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The Secret of Bones [Chapter 23]
🕑 Added 2022-04-06 04:44:19 +0000 UTCImogen Bones used to be an idealist woman, but all of that changed when the reality of the world smacked her on the face with all its cruelties and unfairness. After graduating from Hogwarts, she had planned to join the Ministry. With her grades, it would have been extremely easy for her. She had secured herself the 2nd spot in her year when she graduated.
After that, all of her dreams and ideals came crashing when she was denied a job in the Ministry. She had tried everything, all the Departments she was eligible for, but she was blocked everywhere. She could have easily become an Auror, Hit-Wizard, or one of the Gray Cloaks, the reality was a cruel bitch and she got to witness it firsthand.
The financial situation of her Family was not that good… not after her bastard of an Uncle had thrown out her Father from their Family manor. She hated that bastard with every fibre of her very being. That man was the reason why her father could no longer sell Wards, that man was also the reason why they couldn't accept anyone's help. That man was also responsible for destroying her life.
She knew that Clifford Bones was the reason why she couldn't get a job in the Ministry and he was also the reason she couldn't get married. That man wanted their side of the family to die off. Imogen wondered how the man considered himself to be an advocate of Light even after he kept oppressing their side of the Family in such a manner.
That man wanted them to swear an oath saying which would allow him to control what Magic they could use and what they couldn't. Imogen was glad that her father had decided not to swear that blasted oath. She would happily invite her death, instead of being under that arsehole's heel. Imogen released a sigh…
Imogen had planned to work in the Ministry and help her Family with the money, but here she was, charming toys in a toy store. This wasn't how her life was supposed to be… Once again, Imogen released a tired sigh. She would even sell her soul if it meant that she could murder that arsehole and walk away.
There was only one reason why Imogen was yet to kill that blasted man. If she killed him then she would find herself on a one-way trip to Azkaban and she didn't want to join the Dementors in Azkaban. Besides, if she went to Azkaban then her parents would be facing financial problems. Whatever money she earned, she handed over to her family for the education of her brothers.
She only kept a few sickles for herself and handed over the rest to her parents. Imogen was only able to finish her Hogwarts education due to one of her father's friends. Lord Black or Sirius Black had given some gold to her father when she was born and her parents had used that gold for her education.
Imogen was brought out of her musings when someone knocked at the door frame. "Your mother is here" the shop owner said as soon as he was done his head disappeared from the doorframe. The shop owner never liked her and he never forgot to rub her face over the fact. She would have been kicked out of the job if it wasn't for her good work.
She was good at what she did and she never complained about the low pay. The reason why the shop owner hated her was because he wanted to sleep with her… and she denied him. Even though Imogen was poor, she was quite beautiful. Imogen was from the Bones Family and she also carried their Family traits.
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Like any other Bones, she was a redhead. Even though she got her hair from the Bones Family, she had her mother's pale blue eyes. So Imogen Bones never failed to catch the attention of men even though everyone maintained a healthy distance from her. Imogen was a dark Witch and she never tried to hide that fact. The Bones Family were known for their Dark Magic, but it seemed that the Bones Family was going through quite a bit of change since Clifford Bones took the mantle of Lord Bones.
That is why the shop owner never tried to force himself on her because he knew that Imogen was quite versed with Dark Magic. He didn't want to be Cursed. He might be an opportunist pervert, but he knew when to back down. He didn't want to find himself facing the Wand tip of Imogen Bones. He knew that it would end up pretty nasty for him if he found himself at the wrong end of Imogen's Wand.
Imogen dropped whatever she was doing and decided to see what her mother wanted. So, she quickly made her way towards the front of the store and found her mother waiting for her. The shop owner sneered at her and Imogen had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
"Did something happen?" Imogen asked in a neutral tone. Her mother never visited, something must have happened.
"Imogen let's go outside" Dorothy said as she grabbed her daughter's hand and started to drag her out of the store before Imogen could protest.
"Wait! She is still on her working hours. She can't leave just like that!!" The shop owner snapped and Dorothy turned around and she gave the man a polite smile.
"Well, she quits" Dorothy said sweetly and dragged her daughter out of the store. Imogen was too surprised to say anything or she would have protested.
"Wait! What's the big idea? I can't just quit" Imogen protested and Dorothy simply sighed.
