Chapter 55: Righting More Wrongs
As Regulus lay tangled with Kreacher on the bed afterward, he silently realized that he wasn't certain he could ever forgive himself for his past mistakes and all the hurt they'd caused to Kreacher, to himself and his family in general. He had to do something to help Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan as soon as possible. At least that day would come sooner than later. Perhaps that would ease at least some of the aching sadness in his soul as would the death of Voldemort if Potter could manage to pull it off. Kreacher's and Severus's open lack of confidence in the Boy Who Lived did admittedly give Regulus a bit of anxiety when it came to the very near future.
The next evening, Regulus, Kreacher and Gellert were already in the library with Wolfgang when Severus, Mag and Filius arrived at Adler Manor.
"I brought the book," Mag said, presenting it to Wolfgang who murmured his thanks as he took it. Regulus felt a surge of excitement at the prospect of a new book to peruse and a new magical art to glean from its pages. He hadn't picked up anything new in far too long. From the matching gleam of interest in Gellert and Wolfgang's eyes, it was clear that they felt the same.
"We'll need a few days to study that," Gellert said and Wolfgang nodded in agreement.
"We can keep our prisoner relaxed and subdued during that time, though, no worries," the half giant assured. "Thanks to Regulus's most excellent vampiric mind control, he's as pliable as...well someone under extremely good vampiric mind control," he concluded with a chuckle.
"How does that work," Mag asked Regulus curiously.
"She's into Muggle psychology," Severus said a bit proudly. His dark gaze was equally proud as it rested on the red head at his side. Snape looking at anyone like that was still a bit disconcerting for Regulus, but he was pleased for the other man nonetheless. It truly meant there was literally someone for everyone, and Snape hadn't done half bad. Mag was an interesting and talented young lady who Regulus looked forward to getting to know better. One of the unexpected benefits of returning to the land of the living, as it were, was adding to his circle of friends.
"Ah," Regulus nodded. "Muggle psychology. I recall you mentioning that. As for the vampiric mental control, it's very interesting...What vampires do is a form of hypnosis, I suppose, impressing onto the mind that which we want them to think. It is a mind to mind connection," he explained and Mag nodded slowly.
"I think I understand." She gave a quiet chuckle. "In some ways, one could say such works parallel to Muggle psychology."
"In this case, for now I have simply told the new guest to relax and be at ease and Kreacher put him to sleep with a sleep spell," Regulus said. "He is quite good at those."
"Thank you," Severus told Regulus and Kreacher, and they both nodded.
"What, exactly, is it that I am here to help with," Filius asked, blinking and tilting his head curiously.
"Sorry, I should've said earlier," Severus said, giving an apologetic chuckle. "What with so many points to consider, and so many things to get exactly right, my mind got away from me on the matter. As for what I was hoping you could do... you've placed so many excellent defenses on Hogwarts. I was thinking once everything was completed that you could place defenses on this man's mind, so that no one will notice that it was tampered with."
"Ah," Filius nodded thoughtfully. "That's a bit different than anything I've ever done before, but I'll certainly give it a try. It's a good thing every thing else will take a bit of work, because I'll need to ponder this one."
Severus nodded weakly, a fleeting look crossing his face that Regulus interpreted as either worried or ill. Unfortunately considering they were going up against Voldemort, he well understood the sentiment. Any words of encouragement he may have wished to give his friend would've been hollow and empty so he remained quiet.
"I called Bramble in to freeze the dark mark last night as soon as Wolfgang, Regulus and Kreacher returned with our prisoner," Gellert spoke up. "So that part is done successfully."
"Thank you, and please thank Bramble for me as well, when you next see him," Severus said.
"Albus just wrote a few hours ago, and he is coming tomorrow during the evening hours to transfigure him into you," Wolfgang added to Severus. "We realize that you can't risk leaving Hogwarts too often, so he sent a Pensieve for you to deposit some memories in. We can get started layering them into our Death Eater's mind as soon as he's been transfigured. Gellert knows a memory duplicating spell that he will work on your memories once you've deposited them into the Pensieve so you can retrieve them again tonight before you leave." Severus nodded. "The Pensieve is on the desk," Wolfgang told Severus, gesturing to the corner of the room. The Pensieve in question sat beside a small stack of books on Adler's heavy oak desk. Walking over, Severus sat down at the desk and promptly got to work. Regulus watched him drawing a large quartz and obsidian wand from a deep inner pocket of his robe and felt a stab of envy. It would feel amazing to work spells with a wand possessing twice the strength of a wooden one! He wondered if Mag had made any progress on his wand. As she wasn't currently occupied he turned and quietly broached the subject.
"Were you able to make any progress on my wand," he asked and she smiled.
