Chapter 6 - Little Brother is Watching You

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by Priapus, Marethyu, Beans


The Sorcerer's Legacy
Chapter 06: Little Brother is Watching You

"You wanted to see me?" Morrigan asks as she enters the study room I've claimed as my 'office', piles of documents around me. "I see you've wasted no time acting like you own the place, summoning me like some servant."

"I don't own the place, not yet, but I will. Unlike Damian, the position of heir actually matters to me. I intend to live up to the responsibilities," I say simply. Despite her scorn, I can tell she's actually pleased to see me taking my job seriously. She wanted this position, but losing it to a lazy asshole stung more than losing it to someone who actually treats the title with respect. "And you aren't a servant. What you are is a member of house Raum, putting you under me in this family's hierarchy," I remind her, putting away the report I was reading through.

Morrigan's scowl grows, but she doesn't disagree with my blunt assessment, crossing her arms as she stares at me angrily before she scoffs.

"I imagine your dreams are filled with the image of me under you, but don't forget that you're still so laughably weak," Morrigan scoffs, making me raise an eyebrow. "What do you want? I have better things to do than tend to your every whim. If you want someone to kiss your ass, go call for Keira."

"Sit," I order, making her hesitate, but despite her complaints and anger, she does take a seat before my desk. "Mother isn't wrong about your recklessness."

"And you think you get to lecture me now that you're the almighty Heir Raum-Black? You, who just risked your life in a ritual you barely understood?!" Morrigan spits, such a venomous woman, but I just gesture for her to wait.

"But unlike mother, I know that trying to stop you from studying more advanced magic is a mistake," I deadpan, cutting her rant off as she blinks, scowl fading in confusion. "Because I am reckless, and I'd respond just as well as you do to someone trying to limit me. That said, bitch or not, you are my big sister, and I love you too much to risk you killing yourself out of sheer stubbornness and the need to prove yourself."

Morrigan pauses, the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks as she stares at me expectantly.

"And what exactly are you going to do about it then?" Morrigan asks, making me smile.

"Make sure you have the proper tuition, of course. I can't stop your pursuit of magic, nor would I wish to, so I'm going to do the next best thing. My new position grants me a certain level of influence, and I've arranged an apprenticeship for you," I explain, seeing her interest despite her best efforts.

"And how is that supposed to work with me spending another year at Hogwarts?" Morrigan asks, making me sigh. "And who is supposed to be my new mentor? What two-bit hedge wizard have you hired to babysit me?"

"Do you think I didn't consider that? And don't be such a brat. You know I'd only accept the best for one of us," I drawl. "Your new tutor is Triss Merigold, who is also our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I take it Aunt Triss is adequate for your high standards?"

Morrigan freezes, genuinely surprised and caught speechless for the moment. She knows that while Triss is much nicer than our beloved Mother, she may equal her power as a mage. Yennefer has a much more varied skillset, but when it comes to sheer battle prowess, Triss might actually surpass her.

"She agreed to that?" Morrigan asked, making me smile.

"As I said, my new position comes with some influence, and it wasn't hard. Aunt Triss cares for you as well, and you are very talented, so she sees the benefit of nurturing your talent in a safer environment than just leaving you to your devices," I say, soothing her ruffled pride at being subservient to me.

"And what does Mother think of this?" Morrigan asks, making me smile smugly.

"Mother is taking a step back from running the family to allow me to settle into my future role as the Lord of the house. As such, the decision is mine, though she didn't disapprove of my decision once I told her," I explain. "Yennefer is now essentially my advisor, and her advice is often well placed, but the final decisions on matters regarding our family are mine alone."

I can see her trying to wrap her head around the concept that our stern and often demanding mother has just handed over the reins, but searching my features, she finds nothing resembling deceit.

If anything, I'm downplaying my power over Yen, given my complete control over her thanks to the collar she now wears.

– Morrigan Raum-Black –

Staring at Gray, she couldn't deny that he filled the position of Heir better than their idiot brother had ever managed. She could see the documents piling up on his desk from all the catching up he was doing, seemingly reports on the other families and the current political climate.

Damian would never do this, and in the back of her mind, a voice that sounded like their mother pointed out that she wouldn't have put this much effort into the job either.

