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What is the Soul Eaters' attitude to disability?
Depends on their position in society, there's three classes of people in Sal's society: citizens, non-citizens and slaves. Citizens with disabilities are treated fine, they aren't looked down on and will be helped, accommodations will be made for them. For non-citizens they just don't care, it's up to the disabled person to adapt with their disability and if they can't keep up then that's on them, there's no obligation to help them or make things easier. For slaves it's very similar to non-citizens except they may be given what's considered a base level of help (such as providing limbs to amputees or anti-seizure potions to epileptics) but they can also be killed, slaves that aren't useful are liable to be executed in general and if disabled slaves aren't useful despite the base level of help they are also liable to be killed and are generally considered a waste of resources at that point
What will happen to people being trained like this?
They'd finish their training. If Sal were to close the Training Tower she'd stop accepting new students but the ones already there would finish out the program because they don't consider them able to be integrated back with normal children
Would she still close the Training Tower if she wins but Brutus isn't back on her side?
Sal isn't going to consider closing the Training Tower until every last bit of resistance is wiped out which includes all of Gray, she won't consider that she's truly won until then
How is the leadership of the Soul Eaters layered? Sal is obviously on top, but what about the rest?
After Sal it's her Lieutenants, then Generals, then Ministers
Oathan trudged through the cavernous underground halls of the Gray base with his face set in a firm frown, he didn't see why his magical skills needed to be tested. It wasn't like Molly or Flan needed to be tested and Cassia had seen him fight, had that not been the point of her attacking him upon meeting her? He felt like it was a waste of time… and it did maybe bother him a little more than it should to think that Cassia thought he was so incapable of magic he needed to be tested. And his frown only furrowed further when he saw a child was waiting in the doorless training room, was testing usually reserved for children? Surely she thought he was better than a literal child.
The child he realized bore a striking resemblance to her, a similar shape to his face and the exact same chestnut eyes complete with shadows beneath them. His hair too was a chaotic mess like someone had deposited a bundle of straw on his head, except in his case straw that was an extremely dark auburn. Clearly an Ashain, though he only looked around eleven so was too young to be Cassia's brother Anton or Molly's cousin Cres, a nephew perhaps? The kid was sitting on a stool holding a clipboard though as Oathan approached, he jumped clumsily to his feet. He looked severely anxious, making Oathan wonder if these assessments were a big deal to kids, the boy had a long wand holstered to the side of his washed out jeans in readiness and wore a leather jacket in an extremely dark shade of green. He hoped he wouldn't be expected to duel a child, that didn't seem fair for anyone.
"A- Are you Oathan?" the boy asked, biting his lip nervously.
"Yeah," Oathan confirmed and tried to give the boy a reassuring sort of smile, the boy was just a kid after all and this was hardly his fault, "I'm here for my assessment. What about you?"
"I'm Att," the boy said simply, Oathan waited for him to finish his sentence but instead he just started flicking through the parchment on his clipboard.
"You're at what?" Oathan pressed and the boy blushed.
"No, my name is Att," he explained, looking thoroughly embarrassed as he glanced back to him, "It's short for Atticus."
"Oh right, sorry," Oathan apologized, though it didn't look like it made the boy feel any better.
"No i- it's my fault, I should have explained it better, sorry," Att offered, biting hard on his lip again before lowering his eyes back to the parchment and scribbling something down with a pen. Oathan opened his mouth to try again for something reassuring but the boy cleared his throat instead, "A- Anyway, we should probably just get on with the assessment, there's really quite a lot to get through."
"Well we can't start until everyone shows up," Oathan pointed out and strode further into the room for a better look around, seeing an assortment of test dummies littering the edges of the room as well as one in in the center standing upright with a stick in its hand. On the opposite side of the room was a huge mirror that took up half of the entire wall from the ceiling to about waist height, in fact the mirror might actually be the top half of the wall. In it, he saw the look of confusion on Att's face.
"Um… everyone has shown up?"
"There's no one here to assess us."
"B- But I'm here?" Att insisted and put his pen hand to his chest, Oathan turned back to him in confusion, "I'm the one assessing you."
"You can't be serious!" Oathan burst out in frustration, she wanted him to be assessed by a child?!
"I- I know it's weird for me to be doing them," Att agreed, biting his lip again and looking ashamed, "But I'm grounded from missions until my leg's recovered."
"You normally go on missions?" Oathan wondered incredulously and Att merely nodded, "But you're a child."
"I'm a soldier," Att said with such strong conviction that Oathan almost had to do a double take at the sudden complete absence of anxiety from his voice, "I assure you I know what I'm doing, I've had a wand in my hand before I could walk."
"What happened to your leg then?" Oathan asked and Att was suddenly back to being a bundle of nerves.
"Oh, I g- got hit by a curse because Sally was too soft to kill," Att told him almost bitterly, yanking at one of the legs of the faded jeans to show a metallic prosthetic underneath, "Mom had Siberius amputate the leg- they thought it was for the best- and it takes a while for a new magical prosthetic to get used to you, can make you pretty clumsy while you adapt which obviously isn't ideal for missions, it's quite annoying really."
"I'm sorry," Oathan offered sympathetically as Att let go of his jean, the boy just shrugged without looking at him and Oathan felt a stab of concern for Pyxis and Hess, "Do Gray always use kids as soldiers?"
"No, it depends on the kid and on what the child's guardians want. Children need to learn and there's plenty of other things they can do to help out that doesn't involve fighting, everyone has to pull their weight after all."
"So your parents wanted this for you?" Oathan realized, trying to wrap his brain around the idea his father had betrayed the Soul Eaters to try spare him from.
"Of course," Att said as if it was obvious, looking almost confused at why Oathan would question this, "My mom wants nothing more for me to be a good soldier and as the leader of Gray, it sets a good example."
"Wait, your mother is Cassia?!"
"Yeah…?" Att confirmed and definitely looked confused now as Oathan's scowl deepened again, not sure why it bothered him so much to think that Cassia must already be taken, "S- So are you ready to get started yet?"
"Alright," Oathan said, heaving a disappointed sigh.
