After drying herself, Destiny finally started to put on the new set of clothes… After such a long day, she would have loved to have a bath, but she knew that she was already short on time. She was sure that all of her Lieutenants were already here… Well, she didn't know for sure as it was only a guess, but her Lieutenants were extremely punctual, as long as they weren't busy with something equally or more important…
Though Destiny did not know if Sirius was already here or not… He had a lot of stuff to take care of back in the Ancestral Home of Blacks, so Destiny still had some time before she needed to leave… Namely, needing to merge with her other self. Well, technically not merge, but it was easier to use the word merge than using the technical terms all the time.
Destiny cast a Tempus and it was time… So, as soon as she was dressed, she Apparated inside her room, only to find her other self waiting for her, just like she expected. "Good… Let's get this over with" Her other self said as she pushed herself off the chair. After that, neither of them said anything, and moments later her other self vanished into thin air. As soon as her other self was gone, Destiny Apparated in the living room, only to find that all of her Lieutenants were already there, and just like she suspected, Sirius wasn't here yet…
"Good, all of you are already here. Quinton, how is your mission progressing?" Destiny asked as she plopped down on the couch.
"Everything is progressing as we expected. You were correct, milady. The whole office is filled with Squibs and we have also noticed a couple of Wizards and Witches… Though we haven't started following any one of them, yet" Quinton reported as he stood up from the couch just like the other Lieutenants to greet Destiny. Ambika had told them that Destiny was in a bad mood and they did not want to raise her ire in any manner…
Destiny nodded her head in understanding. It was just like she expected, and it has been just a day since they have started to keep an eye on the Foreign Office, so Destiny was completely fine with the progress. After that, she simply gestured her Lieutenants to take a seat. She did not want them to keep standing…
"So, how is the recruitment going?" Destiny asked as she turned toward Donovan. The man cleared his throat.
"We are getting quite a few promising recruits. Recently, a Hogwarts Professor joined our cause" Donovan revealed and Destiny furrowed her brows in confusion.
"I see…" Destiny muttered, she felt there was something amiss. "So, what does this Professor teach?" Destiny asked curiously. It was a good thing that a Hogwarts Professor joined their cause, but Destiny could feel something amiss. Maybe she was becoming paranoid and it wasn't anything bad…
"Her name is Minerva McGonagall and she teaches Transfiguration" Donovan revealed and alarm bells started to ring inside Destiny's head. Albus fucking Dumbledore is the Head of the Transfiguration Department and it wasn't a coincidence that one of his lackeys decided to join their cause. McGonagall was a Pureblood name, not that Destiny discriminated between Purebloods or Firstbloods, but it was kind of suspicious that a Firstblood working under Albus Dumbledore would join their cause…
"Donovan for the time being keep an eye on her, don't reveal your hand, and get me her background when I am back…" Destiny said and Donovan nodded his head in understanding.
"You are leaving?" Vladimir asked with a frown. Destiny simply released a sigh as she nodded her head in confirmation.
"Circumstances have changed… I need to hasten some of my plans while creating some plans from scratch on the way" Destiny released a tired sigh. "Right now, everything is a mess" Destiny said while shaking her said.
"Milady, is this related to the spy or imposter you were talking about?" Vladimir asked, his voice laced with a thick Russian accent.
"Yes, it is" Destiny admitted. There was no point in hiding it, especially when she was already planning to tell them most of the things she found. She wasn't planning to tell them about the giant white woman who freed Albus Potter and also threw her out of his mind. Destiny didn't mean to hide something huge like this from them, but she wanted to have more information before saying anything.
