Bellatrix creates a monster
By Betageneticist
If it wasn't for her work at the Ministry, Bellatrix swore she would have killed herself years ago. Her drive to test the limitations on endurance and push the boundaries even further by unwrapping more of the magic code shielded her from the monotony of everyday life.
"Are you still here, Bella?"
The Minister had managed to open the door of the laboratory and poke his fat head through without her even noticing, so enthralled in her after-work-thoughts as she was.
Bellatrix looked up from her parchment, staring at the Minister over the glasses perched on the end of her nose. She allowed a brief pause before her response, just so that he would hopefully reflect on the stupidity of his question. He didn't.
"Obviously," she replied, bluntly.
"Just wanted to check in with you. None of us have seen you around all day, so I just wanted to make sure you're still breathing."
She could do it. She didn't even need a wand; she just had to think it. Avada Kedavra, and he would be as dead as a doornail.
"Well, I can see you're busy," the Minister replied, backing away from Bellatrix's intimidating glare.
She turned back to the parchment, scribbling furiously, satisfied that he would now leave. The door clicked shut, and she was alone once more. It was time for the code. The whole year had been about the code, and it was almost time.
FIVE YEARS PREVIOUS
The Daily Prophet / Science Section (June 21st, 2005)
The Magical Code has finally been cracked! Outstanding Beta Geneticist, Bellatrix Black, has screened the magic genome two years after muggle scientists completed the Human Genome Project. Naturally more complex than the muggle genome, it shares the bases adenosine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine, but contains two additional bases, merlomine and phocastimine. These extra bases can bind with any of the other bases, including additional bases of the same kind. In addition to these extra bases, the epigenetics of magic DNA appears to be far more complex, also. The histones (proteins that the DNA is wrapped around) are riddled with a mysterious substance that increases or decreases depending upon magical experience. Black reported, "This substance, which somehow seems so fluid, yet so stubborn, moves about our DNA when any magic is channeled, particularly through our wands. Our work at the ministry is now focusing on whether or not this substance increases the expression of certain beta genes, and whether or not the amount of this substance is strongly correlated with our strength as a witch or wizard."
Due to record sales of the June 21st edition of the Daily Prophet, the ministry decided it was best to hold a press conference. Talk of magic DNA was still sacrilege amongst the purists, and many were turned off by the correlation of magical ability with this strange "goo" surrounding the genome. So one week later, in the foyer of the ministry, a stage was erected so that the world's media could hear the scientific revelations of Ms. Black.
"I don't even want this fucking press conference," shot Bellatrix, "You go out there and try to explain this stuff to a bunch of idiots."
Bellatrix was still in her lab, pacing back and forth in frustration.
"I'm sure you'll do just fine," replied Neville, Bellatrix's lab assistant. "And so what if they don't get it. At least you tried, right?"
She stopped her pacing to look at Neville. Such a nice boy. Such a fucking idiot! He was only trying to help, though, so she shouldn't be too hard on him.
"Okay. I'm going out."
Taking a deep breath, Bellatrix opened the door of her lab and marched out towards the foyer. Already a crowd of about two hundred people had gathered, most of them holding media equipment, ready to send her blasphemy out over the airwaves. She noticed the Minister standing at the podium, looking insolently at her while tapping his watch. The rest of the crowd followed his gaze to Bellatrix, who was now climbing the steps of the stage with a seriously annoyed look on her face.
"Ah, the lady of the hour!" announced the Minister with a big smile, holding his arm out in the direction of Bellatrix.
The Minister began a round of applause as Bellatrix stopped in front of the microphone, an applause which spread out over the crowd.
"Okay, you can do this, Bellatrix," she muttered to herself.
The applause waned, so Bellatrix began.
"Hello, and thank you all for coming," she said, forcing a smile. "I know you've all got a lot of questions, but before we begin the Q and A, let me just try and explain the recent phenomena about the code. The muggles worked for about ten years to map the human genome, although naturally most of them are unaware of our existence. For some time now we have been trying to figure out where we fit into the evolutionary framework; have we evolved from humans or do we share a common ancestor?"
A low murmur spread over a group nearest the stage, all muttering their disapproval.
"I can see we still have purists among us," continued Bellatrix, "who seem to think that some superior being just decided to create witches and wizards for kicks. Well, I'm sorry that you won't understand anything I've got to say, but please, keep your humming and harring to a minimum until afterwards, when you can spread your lies and rumors in the privacy of your own homes."
