Gellert Grindelwald's chapter, finally. A look into what the Alliance is up to. I will also introduce the other players on the ground before Newt and Co arrive.

Ancient Regime

Paris was a city of light and shadow. Romance and carnal debauchery. For each street of gilded facades above ground, lay equal miles of human bones and stinking sewers below. Walking in the evening streets, he had already been propositioned thrice by les filles de la nuit, streetwalkers who plied their trade in the city's streets after dark. The last one had been a scared, half-starved child, dragged about by a brutish pimp. If one ever needed to remind oneself Muggles are filth… He transfigured the brute into a cockroach and stomped on it, grinding it into the cobblestones. The girl had fled in terror. Perhaps she would flee the city, or find herself another pimp, or wind up dead within the month from illness or starvation. It mattered little to him. She was No-Magique. Nothing.

The rain of the night before did little to cool the muggy heat of the city. He cast a discreet cooling spell. He needed a proper base to operate from. Hotel rooms worked for him and a few trusted acolytes, but to have more of them in attendance, he would need to rent a townhouse or take one. Hotels lacked privacy. He could not use magic to fix a badly made dinner in the restaurant, or yell jinxes at the chef. A better neighbourhood perhaps…

Vinda Rosier had offered the use of one of her family's properties in the city. An opulent but decaying mansion occupied by a crippled old wizard, a distant uncle. There would be house elves to wait on them, but Grindelwald did not trust the old man. A fallen pureblood wizard was still a wizard. There might be favours involved or long hidden vendettas waiting to be stirred to life. He did not wish to end up smothered by his own bed because some Grindelwald ancestor had offended a Monseigneur Rosier long before he was born. Blood vendettas were tricky things. Knowing what his father was like in life, he would not be too surprised if half the older wizards in the city had a bone to pick with him over a daughter, sister, or fiancée despoiled.

Old Rosier had three daughters – all apparently dead where the family was concerned, well before Vinda's time of course. It piqued his interest only because the eldest was hailed as a master duellist and was an alumnus of Durmstrang. There had been forbidden love, a scandal and open rebellion. Vinda had laughed, claiming none knew which of the sisters had borne a child out of wedlock, or what happened to that child. The mother was not important as far as Grindelwald was concerned. It was the child's father-line that mattered.

Well, well. This house would do very nicely… The dark wizard stopped in front of a townhouse. A man called out to his wife for his slippers. A teasing reply from the woman. No servants to fetch and carry. Good. Servants living in would mean additional complications. He would have Carrow make the necessary arrangements to have the townhouse at his disposal.

Grindelwald froze. He sensed eyes on him. He glanced about. Pedestrians milled about, hurrying on their business or home to bed. No streetwalkers or would-be robbers in this neighbourhood. Was it Albus or one of his spies? Perhaps he was getting paranoid.

Through the grating of the storm drain, the snake gave a lazy yawn, flashing her cotton-white mouth before slithering back to her wizard. She was a smart one, rumoured to be part runespoor. Bedivere would love to hear about what she learnt. It was hard work keeping up with Grindelwald and he better have a bowl of milk waiting for her pains.

Grindelwald Apparated to another part of the city. The Flamel house was still there on Rue de Montmorency as he recalled it. Old Flamel must have put in new charms and wards, recently too. Something must have spooked the old man. He remembered that awkward autumn in Paris, where he hovered about outside, torn between speaking to Albus or leaving. Whenever he plucked up enough courage to ask, Albus would be out. He had acted like some lovesick swain, hanging about just for a glimpse of his love.

The old man had been kind to him, feeding him when his meagre funds from his aunt ran out and giving him healing potions to fix the worse of the injuries he suffered thanks to the duel. He had been amazed Aberforth's hexes had done some serious damage to his person, including broken bones and badly bruised internal organs. He had been left coughing blood for two weeks afterwards. The smelly goatherd had thrown his hexes hard enough without resorting to Unforgivables. He had given the alchemist a false name and declined his offer of shelter, choosing to sleep in the catacombs or in the doorways.

