Black Castle
Animus returned to the Black Castle and swiftly passed Nagini off to Regulus before stepping into one of the side rooms for a quick meeting.
Lady Callidora Longbottom née Black and Lord Cassius Nott were sitting calmly in one of the smaller sitting rooms as if they were old friends despite there being over 20 years between them and never having really spoken more then a polite greeting in more than 40 years. He had requested they both meet him there as there was something he needed to discuss with both of them. He had made sure to have Melania give Callidora the basics of him being Lord Black from the future, but no more than that, Callidora had chosen to be neutral in the war and he had no intent to try and sway her.
"What is it you wished to discuss with the two of us Lord Animus?" Cassius was the first to break their silent staring contest after he had sat down.
"This is more of a heads up. I do so hope that I don't need to explain to either of you the true purpose of Lords and Ladies of Magic." Animus said.
"I do believe we both received a proper education in that matter." Callidora said primly. "Lady Magic sends Lords and Ladies of Dark and Light to manage their sides of magic. Despite the behaviour of the two most recent ones here in Britain they are intended to work together to protect each side while advancing all magicals. One or two new potentials are sent every two or three generations. And, in times of great strife or destabilization a Grey Lord or Lady is sent to restore balance."
"Correct." Animus nodded his agreement. "And, as you both have no doubt noticed, there has been a great deal of strife and destabilization occurring in the past few decades."
"Lady Magic has sent a Grey Lord?" Callidora gasped in shock and excitement. She had never thought she would live in a time of a grey. Not that she had liked living in the times she had been, all the fighting was stupid and a waste of life in her opinion.
"Indeed she has."
"Who?" Cassius questioned in a neutral tone. Although his tone was neutral his mind was moving fast over all the information he had available to him. First, he had a grandson and the woman that had also been invited had a great grandson around the same age. Two, things had become so unstable that a Grey Lord was needed in the first place, and that was not a good thing. And three, he was going to need to make sure this Grey Lord leaned towards the dark.
"Hunter Black." Animus said, using the name the child would have by the end of the evening, that was who he was going to be.
"Who?" Both questioned as one.
"Hunter Black is the son of Regulus Black."
"Regulus?" Callidora questioned. "I heard he had died. Although, Arcturus has not called the family to inform them of such."
"No, Regulus and his wife have been living in France, where their son was born." Animus told the woman, as one of Voldemort's Elite Cassius had already known about where he had been and had seen him himself earlier at the meeting no doubt.
"What can we possibly do about that?" Callidora questioned. "I may have been born a Black, but other than being distantly related I have no real connection with him."
"Indeed. The reason the two of you are here is for a different reason." Animus told them. "Lady Magic is trying most desperately to get the UK back under control, we are simply doing too much damage to ourselves and risking far too much. To do this this generation she has sent around a half dozen potential Lords and Ladies of Magic for each side. I do not know who most of them are, but I do know the identities of two of them.
Lord Nott, your young grandson Theo is a potential Dark Lord. Lady Longbottom, your great grandson Neville is a potential Light Lord. I am not telling you this so you can try and force them to reach their potential, if you know history you know just how badly that has turned out in the past." Past attempts to force a Lord or Lady of Magic to reach their potential had always resulted in death and destruction. "Powers such as they may have need to be allowed to grow and mature in their own time, not yours.
I am telling you this so you can offer your aid if it is needed. Neville will excel more in earth based magics and charms, Theo in the more esoteric subjects of rituals and magical theory. It will also be beneficial if the children get to know each other young since if they each reach their potential they will have to work together for the betterment of all. I know Lord and Lady Black have already discussed getting a private tutor for any children in the family once they are older so that may be one way to let them get to know each other without pressure.
Callidora, you are going to need to pay particular attention to Neville whenever he is around Augusta and her brother, Algie. Both were rather cruel to him, constantly telling him he was a failure and generally insulting his intelligence. Algie even dropped him out a window when he was 8 while attempting to force accidental magic when he got distracted by dessert."
Callidora clenched her fist in outrage, she had never truly liked Augusta, but her son had loved her dearly so had agreed to approve the match. Over the years she had of course seen the change in their relationship, after nearly 30 years of marriage the two acted more like acquaintances than husband and wife. Augusta was obsessively devoted to her son, but she was also very critical of him at the same time. Even when she offered him praise she always had to comment on how he could have done better or how his accomplishment didn't measure up to others from previous generations.
With that information given they left the room. Callidora returned home and started making plans to ensure Neville was protected and taught everything he needed to know. Animus and Cassius went to another sitting room where the rest of the death eaters that had been invited were waiting for them.
In the large sitting room was those that had been invited to the meeting. This included the Elite, of the original twelve ten still survived. Both Wilhelm Rookwood and Zephyr Mulciber had been killed, Mulciber in the war and Rookwood by his mistresses brother. Lucius Malfoy had been invited, his wife and young son were in another room with Melania, Bronwen, Hunter, and baby Calliope Crouch-Lestrange. Severus Prince-Snape, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange, Rabastan and Barty Crouch-Lestrange, and Augustus Rookwood were also there.
"So how much of that was a lie?" Abraxas smirked once Animus had settled into the seat at the head of the table in the dining room they had congregated in.
"All and none." Animus smirked back at the arrogant Lord. "It is the Slytherin way after all."
"So what is the truth?" Graham Lestrange, recently named Lord Lestrange when his father retired to their summer home in France, questioned.
"Tom has lost his body, but he is still around in spirit form. But the reason we can't restore him now isn't because the ritual takes time to prepare." Animus said.
"Then why must we wait?" Bellatrix demanded in a desperate voice, but Animus was pleased to see she didn't have that maniacal look in her eye and settled when her husband took her hand, although that might not all be due to the different occlumency shields he had ensured she was taught but more due to not spending over a decade in Azkaban. She had also thankfully brought Hufflepuff's cup to him.
"Because he violated Lady Magic's rules. His spirit has been exiled. He will be able to return to Britain after 9 1/2 years, but will not be allowed to have a body until 10 years have passed. Due to the ritual I am using I can't tell you when and how he will return, but I have left time delay letters to alert you once the warning signs of his arrival begin so you can prepare the body creation ritual." Animus told them sombrely. "All is not lost, but you will need to bide your time."
"Why didn't you stop this?" Bellatrix demanded. She may be more stable, but she was still a Black, and Black's were well known for their tempers. She, along with the others had been informed who he truly was, it was one of the things reining her in, despite being from the future he was still the Lord of her family.
"I couldn't." Animus told them in a subdued voice, he knew that many of them were blaming him for not stopping this. "By the time I arrived it was already too late. I have no direct evidence, but I strongly believe, that when Dumbledore used this ritual he used it to compel the Dark Lord to conduct the ritual that is responsible for slowly driving him insane over the past decades.
