"So…" Michael said. "Are we going to talk about the, uh…"
"What?" Draco demanded. "Talk about the what?"
Hydrus snorted and shook his head. The Malfoy heir was glaring at Michael who held up his hands in surrender. Hanging off the much more embarrassed blonde's collar like she was a necklace was Doppsy. The juvenile house elf was wrapped around her 'dad' and staring at all the other Slytherins in turns.
The newly minted fifth years were sitting around a table in the Study Hall now that the sorting ceremony feast was over, and not a single important thing had gotten done thanks to the adorable elf.
"Everyone, this is Doppsy," Hydrus said. "As some of you may know, I had forbidden the Malfoys from owning house elves. Draco has recently proved to me that he deserved a second chance, and since Doppsy needed a home, she got one."
Daphne narrowed her eyes at Hydrus and Draco. "Did… Did you have Malfoy kill someone to get his elf privileges back?"
"What? No. The opposite," Hydrus said, baffled. "I had him save a life." He shook his head. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I can see thestrals now," Draco answered, jumping in. "Do you know why they freaked out?"
Hydrus snorted. That was supposed to be the main point of this gathering, and it had already arrived. He supposed he couldn't blame his friend and rest of the Slytherins from questioning, not when it had left one of their main members in Blaise away om the conversation.
"That was my fault, I'm afraid," Hydrus answered "Had a nasty encounter with someone just before you all arrived. It seems the thestrals were drawn to the leftover magic pervading the area."
That was going to be the first thing he did after classes tomorrow. Dumbledore had agreed to his request and made sure the thestrals stayed on school grounds for the time being so Hydrus could experiment on his magic's effect on the beasts. It hadn't been hard to convince the ancient warlock thanks to how they were refusing to be led away from the pit he'd carved. The headmaster had transfigured up an earthen 'cage' around and above them, and the last Hydrus had seen they were still circled around it and taking in the miasmic power.
"Who was it?" Draco asked. "What happened?"
"Nothing to be concerned about," Hydrus dismissed. "I took care of it."
"No," Apophis argued, invisible around his shoulders. "I did!"
"We're a team." The other Slytherins tensed as he spoke in the unnatural tongue. "We share our glory."
The basilisk settled but Hydrus could still feel some annoyance rolling off him through their bond. He reached up and began to stroke Apophis's feathers to try and soothe him. For some reason he'd been in a mood ever since their encounter with Herpo the Foul.
"As I was saying, the matter has been resolved, and hopefully there won't be another." He nodded at Michael. "You didn't mention how your summer project went. What did your father say?"
"Ah, well…" His future 'cousin-in-law' looked away with a wince. "He isn't… Particularly… fond of the idea…"
"I didn't imagine he would be," Hydrus said. "Which is why I was hoping you could sway him."
"I tried!" Michael protested. "I told him you and Draco's families were investing, he still refused."
Hydrus sighed and began to drum his fingers on the table they were sitting at. The Shnopps family was who he was counting on to be the first 'real' domino to fall in his plan for getting other pureblood families to invest in the werewolf colony. He had more or less full control of his own family's funds, and the Malfoys were beholden to him too, so they didn't count. He'd chosen to pursue House Shnopps first since it was known the family was looking to diversify their portfolio, it was why Michael had been engaged to a foreign witch in the first place.
It would be so much easier if he could just bully them into it like he could these school children. If he did that though, not only would Dumbledore be on his ass, it would hardly be a stable 'empire'. Trying to move whole 'organizations' like the various pureblood families was a lot more complicated than pushing around individuals. If just one member went against the grain of what the rest of their family was doing, betrayed secrets they were trusted with or mutinied for control, it could destroy years of work.
Not only were such things possible, it was what he was counting on for his plan with the Lestrange family.
"Sorry, Hydrus," Michael mumbled. "I can try to write him and—"
"It's fine," Hydrus interrupted. "I'll just find another way to get to him, or at least get other investors."
"Investors for what?" Daphne asked. "Why not just ask the rest of us?"
"Is your father interested in helping to build a werewolf colony?" Hydrus asked, voice dry as sand. "If he is, by all means, I'd love to have his help."
The Greengrass girl's mouth slowly shut, and she looked away, admitting defeat. Another voice spoke up though.
"Mine would." Hydrus turned to Pansy Parkinson. "Well, he wouldn't be happy about it, but I can get him to say yes."
"Really?"
"Of course! My daddy always listens to me." The girl threw her hair over her shoulder, smirking. "Just tell me what you need."
Hydrus gave an impressed frown as Michael sank a bit deeper into his chair. "Would you mind stopping by Professor Lupin's office after classes tomorrow? He's the one running the project, he can provide more details."
"You got it." Pansy gave him a large, simpering smile. "I'm always happy to help."
It seemed yet another lesson from Dumbledore was paying off. The man had always been a firm believer in never wasting resources, so when it came to man power, he had an interesting strategy. Rather than cutting loose those who weren't worth much, he simply ignored them. He'd mete out no more or less tasks to them than anyone else, and if they succeeded or failed, he'd have their punishment or reward given by someone else. Usually Harry, Shacklebolt, or Moody depending on whomever was closest at hand.
From there, the ignored soldiers would either thrive in their ideal environment, or they'd be driven to earn his notice.
That was what he'd done out of habit with Pansy, and to a lesser degree Crabbe and Goyle. The two boys had been more or less coached forward by Draco until he'd separated them from the Malfoy heir. They'd either sink or swim without him now, but it seemed Pansy was definitely going to be someone who did the former.
"With that out of the way, anyone else got something they couldn't say at the feast?" Hydrus asked.
No one responded.
"Right then." He stood and stretched. "Draco, escort 'em back to the dorms."
"What about you?"
"I have some work to do." He stared up at his project for the week. "I'll see you all tomorrow morning."
Bellatrix sat the parchment she'd been reading down in Sirius's 'done' pile, and rolled her eyes at the way the man literally breathed a sigh of relief. The idiot had decided to waste his day with Bones, so now was having to catch up on all the work she'd refused to touch without him. They were only about half way through the list of various documents he needed to approve, and if it weren't for the fact that she didn't trust the lout to not shirk the duties if she weren't there, she'd have gone to bed by now.
As it turned out though, she was to be rewarded for her due diligence.
"I see you two are burning the midnight oil."
A smile split her face. "Hydrus!"
She began to stand but he plopped down into the chair on top of her, sending out a puff of air from her lips. With a giggle, she pulled him in tighter. He returned the embrace and kissed her cheek.
"Missed you too," Hydrus said. "How on earth was there this much work to do?"
