IngloriousMe
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Back to Britain & Meeting Minerva [Chapter 43]
🕑 Added 2022-08-18 18:11:24 +0000 UTC‘Cornwall, Britain’ The letters appeared on a piece of parchment and everyone gathered around the parchment started to frown.
“Is was supposed to give the exact location, right?” Lily Potter asked Hermione, who was biting her lower lip in frustration.
“Yes, it was supposed to” Instead of Hermione, it was a blond-haired Witch who answered the question. “There are only two reasons why the Spell could fail” The same blonde Witch pointed out after thinking for a bit.
When everyone turned toward the blond-haired Witch for further details, she decided to start explaining. “If the blood is taken without permission then the Spell wouldn’t have worked, but the Spell is working, so we can write this one off” The Witch answered cryptically, and then she released a huff.
“As I said previously, there are only two reasons the Spell might not be working correctly. First of all, if Albus is being constantly moved, the Spell wouldn’t able to locate his exact location. Secondly, he is under Fidelius or some other Ward like the Fidelius” The blond Witch deadpanned drily.
“So, what do we do now?” The red-haired Witch asked in a frantic tone and everyone turned toward Harry Potter.
Harry Potter wasn’t expecting the Spell to fail if he was being honest, after all, he believed in her wife. So, after thinking for a bit, Harry finally came to a decision… “We use Marcus Rosier to blackmail her and if that does not work, then we use the Rosier Family” Harry declared making a lot of members smile at his decision, but some of the members did not like his decision.
“Why? We could use this chance to get the upper hand. We could use the Rosier Family to attack her… If someone from the Sacred Twenty-Eight lodges a complaint against her in the DMLE, then even the other Purebloods won’t be able to shove the whole thing under the rug” Clifford Bones growled with an annoyed look on his face.
“True, but we also lose our advantage if we do that… Right now, she is working secretly, so if we promise that we won’t reveal her existence to the rest of the world, then there is a chance that we might catch her off-guard, but if we do reveal her existence to the rest of the world and at the same time, we set up the Rosier Family and the DMLE against her, she wouldn’t have anything to lose, yeah…” A Wizard sitting beside Harry explained with a shrug.
“Yes, I agree with him too… If we reveal her existence to the rest of the world then we will no longer have any leverage against her and there is a very good chance that she might do something to Albus to send us a message…” Jame Potter explained carefully, but some of the members were still displeased with this course of action.
The Wizard sitting beside Harry noticed the displeased looks, so he decided to sweeten the deal. He knew that they needed to stay united, especially right now. So, after a few moments of silence, he cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Well, I am not saying that we won’t reveal her existence to the rest of the world… I am simply saying that we wait until we get Albus out of her clutches and then we reveal her existence to the rest of the world” The Wizard suggested and the displeased members seemed to nod their heads in agreement.
While some of the foolish members were happy with the decision, the smarter couldn’t help but scowl at their stupidity. There was no way Destiny Grindelwald wouldn’t consider that, but they decided not to say anything in front of everyone. They already understood that the unity of their group was on shaky grounds and they didn’t want to destabilize it anymore…
The red-haired Witch dropped in her seat and started to sob frantically… The Wizard sitting beside her pulled her into his arms as he started to rub his hands on her back soothingly. “Don’t worry, Rose, everything will be fine… Albus is strong. He will be fine” The Wizard said soothingly as he continued to rub the Witch known as Rose Weasley’s back.
“I can’t help but worry Scorpius. He was captured by the monster! How can I not worry about him!” Rose wailed in the Wizard’s arms. Scorpius Malfoy simply released a deep sigh and continued to rub her back with a solemn look on his face.
Scorpius could only imagine the horrors Albus was going through right now, but he knew that he needed to stay strong. If not for himself, then he needed to stay strong for Rose, or Albus was never going to forgive him. Scorpius vowed that he was going to take care of Rose and protect her for the time being, and after they save Albus, everything would return to like it used to be.
“Well, I like the plan… So, who should we write to first?” James Potter asked with a hint of excitement in his voice. James Potter has changed a lot throughout the years, but he still couldn’t give up on pranks from time to time. “I can’t help but wonder what kind of face she would be making when she realizes we [ranked her” James rubbed his hands together with a gleeful look on his face.