The woman was clearly not a human, Destiny had felt the unfathomable power the woman possessed. Destiny refused to believe that the giant woman was a Witch… Destiny could have accepted the woman to be a Witch if the woman only possessed Magical Power, her power was vastly different… Destiny had felt that a higher being was looking down on her…
Destiny never believed in higher powers or Gods, but now that she had experienced such a being's presence firsthand, she simply could dismiss the possibility from her mind. If the giant woman was truly a higher existence or a Goddess it would also explain how Albus Potter and the other members of the Order of Light arrived in the past. Well, Destiny could think about all of that at a later date… Right now, there was no way that she could directly face that woman, wherever she was a God or not…
"No need to be impatient, we are just waiting for Sirius to arrive… As soon as he arrives, I will start explaining" Destiny decided to satiate her Lieutenants for the time being as all four of them seemed to be extremely curious.
Thankfully, they did not have to wait that long as only after a couple of minutes, Cassiopeia returned to the living room followed by Sirius and Arcturus III. Destiny didn't mind his presence, after all, Arcturus III was Sirius' heir, so Arcturus was his responsibility. Sirius also might be wanting to involve Arcturus with their cause. Even though Arcturus has sworn his loyalty to her cause, he was yet to involve himself directly…
"Milady, please forgive me for the delay" Sirius apologized genuinely. Destiny simply waved it off and gestured Sirius and Arcturus to take a seat. Arcturus bowed his head as he greeted Destiny… This was a formal meeting and Destiny's station was higher than his, so he was simply following the usual protocol… Even without the usual protocols, he would have still greeted her in a similar fashion…
"Thanks for coming… I wanted to inform all of you about some of the recent developments. As all of you already know, I suspected that Marcus Rosier was an imposter. I was right… It was an imposter posing as Marcus Rosier" Destiny explained. All of her Lieutenants, Sirius, Arcturus, and Cassiopeia were paying her rapt attention…
"Capturing him wasn't that hard. After capturing him, I decided to bring him here, so that I could interrogate him. That is where the good news ends…" Destiny trailed off with a sullen look on her face, surprising everyone.
"Even though his Occlumency shields were surprisingly strong, I was able to enter his mind after putting some effort… I wasn't able to find much before I was thrown out of his mind by some sort of mental defence, but I was able to get my hands on a few damning facts before I was thrown out" Destiny explained and all of her Lieutenants raised their eyebrows in question. They couldn't believe that someone was able to throw Destiny out of their mind.
They knew that Destiny wasn't probably the best Legilimancer, but she was definitely one of the best. Even though Destiny was only 19 years old, she was better than any of them when it came to either Occlumency or Legilimency. Meanwhile, Sirius, Arcturus, and Cassiopeia leaned forward with interest clear in their eyes. Knowing your enemy was very important and Sirius wanted to know more about the people who had dared to sully his Ancestral Home…
This was the first time someone broke into the Black Tower since it was made… It was a massive insult from the perspective of the Black Family and the whole incident happened when Sirius had the mantle of Lord Black. This was a huge mark on his record…
"The real name of the person impersonating Marcus Black is Albus Severus Potter" Destiny finally revealed. Sirius, Arcturus, and Cassiopeia frowned after they heard the name of the person who was impersonating Marcus Black. Even Vladimir raised his eyebrows in question. In the last duelling tournament, he was defeated by Fleamont Potter, so he had researched the Potters quite intensively. There was nobody by that name in the Potter Family.
"Is he a Firstblood?" Cassiopeia asked carefully. The word 'Mudblood' almost escaped from her lips. She was trying to change herself, but there was no way that she could discard all of her teachings since childhood in the span of a couple of months…
"No, he is a genuine part of the Potter Family" Destiny said, making then their frowns even deeper. Now even Vladimir was frowning.
"Is he a bastard?!" Sirius asked, looking kind of outraged.
"No, just like I said, he is a genuine part of the Potter Family" Destiny asserted with a nod of her head.
"Then how? Unless Henry Potter married a second woman in secret… I know for sure that Henry Potter has only two children, Fleamont and Charlus. They are the only Potters I know of and Euphemia Greengrass is only a Potter by marriage…" Sirius muttered on his own with an unsure look on his face.