"There wasn't." She scrunched up her nose. "Your father just refused to do his work until around two hours ago."
"Oi," Sirius barked. "Repairing House Black's relationship with House Bones is work of the utmost importance."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "The relationship you ruined, you mean?"
"And have now fixed." Sirius waved his hand at her dismissively. "You're welcome."
She buried the lower half of her face into Hydrus's shoulder to hide her scowl, but that didn't stop her eyes from glaring through the man that was holding her love's throne.
"Bella," Hydrus said. "Do you know if our family has any connections with thestrals? Any notable events with them in the past?"
Bellatrix blinked, then hummed. She began strolling through the mental library of everything she knew about House Black, and tried to find a link.
"There was Argo Black in the seventeenth century, he briefly attempted to raise the beasts until one killed his favourite mistress," she started. "Phineas Black attempted to have them replaced as Hogwarts' primary method of transportation. Hm…" She began absentmindedly running her nails over Hydrus's scalp, enjoying the way it made him shiver. "Oh! Praesepe Black was also killed in a stampede of the things. That was in… 1392 I believe?"
Hydrus took her hand and kissed it's back, refusing to let it go when he was done. "The first guy's mistress, any relation?"
Realising why he hadn't let her hand go, Bellatrix resumed her 'scritching' with her free one. He wasn't going to get away that easy. She smiled as he she felt him tense up once more; it was so fun to tease him.
"I believe so?" she said. "No closer than second cousins, however."
"I see." He was nodding to himself. "There was an incident at Hogwarts. Two incidents, actually. The first was an encounter with Death's chosen."
Bellatrix tensed, but it was her cousin who spoke first. "Wasn't that supposed to be me?"
"No," Hydrus said. "You were on his 'team', so to speak, but you weren't his chosen."
As her love continued to explain what all had happened, from the meeting and battle with Herpo the Foul to the thestrals going wild, Bellatrix's anger and paranoia grew in equal measures. Between the incessant meetings with Hydrus's werewolf, having to babysit Sirius, playing with Giannis, and more, she'd hardly had the time needed to come up with a way to deal with the so-called gods. Now they were making moves far faster than she could keep up with. This wasn't fair! They were—
Her arm whipped out to snatch Hydrus back when he stood, but he'd already stepped away and towards a shelf on the wall. Bellatrix pouted at his back as he grabbed a crystal decanter half-filled with amber liquor.
"Careful," Sirius said. "That's some of Arcturus's stock."
"I'm aware." Her little water snake took a large, awkward swig from the fanciful bottle which was meant to be poured, not sipped from. "Fuck."
He made a puckered, cringing expression and Bellatrix giggled. Her love was adorable.
"Bring it here," Sirius said with a sigh. "Could use a—"
"You have work to do," Hydrus interrupted. "My day is over."
"Oh come on!" Her cousin argued. "How am I supposed to focus on work after everything you said?"
"Nice try." Hydrus moved till he was standing behind Bellatrix, but before she could turn to face him his hand had grabbed hold of her shoulder. "Anyways. The reason I asked about the thestrals is because it could be a good investment. We could get the Flamel's out to Castle Black, set up some grazing space, and start raising them."
Bellatrix hardly heard the rest of his discussion with Sirius as he took his revenge for the previous touching she'd done. His thumb was not-so-gently massaging knots in her shoulders that she hadn't even known she'd had. Morgana, what she wouldn't give for him to have his other hand back so he could…
"Oi!" Her eyes snapped open at her cousin's shout. "Hands above the waist ya fucking…"
The man trailed off with a wrinkled nose as he shook his head. Bellatrix rolled her eyes. It wasn't like it was her fault Hydrus knew what he was doing.
"Anyways," Hydrus started. Bellatrix looked up at him and saw an embarrassed pink to his cheeks. "I'll get to work seeing how they respond to further 'doses' of my magic, see if it makes them more obedient and docile or if it exclusively throws them into a frenzy, and we'll go from there."
"Whatever," Sirius said. "By the way, I told him to fuck off, but Cygnus wants to know what's going on with that money the shithead is moving around."
Bellatrix frowned. "Shithead?"
Sirius nodded. "Peter. All your dad's seeing on the books is a big number going up then down, wants to know why and where."
"Just tell him about it," Hydrus said. "Hell, introduce them. Maybe the rat can earn himself some extra privileges if he plays his cards right."
"Fuck him," Sirius snarled. "He doesn't deserve it."
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at the mongrel as a sudden tension appeared in the room. Her own madness was just beginning to rise when Hydrus's hand once more got to work, sending her eyes up into the whites and relaxing her.
"Stop thinking of him as a person, Sirius," Hydrus said gently. "He isn't one, not anymore. He is a rat. Nothing more, nothing less. A rat might get treats, might get a little wheel to run on, but it never gets to be free. Never gets to leave its cage. Never gets to be anything more than a pet." The gentle yet arctic words made Bellatrix bite her lip. "Peter Pettigrew died some time ago. In his place is just a rat, to do with as we see fit."
"… You scare the shit out of me sometimes, kiddo." Bellatrix's clouded stupor was interrupted when Hydrus's thumb slipped over a tendon too hard, sending a mild stab of pain through her shoulder. "Alright. Whatever. I'll have Kreacher deal with it."
"Good," Hydrus muttered as the pain faded away. "How are the rest of things going, regarding foreign investments?"
"Ask your girlfriend," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Before she leaves a stain."
"Fiancee," Bellatrix corrected. "We are to be married."
"Oh?" Sirius started, and immediately she knew she was going to regret starting this. "I didn't realise he'd asked you to marry him. I certainly don't remember signing any agreements with you or Cygnus to such an effect, either."
Bellatrix's mouth worked up and down for a moment before she found her voice. "We don't need such—"
"As a matter of fact!" Sirius stood and moved towards the decanter, and Hydrus sighed behind her. "It is now one-hundred percent under my purview whether or not my young and impressionable son can marry some…" He spared her a glance as he took the top off the glassware with a clink. "Strange woman."
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at the odd emphasis he placed on that word. Then it hit her. Lestrange.
"You filthy—!"
"Enough!"
Bellatrix jumped in time with Sirius, who dropped the top of the decanter which shattered against the ground. Hydrus glared at Sirius first, then turned to her.
"Bella, you survived a year of putting up with literal school children to be there for me, I know you can handle just one overgrown one," he started. "If you can't, I'll have you replaced with Andromeda as Sirius's advisor."
Her eyes snapped wide open now as she faced him properly, but before she could say anything, Hydrus had turned his attention to Sirius.
