Chapter sixteen
or about the skeletons in the closets of respectable witches and wizards
`Hereinspaziert! Come in,` Elisabeth looked up the pile of documents, hearing a quiet knock. The door opened slowly with a squeak. `Oh, Ottmar?` she rose her eyebrows, `What brings you here? Before you start I want to remind you I`m one-eyed but not deaf.`
`You remember me, general?` replied Ottmar Grindelwald, surprised.
`I remember those who dare challenge me,` she smiled like a shark.
`It is not too much to remember, then, general.`
Elisabeth laughed. `Unluckily, few people are kind enough to amuse me. But what brings you here? I must say I`m surprised. Anyhow, at least you haven`t hexed me yet, it is a progress, I must say.`
Well, last time they talked a few days after Loki, father of Gellert, got killed. To be specific, fourteen years old Ottmar dared enter her bureau – without knocking – and demanded explanations regarding the circumstances of Loki`s death. As she refused, he lost it, yelling at her, trying to hex her… And finally burst into tears.
His family, of course, ordered him to apologize to her, what he never did. What was aunt Elisabeth`s opinion about his outburst, Ottmar did not really know. She had left the same day, and after her return she never mentioned it anymore. Yet she had not forgotten his rudeness…
Ottmar took a deep breath and looked straight into her face. He did not want to irate her but wouldn`t cow as well.
Frau Generalin, ` he started, trying to sound calm and polite, `General, there is…`
`Sit down,` she interrupted, `And spare me all those small talk. What. Do. You. Want.`
`Ferenc. I want to know what happens to him.`
`You still care about your family,` she sneered.
`It is our very first duty, isn`t it?` he retorted.
`Indeed`, she nodded, `But let me explain something first…. You drink tea with sugar or without?`
`Without, madam.`
`So,` she summoned her dragon samovar, `I am NOT going to tell you why Loki died in the first place. Too many lives depend on my silence.`
`Loki got betrayed. You should capture the sneak before he hurts someone else.`
`I know who it was,` she stated plainly, `When he`s not useful anymore, I give you his head as a Christmas present.`
`Useful?`
`It`s one of those squibs who got his post just because of his impressive genealogy tree. He also drinks, gambles and buys expensive robes far too often so needs money to no end. And, you understand, he welcomes any way to earn it, as long it does not require any honest work. As long as he delivers useful information, I let him live. I am an old cynic, am I not?` she smiled.
Ottmar took a gulp of tea to win some time.
`Well,` he replied, choosing his words carefully, `You have your duties, madam, as a head of a family and as a general. And I think you do your best to balance them wisely.`
`It is easy to condemn those who choose family over common good,` she sighed, `Till your own relatives are at stake. Then, the private interest becomes an obvious duty.`
`But we must help Ferenc!` he exclaimed, jumping to his feet, `For the good of the family and for the good of Europe. They challenge you, general! They want to see how powerful you are.`
`There is still some time, Ottmar,` she replied calmly, `It`s Friday while MACUSA plans to execute him Monday at dawn.`
`It must be terrible to wait like that, general, ` whispered Ottmar, sitting down.
`It is,` she agreed, `But we don`t make him wait without a reason.`
`We?`
`Yes, we, his family. We do care.`
`MACUSA wants to test you. You, general, the Johnsons, general Freeman…`
`They want us to strike to have a nice casus belli.`
`A war?`
`It looks like a provocation, Ottmar.`
`But MACUSA is a democracy. Why should they put their citizens at risk, then? People will vote them off their office.`
`We are not a logical species. There are a thousand and one tricks to persuade you to vote for the one who wants a useless war. Their older generations still cannot come to terms with the losses general Freeman and Mirko Mayr… Dracula caused them. Their hubris does not let them sleep.`
`Honour, it is about honour.`
Elisabeth slammed with her fist against the table.
