A Private Meeting Place, Early in the Morning:
Thank you for finally agreeing to meet me, Fenrir." came the cold voice of Lucius. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. "Anything for an old colleague, Malfoy." The werewolf said, his eyes alit with dark humor.
"I really hope that's true, Fenrir. It would seem that you have grown dissatisfied with our current arrangement. What's the matter? Not enough mudbloods to fulfill your numbers." The minister said inquiringly.
"You know me Malfoy. I just do my own thing. It's got nothing to do with you." The beast-man said dismissively.
"It has everything to do with me as well as the one I serve. You see there was a flaw in your little plan. I have that place under constant twenty-four-hour surveillance and earlier this morning I received a message from Bellatrix herself. Do you know what she said? She said that the ward was cracking due to what looked like mythril nails. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Lucius interrogated, his cold blue eyes drilling into Fenrir's gold ones.
"Nope. Not a thing. Now are we done here? I have people to eat after all." Fenrir said casually. Lucius only snapped his fingers in response and was given a small rectangular mirror. Tossing the mirror to the side like a frisbee it quickly expanded to become full size. The mirror didn't reflect the two men in the room, however, it did show the Forbidden Forest.
"What the hell is this?" Fenrir asked, his casual and cocky nature disappearing. Lucius gave a small smirk.
"This is live footage and with a single snap of my fingers every single werewolf in this country dies." Fenrir snarled and jumped to his feet.
BANG! BANG!
The werewolf fell to the ground as he was shot in both knees with goblin silver hollow points. He screamed in pain as his knees were shattered and his werewolf healing factor failed to undo the damage. Lucius meanwhile just waved his hand, and a hit-wizard brought him tea. He sipped politely and waited for Fenrir to recover.
"So, here's what's going to happen. You, my friend, are going to tell us where you got mythril, who you're working with, and why you did something so monumentally stupid." Lucius rose to his feet and dusted himself off. As he stood up, from the shadows Amelia emerged.
"Go easy on him." The minister joked. Amelia grunted, her eyes never leaving the downed form of Fenrir. Lucius closed the door just as the werewolf started screaming in earnest.
With his morning meeting done, Lucius had made his way back to his office. There he was reading a missive from the new French minister. Officially there was nothing important said, but unofficially, the minister had confirmed that the majority of the French ministry was open-minded about being their allies, something that was confirmed by the reports of his hit-wizards. Lucius let out a chuckle. Country by country, he would slowly take over the world through the use of Amelia's psychic rewiring power and present it to the Young Master.
As he read over some more documents, and occasionally approved funding for various projects, the door to his office slammed open. He sighed at the interruption to his quiet time.
"You found something?" He asked.
"Yeah, press the button and kill these dogs. After that I am personally going to Parkinson Hall." Amelia spat. Lucius shrugged and flipped open the glass covering a big red button. With a satisfying press he activated the vacuum wards.
"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?" Lucius asked with a raised eyebrow. Amelia took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Orchid is a werewolf and she's working with a member of the Order of the Phoenix."
"What?! How is this possible? There's no way no one noticed she wasn't a werewolf." Lucius said in outrage.
"Duskmoon and Lunalight were researching something they called Eclipse Magic. I don't know the full details, but it allows a werewolf to transform at will whenever they want. They were working with a werewolf called Whiteheart, someone we don't have in our database by the way, to gather more resources for their research." Amelia explained.
"I want her alive, Amelia. We need to know everything about Eclipse Magic. If this gets out and other werewolves gain the ability to control their transformation it could be catastrophic." Amelia didn't respond, instead doing an about face and stomping out the office.
Amelia and her squad stormed Parkinson Hall and to no one's surprise the place was deserted. "Specialis revelio, invisibilia revelio, beastia revelio, homenum revelio." Amelia cast a wide array revealing spells and they all came up empty.
"Spread out, bring me any organic material you can find." Her aurors dispatched, going to search the large estate. Amelia made her way to the study attached to the library. "Glacius, lacero." Amelia froze the surface of the ward and used the cutting spell to slice away the ward covering the door. Stepping into the room Amelia cast another set of revealing charms. Scrolls and loose pieces of parchment gave off a faint glow, indicators of residual magic. Picking up one of the scrolls Amelia gave it a thorough read.
It was a complicated, arithmetic formula that in theory should help modify the lycanthropic curse. Gathering the rest of the scrolls, Amelia put them in her evidence bag.
"Director! We found something." An auror presented her with a hairbrush with strands of hair stuck in it. Amelia smiled evilly as she put the brush in evidence. "Good work, lets head back and start applying these tracking charms."
At the Department of Magical Law Enforcement:
While her aurors were busy applying the tracking charms to the hair they had found in Parkinson Hall, Amelia had gathered the minister and several people from the Department of Mysteries to help decipher the calculations she had found. It had taken more time than she would have preferred but the researchers finally had an answer for her.