A number of people began to laugh, loving Bellatrix's cynicism.
"Anyway, as I was saying," she continued, "We now believe that magic does have a solid genetic basis, which can be shaped and influenced through experience. Now, try to understand the grandiose implications of this. This is not experience affecting memory; this is experience shaping how our magical DNA is expressed. Now, in order to distinguish our genetic code from that of the muggles, we decided to call their field alpha genetics, while our code, which is infinitely more complex, was termed beta genetics. Some beta geneticists believe that the alpha code evolved into the beta code with strong selection pressures, but much of this is still conjecture.
"With regards to the beta code, it has been mapped. We believe there are about 30,000 genes that make up the code, and many of these are analogous to alpha genes, although what proportion exactly, we are not sure. This of course raises many questions that center around the nature/nurture debate. As we all know, witches and wizards are born; there have been no recorded instances of muggles becoming magical."
"But what about muggle-borns or squibs?"
"We have found that it is possible for muggles to carry beta genes, and so if two muggles are carrying enough of these genes, then it is possible that they will become active in the offspring. Under the right conditions the beta base, phocastimine, will begin transforming neighboring bases into merlomine, and vice versa. This phenomenon has recently been observed in owls, a species that curiously seems to have both an alpha and a beta code.
"In the case of squibs, we have found that they have the same code, but seem to lack this mysterious ethereal substance that swarms around the genome. So it's like they're programmed for magic, but they're just not active."
"Are you saying there's a cure for squibs!" bellowed a news reporter.
"No!" replied Bellatrix, feeling the need to raise her voice. "All I'm saying is that we have a greater understanding of why a squib is a squib and not a witch or wizard. With this knowledge, it may be possible to manufacture a system of treatments to activate the squib's beta genome, but we are not even close to that at the moment."
Bellatrix took a moment to look out over the crowd, seeing many familiar faces, some of whom she knew from her time at Hogwarts. Lily Potter and her husband, James, and their school-aged son who appeared to be feverishly taking notes. Severus Snape, the potions master at Hogwarts who collaborated with her and her lab every once in a while. Bellatrix had a soft spot for Severus, although never soft enough to become romantically involved. And there were many other faces that reminded her of how many friendships had fallen to pieces over the years. There was no denying it; her work had become her life.
Bellatrix pulled her attention back to the matter at hand.
"Okay," she began, "Let's field some questions."
Xenophilius Lovegood raised his hand.
"Yes, Xenophilius," said Bellatrix, acknowledging him.
"Your work is clearly very fascinating, Ms. Black, but I have to admit I am tremendously worried about the implications of your research. You seem to be saying that one's magical capability is determined from birth. If this is true, what kind of hope or message is that to those that struggle with magic and are looking to develop their skills?"
Even though Bellatrix did not merit the hippy in Xenophilius, she could see the sincerity in his eyes, and so resolved to answer him respectfully.
"I know that seems daunting, Xenophilius, but this is not really stating anything new, is it? If you expose a class of students to the same material over the same time frame, naturally some will retain information and develop their magical skills much faster than the others. When it comes to intelligence, we have no problem with this. Einstein's brain was clearly different to the average muggle brain, yet something about its structure gave him the equivalent power of a super computer. And the same seems to be true of our magical capabilities. Our beta genome seems to give us the basis to channel and work our magic, but it's by practicing that helps us get the maximum usage out of what our bodies can naturally handle. This is not an elitist argument, simply a logical one. We can't all be Dumbledores."
"Certainly not!" came an authoritative voice from the back of the crowd.
Everyone turned to see the great wizard himself, standing very composed in his usual wizard robes.
"As I would find that dreadfully confusing," he continued.
Bellatrix laughed. At least there was one other educated mind in building to appreciate her work.
Xenophilius still frowned, seemingly unconvinced. Bellatrix knew that perhaps two-thirds of the audience was not convinced. Many still believed that magic and science could not work together; they were to be kept apart as separate magisteria, because after all, magic was magical, and science was, well, muggle. Even with concrete evidence of the beta genome, Bellatrix knew that many still did not believe, and would never believe.
