This is a Harry Potter Fanfiction Only
Games, movies, books, and other game mechanics will be included.
Cygnus Black frowned slightly as he lightly tapped a galleon down onto the stone table top in front of him in quiet contemplation in the tavern he made himself comfortable. He flipped it up, then caught it between his fingers and rolled it over his knuckles. Then he again resumed tapping it down on the table in front of him.
"I see you still haven't managed to get that habit of yours under control, Cygnus," a calm voice noted as a distinguished gentleman with wild, slightly greyed black hair and hazel eyes stated calmly.
"Uncle Charlus," Cygnus stated with a nod of his head as he looked at his Uncle.
"I expect there is a good reason that you wished to speak to me?" Charlus stated as he arched a brow back at the man as he slid into his seat across from the man in front of him. "Especially with such urgency?"
"… Have you heard about what happened in the muggle pub with the group that included the Lestrange heir?" Cygnus stated with uncharacteristic bluntness.
"Terrible business," Charlus stated without an ounce of conviction.
"Bellatrix was there." Cygnus continued as if Charlus hadn't really spoken.
"Oh? I hadn't taken that particular one of your girls as having that kind of sense to deal with those idiots." Charlus stated with a snort and a shake of his head.
"She was there with Rodolphus Lestrange," Cygnus stated simply as he brought his galleon coin down with a pointed tap. "She watched him die in front of her."
"Ah," Charlus frowned a bit as he then leaned back and regarded his nephew carefully. "Then what exactly is it you wish from me?"
"She showed me the memory of what happened," Cygnus stated simply. "The wizards responsible were Potter and Longbottom."
That bit of information made Charlus arch a brow and frown slightly. "Oh? I'm not sure I understand what you're saying."
"Potter was responsible for cutting them all down in a matter of moments, and Longbottom used magic to protect the muggles," Cygnus stated firmly. "He was calm, brutal, efficient, and most definitely a Potter."
There was a pause as Cygnus let that sink in before speaking again, "And he was not a Potter I recognized, and he identified himself as a half-blood."
Charlus frowned again, "There aren't any current Potter half-bloods."
"Nor were there any I didn't think I knew about, not until I saw her memory," Cygnus insisted. "He was visibly a Potter. But his eyes were a shade of green I'm not familiar with."
"Unique?" Charlus asked with a frown.
"Visibly so. He was young, early 20s I believe, with glasses, classic Potter hair, definite Potter features, and slighter of build but not overly so. Used what I think was a holly wand."
"That's a rare one," Charlus noted with a frown. "Have you tried checking with Ollivander to see if he's sold one to someone matching his description?"
"Yes," Cygnus said with a nod of his head. "He hasn't. But he did mention a curious happening. One of his wands, a holly with a phoenix feather core, reacted peculiarly a few days ago, not too terribly long before the attack happened."
"Peculiar in what manner?" Charlus asked with a frown.
"He wouldn't say," Cygnus admitted with a frown of his own. "Just made sure to state that it was most peculiar and unexpected."
"Damned Ollivanders and their riddles," Charlus stated with a sour frown. "So, what is it that you were hoping from me? Confirmation on who he is?"
"That and hoping you had a clue to what he knows and his motivations," Cygnus stated. "He allowed Bellatrix to live, to give a message to the Knights of Walpurgis."
"A message?" Charlus asked with an arched brow, before smirking slightly. "That must have left the girl thrilled."
"She's become infatuated with him," Cygnus said sourly. "Hence why I was hoping you'd know something about him, anything. It's going to be difficult enough dealing with the repercussions of her decision to pursue a half-blood. I know Walburga is going to be particularly difficult to deal with."
"I imagine so," Charlus agreed, before smirking softly. "Of course now I'd like to see how this half-blood Potter would react to meeting her."
"She is still my sister," Cygnus stated with a frown. "She's just…"
"An insufferable harpy?" Charlus suggested. "I pity poor Sirius and Regulus."
