"I think we agree that it wasn't a simple suicide." Asterion spoke in a slightly cold tone. He didn't think someone like Robert Crouch would commit suicide, people with a hunger for power fear death more than anything else on this planet.
Dumbledore smiled and fiddled with his glasses, his blue eyes narrowing with a hint of amusement. It really had been a long time since anyone had dared to manipulate him. "Even though whoever is behind the conspiracy hasn't been found, they've forgotten that I know everything that happens at Hogwarts."
"Strangely, according to the animated portraits, Robert had entered a certain room, which he left only the next day with a very satisfied smile." The headmaster of Hogwarts spoke, his voice full of amusement and interest.
"Another member of the Hogwarts Council, I presume." Asterion said after hearing the man's words. At this point he already had an idea who Robert had visited, and Dumbledore's next words only confirmed his suspicions.
Dumbledore nodded and smiled. "Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde."
"That arrogant bitch." Asterion sneered when he heard the woman's name. At that moment, he already knew who was behind this conspiracy.
"This organization called R was infiltrated before the Ministry was dissolved." Asterion spoke, his lips curving into a slightly murderous smile. "Since they dare to plot against us, they must have the support of the lesser noble houses, especially those that were left out of the sharing of interests."
Dumbledore just listened in silence, his eyes shining with a hint of coldness.
"I'm just curious why they wanted me at the tournament." Hearing Asterion's words, Dumbledore's lips parted and he replied calmly.
"They want to pit us against each other."
With more than a hundred years of experience, Dumbledore had long since become accustomed to thinking of countless possible scenarios when he found himself in a similar situation.
Of all the possibilities, this was the most realistic, not only because it would make sense for Asterion to fight him, but also because it could achieve the goal of this organization called R.
He and Asterion would kill each other in battle, leaving the power center vacant to be filled again. The Clock Tower that had just been built would collapse like a sand castle without its foundations.
Asterion and himself!
Asterion had a strange look on his face as he listened to Dumbledore's conclusions. He hadn't really thought about it, not because it was so obvious, but because he and Dumbledore had long had a tactical agreement not to fight each other.
A simple fight between him and the currently most powerful man in the world wasn't something the island of Great Britain could handle, it would sink at the first movement of either of them.
So, whether it was him or Dumbledore or Rose, they made a tactical agreement not to fight, that everything would be resolved through dialogue, and if dialogue could be used, then both sides would make concessions. Each would take a step back.
It might seem that Asterion was at a disadvantage, but Dumbledore was old, even with his great magical energy that had helped slow the aging of his body functions, the most powerful wizard in the world would eventually die like any human.
That's why Asterion had accepted this tactical deal, he could afford to wait for Dumbledore to die. This deal was good for both sides, and when Dumbledore finally died, Asterion would be free to complete his plans without further complications.
"I want to torture Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde to extract information from her, let's dig up this cancer once and for all." Asterion spoke with a terribly cold tone, he was in a very bad mood about Arcturus' death, someone had to bear his wrath.
And unfortunately for Verucca, she would be the target of his wrath.
Dumbledore wasn't surprised by his words and nodded silently. He hadn't competed with Asterion to torture someone, he wasn't that kind of man.
He preferred a more elegant and less brutal method. Mental torture...
"She's already locked up in the Hogwarts dungeon." Dumbledore spoke in a soft tone as he calmly walked away. He had much to do, especially with the second task of the tournament being brought in from other lands.
As Grindelwald and Dumbledore left, the atmosphere in the room became noticeably lighter. Being around Special Grade wizards was no different than being around lions, you never knew when they would bite.
Rose, in a corner of the room, looked around with a bored look on her face while holding a glass of orange juice, when suddenly she felt every hair on her body stand on end. A terrible, incomparable malevolence fell upon her.
In her senses, she could feel the most absolute wickedness spreading through the environment like a heavy, cold rain.
Looking around, Rose was shocked to realize that she was the only one feeling the oppressive feeling of malice. Everyone else seemed fine, as if they hadn't noticed anything unusual.
But she didn't care for long, as Rose's blue eyes darted frantically around the hall, finally catching sight of a small figure making its way through the crowd of chattering people.
It was a girl, small and delicate as a porcelain doll, her long hair so long that it was completely impossible to move with precision. However, her figure moved with shocking grace, unhindered by her enormous hair.
Strangely, no one seemed to notice her presence, which made Rose even more cautious.
As if noticing her gaze, the girl stopped and turned to face Rose.
Rose's beautiful blue eyes met her beautiful red eyes.