"Okay," Att nodded, not looking very pleased at his lack of his enthusiasm but nonetheless sounded more confident when he spoke again, "For the first part I'm going to give you a series of spells to cast, if you don't know it or can't cast it then let me know but if you do know it then try to cast it, nonverbally if you can. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Okay, the first is Acuta."
Oathan withdrew his wand and lazily slashed it at the dummy, thinking of the spell and almost cleaving the thing in two but it magically repaired itself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Att scribble something down onto the clipboard quickly before looking back up to him.
"Next is Expelliarmus."
"-oh wow, it's his birthday tomorrow actually," Albus realized, interrupting his own line of thought as it dawned on him tomorrow was the last day of July. He was sitting on the edge of his bed in the Embry's telling Lawson about how much he was looking forward to seeing his family, he was just waiting for the others to arrive before they left for the burrow.
"I met him once you yow," Lawson admitted thoughtfully, he was laying propped up on his own bed and had been listening politely the whole time.
"Really?" Albus wondered in surprise and Lawson nodded.
"Yeah, I doubt he renemebers me but he came to Wogharts to give a talk one time, afterwards he signed some autographs and answered some questions," Lawson explained then winced a little at the memory, "I tried to ask him about my stepdad and get him to sign a picture for my mum as a dirthbay present but I was so nervous I got my words all wumbled up and I think I just offended him."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that, he just hates signing autographs so I'm sure you didn't really offend him."
"He called me a bureplood supremacist?"
"Ah okay maybe he did misunderstand then but don't worry about it, Dad just misunderstands things sometimes," Albus offered before being distracted by a grumpy-looking Michael walking past with a tray of the bland porridge for the injured, he was just a tad hungry, "Man, I am so looking forward to my grandmother's cooking instead of this hospital stuff. She's an amazing cook, she also makes the best homemade fudge you've ever had in your life."
"I used to tlove fudge," Lawson sighed wistfully.
"Well if she has any maybe I can bring some back for you," Albus offered hopefully, suddenly thinking in fact it might be a nice treat for everyone, he knew Wyatt had a sweet tooth and the kids would definitely love it, the adults should too. Though he caught sight of Michael's expression as he gave the food tray to Byron, the werewolf was looking positively affronted at his suggestion.
"Untorfunately I can't really stomach fudge anymore."
"Neither of you can stomach fudge anymore," Michael interjected irritably, sweeping a glare between the both of them as he strode over, "Remember Albus, you're still on a limited diet and you can't overexert."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Albus waved it off dismissively, in truth he was also quite looking forward to not being a bedridden hospital patient for a few hours.
"You better. Also I think they're here so you can go."
"Oh brilliant," Albus said, grinning as he jumped to his feet, "I'll see you later, Lawson."
"Have fun," Lawson offered with a faint but encouraging smile on his withered face as Albus started towards the door with Michael, he hoped he'd be okay by himself.
"Hey Michael, can you do me a favor while I'm gone?" Albus asked and Michael came to an abrupt halt to listen, frowning at him already, "Will you make sure you talk to Lawson every so often while I'm gone? It helps with his hallucinations."
"Look Albus, you don't have to be nice to him just because you feel guilty that your dad's a shit Head Auror," Michael announced so loudly that Albus was afraid Lawson would hear, "We're not responsible for our father's crimes."
"Could you say that any louder?" Albus hissed at him, glancing over his shoulder and seeing Lawson's head had cocked, though whether from listening to them or his hallucinations he wasn't sure, "We're on the same side, the least we could do is try to be nice to each other, okay? Have a heart, you know that thing that you used to have. He's been through a lot, I would've thought you of all people should be able to relate."
"Why would you think I'd be able to relate to a degenerate drug dealer who murdered his daughter?!" Michael snapped as angrily as ever, glaring murderously at him as he folded his arms. Albus wondered if Michael really couldn't see the similarities or if he was focusing on the wrong aspects about Lawson deliberately, bitterly he also wondered if Michael might end up murdering his daughter if he continued to oppose Dawn joining Gray.
"He didn't 'murder' his daughter, it was negligent homicide," Albus insisted, vaguely being distracted by the sound of the doorbell but he saw Richard on his way past to get it, "Besides we're on the same side now, isn't that all that matters? We should try to be good to each other, he was good to us. Remember, kindness? Remember you used to have that."
"Hey, I'm kind! I'm a very kind person I'll have you know!"
"Then kindly shut up," Marigold coughed weakly from his bed nearby, "Some of us are trying to rest."
Michael threw Marigold a murderous look at this, however Marigold's eyes were closed as he was only half awake anyway. Regardless, Albus decided to take Michael's arm and guide him out of the infirmary room to the corridor to prevent him from further disturbing anyone.
"So will you do it?" Albus asked of Michael to try get the conversation back on track, he was quickly distracted however by seeing over Michael's shoulder who Richard had let into the house, "Molly!"
Albus rushed over to her excitedly, grinning wildly at seeing her again after so long. He almost went to hug her but stopped himself, suddenly unsure if she'd want to be hugged after she'd been tortured. At first glance she looked pretty much exactly the same as she always did, same curly red hair and sky blue eyes but she was paler and thinner than she usually was, her face more gaunt and most alarmingly, he realized she was now missing a few fingers just like Leebin.
"It's good to see you," Albus offered genuinely and she returned his smile, albeit somewhat weakly.
"Good to see you too," she said, "How've you been?"
"I'm fine. I mean, well I've been better but it could be worse, I'm just happy I'm allowed to walk around again."
"Just remember you're still on a limited diet or you'll be back to bed," Michael grumbled from nearby while Richard shuffled off.
"I'll remember!"
"Oh did someone arrive?" Hugo's voice asked as he popped his busy red-head out of the kitchen, he and his parents must've been who Michael had said arrived. Upon noticing Molly, he walked over and gave her a smile, "Hey Molly."
"Hey Hugo," Molly greeted him and also returned his smile while Michael slipped back into the infirmary, "Are your parents ready to go?"
"Dad is but Mum's in the loo again, Lily isn't here yet though so we still have to wait anyway."
"We might be waiting a while then," Albus sighed, really quite keen to be going, "You know what Lily's like with time."
"Yeah I do, that's why I told her we were leaving twenty minutes ago in the hopes she might actually be on time for now," Hugo explained and the three of them laughed.
