Chapter 29: 29. Breakthrough
The next day, the news about the champions rolled out. The Triwizard tournament was going to be broadcast live to the world and hopefully, there will be a world wizard tournament in the future.
Alexander also announced that the tournament was being sponsored by Universe Industries and the winner will win 500,000 galleons.
There were just 3 contestants so there would only be 2 rounds but to make things more interesting he decided to change the second round.
The first round was the same as in canon but the second round was much harder. The champions would have to complete a cross country race with many obstacles in between. Obstacles such as illusions, enchanted forests, wild beasts (under Alexander's control), traversing through the muggle world, crossing a big river with provided means, and finally, when they are tired, there will be a duel at the end.
There was still a week before the tournament began so he thought of focussing on his breakthrough and probably reaching the realm of Supreme magi.
In the past 2 years, Alexander drank many potions made with the help of the philosopher's stone. If he were to try to break through with sheer work then it would have probably taken him more than 500 years but with the help of the stone, the process was greatly shortened. Many times he had thought about straight-up eating the stone. He knew he wouldn't permanently die so there was no risk but he still controlled himself as it was the only philosopher's stone in the world and without it, he wouldn't be able to study it.
He was also close to being able to make another philosopher's stone and now only needed to search for some alternate materials but that was for later because for now, he had found a way to breakthrough.
Back in the Galaxy tower.
"Are you ready Old man?" Edward asked.
He nodded, "When I say, open the valves at full capacity"
Edward took his position near a complex mechanism of pipes. The pipes were attached to Alexander's backbone at one end and on the other, they were connected to a large glass tank filled with red liquid.
For the last time, he took a long breath.
"Do it," he said softly.
Getting the green signal, Edward slowly twisted the valves. The red liquid started to slide in the pipes to the backbone of Alexander.
The liquid was made with the help of various rare substances and the stone. It was meant to strengthen Alexander's body to the point where he could store enough magic in his body so that he could breakthrough.
Yes, the painful infusion of the red liquid was just the first step.
Alexander gritted his teeth and endured the pain while using magic to make the red liquid evenly flow at every point in his body. His bones, skin, and organs were getting strengthened.
The process was somewhat similar to what he did back in his world to increase his life span. The only difference was that this was a lot more painful.
It took him 22 hours to consume all the red liquid in the glass tank. By the end of the process, his body was glowing red and emitting heat. Edward carelessly touched the skin and hastily lept back as it felt like lava.
Alexander just sat still with closed eyes. Trying to cool his body and flow as much magic into his body as he can. It took 8 more hours before he opened his eyes. He looked around and found Edward sleeping on a chair in a very uncomfortable posture.
He took a very long breath and stood up. With a wave of his hand, his body got cleaned and new clothes wrapped around his body.
He could feel the power surging in his veins. He felt like he could punch a hole through earth and come out on the other side.
"Waaa... How do you feel old man?" Edward spoke with a loud yawn.
"Better than ever... I really can't describe this feeling in words." He said while clutching his fist.
"Well, I guess I'll have to work harder and reach your level then"
"Yes, you and Hermione, both. I'd be at more ease if both of you became at least as strong as me now." Alexander said.
"And we will. Can you defeat that Morgan le Fay now?" Edward hopefully asked. Her threat was even bigger than that of Voldemort.
"Hopefully, but if push comes to shove, I'll try plan B" he grudgingly said and looked at the philosopher's stone in the now empty glass tank.
Edward understood his meaning and didn't talk any further.
"Need to prepare before we leave?" He asked.
*GROWL*
"Yes, I need something to eat and you are not coming," Alexander said.
"WHAT? why can't I come?"
Alexander put his hand on Edward's shoulder and said "Because she's an overpowered ancient witch. She is way above your level. Even I couldn't do anything to her and I'm not sure even now. I am immortal Edward, but you aren't"
Edward clutched his fist and gritted his teeth, feeling useless.
"Don't bash yourself. All you can do is focus on practice and get stronger. Strong enough to at least put a scratch on my shirt" he jokingly mocked.
"I am not that weak, old man. You just wait, me and Hermione will one day beat your ass," Edward replied with determination.
"Hahaha... In your dreams, boy" Alexander laughed it off.