"This Eclipse Magic isn't anything new, just a unique use of spirit particle manipulation." One of the robed figures said. Amelia and Lucius stared at the Unspeakable with the same look of non-understanding.
"Like a ghost?" Amelia asked. The Unspeakable shook their head. "Ghosts, ghouls and the like are ectoplasmic beings. Spirits on the other hand, are physical manifestations of ambient magic. Being able to use and communicate with lesser spirits is what we call spirit particle manipulation." They explained.
"How the hell did Orchid manage to find a way to manipulate ambient magic?" Lucius asked. The Unspeakable gave a shrug of their shoulders. "Soul Magic, more than likely, opening your soul and connecting to the world around you is the most common way to gain any sort of control over ambient magic. Correct me if I'm not mistaken, but wasn't Edmond Parkinson doing research for the Dark Lord in regard to Soul Magic?" They asked.
"Avada Kedavra!" The killing curse struck the Unspeakable from behind, coming from his co-worker. Despite the murder, no one was particularly shocked. Questioning a member of the Inner Circle, even postmortem, was a serious offense.
"Sorry about that. He was relatively new." The Unspeakable who had cast the curse said. Lucius shrugged. "It happens. Now tell me how we beat this Eclipse Magic."
"Aside from standard werewolf weaknesses, an imbalance of either Sun or Moon magic would probably be enough to cause an imbalance and mitigate the eclipse, causing the werewolf to lose control over their transformation."
"Well, then we're fucked." Amelia groused. "Moon magic is exclusive to dark creatures and Sun magic requires control over ambient magic." Lucius shook his head. "Not all is lost. All we have to do is give Bellatrix a gun and she can shoot the mongrels if and when they pop up again." Amelia gave Lucius a very are-you-stupid look. "How do you think she's going to react when we try to give her a toy and tell her it's the best defense against a super werewolf."
"Direwolf." The Unspeakable mumbled.
"What?" Amelia said, still annoyed. "The rumored evolution of a werewolf is a direwolf." The Unspeakable explained. Amelia huffed and left the room before her temper got the better of her. The Unspeakable looked at the minister. "Was it something I said?" They asked. Lucius gave a sigh. "Bring me information regarding Moon magic, hopefully that will stop Bellatrix from throwing a fit. And clean that up when you leave." Lucius said, pointing to the corpse on the floor, before he too left.
"My job is so cool." The Unspeakable said to no one in particular as they began to transfigure the corpse.
Later That Day: Inside the Cracked Atlas Ward.
Hydrus was currently inside the new dueling studio practicing a charm Bellatrix had shown him. Protego Parvus. It created a small buckler shield around the wand, meant for hex deflection. The best part of the mini-shield charm was that it left a small hole where the tip of the wand was, allowing one to attack and defend at the same time.
The dummy he was practicing against chain cast the stinging jinx, sending a volley of them much faster than usual at the boy.
Hydrus ducked the first one, weaved around the second, deflected the third, and reflected the fourth back into the fifth spell. "Volnus!" The young prodigy said. The stabbing curse slammed into the dummy, causing it to fall over. Despite his victory Hydrus let out a small sigh. Out of all the things he was learning, he had taken to martial magic faster than any other branch. Be it defensive shields, offensive transfiguration, or curses, magical combat was the boy's bread and butter. His other mother, Druella, had said it was expected. Having a blackthorn wand was proof of that, it was a warrior's wand.
The thrill of the duel got his blood pumping like nothing else. Knowing that one mistake or one bad decision could cost him the fight filled Hydrus with a strange, enjoyable, nervousness. He was eager to push his limits, to see how far his powers could really go. Hydrus often dueled with Bellatrix and Druella to no avail. Nothing he tried breached their defenses, and any strategy or dirty trick he tried was quickly countered. It had been frustrating at first, not seeing any visible progress, but that was before he was allowed to finally practice by himself.
The dummies that had once given him so much trouble, weren't even a warmup anymore. Despite his insistence, he wasn't allowed to turn up their difficulty level.
Hydrus gave a small devious smile. He had found a way around his mother's limitations however. While he couldn't turn up the difficulty, they had said nothing about using more than one. Slowly the four training dummies encircled him, raising their wands in preparation. Hydrus took a deep breath as he readied for his next exercise. He gave a nod, and all four dummies let loose a volley of spells.
The boy closed his eyes as spell fire rushed him from all angles. "Amorphous forms are sustained by the magical core, not vital organs." Recalling the words Bellatrix had told him, Hydrus focused on his shapeshifting power. The spells from the dummies reached their target, and passed right through him, leaving holes right through his body that gave off shadowy wisps. "Umbra polypus!" From his shadow, tendrils made of pure darkness raced out and slapped the dummies away.
