22 Dec 2024, 20:09
Bad News
The Daily Prophet sat folded neatly atop the table in the great hall, its headline glaring up at him like a taunt. The rich scent of aged parchment filled the study as Mathias’s fingers slowly unfolded the paper, smoothing out its creases with deliberate care. His eyes, sharp and calculating, scanned each word, pausing only to let the implications settle.
“Scandal at Honeydukes: Youngest Athanatos Heir Caught in Romantic Display!”
The words seemed to burn themselves into his mind. Gideon. In public. With a Connor.
A slow, deep breath hissed through his nose. He hadn’t even reached the halfway mark before his free hand curled into a fist against the desk. Finnegan Connor. A name that meant absolutely nothing to him until this moment. Just a boy that thought himself man enough to take Winnie from him. The Prophet couldn’t even bother to spell it correctly, switching between “Finnean” and “Finnigan” with embarrassing inconsistency. Good. It meant the boy was a nobody.
Still, nobody or not, he had managed to worm his way into Gideon’s orbit—a trespass Mathias would not allow.
He forced himself to finish the article, eyes narrowing at each new, insipid detail. Public displays. Whispers. Touching. Kisses. He shuddered at the thought. What sort of pervert was the Gryffindor.
When he finally set the paper down, Mathias leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly as though to steady the storm brewing in his chest. It wasn’t anger, not entirely. No—Mathias wasn’t reckless enough to act out of mere emotion. It was strategy. A rising need to reestablish control, to remind Gideon—and everyone else—just who dictated the rules in this family now that Vlad was exiled to Hogsmeade.
A gloved hand turned the paper over, folding it precisely in half before setting it aside. He couldn’t risk leaving it out in the open. Winnie might see it, and she didn’t need any additional worries distracting her. Not with the wedding mere months away.
Rumors were easy to plant, especially in a school. Connor the Clinger. Connor the Opportunist. Connor the Gold-Digger. Wouldn’t it be tragic if whispers of stalking or obsession found their way to the Professors? Or if he was accused of stealing something valuable from one of Honeydukes' displays? Suspicion didn’t require proof—only persistence.
No, that was child games. He had already done this when he dealt with the Winnie issue. No, he needed to isolate him. Learn more about him. Study him like the ant he was.
Find ways to occupy Connor’s friends. Push him toward uncomfortable social situations where he’d either crumble under pressure or lash out, showing the world exactly what kind of temper he had. Make him seem unstable. Dangerous. Unworthy. If that fails, hurt them. One by one until none were left standing.
Finally, strike.
Connor’s relationship with Gideon needed to collapse spectacularly. Perhaps a letter would surface—written in Finnegan’s handwriting but detailing a less-than-flattering obsession with the Athanatos heir. Or perhaps another public display, this one ending in a scandal too big for the Prophet to ignore. Mathias had always been gifted at inspiration.
It would be dealing with Gideon that would require a gentler hand. Gideon was far from innocent—Mathias knew that better than most—but there was something fragile beneath his brother’s carefully crafted persona. He played the child because it gave him power, but Mathias knew all too well how fragile that illusion could be.
And illusions were dangerous if they began to crack.
No—Mathias wouldn’t simply scold or threaten. That would only push Gideon further toward Connor, rebellious and desperate to prove himself. Instead, he would guide his younger brother back to the fold.
Remind him of the family’s reputation. Their responsibilities. If that failed, well... Mathias had other methods. He doubted Gideon’s infatuation would last long under pressure.
He wasn’t worried—not truly. Gideon was clever, far too clever to be genuinely taken in by someone like Finnegan Connor.
But cleverness was a blade that cut both ways, and Mathias knew better than anyone what happened when you let someone else sharpen it.
He would make sure Connor learned that lesson the hard way.
“Scandal at Honeydukes: Youngest Athanatos Heir Caught in Romantic Display!”
The words seemed to burn themselves into his mind. Gideon. In public. With a Connor.
A slow, deep breath hissed through his nose. He hadn’t even reached the halfway mark before his free hand curled into a fist against the desk. Finnegan Connor. A name that meant absolutely nothing to him until this moment. Just a boy that thought himself man enough to take Winnie from him. The Prophet couldn’t even bother to spell it correctly, switching between “Finnean” and “Finnigan” with embarrassing inconsistency. Good. It meant the boy was a nobody.
Still, nobody or not, he had managed to worm his way into Gideon’s orbit—a trespass Mathias would not allow.
He forced himself to finish the article, eyes narrowing at each new, insipid detail. Public displays. Whispers. Touching. Kisses. He shuddered at the thought. What sort of pervert was the Gryffindor.
When he finally set the paper down, Mathias leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly as though to steady the storm brewing in his chest. It wasn’t anger, not entirely. No—Mathias wasn’t reckless enough to act out of mere emotion. It was strategy. A rising need to reestablish control, to remind Gideon—and everyone else—just who dictated the rules in this family now that Vlad was exiled to Hogsmeade.
A gloved hand turned the paper over, folding it precisely in half before setting it aside. He couldn’t risk leaving it out in the open. Winnie might see it, and she didn’t need any additional worries distracting her. Not with the wedding mere months away.
Rumors were easy to plant, especially in a school. Connor the Clinger. Connor the Opportunist. Connor the Gold-Digger. Wouldn’t it be tragic if whispers of stalking or obsession found their way to the Professors? Or if he was accused of stealing something valuable from one of Honeydukes' displays? Suspicion didn’t require proof—only persistence.
No, that was child games. He had already done this when he dealt with the Winnie issue. No, he needed to isolate him. Learn more about him. Study him like the ant he was.
Find ways to occupy Connor’s friends. Push him toward uncomfortable social situations where he’d either crumble under pressure or lash out, showing the world exactly what kind of temper he had. Make him seem unstable. Dangerous. Unworthy. If that fails, hurt them. One by one until none were left standing.
Finally, strike.
Connor’s relationship with Gideon needed to collapse spectacularly. Perhaps a letter would surface—written in Finnegan’s handwriting but detailing a less-than-flattering obsession with the Athanatos heir. Or perhaps another public display, this one ending in a scandal too big for the Prophet to ignore. Mathias had always been gifted at inspiration.
It would be dealing with Gideon that would require a gentler hand. Gideon was far from innocent—Mathias knew that better than most—but there was something fragile beneath his brother’s carefully crafted persona. He played the child because it gave him power, but Mathias knew all too well how fragile that illusion could be.
And illusions were dangerous if they began to crack.
No—Mathias wouldn’t simply scold or threaten. That would only push Gideon further toward Connor, rebellious and desperate to prove himself. Instead, he would guide his younger brother back to the fold.
Remind him of the family’s reputation. Their responsibilities. If that failed, well... Mathias had other methods. He doubted Gideon’s infatuation would last long under pressure.
He wasn’t worried—not truly. Gideon was clever, far too clever to be genuinely taken in by someone like Finnegan Connor.
But cleverness was a blade that cut both ways, and Mathias knew better than anyone what happened when you let someone else sharpen it.
He would make sure Connor learned that lesson the hard way.
Event NPC