"I know, but I assure you that you won't be needing to work on here anymore" Dorothy said as she threw a dirty look towards the toy store.
"What happened all of a sudden? Did that arsehole finally realize that his actions were not fitting for a paragon of Light?" Imogen asked with a scowl and Dorothy shook her head with an exasperated look on her face. She had tried to stop her daughter from using such filthy language, but it was yet to bore her any results.
"No… nothing like that. I will explain in detail, but we need to visit Gringotts before that" Dorothy said and Imogen decided to follow her mother's lead, seeing no other options. Moments later, both of them Apparated in front of Gringotts.
"Now, we are here. So, what in the name of Morgana is happening?" Imogen asked with a scowl and Dorothy simply huffed. Why couldn't her daughter act like a prim and proper lady?
"Can you cast a Privacy Charm or something?" Dorothy asked and Imogen nodded her head and led her mother towards the side of the street. She didn't want to have a private conversation with her mother in front of freaking Gringotts. Imogen pulled out Wand and cast a couple of Privacy Charms to keep their conversation private.
"So, what exactly happened?" Imogen asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Lord Black, decided to visit today and he finally succeeded in convincing your father to establish a new Family" Dorothy said and Imogen raised her brows in interest.
"Really? How?" Imogen asked.
"Well, it is going to be a long process. He is going to take you and your brothers into his Family as Wards, with the name of Bone" Dorothy elaborated and Imogen had to admit that their new name was quite ingenious. Even after getting a new name, they will be able to keep their association with their Family Legacy.
"That is good and all, but he can't take you or father into the Family as Wards. As soon as that fucker realizes what happened, he would kick the two of you out of the Family" Imogen pointed out an obvious glaring hole in their plan. Dorothy wanted to scold her daughter for her vulgar vocabulary, but she had to admit that Clifford Bones was a nasty fucker and deserved to get cursed.
"We know and we are depending on that fact. He will disown us without any doubts and you could adopt us into the newly established Bone Family. Both your Father and I will no longer be No-Names after that" Dorothy explained and Imogen had to admit that it was a well thought out plan.
"Fine… so, when are we going to do this?" Imogen asked and Dorothy simply smiled. Once again, she grabbed her daughter's hand and started to drag her daughter towards the entrance of Gringotts.
"We will do it now. Lord Black is already waiting for us in a meeting room and your father has gone to Hogwarts to bring your brothers" Dorothy explained and Imogen couldn't help but smile. Her life was finally about to turn around… if only she could kill that bastard then her life would have been golden.
Dorothy walked up to the counter and cleared her throat to get the goblin's attention. "Lord Black has arranged a waiting room for us" Dorothy said and the goblin stared at her for a few seconds before the goblin spoke something in their native language.
Another goblin appeared from behind the counter. "Follow me, Witch" the goblin said and started to lead Dorothy and Imogen through the halls. They finally arrived in front of a meeting room and the goblin knocked on the door. Moments later, the door opened with a click.
Dorothy and Imogen found that Lord Black was already waiting for them, so they quickly entered the room. The goblin simply turned around and left. Imogen decided to respectfully greet Lord Black. Only due to this man, she was able to attend Hogwarts, and once again, he was doing her Family a huge favour.
Imogen knew that this favour was probably not going to be free, though she wondered what sort of price they would have to pay. "Greetings, Lord Black" Imogen said in a respectful tone as bowed.
"Now, now… none of that. No need to be formal right now" Sirius waved her off with a kind smile on his face. "So, how have you been Imogen? It has been a few months since the last time I saw you" Sirius asked with a smile. Imogen had to hold herself back from dismissively shrugging.
"Nothing too special, I am afraid. I was still working at the toy store… but, I quit, today, I suppose" Imogen answered and Sirius chuckled after hearing her answer.
"Haha… that's good. That's good. I always believed that you were wasting your talent in that toy store… Everyone knew that you didn't belong in a toy store" Sirius said while shaking his head. This wasn't the first time someone had to tell her that she could have done much better with her life, but life had been quite cruel to her family… "Take a seat, no need to keep standing" Sirius added in a cheerful tone.
Both Dorothy and Imogen gave Sirius a grateful smile before taking a seat. "So, where do you want to work? Do you have any plans?" Sirius asked and Imogen tapped the table for a second before answering.
