Chapter 4: 4
Chapter 4
Bellatrix Black shifted about in her seat as she stared at the pages in front of her. They were various proposals of courting and even full out marriage that had been arriving since news of Rodolphus' death had become publically confirmed. Her father had given them a look over and then snorted and shaken his head.
Her mother, though… Her mother was insisting upon at least considering the proposals. So here she was, looking boredly over overly flowery and pompous posturing. Each of them was trying to convince her that she should allow herself to consider their potential alliance.
Thankfully, for her at least, she had been able to smugly cast aside the ones from families she knew already supported the Knights, or had reasonable reason to suspect were. Orion's declaration had been good for something, after all. It had also led to more than one fuming rants from her mother and Aunt Walburga.
Her aunt wouldn't even look at her anymore, wouldn't talk to her, wouldn't even mention her. Honestly, Bellatrix was finding it refreshing. At least until Walburga had tried to move her attention onto Andromeda and Narcissa, apparently with her mother's approval.
It had been short, sharp and brutal for her mother and her Aunt when they had attempted to subvert Orion's declaration through Bellatrix's younger sisters. Andromeda, of course, was already far beyond their influence, not that the women could see it.
She looked at the women with a cool and calm detachment, meeting their eyes and their words with simply an arched brow and a glacial reminder that they were treading on thin ice in regards to the declaration of the family's head.
They hadn't listened and moved onto Narcissa. Young, impressionable Narcissa, who had already started to be groomed as a partner for any of the young potential knights. A young, uncertain Narcissa who hadn't really understood what was going on when she'd been confronted by both her mother and her overbearing aunt.
Bellatrix remembered exactly what she'd walked in on.
"… And as such is it your duty as a daughter of The Most Ancient and Noble House Black to insure that you properly comport yourself in all things." Mother was stating as she loomed over a visibly uncertain Narcissa.
"Including making sure that you have anything more than nothing to do with those filthy half-bloods and mudblood trash," Walburga continued, looming over the girl. "Such worthless pieces of filth should be burned out of our society. Forbidden from polluting our great and proud heritage! And those worthless blood traitors striving to stand against the noble goals of those gallant purebloods willing to stand up and sally forth, doing what needs be done them!"
"These are the ones you must make absolutely certain you do not even passingly fraternize with. They are… unseemly individuals. You are a daughter of Black and as such you will only associate with such individuals as understand the right and proper view of our society."
The words were familiar. She'd grown up with them after all. Ate them up as gospel. Until they'd been shattered by a half blood wizard who ground them beneath his heel.
"Narcissa," she spoke up clearly and calmly as she made her presence known. "Come here, please."
Seeing an escape, Narcissa did just that, quickly rushing over to her elder sister and hiding behind her back.
Walburga's eyes burn as she spoke her name acidly. "Bellatrix."
"For all your flaws, I did not think either of you had grown this foolish," Bellatrix stated as she narrowed her eyes and looked at both women. "Or have you already forgotten that all Blacks are to take no sides? And for you to try and convince Narcissa of all people to get herself thrown out of the family?"
Her mother flinched at that but her Aunt, her Aunt was another story. "We are Blacks! Our shoulders should be standing proud and true with the Knights! Purging that filth from the earth they pollute with their mere presence! We are not blood traitors! Those filthy, muggle-loving sacks of excrement should suffer the same fate as the filth they defend so with their poisonous words and sweet venom! And you! You should be thrown out! Blasted off of the tapestry for your filthy blasphemy!"
"If you want to claim we're Blacks then you should act like it instead of flinging spittle like a mad hag." Bellatrix could feel the anger boiling up inside of her. The hunger, the want, the fury. To split this woman open and watch her bleed, screaming as she drowned in her own blood. "We have been declared as neutral on pain of banishment from the family, or worse. And what do you do?"
"Orion will never cast me out!" Walburga declared in rebuttal as she forced her head high and challenging.
"From what whispers have reached my ears, you will find that a truth no longer, niece," a calm, cold voice cut in.
Walburga froze before twisting around to find herself facing Charlus Potter, looking at her with cold hazel eyes and an unforgiving set to his features. Behind him, Cygnus stood, looking at his sister and wife with a look of clear disapproval. Still, he seemed content to stand and watch the show.
"You." There was no lack of hate in Walburga's voice as she responded. "How dare you darken the House Black with your dirty, venomous blood traitor lies."
