Chapter 12, The Evil That Won't Die
When the general meeting was over, people broke up into their respective departments to take orders from their heads and continued organizing everything. The Lestranges weren't precisely sure where they belonged until Romeo waved them over.
"Though your duties won't be those of an Auror unless we are all in direct combat, you will be taking your orders from Gellert, so come along with us to level two for now." They all nodded and followed Romeo Valdez to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement then to Auror Headquarters. Aurors surrounded them and it was odd not to have to fight the buggers off. In fact it made Bellatrix's skin itch a little.
"I just wanted to say that this new Ministry is intended to be a better one," Romeo began, dark eyes scanning over the little group that surrounded him as they stood basically in the center of Auror Headquarters. "As we're working with people like the Lestranges and Mr. Grindelwald, it should be clear that we won't be aiming to abolish all Dark Arts. I don't expect them to stop using them and I hope no one else here is stupid enough to either."
There was a bit of polite laughter. "Dark Arts have their place. To put it bluntly, as we have no time for anything else, Dark Arts get shit done," Romeo continued. "What I will not tolerate is Dark Arts being used against the innocent. To hurt or torture the innocent or force them..."
He met the gaze of each Lestrange on that bit. "That goes for all of you...or anyone we apprehend. However the use of Dark Arts to track criminals and get your job done safely and efficiently is fine.
The use of them to defend yourself or others, or even to get information from the enemy, so long as they are not innocent, is acceptable. If you see others using the Dark Arts and they're not harming anyone, the Ministry doesn't care."
"And if we aren't sure," Greg, the Auror who had brought Grindelwald to them last night asked.
"Then you investigate cautiously," Romeo replied, and Greg nodded. "Now I will brief you on Delphini before giving the floor to Gellert. He is our head of defense, and the Minister wants everyone following his instructions with no bullshit or bickering no matter what because whatever he wants will be necessary. I understand that some of you have reservations, but this Delphini...thing, is a danger I still have yet to comprehend."
"Isn't she just a girl," a stocky dark hared Auror asked dubiously and Romeo chuckled. For his part, Gellert looked grim, standing off to the side of the group, closely surrounded by his family.
"She looks like a girl, but her power...is something unlike anything I've ever seen," Romeo Valdez said with a slight shudder.
Though Bellatrix did not know the man, she had a feeling that very little made him shudder. Okay now she was curious.
"Delphini was discovered to be a danger whilst at Hogwarts. She attended posing as a seventh year. That was roughly a year ago. Three students ended up dead. That's when the shit hit the fan and rightfully so. Speaking of that...Kereston has called Albus Dumbledore out of hiding to resume his post as Headmaster and Hogwarts shall reopen in the fall. With Dumbledore back, nothing like this will ever happen again, or so it is strongly believed. I have personally never met the man, but those I trust seem confident," Romeo said.
"Wait, isn't Dumbledore dead," Rabastan asked, and Romeo smirked.
"Not exactly. He just got tired of...a lot of things and at the time, felt it was best that it appear so."
Rabastan shrugged, obviously not truly caring. Bellatrix supposed it was logical though. Old Dumbledore should be harder to kill with all that genius rattling around in his brain.
"The newspapers never mentioned a Delphini in the unexplained deaths at Hogwarts," A female Auror with long brown hair commented, frowning. "They just mentioned an unknown breed of poisonous snake."
"Yes because the former Ministry didn't want problems outed which they could not solve...not even to their Aurors...At least not all of them. The unnamed snake is a maledictus named Delphini and that is what they didn't tell you," Romeo said.
"They knew Hogwarts would likely be closed if all the parents knew it was a student doing it that somehow went undetected. She was imprisoned in Bulgaria as their prison even has darker wards than Azkaban. They believed those darker wards could contain her, though we're uncertain as to why they felt Azkaban could not. Considering her powers are something I can't explain, though, I rather see where they start at least."
"I'm telling you, she is snake-baby! That's proof right there," Millicent the Amazon said firmly as she hurriedly approached with a sheet of strange white paper in her hand. Extending it to Grindelwald she did a little jig and sang. "Snake-Baby, check it and see. Voldemort had snaky sex with Nagini."
Rabastan snickered. Bellatrix and Rodolphus exchanged a look of shock. NO. It couldn't be...