“Too true, Prongs. I am hoping that she ends up pulling out all her hair… Well, I am not going to complain if she dies in shock, no matter how unlikely it is” The black-haired Wizard sitting beside James Potter grinned mischievously.
“Oh, James, when are you going to grow up?” Lily Potter rolled her fondly at her husband as she shook her head in amusement and then she turned toward the Wizard sitting beside James and glared at him. “Merlin help me if I find you talked James into doing something stupid again…” Lily growled menacingly and the said Wizard raised both of his hands in the air as he paled drastically in fear.
“Come on, Lily. Cut them some slack… They are men, they keep doing stupid things all the time” The Witch sitting beside the Wizard Lily just threatened said in an amused tone.
“Oii!!” All the men sitting inside the room protested with an affronted look on their faces, but the Witches simply giggled at their reaction as they completely agreed with the statement.
After a couple of minutes, Harry finally cleared his throat. “Our stupidity aside…” Harry bit out grumpily as he threw a glare at Hermione, who simply gave him an innocent look. “It would be better if we write to the Rosier Family before writing to her… This way she won’t get a chance to make up a story” Harry said and James along with some of the other smarter members agreed with Harry.
“Good! The meeting is dismissed” With that Harry finally dismissed the meeting…
<Line Break>
~~Danubius Hotel Astoria, Budapest, Hungary~~
Destiny slowly opened her eyes and groaned in satisfaction as she stretched her body. After hearing a few satisfying pops, Destiny couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. Sometime later she reluctantly sat up on the bed. The bed was so soft and comfortable that she didn’t want to get up, but she knew that she needed to leave. Destiny decided to check if she still had her newly acquired Wandless Magic capabilities or if it was simply a dream… It was kind of unbelievable to nobody could blame her for thinking that it was a dream.
Moments later, a small handheld appeared beside her and the mirror kept floating in the air, instead of falling on the bed. The mirror slowly floated in front of Destiny’s face, who was grinning smugly. She was doing all of this with her thoughts, she wasn’t even thinking about a Spell. She told her Magic that she needed a mirror while thinking about the said mirror inside her mind and moments later, the said mirror appeared. Then she told her Magic to keep the mirror from falling and it didn’t fall on the bed like it was supposed to.
Destiny’s grin widened when she looked at the mirror… Her eyes were still reptilian and she still had her fangs… Destiny started to run her fingers through her hair and hummed in satisfaction. After a couple of minutes, Destiny finally released a defeated sigh, and then she vanished the mirror, albeit reluctantly. Destiny knew that she needed to return, after all, she was on the clock. So, Destiny climbed down from the bed and decided to take another bath as she didn’t have soap or shampoo at the mountain.
Destiny always slept naked, so she didn’t need to get undressed. She simply entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. Then with a simple thought, she turned on the tap to fill the bathtub and after that, she stepped under the shower. After exploring all the changes and improvements back on the mountain, Destiny decided to take a nap before returning to Cornwall. Destiny wasn’t feeling exhausted or anything, but she was still feeling somewhat tired, so she decided to take a nap. After all, she still had a long day in front of her…
So, Destiny returned to Budapest and decided to book a room and that is how she ended up in the hotel room. After washing away the soap and shampoo from her body and hair, Destiny turned off the shower and stepped into the bath. Moments later, a bottle of Palinka along with a glass came flying to Destiny from inside the room. Destiny never bothered to close the bathroom door as she was already planning to get herself a drink while relaxing in the bath.
The bottle was uncorked and the bottle tipped itself to fill the glass. The bottle flew back to the dresser in front of the mirror while the glass slowly flew into Destiny’s waiting hand. Destiny took a small sip from the glass and nodded her head in satisfaction. After that, she took another sip from the glass, and then she started to shift inside the bathtub to make herself more comfortable. A satisfied groan escaped her lips as she found the most comfortable position.
Palinka was the strongest alcohol available in Hungary and Palinka was only exclusive to Hungary. Destiny had tried the drink when she visited Hungary the last time. Palinka was one of her favorite alcohols in the whole world and Destiny always preferred stronger drinks. So, she was already planning to buy as much Palinka as she could before returning to Britain. Destiny quickly gulped down the rest of the drink and decided to pour herself another glass.