"Yes, that is what I thought too when the Polyjuice Potion ran its course, but I am sure you aren't going to believe what I am going to say" Destiny said, looking slightly amused. Yes, the situation was kind of problematic, but it did not mean that she couldn't have a bit of fun… "Albus Severus Potter was… would be born in 2006" Destiny corrected herself with a small smile.
"But this is 1927" Cassiopeia pointed out dumbly. After that, she glanced toward the rest of the members, only to notice that all of them were thinking along the same lines.
"I know" Destiny said as she nodded her head in affirmation.
"...Milady, are you saying that the man travelled back in time?" Donovan asked and Destiny nodded her head in confirmation.
"That is what I am trying to say. Though I am not sure how they did it, there is always a chance that someone invented a true Time Machine in the future…" Destiny muttered with a thoughtful look on her face as she tapped her chin.
"But that's wrong!! What about a Time Paradox?" Ambika sputtered. She had read some of the Time Laws written down by the Unspeakables. According to them, it should be possible to send back your memories from the future to your younger self, at least theoretically, but it shouldn't be possible for a person to travel back in time when the said person didn't even come to exist without creating a paradox. At least, that is what the Unspeakables thought…
Destiny simply shrugged. "I don't know… Just like a said, it is possible that they were able to create a true Time Machine. You already know a true Time Machine would allow a person to enter any timeline without creating a paradox or anything, but I don't have enough information to draw enough conclusions" Destiny released a tired sigh… After that, nobody said anything for a couple of minutes…
"Milady, if someone travelled from the future to stop you, then it means that you succeeded" Arcturus was the one who broke the silence.
"Yes, I thought that too, but his mere presence is changing the future and he is the only one who returned to the past. There is a whole group of them… Now that their cat is out of the bad, I have no idea what they are going to do… I am still not ready for open warfare. There are still a lot of things I need to do before I will be ready for open warfare" Destiny explained tiredly. So much needed to be done and now this… Destiny felt her head was going to explode…
"But why, milady?" Vladimir asked while gritting his teeth. "I still don't understand why we are acting from the shadows, I mean we are 3000 strong and we are strong enough to take the Ministry if we plan it correctly" Vladimir pointed angrily. Before the other Lieutenants could chastise the man, Destiny raised her hand to stop them.
Destiny knew that Vladimir was loyal, but she could never bring herself to trust him completely like she trusted Quinton or Ambika. It was the same with Donovan too, but the only reason Destiny did not trust Donovan was because he has spent the least amount of time as her Lieutenant. So, with time it was possible that she would start trusting him like she trusted both Quinton and Ambika, but that would never happen with Vladimir due to his impulsiveness.
Vladimir is extremely impulsive, reckless, and hot-headed. He was good at managing people, but he was not good at playing the long game. He was always looking for action and since he was already a Duelist, Destiny didn't have any problems allowing him to control the Duelists. This was, she was also able to control his recklessness and impulsiveness.
"Tell me, Vladimir, who are we fighting?" Destiny asked coldly as she leaned back on the couch and an oppressive pressure slowly filled the room. Vladimir flinched in fear, he finally realized what he had done and he cursed himself for being unable to control himself. The other Lieutenants scooted away from him, not wanting to get Cursed by accident.
Vladimir gulped loudly as he knew that he had overstepped his boundaries and if Vladimir feared anyone, then it was Destiny. "The Muggles" Vladimir muttered, but Destiny simply sneered at the man.
"They are our enemies, you little shit!" Destiny snarled as her eyes started to glow and her hair started to float. Vladimir felt someone pressing a cold blade pressing against his neck, but he knew that nobody was holding a knife at his knife. Destiny's Magic and killing intent were creating the effect Vladimir was feeling. Vladimir felt his body becoming heavier with each passing moment… He felt like he was being drowned in a swamp of blood.
The other Lieutenants were witnessing this scene for the first time, so they were somewhat fine, but the Blacks were witnessing this for the first time, so they were feeling just like Vladimir was even though Destiny's Magic or killing intent weren't directed toward them. "Muggles are our enemies, but we are not fighting them right now, we are fighting the Traitors who betrayed Magic" Destiny answered as she continued to release her raw Magical Power.
