A/N So this is late. So late that I'm just going to apologize and move on. I'm not going to give excuses, because this happens to all novice writers. I think. Blah. Once again, no abandonment will happen. Ensuring y'all know that. Just a little necessary procrastination, especially with school running. I'm involved with time demanding clubs, so I don't have a lot of it to go around. The update schedule is probably going to have to be dropped (if that weren't obvious) until I get into the swing of balancing school and writing. And that's assuming I've gotten my creativity back and this isn't just a blip.
Enjoy.
Lycus wasn't the only one who needed to contact the other over the course of the last three months, having been told by his mother that the Dark Lord wanted to speak with him on a couple of things. Villa didn't know what they were; Lycus could only imagine.
He stepped into the room that was currently inhabited by Marvolo, who was sitting quietly in front of a benign fire, tea on the coffee table between him and the other seats. One of his hands held a document of sorts, being read, and the other was moving its fingers smoothly to give Empress challenges to braid through. The little serpent had grown a few inches in Lycus' time away, at least thirteen now. If only she could stay tiny forever.
The teen dropped into a seat across from Marvolo, setting his bag on the ground next to his feet ready to be excavated if he ever needed to pull anything out.
The man looked up, not surprised at all by his appearance, "Ah, Lycus, back from spring break. Very good," he put the document on the table, "We have much to discuss."
"We do. Do you want me to report before we continue on to anything else?"
"Yes. I trust things have been going well?" Marvolo asked, clearly not believing himself if the smirk said anything.
Lycus already looked bored of the Dark Lord's antics as he responded, "They've been going as well as expected. The centaurs and selkies are receptive. I'm going to be talking to their leaders next time I meet with them. The acromantulas were disagreeable at best, but I have a lead that may make them less so: they have a problem. If I fix that problem, they'll be in our debt."
Marvolo waited for him to continue, expecting more. He was waiting to hear about the house elves, but Lycus had no intention of jumping into that talk.
When nothing else was said, he asked "What is this problem?"
"I don't know. But they have a friend who does," Lycus looked at Marvolo questioningly when he nodded. "Do you know who it is?"
"You don't?" Marvolo feigned surprise, acting as though this was common knowledge.
With an internal sigh, Lycus replied "Not yet." This answer garnered an amused look from Marvolo.
"Good answer. It's Rubeus Hagrid." Marvolo told, to which Lycus nodded.
"That's who I thought it was." Lycus left it at that, waiting for the inevitable question that would transition him nicely into asking about Hermione, but possibly also into a mad Dark Lord.
He didn't have to wait long, Marvolo asking after sipping his tea, "What of the house elves?" He raised an eyebrow, evidently expecting no news on that front and not being happy about it.
"I haven't contacted them yet. But that's because they would go to Dumbledore the instant they heard that someone unknown entered the school talking about taking down the Ministry." Lycus explained, hoping that Marvolo wouldn't jump to a curse or two. The Dark Lord hadn't shown those tendencies as of yet, but Lycus also hadn't done anything so blatantly against Marvolo's plans.
"I trust you have a good reason for not making a way around that issue already." Marvolo said coolly, even while his posture would say he was heated. Lycus was only partially relieved by Marvolo believing he would have found a way around it if he didn't have a reason not to.
"Yes," Lycus began, seeing a bit of the tension leave Marvolo's shoulders. "There is a student at Hogwarts, Hermione Granger - you've probably heard of her - who created an organization known as S.P.E.W - the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. She's promoting house elf rights and protection. I think she would be a valuable ally, intellectually and politically."
"Hermione Granger," Marvolo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Isn't she one of Potter's closest friends?" Lycus nodded. "I see. Someone in her position helping us would certainly be useful." He continued rubbing his chin, thinking some more. Not being angry or annoyed was good enough in Lycus's mind.
Lycus answered one of Marvolo's future questions before it could be asked, "She will only be part of the magical creature aspect. She wouldn't know that Dacarus and Arnou are personas, or the real reason behind it."
Marvolo made a hum sound, still contemplating. They weren't even supposed to branch out into the Hogwarts' student population until after summer. Things were just falling into place there. Anything that sped the plan up was welcome.
After another sip of tea, Marvolo voiced his decision, "I will allow this if you ensure that she does not step out of line." Lycus nodded once, sealing this new source of stress in place. It did not go over the Ravenclaw's head that the Dark Lord did not mention her blood status. Lycus didn't know if that was progress in taking down Marvolo's hate of muggles, or an oversight on Marvolo's part. Either way, that ended better than Lycus was willing to expect.
