Chapter 77.6- Doom Days

So we waited for the event to begin. And when it did, imagine my honest to god surprise when none other than Julian Russo walked up to the stage.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my privilege—“ I tuned out the rest of what he was saying, as I cleared my mind. Once. Twice. He was still there. It couldn’t be an illusion. I turned towards where Flamel and his wife had been sitting to find the old man looking at Russo with the same intensity I was. Whatever this was, they were not in on it.

So that then left the question of whatever this was. I barely heard any of the speech as I faded in and out, trying to replay as much of the fight as I could. There was no time where he could have just disappeared and replaced himself with someone or something else. And if he had, why let me leave with the stone. The stone couldn’t have been a fake. Flamel would have noticed it. He had to have. I reached into my pocket, and there it was. Alive and pulsing.

It felt real to me. Well, not like I was an expert on real philosopher’s stones. But it felt like I imagined a philosopher’s stone to feel like. Then the crowd began applauding, and I watched as Cece walked up to the stage. She had won the third place match, yeah. But feeling happy for her was far from my mind.

How the fuck had this man survived. Fiendfyre had burned him. I had felt it gain the fuel it gained from doing so, so it wasn’t like my spell had burned nothing and he’d just apparated away or something. Had he sent someone else under polyjuice? But then that meant he would have let them in on Flamel’s secret.

There was another possibility. One that I was coming along to believing. Julian Russo was dead. Broekzele’s ministry had found out he was missing, and this was someone under a glamour or polyjuice to avoid setting off a panic or looking weak. It made some amount of sense even. More sense than he having made a horcrux or something like that. That was just some civil servant wearing his face. So why did I feel so much trepidation walking towards him.

What was that with his smile as he took my hand. And why did my senses scream that something was wrong? When he handed the trophy over to me. I took hold of it, and then my eyes caught Flamel’s in the crowd. He was drawing his wand. I lurched into motion, but Julian’s hand on mine did not give. And the trophy we were both holding was caught on to my other like by a sticking charm. The feeling of the hook on my navel was expected, but oh so fucking irritating.