"Actually yes. I feel that lava rock with quartz would work best for you, but Gringotts only had small bits of lava rock in stock so my goblin jeweler had to order a long piece, then cut it into the shape I want, that being the six sided shape of a crystal. It will be paired with a clear quartz and though the shapes don't have to match, I feel they should in most wands, yours included." She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Trust me I understand that you are eager to have a wand again, and I am trying to rush the process as much as possible, but you want this done right. It will be well worth the wait and you'll be glad you stuck it out for perfect rather than just suitable because perfect feels soooo much better in the hand!"
Regulus smiled back, nodding in understanding. "I can imagine...and shall eagerly do so until my wand is ready," he said honestly.
"Lava rock is made of the same volcanic material as obsidian, and has protection and fire energy, but it forms slower than obsidian," Mag explained. "Somehow I think this feels more like you, your energy and your magic."
"Well I can't wait to see it," Regulus said, meaning it. "I am happy to pay you extra for the extra effort of having the stone cut and such," he assured.
Mag shrugged slender shoulders. "Don't worry about it. I chose the stone, after all."
Before long, Severus was finished. "There you are," he told Gellert as he stood with a sweep of black robes. The blonde wizard nodded and took his place at the desk in front of the pensieve.
"If Albus wants more memories, have him leave a note specifying precisely which ones," Severus told Wolfgang. "I tried to think of everything Potter or Voldemort may find important but due to my own stress these days I very well may have overlooked something," he admitted.
Wolfgang nodded and Severus turned to watch Grindelwald at the Pensieve. Interested in the technical mechanics, Regulus watched on as well. The memory duplication looked quite a lot like the book duplicating charm that Regulus had discovered in his later days at Hogwarts. Grindelwald worked fast and soon the Pensieve was nearly full. "I will need to return some of these to you before I finish," he said, and Severus nodded, approaching so that he could do so. This happened two more times, the Pensieve growing full, and Grindelwald restoring more of Severus's memories to him until it was all done. "I think that's all we can get done tonight, but we're making great progress," Grindelwald said, rising from the desk once he'd restored Severus's final memory.
Wolfgang, having duplicated the book on magical empathy that Mag had brought while Grindelwald did the same with Severus's memories, handed it back to her.
"We'll be in touch as soon as their is anything new to report," the German half giant told Severus.
Severus nodded. "Thank you again."
Wolfgang smiled. "We all help one another...You're welcome."
For his part, Regulus was honored and humbled to be part of a group that focused so intensely on helping one another to remain safe and strong. Such had never been a thing of Death Eaters, so wasn't something he'd particularly come to expect. It was obvious from the look of discomfort on Snape's face that asking for help and taking help when he'd learned to be so independent and self sufficient made him extremely uncomfortable. Filius must have read this on Severus's face as well, for he gave the potions master a reassuring smile. This will all be behind you before you know it, hard as that is to imagine," he said, patting Severus's arm.
"And we're all survivors," Grindelwald said, flashing a smile. "We're all too good to be otherwise, and they can't take us down so easily." Severus nodded. The blonde wizard was living proof of that, and like Severus, Grindelwald had also had the support of their group behind him. Regulus found himself nodding along with Snape, also taking comfort in Grindelwald's strong and encouraging words. Severus departed for Hogwarts along with Mag and Filius after promising to keep in touch for progress updates. Wolfgang passed Gellert and Regulus their duplicated copies of Empathic Experience, the book Mag had provided. Regulus couldn't resist opening his directly and glancing at the first page. "This should be relatively simple, but taking a few days to study it over will ensure no mistakes are made," Gellert said, turning a page of his copy as he spoke. Considering the man's impressive abilities, Regulus wondered what sort of book Grindelwald would actually find challenging.
"Other than helping Severus with the staying alive bit, what else are you doing against Voldemort," he asked, turning to the blonde as he lowered his own book. "Because whatever it is, I could help. I'm always looking to do more against the bastard."
Grindelwald's mouth tightened slightly. "Not much, truly. I am not allowed to work at my fullest, due to the prophecy that clearly states that things must play out between Voldemort and Potter. It is quite frustrating, but I am only to serve as back up if that goes wrong."
"Mr. Grindelwald has, with the assistance of Mr. Zabini, made several magical items to strengthen Hogwarts as well as to allow the staff to keep tabs on all areas of the grounds," Wolfgang gently interjected. "They have also made us all a safeplace to rally in case things go South in a way for which we are not prepared. They have truly been invaluable." Though Regulus knew this was true, he also knew that it wasn't nearly enough for Grindelwald. The man had led the largest rebellion that wizarding society had seen in centuries, and the restraints he was under here obviously chafed. "I am sorry," he said simply as his gaze met Grindelwald's. Gellert looked mildly startled by Regulus's words, but after a second, his expression relaxed into a smile and he nodded, obviously appreciating the understanding he saw in Regulus's gaze.