"You expect me to believe that mother is letting you make the decisions?" Morrigan asked, making Gray raise an eyebrow and cast something, making an unknown gesture with his wand.

"I do because it is the truth. There is more going on than you know, Morrigan, so I don't blame you for your disbelief, but Mother has essentially stepped down and submitted to my rule. She will still represent us in the Wizengamot because I will be in Hogwarts, but I am the new head of the house, unofficially until I take the Lordships, and officially afterwards," Gray said, seemingly entirely serious as Morrigan stared at him.

She didn't know what she was missing, and it was pissing her off, but she wasn't going to beg for information. About to proclaim her disbelief once more, the door opened, and the woman of the hour herself walked in, giving them both a look as she closed the door.

"You called for me, Gray?" Yennefer asked, making Morrigan's eyes widen at the subservient tone Yennefer took on.

"I was just informing Morrigan about her new apprenticeship, and the matter of our new relationship came up. I decided it was easier to simply summon you than continue trying to convince Morrigan that you had taken a more advisory role," Gray explained, making Yennefer nod calmly. "Or that you were subservient to me."

"I imagine it would have come as quite the surprise, yes," Yennefer agreed, not denying his claims.

"Why would you, of all people, step down?" Morrigan asked, making Yennefer smile.

"Because I want my children to succeed, and Gray will grow into his role better with practice. Gray will be the Lord Raum-Black sooner rather than later, above both of us. I am simply helping him adjust to this new position faster," Yennefer explained simply. "Thankfully, he's a diligent heir and a quick study. His idea for you to be apprenticed under Triss was a smart one, and Triss herself was happy to accept his request. Will that be all, sir? I still have some final preparations to make for the ball."

"It will be. Thank you, Mother," Gray said, giving her a nod as Yen turned and left. "Is that proof enough? From now on, I am the de facto head of the house. It's a position Damian would have enjoyed had he just put some more focus into his studies and acted with more care and diligence."

A smarter Damian was a worrying prospect; she had no delusions about what Damian would do with total power over the family.

She hesitated, pride burning within her as Gray stared at her expectantly before she mentally sighed and swallowed it.

"Thank you," Morrigan spat out, the words almost hurting her to say. Aunt Triss teaching her would help her studies immensely. Gray had done her a solid favour, and they both knew it. They also both knew that she now officially owed him, but he simply smiled calmly. "What do you want?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I actually want to help you?" Gray asked with an amused sigh.

"Yes, so what do you want? You didn't go out of your way to help me out of the kindness of your heart," Morrigan scoffed.

"What I want is not to find your corpse because you delved too deeply into your studies, but fine. I want you to play nice during the ball, and we'll call it even. I don't need you to play the social butterfly, but we need to present a unified front, given how many different families will be visiting. Play nice, or as nice as you get, for an hour or so, and you can leave. Just don't snipe at Mother or Damian while you're there," Gray asked, making her frown before she nodded.

"Very well, that is all you want?" Morrigan asked, making him sigh.

"Is it so hard to believe that I actually care and worry about you?" Gray asked bluntly, making her scoff even as she felt her cheeks heat up ever-so-slightly. "Would you rather I act like Damian and use my new position to extort you for sexual favours? Should I demand you spend the rest of the night kneeling under my desk in exchange for me setting up your new tutor?"

"Not if you want to keep what makes you a man," Morrigan scoffed before pausing. "Thank you, Gray. I highly doubt you did this purely out of kindness or worry for me, but I appreciate you setting this up for me."

"Was that so hard?" Gray asked, amused as he stood up and walked around the desk, making her roll her eyes. It honestly was. She was entirely too used to putting up a thorny front, so dropping it wasn't easy, even for her little brother.

He caught her by surprise as he pulled her in for a hug, almost cursing him as he pulled her against him, but after a moment, she returned it. He was definitely up to something, but she did at least believe he was concerned for her, the same concern she'd had for him when he did his rituals.

His muscled body pressed against hers; she admired the strength and build the rituals had given him and, more importantly, the physical prowess and power it granted him. She wanted that power for herself but hesitated to bring it up as Gray let her go.

"You might be a stuck-up bitch most of the time, but I do care about you, Morri," Gray said, her eyes narrowing at a very old nickname, one she'd trained them to stop calling her via a considerable amount of curses.

