章節 29: Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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LUCIUS MALFOY
"This is a disaster! An absolute disaster! This can not be a fuckin coincidence!" began Nott Sr. as the three of them sat in his office. Selwyn sat beside Nott Sr, nodding his head.
"Nott is right. We can no longer ignore this. At this rate, our businesses will have to close up. You have to do something to stop this, Lucius! Maybe you could talk to Fud…" but Lucius cut him off with a shake of his head.
"I am afraid that will not be possible. Fudge has refused to answer my letters after the whole Sirius Black debacle. I am afraid that avenue will remain closed for some time!"
Nott Sr. grunted and began to curse the minister; Lucius would have done the same if not for the guests present.
"That greedy old bastard! Then what are we supposed to do? We are already bleeding galleons by the day. At this rate, we will have to close up the business within a month!" Nott Sr. burst out as he slammed his fists into the arm of the chair.
"What exactly is the issue? Perhaps there can be another way to solve this," Lucius inquired while he did not have much liking for the Notts. They were still politically inclined to the same ideals, and if the frequent burnings of his mark were any indication, more so now than ever.
"It's the same shit as the other times. Someone has been funding those Greengrasses, and now they are undercutting my prices! Damn, those bastards are even employing more of those mud-bloods! Blood traitors, the lot of them! Blood traitors!" Nott Sr. explained, making Lucius frown, for he was facing similar problems now for some time as well.
"It's the same in my case as well. They are undercutting me and pricing me out! If you don't intervene, my business might go under as well."
"This is not an isolated incident. Many of us have been facing similar problems for some time now! Someone has been specifically targeting us!" Nott Sr. added, and Lucius agreed, but the question was, who? Who was powerful enough and influential enough to pull this off?
"Could it be Dumbledore? Do you reckon it's him or Black? He just got out of prison. It might be him?" Selwyn suggested, but Lucius shook his head.
"No, Dumbledore doesn't do things like this, and Balck doesn't have the brains to pull this off. This is someone else. Someone new!"
"I say we screw them up! Do it like the old times, round up some of the old gang and burn down their shops. That will teach them a lesson to mess with their betters!"
"NO!" Lucius cut him off, finally showcasing the authority that had once made him You-know-who's right-hand man.
"We are already exposed to the incident at the World Cup and Balck's trial. Doing stuff like this would be suicidal!" Lucius warned both of them, shutting down their idiotic plan.
"We need to fight them as we try and figure out who this person is. I will lend you guys some money, but I want…" but before he could continue, Lucius gripped his forearm and began to scream, much like the other two occupants in the room.
Pain, unlike anything he had felt, seared through his body. It felt as if his whole boy was on fire. He was screaming!
"AGHHH!" much like both Nott and Selwyn, who were gripping their forearms as well. He felt something rise out of the dark mark, and Lucius glimpsed and found his hand bloodied as blood gushed out of the dark mark, dripping onto the ground.
"AGHHH! IT'S BLEEDING! MERLINS HELL'S THE MARK, IT'S BLEEDING!" screamed Selwyn, but Lucius couldn't find it in himself to speak up as he was too busy noticing the pattern that the blood was forming. Distinct letters.
This was a message! A message from their Lord!
With searing pain radiating across his body Lucius watched the blood morph into letters as it spelled out the message.
~Come seek me~
0000
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
Albus sat in his office contemplating his meeting with Gellert. And after a long time, Dumbledore was surprised. The change in Gellert had been profound, Alas! It had come too late. Too late, indeed.
"Are you even paying attention, Albus?" came the voice of his ever-helpful deputy, and he wrapped up all those intrusive thoughts.
"Ah, I am sorry, it seems I was caught up somewhere else!" he apologized, and Minerva just shook her head, sighing as she closed the file she had brought.
"You seem distracted! We can finish this tomorrow, but you have a meeting with the chief editor of Daily Prophet early in the morning tomorrow," she reminded him again. Dumbledore had not forgotten that particular schedule.
"Yes, yes, because of Rita Skeeter's article about Edward." And hadn't that been a propaganda piece? Minerva had been livid when it had come up, and the school had stepped in to reign in Ms. Skeeter.
"Yes! Edward wasn't overly concerned because of his plans to move abroad, but we cannot allow the Daily Prophet to slander students of our school like this! You need to make that point clear!" she almost ordered him, and Dumbledore just nodded along. Arguing with Minerva when she was angry like this would be futile. Not that he disagreed that the piece would have been very damaging to young Mr.Wright's career.
"I will make sure he understands," Dumbledore affirmed, making Minerva nod her head before she heaved out a deep sigh.
"It's such a shame. I had hoped that he would have apprenticed under you. We will be losing such talent to Beauxbatons," she spoke up, and she was now the second person to recommend this to her after Gellert, who had also been of the view that he apprenticed the young man.
"I believe he will perform admirably in France as well," and Minerva just nodded.
"Of course, he will. The boy's a talent the likes of which we rarely see. Gods, the last time we saw someone like this was Lily, but she mostly focused on Charms and Ruins. It has been years since we saw a duelist like that. Years." She emphasized, and Dumbledore would agree.
While any talented students had graced these Halls, Edward Wright was a rare specimen. A duelist, with a focus on efficient spell casting. A style that the boy had told him was inspired by Gellert's early dueling career.
