Time passed happily for Cross
The training had increased for the students in 'Fight Club' he got his beasts to come out and chase them, forcing them to run even faster while dodging all the spells coming their way. Carl grew to the side of a dragon and the ground trembled as he chased the students with drool and foam escaping his lips.
Cross had told all the beasts to chase them wildly, as if they were out of control, but not to kill any of them. Luna was coming along and was now 4 months pregnant, she looked as beautiful as ever4 but now there was an additional motherly charm. It really made Cross go crazy, but he couldn't do anything with her so he vented his frustrations on the students.
Cross amplified his voice as he hovered in front of them and sang "I don't know what I've been told!" the students shouted back "I don't know what I've been told!" Cross continued "But Voldy's shit is getting old!" they chuckled and shouted back "But Voldy's shit is getting old!"
Cross was firing green spells left and right as he sang "Sound off!" the students returned "One, two" Cross shouted "Sound off!" the students returned "Three, four!" Cross said again "Sound off!" the student shouted "One, two, three, four!"
Cross spoke this time "Move your asses or Carl'll eat 'cha! I haven't fed him for weeks! A tasty wizard is a feast for him at this point!" Carl growled behind them and his horn fired out a beam, the students dodged and started running faster.
Cross waved and a bunch of Death Eater statues appeared, the students flicked their wands and said "Avada Kadavra!" the Death Eater statues exploded and they continued running, dodging spells left and right.
Cross got a few more brooms and made 3 more clones to fire fake 'Avada Kadavras' at them.
Cross was having fun, but for the students it was basically hell.
At the end of morning training
Luna smiled and said "It's a month from now." Cross smiled and kissed her saying "Thank you, Loony." Luna smiled lovingly and rubbed her stomach as Cross turned to the group of students and said "Those of you who want to be Animagi, step forward!"
The students were stunned and said "You can just be an Animagus?" Cross nodded and said "If you see a dog, cat, bird, horse walking around do you just kill it for no reason? If used correctly Animagi can be extremely deadly with surprise attacks."
The students gasped in wonder and a few stepped forward, then a few more, soon he had a small group of students. Cross pulled out a bunch of Mandrake leaves and said "Stick these to the top of your mouths for an entire month and recite the chants on a daily basis. Ask Astoria for the chants and if you have any questions. Once the month ends there will be a lightning storm, during which you will drink an Animagus potion."
Cross looked at the students and smirked as he added "I will brew the potion myself... Boost the effects a little." Astoria looked at Cross and gasped after a few seconds as she said "Y-You..." Cross winked at her before dismissing the students and leaving with Luna.
Cross went to breakfast and then started teaching his classes. The younger ones were really fun to teach, they had all sorts of crazy ideas that made Cross laugh, he tried to make every class as fun as he could for them while also teaching them about dangerous creatures and how to protect themselves from them.
Cross opted for a puppet approach. Which basically had him making Puppets of the dangerous beasts and a wizard that fought them all exploiting their weaknesses one by one, he also gave a Puppet to the student who had the best grades in the class every month.
He modified the puppets so that they could be used without his strings for the students to actually use when they got them. There was a dark secret to the puppets though, once the student used them the puppet would bind themselves to the student and protect them when they were in danger.
A very dark bit of magic was used to achieve this effect. Basically Cross wiped a Death Eater's soul and branded them to be enslaved to whoever binds them, he obviously wiped the intelligence from the souls and stuffed them into the puppets so that they could make sounds and when in danger the puppet who automatically grow and protect the binded student.
Just another eternal punishment for the Death Eaters, nobody except Cross knew about this. As it would probably become a huge problem if anybody were to find out, well except Luna, who already knew.
A single soul was ripped to make around 5 puppets and only the 1-3rd year students were able to get them. It was a hot commodity because the puppets were so cute and fun to play with. The younger students had little battles with them, it was truly wonderful.
