"I've never seen my father so angry," Draco said, purposely keeping his voice high. "I thought he was going to kick the old fool's ass!"
Hearing him from afar, Ron, Harry, and Black frowned.
With so much going on, Ron and Harry didn't even know that their friend had disappeared mid-battle, before getting crushed to a pulp and killing Grindelwald.
What came as a surprise to Black was that no one from the Order of the Immortal Lotus approached him, either.
The only reason he could think of was that the Obscurus had been so fast, and so violently random, that even the object capturing the scenes of the battle had failed to pick up on it attacking Black and then burying him under the earth.
Just as he was thinking all this, with the sight of the Dumbledore's impure Mana, and the Eldritch Title Notification, flashing by his eyes repeatedly, Black saw Ron walking toward the Draco-gang with huge steps.
Black shared a glance with Harry and caught up to Ron.
"You… take back your words," Ron said, going red. "Professor Dumbledore…"
"… is old," Draco sneered, "weak, and…"
As the boys argued, Daphne silently stood on one side with her head down.
She didn't know what had happened. However, she knew it was related to Darcie. They hadn't let her even visit Darcie so far. When would all this be over?
Daphne lifted her head and found the boy next to Harry Potter looking at her.
The moment their eyes met, he looked away, holding Ron back from fighting with Draco.
Weird… Daphne frowned, looking away, too.
"Yeah!" Ron snapped, lunging at Draco. "Where were you?! At least Darcie was still on the train!"
"Don't you take my sister's name…."
"What's going on here?!"
The sudden, sharp voice snapped all the children to attention.
A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes was looking at them. She had a very stern face and their first thought was that this was not someone to cross.
"This is Hogwarts, not Wizengamot's courtroom, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said. "Surely you two must know that what with both of your fathers a part of the Ministry."
The students gulped.
Now that they finally went quiet, they heard the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. The rest of the school was already in the Great Hall, it seemed.
"Professor." Black walked up to her, smiling.
The old witch remembered the odd boy of the Black's and frowned. The boy did unnerve her a bit. She just couldn't put her finger on it. What's he up to now?
"May I introduce you?" Black asked.
Then, uncaring of her response, Black said, "This is Professor McGonagall."
McGonagall's mouth twitched. "Return to your place, Mr. Black," she said. "And thank you."
The students looked oddly at Black and the way he could still smile with everything going on in the world.
Professor McGonagall noticed it as well.
But she had more important things to do for now.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses.
"The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. Now more so than ever.
"You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.
"I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."
Her eyes lingered for a moment on Black's untucked shirt and Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."
When she was gone, Draco slithered his way near to the trio and whispered, "My father said the Ministry has sent someone to oversee the Student Discipline. Whatever will happen to you now, given unruliness is in your blood."
"You!"
Standing near them, Black frowned. The Ministry sent someone to oversee discipline?!
He closed his eyes to see through the yellow crystals implanted in the students sitting in the Great Hall.
Suddenly, his eyes shot open, his black pupils going wide. What the… ?! Why she…?!!
"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."
Professor McGonagall had returned. The ghosts, who had surrounded the students in the meantime, blubbering about their pasts and cursing Peeves, floated away through the opposite wall one by one.
"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall instructed the first years, "and follow me."
Calm had been trying to live up to its name for a long time now.
Ever since Black had come into existence, the Elite Ability had been facing challenge after challenge.
It's not like the Calm within me has faltered, Black thought, following the witch. But I have a feeling as if all the surprises and ridiculous events of the Multiverse are being drawn to me, making a mockery of my name.
Even though Kai and Black's Source was the same, there was a difference in how they wielded this concept.
With Kai, Calm became its literal definition.
One could imagine this from the event of McGonagall visiting the Blacks at Cunestune.
Then, because Black was still at the God of High School Random World, Kai had to take his place.
Against the old witch, he had acted with unmatched patience, not saying much yet not keeping silent either.
As Kai's mind had Ad Infinitum too, he had played his part flawlessly.
Nevertheless, with enough resources and power, one could still sense the oddity about him.
Contrary to this, Black was Calm.
He didn't need to wield the concept as a weapon, item, skill, or ability. It came to him naturally.
Where shocks and surprises failed to bring any changes in Kai when he wielded Calm, such changes often passed right through Black.
In conclusion, Black could afford to be stunned and surprised without compromising the Calm.
However, recently, the intensity of these surprises seemed to be increasing. Among these, the greatest challenges were those that threatened to bring out Black's fury, smothering the Calm within.
Like Ekrizdis' foolish attempt to recruit Grindelwald without informing him… Like the Manifestation of an Eldritch Title and its failure… Like Dumbledore's corrupted, black Mana after a visit to Avalon… Like the event that was about to happen next — The Sorting Ceremony!
So, with an extremely nervous Harry and a red-faced Ron by his side, Black followed Professor McGonagall along with the other students.
They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
The sight was as strange and as splendid as Black had imagined it to be.
**************
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