"Right now, nobod… except for the Order of Light nobody knows of us, what do you think would happen if everyone comes to know of our existence or my existence?" Destiny growled. Without giving anyone the time to answer, Destiny decided to continue. "Everyone will be coming after us. After Gellert was caught, the Magical world calmed down since they think that the danger is over. They have lowered their guard, but as soon as my existence is revealed, they will be coming after me" Destiny explained coldly as she continued to glare at Vladimir.
Then her head snapped toward Donovan. "Tell me, Donovan, if my existence is revealed or our existence is revealed, how will it affect our recruitment campaigns?" Destiny asked this time some of the coldness was gone from her voice.
Donovan did not answer instantly, after thinking for a bit, he answered. "...It would be bad. True, people will know about our group, so there is a chance that we will be getting more recruits, but we will be also getting negative attention from Magical Governments. They will be looking for us every one, so it would become very hard for us to recruit as there will be a high chance that a spy might slip into our ranks, after all, it is impossible for us to screen everyone and everything" Donovan answered with a thoughtful look on his face.
"That isn't all. If our existence is revealed, then the British Ministry of Magic will be the first to react since we are in Britain. The English won't allow the rest of the continent to interfere because if they do then the British Ministry of Magic will be coming after us with everything they have… Obviously, we fight back and after a long gruesome war, we start to gain ground against the Ministry, what do you think will happen after that?" Destiny asked in a mocking tone and she finally stopped releasing her power and the atmosphere inside the room returned to normal.
"They will ask the ICW for help and the countries who are the most affected by Grindelwald's cause would jump at the chance. They would be out for blood… The ICW will also keep a close eye on Britain to see how the war is progressing and when they see that the British are losing, they might send small forces to sabotage our forces… Some countries affected by Grindelwald might also send their own forces in secret" Sirius added solemnly.
"That isn't all, I am wanted in a lot of countries, the reason they aren't out for my blood is because they don't have any information about me… So, they will be also sending assassins after me" Destiny explained in a neutral tone. "Even if we successfully take over the Britain Ministry of Magic, we won't be able to do it without sustaining heavy losses. Do you know how much Magical Blood we are going to lose?" Destiny asked Vladimir, who did not have an answer to the question.
"There is no way that we will be able to win the fight without making sacrifices, but if I had to kill so many people then who am I even fighting for? I am fighting for the betterment of the Magical World" Destiny said with a determined look on her face. "We are fighting for our freedom, we are fighting for a world where we will be able to live freely, our children will be able to live freely. We are fighting for a world where Magical parents would no longer have to worry about their children whenever they are somewhere close to the Muggle world"
"We are fighting for a world where no child would be abused by their filthy Muggle parents for having the gift of Magic… We are fighting for a world where a Muggle bomb won't drop over anyone's house who is peacefully having dinner with his Family… We are fighting for a world where no Witches would be burned at stakes!!" Destiny snarled in passion and everyone in the room became equally determined and excited after hearing her speech…
"I want to avoid spilling Magical Blood as much as I can, but if it comes to genocide, then I am ready for that too… If it is necessary, then I am ready to kill anyone standing in my path, then I will, but I will avoid spilling Magical Blood as long as I can… For the world I am trying to build, I will do almost anything…" Destiny muttered in a low tone. Yes, if her existence was revealed, then her ambition will become a lot more difficult, but it did not mean that she would give up.
She will kill anyone in her path even if they are Magical, but she genuinely wanted to avoid walking down that path. It would be a path filled with bloodshed and regrets, but if it was necessary then she wouldn't hesitate to walk down the bloody path… She might be called a monster by the next generation, but she did not care. After all, everything she was doing was for the Greater Good of the Magical World…
There will be some people who were going to hate her always, Albus Severus Potter was proof of that. He had returned to the past to change the future… Some people are never going to understand what sort of threat the Muggles are to the Magical world. Slowly the Muggles are developing, in the future, they are bound to discover the Magical world. Right now, Muggles are discovering new ways of killing each other and when the Magical world comes out in the open, they will turn their weapons toward the Magical world. It was bound to happen…
Destiny had seen it happen… She had experienced it first-hand and then she had hundreds of examples. She wanted to create a world where no other child was going to experience the same… Destiny finally gathered her bearings as she understood that they had strayed from the main topic. "So, do you understand Vladimir?" Destiny asked and Vladimir could only nod his head, Vladimir was a good man, but he was not someone Destiny was going to trust with the long game.