Another month passed
Cross' teaching evaluation by the students was as high as it could possibly go, even with a few students not liking him, but they were quickly drowned out by the overwhelming amount of support he got.
Basically, the students claimed that he actually made class fun. Which left some of the other teachers a bit offended, Cross didn't say anything about this but he didn't deny it either. The other classes, minus Trelawney, Slughorn, and Hagrid's were really boring. Just stuffing information into the students' throats as hard as they could.
Which was why Cross went with a fun and practical approach, the results spoke for themselves. The other teachers started mimicking Cross slightly, trying to make classes more engaging and fun and the atmosphere in the castle was joyful.
Currently
Cross was standing near a group of students, outside in the lightning storm. He handed each of them the Animagus potion and watched over them to make sure there weren't any problems. His potion was altered slightly with a sliver of his blood. The goal was to make their Animagus forms evolve slightly, becoming stronger than they were before.
The students drank the potions and started changing as thunder rumbled above them. Apparently it worked! Cats turned into Lions, Dogs turned into Wolves, Birds turned into Eagles, there was even a case of a student turning into a flying snake.
Cross left after he confirmed everyone was okay, he told them all to get used to their new forms with Astoria, who had been an animal for quite sometime now.
Cross went back to his office and found a curious letter, he opened it and read the contents before smirking and disappearing from the castle entirely.
Cross appeared in Diagon alley, right next to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and a Goblin, named Griphook.
Cross lifted his right hand and said "Luna, honey. I stepped out, I'll be back in a bit okay?" the other four jumped in shock, while Cross heard Luna's voice say "Mmm, get me some licorice~" Cross smiled to himself and said "I buy the entire shop." Luna's sweet hum came from the ring.
Cross put down his hand and turned his head saying "Fancy seeing you three here..." before looking at Griphook and smiling "How's it going, Griphook. Ragnok asked me if I saw you, what happened?" Griphook bowed and said respectfully "I was captured and tortured by Voldemort's Death Eaters, your Highness."
Cross frowned and said "This Mr. Riddle gets stupider by the day, I reckon." Ron said "Your Highness?! You're an actual King, mate?!" Cross smirked and said "You think I say that for show?" Ron nodded and Cross smacked his head saying "Moron! Of course not!"
Harry said "We need to get into Bellatrix's Vault." Cross was confused and said "Huh? Why?" Harry said quickly "I think there's a Horcrux in there, Griphook offered to help." Griphook added "DID offer to help... You won't need me anymore though."
Cross smiled and said "Luck you, I guess. I killed Lestrange, all her belongings are mine. Let's go. I happen to have business there as well." as he walked away, while the four were stunned.
Harry chased Cross and said "You killed Lestrange!? How?! When!?" Hermione asked "You own her things now? Is that how Gringotts works?" Griphook answered her "Only for him. The rest forget about it. Whatever is in the vault goes back to the goblins or to the next of kin, seeing as Lestrange had no kin the Goblins would become owners of everything inside."
Ron clicked his tongue and said "Bloody useful, being a King is!"
Cross looked at Harry and said "There's a lot of stuff you don't know. Like for example, who has been leaving you helpful tips along the way since your first year... How is it that you don't remember the person of the voice but only the words?"
Harry was stumped but Hermione shouted "You obliviated him!?!?!?" Harry looked at Cross, who smiled and said "More than once if you can believe it." Harry felt hurt and said "But why?" Cross looked forward and said "This was to keep us both safe. The first time I obliviated you was when I felt you a note to be careful of who you trust. Which, might I add, you failed spectacularly in."
Harry said "What does that mean?" Cross smiled "I'm getting to it, Harry. Jeez." he cleared his throat and continued "The second time was in the graveyard against Voldemort. I also changed them a little here, I didn't want you to know that I pushed back Tom Riddle with ease and insulted him, making him so angry he almost died. Hehe"
Cross chuckled a bit to himself as he sighed "Those were fun times... Anyway the second one was actually a double with Hermione." Hermione said "What happened?!" Cross smiled and said "The centaurs didn't take away Umbridge, I did. I casted the Cruciatus Curse on her until her mind broke and she became a bumbling moron, incapable of thought. That cunt.. she should've gotten so much more! I regret not making her suffer to this day."