"And Sirius, if you can't learn to get along with my fiancee, then I shall leave you and this family behind and fully take up the mantle of the backup family I already have." Her cousin's grip on the crystal glassware tightened. "What I need from you isn't a friend or a father, it's a man who can do what's best for this family, and that means—"
"And just what do you know about what that means?" Sirius asked. "Huh?"
Bellatrix leaned back in her chair as, just like in their private encounter at Castle Black, she was reminded that Sirius was Arcturus's favourite for a reason. The resemblance was almost as uncanny as the one between Hydrus and Sirius now.
"I—"
She could almost feel the madness pouring off her cousin, almost as strong as his magic.
"You still owe me a question," Sirius said. "Tell me, what was House Black like in your time? Tell me everything."
Bellatrix glanced over at Hydrus. A tendon in his neck was pulsing, and there was a twitch in the corner of his nose like he wanted to snarl back at his father. He might not've actually been her cousin's son, but even beyond the physical resemblance, it truly was uncanny how similar the two could be in moments like these. There might as well have been a mirror between them.
"They were basically extinct by the time I knew they existed," Hydrus finally answered. "Everyone from your parents' generation and up died of old age before I was fourteen. Your cousins were all married into other families. You were in prison. Regulus had killed himself."
The decanter itself slipped from Sirius's grip, crashing in an explosion of glass and liquor.
"The House of Black was nothing more than a stain in the pages of history, a family that had followed a dark lord and been destroyed by that folly," the time traveller continued. "Your cousin Andromeda died in an attack by that dark lord near the beginning of his second war against the world for supremacy. I killed Narcissa and Bellatrix myself, the former in an attack that killed her whole family and several dozen others, the latter in a three on one duel against me with her husband and brother in law that ended with me ripping her apart.
"You got yourself killed jumping in the way of a killing curse I could've dealt with," Hydrus continued. "And Regulus? He died in the first war. After the dark lord hurt Kreacher, he killed himself in an act of vengeance the likes of which I was only able to replicate two more times."
Sirius fell back against the shelves. His teeth were still gritted, and he hadn't broken eye contact with Hydrus, but he remained silent.
"I told you, everyone died," Hydrus half-whispered. "Everyone you or I ever loved was dead before I came back, but so were most of the people we hated. So you'll have to forgive me if I keep a tighter leash on you and the rest of this bunch of psychopaths than Arcturus did."
"Hydrus…" Bellatrix started. "It's alright—"
"No, it isn't alright." Sirius pushed off the wall and stepped forward, still not backing down even as Bellatrix wanted to try and curse him to get this all to stop. "From what you've told me the muggles who raised you weren't all that great either. So tell me, Hydrus, what do you know about family?"
"Excuse me?"
"You don't know the first thing about what a family, especially a family like this one, is like. Do you?" Her cousin took another step forward as Hydrus stepped back. "A year from now, ten years from now, a hundred years from now, Bellatrix and I will still be arguing. Still calling each other names. Still throwing spells at each other like dung bombs, and you know why?
"Cus that's what family does!"
Bellatrix winced as Sirius's madness and magic flared in sync. The Black Sheep might not've held a candle to Hydrus in raw power, and he didn't have half her skill or technique, but he did wield enough strength to suppress her. Especially with the way he was apparently unconsciously draining her and her love both.
"Families fight! They argue! They make each other miserable!" Sirius shouted, still consumed by their family's blessing. "You think Remus and I have never had a row over something small enough to make the bruises look ridiculous? You think James never got into screaming matches with his parents? You think Giannis will never make you miserable?
"No family, especially not this one, will ever be some happy-go-lucky bunch of smiling portraits and happy memories." Again Sirius stepped forward as Bellatrix really began to feel the pressure shoving her down deeper into her chair. "And if you can't handle that, then go ahead, go try and build up this miraculous and perfect House of Slytherin where everyone loves each other all the time and no one ever argues or fights or—"
He was interrupted by Hydrus, who had stepped up to meet him, flicking his nose. The Black Sheep grabbed the offended feature, eyes wide, and began doing his best impression of a fish as he stumbled back.
"You've made your point," Hydrus said as the temperature in the room began to rise. "Settle down already."
"I, you, I…" Sirius shook his head. "Did you just flick me like a dog?"
"It worked, didn't it?" Hydrus drew his wand and began cleaning up the shards of glass from the floor. "I understand what you're saying, and you're right. I'm sorry."
"You flicked my nose."
"You went mad, and unlike the rest of us, are taking forever to learn how to deal with it," Bellatrix's love chided. "Step outside. Outside outside. Go explore what my friends have made for us to call a garden, and settle yourself."
"Hydrus…"
Her little water snake held up his hand. "I already apologised and said you were right. Go take a break, then return."
Sirius's shoulders slumped down before he turned and left. Hydrus kept his gaze on his father until the door shut behind him, then their postures matched and he trudged over till he collapsed once more into Bellatrix's lap. This time he was practically horizontal to her, splayed out across the chair like a fainting dame.
"Poor baby," she said, beginning to straighten out his sweat-damped hair. "It's alright, Bella is here."
"He's right," Hydrus mumbled. "I have no idea what a family is supposed to be like. I run armies, not houses."
"You're doing fine!" she insisted. "I promise, he's just a—"
"Bellatrix." She stiffened at her full name being used. "Don't lie to me. Set everything aside and be the advisor to House Black. Do you disagree with what he said?"
She pouted, whined, sighed, tried everything she could think of to get him to break his stare but he wouldn't. It was almost maddening.
"No."
"I love you, Bella." As always, a warmth filled her with those words. "But please don't ever just tell me what I want to hear. I love you because I can be open and free with you, and I don't want anything but that from you in turn. I'd hate myself if you couldn't have back what I take from you."
A soft smile spread across her face and she leaned down to kiss him. For once, it was him that didn't allow it to break when she tried to pull away. Her next words almost fell away from her as she continued to enjoy the intimacy he had apparently needed, but eventually he allowed her to be free and she wiped her lips with the tip of her finger before speaking.
"Alright, my love," she said. "I understand. But still, it's like the cur just said. Family fight. He'll come back no worse the wear, and it'll be like nothing happened."
"I just…" Hydrus started. "I just don't know what I'm doing. Before it was simple. If two of my soldiers started fighting, I told them to stop. If they didn't, I either kept them apart or put them through enough hell as a team that they had no choice but to die or get along. Now…"
"I promise, dear," Bellatrix said. "He and I are getting along better."