`First and foremost, ` she hissed, suddenly enraged, `Never ever take hubris and arrogance for honour. If you want to run a war just because you got a curse in your arse a hundred years ago, you are just pathetic. Honor!` she snorted, `Honour means you sacrifice something that is yours. But they will just sacrifice others. They have a particularly high number of Muggleborns and second-generation wizards and witches,` she added, `Due to extremely high Muggle migration and population growth. They are a cheap curse fodder, not being related to anyone of importance. And they are dazzled with the wealth and freedom MACUSA offers them so ready to fight for it.`
`Freedom?` sneered Ferenc, `You cannot sneeze there without a licence!`
`For those Muggleborns who had bad luck to be born in the working class or as girls, MACUSA is a paradise on earth. Magic means no poverty, no drudgery, much better medical help, substantially higher living standard, access to education… And the possibility to escape oppressive religions and customs. Being a Muggle woman there, a poor woman, is just slavery. You just drudge in a factory or on a farm and then come home to be a cheap servant for your husband.`
`You sound like general Freeman, madam.`
`She tells the truth, unluckily. Anyhow, the fact is MACUSA can offer most Muggleborns a substantial improvement when it comes to personal freedom and living standards, even if it may sound absurd to you. No wonder they feel obliged to support it.`
`But they cannot remember the times of general Freeman or Dracula.`
`And who controls their education, Ottmar? There is only a single one school of magic there and it is obligatory to attend it. They can shape the minds of the young generations as they see fit`.
`You have a point, general. But… could I be of any use, then? Could I help Ferenc somehow? Is there any ritual for such a case?` Ottmar returned to the original subject.
Elisabeth filled her cup, `It depends how much you are ready to offer for his life,` she stated plainly, `But generally, the answer is "yes". There is a very powerful ritual for these circumstances. `
Ottmar stared at her, bewildered.
`So if it`s possible why haven`t you tried it straight away…` he blurted out, "…madam?" he added hastily.
`Because the ritual requires that its subject asks its master for it,` she replied, `The master cannot propose it first. And you are the only one who came to me, asking the right question. Unless I have overseen those crowds waiting at my door, that could be, I have just one eye…` she sneered with disdain.
`So was it enough to ask?..`
`Not enough but necessary. The soul magic is rather intricate, Ottmar. I couldn`t be the subject anymore, my soul is far too tainted for it already. But together, we can do it. I hoped,` she sighed, `That someone will come to the idea to ask me for advice… But that it is you, it surprises me, honestly speaking…`
Ottmar clenched his fists.
`My origin is not a…`
`Ottmar, your mother was a Muggle circus artist,` she looked at him sternly, `And a daughter of serfs. So, a slave. That she escaped and joined a circus, only speaks in her favour. That she was capable of a dangerous and physically demanding job, also. And that she became a lover of a rich man…`
`General, please…`
`You must judge a person within her society, Ottmar. There… among Muggles, women are never themselves, they are just daughters, wives or mothers of someone. In her world, I would be born not as a Batory, but as an "of Batory" and then, with every of my husband I would be "of someone" again. I remember when I visited some distant Muggle relatives of mine with my old friend Vuk Malefoi… They took me for his wife. And they called me, imagine, "madame of-general, of-Vuk, of-Malefoi"… Which is a normal way of addressing a woman among Slavic Muggles. Anyhow, their women have only one task in life, that is to get a man. Those who are lucky to have a dowry…`
`A what?..
`The family of a girl must pay a man for marrying her. This is a dowry. Anyhow, if your family can pay, a priest babbles some nonsense, and you become a respectable woman. Your mother did not have any money, and obviously couldn`t be an acrobat all her life, Ottmar. So there was only one way for her left. Your father, on the other hand…`
`General, please…`
`He mourns over his loss and does not want to see how much he still has,` she snapped.
Ottmar sighed. General Batory was as gentle as a charging erumpent, but she was right.
`What I meant saying I am surprised, was that, well, we argued badly last time. I was wondering why you came to me to look for help, then. I bet it wasn`t easy,` she explained.
`It`s Ferenc who doesn`t have it easy. So, what I have to do, general?`
`First, you must think it over. The ritual is bloody, savage and dangerous. When I was subjected to it, I ended up with a crack in my skull… `
And she went on and on, adding more and more gore details. Finally, she said, `If you still want to do it, I will be waiting in the garden at the sculpture of a phoenix, at the sunset.`
.
.
`What were you talking about with young Grindelwald?` inquired Ludwiga, having met Elisabeth in the palace garden.
`With Ottmar?`
`Yes, him. He looked rather pale having left your office.`
`The poor boy worries about Ferenc to death,` sighed Elisabeth, `He is a good guy, I think. He could influence both Ferenc and Gellert positively.`
`They are not allowed to meet. A family jinx, ` replied Ludwiga and coughed.