"Yes… I want to join the Department of Mysteries. After graduating from Hogwarts I wanted to be an Auror, but now I want to do research and stuff" Imogen said and Sirius gave her a nod with an impressed look on his face.
"One of the most respectable jobs. I do know someone who could get you a job in the Department of Mysteries and maybe your father too if he wants" Sirius said with a smile on his face.
Imogen wondered if Sirius was talking about his father-in-law. She knew that Sirius' father-in-law used to be one of the Gray cloaks, but she didn't know that he still had so much power in the Department even after his retirement, or was Sirius talking about someone else? Sirius is the family head of one of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses, but even with a status like that, she was pretty sure that he didn't have any say in the working of the Department of Mysteries. The Department of Mysteries was the one and only autonomous Department within the Ministry of Magic.
Before Imogen could open her mouth to give a reply, the door opened with a click and her father entered the room, followed by her brothers, who were still dressed in their Hogwarts uniforms. Fredrick Bones was in his 7th year and he had been named after his paternal grandfather. Just like any other Bones, he was a redhead too, with brown eyes. They didn't have any distinctive eye colours in their Family. Her youngest sibling, Jasper Bones was in his 4th year.
Unlike herself and Fredrick, Jasper didn't inherit the Bones' hair. In fact, he inherited most of his looks from their mother. Just like their mother, he had brown hair and pale blue eyes. It has been a month since she had last seen her brothers. One month wasn't that long, but she doted on her brothers.
"Greetings, Lord Black" Fredrick was the first one to greet Sirius among her younger siblings. Then his example was followed by Jasper who also respectfully greeted Sirius.
"Clai, have you explained everything to them?" Sirius asked and Claiborne simply gave him a sharp nod. "Good, then we can start. Let me call our Family account manager, I have already taken the liberty to ask him to prepare the necessary documents" Sirius said and tapped his Wand on the table. A Rune glowed up and after nearly a minute a goblin entered the room, carrying a bunch of papers.
The goblin placed the documents on the table and climbed up a chair. "Lord Black, I have prepared the paper" the goblin said and handed over the documents to Sirius. The said man accepted the paper and quickly scanned through them. A bright smile appeared on his face and then he turned towards Claiborne.
"Look it over" Sirius said and handed the papers to Claiborne. The man accepted the documents with a grateful nod and started to read them. As he continued to read, his eyes grew wide in surprise. Seeing the reaction of her father, Imogen became worried. She wondered what types of demands Lord Black might have made for his generosity.
"Sirius! Are you sure that you are okay with this? I mean I am not complaining, but you aren't getting anything out of the whole ordeal" Claiborne asked in a surprised tone. Now, Imogen and the others in the room were also surprised. Lord Black didn't want anything in return for his generosity… This seemed to be unbelievably generous.
"You are my friend Clai, I always wanted to help out you and your family" Sirius said with a warm smile on his face. Claiborne didn't know how to react, so he simply handed over the papers to his children. A pair of adoption papers were also prepared for Claiborne and Dorothy, but Claiborne decided to keep them on his person for now. He couldn't use them as long as Clifford didn't banish them from the Family.
Married people with children couldn't be taken in as wards by another Family as long as the couple was a part of a wizarding Family. It wasn't impossible or anything, but it was simply illegal. If they wanted to keep everything legal, then they needed to do everything the right way. Sirius could always grease some hands with some gold to get the charges thrown out of the office, but since they could avoid the charges in the first place, why bother creating more problems.
Imogen read through the document and it was quite plain and simple. As a Pureblood Witch, she was taught by her parents to look for any hidden clauses or anything. There was nothing like that… It was a simple Magical Contract stating that she had agreed to become a Ward of the Black Family under the Family name of Bone. Imogen was not unfamiliar with Magical Contracts, and she knew that she needed to use her blood to make it Magically authentic.
Imogen pulled out her Wand and sliced her finger. She dropped a couple of drops at the bottom right corner of the Contract. The Contract flashed and Imogen knew that it was over. She was no longer Imogen Bones, but Imogen Bone. Not that different, but in the eyes of Magic and the Ministry, that was enough. She cast Episky to fix her finger. She turned towards her brothers and they were also done with Contracts.