It was true. She'd worked too damn hard to be nice to Sirius to let Hydrus think otherwise. These days she didn't even scowl when Sirius arrived, just when he did something stupid. As far as the Black family went, that was close as two people could be.
"I know, I just…" He shook his head. "I need to stop making excuses. I'm—"
"Make all the excuses you want," Bellatrix interrupted. She placed a kiss on his forehead. "You might want me to be blunt with you, but that doesn't mean Bella can't listen to her baby whine too."
Hydrus snorted and finally smiled, bringing a matching one onto her own face.
"There you go," Bellatrix said. "Bella's handsome man. I love you, Hydrus."
"I love you too, Bella," Hydrus replied. "I always will."
Sirius took another sip of his whiskey, trying to do what Hydrus asked and enjoy what the legendary Nicholas Flamel's wife and Frank Longbottom's son had made.
The Black winter home's estate really had been transformed. What had once been a barren wasteland of hard, dry, and cracked terrain had been replaced with with lush grey-and-greenery. Rather than grass, off the path leading up to the house was nothing but curling and hardy vines with leaves that belied the occasional thorn. It wouldn't be a problem for anyone walking across it unless they were barefoot, but there was a specific path that lead to a gazebo to take meals in.
The dead and leafless trees had all been replaced with black-trunked, brown-pined evergreens that he'd never seen before. Even with the chilling winds that pulled his hair to one side, the trees hardly moved at all. The moonlight shining through their branches left a rather pretty speckling of glow dancing along the ground beneath them.
"Well," he mumbled to himself. "At least it's a bit more homey."
The whole environment still felt rather… Off putting, but it certainly wasn't as bad now. Life had returned to their home. It was less like an abandoned and haunted manor, and more like the place a particularly creepy and kooky family lived.
"Sirius!" The Black Sheep turned and frowned as Giannis came running towards him, a massive smile on the boy's face as he emerged from the trees. "Hi!"
"Ooph, hey, kiddo," he said as the boy practically leapt onto him, forcing him to lift him the rest of the way up and into his arms. "What are you still doing up?"
"Playing," Giannis answered without a hint of shame at being up so late. "Look! He's so cool."
Sirius turned to where the boy was pointing, but there was nothing there. Just the same trees and moonlight that… From the shadowy depths of the glade of trees, a beast appeared. It walked on four legs, would've probably come up to just around his knees, and was skinny with shaggy, black fur.
A grim.
The canine was slowly approaching, eyes locked onto Sirius's, its lips pulled ever so slightly back to reveal its fangs. Sirius hardly felt Giannis scramble out of his arms and run over to the beast, his own gaze refusing to break contact with the newcomer's. His animagus side was practically tearing him apart to get out and tear the new grim aside, demanding for him to kill the interloper, but he kept it suppressed.
"See?" Giannis said. "Isn't he so cool? I always wanted a dog, but my parents said I couldn't get one. I used to go out and play with the street doggies though. They were really nice, and—"
"Giannis, come here." Sirius said. "Now."
The child stiffened. "Why? What's wrong?"
The grim began to growl at Sirius now, and he almost had to grab his throat from growling back. The fur on his immature rival's back was raised, making him look much larger than he was. Rather than his ward doing what he was told and stepping forward, the grim did so instead, fangs fully bared now. The weak grumbling from its throat was the most insulting thing Sirius had ever heard, and he'd heard it a lot.
"Back off," Sirius ordered. "Before I show you what a real—"
The grim started barking at him now, a much more baritone and menacing sound than its size would've implied. Unable to take it anymore, Sirius transformed. He fell forward onto paws as his clothes faded into fur, his bones shifted, and the world changed. His sight became weaker, colours fading into a sea of blues and greens. Scents became even stronger, and he could smell the anger and desire to protect from the other grim.
That anger quickly faded to fear as Sirius's rapid transformation finished.
Now he was the one growling. The other grim's eyes widened and he began to back away, tail tucked so hard between his legs that it left his backside pulled down below the rest of him. Sirius walked him down as the other male began to whimper, and it wasn't until the newcomer had collapsed and rolled onto his back that he let up with the menacing, thunderous rumble in his throat. He moved till he was practically on top of the other grim, the smells of fear and urine permeating the air as strong as anything he'd ever smelled, and he leaned down till this snout was pressed against the side of the smaller canine's head.
He gave the beast a few licks, a reminder of his supremacy, then began to circle around him and Giannis both. Eventually he stopped beside the kid, and transformed back into a human.
"There," Sirius said. "Bitch."
"That was awesome!" Giannis cried. "How did you do that? Can I do that? How do I turn into animals? Tell me how to turn into animals! I wanna—"
"Settle down!" Sirius yelped. The Greek boy had climbed him like a jungle gym and nearly sent them both tumbling to the ground with his clumsy and clubbing movements. "Give a guy a little warning next time, sheesh."
"Sorry," the boy said without a hint of regret. "How'd you do that?!"
"I'm an animagus," he replied, once again reminded that just because the boy had rapidly honed a hyper intelligence regarding certain magical studies, that didn't mean he wasn't still a muggle-born child. "I have the ability to turn into one animal, and it just so happens mine is a grim like this one."
"That's so cool!" Giannis cried again. "How do I do it?"
"You're too young, you can learn when you're older." Sirius's eyes shot back down to the grim who had been 'subtly' crawling towards them, and the canine froze just a foot or so away from him. "Where did he come from?"
"I dunno," Giannis said, shrugging. "I went out looking to see if anyone else had come to live here, and I found him."
'Great…' Sirius thought as the grim cautiously continued to crawl, shooting glances at him constantly until the beast was laying on top of his feet. 'Just a boy and his fucking death omen.'
"I don't know if you can keep him, kiddo," Sirius said. "We'll have to ask Hydrus."
"What?" Giannis demanded. "Why?"
"Because…" How the fuck was he supposed to explain a war between deities to a child? "Hydrus will explain. Come on."
After carefully pulling his toes out from underneath the grim, then having to learn to walk with bowed legs as the dog refused to get out from between the limbs, he made his way towards the office once more. When they got there, Hydrus and Bellatrix were cuddling on the same seat as before. The pair looked over at him, then at Giannis in confusion, then at the grim with shock.
"What did you do now?" Hydrus asked.
"Nothing!" Sirius protested. "I went outside like you said, found Giannis, and this guy here."
"I'm gonna name him Argus!" Giannis said. "Like Odysseus's dog!"
"How do you know the Odyssey?" Hydrus asked.
The Greek boy shrugged. "I read lots of muggle books when I was living with my parents."