Bellatrix had known of Charlus Potter. The husband of her Aunt Dorea Potter Nee Black. He had been, until recently, a rather taboo subject around the house. A pureblood. A blood traitor, if you went so far as to listen to Walburga or her own mother.
But Dorea had never been cast out of the family for her marriage to him. She was still acknowledged, though grudgingly, and accepted. Until things had happened with the Storm Chaser, she had never wondered why. Now, though…
Nothing that was, was any longer.
"I was invited," Charlus stated drolly as he looked down his nose at the woman. "Which puts me in a position of actually being wanted in this household, currently."
The words unsaid made Walburga's eyes practically burn in fury. "The Knights and their Lord will burn you and yours, Potter. They will extinguish every one of you traitors along with the filth you protect!"
"If you wish to run to the bastard son of a muggle pretending to be a lord, please, do feel free," Charlus stated with a cold, cruel smile curling over his lips. "I dare say I even applaud you for your hypocritical irony."
Now that was enough to make all of their eyes turn to him.
"Filthy LIES!" Walburga declared, her eyes wild, spittle flying.
"Tom. Marvolo. Riddle." Charlus stated with a grand relish. "That is his name. He went from being the top of his class at Hogwarts to working at Borgin's and Burke's. You should be happy, though; he started his practice of murder at a young age. Murdered his muggle family and blamed it all on his uncle."
Charlus paused a moment before he just smiled at Walburga. "You do remember Morfinn Gaunt, don't you, Walburga? And all those rumors they told about the reason he supposedly did it? Because of his sister's utter fascination with the muggle?"
"NO!" Walburga did indeed remember the rumors. The glee she'd taken in them. The delight in hearing that Morfinn had done to those filthy creatures exactly what they'd deserved. "LIES!"
"It took a bit of doing to find the records," Charlus continued. "Thankfully young Mr. Riddle was so focused on exorcizing his muggle heritage that he never learned how they kept their records. But I did find the birth record of one Tom Riddle. Born to a Merope Riddle Nee Gaunt."
Walburga had brandished her wand, trembling in her grip as fury boiled across her face. "You LIE!"
"No, niece. I have no need to." Charlus responded back with a shake of his head disregarding her wand contemptuously out of hand as he looked back at her without the slightest show of fear. "But I imagine such thing becomes a truth beyond what you can accept and you will fail to accept it, won't you? It was bad enough that Dumbledore had a muggleborn mother. Even worse when this new Storm Chaser came, declaring himself a half-blood without hesitation… but now, the very Lord you had placed all those hopes in is just the same. Worse, he pretends to be something he's not. And he fooled you."
Bellatrix had wanted to stare. Beyond the family meeting, she had never seen someone stand up to her Aunt Walburga before. Not without even an ounce of fear, hesitation or worry. And what's more, she could easily see why her father had called the mysterious Storm Chaser a Potter.
She had expected her aunt to begin to throw spells at Charlus. When none came, she looked from the calm look on Charlus' face to her Aunt. What she saw there shocked her.
Fear.
It was half hidden by rage, but the hesitation, the fear as her wand trembled in her hand was visible. She couldn't tell what it was fear of, though. Was it fear of the man, or what he had said? Bellatrix couldn't tell.
And without a word Walburga turned and left.
"I trust, Druella, that we won't have a repeat of this?" It was her father's turn to finally speak as he leveled her mother with a look. "You don't have the luxury of being the wife of the head of our house."
Bellatrix's mother paled dramatically at that as the words sank in. She took one moment to look at Narcissa, still hiding fearfully behind Bellatrix, before she herself fled.
"… You are going to have to tell Orion." Charlus stated simply as he turned is head and looked at Cygnus.
"I know," Cygnus stated quietly. "We shall see how seriously he takes this stance of neutrality."
"I would advise clinging tightly to it," Charlus stated simply, his soft voice eerily ominous. "While he still can."
"Merlin forgive us for this madness we shall be subject to." Cygnus said quietly as he shook his head.
Narcissa had clung to her for some time after that. She'd never asked her what she should do, what she should say. She'd merely clung to her while keeping a great deal of the awe directed towards Charlus.
Apparently their great uncle had left quite the impression upon her.
Sighing, she looked back at the correspondence once more and shook her head. They were all so… boring. Yes, she would need to marry. But more and more selecting a "proper" husband seemed to be a less than enticing proposition.
