IngloriousMe
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Loose Ends [Chapter 53]
🕑 Added 2022-11-10 18:16:19 +0000 UTC~~Unknown Location, Glasgow~~
“Did you even try to negotiate with her or did you simply attack her without saying anything?” Rose Granger-Weasley accused Harry heatedly and Harry simply released a sigh. Instead of answering, he simply placed the tip of his Wand at the side of his head and pulled out a silvery string.
“You can watch my memories if it makes you feel any better… Could we have tried harder? Probably. Rose, you have to understand, she didn’t have any intention of returning Albus in the first place” Harry explained with a severe look on his face.
“Rose, we tried out best, but she didn’t even contemplate her choices…” James added from the side. “We were also worried that she might bring Gellert Grindelwald with her and we were right to be worried” James explained.
“Gellert Grindelwald was there too?” Amelia asked in a worried tone, only to receive nods from Harry, James, Hermione, and Lily.
“Yes, and I would have been dripping my organs if it wasn’t for this” James answered sombrely as he pulled out a piece of charred metal plate from his robes. The talisman was hanging around his neck when the Organ Liquefying Curse hit him. The talisman took the burnt of the Spell and now it was nothing more than a charred piece of metal.
“They were also able to decipher the letter. She arrived before the designated time” Hermione quipped with a thoughtful look on her face.
“They must have used the Elder Wand, after all, we all know that Gellert Grindelwald has the Wand” Lily spoke as she rubbed her chin with a thoughtful look on her face.
“Yes, my thoughts exactly” Harry nodded his head in agreement. “No matter what anybody says, the Elder Wand is the strongest Wand in existence” Harry added with a scowl. There was a time when he possessed the Elder Wand, so he was quite aware of its powers.
“Hey…” A blonde Witch called out, gaining everyone’s attention. “I am not trying to jinx us or anything, but what would happen if she comes to possess the Wand?” The Witch asked as she jabbed her thumb toward the picture of Destiny Grindelwald.
Harry along with several other members of the Order involuntarily shuddered at the thought… “In the original timeline, she never possessed the Elder Wand…. Gellert Grindelwald kept the Wand in his possession till he breathed his last” Harry muttered as he glanced toward Hermione for some support.
“Unfortunately, the timeline is already changing… Our very presence in this timeline has been detrimental to the original timeline. We foolishly thought that she would wait for Gellert to escape on his own, but in this timeline, she broke him out” Hermione explained as she decided to take some pity on Harry… He was quite bad when it came to explanations like these.
“I think she is also a lot stronger than the original timeline… We didn’t have much time to ascertain much, but she seemed to be much faster than we anticipated” Lily mumbled with a thoughtful look on her face, making everyone in the room shudder.
Sirius slammed his fist on the table with an enraged look on his face. “The odds are already against us, but the odds have always been against us… Even during the Voldemort war in our world, the odds were against us, but we didn’t give up… We can’t give up. As long as we don’t give up, we can win this!!” Sirius exclaimed passionately, making everyone stare at him with bewildered looks on their faces.
“Sirius is right… We can’t give up at this point or all of our efforts go down the drain and we can’t let her win” James agreed as he patted Sirius over his shoulder.
“So, what now?” Scorpius Malfoy asked after taking a deep breath. Sirius was right, they simply couldn’t give up or Albus’ sacrifice would be in vain… While he hated himself for considering Albus was dead, there was nothing he could do as they had no idea where Albus was and it was clear that Destiny Grindelwald wasn’t going to let him go.
“We go along with our plan. We use the Rosiers to make our move against her… It won’t stop her but it would surely slow her down” Harry answered the question, still holding out his memory to Rose.
“What about Albus? You know she won’t kill him… She won’t kill him until she had extracted all the information from him” Rose bit out bitterly, but there was a desperate glint in her eyes.
Harry simply gave her a pained look… “I know that too… Last night, I had a small chat with our sponsor. She confirmed that She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to read his mind and she was thwarted by our sponsor herself” Harry revealed with a complicated look on his face. That wasn’t everything Goddess Altair told him, but he decided to reveal everything else only to a close few.