Sirius wasn't surprised to hear that fact, but it did leave him reeling about Hydrus's own heritage. His son really had grown up alone with muggles. He really did know more about muggle culture than his own. He'd already 'known' that, but it didn't change a slap in the face like this.
"Whatever," Hydrus said, staring at the dog still. "Well, at least this is better than the gnomes you tried keeping."
"Wait," Sirius started. "You're just going to let him… Keep it? A grim?"
He tried emphasising the word to remind his son that the thing was an omen of Death.
"Why not?" Hydrus asked, turning a furrowed brow towards him now. "It's just a dog. A dog who likes magic like ours, but still."
"It's a Death omen!"
"It's a dog." Hydrus stood, and his magic filled the room as he did so. Sirius shivered and pulled Giannis a bit tighter. "Look. C'mere, boy."
The grim ran over as Hydrus snapped his fingers and Sirius watched as his son scooped the dog up with a laugh. The grim began licking his face, and that neophyte part of Sirius's soul that told him he was a dad melted as a smile emerged on his son's face.
"That's a good boy," Hydrus said. "See? He's harmless. I wouldn't be looking into raising thestrals if I thought every creature with a touch of Death on them was a threat."
"Thestrals?!" Giannis exclaimed. "Those are the dragon-horse-thingies right?"
"Close enough," Hydrus said. "Seems they like the Black family magic, so I might be getting some."
"Can we please?" the Greek boy whined. "I wanna ride one!"
"Maybe, kiddo, maybe." Hydrus sat 'Argus' back down, and the grim's tongue lolled out of its mouth as it continued to stare up at him. "I still need to do some testing and see."
"But I can keep Argus, right?" Giannis asked.
"Yes, yes." Hydrus nodded. "Go on, show him your room."
Eliciting yet another grunt from Sirius as he scrambled down, Giannis escaped from his grasp and began to call for the grim to follow him. The dog looked around the room to make sure there wasn't anything left for him here, then went galloping after his boy. It would've all been adorable if paranoia wasn't still pouring through the head of House Black's body.
"Are you sure it's alright?" he asked. "What if Death…"
"I'm sure," Hydrus answered. "Tell me, when you finally left home and moved in with the Potters, what was the very first thing you did when you were alone in your room?"
Sirius frowned as he returned to his seat behind Arcturus's old desk. "I don't know. Laid down in the bed?"
"Before that?" Hydrus pressed. "Before you did anything else, what was the very first thing you did after you were left alone in there."
He threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know, locked the door?"
"Exactly." Hydrus gave a rueful grin. "If you really think the first thing Giannis did after escaping his parents was work on translation artefacts, you're dead wrong. I'm positive he'll be safe."
In a, for once no pun intended, grim way, that made sense. From what Giannis mentioned in passing like it was common fair, and from what Hydrus had told Sirius, the boy hadn't had an easy life. Now a part of the Black Sheep was paranoid to try and wrestle with the kid the next time they played.
"What on earth was he like in your time?" he asked. "You had said…"
"Sorry," Hydrus said. "You're out of questions."
"Seriously?"
"I'm not falling for that."
Sirius snorted. "Bastard."
"And who's fault is that?"
Now he gave a proper laugh, enjoying the way Hydrus had smiled along with him. "You're something else."
Hydrus sat down the next report for Sirius to sign, and decided he hated the man. At first he'd been willing to begrudge him his love for the Bones woman, his father deserved to be happy, but he really did leave a lot of work hanging. He'd just read through a thesis paper and list of signatures the future head of House Black would soon add his own to in support of coconut charcoal being used for Ministry runes work, and the topic nearly bored him senseless. Honestly, who cared?
At the very least they were almost done with all the paperwork. Everything and anything that passed over Sirius's desk required his signature, and so it became an oddball process with the three of them there. The head of House Black and Hydrus would both take a document, they'd read the pages through, and Hydrus would hand his over to be signed or Sirius would sign his own when they finished. Bellatrix reviewed each document they went through, making sure there were no mistakes. In a sense Hydrus's future wife had the easiest job of all, in another she had the hardest. All she had to do was read, but at the same time, she had to read twice as much as he himself or Sirius did.
"We're almost finished," Bella said. "And hopefully Lord Black will learn a thing or two."
"I'm sooo sorry," Sirius replied, sarcasm dripping from his lips. "I stayed the night at Amelia's, and it was hard to get away from her afterwards."
"Just have her move in already," Hydrus said, beginning to read through a report on the latest earnings report of some England-based cauldron manufacturer they were invested in. "You work when she does, ask her to help you when she's finished, and maybe you'll learn to be more efficient when she starts bitching at you for how much work you have left over."
"Come on," his dad argued, not looking away from his own report. "I'm not this bad normally. I just…"
"Just got caught up in the moment," he mocked, aping his father's earlier baritone monotone. "I just gave you a solution, take it or leave it."
"You'll see," Sirius grumbled as he refocused his attention to the work. "Gonna move her in and…"
The rest of his under-the-breath threatening faded away as Hydrus turned his full attention to his work.
Bellatrix had been right. The man really hadn't kept any sort of grudge over their argument, it was like it had never happened. Hydrus had done his best impression of Dumbledore, and he wasn't sure if it was that or Giannis discovering a puppy that settled his father's nerves. Either way he was glad things were peaceful once more, and he hoped that their pace would continue.
"Hydrus," Bella said. "There's a discrepancy."
He took in a long breath. "What is it?"
"Here." She pointed at a spot on a doc he'd approved. "Tallsman's Tapestries. They're supposed to give us five percent, only gave us four and nine-tenths."
"Send it to Cygnus," he said. "Have him look into the records. If it's a similarly reasonable pattern, let them keep it up. We can use it against them later. If it's the first time, we'll have Sirius pay them a visit and say it can't happen again."
"Sirius 'The Black Sheep' Black'," his father said, naming himself with all the dramatic energy of a thespian. "The bully of the masses."
"If you don't want to be our enforcer then I'll do it," Hydrus mildly chided. "Believe me when I say I'll do a better job of it than you."
His father rolled his eyes and turned back to his work.
Maybe… Maybe this really was all it was. Hydrus returned his attention to the paperwork he had to sift through next. Maybe he really was just too used to war and the only-urgent reports he received. Maybe he was too used to the banal extremity of matters of life and death compared to the more regular banality of normal life as the leader of a pureblood house. Maybe… Maybe this was all there was.
It made him itch.
"Bella," he started. "Would you hate me if I went to bed now?"
"Of course not!" she said. "Get to bed, love."
"Sirius," he continued. "Would you mind if I dragged this growing, hormonally-ravaged, teenage body to bed and got some more sleep?"