However, on the other side of things, that meant that she would need to find herself a profession until such time as she decided to marry.
She would not work for the Ministry. The only position that even remotely appealed to her was that of an Auror or Hit Wizard. But those positions were simply too… restrictive. Boring. Mundane.
She wanted something more. More adventure. More violence. More excitement.
And it would not be found among these simpering fools.
With a growl of frustration, her wand swept across her desk and the correspondences all leapt into the air and then burst into flames.
"You do realize that in one act you have thrown insult onto most every neutral house and hold among those still acceptable to our sensibilities, yes?."
She turned her head to find Andromeda looking at her with that cool, guarded expression she now wore more often than not.
"Mother already had me make a list of who was offering what," Bellatrix stated with a grimace of disgust. "Merlin, some of these were for men older than Father!"
"The price of proper pureblood propriety," Andromeda stated with a sarcastic drawl. It was, Bellatrix noted, more emotion than she had heard from her sister in sometime.
"Bollocks to that." Bellatrix stated defiantly.
"My, Bellatrix Black using such language?" Andromeda stated, her brow arching up. "Such defiance. A curse word that wasn't mudblood or blood traitor."
"And when did Andromeda Black resort to sarcasm as her wit of choice?" Bellatrix responded back as she turned and looked squarely at her sister.
"Sometime before people resumed paying her any mind other than to assume she would be the good little pureblood daughter like her sister Bellatrix." Andromeda stated simply as she crossed her arms about her chest and stared back at her sister. "I wonder how long this vaulted neutrality will last."
Bellatrix looked at her sister for a moment, studying her, before answering. "Likely far longer than some would prefer, and closer to what others would wish."
"Ah, soon back to business as usual then." Andromeda stated with a snort and a shake of her head.
"The Knights are taking our stance with ill-concealed poor grace," Bellatrix stated simply. "I imagine that they will soon reach more… overt actions."
There was a hint of hunger in Bellatrix's voice, an anticipation at the promise of action and violence.
"And this pleases you, sister?" Andromeda demanded, a hint of anger breaking through her cool. "The thought of Narcissa, of myself, suddenly coming under assault for our neutrality? To try and drive the Blacks back into the fold? Is this a thought that pleases you?"
"Of course not!" Bellatrix declared with swift outrage as she stared back at her sister. "Why would I ever wish harm upon either you?"
"You think I do not see the lust in your eyes at the promise of violence? The hunger for them to give you an excuse to strike back?" Andromeda demanded as she glared back at her sister. "And when we who wish no part in it have to pay the price for your appetite, what then?"
"It will not come to that," Bellatrix declared firmly. "The conflict is with myself and the adults, not with you and Narcissa."
"Then you are a poor student of history, sister." Andromeda said with a shake of her head. "Or a woman too self-assured."
"Nothing will happen to you." Bellatrix insisted angrily.
"I pray you are right, sister. Though, my heart finds it more than doubtful." Andromeda stated before turning and walking away.
Bellatrix was left more than slightly perplexed.
-o-o-o-
"So." Harry looked at Charlus as they again sat across from each other in the muggle pub. "I find myself reluctantly forced to ask you two questions."
"Oh? That is a nice change of pace," Charlus noted as he sipped his scotch. "I do, however, reserve the right to give you a vague, cryptic response like you enjoy giving."
Harry grimaced a bit. "One, do you know of a way for me to get into Hogwarts? Voldemort has something hidden there that I need to retrieve."
Charlus pursed his lips and arched a brow. "Technically possible. And the second?"
"Know where I could find work?" Harry asked with a sigh. "I'm almost out of the funds I've managed to accumulate. And with the idiots behaving there hasn't been much in the way of income."
"What skills and references do you have?" Charlus asked neutrally as he studied Harry.
"Hunting and neutralizing Dark Wizards," Harry stated bluntly. "And… you and the Wilkinses. Oh, and probably Moody."
Feeling a slight bit of irritation as the lack of further information Charlus asked, "Surely you have more references than that."
"Well, you could ask Bellatrix… Black," Harry stated with a pondering look on his face. "Other than her, most of the others who might have testified as to my work are a bit… well, unavailable."
Charlus pondered the words, before suddenly smiling as he looked back at Harry.
Immediately Harry gave him a look. "No."
"You don't know what I was going to say."