Rose opened her mouth in shock and couldn't help but notice the girl's striking resemblance to Asterion. She was practically the female version of her cousin.
Rose also noticed that she was wearing men's clothes, a suit identical to the one Asterion was wearing. Suddenly, she realized that the feeling of malice she felt was coming from the girl!
This made Rose's eyes widen as she discovered something incredible with her Six Eyes.
The girl in front of her wasn't human, that wouldn't be a problem, after all, there were many intelligent races like Veelas, Elves and Goblins, but this girl was a cursed spirit!
Yes, the girl was a cursed ghost in human form!
It was the first time she had ever seen a spirit in full human form.
However, the negative magical energy in that small body made Rose look cautiously at the cursed spirit that possessed the form of a fifteen-year-old girl, albeit a very small one.
Rose took a deep breath and looked accusingly at Asterion, who was drinking and talking to people with a calm expression on his face. Every wake was more like a party than a wake.
Suddenly, she saw the Cursed Spirit appear behind Asterion, holding his clothes with an inexpressive look, confirming her suspicion.
However, the scene that followed made Rose's eyes widen as Asterion smiled gently and rubbed the Cursed Spirit hair lovingly. It was the first time she had seen Asterion so kind, but his kindness was directed at a Cursed Spirit!
"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" Rose muttered to herself with an extremely confused look on her face.
-----------
Author's thoughts:
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 169 - Torture and Secrets (1), Chapter 170 - Torture and Secrets (2), Chapter 171 - Conspiracies and Secrets (1), 172 - Conspiracies and Secrets (2), 173 - Conspiracies and Secrets (3), 174 - Conspiracies and Secrets (4), 175 - Conspiracies and Secrets (5), 176 - Conspiracies and Secrets (6), 177 - Conspiracies and Secrets (7), Chapter 178 - Decision and two wives (1), Chapter 179 - Decision and two wives (2), Chapter 180 - The Old King of Camelot (1), Chapter 181 - The Old King of Camelot (2), Chapter 182 - The Old King of Camelot (3), Chapter 183 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1).
After the wake, Asterion stood behind a desk and looked at the pile of papers with a grim expression. The pile of papers was at least thirty centimeters high, with at least hundreds of sheets, if not thousands.
He finally understood the popular saying: "Only one who takes care of the house knows the cost of maintaining it."
The cost of maintaining the Black Mansion each month alone was enough to support tens of thousands of ordinary families. To maintain this high cost of living, House Black owned many industries in Diagon Alley and many places in Britain. Which, in turn, cost a lot of money to maintain and support.
Why is it so difficult for ordinary people to get rich in the wizarding world?
This is easy to explain. Noble houses in England and powerful families in other countries controlled virtually every sector of the economy in each country.
By creating individual monopolies, they made it virtually impossible for ordinary people to get rich like in a normal society. Combine this with the corruption in the Ministry of Magic and you have an extremely unjust society based on caste and nepotism.
Every piece of paper in front of Asterion was a report, compiled by Narcissa, of all costs and profits at the end of each month and year.
House Black spent about twelve million gold galleons a year to keep everything running smoothly, and the profit from all this investment was about nineteen million gold galleons.
Frankly, it was an amount that hardly any family could spend in a lifetime, but of that nineteen million, twelve million was simply reinvested, creating an almost perpetual cycle of profit, and all the rest, which was about six million, was kept in the Black Vaults in Gringotes.
From the above profit, you can imagine how much money House Black has accumulated in its thousand years of existence. Of course, wizards didn't spend as much in the old days as they do today, but it was such a large sum that Asterion could shake England's economy to its core if he wanted to.
That was just House Black; other noble houses, even if they didn't come close to House Black's fortune, still had very large fortunes. One of the reasons Dumbledore never attacked and exterminated these parasites that fed off the land.
Wiping out the noble houses would probably only lead to the worst economic crisis any country in the world has ever faced. Not to mention the international damage, since England was also a major importer in international trade.
Leaning back in his chair, Asterion stroked his forehead and let out a heavy sigh of fatigue, admiring Arcturus even more for taking care of House Black on his own for so long.
Seeing Asterion's condition, Narcissa spoke in a gentle tone. "Asty, you don't have to force yourself, I usually do that, you just have to concentrate on your studies."
Asterion rolled his eyes at her words, Narcissa not only worked as his secretary in the Clock Tower, but also took care of House Black's finances. You could say the woman worked more than eight hours a day.
Knowing this, Asterion couldn't leave Narcissa as overworked as before, it was too cruel and unfair, even if Narcissa didn't seem to mind.