His father snorted. "You know I won't with a speech like that. Get some sleep, kiddo."
"Right. I'm back to Hogwarts then." He gave a kiss to his fiancee and a nod to Sirius. "I'll see you two later. I…" He swallowed his teenage rebellious side and continued. "I love you both. See you then."
Albus woke, and almost immediately the day's possibilities spread out across the surface of his mind. It was the first real day back for Hogwarts' students, and that meant work was to be done in his school. He slid out from underneath his covers and began the yoga-inspired stretching routine he'd decided to saddle himself with in his old age.
Hydrus had asked to keep the thestrals around so he could examine the effect of the Black family magic on them, but the pit he'd left behind was still a hazard. The school had received funding for a greenhouse thanks to that same apprentice's efforts, so maybe they could build it on top of the hole which could serve as a haven for more nocturnal and fungal growths. Remus had asked for a meeting at the end of each day for the first couple of weeks for his first year of teaching at the school, something to be admired and disdained in turn, so he had to get ready for that too. The legendary Herpo the Foul had shown up on his doorstep just the day before, so there was also a mountain of work to do regarding the school's safety, and that thought drove him to stretch extra far with his remaining moves.
Once he was done sweating up a flood and had cleaned himself up from such a mess, he moved into his office. Fawkes greeted him with a melodic trill that told wondrous stories of the phoenix's affection for his master. Albus took his seat behind the desk he'd inherited from Armando Dippet, and started to think through his tasks.
The first was what to do with the beginning of his day. A nice cuppa with a few sweets was his usual fare, but perhaps 'usual' wasn't the right thing for such a momentous day as the first calendar-scratch of his thirty-second year of being headmaster of Hogwarts. Before other ideas towards his breakfast could truly pervade his thoughts, he noticed a letter sitting atop his desk.
He opened the anonymously labelled parchment and began reading.
Dear Albus,
As I'm sure you're aware, I had quite the day.
The writing was wrinkled and had the occasional outshoot of ink that betrayed the writer's unsteady hand.
Hydrus Black spent some time here for unrelated purposes, and whilst he was here, a rather nasty individual made himself known. None other than Herpo the Foul himself. He is Death's chosen. The house elf my beloved and I recently took in dismissed him, but I worry he will return. Do you know how to deal with such a threat, how to remove him from our worries?
I have the utmost love, respect, and borderline-worship of young Hydrus. He means more to me than you know, and I would never doubt him. But I fear he might be in more trouble than he lets on. I will do anything I can to help, but please, assist him in dealing with matters so that I no longer have to fear for my wife and I's safety.
Yours truly,
(frmr) Grand Sorcerer,
General of the Seventh Infantry,
Gregory G. L. Herschel
The signature scrawled below the man's full name faded away as Albus set the letter down. Gregory Herschel was a hero, and one whom Albus owed more to than most knew. Despite his attempts at giving the man credit, the old veteran had tried his best to retain his anonymity, and it was no more apparent than in Hydrus's shock that more people knew of him than he'd realised.
Hydrus had fallen prey to the odd-enchantment that had somehow been cast on Albus's old friend. The man faded from memory faster than a spark through a trail of gunpowder. Most who remembered him only did so through his relation to his wife, and even Albus himself had been known to forget a thing or two about the old legend. Every witch and wizard alive today owed the man a debt greater than they could ever repay, though, so he began to write back to him.
Dearest Gregory,
I hope it stills your heart to hear that Hydrus and his familiar have already taken care of Herpo the Foul. I'm not sure how much you know given what I've only recently learned about you, but my apprentice is not one to be doubted. The deceased figure attacked him on Hogwarts' grounds, and even I wasn't able to arrive in time to stop the duel.
A gentle half-lie, one he hoped wouldn't be found out.
Please rest assured that Hydrus and I will take care of any further problems that arise. You have already given more to us and ours than anyone else could ever dare to consider. Hydrus told me everything, including his gifting of that house elf to you, so please consider taking advantage of the advantage it gives you. You deserve your retirement even if you currently choose to eschew it.
Gregory Herschel should've stopped working a long time ago, and it had been no surprise to hear that he hadn't buckled under the threat Herpo had presented them with. Herpo wasn't the first dark lord he'd stood face to face with, after all. Albus dipped his quill into the inkwell once more then continued.
Hydrus and I shall strive to do whatever we can to prevent further disruptions to you and your wife. I don't doubt for a second that Hydrus would never put the two of you in danger if he could help it. It was truly just a coincidence that he was in your diner when our forebearer made his appearance, I promise you that.
He and I both shall strive to ensure that you never have to see such danger again. If you would prefer, I shall forbid my apprentice from returning to your establishment ever again, and you won't have to fear it at all. I hope you won't press me to such measures, though, as I do believe you and more specifically Agatha's influence on him isn't without worth. He truly does care for the two of you, and the more good influences on him that he can have, the better.
I hope this letter finds you well, and as always, if there is anything I can do to improve your conditions, you have only need to ask.
Albus finished off the letter with a matching list of titles, most especially including his not-so-(frmr) title as Grand Sorcerer, and signed his name with aplomb. He rolled up the parchment and held it out for Fawkes to grab, and once the phoenix was gone, he sagged down in his seat.
He could think of no one else in the entire world who deserved a pleasant retirement as much as Gregory Herschel, and he hoped the old wizard would accept such a refusal to the return to arms with grace. He almost prayed the man didn't answer the call to stand once more against the forces that threatened wizarding kind.
Things might get rather messy otherwise, after all.
Some years ago.
Gregory took a breath to steady himself. This was what everything had been building up to. This was what he'd trained day and night and every time in between for. Him, Elizabeth Crouch, and Albus Dumbledore had spent countless hours on this. Once he was sure he had every drop of confidence that he could muster, mustered, he entered the tent.
Inside was a war table, not unlike the one he'd seen in the Department of Mysteries just a few days before this. Just before his 'death'. There were various markers sat atop the table, not all that different from the one he'd seen before, and that almost filled him with dread. There were more pieces on the dark lord's side different than those on his own side.
The rest of the 'tent' was what he could've expected, nothing too out of the ordinary. A section of chairs all stacked atop one another and just waiting for occupants to take them. The sandy earth spread out into a hard, barren, solid footing for him to walk across. No decorations on the canvas walls at all, making the place a perfectly formal forum for meetings to be held.
Standing at the table he'd first observed, looking up at him slowly then quickly as recognition didn't come, was Gellert Grindelwald.