"Yes, things have changed because of my granddaughter?" Charlus immediately asked what granddaughter, "She came from the future, she apparently came back to warn her father, who just happened to be the leader of the Knights, however, rejected her immediately calling her insane." Charlus asks them how they know if she is telling the truth, "Bellatrix took her away and took her to Gringotts, to do a blood test, this proved beyond a shadow of a doubt she is my granddaughter, and my granddaughter told us the fate of what will happen to the Black, Potter and Longbottom Families, she told me that the Black family ended up decimated, and my sister, was not happy to hear what happened to her two sons, let's just say that she changed her views on who to support."
Charlus asked him what this meant, "Those two could end up forming a third side to what is supposed to happen, according to what my granddaughter told us."
"A third side of things?" Charlus asked with a brow arching up and then he frowned. "… Cygnus, what're you talking about?"
Cygnus stared at Charlus for a moment, as if weighing a decision in his mind, before speaking. "You are aware of the growing… confidence of certain … like-minded individuals?"
"You mean the blood purists like your family," Charlus said bluntly.
Cygnus' frown deepened before he continued, "Yes, well, there has been… an Organizing of them. A group called the Knights of Walpurgis. They were the ones behind the attack that night."
Charlus frowned a bit as he looked at Cygnus with a critical eye, "You aren't telling me this because they're a group of foolish, violent thugs. There is more to it than that, isn't there."
"Their leader, their Lord, is too ambitious, too charismatic, and determined for that," Cygnus elaborated. "He has been training them. He has been blooding them against muggle families, using them to hone their masteries of the Dark Arts. The true Dark Arts."
The click in Charlus' mind was almost audible as he made the connection of what Cygnus was alluding to, "… You're talking about a rebellion. No… you're talking about the rise of a new Dark Lord."
Cygnus simply nodded, "One whose cause we had, until this happened, been almost unanimously in support of. The removal of the taint of mudbloods and the subjugation of the muggles."
"… And what makes you sure it will be turn to war?"
"Because the message that Bellatrix was given, was to 'Tell Tom Riddle his war won't be as easy as he thought,'" Cygnus stated simply. "This Potter knows something."
Charlus looked into Cygnus' eyes for a long moment, before frowning. "He scares you."
"If he is truly a half-blood, he terrifies me," Cygnus admitted quietly. "You didn't see what I saw, Uncle Charlus. He slaughtered them. No hesitation, he cut them down as they would've cut down him and everyone else in that pub. Only, without an ounce of malice or even an inkling of the Dark Arts. He revived them and restored their missing limbs. I am still shocked that he was more brutal than I could imagine." Charlus said that was impossible only to hear Cygnus say that they in fact did.
"There is your second clue," Charlus stated simply and quietly. "He's a war veteran. Most of them are retired now, but the ones that saw enough action against Grindelwald's forces… Veterans of heavy action don't become so without doing away with things like hesitation."
"He can't one from the war against Grindelwald. He's too young." Cygnus insisted.
"Then he's from a foreign war," Charlus insisted. "Maybe in that nightmare over in Vietnam where the Frenchies kept convincing anyone they could to get their hands dirty so they could keep theirs clean. Merlin knows they were free enough with it on the colonials, though the Vietnamese's compulsions on their reporters was a nasty bit of work."
"If he survives and keeps up his little streak… he won't stand for the way the Ministry and Dumbledore will approach it," Cygnus stated quietly. "And he'll attract people that would've stayed on the fence otherwise."
"A three-way civil war," Charlus stated with a disgusted grimace.
"One which I need to have a talk with this unknown before I know where I and my family will stand," Cygnus agreed.
"… And you know that I'll want to know about how a Potter managed to slip under my nose," Charlus stated with a frown. "So you want me to help you find him."
"Why do you think I'm being so painfully honest about things, Uncle?" Cygnus responded with a wry smirk.
"I had been wondering," Charlus muttered sourly.
