A/N Now that I can start implementing this, it's a good idea to mention that I'll be responding to reviews at the end of each chapter, unless my reply is going to be super long, at which point I will reply directly. Both for questions and general comments, but questions have priority of course.

Enjoy.

Spectres had a meagre ability to communicate, which is why the Valerians were only so knowledgeable of what their Dark Lord had plans for. At least, that's what Lycus's parents thought. Of the three members of the Valerian household, Lycus had easily spent way more time around the Dark Lord's spectre than his parents did, even when combined. Marvolo had been sitting on his chest for the better part of five months with nothing to do but talk to Lycus, and that didn't include the brief communications they shared while Marvolo was still Voldemort.

His parents may not know much about the Dark Lord's plans, but he did. He wondered just how much his Lord was going to reveal about said plans to his parents.

Marvolo took a sip of his tea, knowing exactly how much he was going to tell. "I need connections in as many places as possible ready to perform when I tell them."

It looked to Lycus like maybe the Dark Lord wasn't going to be revealing any plans, per say. Just give them orders. He was almost surprised, but concealing your plans was something that a smart Dark Lord would do in his opinion.

Anton gave a measured nod. Lycus knew what he was thinking. Between his father's family being from Norway, his mother's being from Russia, and both being prominent pureblood families, it was child's play to have widespread connections.

But Marvolo's condition for those people would throw that thought right out the window, "They must be magical creature sympathizers."

Now, Britain had a major problem in and of itself when it came to degrading magical creatures, but they weren't the only ones. Few countries had governments or beliefs that allowed magical creatures to have rights and freedoms, and even then, they often didn't want to be giving those rights and freedoms away. The only country that truly held a medium of respect towards non wizards and witches was Australia. Which probably had something to do with the fact that the magical creatures in Australia were also part of the muggle world and they could threaten exposure of the magical world if displeased.

The teen knew most of his parents' contacts himself, and could count the number of magical creature sympathizers among them on his fingers. This assignment would not be so simple.

His father took a moment to contemplate this aspect before responding, "Is there a timeframe within which we have to have these contacts?"

Marvolo took another sip of tea, treating the conversation as though it were trivial. "By the time summer begins. I want at least twenty countries with at least one contact within each of them. We will be starting small. There is no need to rush right now."

Anton and Villa were, understandably, confused. Had Lycus spent the same amount of time with the Dark Lord as they had, he would be too. Voldemort was not known to be patient, either before or after his first defeat. This impatience was exactly the reason behind why he was defeated the two times he was. Had he waited until his spy figured out the rest of the prophecy, he wouldn't have gone in and been killed by a baby. If he hadn't possessed Quirrell, Dumbledore wouldn't have known he had come back yet. If he hadn't instructed Lucius Malfoy to put his diary in Hogwarts, he wouldn't have lost half his soul permanently. Lycus could go on and on about Voldemort's stupidity. But that was precisely it. That was Voldemort.

What his parents didn't recognize was that their Lord was no longer Voldemort. He was Marvolo, who had learned the first time he died that he shouldn't be so brash. That was Gryffindor behaviour, and even Harry Potter, the Golden Gryffin, had been more prepared and crafty than he.

Lycus could tell that his parents wanted to know why they needed to do this, but they didn't ask. Their only answer to the given timeframe was a simple "Yes, my Lord."

Marvolo sipped his tea again, a motion in which allowed for Empress, the horned serpent, to nudge his face. His lips twitched, but he was able to prevent the smile.

"These contacts do not need to do anything yet, I just need them to be available. We will begin operations during summer. I will require a list of definite followers by the end of March."

Anton and Villa affirmed their compliance with Marvolo's orders with another "Yes, my Lord."

Empress weaved her way around Marvolo's moving fingers for what Lycus could only assume was fun. It's not as though there was much for an eight inch baby snake to do. Marvolo waved his free hand to dismiss the two, leaving just him, Empress, and Lycus in the room.

"How many days are left for winter break?" the Dark Lord asked, eyes following the path Empress was taking rather than looking at the teen in question.

Lycus was also interested in watching the cute battle worm, who he never saw unless around Marvolo, but didn't allow himself the pleasure of doing so. Becoming complacent at home would make him complacent in public. "Eleven days."

"Good. We need to make a trip to Gringotts soon. I want you to review your notes on the Ministry and goblin history before we do." This time, Marvolo did look up at him, appearing keen to gage his reaction.