"By the way, you are the minister of magic so you must know what the first task will be in the Triwizard tournament. Give me some hint old man, I gotta help her" he pleaded like a boy under a love potion.
"You know that's cheating, all I can say is that the first task will be tough, though she can do it with ease but still, learning the tongue will help," Alexander said while eating his cereal.
Edward looked at him with wide eyes "Was... Was that a clue?"
"Who knows... Well, I should get going," he shrugged.
"Don't you want some Armor or something?" Edward asked.
"There is no armor that can withstand that kind of power I and my opponent possess, though I would love to make one in the future. Okay then, bye"
He checked the philosopher's stone in his pocket and apparated to the forest of Albania.
...
He heard a voice just as he reached the jungle.
"I see, you have gotten stronger. Interesting... Intriguing. It took me 600 years to become this strong. But sadly, you are still not strong enough to pose a threat to me."
Alexander started flying to the old castle while talking to the voice.
"I'll be the judge of my power, though do tell me why the strongest wizard in the world is hiding here in this jungle, like a rat hiding in sewers" he mocked.
*CLAP* *CLAP*
"You expect me to get angry at your attempt to berate me and tell you all my secrets? Sorry, but I am not some soul splitting snake man," the voice replied.
"Well, no harm in trying, who knows when lady luck would give her blessings. Seriously, though, why wait so long? What do you want?" This time he asked seriously.
"There's no point in telling you as you'd not be going back this time, but I will make sure to show you how I take over the world. You should rejoice, you are going to be my, Morgan le Fay's new lieutenant."
"Haha... And you expected me to just bow to you and start kissing your feet?" Alexander scoffed.
"Sure, if that's what you're into," the voice said.
He had to agree, that was a nice comeback.
"Let's just get over it. I have many other things to do than squabble with an old hag"
He flew straight near the castle and waited for her to come out.
"Fine, let's get this over with." A middle-aged woman flew out of the building towards him.
He checked her sins first.
||Morgan le Fay - Category 5
Murder - 2,321,757
Blood sacrifice - 3,246,764(1,469,132 Babies)
Magical beasts murder - 286(All Unicorns)
Torture - 286,578
Sin percentage - 100%||
~Woah, she's the epitome of evil. Good thing I came here, I don't know how many would have died trying to defeat her with just Edward~
Alexander wanted to test his strength to see if he could fight her as he was now, so he attacked her first.
He threw a hundred grenades with different exploding timer at her. The moment they started exploding, her focus shifted from him for a second. At that moment he pointed his right hand at her and released pure magical power with intent to kill.
Without even looking at him she also sent her magic to counter him. Their magic got into a tug of war which she was winning slowly.
"I told you, you are weaker than me. I'm giving you a chance. Kneel, and you shall have everything you wish for," she yelled.
"Anything you say?" He asked with a low voice.
Morgan smirked thinking that he was breaking.
"Yes, anything," she repeated.
"Then I want... your Head"
*BOOM*
An upgraded exploding bullet from his desert eagle touched Morgan's head.
Alexander capitalized on that chance and increased his power. His magic started gaining some lead and started closing up on her.
~SH*T, how is she so strong?.~ he cursed under his breath.
His happiness was short-lived as she regained her composer. Though she did lose an eye.
"YOU BASTARD, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL EVERYTHING YOU LOVE" she screamed in rage and started unleashing her full power.
The lead he had gained started to diminish. She overpowered him.
~Dammit, I hate dying~
He had realized what was going to happen.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" another shout came from behind him.
~Who was that?~
Soon he was hit by 2 overpowered killing curses and ended up dying. But just before he closed his eyes he looked behind himself and sure enough, it was the damn snake boi.
...
50 miles away,
Alexander respawned in the air.
~Motherfu..., why is he still alive? Argh... It's all my fault to assume that he did not make more Horcruxes, how can I forget that this is not the same Harry Potter world as in books or movies. I guess it's plan B then. But I must make sure that I take her memories the next time, maybe she'll know something that will help me make another Philosopher's stone. Who knows what kind of knowledge she has in store.~ he reprimanded himself as he took out the philosopher's stone from his pocket.
He looked at it for the last time.
"Here goes nothing"
He put it in his mouth and started chewing it.