“Really? Did she tell you how he really is? Can’t she help him out?” Rose asked excitedly. There was still some hope left… At least, that is what Rose felt at this moment.
Instead of answering, Harry simply shook his head. “She couldn’t do anything more at that moment… She already broke the law and interfered directly. If she stayed anymore then she could have been killed…” Harry explained with a sigh.
“Can she at least tell us where he is being kept?” Rose asked in a desperate tone.
“No, she can’t… She told me that Albus is being kept under the Fidelius Charm. Yes, she could give me, any of us, or all of us the secret, but if she did that then she would be breaking the law, and this time she won’t be spared” Harry said while shaking his head. Rose simply slumped down on her seat with a broken look on her face.
“I see… Our sponsor can’t help us. So, we are on our own I guess. So, what after the Rosiers? You said so yourself, they will only slow her down. What else should we do?” A blond Wizard asked.
“...Since the timeline is already changing, we could no longer predict her actions. In the original timeline, she was planning to kill Torquil Travers and frame the Normals… There is a small chance that she is still planning to do the same, we must stop her at any cost!” Hermione declared seriously.
“Yes, in the original timeline, by framing the Normals she destroyed any chance of peace between them and us… The Light Side lost their total momentum as they didn’t have any leg to stand on after she farmed the normals for killing Torquil Travers” Amelia added with a scowl.
“Okay, but what if she is planning something else… I know I am not the smartest among you, but we have already established the fact that the timeline is changing, so might be planning something else completely, yeah…” A red-haired Wizard spoke while looking around.
“Yes, that is the problem. We can’t be sure, but since she killed Torquil Travers in the original timeline, saving him will be the best course of action for us… At least, we should confirm if she is planning to kill him or not. We cannot dismiss the events of the original timeline simply because the timeline is changing” Hermione explained with a grave look on his face and the red-haired Wizard simply nodded his head in understanding.
“And what do we do if she isn’t planning to kill Torquil Travers?” Scorpius asked and Hermione glanced toward Harry for an answer. She could have answered the question too, but Harry was the leader of the group so she wanted everyone to hear from him.
“If she isn’t planning to kill Torquil Travers, then we make contact with Theseus Scamander. He will be a nice addition to our group and at the same time, we use The Daily Prophet to reveal her existence to the rest of the world” Harry revealed and everyone seemed to agree with his plans, at least for the time being…
<Line Break>
Destiny appeared right outside the Wards of Rosier manor with a soft crack and she wasn’t alone. People kept popping right behind with loud cracks and new people finally stopped arriving after Ambika arrived. “Raise the Wards, I can do it on my own, but it has been some time since you guys have done anything except for training… I want to see how much all of you have improved since you joined” Destiny spoke without looking behind.
“Ambika, you will be taking lead in this mission. I want you to bring the Rosiers in front of me… Keep them alive, but if they lose some limbs or blood in the process, then I won’t mind. Oh, and kill the house elves and if anyone dies on our side then do bring their bodies with you… I don’t want to leave anything behind” Destiny added as she glanced at Ambika who nodded her head in understanding.
Without wasting any more time, Ambika turned toward the group of people gathered behind her. “You heard her. Remember this is the first time all of you are out in the field, so do not take unnecessary risks and follow all of my orders to the T. If any of you disobey my orders or try to act as a bigshot, then I will have you shoveling human shit for the next month… That is if you live to tell the tale” Ambika sneered at the group and the group could only gulp in fear after hearing her words.
“Now, all of you take a small sip of this Potion…” Ambika trailed off as she pulled out a few vials from her pocket and handed them over to the people in the front. “This is to help you remain calm during the mission” Ambika added. The whole group easily recognized the Potion as Calming Draught and they were quite thankful for it. The group quickly shared the Potion among themselves and when they were finally done, they got rid of the vials and turned back toward Ambika.