"Congratulations!! This calls for a celebration, wouldn't you agree Clai?" Sirius asked with a smile and Claiborne couldn't help but agree with his friends. Sirius gave a sharp nod and turned towards the lone goblin in the room. "May I borrow this?" Sirius asked, pointing towards a quill. The goblin shrugged and handed over the quill to Sirius.
Sirius tapped the quill with his Wand. "Portus" Sirius Charmed the quill into a Portkey. "Good, let's not waste any more time" Sirius said as he got up from his seat. Since Gringotts were protected by strong Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey Wards, they needed to leave the Gringotts premises to use the Portkey.
While Sirius was in the front, Imogen decided to greet her brothers. "How is school?" Imogen asked and Fredrick simply sighed.
"Troublesome, recently the spat between Slytherins and Gryffindors is reaching new heights" Fredrick said with a shake of his head. Just like his father, Fredrick had been sorted into Slytherin, while Jasper, like Imogen, had been sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Really?" Imogen asked curiously. "There always has been a tension between Gryffindors and Slytherins but the Professors had never allowed it to reach out of hand" Imogen stated with a thoughtful look on her face.
"That is why Ravenclaw is much better" Jasper chipped in from the back with a smug grin on his face. Fredrick simply rolled his eyes at his younger brother's antics.
"True" Imogen added with an amused grin, but this time Fredrick didn't roll his eyes.
"No matter how much I hate to admit this, the two of you are right. It would have been much better if I had gone to Ravenclaw. I could have at least avoided the tension between Gryffindors and Slytherins" Fredrick said with a sigh while shaking his head.
Then he turned towards Imogen. "I don't know how the situation was during your time at Hogwarts, but the situation is quite bad right now. Two of the Professors are openly biased towards the Gryffindors" Fredrick said in an exasperated tone and Imogen's eyes grew wide in surprise.
"Really?" Imogen questioned while looking at her brothers. Both Fredrick and Jasper nodded their heads. "Who? When I was at Hogwarts, I knew that Albus Dumbledore was slightly biased towards Gryffindors, but he never showed it openly" Imogen said in a longing tone as she remembered her time in the school.
"Yes, he is the one and the other one is Minerva McGonagall" Jasper was the one who answered Imogen's question.
"...When I was at Hogwarts she was quite nice… In fact, I had seen her multiple times helping Slytherins. It seems that she wasn't as good as I believed" Imogen said in a disappointed tone while shaking her head. She did have quite fond memories of the young Transfiguration Professor.
"Well… everyone, grab a hold" Sirius said as he held out the quill. The whole group was finally out of Gringotts. When everyone was in contact with the quill, Sirius decided to add a few more words before activating the Portkey. "We are going to be meeting an extremely powerful person, so remember to be respectful around them" Sirius said with a serious look on his face. His callous and cheerful visage was completely gone.
Though before anyone could make any Comments, Sirius decided to activate the Portkey. "Black Townhouse" Sirius said and Imogen immediately felt a familiar tug around her navel and moments later, she was gone along with the whole group…
<Line Break> (A couple of hours before the Bone Family was established)
Cassiopeia Black reread the small letter in her hand, to be honest, she had no idea if it was even her place to give a reply or not. After a few seconds of contemplation, Cassiopeia decided that it would be better if she showed the letter to Destiny. After all, her Uncle was bringing a Family to meet Lady Grindelwald. She also didn't know if Destiny would be pleased or displeased…
So, Cassiopeia quickly left her house and made her way toward the temporary base of Destiny's army. For a moment, she played with the idea of sending Dinky to hand over the letter to Destiny, but she finally decided that it would be much better if she took the letter herself. Destiny was probably among subordinates, so sending her house-elf with a letter might look like an insult.
Additionally, Sirius had presumed that Destiny would agree to meet the people Sirius was planning to bring along with him. Cassiopeia finally entered the premises of the temporary base and since she had no idea where Destiny was, she decided to ask someone. She didn't even know if Destiny was even here.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where Lady Grindelwald is?" Cassiopeia asked a Wizard who seemed to be working on the Wards surrounding the temporary base. Cassiopeia didn't know if Destiny had told the others about her or not, so she decided to use 'Lady Grindelwald' to refer to Destiny.