Looking back on that chapter of his life, he was disgusted by his vulnerability and cowardice. When his body healed enough, he had sought to forget Albus in the seedy bars of the city. Some nights he drank himself into insensibility. Some mornings he awoke naked in bed with a total stranger and no memory how he got there. Often, he would be fobbed off with a few coins like some whore for his services. Yet he would always limp back to watch Flamel's house for Albus. He would eventually leave as that autumn turned into winter, chasing the dreams Albus had forsaken. Grindelwald would leave Flamel out of it – so long the alchemist stayed out of his way.

"Bedivere, if you must know my source. He heard it from a dozy rat snake on the docks. Just keep it quiet. He is a healer in New Orleans' Marie de Lourdes and don't want no trouble."

A parseltongue born to No-Maj parents, who freaked out when their son attracted what had seemed to them like every snake in the Appalachians. With the bad rep of parseltongues, Tina could understand why Galahad was cagey about revealing his source. She had met Bedivere at the Director's memorial. A part-Cherokee healer specializing in dark magic-related injuries, he wore a pet snake coiled about his wand arm– a cottonmouth named Lucia. Nimue had jokingly referred to the snake as Bedivere's fiancée.

"You will meet a tall dark stranger… Beware the stranger whose name is love."

Nimue had teasingly offered to do a divination for Tina during the train ride to Paris. It had the requisite faux predictions of long journeys, dark strangers, and dangerous romance. A tall dark man was gazing her way across the restaurant. Tina shivered despite the heat. He was also holding one of those leaflets for the Circus.

Yusuf Kama sipped his tea and glanced over to where the American witch was finishing her dinner. MACUSA was also after the Lestrange heir, the alleged Obscurial. His hand itched, a reminder of the Unbreakable Vow he had made to his father. He did not want to hurt anyone else as far as possible, but if she got in his way… steps would have to be taken.

"Yusuf… Promise me this, my son…"

Mustafa Kama had become deranged with grief after the loss of his wife. No one in Europe would agree to help him bind the Unbreakable Vow, seeing his growing madness and the youth of his son. They had gone to a remote backwater in the States to seek the help of Le Barone. The journey would eventually kill his severely weakened father.

Le Barone had used a cane in place of a wand. Yusuf was still underaged by international wizarding law, but the old wizard had declared him a man all the same. They had carried out the ritual on Le Barone's estate. Le Barone had called his apprentices out to witness the rite being conducted. Among these apprentices was a handsome boy with cornsilk-blond hair, who had called him a fool for making a Vow to a dying madman after the ritual was over. The same boy, now a man, had warned him in no uncertain terms that Miss Goldstein was not to be harmed. When an alleged necromancer warns one off…

"Your pere's bones lie in New Orleans and I know where…" There were blood curses that called on the use of an ancestor's remains. No, Yusuf would not test Galahad.

Leta Lestrange. Killing Leta would be impossible, Yusuf realized that early on. She had their mother's eyes even as a child. Corvus Lestrange did not love her. A daughter was of no use to him for carrying on his family name. Yusuf had caught glimpses of her over the years through the society papers, watching her grow into the beauty her mother had been. Even with Corvus IV dead, reconciliation was out of the question. Let her marry her English beau and find the happiness denied their mother.

Clarisse Lestrange, Corvus' next wife, was better known for her pedigree than her looks or wit. He had little patience for her once she had produced the desired heir. Malicious gossip alleged that her death shortly after was no accident, but straightforward murder by her husband after he tired of her. News of Kama's Unbreakable Vow had spread like wildfire somehow. Naturally, the baby was sent away. Yusuf suspected one of the young witnesses at Le Barone's present had whispered it to others of their own will or at their master's behest. It had gravely complicated his task. Years, it had taken him to track down Corvus' son. Perhaps it was for the best. Killing a defenceless infant or a child…

His eye itched. Yusuf waved the waiter over for the bill. He was not feeling well. His current hideout left much to be desired in terms of sanitation and he might have caught something. He had some magical eyedrops from Bedivere he had been using to ease the occasional discomfort. They had met on the liner to France a month ago, with Bedivere invited to give a lecture at St Denis' Hopital de la Magie. It did not escape the Senegalese wizard that the parseltongue healer was accompanied by several serpents, including an elderly runespoor. His people were more tolerant of those gifted with the serpent's tongue. It was only when he sighted Galahad embracing Bedivere like a brother in their hotel lobby that his suspicions were aroused. Once his mission is accomplished, only then would he visit a hospital as advised by the healer. Bedivere was Galahad's creature, healer or not, he was not letting him hold any tweezers anywhere near his eye.