"Who the fuck—"
"Alexander." The dark lord froze, proving Albus's words true, and Gregory almost gave a sigh of relief. "You told me to call you that the next time we meet to prove what I say is true."
Grindelwald was frozen in place. The most deadly and dangerous man in the entire world was sizing him up, and as always under such inspections, Gregory knew he didn't meet the cut. Still, he tried to straighten up, tried to put some spine in his back as Corporal Black had said, and he faced his hopefully-would-be master.
"Lord Grindelwald, I have returned."
"Who the fuck are you?" The dark lord approached him slowly, and Gregory didn't doubt it was a wand hiding in his robes as the man moved. "I don't know you."
He bowed.
"I am Gregory Herschel, forever your servant, and I have returned from my duty of spying in the Department of Mysteries." He kept his head bowed even as Grindelwald got far too close for him to have a chance at defending himself. "I know you don't remember me, but that is the result of a curse I suffer, and one you've been made aware of several times."
"Is that right…"
Gregory kept his head bowed. Everything was going according to plan, so he had nothing to fear. This was what they'd trained for. What they'd expected. Madame Crouch hadn't given him this position out of boredom, he deserved to be here. This was his job. What he was meant to do. What would—
"Tell me, 'Gregory Herschel', did I say why you should call me Alexander?" Grindelwald asked. The dark lord placed a hand on Gregory's bowed shoulder, forcing him to remain tilted. "Did I inform you of where that name stems from?"
"No," he answered, technically honest. Albus had told him everything, not Gellert. "You just promised that it would be something that would keep you from torturing me again, something to prove that what I was saying was true."
Those words were the basis of this whole operation, and they were a gamble. He had to convince the dark lord that he was his spy, sent to the DoM to check them out, and to try and gain any intelligence he could. He, Madame Crouch, and Albus Dumbledore had spent hours upon hours training and practising for this day. Training to prepare him to be investigated, interrogated, and perhaps even tortured by the deadliest and most vile man alive in the entire world.
God, he wasn't sure if he was ready.
"You are aware," Grindelwald said, finally releasing him so Gregory could straighten up. "That right now I want nothing more than to kill you, and be rid of a potential threat, are you not?"
He gave the dark lord a lop-sided, cocky, all-together-unnatural grin. "Of course. You didn't save me because I was average, Lord Grindelwald."
"Hm…" The man was still looking at him like he was a piece of dung on an essay. "And tell me, what did you discover in the Department of Mysteries?"
"This is my third time reporting these facts to you, Lord Grindelwald," he said. Albus had told him to make it sound like he was exasperated with his job, like there was more he could do. "But the department is exactly what we thought it was. They keep and monitor prophecies, they keep tabs on disturbances of the timeline, they handle everything that doesn't quite make sense to wizarding-kind.
"If you'd like, I could go on about each day I spent there," Gregory continued. "Wasting my divination talents and playing the fool, but I've already tenured my resignation there."
Grindelwald narrowed his eyes and stepped forwards. His magic was flared and nearly brought the spy to his knees, but Gregory remained standing despite his buckled legs and trembling posture. It might've had something to do with the fact that he literally couldn't fall forwards thanks to the dark lord pressing his chest against his. This was just like Albus had trained him.
"You said I don't remember you," the dark lord breathed into his neck, sending terrifying, arctic chills down Gregory's spine. "Did I ever give you leave to speak to me in such a manner?"
"Yes," he lied through gritted teeth, trying to just remain conscious under the man's pressure. "You said it was what you respected most."
The pressure kept going. The magic felt like he was being devoured by a crowd of cannibalistic rabble rousers. In his mind's eye he could almost see a burlap-clothed throng of the masses swelling around him, ugly-faced and dagger-fingered, convalescing upon him and ripping him to shreds as he screamed for help. All of Albus Dumbledore's training had prepared him for this and more in terms of strength, but he had had no idea just how vicious and vivid the real Grindelwald's magic could be when it swallowed him up.
"You're not a jester, are you?" Gregory gasped as the pressure finally relented. He nearly collapsed to the ground as Grindelwald stalked away from him. "You really are a part of my vision…"
"Yes, my lord," Gregory managed through heaving breaths. "I promise. I wish only to bring freedom to me and mine. To ours."
That again was what Albus had told him to say. What the only-slightly older wizard had taught him would pull at Grindelwald's heartstrings, if such things existed. It seemed they very well might've as the dark lord settled into a chair and gave him an up-and-down look.
"So people forget about you…" he said. "So I sent you to the DoM. You learned nothing?"
"Nothing more than the last time I was here." Gregory straightened up, fearing that he was giving away how fragile he was with the way he trembled. "You promised me I wouldn't have to remain there the next time I reported, so here I am. They still haven't gotten any prophecies about you. Still haven't shown themselves to be anything more than the last time I reported to you. They're basically just an embezzlement scheme."
"I see…"
Grindelwald folded his fingers together and Gregory continued to try and catch his breath. Everything… Everything was still going according to Albus and Crouch's plan. The two had told him literally everything he'd gone through would happen, but the pulses and aftershocks were rolling through him from Grindelwald's magic. Even after meeting and truly experiencing the power of Albus Dumbledore, Gregory hadn't been ready for meeting the dark lord.
"Where does this curse of yours come from?" Grindelwald asked. "That makes you so forgettable?"
Gregory gave him a smile. The same smile he'd given Albus when the man asked, the same smile said man had told him to repeat when he met the dark lord. The same smile he always gave if someone asked that inevitable question upon discovering his ailment. The smile that was supposed to save him from the demon's wrath.
"I wish I knew," he said, truly and totally honest. "People have been forgetting about me for as long as I've lived. There's only been one who didn't, and she got my wergild when I 'retired' from the DoM."
"A lover?" Grindelwald demanded. "Who is she?"
"My Hogwarts girlfriend," Gregor replied, again as honest as the day he was born. "The woman you swore to spare when we win this war: Agatha Smith."
"The Hufflepuff descendants?" the dark lord asked. "You're involved with one of them?"
Gregory shrunk. "I was. Her uncle married her off to someone else."
If there was one benefit to his time in training, it was that he hardly had a waking moment to concern himself with his love. As a reward for his due diligence, Crouch had pulled some strings and gotten Howard Crabbe yanked onto the frontlines early. He hadn't even asked for it, the matronly woman had just gone ahead and gotten it done. It was one of the reasons he wasn't pissing his pants and fleeing in terror from a situation like he was in now.
"Poor thing," Grindelwald said, staring at him with the mock pity Albus had warned him about. "Yet another victim to the pureblood agenda?"