`What jinx?` Elisabeth looked at her, surprised.
`Wait,` Ludwiga rubbed her temples and coughed again, `Could you conjure the Grindelwald family tree, please?`
Elisabeth nodded and with an intricate wand movement made it appear in the air.
`I admire your memory, Elisabeth,` smiled Ludwiga, `Ah, look here. Waldemar Grindelwald had a daughter Anzelma and a son Arnold. They argued. I don`t know why but my great-grandma claimed Anzelma had brutally cursed a servant of Arnold, who was a squib, just because she wanted to test a new incantation.`
`That sounds plausible. Who respects squibs?`
`Be it as it may, it must have been serious because the argument escalated, and Arnold pushed Anzelma off the walls of Nurmengard castle. Also, in his wrath, he severed the connection between her and his own branch of the family. And look, this is Arnold`s son Siegmar, the very same who married Charlotta. Their son Manfred in turn was the father of Loki…`
`…father of Gellert. And Ottmar, on the other hand is a descendant of said Anzelma. Oh, she was born Grindelwald and married a Grindelwald… How lovely.`
`You also married a Batory once.`
`Yeah, once. And I had quite a few of my cousins of different grades as lovers…` retorted Elisabeth.
`Elisabeth…` moaned Ludwiga and coughed again.
`Well, what could I do? I am related to half of our world! But back to business, I will take care of that jinx.`
`You want to dig a grave open?` Ludwiga`s face twisted in disgust.
`Oh, come on. A few threats and a good kick suffice in such a case. You are coughing a lot, Ludwiga…`
`Unluckily. Your medicament is not as strong as we hoped.`
`The next batch should be better.`
`Well,` sighed Ludwiga, `We cannot expect wonders. I should have died 1809. If you had not saved me… If you have ignored our call for help you would have never become Dracula`s…`
`Nonsense,` growled Batory, `I bet I would have.`
`You think he was your destiny?` Ludwiga was visibly surprised.
`My wyrd?` snorted Elisabeth, `Oh, come on. I just know him and myself…` she smiled sarcastically and came back to cutting flowers.
`If the medicament fails,` said Ludwiga after a moment of silence, `I think you know some more… radical methods?..`
The golden sickle swooshed, as Elisabeth cut a stubborn stalk.
`At a price, Ludwiga. At a price.`
.
.
`This in injust,` protested Albus, `Gellert meant nothing bad!`
`But he is a Seer!` His father slammed the table with his fist, `I know, he helped Ari,` he added with a quieter tone, `But…`
`You hate his grandfather, Dad. Mister Gildo, I mean.`
`Listen, Albi,` sighed Percival, `There are good reasons not to trust him. He was a Quidditch star in his youth, you must have noticed his skills, right? But during the Dracula`s war he betrayed his own city. Thanks to him general Batory took New York in three days.`
`He was a traitor? And he looked so gentle.` Albus eyes got wide.
`Well, a traitor has to be able to hide his true nature,` snorted Percival with disdain.
`But why?` wondered Albus, `It`s such a shame. And it is dangerous as well.`
`A personal grudge, I heard,` replied Percival, `But I don`t know any details.`
`Haven`t general Batory made him…`
`Well, he helps her whenever she needs a good flyer, so I don`t think so. Anyhow,` Percival sighed again, `There are many dangerous people in Gellert`s family. I know you are clever and brave, son, but you are still no match for them. I don`t want you meddle with them.`
`But Gellert had told me…`
`You mean the prophecy? That he comes back with sweat, blood and tears?` Percival shook his head, `It doesn`t sound… friendly.`
`But lady von Bayern had heard it as well and she didn`t seem worried at all. You told me, Dad, that prophecies get fulfilled in a strange fashion, that they never mean what it seems at the first glance.`
Percival sighed again. Albus was already a difficult discussion partner. When puberty sets in, it will just get worse…
`Still, she didn`t want to explain who she interpreted it, right? Let me show you something, Albi. I think you should know…`
He brought a thick, heavy book containing genealogy trees of wizards of the whole word. Albus bowed over it, intrigued.