"Now then, have you made any progress with the second task?" Marvolo continued.
Lycus hesitated, less positive on how Marvolo would react to this. He was very touchy when it came to his soul. There was no keeping something from the Dark Lord though, "In a way. I have an idea, but it requires my making a horcrux out of yours."
The Dark Lord's eyes took on a humoured serpentine glint, "Trying to defy death, too, are you?"
"Not at all. It's just that someone was able to make a mental connection with another person through a horcrux," Lycus reached into his bag and took out Nicandro Fame's journal, holding it up briefly for Marvolo to see. "This is his journal. He doesn't go into detail about the connection, but he does mention other things regarding the soul. If this idea doesn't work, I can remove my soul shard from your horcrux without damaging it."
Marvolo hissed softly and Empress moved to circle around his wrist so he could use his hand again. Lycus proceeded to hand the journal over at the prompt of Marvolo. He flipped through it, oddly impassive as he did so. Lycus didn't like that at all. One of the few things Lycus had that was truly above the skill and knowledge of other magical beings was reading body language and expression. Purebloods thought that they were good at being emotionless, but they never thought about their posture beyond being "proper." Not being able to read someone, especially Marvolo, was less than unnerving.
"Nicandro Fame," he said quietly, sounding almost as if he recognized the name. He shut the journal and put it back on the table. "I'll have to read through that before I agree to anything."
"Of course." Lycus agreed. That's why he brought out the journal in the first place.
"Since you have been progressing so well in those two, you should have no problem with another one." Marvolo smiled. Lycus didn't think it was because he was impressed. More that Marvolo was taking joy in giving him things to do. That would make him a fine delegator.
"No. I shouldn't." Lycus said slowly. It's not like it mattered if he did have a problem with it. Marvolo's word was, or at least would be, law.
"This is more important than befriending the creatures, but don't dedicate all of your time to it. It's for the goblins." Marvolo said casually, stirring his tea with a finger. His casual demeanor clashed with Lycus's tension, which was probably what the Dark Prick was going for.
"I need you to find the Sword of Gryffindor." Marvolo sipped his tea again for good measure, completely serene.
A flood of emotions coursed through Lycus in that moment, all able to be summed up as a simple heavy sigh. He should have known that the goblins would ask for the sword at some point. There had been a "rebellion" over it for Merlin's sake.
"Do I have a time limit on this?" he asked while rubbing his temple.
"No. Though I recommend finding it as soon as possible," Marvolo replied with a light tone, indicating his joy at annoying the teen. Lycus nodded in agreement. The goblins were crucial to their plot, and the faster they gained the goblins' trust the better. "Now that all of that is out of the way, I have a list for you." Marvolo motioned to the document he had been reading when Lycus came in.
Lycus's eyes lit up in recognition of the list. Part of the plan was to find someone who already existed and had a background of being a supporter of magical creatures for Marvolo to take over. As in, kill the person but keep their body to claim their status. This list was a list of those possible people that his parents would have gathered in their time trapezing around the world for allies. Each name had notes off to the side to explain their views and input into the world. Did they have money, were they of an Ancient and Noble house, where did they live, what were they doing for magical creatures, things like that.
This section of the plan was so they had an actual standing of some sort in the magical world to backup their claims. If they promised aid, but never gave any, what worth did their word have? Some things had to wait, of course. Centaurs, from the Forbidden Forest or otherwise, would have to wait until they had control of the world before they were able to be given land.
And while the Valerian name did indeed hold power and wealth, they didn't have a history of being advocates for magical creatures. They'd have to build it up, whereas others already had that reputation ready to go.
Lycus picked up the document and looked it over. There were twenty three names, all but ten already crossed off. The ones left had a clear theme: political standing and wealth, though the wealth did vary. Lycus recognized most of them himself, had even spoken to some of them once or twice.
The question then was which one could they take over without anyone knowing. If they had a lot of friends, those friends may catch on. If they were active in the government, Marvolo would have to use his time for that or find a logical reason to leave. If they traveled a lot, Marvolo would have to keep that up. Which wouldn't be so bad, but Marvolo wanted to be able to just hang out until needed. Delegate and such.