Lycus blinked, the only thing that betrayed his surprise. He hadn't expected for his Lord to set his plans in motion until after a number of possible followers had been established. "I see. When do you want the appointment to be set?"

A hand was waved again, though in an unconcerned manner rather as a dismissal, "By Thursday. It doesn't matter who it's with."

"And the other thing?"

The Dark Lord acknowledged Lycus's ability to recognize that he still had something on his mind with an eyebrow raise. "I have an assignment for you for when you are at Hogwarts. There are a few magical creatures that reside in and around Hogwarts, and I want you to meet with them to begin making relations."

Ah. That was not what Lycus was expecting. When Marvolo spoke of his plans to ally with the magical creatures of the world, he didn't think that Marvolo meant to befriend them. He thought that they were going to publically push for magical creatures to have rights and freedoms. That this wasn't the case, or at least not yet, told Lycus that he needed to operate under the radar at Hogwarts. With OWLs and now this, he had his work cut out for him.

"I understand. And what's the last thing?" his question further demonstrated Lycus's aptitude to know what people were thinking, though how he was doing that, Marvolo wasn't sure.

This earned him a glare from Marvolo, although it held no real irritation, "The last thing is something that I haven't decided on yet. It is of no concern of yours until I do. You are dismissed."

Lycus voted against continuing to antagonize Marvolo, unsure of just how far he'd be allowed to go now that Marvolo was no longer a harmless spectre. Instead, he opted to go write a letter to Gringotts.

Lycus was sure that the glamours wouldn't hold up over the bank's magic. Wizards knew next to nothing about goblin magic, so there was no way of knowing how to get around it, while goblins knew quite a bit about wizard magic, and could get around it no problem.

His suspicion was confirmed when the bank teller peered at them in a way that made him feel like he was being seen through. Because he was.

The goblin asked a question in both a polite and curt manner, the way only goblins can, "Business?"

Dacarus gave the teller a smile, not bothered in the slightest, "We have a meeting with Gnarlob."

The goblin returned Dacarus's smile with a bored look and an equally bored "Follow me." Asking for the goblin by name was enough to prove that the two wizards weren't ad-libbing, and if he didn't have to waste time looking through files to confirm what he already knew, he wouldn't.

He put up a line closed sign before stepping down to lead them farther into Gringotts. Lycus had, of course, been in Gringotts many times before, but it was only ever to visit a vault. This was a completely new experience that left him positive that the goblins made everything in Gringotts as confusing and unpleasant as possible to annoy their human patrons. He didn't know what would be worse: riding in a cart that was bound to fall but having no idea when, or being left in a maze of winding corridors that you would never escape. Both were equally possible when it came to dealing with an irate goblin.

The two wizards accompanied the goblin through those winding corridors - corridors that Lycus was sure he had been through multiple times before reaching their destination. Their guide opened the seemingly unlocked door, though it probably was, and presented them to the goblin whose name was displayed on a nameplate as Gnarlob.

Not big on flashy formalities between one another saw the bank teller heading back to his position after a quick look from Gnarlob, who proceeded to invite Marvolo and Lycus to sit in the chairs in front of his desk, along with a request to remove their glamours. Marvolo did so without protest. If the goblins recognized who he was, they did not say.

Gnarlob was a goblin who dealt more with the market and the Ministry rather than money or metal, and had adapted to the human preference of polite and drawn out meetings long ago. That being said, he did not have much experience in dealing with humans that didn't come from the Ministry, and especially not ones who felt the need to mask their identity. The letter he was shown was addressed to 'Whom it may concern', and was signed as 'Dacarus and Arnou'.

Normally Gnarlob would never take an appointment with someone who did not meet formality standards, but in this case, the informality was precisely the reason behind his curiosity. And because of this odd situation, he wasn't sure how to approach them.

Luckily for him and Marvolo, who wasn't so well versed in traditional introductions as he was in commanding people, Lycus had it all under control, "Good evening, Gnarlob. My name is Arnou, and this is my associate Dacarus. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us on such short notice."

Gnarlob tilted his down in acknowledgement, "A pleasure to meet you, Arnou. As I am sure you know, my name is Gnarlob. May I ask why you have decided to come disguised and under false names?"

Lycus deferred to Marvolo for the answer, not wanting to give away more information than wanted. "I am sure that what we have come to discuss will be a sufficient answer to that question."

The goblin quirked an eyebrow. This was turning out to be much more different than his usual visits. His interest was piqued enough to not throw them out of his office yet. He may be used to working with stupid humans, but he was still a goblin.