After a long and relaxing bath, Destiny stepped out of the bathroom and pulled out a fresh pair of knickers and a bodysuit from the trunk. After getting dressed, Destiny grabbed a spoon from the table and turned it into a Portkey. She shoved the Portkey inside her pocket and with a snap of her fingers, she closed the trunk and shrunk it down. She grabbed the trunk and shoved the trunk inside her pocket. With that, Destiny was ready to leave, but before that, there was something else she needed to do.
Destiny pulled out her Wand and waved it around the room… She wanted to remove all of her traces from the room. She was sure that she had left a strand of hair here and there throughout the room. She didn’t want any Wixen getting their hands on a strand of her hair, There are quite a lot of nasty things you can do to someone if you get a strand of their hair. Most of those crafts were based on Witchcraft and while Witchcraft was dying an art, Destiny did not want to any risks.
Destiny nodded her head in satisfaction and started to walk toward the door after putting her Wand back in the holster. The door opened on its own and after Destiny walked out of the room, the door closed itself on its own. Destiny checked out of the hotel and after that, without wasting any more time, she made her way toward the nearest liquor shop. It was a good thing that she had her priorities straight…
It took her only 10 minutes to get what she wanted… As soon as she entered the shop, Destiny Confounded all the Muggles except for the shopkeeper to leave the store. After buying herself two barrels of Palinka, Destiny decided to leave the money on the table and Obliviate the shopkeeper. Destiny was in a good mood as her trip to Hungary was quite eventful, so she decided not to kill any Muggles… They will get their due, but today was not that day…
After leaving the shop, Destiny activated the Muggle Repelling Charm on her earring, and without wasting any more time, she pulled out the Portkey. “Dover” As soon the word left Destiny’s mouth, she felt a familiar tug around her navel and moments later, she was whisked away. Destiny decided to use Dover as the destination for the Portkey as she did not want anyone to track her back to her temporary base…
<Line Break>
~~Cornwall, Britain~~
“My name is Minerva McGonagall and currently, I teach Transfiguration at Hogwarts. I was asked to help all of you with Transfiguration and Conjuration and if any of you are wondering, I have already earned a Mastery in Transfiguration and I am working to get a Mastery in Conjuration” Minerva explained as she stared at the Wixen gathered in front of her.
One of the Wizards released a snort. “We aren’t in school, what can you even teach us?” The Wizard asked skeptically.
Minerva pursed her lips in displeasure… She already knew that she might need to deal with a rowdy group of students. After all, all of her current students have finished their NEWTs. Minerva understood where they were coming from, but she wouldn’t be able to teach them anything if they didn’t even listen to her. So she needed to make them acknowledge her skills. She needed to show them how superior her Transfiguration skills were compared to all of them… That would be the easiest way.
“Why don’t you step forward and show me your best Transfiguration?” Minerva urged the Wizard. From the corner of her eyes Minerva noticed Donovan and another Wizard watching her class, Minerva took a deep breath… She couldn’t fail at this stage, she needed to make a good impression.
The said Wizard sneered at Minerva and stepped forward. He pulled out his Wand and started to twirl it around while whispering under his breath. Minerva narrowed her eyes as she quickly realized what the Wizard was trying to do. Minerva would never admit it, but if the Wizard succeeded then she would be quite impressed. Slowly, the ground started to rise and it transformed into a lion. The Wizard smirked smugly as he glanced at Minerva and the lion roared loudly.
“I wouldn’t lie, Mr…” Minerva started to speak, but she stopped when she realized that she hadn’t bothered to ask the Wizard’s name.
The Wizard smiled proudly. “Yuri, Mikhael Yuri” The Wizard said proudly as he puffed out his chest.
Minerva nodded her head in understanding. “Mr. Yuri, that is quite an impressive piece of Magic, but tell me, Mr. Yuri, can you do it silently?” Minerva asked in a neutral tone.
“I did it silently” Mikhael said with an indignant look on his face.
“Yes, you might have been silent, but you were muttering some Spells under your breath, weren’t you?” Minerva asked with a small smile on her smile as she already knew that she had won the argument. Murmurs broke out and some Wixen even started to snicker. Mikhael simply scowled and released an annoyed huff.