Dumbledore still remembered that class when he had his Alchemy class about their ideals, and he had been quite surprised by Mr. Wright's paper. For he had named Dumbledore, but reading that small essay in full, one would reach the conclusion that, in truth, it wasn't Dumbledore that the boy idealized but rather the special skills used by his greatest adversary.
"Have you made an offer Dumbledore? Maybe he could turn down the French if you approach him?" Minerva spoke up, cutting him off his train of thought. Though, he simply shook his head.
"While I could try and convince him, I don't think he will be tempted, given his relationship with a certain Miss Delacour."
Minerva nodded at that as she smiled a bit.
"Yes, honestly, they make a remarkable couple. Though, it's still such a shame that Maxime got to him earlier. Such a shame!"
And Dumbledore could only nod along. For his mind was still processing the meeting with his old friend and all its implications.
0000
EDWARD WRIGHT
"It seems that you are already aware of me. Good!" said Fleur's father as he took the seat opposite to me. And right from his tone, Edward could tell that this meeting would not be as fluffy and easygoing as meeting her mother.
Sebastien Delacour was amongst France's elite and was a close confidant of the French minister of Magic. The man had leveraged the simple Delacour businesses to integrate himself into almost every powerful circle. He had looked into him a bit, and let's just say the results were quite intriguing.
"Yes, I have, Mr. Delcour," he replied as the man finally sat down. His greenish eyes ran over me as he examined me from head to toe, not that I was doing something else.
"From my daughter, most probably. It's good, then. We can get the pleasantries out of the way quickly and get right to the point."
The man said as he leaned back slightly, his attitude already making me a bit concerned. He was showing me almost open hostility and disregard, while my expectations from him had been low This was even worse than my imagination.
"Hmm, I must say my daughter's infatuation with you was quite a surprise for me. She had never mentioned seeing anyone previously, so imagine my surprise when she suddenly mentioned seeing a young wizard. A young foreign wizard that doesn't even go to Beauxbatons. It was quite a surpsrise I must say!"
He began as he began to reach into his coat's inside pocket and took out a folder. He then adjusted his gold-rim glasses and began to take out some papers.
"So, I did some digging into this young wizard, and I must say that I was quite surprised b what I found. Quite surprised," he finished as he began to unfurl the paper. The insinuation about the contents of it already clear. The man had done a full-on background check on me.
A background check. While people in his position were known to be a bit paranoid, this was entirely excessive. Excessive and insulting, and this was exactly why Edward's temper was flaring.
"If you were so interested in knowing about me, Mr.Delacour, you could have just asked your daughter. I am sure it would have saved you quite some trouble," Edward spoke up, and perhaps he had sensed the heat in my voice as he looked at me with a smirk.
"Oh, what's to say I didn't?" he added. Then he slid the paper toward me, leaning forward.
"I must say you have quite an accomplished life. A dueling champion with excellent grades and impeccable conduct. As I said, quite an accomplished life," he spoke slowly as Edward began to skim over the paper. It was quite a comprehensive report and had quite some details. Some very special details that had no place being there.
"Some would say even too perfect!" the man finished, his eyes shining as he tried to intimidate me. Into what? I had no idea. His temper was flaring now after seeing the information about my investments on the file.
Edward closed the paper and slid it to the side, looking the man straight in the eye.
"I would say that those people are uninformed, plus I can assure you there are several people who have achieved more than what I have in even lesser time," Edward replied, and he was being truthful.
Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle would have had similar records. Gellert Grindelwald though had his problems with regulations, but the man's accomplishments, even during his school years, were nothing to scoff at.
The man nodded.
"Perhaps, but I follow a simple rule in life, young man, that if something is 'too good to be true, it most definitely is,'" the man spoke up as he finally got to the point. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he finished in an intimidating voice.
"So, I am afraid I must be quite direct in my question. Who is behind you, and what are your intentions behind seeing my daughter?"
And he could feel the man's aura. His magic was bleeding out. A hollow attempt to intimidate me. An attempt that was not going to work.
This was quite insulting by the man. A small part of me was quite angry and wanted to let my magic loose. It would have been a fitting reply. Yet the smiling face of Fleur kept such dark thoughts in check. So, he took a deep breath, stood up, and picked up his coat from the hook.
"I must say that this was not what I expected when you walked in. Even though, let me answer your last question, Mr. Delacour," Edward said as he buttoned up my coat.
"I love Fleur with all my heart, and to insinuate anything else without any evidence is an insult. For your sake, I will not mention anything about today to Fleur. Have a Good day, Mr. Delacour," I finished and began to walk out of the booth without sparing the man another glance.
However, before I could step out, the man spoke out. His words made me halt my steps as I turned to look at him. Incredulous about the statement made by him. A statement he had no point making.
"Anyone who has achieved anything similar to what you have has done it with a singular purpose?" the man began to speak.
"So, tell me, Mr. Wright, why are you preparing for a war?"
0000
Fleur's father tried to intimidate him, but he failed. Before you hate this development, you must understand that he is a highly influential figure, and his daughter suddenly mentions an affair with a wizard. Of course, it will ruffle his feathers. Plus, he is a bit overprotective of Fleur.
As for his statement about war, it is simply guesswork. Albus, Gellert, and Tom all follow the same record. Not that he knows about Tom, but France would have had its own dark lords and problems.
Though, I will expand on it a bit later.
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