Gnarlob resolved to take a slightly more goblin-intuitive approach to these two by being more brusque than he was with the Ministry ponces, "Very well. And what have you come to discuss?"

This question focused more on what Marvolo was there for, and therefore he was the one to answer, "Put simply, we want to discuss Ministry laws and regulations on goblins. A more difficult explanation falls along the lines of wanting to work with you to change those laws and regulations."

It didn't take Lycus's talent for reading people to see that this intrigued and surprised the goblin. It wasn't everyday that humans came in to say 'Let's be nicer to goblins.'

"Why should I care about what you think you can do?" Gnarlob, rightfully, didn't believe that these two could have any effect on the Ministry's beliefs. The only thing that stopped him from ending the pointless conversation right there was the smirk he was given in return.

"It's not what we think we can do in the Ministry that we want to talk about. It's what we will be doing to the Ministry that we believe you will have an interest in."

Gnarlob pursed his lips, ever more curious about the reason these two came here. They both seemed so confident at that statement that he was inclined to believe that they had plans for doing this already, ones they could actually achieve. It was either that, or they were mad.

Marvolo continued before Gnarlob had the chance to reply, "We don't expect you to agree with us and be on board after just one meeting. This is just to set up relations for further correspondence. Of course, we do hope to eventually gain your trust and confidence, but for now we understand that is not possible."

Goblins were canny creatures, yet he had allowed the wizards more than a few minutes already for something that he thought was a lost cause. He took this to mean that his intuition was saying hear them out. He trusted his intuition - it never steered him wrong - but he had learned in his years working for the Goblin Liaison Office that you should never put your faith in anyone that couldn't prove they were able to think ahead of the game.

Just because they came here seeking to help the goblins didn't mean they were able to, and certainly didn't mean that they knew what they were doing themselves. Chances are they wanted to help but had no idea how. He attacked that point. "How are you going to change the Ministry?"

Lycus was once again the one that held the information needed to illustrate their means, "We know the laws that the Ministry had placed upon not only you, but every magical creature. We know them probably more than they know themselves, and just how outlandish and absurd they are. We want to recreate their regulations on magical creatures in accordance to your needs, not human fears. We understand that not all creatures are intelligent enough to think for themselves, and those creatures will be fairly handled based on their needs as well."

So maybe they did some research and had some ideals. That still didn't prove to Gnarlob that they had a clue about what it would take to achieve those ideals, or even what those ideals would mean if they were attained. "How do you plan on accomplishing this?"

Marvolo stepped back in for this, "You have your reservations, we have ours. Forgive any disrespect, but until we know that we can trust you, that is something that you cannot know."

Gnarlob leaned back in his chair and pressed his fingers together, evaluating that statement. It could either mean that they didn't have any plans, and were being clever about not revealing this, or their plans were the type that needed to be covert. If the second one was the case, than Gnarlob could guess that recreating the laws would take place after some demolishment. He found himself hoping for the second one. That he was hoping for anything at all was disturbing.

He allowed them their secrecy, instead looking for chinks in their knowledge again, "You say reconstruct the laws. In what way?"

Bringing out his notes on goblin history and the Ministry's laws would be a bit senseless, but Lycus remembered them well enough, "There are few things that we humans know about goblin culture, but one of those things is very distinct. It is always hard to please everybody, but I can assure you on three rights that we would provide for goblins once we can change the Ministry's laws - the right to use wands, the right to own property, and the right to claim any and all items that you made once the people who bought it have died."

Gnarlob felt a jolt of shock go through him at the last sentence even while he retaining his stoic exterior. Goblins held the belief that the maker was the true owner, not the buyer, and buying something was simply a way of renting it. That piece of culture was not one that many wizards knew, much less believed to be true. That these two would consider it something that would be made into a right for the goblins was a great boost in his opinion of them. Not to mention that it made it very clear that they did indeed know what their plans entailed.

His goblin nature was elated at that thought, but he squashed the feeling instantly. There was no guarantee that these two wizards could actually do anything to change the Ministry, and there were other issues that needed tending before he could even begin to put his trust in them, much less bring the notion to his superiors.

He took a few moments to think, and Lycus and Marvolo allowed him. He needed to weigh the pros and cons of continuing to speak with them. On one hand, if these two really could pull it off, the goblins would be given the respect and rights they deserved. Passing up that opportunity would see him beheaded if anyone in the goblin nation found out. On the other hand, if anyone found out that wasn't a goblin, he would be beheaded so Gringotts didn't face trial for having a goblin who was actively conspiring against the Ministry. And this is without considering the possibility that they didn't even have any plans. Gnarlob would be putting blind faith in them.