"I guess we'll see then."
"How's Lat doing?" Molly asked of him instead.
"He's unconscious still," Albus told her as he led her towards the doorway of the infirmary to point him out to her, "They put him in a coma so he can heal better without disturbing his lungs or something, he may not look like he's doing good but they say that's the best thing for him."
"That's what Hogan did for Oathan too."
"Yeah it's some healer tactic, we just have to be patient," Albus said while Molly gazed over at Lat's unconscious form with a look of concern, he opened his mouth to say something else but was distracted by the chime of the doorbell again, "Wow Hugo, looks like your plan might've paid off."
"I know my cousin," Hugo shrugged with a wry grin as he went to go get the door.
"I'll go tell Uncle Ron, you can say hang out with Lat if you want until we leave."
"Thanks," Molly offered as Albus went back out into the hall.
"-don't see why I have to go at all," Lily was saying irritably as Hugo let her and Orous into the house, Lily still hanging off his arm from the disapparation.
Albus headed in the opposite direction towards the kitchen, carefully passing by Tabitha who was carrying a tray of potions for the patients before pushing through into the other room. Richard was putting the kettle on, Gail was moving some dirty dishes to the sink and Cassia was letting Antonius' dog back inside, the giant fur ball bounded past him excitedly to go find its master again. For the first time in his life, he wondered if the Burrow would actually be less overcrowded and hectic than where he was right now.
"Don't suppose you've seen my cigarettes anywhere, have you?" Ricard asked of him, Cassia spared them a look before following the dog.
"No, sorry," Albus said truthfully, barely even aware what cigarettes were because wizards tended to use pipes for smoking instead, "Don't suppose you've seen my aunt and uncle anywhere, have you?"
Richard jerked his head in the direction of the stairs, Albus muttered a thanks before going after them. He only had to open the door to the staircase to find them though, as they were having a hushed conversation at the foot of the steps. Of course they immediately stopped as soon as he opened the door, clearly he had interrupted them.
"Just wanted to let you know Molly and Lily have both arrived now so we can leave whenever you guys want," Albus informed him.
"Thanks, Al, we'll be right out," Uncle Ron offered with an attempt at a smile as Albus retreated, dodging Cassia's vulture as it also sought out it's master and meandered back through the Embry's kitchen to the hall where the others still were, Molly now leaning on the doorframe also listening to Lily complain.
"It's one family dinner," Hugo was saying to Lily to placate her, Orous now casually had his arm around her shoulder. Albus wasn't sure he liked how close those two seemed these days, it was like they were… overly familiar, "You'll survive."
"Your parents say they'll be right out," Albus interjected and Lily sighed irritably, leaning back against her boyfriend and resting her head against his shoulder.
"And I don't see why Orous can't come," Lily continued complaining.
"Because it's just family, Molly isn't bringing Scorpius either."
"Freddie's girlfriend Caitlin will be there."
"Caitlin lives with him," Hugo pointed out, "And they have three children, I wouldn't be surprised if she's not already pregnant."
"What?!" a new voice snapped sharply from behind him, they turned to see Aunt Hermione approaching with Uncle Ron not far behind, she looked mildly panicked.
"Freddie's girlfriend Caitlin, I said I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't pregnant again already."
"Oh."
"She's not," Molly added disinterestedly while Aunt Hermione seemed to relax slightly.
"Right then, let's get going. We don't want to be late."
"How are we not already late?" Lily wondered curiously as they all started moving towards the door, "We were supposed to be there half an hour ago?"
"See you later, Lil," Orous offered, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"You call that a goodbye kiss?"
Orous looked around at them a little awkwardly before giving her a kiss on the lips instead, Lily didn't seem satisfied by this either as she wrapped her arms around his neck and started snogging him passionately instead. And snogging… and snogging…
"Um… Lily?" Albus prompted with a false cough, tapping his sister's shoulder when that didn't get a response either, "Lily?"
"Hmm?" Lily mused as she finally pulled away from Orous, Albus thought that someone ought to have the 'talk' with her soon.
"We're going."
"Right, right," Lily sighed and detangled herself very slowly from Orous, "Bye Orous."
"Bye," Orous reiterated as they started to move towards the door, making Albus realize that his aunt, uncle and Molly had already left. Lily stopped so abruptly just as they reached the door that Albus almost walked into her, just as Hugo put his hand on the doorknob.
"Ooh wait! I think I forgot my wand."
"It's sticking out of the pocket of your jeans."
"Oh right, thanks," Lily muttered, pouting again as Hugo opened the door.
"C'mon Lily, it'll be good to see everyone," Albus offered enthusiastically as they made it outside to join the others, his aunt and uncle were talking good-naturedly to Molly in the bright sunshine.
"Good for you maybe but Dad thinks I'm five."
"Just because he's overprotective, that doesn't mean he thinks you're five."
"Alright, is everyone ready?" Aunt Hermione spoke, taking charge before Lily could respond, "I'll apparate Lily, Ron will take Hugo. Are you and Molly sure you're good to apparate yourselves?"
He and Molly both nodded, Lily heaved a sigh before offering her hand to Aunt Hermione while Hugo took Uncle Ron's arm without hesitation. Albus closed his eyes to focus, he did have his license though he hadn't had as much experience with apparation yet as his aunt or uncle, or even Molly and this was his first time apparating since his injury. He focused on the Burrow and as he heard a series of pops around him, disapparated, for a second he had the uncomfortable feeling of being forced through a tube and then his feet were on solid ground again.
"They're here! They're here!" a small voice squealed and Albus opened his eyes just in time to catch a glimpse of red hair running back into the Burrow.
He smiled at the sight of his grandparents' lopsided home before hearing a sharp intake of breath from beside him, he glanced to his left and realized it was Molly. She looked suddenly panicked and her eyes were skimming the comforting scene in front of her with an expression of abject alarm, Albus frowned in confusion.
"Molly?" he said her name and she seemed to shake herself out of it to look at him, the fear remained in her eyes, "You alright?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Molly lied, nodding and looking back to the Burrow, her worried eyes continuing to skim it. Or not? Her eye movements weren't following the actual building, it was very like when Lawson was reacting to something that wasn't there. He hoped Michael remembered to talk to him.
