL KILL YOUR ROSE..."
James had bolted away into the bathroom, screaming in hidden agony as his skull throbbed. When he had finally managed to compose himself and step back outside, he had been horrified to find Rose's winter coat—which she had left on the seat beside her—spontaneously bursting into dark flames.
The magical fire was inches away from consuming Rose herself. Acting instantly, James had drawn his wand and cast "Glacius!", freezing the coat instantly and snuffing out the dark flames before they could harm her.
Ever since that terrifying day, whenever James tried to draw near to Rose or show her affection, Rose would suffer sudden, life-threatening accidents, accompanied by the spirit's relentless mental warnings.
James wept bitterly, remembering his secret, desperate meeting with the Dark Shades family before this current mission had even begun. They had warned him bluntly that there was no easy escape from his fate.
The elder magical witch of the Dark Shades family, bound to her wheelchair, had looked at James with ancient, mournful eyes and declared:
"THE ONE WHOM YOU SAW IS AN EVIL, INCREDIBLY POWERFUL WITCH. You cannot defeat him through direct force... and you must NEVER try to surrender yourself to him."
Shaking himself out of the dark memory, James forced his breathing to steady. He wiped the tears aggressively from his cheeks, took a deep, shuddering breath, and slowly stood up to walk back toward the group.
Unbeknownst to James, a small, mysterious house-elf was crouched low behind a nearby thicket, watching his every move.
The elf possessed striking, glowing blue eyes—looking vastly different from Bobby.
As James walked away, the creature narrowed its glowing eyes and whispered silently into the dark air.
"Master..."
James emerged from the tree line and approached his waiting friends.
Kael was still standing beside Rose, gazing at her with those same insufferable, romantic puppy eyes, while the rest of the group waited impatiently.
Scorpius stepped forward immediately, examining James's pale face. "Is everything alright, James?"
James kept his expression completely neutral, adjusting his coat. "Yes. I just went to use the washroom."
As James caught sight of Kael standing so closely beside Rose, he forcefully averted his gaze, looking away toward the horizon to hide the pain in his eyes.
Watching James's deliberate coldness, Scorpius quietly muttered under his breath, "I really don't understand you, James..."
Meanwhile, Bobby and Frank were standing near the back, eyeing Kael with pure annoyance.
Inside his own mind, Kael was still drowning in his grandiose fantasies.
"Rose is MY Rose," Kael declared proudly to himself. "I am your true hero, Rose... don't worry, I will personally save you from Voldemort. I will slaughter each and every dementor for your sake! Do you remember how I saved you every single time before? I AM THE REAL HERO. James just pretends he is saving everyone... but I don't pretend."
Bobby turned to Frank and whispered, "Hey, stand right here behind Kael for a second."
Frank complied. Bobby deftly hoisted himself up, placing his leg onto Frank's shoulder to gain height, and casually spat directly onto the top of Kael's styled hair.
Kael, completely lost in his foolish romantic thoughts of Rose, didn't even register the impact.
Frank and Bobby exchanged a look of utter disbelief.
Bobby then leaned over and blew a thick cloud of smoke directly into Kael's ear. Kael merely blinked, completely failing to recognize that smoke was wafting out of his own ear canal.
Bobby shook his head, making sure his voice was loud enough for the others to hear.
"I honestly thought you must have a brain located at least in your knees or your legs... but today it is officially confirmed: you don't possess a brain anywhere in your body!"
Frank grumbled in pain, his jaw tight with annoyance. "How much longer are you going to stand on my shoulders, Bobby? It's hurting my back!"
"You only just realized he has no brain now?" Dagger chimed in with a smirk. "We all knew that already!"
Standing amidst the idiocy, Voldemort—trapped inside Rose's body—felt a surge of white-hot rage, grinding his teeth in pure irritation.
"I have to remain patient until my grand mission is fully accomplished," Voldemort snarled viciously in his mind. "I will slaughter every single one of these pathetic fools mercilessly the moment my plan succeeds!"
Far away, within the ancient, towering walls of Hogwarts Castle...
Harry Potter stood by the high window of his office, his hand resting instinctively against his forehead as he stared out into the stormy night sky.
A profound, disturbing chill settled into his bones, a familiar, dark intuition echoing in his chest.
"Something dark is happening inside Hogwarts..." Harry murmured quietly to the empty room, his eyes narrowing with deep resolve. "I have to find out what it is."