"I'm trying to avoid Dumbledore. I'd rather not be stuck in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts directly underneath him." Harry stated flatly.
For a moment Charlus stared at him before his mouth opened. "How the bloody hell did you know that I was going to suggest…?"
"Because I mentioned needing to get into Hogwarts and needing a job," Harry stated flatly and then sighed. "Ugh. I had truly hoped to not have to go through that. I suppose you don't know of anywhere to acquire basilisk venom?"
"The Defense against the Dark Arts class has only had trouble with maintaining staff for the last few years. The position isn't even publically known. How did you know there would be an opening?" Charlus demanded. "And what the bloody hell do you want that for!?"
"The item I need to retrieve is responsible for the jinx keeping the post empty after a year," Harry stated as he rubbed his temples. "I need basilisk venom to destroy it. Only other thing I know of that would work is Fiendfyre and I don't like that spell."
There was a sudden, horrified fascination on Charlus' features. "What manner of item could you possibly be talking about that would require such lengths to destroy?"
"A horucrux." Harry twisted his lips into a grimace of disgust. Seeing the look of incomprehension on Charlus' face, he continued. "One of the darkest magics. Splitting your soul in order to maintain your physical presence in this realm after death. You end up stuck in limbo if they're destroyed, and if you die… well, let's just say that you have to be either supremely desperate or supremely arrogant to make one."
"I… see." Charlus frowned slightly. "And you say that this Voldemort has made one?"
"Several," Harry responded with a grimace. "I only know where two of them are."
"Of which, one of them is at Hogwarts." Charlus stated as he stared back at Harry.
"Yup," Harry agreed with a nod of his head and a sigh of irritation. "So, basilisk venom?"
"Impossible," Charlus stated flatly. "It's illegal to even own a basilisk. In the rare cases when it does come on sale, it's always on the black market, and gone before anyone else even knows about it."
"I was really, really hoping you weren't going to say that," Harry stated with a groan. "Really, really hoping."
"Do you not have an alternative?" Charlus demanded.
"Alternative source," Harry stated softly as he rubbed his face. "But that requires going to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets."
"… Are you sure you're right in the head?" Charlus asked as he looked at Harry critically.
"Unfortunately," Harry stated with a sigh and a wave of his hand. "It exists. Sadly, Riddle found it when he was a student at Hogwarts."
"The Hagrid incident," Charlus stated as horrifying pieces fell into place. "How can you possibly know all of this? This is…"
"Unfortunately, I've had to spend some time in Tom's head." Harry absently stated with a grimace. "Thankfully, when it was happening, he didn't know about it. And I am never willingly going to do it again."
"But, but…" Charlus struggled to try and wrap his mind around Harry's statement.
"He's a damned good Legimens, but not as good as an Occlumens." It was all Harry was willing to say on the topic.
"I… see." Charlus swallowed as he slowly stared at Harry. "And the Chamber of Secrets…"
"Holds Slytherin's basilisk," Harry stated simply. "The best thing would be to get a goblin-forged blade to stick in the venom, honestly."
"Taking on the property of the venom." Charlus finished for him as he sighed and slumped. "Thus, if you have to destroy more of them, you have something to do it with."
"Indeed," Harry agreed with a nod. "Plus, they make for nifty cursed dark object destroyers."
"Imagine that," Charlus stated dryly as he shook his head. "Commissioning the goblins to make such a weapon wouldn't be too terribly hard. However, it would cost. For which, you will need money."
"Hence, my search for gainful employment." Harry stated simply. "No offense but I'd prefer to have something like that falling into anyone else's hands. Basilisk venom is not a pleasant thing to experience."
"… You've been poisoned by basilisk venom?" Charlus stated incredulously.
"Well, yes and no," Harry admitted as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large and faded scar. "Got bit once. It's also how I learned about the wonderful properties of Goblin made blades. Killed the basilisk with it. It was an unpleasantly similar situation to this in fact."
"… Do I wish to know?" Charlus asked worriedly.
"It involves a dark wizard who spent most of my younger years trying to kill me, his horucrux and a lot of bloody luck on my part." Harry said with a grimace. "He was obsessed with me. Kept escaping and going into hiding too. Took me years to finally put him down permanently. It's why I know so much about those damned things."
"Then why are you here, now, without anything to your name then?" Charlus demanded as he looked back at him. "Where is your goblin forged blade imbued with basilisk venom? Where are your resources, where is anything of yours?"