“Good! Wardbreakers get to work!” Ambika barked as she pulled out her Wand and a small group of Wizard and Witches broke out of the larger group and made their way toward the Wardline. All of them might have taken Calming Draughts but it didn’t mean that they weren’t nervous… A single mistake could result in someone’s death and this was the first time they were working on a real mission.
The Wardbreakers quickly took their position along the Wardline and started their work in complete silence… A couple of them were mumbling the Spells under their breaths, which was kind of understandable as they didn’t want to make any mistakes and verbal casting was better in cases like these.
Destiny simply kept watching the Wardbreakers work with an indifferent look on her face… If she wanted then she could have done everything on her own, but she wanted to test the new recruits. She will be sending half of her forces to Bulgaria and Greece along with Gellert. While she won’t be sending the greenhorns out there, she wanted these greenhorns to gain experience on the field as they will be staying with her in Britain and there was no saying when she was going to need them, especially with the Order of Light out there.
Destiny pulled out the Wand of Destiny from her Wand holster and started at it… Unlike before, this time, the Wand felt like it was part of her. This time the bond was much stronger than the last time… She could also recall all the Spells ever cast through the Elder Wand since its creation which never happened the first time… She could also recall the fighting and dueling techniques of every notable Wizard and Witch who held the Wand after its creation.
Destiny nodded her head in acknowledgment when the Wardbreakers finally finished setting up the Wards to stop the Rosiers from escaping or calling for any help… There were no known means to stop the Patronus Charm, but Destiny wasn’t worried as only a few Purebloods knew how to cast the said Charm and even fewer of them probably knew how to use a Patronus Charm to send a message. Now, the Wardbreakers could finally start to bring down the manor Wards.
Destiny stared at the legendary Wand in her hand and released a sigh… She really wanted to test out her new Wand, well, technically it wasn’t new as she had used the Wand before, but this time, the connection between herself and Wand was much better than the last time. The Rosiers could have been the awesome test subject, but she needed something to give the new recruits some real experience… After all, she couldn’t pit them against Aurors or Hit-Wizards. That would be a disaster waiting to happen.
The Wards finally started to come down and Ambika signaled the rest of the group to step forward. All of the gulped nervously but they still followed her order with determined looks on their faces… The Calming Draught working its charm or most of them would be a nervous mess. While some people might not agree with the use of Calming Draughts during missions, but they couldn’t deny the results…
The Wards around the Rosier manor finally came down… “Follow me!!” Ambika exclaimed as she crossed the Wardline followed by the rest of the group, who started to follow her with vigilant looks on their faces. Only Destiny and the Wardbreakers decided to stay outside the Wardline… The Wardbreakers had to stay outside so that they could keep the Anti-Escape Wards active and Destiny simply wanted to watch everything from the outside…
(A/N: Always saying Anti-Apparition Jinx and Anti-Portkey Wards are quite a mouthful so I decided to use Anti-Escape Wards for my own ease… Anti-Escape Wards are not a thing, so don’t look it up on wiki).
A couple of explosions were heard as Ambika and the group finally broke into the manor… Screams were heard along with some explosions. Flashes of various Spells could be seen through the windows. A few more screams were heard from inside the manor until everything finally went silent… Destiny patiently waited for everyone to return and just like she expected Ambika walked out of the manor with her head high followed by other members of the attack force who were levitating the Rosiers behind them. All of them looked quite proud of their achievement…
‘Credit where credit’s due…’ Destiny internally mused as the group finally arrived in front of her and Ambika signaled the group to place the Rosiers in front of Destiny.
Destiny snapped her fingers to revive the duo who immediately looked around themselves in alarm. That is when Lord Rosier’s eyes fell on Destiny and the man immediately paled like a Dragon was standing right in front of him, but unlike Lord Rosier, Lady Rosier didn’t know what was good for her.
“You Bitch! You are the reason my son was kidnapped!” The woman screamed before Armand could say anything. Armand would have been a lot more bold if he hadn’t Gellert Grindelwald’s escape.
“Yes, and I apologize for that, but you can’t put the whole blame on me… After all, I am not the one who kidnapped your son and it wasn’t me who sold out your son” Destiny apologized solemnly before tearing into Lady Rosier.