Hydrus took a break as he sat down and drank some water. Shapeshifting and Shadow Magic drained him faster than any of his abilities and he had just used both in tandem. When the house was being renovated, Narcissa had insisted that he had his own personal study and had taken the liberty of decorating it and filling the shelves with books. Books like those he had found in the Lestrange vault. One of the books he had found in the Lestrange vault went into great detail about shadow magic.
Druella had confiscated the other two for reasons she wouldn't explain to him and had left him with the book on shadow magic. It had actually been Andromeda that had begun teaching him shadow magic. She was conducting research on something called Darkness Healing, using the dark arts to heal, and had begun instructing her nephew on the basics in return for keeping the book for a while.
Standing up and stretching, Hydrus returned to his position in front of the dummy. He raised his wand and focused. Concentrating on his negative emotions like Bellatrix had taught when casting dark magic, his face became a mask of cold anger.
"Avada Kedavra!" The tip of his wand flashed with an emerald-green light before it puttered out. Hydrus gasped as he fell to his knees, completely exhausted. Despite his best efforts he couldn't get any of the Trifecta Curses to work. The Trifecta, as Bellatrix referred to them, were the three cornerstones of the dark arts and required mastery before she could teach him any further in that field. To this day they had been the only spells he hadn't been able to cast after only a few tries and it irritated him greatly.
With his training finished for now, Hydrus made his way to the attached spa and sat in the sauna. Today had been weird so far. He had woken up early as usual to find Bellatrix and Druella gone. When they had returned a little while later, they dragged Andromeda and Narcissa with them for a private meeting. A meeting that was apparently still going on, as it was now almost lunch time.
If Hydrus was being honest with himself, he was both a little worried and irked. He had never seen his mother so furious before and it scared him just a bit. The part that irked though was that no one would tell him what was going on. Druella had just given him a kiss and told him that he had the day to himself.
Getting dressed, the boy made his way to the kitchen and grabbed a philter of chilled blood out of the refrigerator. Bellatrix saying old blood wasn't as good as the fresh stuff was just her being a bit spoiled. With his drink in hand, he made his way back to his study intent on reading more about transfiguration.
At the Ward Line:
"What the fuck do you mean you can't find her?" Bellatrix hissed out, agitated. She wasn't the only one who was upset. Druella dragged her daughters to the ritual room as early as she could and had them perform the Ritual of Insight. The ritual hadn't been very helpful, only revealing that Orchid was planning a kidnapping, something Bellatrix had known already.
"She and the rest of House Parkinson have gone under the radar. Given that the Lunalight pack were the only ones to escape the culling, we're assuming that they've hidden themselves away in one of their remaining properties. If that's the case, then finding them under such heavy wards is impossible." Auror Dawlish said.
"Great Merlin, I don't remember the Ministry being this full of screw-ups. Did you go to Gringotts and get an asset list?" Druella sneered. The auror blinked stupidly in response.
"Um, well, you see-." His stammering was cut short as Narcissa summoned him through the barrier and bit down on his neck, draining him of his blood and tossing his corpse away.
"Does anyone else have something stupid to say?" She asked, her voice as hard as steel. For a moment nobody moved. One particularly brave auror stepped forward. "The minister and Director Bones were insistent that you get these. The auror pushed a sturdy black briefcase through the ward. Before any of the vampires could pick it up and inspect it, the remaining aurors immediately disapparated.
"Cowards." Bellatrix snorted. She opened the briefcase and picked up the letter that Amelia had written.
Bellatrix
I am personally investigating this Orchid case and I thought it would be prudent to keep you informed. Orchid has found a way to use ambient magic to create something called Eclipse Magic, something that allows her and possibly her pack members to control their transformations at will. Our researchers say that an imbalance of Sun and Moon magic could disrupt Eclipse Magic and cause the beast to lose control over its form. I've included copies of everything we have about Moon magic, so best get studying. The bitch brought off the goblins to have her assets list removed from file, it's also how she was able to get a hold of mythril. I'll do my best to keep an ear out but there's nothing we can do from here on out. Fate magic is in play.
With Love,
Amelia
"Fate magic? Then this might have something to do with that prophecy you mentioned." Andromeda said, as she read over her sister's shoulder. Bellatrix shook her head. "I have no idea what prophecy you speak of, but if something like that did exist then this wouldn't have anything to do with it." Bellatrix said, cryptically.
"Regardless, if fate magic is in play, then we can't make the first move. Darling, I know you're eager to escape from these wards, but until this event happens, I don't think it's wise to move." Druella said patiently.
"But mum! I want to take Hydrus to Ravens Nest!" Bellatrix whined. Druella fixed her daughter with a stern look. "No whining, besides what could you possibly need a whole island for?"