"Oh there you are!" the other Molly Weasley said and Albus saw his grandma bustling out of the Burrow towards them, "Oh Ron! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"
His grandma was in tears before she reached them, sobbing as she hugged her youngest son, burying her face in his chest and he just patted her back gently, tried to tell her that it was alright. Behind her other Weasleys were spilling out, he saw his dad on her heels looking at his closet friend with a pained expression before spotting his daughter and hugging a still pouting Lily. Uncle George and Uncle Bill came out, each holding a baby – their grandchildren, Lulu and Cres respectively – while Caitlin came out cradling the very young baby Godric who he saw already had a mop of red hair, Victoire and Teddy came out, little Charla, Roxy, Freddie- who had been quite close to Molly due to their shared love of Quidditch- went right over to Molly and gave her a big hug, Albus was glad to see her smile as she hugged him back. Vale was there too, hanging back in the doorway looking on wistfully.
Albus didn't have time to dwell on him though as his father had found his way to him and he was pulled into a firm hug himself, the first of many as there was much hugging and sobbing- mostly from his grandma- to go around, everyone seemed to have hugged everyone at least once before they all started filing into the house. Albus had managed to refrain from crying until stepping through the door, his heart warming and getting stuck in his throat at the same time as he saw they'd set up a large very homemade banner saying 'Welcome Home Everyone!' He couldn't quite put into words the range of emotions he felt coursing through him as he gazed at the mishmash of letters in varying colors, sizes, skill levels and methods of art, the scent of his grandmother's mouthwatering cooking permeating his nostrils, the buzz of conversations around him from a familiar gabble of excited voices reuniting. He wasn't like his dad, he liked Hogwarts but it wasn't home to him and as much as he liked being a part of Gray, that wasn't home to him either. This on the other hand, this was home, even more so than Grimmauld Place had been despite growing up there. Whoever had said 'home was where the heart is' had never been more right, he hadn't even realized how badly he'd wanted to come here until he was here, he only wish he'd thought to ask to bring Lydia so she could've been welcomed into the clan.
It was bittersweet though, being here made his heart ache in a good way but also a bad one because there were a lot more people than Lydia who should be here but weren't. His mum had been one of seven but only three of her brothers remained now, and of them one had been widowed and another divorced, they only had one parent left as his grandfather was gone too. Victoire was the only one of Uncle Bill's children still alive, though a part of Dom survived in her orphaned son, Cres. Molly was the only one left of her whole family branch, her parents and sister all gone. Uncle Ron and Hermione had lost their only daughter, his father had lost his wife and two sons, he'd taken in Vern who'd been killed by his eldest son and James… there was no coming back for James now. Uncle George was doing the best with both his children not only alive but one of them producing children of his own, instead he'd lost the business he'd built with his beloved long-dead twin when the Shadow Master had razed London to the ground. They should be here too but they weren't, none of them were ever coming home again… and he couldn't help but wonder when they left after today, how many more of them also wouldn't be coming home again.
And so it went like that, Att would give Oathan a spell and he would cast it. At first it was pretty basic spells and your standard dueling ones, most of which he knew, though it did start to get more complex where there with spells relating to camouflage, more situational spells, even some non-combative spells that could still be useful, destructive spells and even painful spells like the Fracture Curse, Oathan wasn't as well-versed in all of these so there was some he couldn't do, some he straight up hadn't even heard of and didn't like the sound of all of them either.
"Alright," Att said finally, putting aside the clipboard onto the stool after he stood and instead striding over to the dummy that Oathan had been practicing many of the spells on.
Or he tried to stride anyway, he tripped clumsily on his prosthetic leg, glared at it and angrily whacked it on the floor before continuing to the dummy. In contrast, the boy withdrew his wand in a motion so smooth Oathan hadn't noticed it before he saw Att was twirling it over his other palm, lips moving too subtly and quietly that he couldn't deduce the spell but a large hairy bright burgundy spider was conjured into existence on the open hand.
"Impressive magic," Oathan complimented the boy and Att looked up in surprise, he didn't seem to know how to respond to this though and gave an awkward sort of shrug as he set the spider down on the dummy's shoulder, Oathan watched as it scuttled immediately up onto the top of the dummy's head then paused there as still as stone, like it was waiting for something.
"The next one is Crucio," Att said and Oathan's violet eyes snapped back to the boy in alarm, he'd made his way back to the clipboard and was holding it in readiness again with his wand holstered to his washed out jeans again. Oathan lowered his own wand to his side.
"No."
"You can't do it?"
"Never tried it, never will," Oathan said very firmly, Att looked at him for a moment before writing something down.
"Alright, last one is Avada Kedavra."
"No," Oathan repeated, this time more uncomfortably and shamefully lowered his head.
"You can't do it either?"
"I can do it, I just… I just won't," Oathan explained and picked his head back up, Att was looking at him like he'd grown an extra one, "The ability to kill isn't something I need to prove."
"But you do need to prove it, if not I can't mark it down," Att insisted, scowling with his bemused expression still in place.
"I've killed before with it and if I really have to I will again but I'm not casting it to prove anything here."
"But… it's just a spider, one that's not even really alive in the first place, I conjured it."
"I don't care, I'm not killing it," Oathan told him unwaveringly, the boy's scowl just deepened and Oathan supposed it would considering he'd lost his leg over someone not killing. He sighed and decided to try to explain, "You should never cast that curse unless you're absolutely prepared to take a life, even one you don't intend to. The first time I tried it was to avenge my father but… someone else got in the way, I killed someone innocent. Avada Kedavra isn't a spell to be used lightly."
"I'm going to have to write this down," Att sighed, looking suddenly very unhappy, "There isn't a tick box for it."
"Do whatever you have to do."
"H- How do you spell your name?"
"Like it's said, the word 'oath' with 'an' on the end."
"A- And um… h- how do you spell 'oath' exactly?" Att inquired and Oathan looked back to him, for the first time noting the unusual way Att held the pen, as if it was a strange instrument he wasn't sure how to use.