"My Lucia speaks of a sister in need at the circus… This sister has a friend, who may be who you seek…"

Bedivere's serpent source was not misinformed. There was a blood maledictus advertised by the Circus Arcana. It disgusted Yusuf to think that anyone would exploit a witch thus stricken as a freak show attraction. Blood curses were passed down the generations. Most were unbreakable and healers would advise such patients not to risk having children who might inherit the curse depending on the severity. The woman would be recognized and acknowledged by serpent-kind as one of their own.

Skender's reputation for mistreating his employees and creatures were known to several Magical Law enforcement agencies but there was little they could do to bring him to task. He always managed to flee their jurisdiction before they would find any evidence of creature smuggling or illegal breeding. He was always able to produce the necessary licenses for the creatures in his show. There were also unsavoury rumours concerning after-hours private shows featuring his performers.

One of the reasons for the Circus' hasty departure from the States concerned a young witch who was found witless and battered after she left her parents' home to buy gingerbread near where the Circus was being held in Atlantic City. The nine-year-old was found on the Boardwalk the morning after, with signs of a brutal rape. The case was filed but put on the back burner by the local MACUSA office due to concerns about Grindelwald's being sighted in the country. The report probably never reached MACUSA' s head office at all.

"Eye still bothering you? Best have someone look at it proper. Will write you a prescription otherwise…"

Bedivere was sitting on a bench outside the restaurant as Yusuf exited, feeding his pet snake milk from a saucer. It was annoying the way Galahad was spying on him through the parseltongue.

"Tell Galahad to leave me to my hunt. I will not touch Miss Goldstein."

"I am not here for Galahad or Miss Goldstein. My Lucia asks you to be gentle with her sister – the Maledictus. They hurt her real bad for a very long time, in more ways than one…" Bedivere shrugged and handed over a prescription. It was for more eyedrops and could be filled at any magical apothecary in the city.

"So Lucia expects us to help her escape?"

Bedivere shook his head.

"No need for that. Her friend– that Obscurial - intends to help. She feels for him. You want to kill him, make it clean. No sense dragging it out… The man who truly deserves your hatred is long dead. Pity about the vow…"

"Bonsoir, Monsieur. I do not find pleasure in causing needless pain. You and Lucia have my word. A clean death for Corvus V…" Yusuf tipped his hat to the healer and left. The snake hissed angrily but the healer stroked her chin to soothe her.

"Oui, Lucia ma cherie. Much pain and heartbreak ahead. We can only try…"

Author's Notes:

I imagine that like Dumbledore's Army and Grindelwald's Alliance, there are other webs of connections binding the magical committee at a local and international level. Flamel has been around for a long time and has multiple connections. Grindelwald owes him in a sense, so even if he knows Flamel is offering refuge to Albus' allies, he is reluctant to attack his house.

Kama – Carnal love, lust, desire in Sanskrit. Nimue is warning Tina about Yusuf Kama. Let's face it. Lust does not have the same ring to it in a prediction.

It has been pointed out that the ownership of the Elder Wand can be won bloodlessly by disarming the owner as Draco did in the Halfblood Prince. Since we see Grindelwald (in Graves' guise) get disarmed by Newt, does this mean Newt is now the unknowing owner of the Wand? And then Newt gets disarmed by Yusuf Kama in the Crimes of Grindelwald. Note Elder Wand is still functional for Grindelwald throughout the 2 movies for powerful feats of dark magic and he uses it in a duel against Dumbledore in Bhutan. Did Yusuf get bested by another wizard along the way for the Wand to revert ownership to Grindelwald? If Grindelwald did his homework, I would expect him to at least Stun Newt to make sure wand ownership returns to him. Theory – if the laws of wand loyalty transference apply, Grindelwald might have lost the Elder Wand well before that duel in 1945, and perhaps to Dumbledore... Any ideas?