"It's agreed then?" Cygnus asked.
"Fine, I'll help you in your little quest," Charlus agreed, "but only to help you find him so we can both have a talk with him."
"Agreed."
The self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort stared down at the broken body of one of his men who used the Cruciatus Curse for failing him with a cold detachment. Voldemort was pissed that these men were so easily defeated, Rodolphus was apparently the only one that was not revived.
It was vexing. The man had been a loyal and talented wizard, something not so easily replaced among the wretches of the Wizarding World. Further, his supposed daughter told them exactly who was the two who defeated his men in that bar.
With that, the vexation had been cast aside and he was truly wroth. Those who had remained cowered before the sudden explosion of towering rage rolling off the usually charming and charismatic man. The rest had wisely chosen to take their leave, avoiding an illustration of the man's wrath.
"So, at first there was an entire batch of promising recruits, slaughtered like calves before the butcher," Voldemort stated as he slowly traced his wand along the jaw of his old friend Avery. "Included in them, Lestrange's son, who you all assured me would prove to be a formidable asset to my cause, but was unable to handle a single wizard when backed up with an entire group of other potential knights, and led by Dolohov."
He clucked his tongue, his eyes narrowed into slits. "And then, you allowed Lestrange to lead a team of my best on a hunt… without informing me?"
"M-my Lord…" Avery started to plead, the fear dripping off his words like a putrid oil.
"Crucio," Voldemort stated coldly he seemed completely unaffected as the man began to scream his throat hoarse in agony, falling to his knees directly before where his robes pooled. "And why exactly did you feel it unnecessary to inform me?"
He gave the man a moment to recover from the wracking sobs that slowly formed into words. "W-we wanted to f-find out h-how he k-knew ab-bout T-Tom R-Riddle."
Instantly all pretense of calm fled him as Voldemort grabbed hold of the man by the throat and squeezed down, fingers digging into the tender flesh. "WHAT!?"
Voice almost strangled out, Avery spoke, "We have confirmed what Miss Black and her daughter said was true."
Growling in rage Voldemort flung the man back and stalked to his seat, his robes billowing out claws into the air before settling back against his form. "Have them brought to me, NOW!"
"S-she, I…" Avery struggled to find the words to respond to the demand, fear growing in his eyes as he cringed back.
"You what, Avery?" Voldemort demanded with dark, narrowed eyes as everyone present could see the way his fingers had started to dig into the armrests of his seat.
"You… cast her out for her and her supposed daughter my lord," Avery admitted, eyes falling to the ground, unable to meet his master's gaze.
Voldemort hissed leaving his lips as, behind his throne, everyone could see the stirring coils of a snake.
"My Lord…" Avery started to protest again, still unable to meet his eyes.
"What?!" he demanded, all trace of civility and decorum shattered at the continued defiance of the man.
"She is Bellatrix Black," Avery stated simply.
Voldemort paused an unexpected revelation about the girl's identity leaving a bitter taste of displeasure in his mouth as his lips twisted with a grimace. That is when he realized that this was the reason why he had a daughter with Bellatrix since he wanted to have a way to take everything that belonged to the Black Family once she was the last surviving member of that family line. If he turned upon the Blacks at this stage he would have a rebellion on his hands. The Blacks were among the staunchest supporters of pure blood. If he struck against them… "Then approach her as if this were a second chance. If she is a Black, she will gladly take the chance."
"I…" Avery started to say fear and hesitation warring in his eyes.
Frowning, Voldemort directed a look at him. "You disagree?"
"She… did not appear overly… upset to no longer be a part of the Knights, my lord," Avery said carefully.
Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "Then, you had best be very persuasive, hadn't you?"
"… Yes, my lord," Avery agreed with a wince.
A night before the Black family had their general meeting. Bellatrix sighed as she leaned back in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. It seemed impossible to try and sleep, her mind a whirl with the events of the day. Everything was different; everything she'd believed was different.