"And you might be an arrogant, scheming brat, but I would miss you should something happen, Gray," Morrigan finally admitted, getting a small smile from him. "I owe you a favour beyond the ball. I will not be indebted to you."

"Hm, then I have an idea. Do you think you could get me some of Damian's blood? It's not anything that would hurt him, just an idea I have to let me keep a closer eye on our least responsible sibling," Gray asked, making her pause before she snorted.

"Give me an hour, and I'll have blood to spare," Morrigan promised. She did trust that Gray wouldn't do anything to hurt Damian, and he had Mother's assistance, so they knew what they were doing.

"That quickly?" Gray asked, making her nod and step back. "Very well. Do so, and we shall truly be even."

Walking out of the room with a smirk, she asked one of the house elves where Damian was, making a plan in her head. All she needed was a small compulsion charm to make him go in a particular direction, and for all Damian's skill in a duel, he was laughably easy to charm when he wasn't paying attention.

Placing the charm to make him take a particular corridor on a trip back to his room, she made her move as she headed into a room along the path she'd picked for him, leaving the door ever so slightly open.

The sound of running water filled the room and undoubtedly could be heard from the corridor as she divested herself of her robes, removing her shirt and simply waiting in her skirt and bra, a simple security charm warning her of the person moving through the corridor, pausing at the door as she unclipped her bra and went to lower it.

Swivelling around, she made eye contact with Damian through the slit, her wand shooting to her hand as his dumb eyes widened, unable to move fast enough to avoid the door being blasted open, yelping in surprise.

He never learnt, desperately reaching for his own wand as she advanced on him with vengeance in her eyes, a fierce duel breaking out, her idiot brother distracted by her barely-covered breasts enough for it to be more of a stomp than usual.

She might not like his leering, but she wasn't so prudish as to not be able to weaponise her looks and take advantage of his rampant perversion. A simple sticking charm prevented her bra from actually slipping and letting him see any more than she wanted.

As Damian got lectured for his voyeurism by their less-than-impressed mother, she stormed off with a hidden smirk, a vial of blood she'd had her personal elf save in her pocket. The only person who could find out about that order was Mother, and if she did, then Gray would simply have to prove he could truly command her.

"You know, I wish I could say I was surprised," Gray said, looking down the corridor to where Damian was likely still being sternly lectured. "But well played, Morrigan, well played indeed."

"Are you going to tell me what you want the blood for?" Morrigan asked, making him pause.

"Not yet, I think, but maybe in time," Gray said, giving her a smile as he pocketed the blood and set off deeper into the mansion. What was he scheming? Where had he learnt the rituals? The lack of knowledge was driving her mad, making her pause.

Did Keira know? Gray used to tell Keira everything. Keira wouldn't spill Gray's secrets, and she was annoyingly good at Occlumency…

Pondering Gray's changes and secrets, she went about her day (taking a moment to break into Damian's room and place a curse on his bed, nothing painful, simply humiliating) with a small smile on her face. It wasn't what she wanted, but Gray was at least an improvement over Damian.

– Grayson Raum –

Heading back into the mirror, I head to Theodore Raum's former office, my true office, where I keep all the more incriminating information and items; I smile as I look over the vial of my brother's blood.

Scrying is an interesting art, far more reliable than the divination they teach at Hogwarts. Sitting in my chair, I start the spell I learned from my new Tome of Scrying and my vision changes.

After his lecture, Damian stormed off like the child he is, not smart enough to realise he got played for a fool by Morrigan, and as my senses shift, I watch through his eyes as he pouts in his room, seeing and hearing through his eyes as he paces for a moment before he gets changed and heads out of the house, apparating away utterly unaware of the silent observer watching from behind his eyes.

Heading to a ridiculous-looking house, I watch as he meets with the Weasley twins, hanging out in their backyard as they talk about the upcoming school year, the Triwizard Cup, and their plans to enter. I can feel Damian's well-hidden scorn at the idea of the twins entering because he's already convinced he'll be chosen- or Morrigan, as a stray thought reminds him that she'll be entering as well.

I feel what Damian feels, both emotionally and physically. I can feel his well hidden disdain at the idea of them beating him as champion, and with our bond I can reach out and access his mind even with the great distance between us. Such is the power of blood.