"Gone," Harry stated quietly as he stared out into the distance. "They're all gone. Everyone I knew, everything I had. Wiped out. As if they were never there. After it was over… Well. I had nowhere else to go. So, I ended up in merry ole England. And after a number of cascading events, here I am."
"There would be record of something like that happening. It would be all over the press." Charlus said. "Even if it wasn't, I would have heard about it."
"Not if it just made it as if they never happened," Harry stated quietly. "It was… it was bad. Forbidden magics on a level I don't even want to think about. Every one of my friends, gone. Every person I knew. Gone. My family. Gone. As if they were never there. Except for me. Because I was there, somehow I wasn't affected. I don't even know how other than it violated so many laws of magic and still happened."
And then something clicked. His eyes wide, he just stared at Harry. "… You are a Potter."
"As I believed we already established." Harry agreed with a nod.
"The reason you don't exist…" Charlus stated and horror covered his face. True, absolute horror.
"Is because my parents no longer exist." Harry stated quietly. "Wiped out as if they never were."
It made a terrifying sense to Charlus. There was never a doubt that Harry was of Potter descent. And he had been hitting wall after wall trying to find out how it could be. There had been absolutely nothing he could find about the man.
Because there was nothing to find. If everything had been wiped out, then there was nothing to find. And this man…
The horror only grew as he couldn't help but ask, "How many? How many were lost to this? How much family did we lose?"
"Too much," Harry stated simply as he shifted uncomfortably. "I… would prefer to not say more than that. They are gone. And the only person who understood enough about what was done went with them."
"I…" Charlus stared at him. "Then when you came to Britain…"
"I have nowhere else to be. Nowhere else to go. If they hadn't attacked me in that pub, I would've probably just drifted into the muggle world and stayed away from the Wizarding World entirely."
"And the reason you were in this Riddle's head without him knowing, it because it's been wiped away?" Charlus asked, pressing for more information.
"Yes. But it's not perfect information, I've already found that out," Harry stated with a sigh. "With the changes… I only know a bit of what I would've if things were unchanged. Because of it there are three horcruxes I don't know where they are. I've already looked."
"Then this Voldemort is truly unstoppable?" Charlus demanded, anger starting to swell up in him. "There is no point to this?"
"I did say I had learned quite a bit about how to deal with these wizards, didn't I?" Harry responded back as he gave Charlus a look. "I'm going to destroy the horcruxes of his I can find. Then I'm going to destroy his body. When his spirit tries to flee so he can reincorporate himself, I'm going to catch it, bind it and then I'm going to trap it in a deep, dark, hidden place he won't be found and won't be able to escape."
"Incarceration?" Charlus stated, as if mulling over it, glad for something else to think about. "That seems a bit… lenient for what he's attempting to do."
"Killing him would be the lenience," Harry stated flatly. "He will be trapped. He will not be able to move. He will not see anything but darkness. He will not hear anything but silence. He will not feel anything. There will be nothing to smell. There will be nothing to taste.
"He will be trapped in the hell of nothing but his own mind consuming itself. By the first half day he will be begging for oblivion. By the rest of it his mind will be damaged beyond what can ever be healed. After a week of it?"
Charlus stared at Harry, his face again graced with horror. "That… that is monstrous."
"A monstrous fate for a monster. And trust me, Voldemort is a monster. If he could manage it, he would make Gellert Grindelwald look like Albus Dumbledore in comparison."
Pale faced and shake, Charlus asked warily. "Are… are you sure of this?"
"Each horcrux requires the cold blooded murder of someone and then the forcible divorcing of a part of their soul. Voldemort has for certain made four. He plans to eventually make seven parts of his soul. But Grindelwald had morals; as twisted as they were, he did. He did what he did not because he wanted the world to suffer but because he thought he was building a better world on a bloody foundation.
"Voldemort wants to make the world and everyone in it suffer. He wants it to hurt, to grind, crush, it beneath his heel. He wants to be able to indulge his whims, his desires, to exercise his power unrestricted and unstoppable." Harry stated simply. "He does not have allies; he does not even truly have followers. He has slaves that do not yet realize what they are."
Harry had said those words without a moment hesitation, his eyes locked on Charlus as he spoke. The truth of them, the conviction and honesty of them striking deep into the older man as he drained the glass of scotch in one go and poured himself another. He had almost considered asking how Harry knew this.