None of you that knew him when he first started Hogwarts can deny that he has been becoming less and less the man you first met when you were boys." Animus pointed out when he saw some building up to challenge him and wasn't surprised when he saw many give an acknowledging nod. "The ritual has been making him less and less stable as time went on and there was no way we could counter it previously. However, now that he is in spirit form the rituals can be reversed before his body is restored. I have already gathered everything, and when the time comes you will be given access to everything you need."
"How could he have broken Lady Magics rules?" Amon Avery questioned, accepting Lord Animus's reasoning. He had known Tom since they were first years together he had seen how he had changed.
"In a number of ways. The first is the ritual. Despite my belief that he is not exactly at fault he still did something horrible. I believe Lady Magic didn't punish him immediately because she knew he was not at fault. But the main problem is what he did with Harry Potter." Animus said.
"You said the boy was dead." Abraxas interrupted.
"Yeah, that was a lie." Animus told them. "He was left outside, but he did not succumb. I arranged to collect him."
"He's here?" Bellatrix hissed, ready to track down the one that took their Lord from them, despite her anger she knew she wouldn't be able to truly harm the child, but she could glare.
"Yes, and you will not harm him in any way." Animus said sternly. "As it is, one of the reason I had you come here is that you will be assigned as his protecters."
"You want us to protect him?" Barty questioned in shock. He had no desire to harm a child, but he couldn't deny his fury over what had happened to his Lord.
"Yes." Animus confirmed. "The prophecy that was told is not exactly a lie, but it also isn't the truth.
As I said, there was a prophecy about a child of power. But, the original prophecy was given in the headmasters office at Hogwarts. The one that was told publicly at the Hog's Head was one that Dumbledore had altered. He changed it so the prophecy specifically mentioned the Dark Lord. The original version just states that the child of power will be the end of a Lord of Magic, it didn't mention Dark or Light. It could just as easily be about the downfall of Dumbledore himself, which is why he changed it to have Tom target the child, effectively using them as weapons against each other and arranging a situation he thinks he can control.
But that isn't why you will be protecting him. The reason for that is that due to the rituals the Dark Lord conducted his soul was particularly unstable. In the backlash of the failed killing curse a sliver of the Dark Lords soul broke off. It then latched on to the closest living thing, Harry Potter.
It is that soul piece that is anchoring him to this plane. Harry can outlive the Dark Lord, but the Dark Lord can not outlive him. There is nothing that can be done to change that. The souls were too entwined within the first 20 minutes to be able to separate them. Attempting to do so will kill them both. This means the very survival of the Dark Lord relies on Harry Potter. And that is why he is here. If any of the light fools discovered this they would try and kill him in order to kill the Dark Lord."
"Does Dumbledore know?" Graham Lestrange questioned in a slightly worried voice.
"Thankfully no." Animus told them all, seeing as they all relaxed. "If I had left Harry where he was left Dumbledore would have discovered the soul shard when the boy was around 5 due to his accidental magic as a result of being in an abusive home. That was when he made his plans for the boy."
"Plans?" Rodolphus asked.
"For him to maintain his control and power as a Light Lord he needs an enemy to fight." Animus said with a shrug. "As of now he believes the Dark Lord is still out there, but he has no direct proof, it's why he wants to train the Potter girl. Last time, when he discovered the soul shard he planned to use the boy as a martyr. He left him in an abusive home to try and train him to be submissive and obedient. Once the Dark Lord returned he planned to arrange confrontations and have them kill each other. If one of them survived he would then step in to kill who was left, making him the ultimate hero. Allowing him to know about the soul shard is just too much of a risk for all those involved."
This resulted in many muttered discussions as those present started to make plans to hide and protect the child. Each had their own ideas but he was just relieved they were going to be willing to work with him on this, not that he really doubted they would protect the one anchoring their Lord.
Severus was mostly ignoring the others talking. He knew the man before them was the adult version of the child they were making plans about, and he knew that he would have already had everything planned before he even came back. "What is it that you brought us here for?" If it was just about protecting himself he wouldn't have needed to do all this, he just would have needed to hide him and leave them all ignorant.
Animus nodded to the severe man. "You are all here to assist me in a few things. The first is a transfer ritual. We can not separate the Dark Lords soul from Harry Potter, but we are going to need to move it."
"Move it?" Rabastan questioned.
"Yes. There is a mark signifying the location of the soul." Animus told them. "There is a rather large sowilo rune shaped cut on the boys forehead from where the soul latched on and it will leave a rather obvious scar. Along with that it's location will effect his sight and given that he is protecting a part of the Dark Lords soul having him half blind will not be helpful.
The ritual room here has been prepared for us to use a transference ritual to move it. We will be shifting it onto his sternum as there it will not effect his development and will be much easier to hide. We will also be using the same potion we used to fade the marks for many to make it harder to spot."
"And once that's done how do you plan to make it plausible for us to protect him?" Bellatrix questioned, finally able to get a word in without any of the others starting to talk first. "I can't just show up around a child. Even with my mark hidden those like Dumbledore and his light fools will lose it, claiming we are a danger to children, it's why we all keep Cally's existence quiet."
"No, we will not be allowing any of the light to know about him. It would be for the best for many families to enact protections for any children they have from this point on. Last time even when many managed to bribe their way out of being convicted they, and to a lesser degree their spouses and children, received death threats." Animus gave them the subtle warning. "No, you will not be protecting Harry Potter.
Instead Harry Potter is going to cease to exist. I left the muggles he was left with with false memories of them abandoning him at a group home and planted false papers at the group home about him being adopted. After the transfer ritual is done and the ritual room has time to settle those who wish to may attend the blood adoption we have planned."
"Who do you want to adopt him?" Lucius questioned. He knew if it was possible he wouldn't mind taking the boy, he knew Narcissa wanted more children. And looking after the one that protected a portion of his Lords soul would make him even more influential.
"My wife and I will be adopting him as he is of Black blood through his grandmother Dorea." Regulus spoke up for the first time since arriving.
"WIFE?" Bellatrix looked to her cousin in shock. Of course she had known he was alive, but she had known nothing about him marrying, as it was she had always assumed he was gay.
"Yes, wife." Regulus smirked at his cousin. "Lord Animus introduced me to Bronwen on his last visit. She has her own reason for agreeing to all of this.
We have already laid a false trail. We filed a birth certificate for a home birth last year. Those who know us in France are aware it was a complicated pregnancy and birth which is why none of them have gotten to see our son yet. As far as anyone knows Regulus and Bronwen Black welcomed their son, Hunter Black, July 13th, 1980. We will be heading back to France after the rituals and then moving back to Britain this winter. With all the upheaval Hunter's existence will be placed under protection by the Black Family and no one we don't allow will know of his existence until he begins Hogwarts."