"Cissy, ask Andromeda if she would like to be hired to help with House Black's finances." Asterion spoke in a calm tone. He couldn't just hire anyone to help with the finances, it had to be someone he could trust, and Andromeda fit the bill.
After all, it was an astronomical sum, and when it came to money, you can never underestimate human greed.
Narcissa was surprised and after some thought she nodded with a smile on her lips.
"I'll talk to her." Narcissa spoke in a slightly excited tone. The idea of working with her sister seemed more than ideal in her eyes.
Suddenly, Narcissa's eyes fell on the girl sitting on the sofa, dressed in men's clothes, her long black hair covering the entire office sofa.
She was holding a large cookie in her hands and eating adorably with her cheeks puffed out like squirrels, the whole picture looking extremely adorable.
Even though it wasn't the first time she had seen the girl, she was still amazed at how much the girl resembled her cousin, she was practically the female version of Asterion.
Narcissa didn't ask about the girl's origins, Asterion was the Lord of House Black, no longer the child she had cared for and loved as a young girl, she couldn't question Asterion like she had before.
"Asty, is Morgan going to Hogwarts?" Narcissa asked, looking away from the girl and towards Asterion behind the desk.
"Yes." Without looking up, Asterion replied, reading the report in front of him in a calm tone.
Although Rose and Dumbledore would probably find out Morgan's identity, Asterion knew that they wouldn't say anything, after all, in their conception it was only a cursed spirit in human form.
An extremely powerful cursed spirit.
For the moment, they would never know how important Morgan Black was to Asterion.
And it would stay that way for a long time, he didn't want to tell anyone until the time was right, including Daphne. The fewer people who knew, the easier it would be to carry out his final plan.
"Cissy, I'm going back to Hogwarts today." Asterion spoke and added. "There will probably be a meeting of the Twelve Lords this week." Narcissa lifted her head and looked at Asterion in surprise, a meeting of the Twelve Lords was very rare, there had only been one since the Clock Tower was built, a meeting held because of Grindelwald and his attacks.
Now that another one was scheduled, she could imagine that something very serious had happened. It would be enough to summon all twelve Lords of the Clock Tower.
"Yes, I'll get everything ready." Narcissa nodded and spoke in a serious tone. Although she didn't know what the meeting was about, she knew that people would probably die.
-
Hogwarts - Dungeons.
Walking through the dark corridors, illuminated by the flickering flames of torches, Asterion stopped in front of a rusty metal door and flashed a cold smile.
Opening the door, Asterion saw a cell made of moss-covered stones, and a strong, pungent smell hung in the air; it was obvious that the sanitary conditions of the place were not the best.
In the middle of the cell, a woman was tied to a chair, her hair disheveled and her face pale, her once elegant dress dirty and somewhat worn. Her lips were parched from lack of water, but despite her condition, her eyes were more than bright.
It was Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde.
"Forgive my tardiness, I was busy with more important matters than meeting you, Miss Buckthorn." Taking off his jacket and laying it folded on an old table, Asterion spoke in a gentle tone.
"If you speak now, I can be a gentleman." He began slowly folding up the sleeves of his shirt, unaware of the look he received from the woman stuck in the chair.
"What an honor to have the great Asterion Black torment me in person." A hoarse but still proud voice escaped the woman's parched lips.
Asterion couldn't help but smile, seeing the woman's pride still strong despite the circumstances. Although he didn't understand why she was so proud, maybe it was because she was a high-ranking member of a secret organization, but he didn't care.
"Sorry, I don't give autographs, especially to my enemies." Asterion finished folding the sleeves of his shirt and turned to the woman in the chair.
"Let's get started." Asterion smiled coldly as he pulled on white silk gloves.
-------------
Author's Thoughts: The Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry on Patreon, unlike the previous one, this one will be faster, as I don't need to introduce the characters in more depth.
Send me Power Stone!
200 Power Stone = 1 + chapters X
500 Power Stone = 2 + chapters X
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Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 170 - Torture and Secrets (2), Chapter 171 - Conspiracies and Secrets (1), 172 - Conspiracies and Secrets (2), 173 - Conspiracies and Secrets (3), 174 - Conspiracies and Secrets (4), 175 - Conspiracies and Secrets (5), 176 - Conspiracies and Secrets (6), 177 - Conspiracies and Secrets (7), Chapter 178 - Decision and two wives (1), Chapter 179 - Decision and two wives (2), Chapter 180 - The Old King of Camelot (1), Chapter 181 - The Old King of Camelot (2), Chapter 182 - The Old King of Camelot (3), Chapter 183 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1), Chapter 184 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2).
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