Their conversation provides little information that I didn't already know, but it is a proof of concept. Damian has some mental defences, and he remains unaware of my extended period of voyeurism. While he is not as good as me or either of our sisters, he's likely better than most of my fellow students beyond a few Purebloods, which means he's a good test subject.

I watch through his eyes as they head into the house, going up to the twin's shared bedroom, they start to talk about their future store, a bolt of realisation striking Damian as I use our connection to delve into his mind a little. He was supposed to help fund them, but he just gave away access to the Black-Raum vaults.

He remembers losing quite a bit of money at the quidditch world cup, followed by him being lectured again by Mother as she pays off his debt but makes it clear that it's coming out of his allowance, and he considers telling them the truth before a slight nudge from me stops him.

I can't control him, but I can place stray thoughts into his mind and influence him through intrusive thoughts, making him stay silent as the twins show off some of their creations. It makes me realise that they are quite a lot smarter than I gave them credit for. Their creations are often stupid but genuinely advanced. Creative and intelligent minds wasted making prank tools and nothing more.

Something to consider, though, is that it would require me to deal with these two clowns, which isn't something I like the idea of. Even now, they're scheming their next big pranks when the school year starts again, with Damian trying to push them to target Morrigan, whom they rightfully fear.

This new skill of mine has much potential because I gain essence through the gathering and utilising of secrets, and with the ability to haunt someone like this, they won't be able to hide anything from me. All I need is blood, and I can see people's most private moments.

I'm about to pull out and call this experiment a success when Damian excuses himself, promising to meet up with the twins again soon, heading out as I wait to see where he's going this time. He must be a common guest at the Weasley house, seeing as they leave him unattended while he wanders the bizarre, crooked house.

Heading downstairs, he greets the matron of the house as she works in the kitchen, and I have to extract her name out of his head. Molly gives him a smile before she continues cooking, unaware of Damian's eyes roaming her admittedly rather curvy body, wide hips and some of the largest breasts I've ever seen.

Damian pauses for a moment, his wand falling into his hand from where it was sheathed up his sleeve, raising it slightly before some movement gets his attention, and his wand slips right back up his sleeve as he greets the father, Arthur, with a carefree smile.

What were you up to, Damian? I can feel his anger at being interrupted, frustration hidden with surprising skill as he says goodbye and leaves the building. Whatever he had planned, it's hidden deeper in his mind than I expected. Maybe he paid more attention to Mother's lessons than anyone realised.

He apparates again, a spell changing his robes into something decidedly more muggle as he heads into a clearly muggle town, and I pull out as I frown. Damian has more going on than I realised. How interesting.

But moving on to the next phase, I move to another room. I believe this used to be a storage room for the cult, but whatever they kept here has long since rotted away, and I cleaned the place up to make room for my own schemes.

Placing a large mirror I ordered on the wall, I start a new spell as I place Damian's blood onto the mirror's surface, watching as the reflection shimmers and shifts to match the sight of that muggle town, the blood sinking into the surface as I enchant the mirror, my veins burning from the power required.

But the result is worth it, giving me a permanent window into Damian's mind. Placing my hand on the mirror, I feel myself fall into it, returning to Damian's mind as he looks around some gathering of drunken muggles, picking out an attractive woman in her early twenties.

Despite my misgivings about my brother, he is charming, approaching the woman with a confident grin as I watch him in action, easily seducing the liquored-up muggle woman with honeyed words and, to my surprise, no magical assistance.

Maybe I underestimated him because before long, he's heading back to her place, clothes flying as he takes control, but I have no desire to see my brother fucking some muggle, so I pull out and call it a day. My first seeing-eye mirror is up and functioning, which is a good start to my information empire.

Knowledge is power, after all.

I can feel that my pact of secrets is pleased by my actions, having had a slow influx of essence as I spied on Damian, telling me that this plan will work.

There are two more spells I want to test from my Tome of Scrying, the creation of an Arcane Eye and Astral Scrying.

I've gathered the materials needed for an Arcane Eye, and the ritual for creating one is fairly simple. I summon an invisible orb that hovers in front of me, awaiting my command before I send it through the mirror to serve as a silent watcher, alerting me to anyone who trespasses in my bedroom.