`This is Gellert`s family, isn`t it, Dad?`
`Yes, it is. Follow the female line…`
`It runs up to general Batory.`
`And then, look at her grandfather, Altair Batory. He was a cruel dark wizard.`
`A Dark Lord?`
`Oh, at most at a local level. If you want to see a true Dark Lord of quality, look up general`s Batory female ancestor line till the first man.`
`Wow, him? Peter the Tsar? Was he really a Muggle tsar, Dad?`
`They call him Peter the Great.`
`But where are his ancestors, Dad?` wondered Albus.
`This is an old magical book. It stubbornly ignores Muggles and I did not manage to force it to do otherwise… And he was a Muggleborn, you see.`
`But, Dad, general Batory is kind, no matter who her grandad was.`
`She can be amazingly magnanimous, this is true,` nodded Percival, `But she is as dangerous as a rabid nundu. Further, Albi, she,` he pointed at another name, `Is a bloody dark witch. Cruel. Vindictive. Mad.`
`General Freeman just wanted to be free!` protested Albus, who had heard slightly different opinion about the witch, `Wouldn`t you fight if someone wanted to sell us as if we were things?`
`Well,` Percival sighed yet again, `I can understand why she became who she is. Still, she is unpredictable and cruel. Not to mention the father of her oldest son. He was the only son of a rich father. He had no reason to rebel.`
`You mean Mr Hunter, a husband of general Freeman? I know his son married a daughter of general Batory.`
A husband – sneered Percival in his thoughts, As if he ever had enough honour to marry the mother of his bastard. But probably she didn`t care as well. Or maybe she didn`t want a husband who gropes any pretty boy that doesn`t run away fast enough.
Still, he didn`t say it aloud; Albus, intelligent as he was, was just nine.
`Indeed, Albi,` he nodded, `The son of Freeman and Hunter married the daughter of Batory and this Gildo man. Albi, please, understand. Gellert helped us but we shouldn`t meddle with this family. They are dangerous and did a lot of illegal things. Criminal things. Just being their friend can bring you into trouble.`
`But madame Lovelace…` Albus pointed at another branch, `She is a great mind.`
`Charlotta Lovelace-Grindelwald, the great-grandmother of Gellert in the male line. Well, she is a genius, no doubt about that. Yet… It is also a strange story, Albi. She served under general Johnson, here he is,` Percival pointed at a twig of the tree, `A far relative of general Batory, as you can see. And a great-great-grandfather of Gellert`s half-brother Ferenc.`
`They had the same mother, Gellert told me.`
`Right. But coming back to Lovelace-Grindelwald… Well, as you might have heard, Johnson and Freeman joined forces, against the contract Johnson had signed. He also was nothing but a traitor. And Lovelace-Grindelwald was his Numerology and Arithmancy expert so it was her who took care of anything he swore or signed. Some time later, Johnson`s situation became so hopeless that he asked Batory for help. And at this time she was an outlaw who had broken the Auror`s Oath, no one trusted her. I assume Johnson also didn`t, he was just grasping at straws…`
`But him, general Batory didn`t cheat. She saved him.`
`She did.` agreed Percival, `This is why Johnson and Freeman supported Dracula later.`
`Wait, Dad,` sighed Albus, getting confused, `I read madame Lovelace-Grindelwald was one of Dracula`s greatest opponents.`
`An important officer of the European resistance forces, fighting his Dragon Guild,` agreed Percival, `Yet… She got captured, general Batory got her out of Dracula`s clutches and after his death, they both fought side by side during the Finistère battle.`
`So she was also a traitor?` moaned Albus.
`Son,` sighed Percival, `I have read the book regarding this battle, written by Mrs Bagshot, by the way. It was… strange, to say at least. Hardly anyone supported the side they should have… But I know general Batory can coax you into doing what she wants.`
Albus jerked. Batory was not like that. He has seen her and madame Lovelace-Grindelwald playing Quidditch together, eating at the same table, laughing. So he would never believe Batory have cursed, blackmailed, beaten the other witch into submission. No wonder some people thought so, but he had seen the truth with his very eyes!
`General Batory is noble,` he snapped back, `Mr Hunter was also nice to me.`
`Don`t even approach this warlock,` growled Percival, `He… falls in love with men. And believe me, he is not a romantic soul.`
Albus didn`t answer; there was so much to ponder upon, to be put into a logical order. He didn`t know yet, how dangerous logic can be.