"Da… She is helping the construction of our new base" the man answered Cassiopeia's question with a thick Bulgarian accent as he pointed in a certain direction. Cassiopeia gave the man a grateful nod as she made her way towards where the man had pointed.
Cassiopeia was quite surprised by the training regiment of Destiny's army. She wondered if the Aurors and Hit-Wizards were also trained in such a manner. Well… Cassiopeia never wanted to be an Auror or Hit-Wizard, technically the term should have been Hit-Witch, but since none of the Witches complained, it wasn't her place to complain. It was quite interesting to watch the Wizards and Witches being trained…
Cassiopeia shuddered as she started to wonder if Destiny was going to train in a similar way or not… This sort of brutal training was not fit for a Witch from Pureblood Family. Cassiopeia still wondered how crawling in the mud would help you train for combat. Cassiopeia finally arrived at the place where they were constructing their new base.
Destiny was single-handedly carrying the stone slabs. From everything else Cassiopeia had seen Destiny do, this seemed to be quite boring. So, Cassiopeia quickly made her way towards Destiny without dallying around. Destiny also noticed Cassiopeia approaching her, so she decided to see what this was about. Though Destiny did have an idea…
"Good morning, Cassiopeia. How can I help you?" Destiny asked as she Apparated in front of Cassiopeia. It was already noon, but Destiny still decided to use 'morning' in her greeting.
"Good morning to you too. I received this letter from Lord Black a few minutes ago" Cassiopeia said and she handed over the letter to Destiny. The crimson-haired Witch accepted the letter and it took her only a couple of seconds to read through the letter.
"Don't worry, I already know about Sirius bringing some guests. He has asked for my permission" Destiny said with a grin as she handed back the letter to Cassiopeia. The green-eyed Witch was glad that her Uncle had covered all the bases.
"I see… I will join you for lunch. You could return or stay back if you want" Destiny said with a shrug as she decided to return to her work. Cassiopeia gave her a nod of her head and decided to leave. She had been working on her papers when the letter had arrived and she wanted to get back to her work…
<Line Break>
Imogen Bone landed on her feet as the Portkey dropped her in front of a house on a beach. Imogen looked around in interest and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. She had been on picnic trips along with her parents, but this was the first time she had she had come to a beach. Imogen always wanted to visit a beach… With Magic visiting a beach wasn't that hard, but it was a matter of principle.
Even if she visited a beach, she wouldn't have been able to enjoy herself. If she was visiting a beach, then she wanted to relax under the sun and maybe get a tan or it would be a complete waste to visit a beach. She didn't want to come to a beach while worrying about her lame job and her lame life.
"Master Black, missy Cassi, and missy Destiny bes waiting for all of you inside" A house-elf opened the front door and invited them inside. Imogen wondered, how much gold had to be spent to build this house.
The house-elf started to lead them inside the house. Imogen was quite intrigued to see that the house-elf was wearing proper clothes along with the House of Black insignia sewed to its back. She didn't even know that it was possible for the house-elves to wear proper clothes. She might have to push her father to ask Lord Black how he achieved such a feat without breaking the bond.
Lord Black stopped and turned around to look at his guests. "Remember what I said" Sirius said in a firm tone and this time, Imogen felt somewhat worried. What type of person were they going to meet? Lord Black had said extremely powerful, she believed that the person they were about to meet was going to be politically strong and not Magically.
"Who are we going to meet?" Claiborne asked curiously. He was also worried, but it was due to a completely different matter. He knew that his friend was one of the strongest politicians and he had revealed that he had allied himself with someone strong.
"You will know" Sirius said with a smile and led the group towards the dining hall. They entered the dining hall and found a black-haired Witch sitting near the open wall while staring at the sea.m Then her eyes landed on the other Witch inside the room. She was standing beside the black-haired Witch and she was also staring at the beach.
The Witch who was standing must have noticed their arrival, so she turned around in a swift motion. For the first time, Imogen realized that she might have a thing for Witches too. The Witch was extremely beautiful, but her weird clothes accentuated her beauty even more. Unlike everyone else in the room, the Witch was dressed in a leather and metal-plating bodysuit. Weird, but extremely beautiful.