The whole point of this was so that there were "choices" of who would become the ruler of the Magical Empire. Dacarus was the obvious choice, but if he were the only one, the more clever creatures would point that out and require other candidates. Arnou was also a technical choice, but he wasn't the kind of person who wanted to lead. Not to mention that neither of them were real people. Marvolo himself could never let anyone know who he was, lest the magical world riot. They needed choices so people felt like they were in control, but all of those choices had to lead to Marvolo being King.
So there was the list. The list of people whose names could end up in the running of future King. Not that they knew that.
"I want you to look through the names and narrow it down. You know these people better than I do." Marvolo said as he leaned back, picking the journal up again to begin reading. Lycus nodded again and turned to the list.
Right off the bat Lycus crossed off Pershina Verinka. She was the twin of Aleksandr, who would no doubt notice her disappearance or change of person. They were both of the same mind when it came to magical creatures, but Pershina was the more outspoken of the two, which is probably why his parents didn't note Aleksandr as someone with political standing. Ultimately not useable.
There were two names from North America: Damien Cline and Holly Griffith. Cline, Lycus knew, was very active. He participated in every event possible, spreading his thoughts trying to change others. People liked him less than they normally liked magical creature supporters, and that wasn't a lot in the first place. His name was crossed off. Griffith, on the other hand, took a more subtle route. She had her own business set up with a communications department and welfare center for magical creatures, doing the job of the government for them. She was also a quarter fairy, so creatures automatically trusted her to not have underlying motives. The issue with her was that she wasn't aggressive. She made her opinions clear by actually helping magical creatures, but she didn't partake in any events. She didn't have a voice. Her name was crossed off too.
In South America, there was Gabriel Maciel. There wasn't much that Lycus could say against this one besides Maciel being a traveler. This was someone that Lycus had met on many occasions. In person, Maciel was about as kind and pleasant as a person could be without being a doormat. On second thought, maybe he was too kind. It's not that Marvolo couldn't harden him up believably, it was more that he wasn't leader material. He didn't absolutely have to be, but if he suddenly took on a leading role, someone would start asking questions. Strikethrough.
Next on the list was Lady Saske Daeli, from India, the first who was actually part of an Ancient and Noble house. Another person that Lycus had met. In the past couple of years, in fact, at some winter ball. She had asked him if he knew the Patils, and how they were doing since she hadn't been able to see them since they moved to Europe. Intelligent and pleasant company. One of the most charming persons he had ever met. Lycus didn't even know she supported magical creatures until seeing her name on the list, so she was either very subtle about it, or she never made national news. Both of those could be worked with. Her name was not crossed off.
In northern Europe, way northern on the island of Iceland, was Marina Absalon. She was part of the Ancient and Noble house Absalon, but she did was not considered a Lady. Her family had cast her out for being a supporter of magical creatures. Even so, she had built her way back up to being a prominent figure with an amount of wealth comparable to her family's. That cast-out made her a bit of a martyr, just one that didn't die. That could be good. Her name stayed as well.
From Lycus's own country of Norway was Lord Anders Devonshire. The Valerians and Devonshires were old family friends. Centuries of friendship between those two names. Back and forth correspondence was kept up between them even after the Valerians left for Ireland. Anders was kind of the perfect choice: no spouse, no children, Lord of a Most Ancient and Noble house, a leader who had already succeeded in making changes in Norway, half-veela, clever and intelligent so Marvolo wouldn't hate pretending to be him... He was almost too obvious of a choice. Or maybe that's just what Lycus wanted to think. He had a personal relationship with Anders. He didn't like the idea of killing the man just to further their plans, and he knew that Anders would stick by the Valerians no matter what. He would help regardless of if he was under Marvolo's control.
Reluctantly, Lycus left the name uncrossed to consider the next. Jotaku Nyobe, Namibia. His name held no weight until he made it. All talk but no bite, as simple as that. Your wealth and name meant nothing if you didn't use it. Strikethrough. Farther up that continent was Louai Nazari, an advisor to the current Egyptian Prince. If that wasn't considered weight, Lycus didn't know what was. Despite Nazari's advocation of magical creature rights, he was still seen as a respectable member of the magical community. He, like Anders, had successfully made changes in his government, which were beginning to take effect in surrounding countries. While all of that was great, he was focused within Egypt and the surrounding area. He did not care for branching out. Strikethrough.
The last name, the only one from Australia, was Alina Brooks. Brooks was a Noble name, but not ancient. Her gist was more along the lines of keeping the creatures happy so they didn't expose the magical world. She didn't genuinely seem to care for them like the others did. So she was crossed off as well.