She wasn't sure exactly how that was going to settle. She could practically hear her daughter's words, and what her father said. A part of her couldn't help but imagine the wizard, the Harry that shouldn't exist but did, standing strong against the demands of her mother, and her many other embarrassing suggestions.
A perverse giggle left her lips as she allowed herself a smile.
"And what, pray tell, has you so amused?"
Bellatrix's eyes snapped open and she beheld her near-twin-in appearance younger sister, arching a brow back at her with her arms crossed about her chest.
"Dromeda!" Bellatrix declared, blushing slightly and shifting about on her bed.
"Bella," Andromeda Black agreed with a nod of her head as she studied her sister carefully. "I take it you… enjoyed your festivities?"
There was a subtle hint of something, disgust or disapproval Bellatrix realized, that her sister had always had when she had spoken of cleansing the wizarding world of the muggle taint. Looking back on it, she'd always had it, an aloof separation from the rest of them when it came to that matter. As the rise of the Knights of Walpurgis had increased the family's vitriol, it had seen the subtle but steady distancing of her little sister from the rest of them.
"Not like I was planning to," Bellatrix stated simply as she regarded her sister with a much sharper eye as she considered how much she had missed. "In fact, I rather came quite close to dying, I should think."
"… What?" Andromeda stilled and stared at her sister with wide eyes.
"Rodolphus did, though," Bellatrix continued as she stared up into the air above her head. "So were the rest of them. And Dolohov. We didn't last half a minute. He tore us to pieces. Most were revived, and somehow had replacements for their missing limbs."
"Rodolphus is… dead?" Andromeda stared at her sister before frowning slightly, looking worriedly at her sister. "Bella, are you all right? Were you hurt?"
"Very dead. Watched burn to a crisp right in front of me. The stains will probably never come out," Bella agreed with a nod of her head before affixing her sister with a critical look. "You don't believe that muggles and muggle-born should be purged, do you?"
Andromeda stilled, looking back at her sister with a carefully blank expression. "I'm not sure what you're referring to, sister."
"I don't know why I couldn't see it before," Bellatrix stated as she stared down at her fingers. "That aloof disapproval you only barely ever showed. Didn't want to see it, maybe? Ickle Bella just wanted to be a good little pureblood and make the wizarding world stronger."
The sing-song quality of Bellatrix's voice made Andromeda shift, stiff and tense as she palmed her wand, watching her sister as if she had suddenly transformed into a predatory beast. "I'm still not sure what you're talking about."
"I know I'm supposed to be wroth with you," Bellatrix responded as she tilted her head to the side. "But after tonight… I simply don't care!"
"… You don't care," Andromeda repeated, her brow arched and skepticism high.
"It was a half-blood that felled us like the sickle does wheat," Bellatrix continued, almost as if she hadn't heard her sister say a thing. "It was… creative, magnificent even."
"Magnificent," Andromeda again repeated as she looked at her sister with that same skepticism.
"Oh, yes!" Bellatrix smiled broadly. "Absolutely magnificent!"
Carefully, Andromeda reached forward and pressed the back of her hand to Bellatrix's cheeks and forehead.
"… What are you doing, Dromeda?" Bella demanded as she reached up and lightly batted away her sister's hand.
"Checking to see if you are perchance inflicted by fever. And I do find you to be rather flush," Andromeda stated simply. "I should think that would explain some of your queer thoughts."
"I am not delirious, my own daughter saw it too," Bellatrix stated flatly as she gave her sister a sour look.
"How else am I to believe when you are making such claims?" Andromeda countered back with a brow arched. "What will mother and father say?"
"Father already knows," Bellatrix stated, her lip threatening to jut out in a petulant pout. "I and my daughter told him and my mother what happened and my daughter told them the supposed future of the Black Family.."
"And mother?" Andromeda pressed firmly with an arched brow.