At the same time, Imogen could have sworn that she was being bewitched by that beautiful crimson hair and crimson eyes. The Witch seemed to be somewhat younger than her and she was damn sure that she had never seen the crimson-haired beauty at Hogwarts, which meant that the Witch had probably entered Hogwarts after she had finished her 7th year. It has been 9 years since she graduated.
There was another thing nagging inside Imogen's mind. The Witch was mingling with the Blacks, but she didn't know of any Family with Family traits like that. The girl might be a distant relative of the Blacks, which might explain why she hasn't seen the girl at Hogwarts. Imogen was brought out of her musings when the girl started to speak…
"Sirius… it seems that you have been quite busy" Destiny said with a grin and Sirius respectfully bowed his head
"Yes, my lady. This is Claiborne, we have been friends since I went to Hogwarts and he very good with Wards. We use his Wards on all of our properties except for in the Black Tower" Sirius introduced Claiborne, who was standing right beside Sirius. Imogen's eyes grew wide in shock, and the rest of her family members also reacted in a similar manner.
"I see… then he must be really good. I do need the help of a Ward Crafter" Destiny mused as she eyed Claiborne.
"Of course, my lady. He would be glad to help" Sirius decided to answer in place of Claiborne.
"Now, now, Sirius, no need to be like that. I think he can answer for himself" Destiny said as she intently stared at Claiborne and Sirius. "By the way, all of you had a long day. How about we continue the conversation at the table?" Destiny suggested and Sirius immediately nodded his head in understanding.
From the conversation, Imogen realized that whoever this girl was, she was not someone to be trifled with. Additionally, Lord Black was referring to her as 'my lady'. She chastised Lord Black… Yes, it was nothing like a scolding or anything, but the girl had to guts to chastise Lord Black, standing inside a property belonging to Blacks… Yes, the girl was not someone normal. Imogen looked toward the rest of her family members and it seemed that they had also realized the same thing.
The whole group finally sat down around the table… Sirius offered the position of the head of the table to Destiny, once again surprising the whole group except for Cassiopeia, but this time Destiny decided to accept the offer. After everyone was seated, Destiny finally took her own seat. As soon as she took her seat, the food appeared on the table.
"Why don't you introduce me to the others, Sirius?" Destiny suggested and after giving Destiny a respectful nod, Sirius turned towards the oldest Witch in the room.
"This is Dorothy Bones née Pyrites. She is good with Potions and she brews Potions for St. Mungo's. She is not an employee, but she is more like a contractor" Sirius introduced the woman and Destiny simply smiled. She knew that she was being rude by not introducing herself, but she was quite interested in the family Sirius thought would be useful to her.
The Sirius motioned towards Imogen. "This is Imogen Bone formerly Bones, she is an extremely talented Dark Witch" Sirius introduced Imogen. Now, Imogen was extremely curious about Destiny's identity but decided not to make any comments as she didn't want to displease the girl or Lord Black. Imogen noticed that as soon as Sirius introduced her, the crimson-haired girl raised her brows in interest.
Sirius pointed towards the second youngest Wizard in the room. "This is Fredrick Bone formerly Bones, he is a 7th-year student at Hogwarts and finally the youngest, Jasper Bone formerly Bones, he is a 4th-year student at Hogwarts" Sirius finally finished introducing everyone.
"I see…" Destiny said slowly. "I congratulate all of you for establishing a new Family. Forgive my manners though, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Destiny Grindelwald" Destiny introduced herself with a grin.
Imogen was not too proud to admit that she almost gasped and shot out of her seat after the crimson-haired Witch decided to reveal her name. At least, Imogen wasn't the only one who was surprised. Her mother and her youngest brother gasped in surprise after Destiny revealed her name. Imogen would have doubted the girl, but Lord Black was calling the girl, 'my lady' he would never do something like that without verifying the claim.
From the corner of her eyes, Imogen also noticed that her father seemed to be somewhat tense. To be honest, she could understand why her father was tense, if she said that she wasn't feeling afraid then she would be lying. Though she didn't understand why Lord Black seemed to have joined the cause of 'Magic is Might'. As much as she knew, the Blacks hated Mudbloods with passion.
"Mr Bones, may I call you that?" Destiny asked politely and the man gave her a hesitant nod.