If he put faith in them. He didn't need to do that just yet. "Until I decide that this is worth more than the words being spoken, I will give you nothing more than more words."

That was all Marvolo needed to hear before he was showing off his teeth in a pleasant grin, "That's all I ask for."

Lycus took the reigns of control for the departure by standing up and bowing his head slightly in respect towards the goblin, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Gnarlob. I hope to continue building a partnership between us and I look forward to our next meeting. Have a good evening." This pretty much covered for both him and Marvolo, so all Marvolo had to do was stand and bow his head as well.

Gnarlob bowed his head back but said nothing as the two wizards donned their glamours and left.

With only three days left of winter break, Lycus was happily doing what he loved to do. Reading. He was able to finish a stupid book on self transfiguration and had since moved onto a book about animagi and metamorphmagi. This one was not only more extensive, but much more interesting. As a little side project, he was going to start looking into becoming an animagus and skillful in the art of self transfiguration. Self transfiguration would be his main focus as being able to give yourself gills, wings, different appearances that weren't glamour based, and various other practical features was extremely advantageous. An animagus form would provide limited advantages, if any at all.

But when you have a Dark Lord around, reading was sure to be disrupted. Perhaps Lycus could be reading in his room or workshop, but he made it a point to be readily available to Marvolo by either being in the library or one of the lounges.

Today he was in a lounge, appropriately lounging on one of the modular loveseats. Today was also a day the Dark Lord saw fit to interact with him instead of doing what a Dark Lord normally does.

Marvolo took a seat across from him, Empress laying over the back of his neck, far too little to properly coil around it. Lycus didn't bother checking to see who had entered, knowing who it was from the way his pendant stirred slightly from its non-slumber at the presence of Marvolo. He closed his book and sat up to find Marvolo appearing to be in contemplation. A contemplation that took a few minutes to end.

When it did, Marvolo gave Lycus an appraising look and spoke, "You're privy to a lot of things that your parents aren't. What do you think of this?"

Lycus shrugged, "It's not my place to decide what you tell or don't tell and to whom."

Marvolo expression let Lycus know that that wasn't the answer he was looking for, and amended this by adding his personal thoughts, "My parents defied you once by refusing to take the Dark Mark. In my opinion, this was the correct thing to do, and the Dark Mark is nothing but a flag that says 'Arrest me'. In their opinion, they made a mistake and would never do it again."

He wasn't sure if he should continue, but Marvolo didn't speak, letting his gaze indicate that he should. "They will do as you say without question, even if they want to question you. I doubt they would have responded to your question any differently than I, except they wouldn't have been able to follow it up with their own opinions in fear of defying you once more."

This still didn't ease Marvolo's gaze, making Lycus sigh. If Marvolo wanted to hear what he thought that much, he would, of course, give in to him, "My parents don't need to be told anything but what to do, because they will never do anything but what they're told."

While this appeased Marvolo's initial curiosity, it brought up a completely new one. "Can you elaborate?"

Oh yes, Lycus could elaborate. He could go on for a decent amount of time about his parents' ability to serve their Lord, and that's without beating around the bush he just did. To avoid annoying his Lord, Lycus decided to try and keep it concise, "You can tell them all of your plans, but they would never think to make contacts with people around the world who can help in carrying them out. They wouldn't think to tell me to contact the magical creatures of Hogwarts, and they most definitely wouldn't think about going to the goblins. They'd sit there and wait for you to tell them what to do because they're too afraid of fucking up to do anything themselves."

He huffed, clearly irritated with his parents, which Marvolo found amusing to say the least. Marvolo also now understood what Lycus was saying, though he just had to ask one more thing.

"Isn't that all my followers are supposed to do? Follow my orders?"

Lycus rolled his eyes as though that question made no sense. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if you believed that yourself."

This reply left Marvolo wondering how Anton and Villa raised a son who was willing to be this snarky towards him when they were apparently terrified of disobeying him. Nevertheless, Marvolo had already made up his mind that he didn't mind it, presuming it stayed within reason. Dark Lords need friendly banter sometimes, too.

Speaking of, Marvolo found this moment a good one to transition into some friendly banter now that he got that curiosity out of the way, starting with a topic of utmost concern to someone like Lycus, "What's this new book about?"

Amber eyes lit up, displaying every bit of stereotypical Ravenclaw bookishness within them. Marvolo briefly considered that this question was perhaps better left unasked, but the topic of the book convinced him that this was not the case.