Then he remembered that the man had been inside this Voldemort's head. And he drained the second scotch in another quick gulp.
"If you're going to go to war on this…" Charlus stated uncertainly. "You're going to need an army."
Harry winced visibly. "I'd really, really prefer to not get anyone more people involved than I have to. That's what the Ministry is for, right?"
"People won't fight for the Ministry. Not the ones that you want fighting," Charlus stated simply. "The Ministry is a bunch of fat bureaucrats looking to make as much of a profit for themselves as they can without inciting a revolt against them. And they've already been compromised by this Voldemort. How much of a true defense they can mount?"
"Then what about…" Harry started to say as he began to gesture.
"Dumbledore is neither a soldier nor a warrior," Charlus stated sternly. "Contrary to what people think, he did not single handedly win the war against Grindelwald. Most of the fight, driving him back, leaving him vulnerable… Dumbledore was safe in Hogwarts for. It was only when we had Grindelwald pinned and trapped that he arrived to fight him."
Charlus stared down into the glass for a long moment before speaking again. "But, I will admit, none of us could have defeated Grindelwald. Not in a duel like that. It is called the greatest duel in history for a reason. But it was just that: a duel. It was not a battle. It was not a war. It was a duel."
Harry slumped down and sighed before he looked at Charlus and opened his mouth again.
And again Charlus cut him off. "I am not powerful enough. We need a Lord. Someone as strong as Dumbledore and this Voldemort are. Someone that can stand against an entire group of wizards and leave them broken at their feet without a scratch on them."
"Why does it always have to be me?" Harry asked with a grunting grumble. "Oh, hey, there's another dark wizard out there! Time for you to go and get rid of him."
"Everyone has their talents." Charlus stated with a slight smile.
"… Bloody hilarious," Harry stated flatly before sighing in defeat. "What were you thinking?"
"Well, I can get in touch with the old guard, the veterans from the war against Grindelwald. But we need younger recruits too."
His face grimacing into disgust Harry gave him a look. "And you want me to recruit from Hogwarts."
"What do you think Voldemort is doing?" Charlus countered back. "And with Dumbledore in his Ivory tower…"
Harry's shoulders slumped down beneath the weight of that statement.
"Of course, if you can think of someone else who could train these children to survive better than you..." Charlus noted.
Harry's resigned slump turned into a sullen glower.
-o-o-o-
"That man will make a drunkard out of me," Charlus declared as he slumped into the seat he'd been offered, his eyes flicking for a moment to register Orion seated across from him, next to Cygnus. "Orion, I suppose this does warrant your inclusion."
"Charlus," Orion noted as he inclined his head with a nod. "You have found something out?"
"Every time I talk with that man, the more reason I have to drink." Charlus stated with a sigh as he pinched his nose. "And every answer leaves me with exponentially more questions."
"What have you learned?" Cygnus asked as he settled back into his seat.
"I found out why none of us have heard of him before." Charlus stated quietly as he stared away, looking into the distance.
"Something unpleasant then," Orion noted with a pursing of his lips.
"He is a reminder that magic is a wonderful and terrible thing." Charlus stated. "What would you do, Orion, Cygnus, if you learned that at least an entire branch of your family had been wiped away? Their lives, their accomplishments, their legacies, their children. All gone, as if they had never existed, to the point where even you no longer even recalled they once were?"
Neither man reacted much, beyond a slight canting of Orion's head. "You are… sure of this?"
"He is a Potter. A Potter that we cannot find any evidence ever existed. A Potter that knows things that he could not possibly know. Who is skilled in a way that could not escape notice. And yet, he is." Charlus stated softly as he looked back at the men. "I looked into his eyes as he told me this. Tell me, Orion, what would you do if you were the only one who remembered your family, your friends, almost everyone you'd ever known?"
"I see," Orion stated simply and gave a slight nod of his head. "I suppose he has reason for being so?"
"He was there at the center of it, trying to stop it." Charlus stated simply. "Something he seems to have a talent for. Being at the center of trouble."
"I suppose if the caster was trying to make it so he was the only one who realized it and someone intervened…" Cygnus stated leadingly.
"Quite," Charlus stated succinctly before he took a slight sip of the drink he'd been offered when he first arrived. "He also told me that Voldemort has created something called horcruxes."
That got a reaction out of both Orion and Cygnus; their backs straightening as they stiffened in their seats. Affixing Charlus with a sharp look Orion spoke. "You are sure of this? He is sure of this? And he definitely stated a horcrux?"