“If you can do better then why don’t you show us?” Mikhael challenged and Minerva wasn’t a Gryffindor for nothing. Minerva flicked her hand and her Wand flew into her hand. Minerva started to wave her Wand through the ait, but unlike Mikhael, she wasn’t muttering any Spells under her breath. Everyone noticed the difference, but all of them simply settled on staring at her in awe.
The ground rose up and it slowly transformed into a lion and her lion was way more impressive than Mikhael’s. Her lion was much bigger and it looked way more majestic with its golden mane… The lion looked around at the gathered crowd and released a loud roar. Even its roar was way more impressive than Mikhael’s lion… Everyone gathered around Minerva flinched back and Minerva smiled proudly at her creation. Silence ensued when the lion finally finished its roar…
“Bravo! Bravo!! That was amazing! That was most impressive!” The Wizard standing beside Donovan exclaimed while clapping his hands. The man was quite short and he seemed to be quite older than Donovan, at least, that is what Minerva deduced. The man had a thick accent in his voice, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t place a name on it. Even though Minerva did not know the man, she could understand that the man was being genuine with his compliments.
“Ms. McGonagall, this is my friend Vladimir Sastikov, please forgive his manner. He becomes somewhat excited whenever he witnesses an impressive feat of Magic” Donovan smiled as he introduced the Wizard beside him and Minerva simply smiled politely. The two of them approached Minerva. “Though I must, your lion is quite impressive” Donovan said carefully as he glanced toward the lion who was eyeing him up like a piece of meat.
“Thank you for the compliments gentlemen… Was there something I can help you with or shall I continue the class?” Minerva asked in a polite tone. She could understand the two of them watching her class from the sidelines, but she couldn’t understand the two of them decided to interrupt her.
“We wouldn’t have interrupted you, but there is someone who wants to meet you. If you follow me?” Donovan requested in a polite tone, but Minerva knew that she could only accept the request. Though Minerva couldn’t help but wonder who she was going to meet. She knew that Donovan was quite high on the social ladder within the Crimson Knights. Minerva internally snorted… That is what these people called themselves.
“All of you are dismissed” Vladimir called out looking at the gathered crowd of students. The students nodded their heads as they started to leave. Vladimir turned around to leave and that is when he noticed that Minerva was about to dismiss the lion. “You can keep it if you want… You don’t need to hide your skills among us. You are among your own kind” Vladimir said with a meaningful look on his face.
Minerva simply nodded her head and decided to keep the lion for the time being… Yes, she was quite proud of her own work, so she wouldn’t mind showing it around. If she was being honest, Minerva found it quite nice that she didn’t need to hide her Magic here… Donovan simply nodded his head in approval when he saw that Minerva decided to keep the lion. He was sure that Lady Grindelwald was going to love the lion even though the creature was Transfigured.
“Who am I supposed to meet?” Minerva asked curiously as she continued to walk behind Donovan. The man was leading her towards the outskirts of the Wardline and Minerva couldn’t help but start to feel nervous. It was already evening and it was getting dark, so Minerva started to think about various scenarios. She came here after finishing her shift at Hogwarts, so there was a chance that someone might have followed her. ‘Did I blow my cover? Are they going to try to get rid of me?’ Minerva started to wonder in horror.
‘Well… I am not going to go down without a fight!’ Minerva growled inside her mind as she clutched her Wand tightly. She also noticed that Donovan and Vladimir never answered her question. Moments later, Minerva stiffened when she noticed Donovan pulled out something from his robes, but she finally relaxed when she noticed that it was only a piece of paper. While Donovan was walking in front of Minerva, so he couldn’t see her actions, but Vladimir was walking beside her and he was keeping an eye on her…
“Read this” Donovan said as he shoved the piece of paper in Minerva’s hands. Minerva quickly read the lines written on the paper. She felt something weird and then, all of a sudden, a two-story house appeared out of thin air just outside the Ward line. Minerva’s eyes grew wide in surprise and she didn’t even notice when the piece of paper in her hand crumbled into dust. Minerva had no idea what sort of Magic this was and as Vladimir was keeping an eye on her, he easily noticed her reaction.