"Animagi and metamorphmagi. It covers details of both that I haven't found in any other book and gives shortcuts to the otherwise deadening processes required to become either of them."

Marvolo had an interest in becoming animagus once, but that interest had long since dwindled away. The amount of time it took made the end result not worth trying to achieve. Place a mandrake leaf under his tongue for a month? He had better things to do. He had never thought of becoming a metamorphmagus, though, because he had been under the impression that you couldn't.

That thought was expressed as another question, "I thought you had to be born a metamorphmagus?"

Lycus's smirk let Marvolo know that he had expected that question. "While true that people we consider a metamorphmagus are born with the ability, that ability is simply a natural understanding of self transfiguration. Things like turning a matchstick into a needle can be as natural as breathing if you practice enough. The same goes for self transfiguration, just like any branch of magic."

"So you're going to learn how to become a metamorphmagus?"

Ravenclaw colours shone true as he nodded. Leave it to a Ravenclaw to find a way to do the impossible by reading something. "I'll probably never get to the level of someone born one, but yes. It'll certainly take a long time, but I won't have to wait a year to get any result whatsoever like I will with becoming an animagus."

Marvolo felt like it was question after question, because it was, and was asking himself a question of if this is what happened when you talked to a Ravenclaw about something they knew and you didn't. He imagined it was the other way around if you knew what you were talking about, and they didn't. A constant barrage of questions didn't sound any more pleasant than constantly asking questions.

"You're becoming an animagus, too?"

Once again, Lycus was clearly expecting this. It was beginning to look like Dacarus may be the charmer, but Arnou will be the one who actually controls the situation. What happened to Marvolo's Slytherin side? Shouldn't he be the one manipulating conversations like this? And not having to ask so many questions. Of himself or anyone else, as he was right now.

"Eventually. There is little reason beyond flying and invisibility to do so, but unlike most wizards and witches, at least I have those." his continued smirk let Marvolo knew that he was expecting another question, one which Marvolo did have but could answer himself this time.

Lycus's animagus was a thestral. Which then begged the question: "How do you know what you are?"

If the skip in question line surprised Lycus, it didn't show, "Most wizards and witches have an animagus form based their personality or magic, in the case that they have an animagus form at all. Wizards that become werewolves or vampires or are born a veela, among other things along those lines, don't have an animagus form, because they already have an alternate body. I don't have an alternate body, and my magic is tied with thestrals, which means that no matter what, I will have a thestral animagus."

This time, if Marvolo was surprised, he didn't let it show. All of his thoughts could be summed up into one final question, "How?"

"Simple. My parents performed a would-be-illegal ritual if anyone knew about it, binding my magic to that of a thestral." Lycus gave a sly smile, knowing, even if it wasn't visible on Marvolo's face, just how confused the Dark Lord was. He would admit that even he wasn't entirely sure what happened - the ritual was performed when he was a baby, so he didn't remember it. All he knew was that it happened, it worked, and his parents did it because they thought it would make him more useful.

"Simple," was all Marvolo had to say to that. He would need time to think about it before deciding to ask anything else. One question just led to another. He didn't want to be asking questions for much longer, so decided to drop the subject.

Thankfully, the next inquiry was directed at Marvolo instead of by him, "Something else on your mind?"

The ever so slight drop in Marvolo's shoulders let Lycus know that he successfully annoyed his Lord by knowing his thoughts. "Yes, there is. I have another project for you to do while at Hogwarts. I need you to come up with a way to contact me that is undetectable and quick, and doesn't require you to go through Anton or Villa. The sooner the better, but don't let it hinder your progression with your other job."

So now Lycus had OWLs, befriending at least four different groups of magical creatures, self teaching self transfiguration, and inventing a new method of communication to keep up with at Hogwarts. Let it never be said that the Dark Lord was languid. Lycus was going to need to get his hands on a time turner.

The teen sighed, dreading the end of winter break for once, but didn't let the sigh speak for itself, "Of course, Marvolo. In fact, I'll go get started on that right now." He stood up, ready to go to the library to begin research. He supposed he could always put self transfiguration off until next year, if not after the plans were completed. If he did that, he was sure he'd end up putting self transfiguration off until he was twenty.

Joshua the Arcanis: I would agree that it's been more humourous than adventurous so far, but the first two chapters were mostly plot set up. Even so, the day that I write a chapter fully devoid of humour is the day that a snowball survives the sun. I'm glad you like the story so far, and here you go.