Oathan spelled out the word carefully, noticing how slowly Att was writing as well. Curiously, he crossed the entire length of the room to see, peered over the child's shoulder to look down at the page. It was actually a printed list of spells with several small boxes beside each, the printed titles at the top of the page listed 'unable,' 'verbally' and 'non-verbally,' each of these had a corresponding wobbly tick to whether Oathan could do it. On the very last one though instead of ticking a box, in shaky unsure letters with barely legible handwriting- far worse than the much younger Hess and Pyxis could do- that Oathan had to stare at for a minute to comprehend, Att had written: OAtHAn rUFyoozes too DOO sqeL BUt zes He KAn DOO speL
"D- Did I get your name right?" Att asked, biting his lip and looking up at him with anxiety-filled eyes.
"Err… More or less," Oathan answered cautiously, not wanting to hurt the boy's feelings but also not wanting to lie. Att's face fell anyway.
"What did I get wrong this time?"
"Um…" Oathan opened his mouth, not sure how he was supposed to tell him everything was wrong without upsetting him but Att spoke again before he could figure it out.
"I got them all wrong, didn't I?" Att wondered sadly, looking incredibly deflated as he hung his head back over the page.
"Att, can you actually read?"
"N- Not really," the boy admitted, much to Oathan's shock as he tried to imagine not being able to read. He loved to read, Molly and Flan reading to him when he was little had gotten him into the habit of reading before bed and they were doing the same with the twins, ""I- I'm not good at remembering all the letters and I don't know how capitals work, I had to memorize all of this list."
"Do most people in Gray not know how to read?" Oathan questioned with concern, not liking the idea of Pyxis and Hess being turned into illiterate soldiers. Though he almost regretted asking as it caused Att to blush and look even more ashamed.
"No, Mom just thought magic was most important so I didn't spend as much time learning as all the others did. Dunstan's always making fun of me for it, h- he says I must be retarded to not be able to do something so easy."
"Dunstan sounds like an asshole," Oathan pointed out and Att blinked up at him in sudden surprise.
"Dunstan's your nephew."
"Well then he's definitely an asshole," Oathan scoffed as he folded his arms, not thinking highly of either of his Gray brothers so wasn't surprised that one of them had an asshole kid.
"Taran says he's just sad that his mom died and jealous of me having mine."
"Maybe he's a jealous asshole then," Oathan shrugged and Att continued to look at him with a bemused expression, "So which of my brothers is he the son of anyway?"
"Orous, not that Dunstan ever met him. Maurice and Eliza wanted to wait until the war was over to have children but…" Att trailed off and looked saddened, "Well, I guess they waited too long because they're both dead now."
"So I heard. I was surprised to hear about Maurice, I thought he was a good fighter."
"He was, Serrick was just better."
"Serrick?"
"Mo Serrick, he's one of the Shadow Master's Lieutenants."
"Never heard of him," Oathan shrugged, not getting a hint of recognition.
"You'll wish you hadn't if you stick with us," Att scoffed bitterly with a shake of his head, "Anyway, w- we should get back to the assessment, that was just section one."
Eventually, Albus found the whole clan all congregated in the lounge- minus Aunt Hermione who had nipped off to the bathroom again- and was swapping handkerchiefs with his grandma- 'I'm not crying, you're crying,' they kept saying- as they both calmed down. Uncle Ron was laughing with his brothers over who looked the oldest, Uncle Bill desperately trying to stop Cres escaping because he did not want to stay put on his lap. Molly seemed to have relaxed slightly and was listening as Freddie excitedly regaled her about his daughters' talent for flying on toy broomsticks, Charla herself helpfully chiming in. Hugo was chatting with Roxy and Victoire about their work at the ministry, Teddy had been talking to them too before going to help Caitlin with putting Lulu and Godric down for naps. His dad was expressing worry over Lily, Vale hung nearby like a sad shadow that didn't know what to do with himself.
"-you must have been so scared," his dad was saying, worrying over Lily anxiously, his sister however very much looking like she was regretting every second she was here and Albus recalled her expressing frustration over being treated like she was five.
"Dad, I'm fine," Lily complained irritably.
"I'm just going to check on the dinner," his grandma said to him, drawing his focus away from their conversation.
"Need any help?" Albus asked of her, not sure how he should feel about how excited he was at the prospect of doing chores.
"No, no, dear, you rest."
"I've been resting for two months, Gran," he pointed out and out of the corner of his eye, spotted his dad's had turn.
"No reason to rush into it then, is there?" she insisted, smiling her wrinkled face and patting him lovingly on the arm, "Got to get some meat back on your bones."
"We do," his dad's voice agreed as he moved over to them, Lily bolting the second his attention was even half off her.
"Can I help?" Vale asked of his grandmother as he followed his dad over.
"Of course you can, dear," she agreed without hesitation and led the small child off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving him alone with his dad, who surveyed him sadly.
"You look terrible," he said finally.
"Gee, thanks Dad," Albus muttered with a roll of his eyes but his father's identical ones continued to be filled with concern.
"Do they not feed you much at Gray?"
"They feed me fine, there's just not a lot they can do when you practically have your stomach ripped out," Albus said without thinking because he was used to his predicament, his dad's expression didn't change but his face paled considerably.
"Gray shouldn't have let that happen to you in the first place."
"Gray had nothing to do with that, this was from when Hogwarts was attacked."
"Right, so doesn't that prove you're not in any condition to fight in this war?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know full well what it means, you're clearly not cut out for this. You're inexperienced, you've never gotten many good grades, you're not… you're a mediocre wizard at best and now you're recovering from a severe injury that left you bedridden for two months," his father reeled off with a resolute expression and Albus tried very hard not to feel like every criticism was a knife to the heart, "You're in no condition to fight in this war, if anything you're just a liability to them and it'd be better for everyone if you just stayed home."
Albus took a breath, he wasn't mad just… disappointed.
"Dad, there's plenty of Gray members who can't fight at all nor are even expected to so even if I was entirely useless as a fighter, there's still plenty I can do," Albus pointed out, almost surprised how calm his voice sounded but then for once he knew he was right and whatever his father said wasn't going to change that, "And I got hurt because I went to Hogsmeade to save Lydia and her family, it came at a cost but we did save her. You remember who Lydia is, don't you? Did her safety cross your mind even once?"