While the others were talking Animus quietly called a house elf and requested she bring Bronwen to him. With a knock on the door the others that had been there entered the meeting room, Melania bringing Cally over to her fathers and Narcissa moving with Draco over to Lucius.
"Bronwen, we are going to need Hunter for a little bit. But I promise he will not suffer any lasting harm." Animus assured the woman that had already taken up the role of protective mother. "We need to do a ritual for that cut on his forehead, and it will cause him some pain and discomfort, but it will fade quickly and help protect him in the future."
Bronwen smiled at the man, seeing him for who he really was. "I know. You wouldn't do anything to harm yourself after all."
Animus smiled at her, not really surprised she was the one to figure him out. "I guess they are right when they say a mother will always recognize her child."
"You're…" More than a few said in shock.
Lords Kaiden Selwyn, Abraxas Malfoy and Graham Lestrange were the more politically minded of the group and they each quickly worked through the implications of all this. And they all came to the same decision, the child was clearly not a threat to their plans given he had been the one to come back and help them to succeed.
Ritual Room
Once in the Black's ritual room Animus left Harry in the arms of Regulus and quickly set up the ritual with Augustus Rookwood and Bellatrix. The three of them were the best when it came to ritual magics.
"So if your Harry Potter… And you carry a portion of the Dark Lords soul… He's still around in your time?" Bellatrix questioned as she was putting together the herb bundles they would need to cleanse themselves and the room once they were done.
Animus looked up from where he was drawing runes on the alter they would be laying the child on. "No." Many looked at him in confusion at that. "I said the Dark Lord couldn't outlive me, but I can outlive him. In my time no one got me away from Dumbledore and his plans. Your cousin, my godfather, Sirius, and his best friend Remus Lupin did try, but they both ended up murdered for their interference.
Dumbledore got his way and arranged for the war to restart when I was 14 and a final battle when I was 17. The part of the soul that resided in me, the one that currently resides in Harry, is enough to be semi-conscious, but not enough to take control or do much of anything besides give vague warnings by causing an ache. It had been with me through my entire childhood with the muggles and had grown to care for me in its own way so when Dumbledore's plans came to fruition and I was supposed to die it sacrificed itself so that I could survive." Again he was stretching the truth to an extent, but it was needed.
"You said the Dark Lord broke Lady Magics rules in a number of ways but you only mentioned the ritual before we got distracted." Amon Avery said from his position against the wall along with those that didn't know enough to assist in preparing this ritual as he tried to adjust to the idea that even a part of his Lord would sacrifice itself for another.
"Right." Animus said. "The other two ways was the attack on Harry. A little known or acknowledged fact is that two muggles are incapable of having a magical child, the magic has to come from somewhere." Animus noticed the grumbles of those that looked down on those they deemed to have lesser blood. "Muggle-borns are descended from old squib lines or have a magical being in their ancestry somewhere.
It just so happens that Lily Potter née Evans is the granddaughter of the Dark Lords squib aunt who was abandoned. As I'm sure you all know the Dark Lord is Count Slytherin. The Slytherin Line is patriarchal, it is also a line that was blessed by Lady Magic so is more connected to her, meaning the day Harry Potter was born Lady Magic recognized him as the Dark Lords Heir. There is a protection on the Slytherin Line, the head of the family can not kill the Heir so long as they are underage and did not start the conflict or Lady Magic will interfere, as she did.
The third way is also related to Harry's connection to the Slytherin line, he was born with the family magics, and that includes the gift of parseltongue. Parseltongue is the Slytherin gift from Lady Magic, and again, is closer connected to her. No of age parseltongue may kill an underage parseltongue, once again, if the child does not start the conflict. In his attempt to remove a potential threat before it had a chance to become a threat he created his own temporary loss of power."
"Family magic backlash." Augustus said understandingly. He was just wondering how he was going to edit that in a way that he could present it in the Wizengamot like Animus wanted him to.
"That combine with a sacrificial magic and blood ritual." Animus shrugged. "It was a threefold protection."
Once everything was set up Animus had Regulus lay his younger self on the alter. With simple white cotton strips of fabric he bound the toddlers arms and legs to the alter to keep him from hurting himself by doing something like scratching at the location of the soul shard or flailing and causing himself to fall off the alter. This was not going to be pleasant for Harry, it was actually going to be quite painful, but it needed to be done.
And as Animus knew was going to happen, as the ritual began Harry began screaming as the cut on his forehead opened fully before it started to move. It took nearly 20 minutes to move the injury and Harry screamed and cried the entire time.
None taking part in the ritual handled it well. Despite everything they had done, none of them felt anything other than self disgust at taking part in something that made a child cry like that. The idea that children were their future wasn't just an idea to these people, even in the war they had done everything they could to limit underage casualties.
Once the shard was over his sternum the ritual was finished and Arcturus quickly applied the potions to heal it and fade the scaring. Rather than the livid red lightning bolt that he had grown up with this younger version of him had a silver white lighting bolt on his sternum that would be easily hidden simply by wearing a shirt.
Unfortunately since they were going to be doing a blood adoption later they couldn't give Harry any potions since they would interact poorly with the blood adoption potion and ritual. Instead Animus just had Regulus collect his soon to be son and work to settle him as they headed back to the sitting room to allow the ritual magics to fade enough that they could preform another ritual. Doing too many rituals in the same place in too close a time frame could cause the magics to become skewed and result in unpredictable magical interactions and it could also be tracked by the Ministry given the large magical output.
From there the group went to the large sitting room, this time joined by all the others in the house.
Sitting Room
"You said the Dark Lord was killed protecting you when you were 17." Lord Avery said in a questioning voice once they were all settled. "Did it really take you until this age to calculate everything?"
"No." Animus said bluntly. "I know it might seem as if I specifically came back to save the Dark Lord, but that isn't true. Saving him just assists me in my ultimate goal. Although, getting everything ready did take a very long time?"
"And just what is your ultimate goal?" Abraxas questioned in a clipped tone. The reason they had all trusted him for so long was because they believed he had come back to help them.
"To stop the magical world from being exposed to muggles." Animus told them grimly. "Having a functioning Dark Lord will assist in that."
"You act like that's a bad thing." Malcolm Rosier sneered. He saw muggles as little more than mindless farm animals.
Animus just raised his eyebrow at that foolishness and then called for one of the elves to bring a projector pensieve. He added a few memories of the war that had occurred once they were exposed. Those in the room watched in horror as entire towns were obliterated, the witch hunts and the numbers of dead.