"Good!" Destiny nodded her head in satisfaction. "As I was saying, I am not ready for open warfare. After all, open warfare isn't objective, our objective is to subjugate the Muggles. I simply want to take the least bloody path" Destiny said with a soft smile on her face.
"So, what do you want to do, milady?" Quinton asked after a few moments of silence.
"I want to perform the Fidelius Ritual" Destiny revealed and all of their eyes grew wide in surprise. All the Lieutenants knew what she was talking about, after all, she had told them, but Sirius and Arcturus were genuinely confused. They knew from Cassiopeia what the Fidelius Charm was, after all, she had told them the Secret of her house, but they did not know anything about the Ritual Destiny was talking about.
Destiny glanced toward Cassiopeia, the black-haired woman had earned herself some good girlfriend points by not telling Sirius and Arcturus what she was planning. "Cassiopeia is going to tell the two of you what I am talking about" Destiny said dismissively as she glanced toward Cassiopeia. Sirius and Arcturus turned toward Cassiopeia, only to receive a nod from the black-haired woman…
"So, are we going to free Gellert?" Ambika asked excitedly.
"No, there will be no we. I will be going on my own to free Gellert" Destiny said as she stood up from the couch and all the Lieutenants frowned after hearing her words.
"Milady, are you sure? We might not be strong like you, but don't you think it would be better if someone is there to watch your back?" Quinton suggested and Destiny had to admit, Quinton was right. The way Ambika was looking at her said everything, but if she was there on her own, then she would be able to move more freely…
"I will think about it" Destiny said after thinking for a bit… She could not take Donovan or Quinton with her as Donovan was busy with the recruitment and Quinton was busy with the mission she had given him. She would never take Vladimir with her, after all, she would never trust him with subtlety. Taking Ambika with her was also out of the equation, Ambika needed to stay here so that she could manage the Knights in her absence…
Wait!! She wasn't going to leave for that long… She would probably need a day or two to free Gellert. So, it would be probably fine to take Ambika with her… The Crimson Knights would be able to manage themselves for a day or two in their absence, after all, they were not children and she could always ask Vladimir to control them. As long as he was going to have something to do, he won't be thinking about doing something reckless. While they were gone, Vladimir could take a break from the construction team…
Anyway, she still had some time to make the decision, she could also take Cassiopeia and Arcturus with her… Well, if Sirius allowed them… Destiny wanted to think a bit more, but she thought that it would be probably fine to let them come… Then will probably get to learn something. "Ambika, Donovan, the two of you can accompany me" Destiny said as she looked at Ambika and Donovan, and then she glanced toward her other two Lieutenants. "Unfortunately, I can't take the two of you with me" Destiny added in a disappointed tone.
"I understand, milady. You have already given me a task" Quinton nodded his head in understanding. He was glad that two of his colleagues are going to be with Destiny to protect her, not that she needed protection from mediocre people like them. Only a few moments ago, she showed them the difference between their power levels, but he still felt better with two of the Lieutenants accompanying her…
"Of course, milady, I understand. I will be continuing what I have been doing…" Vladimir said as he respectfully bowed his head in understanding. He would have complained but he knew that he was this close to death… He wasn't going to tempt his fate for the second time. He knew how dangerous Destiny Grindelwald was and he dared to poke her… She had killed people for something lesser…
"While I am gone, why don't you arrange a duelling tournament for some entertainment?" Destiny suggested with a thoughtful look on her face and she already knew that Vladimir was already on board. 'Men…' Destiny internally sighed. As soon as the words registered inside Vladimir's mind, his eyes started to shine brightly.
