C084 - A New Beginning & An Old Scheme

It was the Christmas break and I just apparated to Goldsborough after handing over my presents to my friends.

After losing the disorientation for doing one of the longest jumps I had done since I got my Apparition License, I looked around in confusion. Instead of standing on top of the hill and seeing my shack, I was looking at a grand three-story mansion that still looked a little rough around the edges.

"Patrick," I called out after taking out my wand and tapping my thighs to make sure I had all my weapons with me.

Looking around in suspicion, I quickly found nothing wrong but still waited on my elf to tell me what I was looking at.

"Master," the scarred elf greeted after popping into existence next to me.

"What is this?" I asked, my confusion still written on my face, as I pointed at the building.

"Two of the boys we rescued grew up with construction workers as fathers. They had plans to go to Gringotts after graduation to become contractors for wizarding homes," Patrick solemnly declared as he looked at the imposing home standing before me.

My head eventually, ever so slowly, drifted to allow me to look at my elf when he wouldn't continue and I asked with mild annoyance, "And?"

"They worked on this the entire fall after Patrick bought them many books at Gringotts and in Hogsmeade. They tell Patrick it should be a surprise for their benefactor," the elf concluded with a small grin that did nothing to hide his glee at having irritated me again.

"They built me a house to thank me for sending you to save them from Gruff?"

Patrick nodded solemnly, "Patrick stole a bunch of construction material from bad muggles close to Manchester and York. The two builder wizards called them 'mob'. They be 'cooking books'? Patrick didn't understand, but Patrick could tell they were bad people."

"Why wasn't I consulted? What happened to the shack?"

"It would not be a surprise if Patrick told you," the elf stated as if I was the idiot in the conversation and added, "The shack still stands behind the mansion. Patrick told them to leave it as it is and never enter it. They listened to Patrick."

Looking back at the mansion, I eventually observed out loud, "It looks like the family home in Scotland that Malfoy and his cronies burned down."

My elf nodded and explained, "It is. Master told Patrick he regretted not being able to live there, so Patrick gave the two builder wizards old pictures. They be almost finished."

"Almost?"

"The bedroom and bathroom can be used. The kitchens are already fit for the use of Skuld and Verdandi," the elf calmly explained. "The library and the warding are still not finished. Patrick was told the outside will need to be finished with your input."

"Those two want to do the warding themself? They aren't even Hogwarts graduates, half-bloods raised with muggles to boot," I pointed out with incredulity.

"They not be doing the warding. Patrick already bought as many books for magical construction that he could from Gringotts and the hag in Leeds. He already paid more than you allowed," my elf explained while looking particularly down for having spent more money than I could probably stomach.

No matter, even without any galleons to my name I'd still be a muggle-money millionaire. And if I wasn't, I could send Patrick out to go on another crime-ending spree in mainland Europe in case he already 'ended crime' in the UK somehow.

"Then who will do the warding?" I asked as I walked toward the grand wooden entrance door of the mansion. I silently opened it with a wave of my wand.

"Patrick asked the other witches he freed, they be knowing no warding. Greedy goblins ask for too much for such a big home, so Patrick doesn't know."

I looked at my elf before nodding faintly.

The inside looked almost exactly like the Macnair family home that was burnt down in Glasgow. The polished stone floors and the grand central staircase looked like they would have cost millions when used in a muggle home, but I knew enough about magic to know that any regular stone could be changed accordingly with the correct spells. It was just a matter of skill, knowledge and determination.

Taking a small whiff, I asked, "What is that smell?"

"Patrick was told you would like it. One of the witches found a rare Greensplit Rose bush with the help of the dryads and we planted it in the sitting room with a grand glasshouse toward the inner gardens of the mansion," my elf explained.

It was indeed a subtle but very likeable smell.

After a short visit to the master bedroom that was decorated much too splendidly for someone like me, I asked Patrick, "What about Ratlord Voldemort?"

"Still in the basement you created," my elf solemnly answered. He lost his faint smile after showing me around.

"Anything I should know?"

"Any maggots and other insects Patrick puts inside the cage die instantly."

With a lifted eyebrow, I side-along-apparated Patrick into the basement of the shack and we both watched the cage in question.

In it, a rat sat menacingly on a little throne of perfectly aligned branches and leafs. It was still blood red in my Eagle Vision. And it regarded me with as much hostility as a rat could muster and then some.

"His mind didn't break?" I asked incredulously. "How is that possible?"

Patrick shook his head, just as lost as me.

"Well, in that case I will just have to help it along," I muttered before taking out my wand with a determined expression.

Casting several nasty curses that inflicted damage to the rat's mind instead of its body, I looked at Patrick and ordered, "Go visit Urd and help her bring along the hedgehog. I fear living in the castle will help the soul shard of the dark lord more than I realized. It's no longer feasible to let it stay there. Put it somewhere safe, but not here."

With a small bow, my elf popped away from me as I continued watching the menacing rat writhe in agony.

My brows furrowed.

This was yet another setback I hadn't anticipated.

-----

[A week earlier, POV 3rd person]

"Lord or not, I will not allow you to bring Talion in for questioning," Flitwick argued inside his office.