"Alright," Lycus said after a few minutes, to which Marvolo looked up from the journal. "I've narrowed it down to three: Saske Daeli, Marina Absalon, and Anders Devonshire."
Marvolo set the journal aside. "Why these three?"
Lycus provided a brief explanation for them, "Daeli is of an Ancient and Noble house. She's on because she's the kind of person that catches your attention and leaves you hanging on her words. A natural leader. Absalon was cast out of her family for advocating the rights of magical creatures, so they respect her. She has built her own name and reputation. Devonshire is your Renaissance man: no ties, a leader, respected by both sides, head of an Ancient and Noble house, and he's half-human so magical creatures don't think he has an ulterior motive. All of them have clout of some sort, and are not restricted to certain creatures or countries."
Silence followed for a minute as Marvolo pondered the information. "It sounds to me like Devonshire is the one to go," he said. Lycus's grimace did not get past him. "Do you disagree?"
"Not necessarily. It's just that Anders is a family friend. He's the last person you'd need to take over to use." Lycus explained, a little more despondent than he expected of himself.
"Aren't I a family friend?" Marvolo grinned, though it was without humour and he dropped it shortly after. "Besides, Devonshire is the only one I'd worry about actually claiming the position of King."
"I suppose. But the thing is is that Anders wouldn't put himself in the pool if we asked him not to." Lycus tried. He was trying a lot harder than he intended to. It was kind of a surprise to himself. But hey, when you're parents raise you to be a servant, the uncle who treats you like a normal kid wins the brownie points.
"I see," Marvolo said. It sounded like he really did see. Though with what Lycus knew about Marvolo, that wasn't likely. "I won't choose anyone just yet. In the meantime, I am going to continue this journal." he picked up said journal, opening it to wherever he left off last time. In doing so, he just barely missed Lycus's slight relaxation.
With the silent dismissal, Lycus stood up and left the Dark Lord to his musings, opting for his own. He knew that Anders was not only the most reasonable choice, but also the most convenient. They, the Valerians, knew him on a personal "visit for summer" level. It gave them a cover and an easy ticket in getting to Anders. Nobody would question it. Daeli and Absalon were completely different matters. Getting to either of them would be difficult. Flooing to either of their places without notice was not out of the question, but they had no way of knowing if either of them had security.
If he just didn't care for Anders, this wouldn't be a problem. Not caring was the only way, it seemed. Figures that that was the one thing his parents hadn't tried to teach him.
The best thing about a break from school was being able to work on personal interests without having to worry about progressing the plan. Lycus did still have to think about that, but he could dedicate some of his time to practicing self-transfiguration and battle magic, or the underwater sled thing. The map was available for work as well, but with only the ability to send letters to Hermione and Luna, that was a slow going process. An alternative way to talk over the breaks would have been a good reason to bring up the communication thing if he hadn't already found something.
Granted, it had been a few days, and Marvolo had yet to get back to him on that. It didn't take that long to read Fame's journal, so he must have been mulling it over. There was still a chance Lycus would have to figure something else out.
And because the Dark Lord was busy with his muses, Lycus, for once since said Dark Lord came back, had a lot of free time. Enough that he had begun to get bored of his practice and projects. So he took the time to... get back to thinking about how to more efficiently progress Marvolo's plans. He really needed a hobby that didn't require effort and wasn't considered a job. He actually kind of missed the morning walks on Hogwarts's grounds. Maybe he'd start taking walks at home, too.
He could go walk around the manor, but he had seen those walls and floors too often for it to be fun. The manor grounds would be a good choice, since he had never bothered to visit them. That probably had something to do with the fact they didn't have any. They had a big ass library with more books than you could read in a lifetime. There were indoor dueling and exercise facilities. If they needed to meet someone, they'd visit their house, or the person would visit theirs. Neither side of his family had ever cared for things such as "the outside" or "nature." They did not do the extroversion thing.
So if he wanted to walk around outside or sit under a tree, he'd have to leave. And that wasn't a good idea, because he had to be easily reachable for the Dark Lord.
Lycus mused on what he could do to alleviate boredom. His father was a Potions Master. He needed ingredients. He could always buy them, but why do that if you could grow them to the exact quality and quantity you want? It'd take work, but it'd be worth it. Lycus would have to ask his father about that. He'd be willing to start the garden himself just to have something physical to do that wasn't demanding like exercise.