The oldest daughter could only pout in response. "Hey, what's this?" Andromeda had pulled out the handgun that was in the briefcase. "It looks like one of those primitive muggle weapons." Druella said. Andromeda shrugged then pointed the thing at Bellatrix.
BANG!
"Ow! Why the fuck would you do that!?" Bellatrix said angrily, jumping to her feet and pulling her wand. "I wanted to see how it works." Andromeda said dismissively. Her sister snarled in response. "And you thought the best way to figure out how a weapon works would be to fire it at the back of my head? What if it was enchanted and I died?"
Andromeda gave another shrug of her shoulders. "You'd reform eventually." Bellatrix pointed her wand at her sister, the tip of it glowing with a venomous orange light. "Reform from this, bitch." Before she could cast, Druella disarmed them both.
"That's enough of that. Narcissa, since you and I seem to be the only responsible adults present, we're going to be getting started on this Moon magic business. Until the two of you can learn to get along, I'm limiting the time you're allowed to spend with my grandson." Druella said, her voice full of authority.
"What!?"
"You can't do that!"
Druella narrowed her eyes at their outburst, and let loose a bit of her aura, radiating her irritation. "I can, and I will. My baby is in very serious danger and the last thing he needs is to see the two of you fighting like children. So, get it together, or else I'll give the boy his own room and ban you two from it." Druella closed the briefcase, picked it up, then disapparated with one final glare at Bellatrix and Andromeda. Narcissa childishly stuck her tongue out at her older sisters, before she too left, leaving Bellatrix and Andromeda alone.
"This is your fault." Andromeda said bitterly.
"My fault!? You literally shot me first!" Bellatrix exclaimed, still angry.
"Hmph." Andromeda turned her cheek, her long braid swishing. Bellatrix took a deep breath and counted backwards from ten to help herself calm down, and not murder her sister. "I'm willing to forgive you if you say sorry." She said, extending an olive branch.
"I mean this with every ounce of disrespect, I'm not sorry and if given the opportunity, I'd shoot you again." Andromeda said flatly. Bellatrix twitched and spasmed violently. "Why!? What have I done to you?!" She screamed at her sister, losing more and more control of her madness.
"What have you done? Bitch, what haven't you done? You were always the favorite growing up, you got away with everything. I still have that scar when you cursed me with that stupid lightning spell. You took away my chance to kill our father, you took away my dream to study at Saint Mungo's, you made me a fucking slave to my own nephew. Despite all of that, I was still willing to forgive you, because all I wanted was for my big sister to love me. And you couldn't even give me that. So, if you're angry right now, then I'm furious. Before mummy got here you actually encouraged Hydrus to treat me and Narcissa, his family, like shit." Andromeda screamed right back at her sister.
The two sisters glared at each other, Andromeda's chest heaving, from her yelling.
"I'm sorry."
Andromeda blinked, not sure if she heard right. "What?"
"I said I'm sorry. For everything. When we were growing up both grandfather and father, they-" Bellatrix took a deep breath, shaking all the while. "They raped me. A lot. They would use memory charms on mum to make her forget. They threatened to do the same thing to you and Narcissa if I told anyone. I felt so alone, and I was scared. I didn't know what to do. So, I did the only thing I felt I could. I got really good at magic and tried to close my heart. And it worked. For a long time, I was unable to feel anything. I didn't feel fear, or anger, or happiness, I couldn't feel anything. Not until I killed grandfather. He didn't die of old age; I cursed his cigars to suffocate him. It was the first time I ever killed someone, and for the first time in years I felt alive. That's the real reason I joined the Dark Lord, so I could keep killing." Bellatrix confessed.
"Everything changed when I found out I was pregnant. I felt fear for the first time in ages and with the prophecy that was just made at the time, I felt certain I was going to get an abortion. Then I didn't, I don't know if it was fate magic or something else, but I carried Hydrus to term." Bellatrix smiled as she reminisced. "I don't know how to explain it but when I held him for the first time, and looked into his eyes and felt his magic, something changed within me."
"You fell in love." Andromeda said quietly.
"Yeah, I know. I look at him, and I just want to give him everything. The whole world and everything it has to offer. But that feeling of fear never went away. I was scared he would outgrow me or replace me. I was scared he wouldn't love me back. That's why I did what I did, I was certain that if Hydrus could only see other women as food and playthings, then he would love me forever because I would be different." Bellatrix said, morosely.
"I never knew any of this. You've been suffering all this time." Andromeda embraced her sister in a tight hug. "You don't have to be strong all by yourself anymore, Bella. I'm here, Narcissa is here, mummy is here, and Hydrus is here. Your family is with you, so you don't have to be afraid anymore, you don't have to do everything yourself anymore, we'll keep you up, so lean on us." Bellatrix shook in her sister's grasp, a small whimper escaping her.
"That's the first step." Andromeda said soothingly. Bellatrix began to wail in earnest, her cries echoing off the trees and filling the air.