He sighed and added "I didn't need either of you thinking I was dangerous or crazy..." he rubbed his nose slightly and said "I consider us friends. I think torturing someone until they become mentally retarded is a friendship ender."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron gulped, but Griphook nodded as he said "This is the way a King must be, Your Highness." Cross smiled and replied "I don't consider my actions to be unbefitting of noble status, Griphook. On the contrary, I stand by every choice I made, given the chance I would do the same."
Griphook smiled, he had only seen Cross once before, talking with Ragnok, but he heard stories about Cross. He could safely say that the rumors in the Goblins were false. He was not a kind saint, he was a ruthless King, but this was much better. The Goblins didn't like saints too much, people with ruthless personalities are much better to do business with, much more honest.
Cross continued walking forward as he said "Then the last time I can remember was the astronomy tower." he glanced at Harry and asked "Had you not seen the evidence in the Prophet would you not have come for me? I was the one who sent Dumbledore to Azkaban, I was the one who sent all the evidence to Rita Skeeter, I was the behind the scenes at the castle, protecting everyone from harm."
Harry was silent while Ron and Hermione's eyes widened.
Cross continued "That night at the Astronomy Tower, I knew Draco wouldn't do it. Despite how much you hate him, he is not that type of person.. His father maybe, but him? No. When Snape was about to kill Dumbledore I stepped in, would you like to know why Harry?"
Harry asked "It was you who said all those things to me that night?" Cross nodded, and Harry asked again "Why? Why go so far for me?" Cross smiled and said "Blimey Harry, I did say we're friends didn't I? Plus as the key factor in Dumbledore's plans, protecting you from him would make the old schemer purple in the face with anger. Hahah"
Harry smiled slightly and Cross said "Anyway, the old coot's big plan was to die a hero, killed by his own staff. He also had a little plan on the side..." Cross smiled coldly and said "There's a very ancient piece of magic, Harry. A piece of Magic so horrid it was destroyed completely, every living being who knew what it was, was destroyed and the magic was supposed to follow the death to hell... Alas, it managed to pop back up again.."
Hermione said curiously "What magic?" Cross replied lightly "The Darkest Art ever created, Body Snatching." they were confused and Cross explained "Body Snatching is just as it sounds. A Wizard can detach his soul and invade another's body. Whether they lie in wait, destroy the body's soul, or devour the soul and replace it is all up to the caster."
The four including Griphook had looks of horror on their faces, Cross smiled slightly and said "I wonder what would happen if the boy-who-lived were to defeat Voldemort and take over an innocent old man's position?" Hermione said "Half the wizarding world would support him-"
Her face completely drained of color and Cross said "I see Hermione understood what I meant." Harry said "What did you mean?" Cross sighed and said "Honestly, Harry. Do those glasses make it hard to hear too? I'm saying the old coot wanted to steal your body and defeat Voldemort so he would be even more powerful and famous than he already was!"
Harry paled and Cross smiled as he said "But the old man made a fatal mistake." Ron said "What's that, mate?" completely into the story now. Cross sneered menacingly "The bastard decided to touch my Luna."
The three trembled, everything Cross did was to avenge Luna. In that case, Harry was extraordinarily lucky and Dumbledore was extraordinarily unlucky. They all looked at Cross' back and felt a bit of fear, but more relief and gratefulness. Hermione felt sad, Harry was grateful, Ron was wondering if that would help him 'stuff a girl full', while Griphook was in awe.
Cross smiled and they reached Gringotts. Cross looked up and said "Let's go get you a Horcrux, yeah?" before stepping inside, with the four following him.