I can see through its senses, and I can give it simple commands, such as to tell me should anyone decide to poke their nose where it is not wanted. I just need to make sure nobody finds the mirror, and I would like to know if anyone is lurking around my room without an invite.

Astral Scrying is harder. Rituals are a good way to bypass my mana issues, but this is a fairly mana-intensive spell that I'm half expecting to fail at despite my apparent affinity for Scrying. I believe it comes from my Raum blood, which helps make these spells so much more usable for me.

Laying down in the master bedroom of the mirror dimension, which I have cleaned up as best I can from its centuries of decay, I start my new spell and feel as my mind and body separate, my presence hovering above my own sleeping body.

It's an odd experience, but a useful one as I move out of the mirror and into my family manor, floating through the closed bedroom door as I explore my manor as an invisible ghost.

Testing something, I'm unsurprised to find that wards can still stop me as I move quickly and hit the barrier around the Raum manor, but since I'm already on the inside, it shouldn't be a problem, which is good because I'm expecting the same issue at Hogwarts.

As long as I start the spell while I'm inside the wards, I should have little issue travelling freely, and in this form, I can see the magic of the wards. The Raum wards are normally invisible to the naked eye, but the thick wall of purple and black swirling magic is certainly not invisible right now.

Heading back inside, I move around as I track down my other family members, wanting to see if any of them can notice me. I find Keira first, reading… some gossip rag and eating ice cream, as hard at work as ever I see.

There's a more advanced form of this spell that would allow me to jump into the bodies of people, but I cannot perform it yet, and as such, I move on after waving my hand in front of Keira a few times before flying through her. She shivers and looks up but doesn't see anything and goes back to her ice cream.

Morrigan is in her room, reading up on former Triwizard tournaments, the champions and the tasks. I know she wants to become the Champion for Hogwarts, and she has my support. There will apparently be an age limit, and I'm too young. Besides, I won't be ready by then anyway. Having a Raum win will serve my purposes well, and Morrigan honestly does deserve the glory for all her hard work.

I haven't been in Morrigan's room in quite a long while. She has some nasty spells on the door, but I just went through the wall.

My lips twitch at the sight of a photograph on her bedside table, an old photograph of us all on a holiday. I believe that was our trip to Egypt as the four Raum children stand in front of an amused-looking Yen, a younger Damian pushing Morrigan out of the way as he tries to be in the middle, only to get kicked in the shin by a barely thirteen-year-old Morrigan. Merlin, I'm tiny, but I was around nine or ten at the time, so it's not surprising.

Keira ruffles my hair as I sigh and push her hand away, looking entirely too serious for the child that I am. The photo then resets and starts over. Ah, Morrigan, would it be so hard to admit you actually do like your family?

Exploring her robes, I pause as I find something interesting hidden beneath her bed. Morrigan has a sex toy? The large phallus-shaped object makes my eyebrow rise at both the sheer size of the toy and its… equine shape.

And you think you know a girl.

It's the only thing really interesting in Morrigan's room beyond some books I'm pretty sure she isn't supposed to have hidden away in her wardrobe and several vials of unmarked potions she has hidden in a drawer.

Leaving again, I head on to my final test, Yennefer herself. If anyone is going to be able to detect me, it will be her.

It takes me a little searching to track her down, finally finding her in the restricted section of the library, poring over a book in a language I cannot read, a parchment beside her as she makes notes that are laughably more advanced than I could hope to understand.

It seems to be related to ancient runes, my third-year studies vaguely allowed me to recognise several of the runes she's drawn down as Norse runes, but our class focused on Egyptian runes, so I can't even translate them beyond recognising that they are Norse.

Norse is studied in fifth year, I think, so I'm left clueless as she works on something, but the important fact is that she doesn't seem to notice me as I peer over her shoulder. Keira showed that people can feel when I pass through them, but even Yen isn't able to notice when I'm simply right behind her, watching as she hums in thought, moving over to the Runes section and putting the book away, taking out another one.

A part of me wants to demand answers from her, but I do trust her, and if she thought I needed to know what she was doing, she'd tell me. That said, I also don't want to push my luck with her because while she might have submitted to me, she's still a prideful and very cunning woman who could likely work around her enslavement to inconvenience me if I truly annoyed her.