"Of course I remember who she is, and I care about her safety," his dad insisted defensively and his face looked hot for a moment, "But unfortunately I have no say over it, her mother does and by all accounts she also chose Gray. If you really want to keep Vern's daughter safe, you should try encouraging Olivia to leave Gray with you."
"We both think it's safer with Gray, I know you don't agree but like you said, it's not your call," Albus told him with a shrug and folded his own arms, "Are you really just going to spend the whole day badgering me about this?"
"Albus, I'm not doing this to badger you, I'm worried about you," his dad hissed, seemingly irritated that Albus wasn't taking him seriously though he could see the genuine concern buried in his father's eyes, "Just because you're my son, it doesn't mean you have to prove yourself, you're just going to get yourself killed with this determination to be a hero."
Albus couldn't help it, he laughed. A deep belly laugh that aggravated his wounded stomach and made his dad look at him like he'd gone mad, a few others looked over too.
"You think I'm doing this because I want to be a hero?" Albus wondered, recalling suddenly when he'd had the sword of Gryffindor and had given it Leebin, he opened his mouth to tell his father about this but thought better of it and instead merely shook his head with a smile, "I don't think you know me at all. There are more important things, Dad, I don't care about any of that stuff anymore."
"Since when?" his father asked sharply.
"Since I grew up," Albus said with a shrug, his father just stared at him with a strange expression, "I realized that sometimes what other people need is more important than what I want, and that sometimes what I wanted wasn't what I actually needed."
"That's… that's a very mature attitude to have, Al."
"Well someone's got to," he pointed out and his father just continued to gaze at him with that look, a look like he'd never seen him before. Maybe he hadn't, maybe Lily and James had a point about how little attention he paid to them, or maybe Albus had just changed too fast for him to notice. He wondered if his mum had noticed before she died, he wondered if she would be proud of him, if she'd understand and accept his decision. His stomach clenched in a painful way that had nothing to do with is injury but he seemed too fresh out of tears to cry at the thought of her, his voice was a little more hoarse however as he spoke again, just as his father had opened his mouth to reply, "How… How've you been? You know, since Mum-"
"I'm doing alright, don't worry about me," his dad answered quickly, too quickly but didn't quite avert his eyes fast enough to prevent Albus seeing the pain in them, "How've you been?"
"I… I try not to think about it mostly, try to keep my mind on other things," Albus admitted with another shrug, not sure if this was coping better or worse, "Lily and especially Abby visit a lot so I can talk to them, Olivia also comes with Lydia and has even started letting me babysit her a bit, there's others in the infirmary too and obviously I talk to Lawson a lot, been filling him in."
"Lawson?" his dad wondered in confusion and Albus practically felt his jaw unhinge at his shock.
"Yes, Lawson, surely you know who he is?"
"No, I don't think I do…" his dad said with a slight shake off his head, scowling deeper as if trying to recall.
"But you're the whole reason he's there!"
"Wait, do you mean Atoll? The convict who survived?"
"Yes!" Albus burst out, trying and failing not to yell, his dad just looked puzzled by his reaction, "How can you not know his name?!"
"I'm aware of his name, the last name just usually suffices and it's what's written first on reports so I'm not as familiar with the first."
"But how can you not be 'as familiar'?! Don't you care at all about what your Aurors did to him?!"
"Of course I care, that's why I arrested the Aurors responsible," his dad snapped, his voice taking on an edge of annoyance now and he crossed his arms, "Or at least the ones still alive."
"But do you care? Doesn't it bother you?"
"What is your problem?! I just told you I arrested those responsible, what more do you want, Al?"
"I want you to care, Dad! You could start with an apology."
"An apology? You know the man you're defending was convicted for a reason, right?"
"Yes, I do know. Because he told me, because he actually has remorse! Don't you?!"
"What do you want me to say?" his dad asked, sounding quite annoyed now, "I didn't pay enough attention to New Azkaban and the prisoners paid the price, I regret that it happened but I can't do anything about it now that I haven't already done. I'm sorry, Al-"
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to!"
"Did Hermione not give him the official apology yet on behalf of the ministry?"
"An official… Dad, are you even listening to yourself?!" Albus yelled at him, loud enough to get some looks and tried to calm down, it was making his stomach wound start to twinge anyway, "Forget an apology from the ministry, what about an apology from you."
"I don't even know where he is, Gray didn't say-"
"Fine but if you did know where he is, when you do meet him, are you going to tell him you're sorry?" Albus demanded and his father just looked puzzled.
"What does it even matter? Does Atoll want an apology in person?"
"Of course he doesn't, that's not the point-"
"Then what is the point?"
"I want you to care! Try Dad, try for some remorse!" Albus pleaded and his father gave him an even stranger look for a minute but he barreled on, "And not because I want it, not because the ministry expects it but just because you should. People should care about one another, people should want to help others if they can, people should feel remorse if someone gets hurt because of them, people should want to make up for their mistakes and make amends with people they wronged. Victims aren't just names on a report, they're people, human beings with lives and feelings and souls and thoughts and dreams. There's so much darkness in the world already, we need for there to be light. If we don't care about each other or feel remorse if we hurt someone then we're no better than the Shadows, no better than James-"
"And how do you know James doesn't feel remorse?" his father asked quietly, his mood shifting quiet abruptly as he stood up straighter and crossed his arms.
"Vern died in my arms because James murdered him then tried to burn the rest of us alive."
"You don't know he doesn't regret that," his father said thickly, his eyes sorrowful again, "People can make mistakes."
"I spend all day with his victims-"
"We all hurt people in battles, it's the nature of dueling-"
"-including victims he tortured-"
"He wasn't the only who tortured Leebin-"
"Leebin isn't his only victim, and these other victims he did torture all by himself, and something they and Leebin all have in common is that they're terrified of James," Albus hissed and his dad flinched a little, "Do you know what it's like to be James' brother in a room of his victims? I happened to like Professor Koray, you know, I took NEWT Astronomy because I thought his lessons were fun not because Astronomy is useful to me or anything and now for a second he looks afraid whenever he looks at me because James tortured him, horribly not just the Cruciatus Curse, and forced his own children to watch while he did it. And then Byron… Byron's just a kid, Dad, only Fourth Year, you should know him because he's the same poor kid James tormented in Hogwarts and now-"
"I know James has done bad things, Al, and that's why he's probably going to be in prison for a very long time but… that doesn't mean there's not hope for him, that he doesn't regret what he's become. He was still ordered to do this by the Shadows, they're the ones ultimately to blame."