Sitting opposite him, Scrimgeour shook his head with a helpless smile and countered, "This is more of a courtesy, Filius. I have orders and just wanted to inform you ahead of time."

Flitwick narrowed his eyes dangerously. Scrimgeour and he had both graduated in the same year and had remained friendly over the years.

"Fine. Don't think I didn't notice that you went about it in a sneaky way, though, Rufus. Instead of addressing his proxy or his lawyer, you came to Hogwarts for this. It tells me that you want to keep this quiet. That's a weakness that Talion will know to exploit," the Charms professor pointed out with mild disdain tinging his voice.

"The two of you are more Slytherin than any alumni I know," Scrimgeour countered with a wry smile. "Rest assured. I know my limits. I already slighted the boy before the summer break started when I allowed my men to keep him for the night."

Seeing the regret as the auror shook his head, Flitwick scoffed as he rebutted, "Pah. Talion knows to keep grudges and that wasn't your only slight. You better be on your best behavior. Another repeat of that wrongful imprisonment will see you in Azkaban quicker than you think."

"Azkaban?" Scrimgeour asked with a lifted brow. "Bending the rules a little will see me in Azkaban?"

"I already said more than I should. This will be my last warning. Believe me when I tell you this, Talion has a ruthless streak in him. It was fostered by a childhood in a questionable orphanage and, putting it mildly, spending a year getting the short end of the stick here in the magical world. You all made sure of that."

"Thank you for the warning," Scrimgeour said with a solemn nod as he stood up after letting the words sink in.

He already regretted not doing his due diligence with everything concerning Talion Macnair. But realistically, how could he have known that a seemingly powerless orphan would grow to be a Lord and a powerful dueler in a mere year in the magical world? Had he done everything by the book instead of playing politics and listening to his Slytherin teachings of fostering every relationship, no matter how seemingly insignificant, Scrimgeour would have had the ear of the youngest current Lord in the Wizengamot.

Instead, the auror had reason to believe that Talion Macnair, the current Lord Gamp, disliked him. Rightfully so, Schrimgeour could admit to himself. He could do some damage control today, which was why he agreed with Bones' order of getting Talion.

But this assignment of his, if done incorrectly, would not help his standing in the eyes of the Ravenclaw student at all. And that worried him.

An hour later, Talion sat inside an interrogation room in the ministry. Opposite him were Shacklebolt and Scrimgeour. The boy looked like he just ate a particularly sour lemon.

Scrimgeour smartly stayed quiet for most of these proceedings, but he saw that the irritation in the boy's eyes was not solely directed at Shacklebolt like he planned.

"You cannot be serious," Talion angrily spat. "I am to pay for the damages of the other buildings that burnt down!?"

"That is the ruling the ministry arrived at," Shacklebolt explained calmly.

"I refuse," Talion immediately answered. His grimace deepening the more the boy thought about it. "I don't even care if wizardkind is dragged into another war with the goblins over this. I refuse to pay even a knut!"

"You may refuse, but the funds can be taken from you by magic," the bald black man replied as he scratched his head with a good-natured, awkward smile that did nothing to placate the young Lord.

"Mark my words," the Ravenclaw viciously argued back without pause. "If the goblins or any of you take a single coin from my vaults, I will start a blood feud with everybody involved. Starting from the two of you until I behead even the king of Gringotts."

"Mister Macnair," Scrimgeour tried to placate urgently but he was cut off instantly.

"I have proof that I sold the property months ago. I have proof that they forged a signature of my dead grandfather posthumously. I have proof that I was in Hogwarts during the weeks leading up to the arson as well as during the day of. The fact that you can even argue against any of this tells me that you think of me as a docile sheep to be slaughtered. I will show you who is the sheep if you don't rescind this order," Talion argued with a seething hatred coloring his voice. "And it is Lord Gamp for you."

"The ministry is merely asking for less than a thousand galleons. A meager sum, comparably," Shacklebolt interjected with furrowed brows. "You have enough funds for th-"

"Oh? So I should just pay because I can!? Why don't we just look at which aurors worked patrol in the Alley that day and dock their salary to pay for the damages because they failed to put out the fires!? I was not there and not the owner of that filthy brothel! Your colleague Gruff is and that bastard is still a free man for Merlin knows what corrupt reason!"

The door swung upon but didn't make a sound as Louis Limm caught it in time. An auror was holding his shoulder, but the lawyer shrugged it off and ran over to Talion.

"You didn't wait for me!?" Limm asked indignantly.

Talion looked at him, his face melting into indifference from his previous fury as he pointed at the two aurors sitting opposite him and stated, "These two shitheads told me I was here for a mere technicality. Who am I to think that these vermin could be shameless enough to try and extort a Lord?"

Shacklebolt, for the first time in this whole 'interrogation', lost his cool and bristled, "This is unbecoming of a gentleman! There is no need for name-calling!"

The Ravenclaw looked at him with disdain and a tilted head as he asked, "Really? I tell you that I would declare a blood feud with you and you only react when I call you a shithead?"

"It's the 'vermin' he didn't like," Scrimgeour clarified in a quiet voice but shrank back in his seat when Talion turned to look at him with a murderous glare.