"Splitting his soul with a cold blooded murder and placing the piece in an object." Charlus stated before frowning a bit. "He said he knew that Voldemort had created four. With plans to create seven."
"Merlin," Orion stated, his face pale and his fingers digging into the arms of his chair. "What kind of foolish monster did we try and tie ourselves to?"
"That is…" Cygnus stated as he reached up and rubbed at his nose. "Horcruxes are beyond foolishness. Yes, they can extend your life. But what you extend it as… You are not human anymore. And eventually, when the horcrux is destroyed? You are trapped between life and death."
"A ghost?" Charlus asked. Harry had alluded to something like this but had not gone into great detail.
"Worse. In the limbo between this world and the next. Trapped and unable to either move on, or haunt the world," Orion stated simply, sucking in a breath. "It is not something anyone who understood them would ever dabble in. It is something we are taught about as to make sure we know what it will truly do to you."
"Like Basilisks, they were developed by Harpo the Foul." Cygnus stated. "They were his greatest mistake."
"Well, he knows where two of them are." Charlus stated simply. "And he apparently knows how to destroy them. However, there is a problem."
"Where are they?" Orion asked as he looked back at Charlus with a piercing look.
"I only know that one of them is at Hogwarts," Charlus responded. "And that it is responsible for what is apparently a jinx keeping the Defense Against the Dark Arts class without a teacher at the end of the year."
"What proof does he have?" Cygnus finally asked as he held up his hand. "And, no, I am not calling you or even him a liar, Uncle, but this is a claim that is not to be made lightly. How does he even know this?"
"… You can ask him that himself," Charlus stated with a shake of his head. "If it is truly as foul as all three of you have stated, I want nothing to do with it. As for how he knows… apparently before things happened, he had been inside of this Voldemort's mind."
"Still. Hogwarts," Orion stated with a grimace. "We cannot take even the possibility lightly."
"Not with our children either enrolled or to be in the future," Cygnus agreed with a nod. "Has he at least shared with you how he plans to destroy them? They are notoriously difficult to dispatch."
"A goblin forged blade imbued with basilisk venom," Charlus stated simply as he waited for their reaction.
"… As wonderful as that sounds, exactly how does he plan to obtain a goblin forged blade imbued with basilisk venom?" Orion stated flatly. "While we might somehow be lucky enough for some to reach the markets…"
"The price alone…" Cygnus stated with a shudder.
"He knows where the find the Chamber of Secrets," Charlus stated simply. "And Slytherin's basilisk."
"Even if he does, we do not have a parseltongue to help us gain entry," Orion pointed out, though it was only halfhearted. "I doubt Slytherin would have left it sealed by anything less than such."
"That… I did not ask," Charlus admitted. "However he seems quite certain that he can get in."
"Then what, exactly, was it that you wanted to propose?" Orion asked as he arched a brow.
"He needs employment. He needs access to Hogwarts." Charlus stated with a shrug of his shoulders.
Orion frowned. "We can't help. You know this, Charlus. We are neutral in this."
"You know neutrality won't last forever," Charlus stated softly as he looked at the man. "Men like this Voldemort… eventually his patience will end. And he will declare House Black his enemy."
"Be that as it may, we declared neutrality," Orion stated again with a frustrated release of breath. "We cannot do anything else. Already my family borders on rebellion as it is."
"Even knowing that this Voldemort is a halfblood?" Charlus pressed as he looked at Orion. "And knowing that he has created horcruxes?"
"You know Walburga tried to get my youngest, Narcissa, to violate our neutrality, circumspectly." Cygnus reminded Charlus. "Do you think she truly cares about that? She would just state that we were lying about it."
"And the horcruxes?" Charlus asked.
"She wants to believe that she is right. That he is what she, we, have been waiting for," Orion stated with a tired sigh as he slumped back. "And yet, in the face of the facts…"
"Uncle Charlus, you need to understand," Cygnus stated quietly. "Three Lords. Three halfbloods. If we choose a side, we lose who we are."
"Will you truly sell your pride so dearly?" Charlus demanded. "Do you truly believe it worth your future? Your lives? The lives of your children?"
"What would you have us do!?" Orion smashed his hand down on the chair of his arm as he glared back at the man across from him. "To cast aside generations of history, of pride?! To forget what it is to be Black?!"