"Father was disgusted about the foolishness our family was about to do, and Mother is on the warpath, she wants the Knights of Walpurgis, slaughtered, for what happens to Regulus and Sirus, and wants their leader beheaded and his head mounted on a pike," Bellatrix said firmly with a confidant nod of her head.
"I hope this fever passes instead of growing enflamed, sister," Andromeda stated quietly before slowly shaking her head. "They told me there would be a general meeting of the family soon enough, you will see I spoke only truths, and I am not delusional of imagining things." Her sister said it was nearly impossible to believe, that their mother would go from praising the Knights of Walpurgis as the great defenders of pure blood values to now demanding their extermination, only because of what one person said.
"Never mind that the person you are talking about is your own niece, and she had done nothing if not help save the future of our family, you will see when you hear everything at the general family meeting, they might even show you some of our memories using a projection spell and a pensive. I swear some of the things I saw would make good horror novels. So word of advice, you might want to avoid having a meal before that meeting." Narcissa asked how bad would it be, and she simply said worse than anything a dementor could inflict on a human body, aside from the kiss.
Bellatrix frowned at her sister, "What could you possibly be worried about?"
"Toujours Pur, sister," Andromeda stated with a sad smile on her face. "Toujours Pur," Bellatrix told her that one of them told them, that blood purity has nothing to do with power, in fact, a half-blood, took out and killed most of them using spells that a person learns in their first year at Hogwarts, they even made them regrow their revive them and made them grow new limbs like it was nothing and one of them was a pure-blood wizard, and he had no trouble working with his friend,
"What aren't you telling me?" Bellatrix demanded as she looked at her sister. "What is going on, Dromeda?" Andromeda mentioned that their mother had already sent them both to meet potential marriage contract partners, and they were all from prominent pure-blood families, it would be not long before she was sent proposal letters too.
Bellatrix looked at her sisters and began to shake her head, "It will not matter at all, I know the one I want to marry, and he is not a pure-blood wizard, hell even my own daughter has shown interest in him the thing I worry is about your future." Andromeda began to laugh and looked at her sister."Nothing for you to worry about, sister," Andromeda stated simply with a shake of her head.
"I am your elder sister. It is my responsibility to worry about you," Bellatrix stated firmly.
"Not for this, Bellatrix," Andromeda stated firmly and looked at her sister. "To bed with you, though. After a day like that, you need your sleep more than usual. Shall we expect you to wake sometime before the settling of the setting sun, or would it be best to wait for supper to have you grace us with your presence?" Bellatrix also mentioned she needs to hear more about her own daughter's life since she only found out about her recently.
That made her ask if she was sure if the girl was really her daughter, and not simply a person lying and trying to get something from an Ancient and Noble Family, Bellatrix told her she knew that Delphini was her daughter, they already provided proof of that to their head of family and their mother. Narcissa accused her of having a little one-night stand and keeping the pregnancy a secret was more than likely, Andromeda simply said consequences of having a little too much to drink were more than possible.
"Brats," Bellatrix grunted out, allowing herself to be distracted as she pouted at Andromeda. "I am hardly so and you know it."
"Of course, I do, sister, of course I do," Andromeda agreed, a slight note of melancholy in her voice as she returned to the door. "I bid you a good night and sweet dreams, sister."
"And I to you, Dromeda," Bellatrix responded automatically as Andromeda nodded and shut the door behind her with an audible click.
Once more in the relative quiet of her bedroom, she was left to the mercy of a maelstrom of confusion. What was this resignation in her sister? Her fears… and their father's. Surely he would see the value in what these new players brought.
Wouldn't he?
Back in the present, in the Avery home, a loud pop sound was heard, and a man wearing black robes was seen walking towards the dining room, several men attempted to attack him, but they were swiftly knocked out and left injured as he continued to walk towards the dining room. "That is hardly the way to welcome a visitor Voldermort, Grindewald was much more cordial when I met him." Voldemort saw the man and sneered as he saw how easily his pawns were dealt with.