"I don't know about the particular details, but I do know that your brother, Lord Bones had been oppressing you and your family. I wouldn't ask you for the details even though I found the topic to be quite interesting" Destiny inclined her head. Claiborne seriously had no idea where Destiny was going with this conversation. "Though, what I do want to know is if you could help me or not" Destiny said as she leaned on the table.
Now, Claiborne knew that he needed to be careful. "What type of help do you want from me?" Claiborne asked politely.
"I want a Ward. Currently, I have a small team working on the said project and I want you to join the said team…" Destiny revealed with an intense look on her face.
Claiborne looked toward his Family and then he turned towards Sirius. To be honest, he did not want to make any commitments. He had heard about what Gellert Grindelwald was doing. It has been in newspapers for quite a few years. He had thought that it was finally over when Gellert Grindelwald was captured, but it seemed that he was wrong.
It was not like he hated their ambition or dream. He hated the fact that they were trying to end the discrimination of the Muggleborns and that was not alright with him. He agreed with them that the Muggles needed to be dealt with, but he couldn't forget what his parents had taught him. He was sure that Sirius also hated the Mudbloods, so he wondered why Sirius had decided to join their cause.
"You don't have to decide right now… you can discuss everything with Sirius and with your family before making a decision" Destiny said with a calm look on her face and then she slowly turned towards Sirius. "After all, sometimes briskly made decisions turn out to be a mistake, don't you think, Sirius?" Destiny asked in an amused tone and Claiborne bristled at the unveiled threat.
While Dorothy looked extremely worried, Imogen clenched her fists tightly in anger. The girl was even younger than her, she might be a Grindelwald, but how dare she threaten her father in such a manner? Gellert Grindelwald was in prison, did it mean that they had another powerhouse like him? There must be a reason why the girl was acting so arrogantly…
"Yes, I agree with you, my lady" Sirius answered and Imogen noticed that for whatever reason, Destiny seemed to be extremely amused.
"Imogen Bone, a talented Dark Witch" Destiny said slowly as she turned towards the only Witch of the newly established Bone Family. "Dark Magic is quite a broad subject, wouldn't you agree? So, what sort of Dark Witch are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Destiny asked politely, Imogen's eyebrow twitched.
'Yes, I do mind' Imogen grumbled internally. "Our Family carried the name of Bones due to our Family Magiks. I am quite proficient with Dark Curses" Imogen answered sharply. Destiny simply inclined her head with a confused look on her face.
"And what about Necromancy?" Destiny asked curiously and Imogen and all the members of the newly established Bone Family and their parents became extremely tense after hearing the question. Even Sirius was taken aback.
Sirius had heard that the Bones Family were given the name Bones due to their Family Magiks, but he had no idea what their Family Magiks were. Unlike the Blacks, the Bones were not a resident of this continent. Somewhere during the 15th century, the Bones Family had arrived in Great Britain. The Bones Family liked to keep to themselves, but they slowly gained their reputation of being a Dark Family. Slowly they integrated into the society and they became one of the prominent Families of Magical Britain.
Imogen wondered how this girl discovered the true nature of their Family Magiks. They have been extremely careful regarding their true Family Magiks. They were sure that they had kept it a secret, but it seemed that they hadn't been as careful as they liked to believe as it was obvious that someone had discovered their secret, but how. Necromancy was considered to be Black Magic. If their secret got out then they will be executed to the last Family member.
Imogen immediately glanced toward her father. Her father seemed to be ready to act, but she knew that it would be stupid. Either this girl was extremely stupid, or she had a lot of support which allowed her to act so callously. Imogen believed that the first reason was the most obvious, but for whatever reason, she was feeling that something was off about the whole situation.
Acting stupid or innocent wasn't going to help them and they also couldn't use the Obliviation Charm. First of all, it wasn't going to work on Sirius since he had his House Ring. Still, Imogen couldn't decide how to react. On one hand, their whole Family could be executed, on the other hand, they would have to join this girl and her cause. Imogen wasn't naive enough to think that the girl wasn't going to blackmail them if they didn't agree with her. She might not do it directly, but she would do it through Lord Black.
Imogen hated to be in this position… she finally thought that her life was going to change for the better, but it seemed that she was simply delusional. She had thought that Lord Black was really trying to help them, but in reality, he was already entangling them in the strings of a new Master. Imogen closed her eyes and she finally came to a decision… Once again, she glanced towards her father and she found that her father was also looking at her. She gave him a defeated look and Claiborne simply sagged in his chair.