"The current global wixen population is less than 10 million, that can be expanded to around 50 million if you include all magical beings. The current global muggle population is just over 4.5 billion, and by 2020 that will grow to be nearly 7.8 billion. Over the next few decades their technology and weaponry is going to expand drastically, in open warfare we will lose. There were of course those that defended us, but the majority were afraid of us and attacked."
"And all that can be stopped by the Dark Lord?" Narcissa questioned fearfully as she held her son close, never wanting him to experience such horror.
"Not directly. Over the past half century Dumbledore has been working to instil an underestimation of muggles in Britains population. He has been working to lower the levels of secrecy we require. This will result in a number of his fools working together to expose us, thinking our worlds should merge." Animus told him.
"I knew Dumbledore was the worst thing to happen to Hogwarts." Lucius said, strongly reminding him of Draco when he was a child.
"Dumbledore can't actually be given the full blame for it." The man was indirectly guilty of it given it was his people, but he knew Dumbledore wouldn't have done things the way Granger, Lily, Ron Weasley, and their co-conspirators did. "Despite how he acts, Dumbledore despises muggles nearly as much as the Dark Lord."
"Yet he is constantly trying to force us to convert to the muggles ideology and way of life while getting rid of our traditions." Avery snarked.
"And you might notice that as he does that he still always wears Wizarding robes." Animus pointed out. "He also holds his own private rituals on magical holidays on occasion."
"That's right." Regulus said thoughtfully, he and the youngest adults in the room knew the man had never worn anything muggle while they had been at school. "Why if he was the leader of the pro-muggle group has he had nothing to do with the muggle world? I really think the only real connection he had is his love of the holidays and the sweets."
"He does it for a few different reasons. The main one is that it gets him the support of a majority of the muggle-borns and half-bloods. He basically sets himself up to be a god like figure to a bunch of impressionable 11 year olds. And as he does that he subtly, and less so subtly, implies that the pure-bloods that don't agree with him do so because they hate them and don't want them to be a part of the magical world, like he does with his comments about the Slytherins. It practically guarantees him followers.
And while he is a major sugar and lemon addict, that doddering old grandfather routine he uses at Hogwarts is just an act. He acts like that and dresses like that because it makes people see him as kind and quirky and encourages them to underestimate him. Plus he really does have horrible fashion sense." Animus explained the downright horrible fashion choices the man often made. "Anyone that has ever been around him in battle can tell you he is not some sweet old man, he's a war general that will sacrifice anyone, even the children he is entrusted to care for, to get what he wants.
Then we come to the main reason, power. And I don't mean the power he gets by having so many people practically deify him, I mean the political power he wants. Despite all the power he's managed to amass it is mostly just given to him and can be removed without much trouble. He only has his positions of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Grand Sorcerer, and Supreme Mugwamp of the ICW because he is popular with the public. The only positions that he has actually earned and can not be removed either by the public or a Minister that doesn't like him is his position of Headmaster and his single vote in the Wizengamot he got with his Order of Merlin First Class, although he can be fired from his Headmaster position.
And that is his focus on the muggle world. He wants to adopt their democracy. I don't think he fully understands that Britain itself is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that while it has public elections there are still titles involved. If anything he wants to take a more American approach but doesn't know enough about the muggle world to know that.
He has always resented those that were born to wealth and power, especially those that don't see the world the way he does or question him. He is willing to pretend he likes muggles if it means gaining even more control. And no matter how much power and control he amasses it will never be enough. He is a massive control freak with a god complex. Things need to be his way and only his way."
"Why does he hate muggles so much? Can we use it?" Orion questioned, thinking about using the press.
"No, we can't use it against him. If anything he would be able to spin it to make himself even more sympathetic." Animus told them. "And his hatred stems from when he was a boy. Albus was the eldest of three siblings."
"There's more of them?" Abraxas gasped in worry, the last thing they needed was more Dumbledore's taking over.
"There were." Animus said. "His hatred of muggles started when he was 10 years old. His younger brother, Aberforth was 8, and their younger sister, Ariana, was 6.
Aberforth and their father, Percival, had gone out for the day, leaving Albus and Ariana home with their mother, Kendra. While Ariana was out playing in the garden Kendra was inside with Albus going over his pre-school lessons. Kendra had always been rather focused on perception and wanted to make sure everyone knew just how smart and powerful her first born was.
I know you know that Albus Dumbledore is an incredibly powerful wizard, and his brother has power levels that are almost the same, but from what I've been able to find Ariana put both her brothers to shame. And, like most magical children with high enough power levels she had gained a little control over her accidental magic. That had been what she was doing in the backyard, playing with her magic.
Three muggle boys in their mid teens were passing by and just happened to glance over and see what Ariana was doing, it isn't known if they just wanted to see more or it was something worse, but they confronted the child.
No one knows exactly what happened, but whatever it was was bad enough that it broke Ariana's mind. She became absolutely terrified of magic and even ended up becoming an obscurial in later years. She became very childlike, never maturing.
When Percival came home and learned what had happened to his daughter he lost it. He hunted those boys down and attacked them, offering to show them magic since they were so interested. One died in the attack, and the other two spent the rest of their short lives in the hospital. He was arrested and sent to Azkaban. He died there a few years later."
"Who would send him to prison for that?" Graham questioned. "He easily could have pled down given the attack on his daughter. If something like that happened we would most likely give them probation, a year in Azkaban at the most. It's natural for the head of the family to meat out justice."
"But Percival never told them why." Animus said. "You need to remember, this was back before St. Mungo's was monitored the way it is now. It was rather well known that they experimented on many of the patients. Neither Percival or Kendra wanted to risk Ariana being sent there so they never said what happened. Percival met once with his wife and then never spoke another word. Kendra packed the children up and moved them to a small place in Godric's Hollow, never telling anyone that she had three children. Ariana was kept hidden away and the boys were taught to not speak of her. It was how Albus learned to manipulate stories and lies to get the best possible outcome.
For years Kendra managed to keep things mostly a secret, but in the end it cost her. While Ariana was afraid of magic she still had it, and when she got upset she had some very dangerous accidental magic. In one of her outbursts she killed her mother when she was 16. Aberforth wanted to drop out of his final year at Hogwarts were much to his brothers disgust he had been sorted into Slytherin. But Albus wouldn't let him since he had become head of the family and said he would look after Ariana, but Ariana preferred Aberforth and he knew it. Not that it really mattered in the end, Ariana herself died only a few days later.