"Why should I be welcoming to a person who invades my home, since you were not even invited." The man began to laugh and said someone who could provide him with great aid and knowledge, someone that could in fact give him ways to become even more deadly and powerful than he ever imagined. Voldemort asked him what could he provide.
"I can provide many things, as I have traveled between alternate realities, and have obtained many wonders, such as the one I provided to Grindelwald, I gave him a copy of the most powerful wand ever created, gave him back his youth, and restored all his minions back to life. I could provide you with a copy of the Elder Wand that is completely loyal to you, I also know the cost of creating those anchors you created, I can give you a bottle containing a copy of the very soul fragments inside those anchors, restoring your power and soul easily, and still have those anchors you made." Voldemort simply said nothing that powerful was ever given at no cost, what did he want for that? Power, Riches, Fame. name his price.
The man found the pettiness in his statement funny, the funniest thing he had heard in years, "My price is the same one I asked Grindelwald, the one thing me and my friend desire, is quite simple, if you are as mighty as you seem, we simply wish the death of two people, that is all, Neville Longbottom, and Harry James Potter, kill those two, and you will pay us in full, make their deaths truly horrifically painful, and we might even provide a bonus. Travel to other realities gives us access to all sorts of goodies and treasures, things people here could not even dream of."
Voldemort was not more intrigued than he wanted the other person to realize, he asked like what? The man asked if he knew something called a movie? Voldemort laughed and said he sure did, but sadly no muggle projector would ever work for them magic interferes with muggle-made things. "In this reality that may be true, but in others that is not the case, I can provide you with hundreds of movies, and something that can play each of them, with just a simple touch, all these movies would provide you with ideas, knowledge, and inspiration like nothing you would have gotten anywhere else."
This man immediately made a screen appear on one of the walls and described it as a brand new television screen, and by touching the choices on the screen, they could start, pause, and stop any movie they wanted from the hundreds of full movies that they now would be available to them, it didn't take five minutes for the men to pick a movie they wanted to see and start it much to their entertainment. Voldemort was amazed at how easy the entire process actually was. "And it gets better, like I said we can restore your soul, and let you keep those anchors you already made, by drinking the content in this bottle."
He showed Voldermort the bottle and handed it to him, he immediately drank the entire damn thing, in a single gulp, this damn thing could have been full of enough poison that it could cause him to drop dead, but he actually trusted these two so much that he didn't think twice to drinking that, or he felt that there was little danger since he still had all of his Horcruxes. "This bottle however contains memories of what could very well happen to you, and information about your very possible future, forwarned is forearmed or so that say, this information also contains exact knowledge of every spell Neville and Harry have ever learned or mastered, so anything they can do, so can you."
Again Voldermort seeing he had little to risk also drank that bottle without even asking how they bottled all this stuff, "Like we said these films will inspire you and give you ideas like you would never have thought of before. This is not charity, we are not kidding, we want Harry James Potter, and Neville Longbottom dead as quickly and as painfully as possible. You should want them dead too, in one future these two managed to destroy all your Horcruxes, and even kill you, you think we are kidding but the fact is in the memories you took, we saw it happen, so if you want to succeed in your takeover of the world, these two fucking bastards need to die, if they live they will stand in your way every single moment they are allowed to live, gather supporters and build an army to take you and your followers down."
Voldemort did not like this one bit, and he had to admit that the way those memories looked, and what this man told him made those two sound like a possible threat, but how much of a threat could two stupid punks be to a wizard of his caliber? This cloaked man began to shake his head, "You want a contemporary example, fine, do you think the way that he killed and revived your men was just for a show of power? No, it was to get the Black Family to join their cause, they killed brutally, and showed their power to defend others, and doing so caused Bellatrix and her daughter, to admire both of them and, thanks to what you did to them, made them hate you by your treatment of them which not only insulted her looks but also denied her parentage, thanks to all this and your actions, the Black Family will never join your side, they probably are more likely to wish for your immediate assassination or imprisonment in Azkaban where you can be a dementor's bitch."