"How did you find out?" Imogen asked with a defeated look on her face as she stared at Destiny.
Destiny smiled like a Cheshire cat. "I am glad that you are being honest with me, so I am also going to be honest with you" Destiny said with a cheerful tone. "You see, the Unspeakables always knew about the particular Skills of your Family, but they never acted since you never gave them a reason to act. You see, your Family is under the surveillance of the Gray Cloaks" Destiny revealed with a grin and Imogen along with Claiborne and other members of their Family were taken aback by the fact that they were being watched by the Unspeakables.
Once again, Imogen started to wonder how this girl knew about the Unspeakables watching their Family. Destiny tapped her chin with a thoughtful look on her face. "I am not quite knowledgeable in the department of Necromancy. Is raising Inferi considered to be a part of necromancy?" Destiny questioned curiously and Imogen nodded her head.
"Yes, raising Inferi is considered necromancy. Though raising Inferi is quite a basic Skill for a necromancer" Imogen answered in a slightly arrogant tone. Either Destiny missed the arrogant tone or she decided to ignore it.
"Really? Would you mind showing me a couple of Skills?" Destiny asked excitedly. Destiny wasn't ashamed to admit that she knew close to nothing when it came to necromancy. She only knew how to raise Inferi and it seemed to be a basic skill for a necromancer. Necromancy is considered Black Magic, even the darkest Families stayed clear from something like necromancy.
"I don't mind, but I need subjects if I want to show you something" Imogen answered and Destiny simply gave her a sharp nod. With a flick of her hand, Destiny pulled out her Wand. Imogen's eyes grew wide in surprise at the speed. She didn't even see when Destiny moved her hand to pull out her Wand.
'Capture a bunch of Muggles and bring them here, no children' Destiny concentrated on the message as she pointed the tip of her Wand towards the outside. "Expecto Patronum" Destiny muttered and a Silver Tigress leapt out of her Wand and it disappeared outside the house. Once again, Destiny surprised everyone in the room except for Cassiopeia and Sirius. From what they have seen, Patronus Charm was probably one of the lesser skills of Destiny.
"Your subjects are on the way, for the time being, why don't you tell me what necromancy entails? I mean can a dead person really be brought back to life?" Destiny asked excitedly. She seemed to be really interested in the topic of necromancy. Destiny was a scholar at heart, so she was obviously interested in a form of obscure Magic she knew very little about.
After hearing Destiny's question, Imogen shook her head in denial. "No. That is simply impossible, but it will be possible if the soul of the person you are trying to revive is still around" Imogen answered and Destiny leaned on the table in interest.
"So, it is impossible to recreate a person without his or her Soul?" Destiny asked and Imogen simply inclined her head, trying to think how to perfectly answer the question.
"...Technically, it is impossible, but you could create a copy of a person if you have the in-depth knowledge of how the person acted. Though the body would start falling apart in a couple of months. A body simply cannot survive without a Soul…" Imogen explained after a few moments of silence.
"I see… you said that you could regrow a whole body using Necromancy. So, is it possible to regrow a limb or an organ?" Destiny asked curiously.
Imogen gave a sharp nod. "Yes, that is the most generic use of necromancy. There are some healers who use necromantic arts to regrow missing limbs without even realizing that they are using Necromancy. Fleshcraft is basically a part of necromancy" Imogen exclaimed and Destiny nodded her head in understanding. The conversation had been quite enlightening to her.
"So, what else can you do?" Destiny asked.
"That will be hard to explain, there are a lot of things a necromancer could do or achieve. I am a… what you say, yes! A budding Necromancer. I am yet to learn most of the things and I also haven't practised anything" Imogen answered and Destiny simply grinned.
"If you join me then you will be free to practice your art… No need to answer right now, you can discuss it with your family. You don't want to make a wrong decision do you?" Destiny asked in an amused tone and she had to stop herself from cackling when she saw the expressions on Imogen's face…
![The Secret of Bones [Chapter 23]](https://img5.onlyreon.com/storage/3/qz/ln/32fcc8-019e876b-c265-7d79-8036-632b37372cb1.jpg)