And that is the origin of Albus Dumbledore's hatred of muggles, not that I can really say anything against it, the man does have the right given what happened to his family because of them. He lost everyone in his family because of that attack and he wants revenge on the entire world. Even as he talks about how we need to be more like them he actually wants to conquer them. He believes it will be easy for wixen to establish their dominance over muggles, but as you've seen that isn't the truth."
"Quick question." Regulus said. "You said he lost his family, but what happened to his brother? Do we need to be worried about another Dumbledore?"
"Not in the slightest." Animus had always liked Aberforth, they had gotten rather close before the old man had passed away. "After the death of their mother Albus, Aberforth, and Albus's boyfriend had been arguing since Aberforth wanted to drop out, Albus didn't want him too, and Albus's boyfriend wanted Albus to let him so the two of them could go on the world tour they had planned. They were distracted and not paying attention when Ariana died. Aberforth has always blamed his brother for that." Again, not the full truth, but he knew he couldn't bring Grindelwald into this, they already had too much going on. "He's the reason Albus's nose is crocked, he punched him out at the funeral.
And most of you will already know Aberforth and know he isn't a problem." Animus saw the confused looks many of those there shared. "Aberforth finished his final year at school. He had decent grades, but hadn't really cared that much about education. He took his portion of what little money their parents left them and started his own business. Aberforth Dumbledore is Abe, the owner of the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade.
And despite how Albus likes to word it, no, Aberforth does not have an illicit relationship with his goats. The illegal charms he was arrested for were his experiments attempting to make a miniature goat with fur the same texture of a cat. It sounds completely mad, but Ariana had loved goats but the feeling of their fur had agitated her. He had been trying to make a goat she would have liked as a way of honouring her, it's also why he keeps goats."
"Abe is… Wow." Rodolphus said in surprise as a few others were also muttering their shock. A majority of Hogwarts students at least knew about the pub, and a few had visited even if just to get cheap booze for an upper year party, Abe was far more understanding than Rosemerta in the value of a good party. And many of those on the dark side knew of the pub since it was far more welcoming to those of their beliefs than a place like The Three Broomsticks, and Abe had never allowed Aurors to just raid the place or place any spying charms around.
"Yeah, a story like that isn't one we can use." Selwyn said focusing back on the politics of the situation. "But how do you intend to stop us from being exposed? And if Dumbledore hates muggles so much why were we ultimately exposed? Wouldn't he have stopped it?"
"He would have, but he was killed in the war remember." Animus said. "He had created this idea that we needed to merge our worlds as an excuse to try and push the government to a full democracy but he had no intentions of actually doing so. His thought process on gaining control of the muggles was through taking control of their government officials but his followers didn't know that.
After the war it was his followers that were mostly left in charge since he had been arranging things to concentrate power in those he controlled. Even then they still struggled to an extent. Eventually a few of them just started making plans to expose magic to muggles directly since they couldn't get the Statute of Secrecy rescinded. For years we used time turners to stop them if we found out in time, but we couldn't stop their planning since they would plan for months before they did anything and time turners are regulated to 6 hours. We stopped over a dozen attempts over a decade span before they were finally successful in exposing us. Unfortunately, dealing with Dumbledore is actually preferable than dealing with his sycophants because he at least can control them to an extent, without him around there was no one to rein them in or distract them.
And as to how it can be stopped, it's already been done. As soon as I arrived I sent messages to the Magical Beings Council alerting them to the danger. I sent them information on what to watch for and ways to improve their wards. They will deal with it as they see fit."
"Magical Beings Council? Who are they?" Barty questioned as he gently rocked his infant daughter. He had never heard of anything like that, and he figured he would have given his fathers obsession with the ministry as he grew up. "And why would they be in charge of wards that are somehow connected to the Statute of Secrecy?"
"As I'm sure most of you know the International Council of Wizards was established in 1692. While they like to pretend they are in charge of the magical world they really only have the ability to control wixen. Magical beings in general just ignore them.
Instead, the magical beings follow the directives of the Magical Beings Council." Animus glanced to Fenrir. In his youth, while Fenrir had been disliked for his habit of turning so many, the council had seen him as a decent alpha since he tended to look after all werewolves, except for Remus much to his ire. This time Fenrir was a bit more reasonable and wasn't attacking everyone he could since the potions he and Severus had created the man was a bit more stable even as he still promoted werewolf rights.
"The Magical Beings Council was established around 1205 BC, around the end of the Trojan War. They were the ones that created the law that magicals are forbidden from taking part in non-magical wars due to the events and destruction that took place there.
Originally they had Wixen members but in recent generations wixen have begun seeing themselves as being more important than other magical beings and treating them more like creatures rather than the beings they are. The wixen portion of the council seceded in 1438, when they first started making plans to start their own council. I was actually the first wixen member since that time.
By the time the ICW passed the Statute of Secrecy the MBC had had something similar in place for over 200 years, and theirs is magically enforced rather than the voluntary method used by the ICW. When they created their secrecy statute they erected a network of wards all over the world. And those wards don't just hide them, they also assist in hiding us." Animus continued.
"The Ministry is the one that deals with muggles who see magic." Lord Andrash Carrow, Uncle of Alecto and Amycus Carrow, said. And he would know, he worked in the obliviator headquarters, although he wasn't one of those that actually had to go out into the muggle world.
"The Ministry deals with those that see and place some weak wards to keep people from noticing too much, but they really aren't that great at it. I mean really, do you honestly think the basic notice-me-nots around the muggle entrance to Platform 9 3/4 actually have much of an effect." He was actually surprised that every single one there seemed to believe it. "For the record, they don't. The spellwork may work for the casual passer-by that is more focused on where they're going, but not on those that actually work there. I've seen what happens when the wards the Ministry places around the platform as well as The Leaky Caldron fall, and do you know what, nothing changed.
The wards the Ministry uses have to be weak so that the parents of muggle-borns can find them, but that also means other muggles can catch glimpses. It's things like that that result in muggle legends about magic. The wards used by the MBC are intent based perception filters. Unfortunately they aren't as strong here in the UK as they are in other countries because the British Ministry refused to allow them to build an anchor point here.
But it's only natural their wards would be better, they had them created by the fey, seelie, and unseelie. Their talent with wards far outstrip our own."
"How can their wards be so much better?" Rodolphus asked.
"Tell me, how many of you know anyone that knows where their courts are, let alone been to them?" Animus wasn't surprised none of them did. "The fey, seelie and unseelie haven't just hidden their courts, they have hidden their entire countries since long before the idea of separating the magical and non-magical worlds were even thought of. In total there are 8 entire countries that I know of that have been hidden not just from the muggles but other magicals as well. And I only know of them due to having been accepted by the MBC.