"Do you know he raped them too?" Albus told him in a whisper, his dad started so much in shock he almost fell over, "Or do you think the Shadows ordered that as well?"
"Maybe…" he swallowed, not sounding remotely convinced.
"James was cruel and sadistic even before he joined the Shadows, they brought out the worst in him and now he's a monster, I don't know if it's even possible for him to fall further-"
"I understand, Albus," his father snapped, clearly not very comfortable on the subject of James, "What was your point?"
"My point was it's hard enough being surrounded by victims of my brother that I can't help without being around your victims too, if you won't help then I will and it has nothing to do with wanting to be war hero," Albus said quietly then heaved another sigh, hesitating only slightly before continuing, "Can I tell you something I've never told anyone before?"
"Of course," his dad agreed, looking back to him rather keenly, "You can tell me anything."
"Well… do you remember when I was about to start Hogwarts? On the platform, I was scared of being sorted into Slytherin?"
"I remember, I told you about how the hat takes your choices into account," his dad recalled.
"That's right," Albus nodded in confirmation, it felt like a thousand years ago now, "And your advice came in useful because when it went to sort me, the hat didn't think I was a Gryffindor."
"It thought you'd do well in Slytherin?" his dad wondered, eyebrows rising in surprise.
"No, not Slytherin, it thought I would do well in Hufflepuff. Not as bad as Slytherin but I still didn't want to be a Hufflepuff, I wanted to be Gryffindor like you, and Mum and everyone- even Abby had already made Gryffindor by then and I wanted to be with her- so I asked it to put me in Gryffindor, and obviously it listened and I was relieved. I never told anyone I almost didn't make Gryffindor, I was ashamed of it even, especially after that was the house that Vern made but now…" Albus trailed off and let a wry smile form on his face, he pushed his hands into his pockets, "I finally get it, Dad. Courage and bravery are good and all but I think there's more important things, kindness, patience, the need to do what is right not what is heroic no matter how hard it is. Now I wish I had been a Hufflepuff, I wasted so much time trying to be what I'm not instead of being who I am but I think I finally figured it out, realizing that was like shaking a mountain off my shoulders I hadn't realized had been there my whole life and I wouldn't trade it for all the praise in the world."
"I think you were right, Al," his dad admitted quietly after a minute, "I don't think I know you anymore, I'm sor-"
"Didn't I already tell you, Dad? I'm not the one you need to apologize to," Albus cut him off again, though this time his tone was lighter, "If Lawson's too difficult right now, maybe you should start with Uncle Ron."
"I'm still sorry."
"Well its okay, Dad, if we both survive this we'll have plenty of time to get reacquainted," Albus offered, clapping him on the shoulder and managing a warm smile that his father didn't return, his eyes were too sad. Albus wondered if it was because he was upset about him going back to Gray or if he just didn't expect him to survive the war or even about James, he didn't let his own smile waver however, "Anyway, I'm going to go help Gran in the kitchen, I'm starved."
With that, Albus turned on his heel and strode purposely towards the kitchen. He paused in the doorway to glance back at his dad, seeing him staring off in silent contemplation for a moment before slowly turning to Uncle Ron's direction. He hesitated for only a moment before starting to go over to him, Albus smiled inwardly and continued into the kitchen.
"I mean talk about unoriginal, why would you name the capital city after the country?" James complained to Yannis, Cyrus and a handful of Soul Eaters as he had had the Specters deposit them on a high skyscraper to give him a good view for the attack, "Kuwait City as the capital of Kuwait, like how stupid are these muggles? Though I guess what do can really expect out of the armpit country."
James took a few steps forward to survey his first conquest and did have to begrudgingly admit- though he wouldn't say it out loud- that for an armpit country it did have a nice city, it looked kind of futuristic with some of the fancy looking skyscrapers and, being a coastal city, was mostly surrounded by water and perched into a massive shimmering blue bay which admittedly looked nice and it was gorgeously sunny. Kuwait Bay it was probably called with how uncreative these muggles were, they were practically begging for enslavement, clearly they needed help. And he would help, he was practically their savior in fact. He heard a thud behind him and looked back, Cyrus had tripped on a low piece of metal hooked into… some muggle thing. What a stupid boy, it was easily avoided and after he'd been generous enough to allow his broken arm to be mended, what an ungrateful little brat.
"Help him, Yannis," James commanded, even though Yannis was already helping him up, "We need him on his feet not to trip and fall to his death, I don't want my premiere conquest delayed."
He turned away and peered into the bay, it was time, his big moment. He focused and barely noticeable dark patches started to sweep along the coast as Specters starting transporting his Inferi army there in droves, he was too far away to see it but he knew swathes of disillusioned Inferi were also popping up on the outskirts of the city. He could feel them, being in control of them was like wearing a glove, you could feel it there if you focused on it or moved your hand a certain way but otherwise it just moved with your hand, except your mind was a lot more complex to glove than a hand.
James took a deep breath, continuing to feel them building, hundreds to thousands and thousands, and thousands. Over a million had been grafted to him though it wasn't estimated he'd need that many, the Specters were just ordered to keep bringing them in until the attack was over to make sure he had enough to get the job done. One of the Soul Eaters walked over to him, one of the Elites, he would've been handsome if he wasn't essentially a robot.
"General James," the Elite spoke up, "The soldiers are all in position whenever you're ready to send the signal, sir."
James nodded in understanding and felt a smile creeping to the corners of his lips, he'd expected to be more nervous but it was excitement he felt buzzing in his stomach not butterflies. This was really it, this was his moment, his chance to prove his greatness and he would do it, he knew he could. He raised his wand into the sky and said the spell, a streak of jet black shot towards the center of the sun and exploded with a bang like a firework. Instead of a colorful explosion however, the black tendrils swirled into the skeletal snake of the Soul Eaters, its forked tongue flickering out menacingly at the unsuspecting people below. The unsuspecting, now trapped people as all around the city Soul Eaters had set the web of anti-apparation wards, portkey blockers, severed the outside connections of the Floo network and set up barricades to block the muggles. As long as they'd done their jobs, the exits would all be sealed within moments.