"When your pride is forcing you to ignore the truth in front of your eyes? Yes!" Charlus stated with a hiss of anger in his voice. "Would you truly prefer to be thrown under the yoke of a monster, to be eventually extinguished for some slight or failure?"
"… If he has made horcruxes, Orion…" Cygnus spoke up as he looked at his brother-in-law.
"Do you know what this would do to our family?" Orion demanded. "What I would have to do to my wife?!"
"She is my sister!" Cygnus snapped back with a hiss. "You think I don't know this? Do you think I don't realize that the same might have to be done to my wife?!"
Charlus looked at the two before finally speaking. "The one we call Storm Chaser. Harry. He does not want to lead. He does not want your service. I imagine he will even fight against being titled a lord."
"And what are you suggesting then?" Orion snapped as he would glare at Charlus. "That we follow after someone foolish enough to deny what he is?"
"I was going to suggest that instead of talking about being in his service, you should consider instead being allies." Charlus stated simply as he shook his head. "Have the generations addled the pride of the Blacks so much that the only role you can imagine to a lord is on bended knee?"
Both Blacks stiffened at that, glaring angrily at Charlus.
"Perhaps you have forgotten but Potters do not bend knee. It is why we have never served a Lord and why we always defy those that would make us." Charlus stated simply. "We will rally to a worthy cause. We will ally with a worthy lord. But we will not become theirs to do with as they will."
With that Charlus set his drink upon the table and stood. "Perhaps it is time that the House Black looked again at what it considers pride and consider what the word truly means. Is their pride that of men or of the pride of the servant?"
With that said Charlus gave them each a curt nod. "Gentlemen. I will see myself out. I hope that you find your pride as men. But should you not, I wish you luck with what is to come. May Merlin have mercy on us all."
Charlus turned and left, leaving Cygnus and Orion to stew in his words.
"… Do you remember when it was all so simple?" Cygnus asked, rhetorically. "It was the might of pureblood that would reign over all others. Purebloods were the greatest, were the strongest."
Orion growled as he glared at Cygnus. "What would you have us do? Acknowledge some filthy halfbood as our equal? What next, mudbloods?"
"When was the last time we had a pureblood lord? Grindelwald?" Cygnus asked rhetorically. "Who was cast down by a halfblood?"
Orion glared back at him.
"I do not like it either, Orion," Cygnus stated as he slumped down, looking, feeling so very old. "But you saw what I did from Bella's memories. You've heard what I have of Voldemort. You know what Dumbledore is capable of."
With a snarl Orion took his glass and threw it, watching as it exploded in a shower a glittering shards as it hit the wall. "I KNOW! We are losing! And Horcruxes! Of all the things, horcruxes! Horcruxes and what we learned of how he treated his own flesh and blood to condemn his own family to Azkaban... and even if he was a filthy muggle, to slay your own father?"
"Voldemort has proven to be someone we cannot turn to," Cygnus agreed with a nod as he looked at his own glass for a moment. "And Dumbledore… his accomplishments aside, he has proven… undesirable."
"And this last one is any better?" Orion asked as he paced about the room. "And do not let your daughter's infatuation speak for you!"
"He is ruthless," Cygnus stated as he looked back at Orion. "That cannot be denied. But he is not bloodthirsty. He is dangerous. But he has acted only in defense of himself or others."
"Is that strength or weakness, though?" Orion pointed out. "He sets himself against Voldemort. But he does not actively seek out allies."
"Confidence or ignorance?" Cygnus asked as he looked into the distance. "We won't know without actually meeting him and taking his measure."
"And if we meet with him, that could just as easily be construed as ending our neutrality then and there." Orion reminded him.
"If we met him while he was doing something like interviewing for the open Defense position at Hogwarts?" Cygnus suggested. "We would have to be there for the other interviews as well, but easily doable, if tedious."
Orion sighed as he rubbed his face. "Damn that Potter. Do we have any choice?"
"Yes," Cygnus stated quietly. "We do nothing. We go into hiding. And we wait for either the world to right itself, or to be hunted down. Either way, we lose any say in what the world becomes."
"… That is not a choice. That is a death sentence." Orion stated with a growl.
"And that seems to be the choice we have. Life and potential prosperity or death and pride?" Cygnus stated quietly as he looked at Orion. "What shall it be, my lord?"
And Orion slumped forward before giving his answer.
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