Amongst the information I sent to them was ways to improve their wards so that advancing muggle technology won't be able to see through their wards. From the notes they left for me at Gringotts they have already started implementing them so the UK will get some of the benefit, but not as much as other countries."
"Is there advancing technology really that much of a danger to us?" Arcturus questioned. He knew from Marius who often spent time in the muggle world just how advance muggles had become, but he worried that that advancement was only going to become greater, especially after seeing those memories of what could happen.
"Yes." Animus said bluntly. "In future muggles will work to have cameras constantly recording all over public places as a deterrent for crime and ways to gather evidence. We would need to have a group working with those in the know in the muggle government to map out their blind spots to use those areas as safe apparation points.
And those are just the cameras on the ground. Muggles have already started to explore space, including sending people to the moon. They have what they call satellites circling the planet. And attached to some of them are even more cameras. If they can take close up pictures of other planets they can certainly take pictures of magic, especially when it comes to things like dragons. The ward updates I sent should hold them off for another few decades or so, but it isn't a long-term solution. Thankfully the MBC is dealing with it for the most part, and if we could just get an anchor point set here we would be much better off. I've even already had one built in Avalar, we just need to get the approval to connect it. But it will be difficult since the British Ministry of Magic doesn't even recognize the MBC even exists."
"What's this?" Severus asked then. He had been listening with one ear as he had glanced through the notebook that Lord Animus had sent to him. Once again he found potions notes, most of them in his own handwriting. But what was interesting him was the section that was marked. "Altered dragon pox?"
"Yes." Animus said. "Currently Dumbledore has been working with a small group of individuals that are creating a dragon pox strain that will target those with dark cores. It will still effect those with grey or light cores, but it will be far more virulent for those with dark cores."
"Why aren't you stopping them?" Narcissa gasped in horror.
"Because I know what is going to happen, and when, if I just leave them be." Animus pointed out. "I only know that Dumbledore is involved due to having been able to force answers in the future. Despite being the one that started this he isn't the only one pushing it forward, those doing the actual work have their own reasons for doing so, and there is no actual proof that he is involved. They could technically be arrested for their actions, but they won't get a long sentence due to not having actually harmed anyone yet.
If I arrange for them to be stopped we can't guarantee that Dumbledore won't just find someone else to finish the job. And then we know nothing. If we leave those currently working on it I know the exact day it will be released, I know who will get sick, and I know exactly when the first person will die."
"And will you tell us?" Arcturus questioned.
"Of course." Animus smiled. "Thankfully while the pox spreads incredibly quickly it kills very slowly. The first person is admitted to St. Mungo's March 17, 1984. The first death will occur November 28.
There is plenty of time. Severus developed the cure, but it wasn't until 1989, and by that time I am sad to say that most of those over the age of 50 in this room were gone, and so were many others. In the 5 years the pox was being passed around more than 600 had died.
My recommendation would be to wait until the first few people are hospitalized before making your move. Let it be known that a few families had commissioned Severus to find a treatment. Since this strain was created rather than developed naturally and the virus can be overwhelmed rather easily. The potion that can cure this strain can also be used to treat the original version, it won't cure it, but it can reduce the symptoms and increase the survivability."
Severus and the others easily agreed to his plan, as he knew they would. Despite being in a room full of mostly pompous pure-bloods they all were simply going along with whatever he wanted and it entertained him a bit given he knew how many of them still thought they were better than those they considered of lesser blood.
"Do you have any recommendations for who to elect as Minster once we get rid of that idiot, Bagnold?" Lord Selwyn asked.
"Not specifically. But I do have some recommendations on who to make sure don't gain the position. Cornelius Fudge would be the first.
Right now Fudge is just the Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. In my timeline he managed to get himself elected Minister in 1990. He was useful in the fact that he was very greedy and would do anything you wanted if you paid him enough, and he was too stupid to understand the results of his actions. But, at the same time he really couldn't be counted on since he sucked up to Dumbledore too much and would change his position on everything depending on who he was talking to at the moment. The man wrote to Dumbledore practically everyday for the first 4 years to get his advice on every little thing so a lot of bribes ended up being wasted. Then he became convinced Dumbledore was trying to steal his job and went all out against him, even managing to get him stripped of his major positions, including Headmaster, before screwing everything up like usual and Dumbledore regained everything and worked it to get even more power. An example of just how bad he was, was that after a breakout from Azkaban the idiot actually had dementors stationed in a ring around Hogwarts. Nearly got a lot of students killed when they 'searched' the train as it went to Hogwarts, and then again when they attacked the first quidditch match of the year, and even then they weren't removed."
"He did what?" The mothers of the group all snarled as one.
"Someone managed to escape Azkaban?" A few others questioned.
"Yes, Sirius Black became the first person to escape Azkaban on his own." Animus said with a smile, it may not have been a happy thing, but it was a point of pride oddly enough, especially for the Blacks.
"Sirius?" Regulus questioned in worry. "What could Sirius have possibly done?"
"Not to worry, it has been handled." Animus assured him. "He was originally framed for the crimes of another and sentenced to Azkaban for life without trial, but that won't be happening this time. There will be a trial and when questioned with truth serum he will be able to prove he was innocent of everything."
"Who else do we need to worry about?" Abraxas asked.
"Rufus Scrimgeour. That man would be a complete disaster. He is just a power mad fool that will do anything to gain power, no matter who's side he has to take. He managed to become Minister for barely 2 years. During that time he was a mess. He threw multiple people in Azkaban without trial just so it looked like they were accomplishing something. The man has no real morals and just wants power.
Then there is Kingsley Shacklebolt. Right now he should just be a junior auror. He became Minister in 1998 after the end of the war. Since that war shouldn't happen this time Dumbledore won't be able to put him in a position of power. He isn't a bad person, and in many ways is a decent auror, but he is too much of a follower. Even when he knows something is technically wrong he will do it if Dumbledore wants it. He's all about following the rules, but if Dumbledore asks or even suggests something he will break any rule he has to to do so. Information didn't leak from that man, it poured. And he was more than willing to falsify evidence to assist Dumbledore and his pet causes.
The final one that should never be allowed to become Minister is Amelia Bones." Animus told them.
"Amelia?" Lucius said in a questioning voice. He had known Amelia, not well, but he had at least had some dealing with the woman. She had been head girl when he had been named fifth year prefect. "She is well known for being fair and unbiased. She's always been all about the rules."
"Has she really?" Animus questioned rhetorically. "Or has she talked about the rules while actually doing nothing? Amelia has created an image of a crusader for justice and equality, but it's just an image. In truth she is a go along to get along sort.
Amelia became head of the DMLE in just a few weeks in my timeline, she held that position until she was killed in '97. And in all those years she never really did anything worth mentioning. Don't get me wrong, the woman is actually decent middle management type, but she isn't really leader material.