Gellert Grindelwald let out an amused laugh at Millicent's antics as he casually took the sheet of paper from her hand. "Thanks, Troll. Good work. I shall be in touch soon."
At being called a troll, Millicent gave Grindelwald a dark glare which made Bellatrix decide they must be friends.
At Romeo's raised brows Gellert casually waved the paper. "I asked Millicent to give me a...they call it print out from online, of all the Muggle news or behavior that she finds the most disturbing. I intend to have the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts lot looking into it to see how much if any smacks of Delphini."
He turned back to Millicent. "I could eventually need you to work with them on that but you may go home for now."
Millicent nodded and apparated out, seeming eager to do so. "She just loves being helpful," Gellert commented with another amused chuckle.
"Delphini escaped a few months back," Romeo continued. "Even those in charge of the case have no idea how she managed it, but she did not appear to have outside assistance. Their incompetence is frankly embarrassing. Azkaban didn't feel confident enough to hold her and apparently Bulgaria could do no better."
He glanced to Gellert who nodded slightly in understanding. He'd made his own prison of Nurmengard strong enough to hold even him when it was used against him during his nineteen-forty-five capture.
"Who raised the girl, and when did she start claiming to be Voldemort's daughter," Greg asked. Bellatrix nodded eagerly. She was certainly interested in the answer to that question as well as why the girl claimed to be her daughter. The very idea made her skin crawl. The way the Dark Lord had looked in the end...well he was their god back then and one never minded how their god looked, but...were he to think of shagging, finding a partner should've been a bit tricky considering he looked rather like a reptilian...creature.
No lips...no hair...those eyes! They were not at all sexy eyes! It had not horrified them back then, though, because one's god was greater than human so should not look sexy...or even particularly human for that matter. Not only that, but their minds were bent, twisted into the shape of obsessively worshipful minions. They'd not have cared if he had three heads! She wondered then how many others of his followers had had their minds tampered with to ensure their constant unwavering loyalty after what her family had done.
"Delphini was raised by the family of one of his loyal Death Eaters. She grew up with the given name Delphini Dolohov for some reason, but she was raised in complete isolation by an old lady called Euphemia Rowle."
He turned to the Lestranges.
"Do you know who she is? If so your thoughts on the matter could be helpful."
They all shook their heads.
"There was a Death Eater named Thorfinn Rowle, but he was a bloke, not an old lady," Rodolphus offered.
"Not sure what happened to him, I.E dead, escaped or in Azkaban, because the Aurors took us away before all the dust had settled as it were. Perhaps the old lady was his mum or aunt or something."
"You weren't friends then," Romeo asked and Rodolphus shrugged.
"He was alright if not the brightest so...not really."
He gave an apologetic grin and Bellatrix sighed.
"It's the three of us. We have no friends," she explained, hoping this would save them from being questioned about every bloody Death Eater.
Of course they knew most if not all but not much of import about any of them. They hadn't exactly had time to socialize in the service of The Dark Lord back in those days. Not to mention most were out for themselves unless, like the Lestranges, they'd brought friends and family in, in which case, also like the Lestranges, they stuck with their own.
"So she was raised by a Rowle but given the name Dolohov. Strange. Why did Voldemort leave her with the name of that particular family," Greg wondered.
"Probably because the name had the proper wizarding alliteration that some families so enjoy," Rabastan said with a dry smirk. When literally everyone in the room, his own family included, gave the youngest Lestrange a dubious look, he stared defiantly back.
"Well? It's as good a reason as any and the Dark Lord was weird about stupid shit like that! Perhaps it really meant something to him. Also he may have believed giving her a fake name would protect her."
Grindelwald nodded. "Possibly so."
"I did find it strange that Voldemort didn't leave her with someone in the Lestrange or Black family, considering you were his most loyal, but now knowing that he knew you were not willingly on his side, that bit makes sense," Romeo told the Lestranges.
"As for when she proclaimed herself to be Voldemort's daughter, that was during her incarceration. She made grandiose statements about...well doing what we're trying to do now," Romeo said, expression mildly disturbed. "Changing the world for the better that is...But in a highly creepy way, something about being the new past and the new future and being what the world is looking for. It gets worse, though. Even more disturbing than that, she spoke of...well killing those students in her serpent form to resurrect her father from the dead with dark necromancy."