"Of course, milady, I won't disappoint you" Vladimir proclaimed loudly as he smacked his arm over his chest with a proud look on his face.
Destiny simply smiled and nodded her head. 'It will also stop him from causing any trouble and the Knights will be excited too' Destiny thought internally, it was like killing two birds with one Spell. It has been some time since they had held a duelling tournament. She wasn't going to be present, but she will get to know who the most impressive duelists were. They were the only ones who were important, the rest were simple mobs. It was cruel, but that is how the world worked… She couldn't care about the weaklings or else she would have to give up cause…
After that, Destiny turned back toward Donovan and Ambika. At first, she wasn't planning to take Donovan, but they were only going to be gone for a day or two at most, so she was sure that the recruitment team would be able to manage without him for a day or two…
"Milady, will it be fine if my Heir and niece accompanied you?" Sirius asked, surprising Destiny. To be honest, she wasn't expecting Sirius to suggest that, though she was planning to ask him herself.
"Really? You are fine with your Heir leaving to do something extremely dangerous?" Destiny asked and Sirius simply glanced toward his son and cleared his throat.
"Milady, I know the risks, but there are a lot of things he is yet to learn. He might get to learn something new" Sirius said and Destiny simply inclined her head as she glanced toward Arcturus. The man averted his gaze and he looked kind of embarrassed. Destiny realized that something might have happened between the two… Well, it was probably a Family matter, so she wasn't going to poke her nose into it.
"Fine, then can also accompany me, but once again, you must remember what I am going to do is going to be extremely dangerous" Destiny warned them for the second time, but they seemed to be determined, so Destiny decided to leave it at that. Since they were so determined to accompany her, she wasn't going to disappoint them.
"So, when are we leaving, milady?" Donovan asked as he stood up too.
"It depends…" Destiny muttered with an unsure look on her face. "I am not a specialist when it comes to Magical creatures, can you tell me which species of the dragon is the most dangerous?" Destiny asked not looking toward anyone specific…
"I think that would be the Hungarian Horntail" Arcturus said with a thoughtful look on his face as he rubbed his chin.
"Yes, definitely, Hungarian Horntail, it is a nasty piece of work, milady" Vladimir confirmed and Destiny hummed as she inclined her head. There is something she needed to do before leaving for New York. If everything went as planned, then she wouldn't even need to fight anyone, but if anything went sideways, then she would end up fighting against the whole Auror force employed by MACUSA. After all, Gellert was imprisoned in their Headquarters…
"Where can I find a Hungarian Horntail?" Destiny asked after thinking for a few moments.
"That would be Romania… There is Dragon Reserve there, they keep a couple of Hungarian Horntails. Aside from them, you will find them in Hungary" Arcturus answered and Destiny tapped her foot on the floor.
Visiting the Dragon Reserve was completely out of the question, so her only option was the mountains. She had visited Hungary before, but as she was never interested in Magical creatures, she never cared about the Dragons. It seemed that she needed to do some research before she could start looking for the dragons. Destiny was sure that willingly or unwillingly the Hungarian Wizards and Witches would be quite helpful in that regard…
"I see… We will leave for New York as soon as I return from Hungary" Destiny said and Ambika paled drastically as she finally realized what Destiny was planning to do.
"Please tell me you aren't planning to hunt down a Hungarian Horntail!!" Ambika wailed, surprising the others and as soon as the words registered in their minds, all of them paled too. Ambika suspected that Destiny was planning to perform an Ancient Ritual she had found in her Ancient Tome. The Ritual was extremely risky, but just like high risk it came with equally high rewards. Ambika did not want to say anything about the Ritual in front of the others, so she decided not to reveal anything regarding the Ritual.
"Of course, why else would I be asking about a Hungarian Horntail?" Destiny beamed at Ambika with a bright smile on her face and everyone else in the room palmed their faces…
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