"I am not a victim." Gregory scraped off whatever courage remained inside his gut, and managed to glare at Grindelwald. "I am Gregory Herschel, a true wizard, and someday I shall have my revenge."
And again like Albus had foreseen, Grindelwald smiled at those words. The teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts had been close to the biggest threat to wizarding-kind, and that fact was becoming clearer and clearer the more time Gregory spent around the man. How else could Albus have so accurately predicted the man's movements.
"Forgive me, indeed you are." Grindelwald grabbed and rang a bell on his desk, and a woman entered the tent. "Cherry, would you show my friend here to a room he can stay in? Something nice."
Gregory straightened up, taking hold of the woman's arm as she approached and offered it to him. "Please, Lord Grindelwald, I will do anything for you. Anything besides waste away in that awful department."
With his last pleading done, he allowed 'Cherry' to escort him out of the tent. The woman maintained her decorum until they were outside, then sagged down and pulled herself free of his traditional grip. Gregory cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Come on," she said, sounding tired and not at all as obedient as she had been in Grindelwald's presence. "We've only got so much space."
The woman led him deeper into Grindelwald's camp, a place half the ministry had been dying to get into, and eventually stopped in front of a cardboard box. People were milling around them even as Cherry spun around to look Gregory in the eye, and she popped a hand on her hip and glared as if daring him to challenge her.
"Here," she said. "Climb down. It's a room."
"Thank you," he said, used to such surliness from his time in the secret military of his government. "I'll look forward to meeting you again."
With his double entendre on the word 'meeting' out of the way, he clambered down into the cardboard box and discovered that it was indeed a room. There wasn't anything inside of it besides a cot and a water basin, but considering the way the daily update liked to portray Grindelwald's forces, that might've been a lot. He settled down on the lone piece of proper furniture, stretching out his legs and arms, then managed to hold off the hysteria that had been threatening to overcome him ever since he first arrived. He managed for three whole seconds.
"Oh god," he muttered as the panic overtook him. "What am I doing here? What am I going to do?"
He fell over sideways onto the ungiving 'mattress', and his breaths started to come in heaving gulps. This wasn't where he was supposed to be. This wasn't what he was meant to do. He wasn't brave, he wasn't a spy, he was a charlatan! This was all too much, he wanted to run, wanted to flee, wanted to get as far away from here as humanly possible. He was a coward, he'd always known that, always been that, so why in the name of Merlin had he possibly considered coming here? He was going to die, everyone was going to die, he was—
The sound of flapping cardboard brought him vertical once more, and he prepared a proper smile as he realised it was Grindelwald descending down the same ladder he himself had just navigated. There were a pair of guards accompanying him, of course, but when the man straightened up and stared at him they practically faded into the background.
"My lord," Gregory started. "It's a pleasure to see you again."
"I'm sure it is," Grindelwald responded, glancing about the space. "You don't belong here."
The spy's heart nearly stopped. "What do you mean?"
"You're too valuable to leave wasting away in a box," Grindelwald replied. "I didn't want to forget you again, so here's your next assignment. Go to the muggles."
Gregory blinked. "The muggles?"
"They are at war as well," Grindelwald said. "They're desperate. Go to their leader, perform some miracles, and return to me with supplies." The man stared down at him, seated, and Gregory swallowed. This time he was feeling the man's gravitas without any magic being needed at all. "I don't care if I remember you then, if you come bearing gifts, nothing will stop me from taking you in."
"But…" Gregory started, not sure how he was supposed to spy on the dark lord if he was away with muggles. "You might need me. My divination—"
"I know you've been 'cast aside' into the Department of Mysteries until now," Grindelwald interrupted. "But I need those supplies. Food, water, medicine; anything and everything you can get. You'll be the hero we need, Gregory."
He bit his cheeks as not a single argument, not one that could keep him alive anyways, popped into his brain. "Alright. Fine."
"Good." Grindelwald turned back towards the ladder. "Be sure to return as soon as possible, Gregory."
The man said his name the way most people did, like they didn't want to forget it even though they inevitably would, and Gregory sighed. The act almost humanised the bastard. He really was 'just like any other man', like Albus had said. He was beginning to hate the pompous nutjob for just how accurately he had predicted everything Gregory would go when he arrived here.
'Right then, come on, soldier,' he thought as he began to mentally prepare himself for this second leg of his journey. 'Time to make yourself so famous no one can forget you.'
Sixty-one, anotha done. I'm tired, so let's skip the formalities, and get to reviews.
"Can we get a little scene of a proud Bella doting on him for being a good soul eating boy? He deserves it. And we all deserve more cute deranged Bella in our lives." - Unfortunately, Apophis was in a bad mood, and wasn't available for most of this chapter. I wonder what he got up to after the school-time meeting...
"I also love the Remus and Harry bit, gold level comedy." - I enjoyed getting to have a minor interaction between the two Remus nor present!Harry are main characters in this fic, but I wanted to give them that moment of closeness. Remus isn't as close to this-timeline's Harry, but they aren't unrelated, and Harry wanted to give some 'love' to a man he loves like an uncle.
"Ashworth from Australia. Great Delenda Est reference." - Lolol it was fun to get a proper easter egg towards that rather than just my unintended connection between Arcturus and Cygnus. I'm glad someone caught it.
"Why would such a inefficiently brutal elf "breeding pen" exist in the first place other than shock value and "wizard societyevil"?" - Just grabbing the first sentence of this review to say, it feels like you came into this chapter with a lot of preemptive assumptions about this fanfic's 'cannon' towards house elves and other things that stopped you from enjoying it. I don't personally feel like anything I laid out there, especially considering the main focus of the section was Draco's growth, really took away from the story. It's regretable you disagree, but really, I can come up with 'exxcuses' and explanations for everything you disagreed with.
"I am highkey excited to read any original works you publish. " - I still feel like I'm missing a lot as a writer, primarily in the non-dialogue related factors, but I do appreciate the compliment. If you'd like I can send you the first 'book' I wrote, as rough as it is, to see if you like it. Same goes for anyone else reading this, just message me on FF, or on Ao3 comment, and I'll try and reach out to you with it.
(From a chapter 2 comment) "btw I don't think wizards or witches would be annoyed by kids breaking a glass. Nothing a simple reparo can't fix" - This is one of those things where I just made the decision that the 'hassle of having to repair what was broken alongside the general vibe/comedy of the scene outweighed the pragmaticism of the situation. Yeah, a potential break of some property really isn't a big deal, but it can still be annoying. And there's no one in this fic who wouldn't go along with a bit more than James Potter lol