Bellatrix had been thinking that for a bad ass head Auror Romeo was a bit too expressive at times, then he went and said that last bit and her blood ran cold. Her knees went weak, and not in a good way. "No," she breathed, clutching at Rod's arm with one hand in a nearly frantic attempt to ground herself in the moment. "He can't come back," she insisted.
"All the Horcruxes are gone and he has to bloody stay dead! If he comes back he could lay hold to our minds again!"
Her chest was suddenly tight. It was hard to breathe, and the bloody room was beginning to spin. This was not good. She had to get it together. She was no hysterical little girl! Still they were speaking of The Dark Lord, no god, but a monster who truly disliked them, so in light of that, perhaps her response was perfectly reasonable. Not comforting.
"That will not happen. For a start, you shall all have body guards," Grindelwald assured. "So shall everyone holding a high ranking position here or in any other place that could be in danger from this Delphini."
Bellatrix nodded, relieved by the thought yet still concerned because it would be stupid not to be.
"As for you three in particular, I will also remove your dark marks. I understand that it is said to be impossible, but I'm Grindelwald." He tossed his blonde locks confidently, then at a concerned frown from Romeo he added,"Son of The Great Grindelwald, most Accomplished Wizard of all Time! He taught me well during all those times I visited him in prison, so you're going to be fine."
Bellatrix found herself struggling not to smile at his antics, and she gave a slight nod. "Thanks," Rodolphus said, and Rabastan nodded his agreement.
"What is it about her power that you find so impressive," Bellatrix asked, turning to Romeo.
"Well...from all accounts she has a bloody lot of it. I mean more than any single wizard has ever had, even The Great Grindelwald God or whatever." He smirked at Gellert. "She also accomplishes feats that are difficult to comprehend."
"That and all of her powers don't seem...precisely human in nature," Gellert added. "The Bloody Baron told me he sensed fire, perhaps some sort of dragon magic or elemental magic like a type of...ingrained Fiendfyre odd and impossible as it sounds."
Bellatrix opened her mouth to ask how the Bloody Baron had seen the girl, then remembered she'd attended Hogwarts long enough to kill some students.
"The other odd bit in the reports I have is that she claims to dislike her father, yet still wanted to resurrect him," Romeo said.
"Ah," Blaise Zabini drawled, giving an amused smirk from where he stood almost protectively at Grindelwald's side. "So she's bloody mad as well as powerful as all get out."
Romeo grinned. "That's about right. Kereston is also concerned that she is Voldemort's final Horcrux." He turned to the Lestranges. "Which brings me to your next assignment. Kereston wants you upping the defenses on Azkaban and training a few new Aurors to help guard there."
He gestured toward two Acromantulas and two goblins. "I'll be sending these with you for training along with two wizard Aurors. The wizards can help with the training as well for they are aware of protocols that you would not know."
"Why are you worried about Azkaban right now," Bellatrix asked, struggling against the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the very concept of another Horcrux. The possibility of the Dark Lord returning was terrifying at the very least, considering what he'd already done to them. How would he react to see them free and thriving now in spite of that? One could always hope he had better things to do, but the Dark Lord tended to remember enemies, even if he had more than fairly earned them. The feeling coursing through Bellatrix's body was a strange one and it took her a moment to identify it as anxiety. That was annoying!
"We are concerned that she would attempt to free the prisoners to gain more followers," Romeo replied. "Especially as she likely believes you to be among them."
"Yeah," Rabastan said. "Snake-Baby likely wants to get to know the great lady she believes to be her mummy."
Bellatrix considered smacking her brother-in-law, then realized he was probably speaking the truth.
"Yes. So we are sending you plenty of back up. We hope she will come to see you and that you can take her down. We're not a lock them up Ministry. We are a kill them if they're extremely dangerous Ministry so if she arrives, try to get any information you can and then do that."
"Will do," Rodolphus said, giving Valdez a confident smile. "Do we have basilisk fangs to do that with, because if there is a Horcrux we'll want to do this right."
Romeo nodded.
"Of course. We have basilisk fangs on emergency order, meaning we paid a great deal to get them here fast, and crafted weapons shall be forth-coming. Obviously you're one of the first on the list for one."