“That house is under the Fidelius Charm” Vladimir declared with a smile as he nodded his head like a sage. “It is one of the most Obscure Spells. It hides the secret or something like that… I don’t know the exact details. I am not good when it comes to Obscure Magic” Vladimir shrugged blandly.
“Nobody expects you to, Vladimir. Even I don’t know what the Fidelius Charm entails” Donovan added as the three of them finally crossed the Ward line. Minerva decided to store the information in the back of her mind. She guessed that Albus would probably know what this Fidelius Charm was and how it worked. Minerva shivered in discomfort when she felt newer Wards wash over her body. For a moment, Vladimir wondered if he should warn Minerva about Black Wards or not, but ultimately, he decided against it.
Minerva followed Donovan inside the house and she found herself inside a large drawing room. She would have looked around the room, but her eyes quickly zeroed in on one of the women sitting on one of the couches. Minerva tried, but she couldn’t help but gape at the woman. The woman was beautiful… ‘No, that would an understatement… She is extremely beautiful, but I wonder if her hair is even natural or not’ Minerva wondered internally as she continued to stare at the woman’s crimson hair.
“Minerva McGonagall, I have been waiting to meet you… Why don’t you take a seat?” The crimson-haired woman offered and Minerva shivered in fear when she finally noticed the woman's reptilian crimson eyes focused on her. Minerva gulped nervously as she could feel power rolling off of the woman. Even though the woman was politely smiling at her… Minerva couldn’t help but feel extremely wary of the woman. The woman was powerful, incredibly so…
Minerva quickly realized the power difference between herself and the crimson-haired woman sitting in front of her. Once again Minerva gulped loudly as she realized that the woman was probably stronger than Albus… She believed that Albus would probably be able to defeat the woman in combat thanks to his experience, but there was no doubt that the woman was Magically stronger than Albus. Without further ado, Minerva took a seat and her mind started to go through various scenarios…
“Did you Conjure that?” Once again, the woman spoke. Minerva broke out of her musing and turned towards where the woman was pointing.
“No, I Transfigured it from dirt” Minerva answered the woman whistled with an impressed look on her face.
“That is quite impressive… Not many can achieve what you have done, though I shouldn’t be surprised, after all, you are a Transfiguration Mistress” The woman nodded her head with an amused look on her face.
“She is probably one of the youngest Transfiguration Mistresses in the whole world” Minerva finally noticed the other occupants of the room. It was a black-haired and green-eyed Witch who complimented her. Minerva immediately recognized the Witch as Cassiopeia Black, one of the recent Hogwarts graduates.
‘Why I am not surprised that the Blacks are already involved?’ Minerva internally questioned herself. “Thank you, Miss Black” Minerva replied primly and Cassiopeia simply inclined her head in acknowledgment. Minerva glanced toward the white-haired Witch who was still checking out the lion she had Transfigured with a look of interest on her face. The woman was yet to say anything, so Minerva turned back toward the crimson-haired beauty… ‘Where did that come from?’ Minerva wondered in confusion as she shook her head to clear her mind.
“You seem to already know me, but you have me at a disadvantage…” Minerva trailed off with an unsure look on her face. Whoever this woman was, she was probably quite high on the command chain or she was probably the highest, so Minerva wanted to avoid insulting her in any manner. While the woman was insanely strong, she was quite young, which is why Minerva wasn’t sure if the woman was the Leader of this well-organized group… No, she couldn’t call the Crimson Knights a group, it was an army…
“Ah… You have you forgive me… It is one of my bad habits, I always forget to introduce myself” Destiny inclined her head in amusement. “I am Destiny Grindelwald, it is nice to make your acquaintance” The crimson-haired woman introduced herself while looking extremely amused. Meanwhile, Minerva’s eyes grew wide as saucers and before she could even realize what she was doing, she was pulling out her hand. At the end of the day, she was a Gryffindor and they always charged ahead!!
Destiny simply raised her hand and Minerva’s Wand flew into her hand and with a simple glance, she Magically bound Minerva. “Gryffindor indeed!” Destiny heard Cassiopeia mutter under her breath. Destiny simply chuckled at Cassiopeia’s words and started to twirl Minerva’s Wand in her hand with an amused look on her face. Minerva realized that she still had her lion and she mentally ordered it to attack Destiny who simply waved her hand and turned the lion back into dirt.