Ending the spell, I nod to myself as I get up. This will be a powerful tool once I get back to Hogwarts. There are so many secrets just waiting for me to hunt them down and use them for my benefit. I can't wait.

Still, the Ball comes first, making me check the time. I want to know everyone whom Yennefer has invited so I don't end up looking stupid by not knowing my own guests.

I haven't missed that a lot of my guests are the same people who sent betrothal contracts, so a lot of my potential brides-to-be will be attending the ball, which could be interesting.

It will certainly be a party to remember.

— Bonus Scene — Narcissa Malfoy

Yennefer had invited them to a ball being held by the Raum family.

This might have seemed normal, given their status as sisters, but it was no real secret that Yennefer despised her, or more specifically, her husband. Yennefer hated all Death Eaters who had managed to avoid justice (either Azkaban or Yennefer's own personal justice at the end of the very powerful sorceress' wand), and yet here it was.

In her hand was the invitation, inviting the Malfoy family to a ball held to 'announce a major change in the Raum family', so what on earth was going on?

Her contacts had easily found out that this ball was legitimate, not a trap, with people from every side of the political spectrum. Champions of the 'Light' like the Bones and Longbottom families, who have been pushing obscene laws trying to limit the Pureblood's rightful privileges, to former followers of Voldemort like her family, the Notts and Parkinsons.

Even the fence-sitters in the middle, like the Greengrasses, had been invited, as well as a lot of fringe families like those ridiculous Addams that had come over from America. Yennefer was inviting everyone to this ball (except Dumbledore in a rather obvious and amusing slight), which had sent shockwaves through magical Britain (or at least the people who mattered).

Yennefer had long since been a neutral party in the Wizengamot. Despite the power and influence she wielded as Lady Raum-Black, she used most of her power to increase her own power and proceeded to do very little with all the influence she had gathered over the years.

Well, except use it to make life harder for any former Death Eaters and Dumbledore alike because Yennefer was incredibly petty and never let go of a grudge. Which made her inviting the Malfoy's even stranger.

Lucius was in a far weaker position than he wanted to be, thanks to Yennefer's constant interference and scheming, so why extend an olive branch now?

Why was she suddenly diving into politics, and what could she possibly have to declare that would need a ball of this level? Was she finally joining a side? Highly unlikely, Yennefer didn't join.

Her best guess was that it was a change in the Raum's political strategy, which would certainly shake things up and affect everyone who had been invited.

For years, Narcissa had schemed to try and get the Black Ladyship from her older, admittedly far more powerful sister. Watching Yennefer waste all that power was infuriating, but the idea of her sister actually starting to use it was terrifying.

She'd tried so hard to get the Ladyship for herself when she was growing up, convincing her father to sell off Bellatrix due to her oldest sister's insanity, drugging Andromeda with a love potion and some fertility potions so she went and got knocked up by a muggleborn and got disowned, Sirius took himself off the board, and that just left Yennefer.

She'd tried so hard to deal with Yennefer, to get her out of the way so the most suitable heiress could have become Lady Black, but Yennefer was far too dangerous an opponent. She'd gone through so much to get Yennefer married off, citing Yennefer's independence and disdain for the rest of her family, spending many a night convincing their father of the benefits of collaring his most dangerous daughter, and within a week of succeeding… Yennefer's would-be husband was dead, and so was his entire family.

And then their father, for good measure.

She'd tried to have Yennefer killed, and then she was kidnapped. She had never been able to prove that the week she spent being held for ransom was due to Yennefer, but it was certainly not a coincidence.

She had not been treated well by her captors.

She sent an assassin, and the same assassin then tried to kill Lucius right after, only to kill themselves when they failed. The message received, she'd given up hopes of beating Yennefer like that before her sister escalated things to a lethal level.

Since then, she hadn't spoken to Yennefer once, and that was years ago, and Lucius avoided her because he knew she'd just go out of her way to ruin whatever he was trying to for her own amusement, so why the sudden invitation? Even with their joint membership to the Lodge, she rarely even saw her much higher-ranking sister.

No matter what it was for, she knew they couldn't skip such an event. It looked to be the social event of the year, held at the infamous and secretive Raum manor, opening it up for the public for the first time that anyone could remember.

So, what was her beloved sister up to?