She knew a number of high ranked ministry members were taking bribes, and she did nothing. She knew that members of her department were leaking information to both sides, and she did nothing. And she knew members of the ministry were abusing their powers, and she did nothing. For merlins sake, the woman's own niece was tortured by one of her own co-workers and she didn't even pretend to open an investigation. She isn't a person you want in charge because she will leave things stagnant."
"She allowed her niece to be tortured?" Narcissa gasped in horror, especially since she knew that Susan Bones was the same age as her own son.
"When Fudge was working at getting Dumbledore out of power he forced him to accept his undersecretary as a professor. Her name is Deloris Umbridge, she should be working in the Improper Use of Magic Office right now, she should never be allowed to gain too much power, or any if possible, she likes to blackmail her way up.
Either way, whenever anyone disagreed with her or even seemed to be opposing her authority in her mind she would give them detention. But her version of detention was forcing them to write lines with a blood quill." Animus held up his old wrinkled hand that still bore the silver white scar that came from his own exposure to the dark magic of the quill. "Amongst those victimized was her niece, and yes, she did nothing, and neither did the staff. They all knew it was a crime, but protecting their positions was more important than protecting the children they had been entrusted with."
There were more than a few angry growls at that. They really did believe in the protection of children. Although, it did make sense why while Umbridge had gone after the children of light, and in some cases grey, families she had kept her quill away from the children of dark families. He knew that if the children of any of the families here had been targeted the woman would have been horribly dead within a week, and all those who had assisted her with their inaction would have been publicly dragged through the mud if they weren't outright killed too.
"Although I might be more than a little biased given her treatment of my own case." Animus equivocated.
"Your case?" Bronwen questioned as she held her soon to be son even closer, worrying for his future.
"Just after I turned 15 a certain pink monstrosity at the ministry felt that I was causing too much trouble for the Ministry and decided to deal with it by sending two dementors to where I was living with kiss on sight instructions. I had to cast a patronus to force them back and keep them from kissing my cousin who was there with me…" Animus said before being cut off by Melania.
"You could produce a fully corporeal patronus at 15?" Melania gasped in surprised joy at just how powerful her great grandson was going to be.
"Yes. It's why I suggested hiring Remus Lupin as a tutor if he can be turned away from Dumbledore." Animus said, not missing Fenrir noticing the mentioning of the cub he had turned. "He was the defence professor during the year Fudge had dementors around the school that kept going after students when I was 13. He taught me how to produce a patronus in 7 months strong enough to hold off over 100 dementors when they attacked once again while they were guarding the school.
But, as I was saying originally the ministry ordered my expulsion, something the idiot Fudge was reminded they didn't have the legal right to do. Then they moved on to pressing charges. It was supposed to be a simple meeting in Amelia's office, but at the last minute Fudge had it changed to a full trial before the Wizengamot."
"That isn't possible." Lucius argued. He had gotten his barristers licence as a way to improve his value in political situations. "A trial before the Wizengamot can only be called for an adult. You were 15. You would have only been able to be given a meeting with the head of the DMLE, like you said you were originally scheduled for. The worst that can be done is facing a tribunal of 6 Wizengamot members and 3 advocates for the child, but that is cases involving more serious crimes like assault. They also can't change things at the last moment, a defendant is required to be given notices of any changes a minimum of 48 hours before the Ministry can do anything."
"Yeah, that's how its supposed to work, but you are forgetting I was dealing with Fudge, the grown man that was intimidated by a 15 year-old that hadn't even given a single interview." Animus smirked, he had long since stopped caring about how pathetic Fudge had been since he had much bigger issues to deal with. "Fudge demanded the full trial, and he got it.
I was alerted not only to the change in time, but the fact the location had been moved less than 20 minutes before the trial was to start, and that was only because I arrived at the ministry over an hour early since no letter was ever even sent to me. Bones knew about all of it, yet went along with it anyway. Fudge tried to railroad me, and while she asked a few questions she didn't do anything that actually mattered. I was declared innocent regardless, but that doesn't matter as much at the end of the day.
And when all was said and done, she did nothing. She didn't even pretend to open an investigation into the fact two dementors were trying to kiss teenagers in a muggle town near London. Nor that a full trial was held for a minor or that both time and location were changed only 2 hours before the hearing was to be held in her office and the defendant wasn't even notified. She goes on about how important it is too follow rules and laws but it's all just talk."
"We will make sure those ones are watched closely." Abraxas assured with a growl in his voice. He wanted to make sure the Ministry was actually functioning properly for when the Dark Lord returned. And although he wouldn't admit it aloud he may not like mudbloods, but he wouldn't even approve of them being tortured, let alone the heir and/or heiress of a pure-blood houses.
"What do we do about the likes of Dumbledore?" Abraxas asked in hopes of moving things along while still getting as much information as they could, the ritual room would be ready soon and he knew Animus had a limited amount of time.
"Truthfully, I want the man to suffer unspeakably for what he has done to the magical world, but for now the best thing to do is leave him be." Animus didn't miss the unhappy grumbles. "I know, I know. I wish I could say just kill the man and let us be done with him, but that is actually the worst thing you could do.
I have seen the result of that mans death for myself. Surprisingly enough he serves as a distraction for his sycophants, and that distraction is needed. You think they are annoying on a day to day basis now, you don't want to see what it's like when he isn't around to rein them in.
More than that they believe in the lies he uses are real. They think he actually wants us revealed to the muggles, and I have shown you what will happen if they were to actually do so. While he is alive we know he won't allow them to expose us since he truly hates muggles.
More than that I can tell you if the man dies in any way that is suspicious he will be made into a martyr. They will turn him into a legend, and no one needs that. He portrays himself as the next Merlin far too much for it to help either of our causes.
Instead, the best thing to do would be to hobble him. Despite how he likes to portray it, his position of Supreme Mugwamp is actually more ceremonial than anything. The ICW deals with all kinds and isn't nearly as bigoted against the dark as Dumbledore likes to pretend. They used the position to give him the illusion of power while making sure he can't actually get in their way too much. And that is the model you should implement. Allow the man his illusion of control while at the same time limiting it. Between all those here it should be fairly easy to keep him from having too much authority in the Wizengamot despite his position as Chief Warlock.
Dumbledore likes to plan longterm and is always convinced that he is in the right. No matter what blows you manage to land he will always think that he will win in the end. You will need to monitor him, but that will be rather easy since the Black's, Selwyn's, and Crouch's have had Headmasters in their family lines and they have portraits in Dumbledore's office. They are perfectly positioned to watch and report on what the man is up too. Despite what the man likes to think, he isn't really well liked by most of his predecessors and they would be happy to provide information.