“To be honest, I want to help the two of you get back your son… Believe me, I really want to, but the thing is, I can’t either of you. The two of you are bound to cause problems for me since they have your son and you love your son… There isn’t anything you won’t do to protect him. Stabbing me in the back is going to be something minor…” Destiny explained as she started to pace in front of the Rosiers.
“Y-You c-can’t kill us!” Armand Rosier screamed in fear as he finally understood what the young woman in front of them was planning to do.
Destiny chuckled softly. “Regardless, that is what I am planning to do… You see, I can’t have the two of you running around and causing a mess” Destiny grinned viciously as her reptilian eyes started to glow eerily.
Both Lord and Lady Rosier started to tremble in fear, but Armand was still not willing to give up… “W-We are one of the Scared Twenty-Eight. We are Purebloods and you will be chased to the end of the world if something happens to us!” Armand screamed nervously, but he slowly regained all of his stupidity and arrogance as he continued speaking.
“Really? How are they going to find out that it was me who killed the two of you, hm?” Destiny asked in an amused tone as she finally stopped pacing and leaned forward to stare straight into Armand’s eyes. “And even if they find out, do you think they will be able to catch me?” Destiny asked with a chuckle and this time Armand didn’t have an answer for her.
“Though, I am really sorry for what I am about to you if that matters…” Destiny dismissively waved her hand.
“You will pay for this bitch! How dare you treat you…” Lady Rosier started to scream hysterically which started to annoy Destiny.
“Avada Kedavra” Destiny muttered and the green beam struck the woman straight on her face and the woman lifelessly slumped down on the ground.
“You filthy mudblood!!” Armand Rosier screamed and lunged at Destiny who simply looked at the man to hold him down and at the same time, she also silenced the man. After that, she sneered at the mand and pointed the Elder Wand at him.
“Goodbye, Lord Rosier. Avada Kedavra” The green beam struck Armand Rosier on his chest and he joined his wife on the ground. After that, Destiny looked at the gathered people around her. “Take anything useful from the manor and place their bodies inside the manor” Destiny ordered and two Wizards immediately levitated the corpses and made their way towards the manor followed by the rest of the group.
Ambika waved her Wand to cast a Silencing Charm around herself and Destiny so that nobody could hear their conversation. “Is it really necessary to loot them?” Ambika asked with a hint of disapproval in her voice and Destiny simply rolled her shoulders.
“It would be a waste to leave them here, especially when I am planning to burn down everything” Destiny revealed and Ambika simply released a sigh. The white-haired Witch wasn’t happy with Destiny for looting the Rosiers as she was never comfortable with looting from the dead, but she could understand where Destiny was coming from.
“So, what now?” Ambika asked as she turned around to look at Destiny.
“I think I am going to visit the Bone Family, Imogen invited me during the ball and I had to change the date as I have been quite busy since the ball” Destiny answered and Ambika simply hummed thoughtfully.
“Are you going to ask Imogen to join the Coven?” Ambika asked Destiny, who started to scratch her cheek with a thoughtful look on her face.
“I wouldn’t mind… She is quite hot, but I haven’t made a decision, though she does seem to like me quite a bit” Destiny answered after thinking for a bit. She wouldn’t mind if Imogen agreed to join her Coven, but at this moment she wasn’t sure as she didn’t have much trust in Imogen as of now. Maybe it will change in the future… Cassiopeia would have been in Imogen’s place too if Destiny didn’t need immediate backers in Britain.
“I see… So, have you decided if you are going to teach her Blood Magic or not?” Ambika asked and this time, Destiny softly smiled after hearing Ambika’s question.
“Yes, I have decided to teach her… She is going to hand over Family Magic to me. There is no reason why I wouldn’t teach her Blood Magic and to be honest, I always wanted to teach someone Blood Magic” Destiny revealed with a grin, and Ambika couldn’t help but give Destiny a stink-eye.