"Hmmm... There's a taste of sand and a lot of other things with very bad taste."
Then swallowed the powdered stone and waited for something to happen.
He waited
And waited.
"NO NO NO... I just wasted the only philosopher's stone in existence, and how am I going to beat that ancient hag." He started to get frustrated, not knowing the changes happening inside his body.
The stone broke down into small particles and started spreading all around his body. It started to strengthen his body to the molecular level. Soon he noticed the increasing red glow on his skin and hurriedly took off his vest and shirt.
~This looks like just what happened when I used the enhancement potions a while ago. But this time the red glow is too strong. Hmm... Something must be happening to my body.~
Worried that Morgan might see him in his breakthrough, he apparated back to his office and started full-powered wards.
"Boss!, what happened to you?" Nagini came running at him. She apparently came to give him some stats report.
"Nothing girl, I just ate the philosopher's stone" he nonchalantly said and laid down on the couch.
"Oh, okay then, I came to... YOU ATE THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE?" she panicked.
"What should I do? Are you feeling okay? Should I call someone... Yes, I should call someone"
"Hey hey... easy, am fine, it's just the color..." But then he felt an itch and realized.
"Wait... Shit... Run Nagini Run... My power is going to break out... Apparate out of here... NOW" he roared.
She did as he said with a worried face. After going out she urgently called Edward.
Meanwhile, in the office, Alexander's body had started to glow more and more. He wanted to apparate away to a secluded area but realized that if he cast even a Lumos, his magic would break out.
Soon his body was filled with magic to the brim and had no other way than letting it out.
"LUMOS" he cast a harmless spell.
At least he thought it was harmless. His Lumos had so much energy that an eye-blinding light covered the whole of Diagon alley. That was after it was minimized by the most powerful wards in the world.
*BOOM*
An explosion was heard at the top of the Galaxy tower. The top floor's windows had shattered and the roof had come down falling.
After 10 seconds the blinding light subsided. Edward and Nagini hurried to Alexander, only to find him shirtless and in shredded pants. He was unconscious.
His natural white skin had returned and he seemed to have grown taller. Edward used reparo charm to fix the damage and then put him on his bed. He tried to diagnose Alexander but couldn't find any problems.
He called Snape for help as he was now a devoted following of Alexander.
...
"It seems he had too much magic built up and released it in a burst. His body is healing itself to create space for the increased capacity to store magic." Snape diagnosed.
"When will he wake up?" Edward asked.
"I can't say, maybe an hour or a day. It's hard to predict. Do you know what happened to him?" Snape asked.
Edward shook his head.
"Last I remember, he went to fight a powerful dark wizard"
Snape nearly jumped in shock. His mind started to think, who could be strong enough to fight Alexander.
"Who was it?" He asked.
Suddenly he heard the answer from the bed.
"It was a thousand-year-old witch. You know Morgan le Fay?" Alexander spoke as he slowly got up. Edward quickly ran to help him.
"You mean the legendary dark wizard that was defeated by Merlin?" Snape asked.
"Not a legend, apparently. she's been alive and has grown strong."
"Ca... Can you defeat her?" He stuttered.
"Hell yeah, after what just happened, defeating her is gonna be child's play." He bragged.
Edward looked at him with wide eyes.
"Did you... Breakthrough again?"
Alexander shrugged. "I don't know... I certainly became a lot stronger than before but there is no higher level than the Supreme Magi so there's no way of knowing. Still, considering the power needed to breakthrough each time, I'd say I am at least 2 level higher than Supreme magi."
The philosopher's stone certainly packed a good punch, he thought.
"So you're basically a wizard god now." Edwards joked.
"Maybe, maybe not... I have no fu*king idea, but I am gonna kick some medieval ass for sure."
Snape just silently heard the two talking and easily deduced that Alexander had gotten even stronger than he was before, which made him feel a bit better.
"Thanks for coming here, Severus. I'll be finishing the fight now. You can wait here if you want to," he offered.
Snape just came off of his stupor and nodded.
~Alright, now that I know that I can defeat her, I must create a spectacular show for the whole magical world. The world should remember me as the 2nd coming of Merlin.~ he silently planned with a devious smile which made even Snape creep out.