It's amazing what something like boredom could do to someone.
With the garden idea filed in his mind for later, Lycus sat down to enact the beginning of his own plan. It was still to better advance Marvolo's plans, but it was also of his own imagination. He was always more relaxed and flexible when working on things that were of his creation. That's why the Evanescent Cloak took such little time to complete, minus the Marauder's Map issue. It had nothing to do with what Marvolo expected, or his parents, or his peers, or acquaintances. It was just a fun little enterprise.
This did have to do with what Marvolo expected, but he could still remain mostly content knowing that he brought this upon himself instead of being given the task.
So he began writing a letter to Hermione. Not about their map, or runes. Instead, he approached the topic of house elves: how they have a necessity to be bonded to a witch or wizard, their joy in serving them, though still conceding that they still deserved genuine rights and protections, even if not accepted by the house elves themselves.
The next part of the letter was more of a gamble. He could mention other magical creatures and let her know that the restrictions extended beyond house elves. In doing that, he would open the centaur and selkie floor up to her, which could affect his current progress with them. As she was right now, Hermione wouldn't get along with any centaur besides Firenze. That also risked her finding of Arnou, and she wasn't to know about that. Granted, he could play it as needing a cover to hide his actual status from the magical creatures, so perhaps she could be allowed to know. One day she would, no matter what. She was too intelligent to slip that by forever.
He opted to mention the other creatures, but not specifics. She could do her own research, and he could fill in the gaps where needed.
At least there was nothing to exaggerate or add when describing magical creatures relationships with their magical governments. They were dramatic enough without dramatizing. And she was keen to catch on to that kind of manipulation too, so being able to avoid it was a plus. Oddly enough, it turned out that the best way to manipulate and execute this plan was by being honest. That certainly made it easier.
And of course his reason for contacting her was because of S.P.E.W, and how it led to him knowing she supported magical creatures, and the fact that expressing these beliefs to anyone was practical social suicide for a pureblood. So teaming up on this was beneficial for both sides: Lycus didn't have to commit social suicide while still being able to help, and Hermione had the financial and (some) political backing to give credence to her beliefs. Win-win situation.
Luna, who was very creature forward in a scientific sense, wasn't going to be sent a letter. Lycus had two reasons for this: Marvolo hadn't cleared her yet, and he wasn't entirely sure Luna would be such a positive influence. She was a lot more clever than people gave her credit for, but she was still outwardly dotty, which could hinder their progress.
If Hermione brought her up, he wasn't sure that she would accept those reasons, regardless of their logicity. She was still a Gryffindor, and that came with action based on emotion. Although, she had surprised him more than once at her aptitude in adopting a more "pure logic" way of thinking. So maybe that wouldn't be too much of a problem.
He ended the letter with his typical signature and stepped over to his owl to send it off. He stepped back over to his desk to continue to contemplate the Marauder's Map puzzle. Until solved, it would pester him.
In the following days as he waited for a letter back from Hermione and a decision from Marvolo, he did actually broach the garden topic with his father, who was receptive yet uninterested. Just as Lycus expected. Anton would never do something like gardening (physical labour? Ew) as a pass time unless there was definitive benefit. Which there would be. A hidden garden that grew those less-than-legal ingredients. No need to pay exorbitant amounts of money for them, and there was no trace to link them to dark activities. Plus Lycus was the one that would really be doing the hard work, at least at first. His father couldn't refuse that bargain.
Joshua the Arcanis: Those are both interesting ideas for the Evanescent Cloak, and I greatly appreciate that you took the time to come up with them. I don't know if I ever would have thought of those myself. Now I just need to see if one of them can be worked into the story... and if any of the characters would actually think them up themselves. As for the acromantulas, I know how to get their cooperation. No worries there. It's just that Lycus needs to figure it out, and that's not so certain.
A/N Since about, oh, too much time has passed since the last chapter, this story has kind of developed in my head, even though it hasn't really, so I apologize if anything seems weird, or there are inconsistencies. I was writing this over the course of that time, so my ideas were ahead of this chapter towards the end of writing it. That being said, I have some things I need to mention: who Marvolo chooses is going to affect the outcome of the story immensely; and there are currently at least three possible endings to this story. I won't name them, I'm simply letting you know that there are variations. I haven't decided on one yet, which is why I'm letting you all know, because your guys' thoughts matter. So, even though you don't know what they are, I'm open to your ideas on what they might be, or even what you think it should be.
Till next time.