Every now and then put a new hurdle in his way and it will keep him distracted for years. He is convinced he is always right and that he is destined to reach his goals so even when he has setbacks he will keep trying. You will just need to be careful not to push him too far so keep the distractions down to two or three a year so he doesn't become suspicious of what you are doing.
We need him to keep control of his fanatics until we can deal with them. And we generally won't be able to fully deal with them until one of the Light Lords or Ladies Lady Magic has sent this generation come of age and takes control. As annoying as it is, we actually need him."
Animus didn't really have anything left to say to the group so just let everyone break into smaller groups and talk amongst themselves. Once most were distracted he called for the Malfoy family, Bellatrix, and Severus to meet with him at the side of the room.
"What can we do for you?" Abraxas questioned as the eldest of the group, the others staying respectfully quiet, except Draco who was happily babbling away at all the people.
"I am offering to trade some information." Animus said as he pulled out a stack of parchment.
"And what will it cost this time?" Abraxas asked ruefully, although he knew he was going to agree regardless, he had managed to nearly double the Malfoy fortune since first meeting this man.
"You have a house elf in your employ, Dobby. I would like for you to gift him to Hunter as his personal elf if he is in agreement." Animus told them, he knew Hunter and Dobby's relationship would never be like the one he had had with his Dobby, but in a way that was better.
Both he and his Dobby had suffered more than any should have to and it was nice that this time they wouldn't. Since he had managed to get most pure-bloods treating their house elves better Dobby shouldn't have had to suffer through any abuse, so he should be more stable. He was still rather young, by elf standards at least. At this time Dobby was 29, but house elves live an average of 200 years, they generally weren't considered out of childhood until at least 30. Basically, at the time he had met Dobby in his timeline the elf had been in his rebellious teenage phase.
"That's all you want, one of our elves?" Abraxas said in confusion.
"I told you the first time we met that I knew house elves that had died to protect me, Dobby was one of them." Animus told him. "Lucius gave him to me at that time when I was 12." It hadn't been willing, but it was all the same to him.
Abraxas called for Dobby. The elf was very much like Animus remembered, just in better condition. He was still jumpy and twitchy, but he wore a proper uniform and was uninjured. Animus took the little elf and told him who he was after he had erected a privacy ward around the two of them.
"The nice Magic Lady told Dobby he would care for one of her babies." Dobby said giddily.
Animus gave a small smile. Dobby was odd, most of his fellow elves had thought him demented. It made sense that he would be more in touch with magic. It was like how it was with Luna, those with a stronger connection to Lady Magic would never be labeled as normal by those around him.
"Not me Dobby."
"Is Dobby bad? Has Dobby been wrong?" Dobby instantly began worrying and Animus knew he was moments away from starting to hit himself.
"You have done nothing wrong Dobby." Animus assured. "I used a ritual to allow myself to travel in time. I have my own Dobby, the you from the future." Animus was not going to even consider telling the highly emotional creature that he had die protecting him. He knew Dobby would be proud of himself for his actions, but it would also just distress the elf more. "I have arranged for you to become the personal house elf of Hunter Black, the baby me."
Dobby looked back and forth between Animus and the young toddler that was being indicated. He could feel the magics in the room and knew that the child had the same magical signature as the man before him. And the wixen man in front of him held the magical signature of himself so he knew their magics had closely at the wixen before him Dobby knew he would be happy to serve his younger self. The Malfoy family were decent masters, he had heard legend that they had once been mean when he was very young, but this very wixen had taught them better, but he knew from the Magic Lady that Master Hunter was meant for him.
Dobby popped over to the couple that was holding his new master.
Bronwen and Regulus both looked over to Animus when Dobby told them he was their sons personal elf and he nodded his agreement. Both just accepted that Animus knew what was best for their sons since he technically was him. Plus they had been shown the memory of Dobby dying to protect him, although he had made sure not to allow them to see just who it was that had been the one trying to kill him. In all the memories he had shown them of his life he was very careful to ensure they never saw any of those they knew so they wouldn't worry about the danger they presented to their son.
"What is it you have for us?" Abraxas asked, seeing that Dobby had been accepted.
"This is for Draco and his future." Animus said as he handed the paperwork to Lucius.
"This just looks like some kind of ritual and potion thing." Lucius said in confusion as he unrolled the parchment and looked at the first sheet. His skills lay in politics and law, not rituals or potions.
"That's because it is." Animus smiled down at Draco who was reaching for him. "That can break the bloodline curse on the Greengrass families girls."
"Why would we need to do that? And what does that have to do with Draco?" Bellatrix questioned, she would do anything for either of her niece or nephew.
"Because, the Malfoy Family owes the Greengrass family a debt of honour as a result of the gryphon issue in the 1800's." Animus saw that Abraxas knew what he was talking about. "Lord Greengrass will call in that debt in a few years when his second granddaughter is born. She will be born with the worst symptoms of the curse in generations. To ensure that she is able to make a decent match he will call in the debt to arrange a marriage contract between her and Draco.
Draco will follow through with the contract for the family honour, but in doing so he will lose his chance to be with his soul mate. His wife will pass away from the curse only 4 years after they marry, but by then Draco's soul mate will have been murdered by one of Dumbledore's sycophants.
If you use Narcissa's talents at healing, Bellatrix's skills with rituals, and Severus's potions you will be able to break the bloodline curse placed on the Greengrass family, repaying the Malfoy debt. Without that debt the Greengrass girls will live full lives and Draco will be able to be with his soul mate."
Narcissa and Bellatrix had practically squealed when they heard Draco had a soul mate, the only thing stopping them from dancing in joy was their upbringing since they were in a room full of other people not in the family. Both women were happy to know Draco had been blessed by Lady Magic herself with a perfect match.
"Who is she?" Narcissa demanded. "Where does she live? Who is her family?"
Animus smiled at the woman he knew would do anything for her sons happiness. "If I know anything about my lovely soul sister she will find you when the time is right. That's the benefit of dealing with someone that has seer blood. She may seem a little off to those who don't pay attention, but once you learn to decipher her speech patterns you will understand what she means."
Animus had known Luna had had a soul mate, but it hadn't been until after she died that he had learned just who it was. Whenever he head questioned her about it before her death Luna had just smiled in her typical Luna way and told him that she would suffer in life to ensure she would be happy in her life. It had taken a few years to figure out what she had meant, but when he had learned of the ritual he knew she had been waiting for him to use it.
Luna had been more of a sister to him than Mari ever had or ever would, and all he wanted was for her to live a good life. He had also left a time delay letter to be sent to her mother as a warning about the danger of the spell she was creating to keep her alive for her daughter.