Bellatrix had eventually been forced to give up her work on the beta genome. As the ministry was held in contempt by the voters and the tax payers, they didn't want their ministry working on heretical matters that could only foster elitism, and nobody wanted to entertain a system that told people they were limited. Funding was cut, salaries were cut, staffing was reduced, and before long Bellatrix was forced to adopt new research projects or face redundancy. This depressed Bellatrix, until she discovered a new way to utilize a time-turner.
PRESENT DAY
After she was sure the Minister had gone home, Bellatrix signed-off on the last quality control certificate, something for which she was now in charge. The lab had been reassigned from "Research and Development" and was now "Quality Assurance". Bellatrix was now a safety officer, in effect, receiving samples of various potions that were brought in for testing so that the Ministry might approve it for mass production. Although, now that most of the ministry had gone home for the day, it was time for her other research.
Bellatrix removed some samples from a secret compartment she had created in the refrigerator, and placed them on the bench. They were a collection of cellular samples obtained from various individuals without their consent. Bellatrix had found over the last couple of years that those born from one muggle parent and one magical parent, actually had the kind of genome where the mysterious substance, now called "Devastation" and was sitting in a vial next to the samples, could rapidly enhance the beta genome's propensity for magic, under the right conditions, which Bellatrix had discovered.
Bellatrix smiled at her little collection of vials. No other soul in the world had any idea that her research had advanced so much in only a few years, and nobody else would ever know. The genome of a halfblood, the mixing of the alpha and beta genomes, started off humble. Over time, if enough beta genes were active, the entire genome modified itself just as if the child had been born from two magical parents. But not only that, the mysterious black substance, Devastation, swarmed around the hybrid genome, nurturing and protecting the magical genes, protecting them from potentially damaging mutations, and aiding transcription that resulted in further magical potential. Bellatrix predicted that if she took the fertilized egg of a halfblood baby, she could achieve maximum magical potential if she infused a concentrated dose of "Devastation" into the nucleus.
For months Bellatrix had wondered how she could get ahold of a fertilized halfblood egg, but then it occurred to her; if a timeturner could transport a person back in time, surely she could find a way to transport a genome back in time? Through months of planning and research, and the illegal use of government databases, Bellatrix had found a handful of halfbloods from whom she would extract DNA; obliviating their mind, naturally. After discovering which of her sample genomes accepted Devastation the most readily, she created five vials of the same genome, ready for use. Timeturners usually worked by dragging the environment of the holder back in time, but with some tweaking and nudging, Bellatrix found that the holder would transport back in time, leaving the environment in the present. And quite astonishingly, it was therefore possible to transport any holder back to the fertilized egg, the very moment when maternal and paternal DNA joined in the nucleus of the very first cell of their body.
Bellatrix carefully removed the first sample and loaded it into a capsule, which slotted easily into a device she had built with the modified timeturner lodged in the heart, surrounded by a network of wondrous circuitry. A binding spell connected the magic of the timeturner with the sample, holding them together while the sample reacted to its power. Bellatrix removed her wand from her pocket, took a moment to gather her thoughts, and then tapped the top of the device until magic shot out of her wand and sent the device into a frenzy of activity. Wide-eyed, Bellatrix marveled as years of planning worked perfectly right before her eyes. Within moments it was finished, and Bellatrix peered through the magically enhanced lens to see the fertilized ovum sitting peacefully in the capsule. She had done it, and now there was only one more step.
Using an incredibly fine needle that was fed into the capsule while it still rested in the chamber, Bellatrix infused a tiny drop of devastation into the fertilized egg. Once she was convinced of her success, she removed the needle and just took a moment to daub her eyes, unable to stop weeping. Within the next few hours she would be able to test her prediction that increasing the amount of Devastation in the fertilized egg of a halfblood would maximize the magical potential of the developing witch or wizard.
However, before she could remove the chamber, Bellatrix heard a cracking sound coming from within the machine. She quickly checked the lens, but the cell, and indeed the capsule seemed fine. The device began to shake viciously, causing a side panel to dislodge and fall off. Bellatrix could see it as clear as day now, the timeturner was out of control, glowing red and spinning in an irregular fashion. She tried to cast the spells she had used to control the timeturner, but they rebound and sent her crashing against the wall. The cell in the chamber, now completely black and pulsating with life, vanished in a brilliant flash of white light, before the world went silent.
Merope Gaunt checked her pregnancy test alone in the bathroom of her cursed house. She was with child.