Yes, this was exactly what the auror was afraid of. He wanted to play the mediator, but he didn't think the boy would immediately throw the book at them. There wasn't even a lull in the conversation before the young Lord threatened them. Scrimgeour didn't fear for his life, just his career if this didn't get properly dealt with.

"Really, Talion? Another feud?" Limm asked in exasperation. "You are much too trigger-happy with that F-word."

"What? They're telling me I should pay damages for the burnt-down buildings in Diagon and Knockturn Alley after the Brothel Fire!"

Limm wanted to immediately continue scolding his client when he stopped himself and looked at the two aurors still sitting in the room and managed to voice a resounding, "Huh?!"

"This order is personally signed by the minister," Scrimgeour quickly explained as he leafed through the parchments on the table in front of him until finding the order and handing it over to Limm.

The lawyer studied the page before looking up and bidding, "You are to halt any and all actions until my client and I have been given proper time to discuss this legal matter."

Scrimgeour quickly nodded as Shacklebolt continued to give Talion a dismissive frown and stood up.

"Yes, I'll pause the banking order."

Limm looked at him and shook his head with a confused frown, "Of all the times. Is this really what you should be spending your time on? Disgraceful."

The lawyer gently gestured for Talion to stand up and he followed the implied order to get out of there.

Walking the corridor of the ministry, Limm quietly asked, "Must you be so hot-headed?"

"Almost three dozen lords, heirs and heads of lesser noble houses are in holdings cells pending their trials as we speak. Another three lords are still on the run. And they have the audacity to write such a filthy order?"

"Use your critical thinking, Talion," Limm chided with a deep frown. "Who would profit from you going on a warpath with the ministry at this time?"

Talion thought about it for a while until they reached the elevator and countered with a scoff, "The dark faction thinks I can only hold a single grudge at a time? Hah! They'll be in a for a rude awakening. I can hate all of them equally and simultaneously without problem."

"Yeah, they underestimate the energy of a young and ambitious person," Limm agreed as his frown finally eased a little.

"Ambitious?"

Limm looked at his client with a lifted brow and asked, "Have you not fanned the flames behind the scenes?"

"Who? Me?" Talion countered with a small, innocent smile that had the lawyer shake his head.

"Still, evidence or not, this order with the minister's signature holds up. We will have to actually waste time on it and with the schedule of the Wizengamot in the coming weeks, I don't doubt it will take months for us to even get to a hearing. I'll work on it immediately and get the goblins to halt any and all actions in case Auror Scrimgeour can't hold up his end."

"Tell the goblins that I am serious about the feud. If they take a single coin of mine, I'll kill my way through their nation until I find the one who forged my grandfather's signature. This whole thing only holds up because of a technicality borne from their mistake," Talion ordered as his face fell back into an indifferent mask. "If their response isn't satisfactory, I will immediately withdraw all my money from their bank and close all vaults in my family's name before taking my money to the dwarfs in Switzerland."

Limm could feel that Talion wasn't joking, even if the man didn't know where Talion's confidence came from.

"Are you sure I should word it exactly like that?" Limm asked with a resigned sigh.

"Mister Limm. I took enough shit from the magical world. I will not be taken advantage of again, even if it concerns mere hundreds of galleons. I am a Lord and I will act like it."

The young lawyer could only nod with another small sigh and kept quiet after.

-----

In the meantime, Grindelwald was sitting quietly in his cell in the hidden castle of Nurmengard, Austria.

His 'good friend' and former partner had been visiting him more and more frequently.

It was a delight for the dark lord to see the growing paranoia and dependence on his counsel in Albus Dumbledore. This was exactly what he wanted to see, even if it took several decades to get to this point.

"How formidable his mind must be to fight off the corruption of three pieces for so long. But I guess I already knew that," Gellert wistfully whistled under his breath as he regarded a mirror in his hand. It wasn't the one that allowed him to talk to his favorite little project this year, Talion Macnair. Finally someone who spoke his mind and had something interesting to say.

But this enchanted mirror in his hand allowed him to talk to someone else inside Hogwarts. A tool that he was thinking about using.

"Should I wait or do I meddle in the upcoming trials some more? Albus must have his hands full already, but maybe I can urge little Talion to grow even more," the imprisoned dark lord mumbled thoughtfully. "If I play my hands right, maybe I can even get him to leave the isles. Have him shore up some more strength outside and spread his wings. Maybe allow him to gain some more followers from my former loyalists. They crave for another leader, another cause. It would be fun to see how the boy could come back to the British Ministry with a vengeance…"

Gellert began to laugh a long but hollow laugh before he shook his head again.

"No. His mind is too firm. His goals too rooted in place. He will be too methodical in his approach. There will not be open bloodshed, only quiet upheaval," Gellert judged as his eyes narrowed with a ruthless glint. "That boy is just too interesting."

After the call with the mirror connected, Gellert mused silently after hearing the greetings of his minion. Eventually deciding on it, he declared, "I don't care which one of you it is, but you are to start pursuing Talion Macnair. Submit to him and treat his words as my words… Be subtle about it. The boy has a sharp mind."