“Oh, come on! We both know that you are completely useless when it comes to Dark Magic” Destiny groaned when she noticed the look Ambika was giving her. Yes, Ambika could use a few Dark Spells, but she didn’t have any talent when it came to Dark Magic and that is why Ambika has been unable to learn Blood Magic from Destiny.
Blood Magic is an extremely dangerous branch of Magic so Destiny also refused to teach Ambika. “I know… I know. Not everyone can be special” Ambika sighed in disappointment. While she was unhappy about the whole thing, she could still understand why Destiny refused to teach her…
“And there is still a chance that Imogen also turns out to be useless when it comes to Blood Magic… I will need to test her out before I can start teaching her” Destiny consoled Ambika with a soft smile as she finally dispelled the Silencing Charm around them with a snap of her fingers. After that, the two of them stood in complete silence.
After more than half an hour, everyone finally returned from the manor. All of them were carrying something. Some were carrying gold and silver utensils, some were carrying expensive furniture, and some were carrying bundles of books. Destiny looked at the collection and nodded her head in satisfaction. “Take all of that and hand it over to the inventory… You will be given your share after we finish the inventory. Good, now all of you return!” Destiny ordered and all of them started to Disapparate, leaving behind only the Wardbreakers, Ambika, and Destiny…
“All of you can leave too” Destiny said looking at the Wardbreakers. They looked at each other and started to Disapparate moments later. When everyone except for Ambika was finally gone, Destiny pointed her Wand at the manor. “Fiendfyre!” Destiny snarled and a stream of flames came out of the tip of her Wand.
Destiny stared at the Elder Wand in complete surprise. Casting and controlling Fiendfyre has never been so easy… Previously, she always had to struggle to control the flames, but now… Now, they were simply dancing to her tunes like never before. The wave of flames transformed into various Magical Beasts as it slowly started to engulf the manor… Only after a few seconds, the manor started to collapse on its own as it could no longer hold on to its weight.
“Well, that’s that!” Destiny grinned as she finally canceled the Spell and flames started to go out. This time, she didn’t even have to force the flames to go out, they simply went out on their own… Using Magic was so much easier right now.
“Isn’t that Gellert’s Wand?” Ambika asked curiously, making Destiny freeze for a second. She started to wonder if she should tell Ambika the truth or not, and after thinking for a bit she finally decided to reveal the truth to Ambika. The white-haired Witch has been with her for years and she trusted her almost like Gellert, so it was about time she told her about the Deathly Hallows…
“Yes… It used to be, but now it is mine” Destiny revealed cryptically as she held the Wand in front of her. “Ambika, have you read the tale of three brothers?” Destiny asked curiously.
Ambika cutely inclined her head with a frown on her head. “...I don’t believe I have” Ambika answered after thinking for a bit.
“Then, let’s go back… It is a nice story, I promise and by the end of it, I am sure that you would be blown away!” Destiny exclaimed cheerfully. She didn’t want to wait here anymore as Aurors could pop here any moment and the story was kind of long, so it was better to tell Ambika the story back at home.
“Okay, let go” Ambika said as she accepted Destiny’s extended arm and moments later, the two of them were gone with a soft crack…
<Line Break>
“Welcome, milday!” Imogen greeted Destiny with a respectful bow as Destiny stepped out of the fireplace. Destiny removed the soot with a simple look over her shoulders and Imogen couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous at the casual display of Wandless Magic…
Imogen could never imagine doing something like that without a Wand… Destiny was so young, but she could still cast Magic without a Wand or even a gesture. Imogen had only heard stories about such things… “You must forgive me, Imogen. A lot of things came up and I had been busy with some stuff” Destiny apologized as she offered a wine bottle to Imogen.
“Oh… you shouldn’t have” Imogen smiled politely as she accepted the bottle. “Please, follow me, the others are waiting” Imogen started to lead Destiny toward their dining hall.
“How is your new job treating you?” Destiny asked curiously as she followed Imogen.
A bright smile appeared on Imogen’s face as she turned around to look at Destiny. “It has been great. I never imagined I will be able to pursue my dreams so openly!” Imogen beamed honestly.