"Yannis, bring Cyrus and hand me his wand," James commanded, snapping his fingers at his slave who led the blond over and handed him the wand holstered at Cyrus' hip. James prepared the wand with the spell that would make it magically carry Cyrus' voice throughout the whole city, he then crouched to the boy's level and held the wand to the boy's throat, looking into his ugly unseeing clouded eyes, "Hold this to your neck like this and keep it there, everything you now say will be heard by everyone. I want you to tell them that their city is being claimed by General James Sirius Potter in the name of the Shadow Master, if they surrender they will be spared but any who resist will perish. The Shadow Master is merciful so animals, infants and small children will be spared along with anyone who surrenders, to surrender they must kneel and curl into a tight ball on the floor with their hands over their heads and remain in that position until they are given further instructions. If they're in that position of surrender than the army of undead will leave them unharmed, anyone not in that position will be slaughtered. Do you understand, Cyrus?"
Cyrus nodded, looking extremely pale now as he gripped the knobbly wand in his small hand.
"Well go on then, and do make sure to use my full name and title, it's General James Sirius Potter remember. I want them all to know my name, everyone should know the name of the one who liberated them," James added and Cyrus hastily started to ramble on in Arabic, the words echoing eerily because of the spell. James made to move then recalled something else and quickly grabbed his wand back, "Also really do make sure to emphasize they have to be in a tight ball, okay? If not they will die."
Cyrus nodded again to show he understood and James let go of his hand, the boy then returned the wand to his throat and started talking again in words he didn't understand, though James did recognize his own name being said as he had instructed and could only hope he wasn't forgetting his title, presumably Arabic had a word for General. He'd had quite a few… accidents with practice slaves who weren't curled up enough, animals and babies were much different shapes so it was much easier to get the Inferi to ignore them but people were a bit harder and… well, it could hardly be blamed on him that some slaves were so stupid they left their elbows or feet sticking out or looked too stretched out, it wasn't hard to curl into. Not all of these idiotic practice slaves had died anyway, some had just… had to have a few limbs ripped off before his Inferi realized they were in the right position so it wasn't the end of the world. Anyway, now the fun could begin.
James straightened up and raised his arms, closing his eyes for maximum focus and felt his Inferi start to move at his will. The ones in the water started to scale the docks and storm onto the sands, the ones on land charged towards the city en masse far faster than humans could run while others he funneled to the roads out of the city to scour the cars for any non-compliant persons attempting to flee or who stupidly thought remaining in the vehicles would avoid detection. In actuality the Inferi were under orders to pull people from vehicles and tear them to shreds, you couldn't make the surrender position from inside a car after all and you wouldn't want any attempted escapees.
Beyond Cyrus' echoing announcement, he started to hear faint screaming and the sounds of crashing cars, the shattering of windows. His lips curled into a smile and his closed his eyes twitched, longing to see how the liberation was going but he needed to get into full swing first to know his instructions were set. He had them surging through the streets as they reached them, clearing the streets of dissenters and checking every last vehicle, he had them storming the doors and climbing the walls to clamber through windows- didn't even matter if they were closed, smashing glass didn't harm the things already dead so it was an easy way in- because the more points of entry the merrier. He again thought clearly about the non-dissenters, had to make sure the innocent and the good people who surrendered would be unharmed, if Cyrus wasn't being clear enough in his instructions then that was hardly his fault because he was doing his part, his Inferi knew what to do now and shouldn't stop until they'd explore everywhere.
He opened his eyes eagerly, keeping his commands in the back of his mind as he leaned over the edge and gazed down into his city below. He'd expected them to look more like a crowd but instead it was like a tide from this distance, a dark wave with a crimson spray. An excited gasp escaped him as he saw the Inferi starting to climb, looking more like ants now as they scuttled up the sides of the skyscrapers and smashed through the glass. He marveled at them for a minute, the sounds of screaming and shattering windows becoming louder as the Inferi started attacking the higher levels of the skyscrapers much closer to them, it unfortunately came with the scent of death but James had been growing accustomed to it with his practices. It was impressed at how fast it was happening, he was even better at this then he thought he'd be. It was incredible how easily the Inferi cut through any resistance, even the wizards weren't putting up much of a fight- he'd be able to sense it if too many of them started 'dying'- as they were just too overwhelmed by numbers.
James looked around for someone to share in his excitement but found only stony-faced Soul Eaters, the blind child- still reeling off his call for surrender- and his own slave. He wished his family were there to appreciate his success or his friends, Carver would've been proud of him. Yannis would have to do, though James thought he was looking a little ill as he watched the liberation, he wondered if Yannis was afraid of heights. He pulled the annoyingly taller teen towards him, the slave flinched as he was seemingly snapped from his reverie. James pressed his lips hard against Yannis', for once in too good of a mood to care that Yannis did not kiss him back.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" James said, still grinning widely as he pulled away, "I'm amazing, this is going so well, so quickly. These Inferi are amazing, nothing can stand against me, no one can stop me- these people might be liberated before lunchtime!"
"Yes, Master James," Yannis muttered after a minute, his voice hoarse and his eyes as lifeless as the Inferi, "Real amazing."
"That's what I thought," James agreed eagerly, letting his eyes dart to the city once more, the way the breeze carried the screams making them almost like music, then back to Yannis, "I wish my dad could see me now, I think it would've made a good birthday present for him tomorrow, don't you think? For him to see how powerful I've become, more powerful than he ever was. Like, so what if everybody in the wizarding world knew his name? Everyone in this city, this whole damn country is going to know my name. And so what if he saved them from a dark wizard? I saved them from their own pathetic little lives that they were trapped in, I'm way more of a hero than he is. If he could see me now then he'd appreciate me finally, he'd regret all those times that he didn't have time for me."
"I'm sure he would, Master James," Yannis said blandly, "I'm sure he would regret everything if he saw how great you've become."
"Yes! Exactly, I really am the greatest."