Marvel's master of cosmic magic

Chapter 496

"Don’t be discouraged. This is normal," Rowan said calmly, seated behind the Minister’s desk. "Even if more countries sent reinforcements, it wouldn’t change much. Our real problem is Voldemort."

He folded his hands.

"So here’s the plan. You and the foreign Aurors will spread out and track Death Eater movements. If you find a lead, don’t engage. Don’t alert them. Just report back."

"I’ll use this time to prepare myself and finish developing magic that can actually defeat Voldemort."

The meaning was clear.

The Death Eaters were a nuisance.

Voldemort was the war.

Only one person on Earth could fight him right now.

And that person was Rowan.

Ten thousand wizards at the World Cup hadn’t been able to touch Voldemort. Even if every Ministry in the world sent Aurors, they still wouldn’t reach that number.

Numbers didn’t matter anymore.

What mattered was one decisive duel.

The Ministry leadership agreed without hesitation.

They hadn’t expected a thirteen-year-old to run the Ministry’s daily operations anyway. The fact that Rowan had already purged corruption and reorganized departments at lightning speed had shocked them enough.

What they truly needed from him wasn’t paperwork.

It was hope.

After the meeting, Rowan disappeared into the Department of Mysteries.

Every Unspeakable turned over their research notes, experiments, and classified archives to him without reservation. They worked around the clock to help him master forbidden branches of magic and uncover a way to defeat Voldemort.

After days of relentless study, Rowan finally found what he was looking for.

Truthfully, with his current power, he could have conquered the world by brute force.

Imperius. Memory charms. Assassinations.

Anyone who resisted could be erased. Anyone who obeyed could live.

He was already unstoppable.

But Rowan still had a line he wouldn’t cross.

Especially when it came to the friends he’d lived with for years.

If he forced the world into submission, it would work.

But it would feel wrong.

It was like dragging a friend on a holiday they hated by holding a wand to their head.

You could do it.

But you wouldn’t.

If he openly declared a wizard empire and demanded loyalty, Dumbledore, Snape, and most of the people he respected would oppose him.

He couldn’t bring himself to kill them or enslave them.

So he chose the long road.

Let his double play Voldemort.

Let the world descend into chaos.

Then he would rise as the savior and unite it cleanly.

Same destination. Clear conscience.

Just slower.

Half a month later...

"So many years of research," Rowan murmured inside the Department of Mysteries, "and we’re barely scratching the surface."

He had fully absorbed everything the Unspeakables had uncovered about love, the mind, prophecy, death, time, and the universe.

Useful.

But primitive.

They were still at the threshold.

Not even properly inside the door.

If more wizards had been allowed to research these branches instead of sealing them away as taboo, progress would have been light-years ahead.

"It’s time," Rowan said softly. "Phase two."

The Statute of Secrecy.

It had to die.

The wizarding world needed to be revealed to the Muggle world.

A new era had to begin.

And the method was simple.

"Minister!"

The elevator doors burst open.

Rufus Scrimgeour strode into the Love Chamber, breathless.

"We’ve found them. Voldemort and the Death Eaters are on Oxford Street."

Rowan’s eyes sharpened.

Yesterday, an anonymous tip had arrived claiming Dolores Umbridge had secretly defected to Voldemort and was meeting him today.

The letter had felt suspicious.

So Scrimgeour had followed her personally under a Disillusionment Charm.

And he’d found them.

In a basement beneath Oxford Street.

Knowing he couldn’t fight Voldemort, Scrimgeour had come straight back.

"Good," Rowan said, standing. "Summon every Auror. And every foreign wizard here to assist."

"We move immediately."

A smile tugged faintly at his lips.

"Perfect timing. I’ve just had a breakthrough."

"We’re ending this today."

The tip-off had been his.

The meeting had been scheduled by his double.

And Oxford Street wasn’t an accident.

It was London’s busiest commercial artery.

The stage he’d chosen to expose magic to the entire world.

What came next would be a battle so vast, so violent, so public that no spell on Earth could erase it.

A war between himself and his double.

"Brief everyone," Scrimgeour barked. "Target: Voldemort and all Death Eaters. Lethal force authorized if resisted."

He nodded to Rowan.

They Apparated together.

Moments later, Aurors flooded the area around the basement off Oxford Street.

Anti-Apparition wards snapped into place.

Layered barriers sealed the block.

Teams moved fast, herding Muggles away with Confundus Charms and memory nudges.

The trap closed.