“That’s good then. What about your father?” Destiny asked and Imogen simply shrugged.
“We havn’t talked much since he started working… He is quite passionate when it comes to Wards. He has been quite diligently on the task you gave him” Imogen answered with a soft smile. “We are here, milday” She added as she opened the door.
“Good evening, milady” Claiborne greeted Destiny followed by the rest of his family. Destiny nodded her head in acknowledgment. Jasper and Fredrick were also here which meant Claiborne, or Dorothy might have brought them here just for the dinner.
“So, how is school? Is it anything interesting?” Destiny asked curiously. There was nothing in their course work that could ever interest her, but she simply wanted to know what was normal for children of their age.
“We are being taught about creatures in Defense, I find them quite interesting, but I wouldn’t want to come across a were or vampire!” Jasper answered excitedly.
“I have encountered them in my travels and I also wouldn’t recommend anyone to look for a were or a vampire… Though wevewolves aren’t quite like vampires. Werewolves are mostly fine if you avoid meeting them on a night of a full moon, but you should always avoid vampires…” Destiny advised sagely while nodding her head.
“Have you hunted them?” Jasper asked excitedly with stars in his eyes.
“Jasper!!” Dorothy immediately chastisced Jasper whose shoulders slumped down.
“No worries, Dorothy. He is simply excited. I was also quite hyper at his age too… I kept looking for trouble” Destiny couldn’t help but smile at Jasper… She loved watching children act like children. That was what she was fighting to protect… She never had a childhood, the filthy Muggles forced her to grow up.
“As for you question… No, I have never hunted a werewolf or vampire, but I have killed them. Hunting is a sport where a person goes out knowingly looking for something to kill, but that wasn’t the case with me… I have came across mindless werewolves, I had to kill them for my own sake, so I had to put them down. Though, Vampires are a completely different case… Most of them would try to drink your blood if you come across one of them” Destiny explained with a smile.
“You are right, milady, but isn’t it better to avoid werewolves?” Claiborne asked hesitantly.
“You might be right on that, but werewolves only transform during full-moons. As long as they know to fear your power, they won’t try anything when they are in their human form” Destiny answered and everyone nodded their heads in understanding even if reluctantly. Destiny was quite aware of the stigma against the werewolves in the Pureblood society, so she could understand their reluctance.
To be honest, Destiny didn’t care much about werewolves… She neither felt for them nor she hated them. If some of the packs around Europe joined her cause then the case might change, but as of now, Destiny didn’t care much about them. Though, the case was completely different with vaprimes… She had come across a few vampires during her travels and all of them had tried to drink her blood. So, she wasn’t a fan of vampires…
“What about you, Frederick?” Destiny asked and unlike Jasper, Frederick was much calm and collected.
“I like Charms… Right now, we are learning silent casting and it is quite difficult. I would be really grateful if you gave me some tips” Frederick requested politely.
“Hm… When it comes to Spell casting, Intent is extremely important… You must have strong Intent and strong visualization… The image of the result must be clear in your head or the Spell wouldn’t work. That is how I learnt Silent Casting” Destiny answered with a soft smile on her face.
“Milady, if you don’t mind me asking…” Claiborne trailed off hesitantly and Destiny simply gestured him to continue. “Have you read the paper?” Claiborne asked carefully.
Destiny quickly realized what Claiborne was asking about… “Ah… That was me. Something came up and I needed him out of prison, so I decided to get him out” Destiny answered dismissively, making Claiborne, Dorothy, Imogen, and Fredrick gulp in fear… “How is everyone reacting to the news?” Destiny asked. She had been quite busy since she broke out Gellert and Sirius was also with them, so she had no idea how everyone was reacting.
“Most of the people are afraid, while some… are simply reacting like nothing happened. Those who are afraid are worried that the War finally might spill into our shores and the ones who are acting like nothing happened are the ones who think Gellert Grindelwald is afraid to attack Britain due to Dumbledore…” Claiborne answered with a hint of worry in his voice.
“I see…” Destiny hummed with an amused look on her face…