Minerva’s eyes grew wide at the display of Wandless Magic and she reeled back in fear. “That was reckless indeed… Gryffindors charge ahead, that is their house motto, right?” Destiny asked as she glanced toward Cassiopeia from the corner of her eyes and Cassiopeia simply hummed.
“You could say that” Cassiopeia hummed as she finally turned toward Minerva, who was completely terrified of Destiny, but at the same time she was also glaring daggers at Destiny. Cassiopeia did not know how the woman achieved such a feat, but nonetheless, she would commend the woman.
“That was pretty rude of you, Minerva… You should have played it cool, but you messed up by trying to attack me. As soon as I heard that you not only work at Hogwarts but you are also a Transfiguration Professor, I suspected that you were a spy… After all, Albus Dumbledore has a really bad habit of poking his crooked nose where it doesn’t belong” Destiny said as she slowly stood.
At first, Minerva grimaced at Destiny’s words when Destiny pointed out that she acted recklessly. Looking back, Minerva realized that she shouldn’t have tried to attack Destiny when she already knew that Destiny was way stronger than her, but she simply acted out on instinct, but when Destiny started to insult Albus, Minerva couldn’t stop herself from defending the man. “Albus Dumbledore is a great man!!” Minerva snarled in anger, but once again Minerva realized that she shouldn’t have done that when she noticed the unamused look on everyone’s face except for Destiny.
“You are pretty amusing” Destiny said in a playful tone. “Though I kind of agree with you. Albus Dumbledore is a great Wizard, but at the end of the day, he is a man who betrayed Magic” Destiny deadpanned with a bland look on her face. Once again. Minerva started to fume at the insult, but this time she decided to keep her mouth shut. She also did not understand what Destiny was trying to insinuate by calling Albus a traitor…
“I can see your confusion… You don’t understand what I am trying to say, but you will. In the future, you will” Destiny said while nodding her head. Then she started to approach Minerva, much to the woman's horror. At the same time, Minerva couldn’t help but feel dread after hearing Destiny’s words.
“Wait! You are going to let her live?” Ambika spoke for the first time since Minerva arrived.
“Yes! I am going to let her live, after all, killing her would be a waste. She has so much talent and potential and it would be criminal of me to kill her just for choosing the wrong side of the war” Destiny explained with a look of sympathy on her face as she glanced at Minerva who snarled at Destiny.
“I will never join you!” Minerva said firmly and Destiny simply nodded her head.
“I pity you… It seems that Albus Dumbledore has already corrupted you, but fear not, I will still save you. You will probably hate me with your very being, but you will be saved. You will receive salvation” Destiny said with a solemn look on her face as she continued to look at Minerva with pity in her eyes.
“...If I hadn’t heard it myself, then I wouldn’t have believed the dragon shit you are spouting” Cassiopeia deadpanned from the side, and Destiny couldn’t help but scowl at her lover’s words.
“You just had to ruin my fun…” Destiny scowled. “Just look at her… She was already believing my words” Destiny said as she pointed at Minerva’s face who was glaring daggers at Destiny.
“I don’t think she ever believed you” Ambika pointed out and Destiny took another look at Minerva’s face and simply shrugged dismissively.
“Oh well… not that it would matter when I am done with her, but as I was saying, killing her would be a huge loss. After all, she is loyal to Dumbledore and since he sent her here to spy on us, it also means that he trusts us. Just imagine how he would feel when he finds out that Minerva had been spying on him for us and she was loyal to us instead of him” Destiny started to cackle in glee.
“I would rather die than join you, you monster!!” Minerva snarled in rage and Destiny simply gave her an amused look as she placed both of her arms on Minerva’s shoulders. Minerva tried to scoot away from the woman, but there was nowhere to go…
“You will join us, Minerva. When I am done with you you will join us and you will spy on Dumbledore for us… Anyway, there is something else I must do before you finally decide to join us” Destiny cooed with a serious look on her face. “Legilimens!” Destiny called out and entered Minerva’s mind…
