Something Winterhaven said kept nagging at Bellatrix's mind as she, Rodolphus, and Rabastan headed off to Azkaban. Once there, she hurried into the office to write Grindelwald.
Gellert,
Cassius compared Auras to the mind today, and it made me think of the love studies. Dreams are also in the mind or Aura or whatever, so if Delphini is using dreams, perhaps we can use something Winterhaven or Lyra knows to counteract it. Can you see if Jekyll's people have a use for Lyra or Winterhaven's abilities? Do you think we should bring them to study the brain room this weekend?
Bellatrix L
She sent the letter off then tried to change her focus to the present day's work at Azkaban. She didn't want to be there, though, so it was a struggle. She never wanted to be there save for the occasional torture sessions she got into and enjoyed. Being a prisoner there for so long just made it a place not to be in her book. Perhaps someday that would change, but not today, Mugglefucker! Today was even more difficult. The love room and ehe Department of Mysteries in its entirety had far more appeal when she placed it in the category of defensive measures to crush the enemy.
As she wasn't interested in continuing to train the Aurors with Rodolphus and Rabastan, she decided to go torture whichever prisoner looked like he, or she, needed it most. A good solid torturing session would hopefully clear her head and have it ready to get to work on a real challenge later. Making someone scream in agony beat being frustrated.
Gellert's reply letter came while she was wandering up and down the lines of cells, before she'd settled on a torture toy.
Dear Strange Bella,
Good ideas all, and I'm on it, as they say. Your child is here now so I will speak to her and her boy wonder about the brain room directly. Perhaps they can play in there today if there is time after I've given his locking and unlocking skills a good work over. We will speak more on this Saturday. Blaise and I have decided to join you all in the love room because we found something years ago on an old scroll that may be relevant. It appears to be a prophecy, and it is very old. Your thoughts about the six of us caused me to recall it, and I have come to the conclusion that it may be referring to us and our time.
Gellert
Bellatrix read the note over twice, then folded it carefully before sliding it into her corset to show Roddy and Rabastan at lunch. While the idea of another bloody prophecy was enraging, the fact Grindelwald valued her opinions enough to remember said prophecy was something to be proud of.
With her mood mildly improved, she at last decided upon two women and one man to torture and distract herself with until lunch. When she shared the letter with the others as they ate in their office, Rodolphus remained thoughtfully silent.
For his part Rabastan wasn't so silent. Letting out a gusty sigh of exasperation, he put down his sandwich to toss his hands into the air. "Anyone else tired of this shit? He's living inside some freakish creation of his that, by the way, I still can't manage to convince myself to think of as an actual daughter! And now just like with Potty, there is a Mugglefucking prophecy? Seriously?"
Bellatrix shrugged then nodded her agreement, because helpful or not, he was right.
The next two days dragged by with Bellatrix's mind playing with this and that possibility, only to end up frustrated because she could act on none. There were far too many unknowns that had to be explored so it was all about waiting. Winterhaven began a routine of coming to breakfast daily, and he and Lyra were out nightly until late with Dumbledore's son and the goblin girlfriend.
This caused Rod and Bella to worry in a very parental fashion. They reassured one another that Winterhaven would keep her safe and out of any Delphini-shaped trouble. It was odd to find themselves fretting more than their own parents ever had back in the day, and that caused Bellatrix to feel both annoyed and old. At least until she reminded herself that in their day, they were on the side of what many perceived, rightfully as it turned out, to be the current danger.
They were those to be feared, which worked out for them at the time. As the right hand of the current danger, they'd been safe. Safer than Lyra, who now opposed it openly along with the rest of them. How things changed. Such changes would've seemed odd to the young Bellatrix and Rodolphus until, of course, they were made to understand just who they served. Now the very thought made it hard for Bellatrix not to start screaming. She struggled against the urge, though, because there was the fear that perhaps once she started, she wouldn't be able to stop.
When Saturday evening at last rolled around, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan met Kreacher and Regulus at 12 Grimmauld. The five went to the Ministry together, then directly to the Department of Mysteries. Blaise and Gellert were waiting just inside the general department rather than in any of the rooms. Gellert held an old looking scroll in his hands.
"Well, let's have it," Bellatrix said.
Grindelwald nodded, carefully unrolling the scroll. "Some of the letters are too faint to make out properly, so this will be a bit choppy in some places," he warned. He began to read.
"And there shall come a time when enemy must unite with enemy to fight an even greater evil that will span several… Perhaps it is worlds, but it is one of those words that is too faint to see properly so that is my best guess. When I originally worked the translation spell on this eighteen or so years back, I was doubtful that there were multiple worlds, and I thought the word had to mean land instead, even if it translated closer to world. Considering Nimue and Merlin may be hiding in another world, though, if they are being correctly understood, I had to rethink that," he explained.
"Merlin, Nimue, and Arthur must be called then retrained in that which they already know, by those most like them who now live. The enchanter, the mage of wind and fire, and the Muggle of... And here, there is another word that is so unclear and faint that the translation spell I used has nothing."
"As Arthur was a Muggle, we are wondering if a Muggle is needed again for a similar sort of conquest against evil," Blaise said carefully. The look of mild trepidation on his face as he studied the Lestranges made it clear that he was quite aware of just how displeased they would be with this concept.
"You're saying we'd have to fight alongside a bloody Muggle," Rodolphus asked. His expression was a mix of perplexed and doubtful as he regarded Grindelwald's boy toy.
"Perhaps," Zabini shrugged.
"But what the hell can a Muggle do that we can't?" Rabastan demanded. "Of what use could a Muggle possibly be?"
"Especially against the likes of Delphini," Bellatrix said.
"That depends on the Muggle," Grindelwald stated thoughtfully. "A person's experiences and training gives them different abilities, as you know. As we are unaware at present who this particular Muggle is, we can't know how it can help."
"It," Rabastan snickered. "That's about right."
"How are we to find this oh-so-special Muggle anyway?" Bellatrix demanded peevishly. She hadn't counted on her bloody mood growing worse at this meeting. Gaining answers was supposed to improve things!
"We don't know. At least not yet, but things seem to be unfolding bit by bit every day as we progress," Zabini said.
"Would anyone like to hear the rest of the prophecy," Grindelwald asked drily. "Morgana the wise supports their efforts with earth and feelings. When three worlds meet, victory shall be reached. Love is the weapon to strike at the heart of evil. Three groups of three make the mystical power of three to become the power of nine in each world."
When Grindelwald lowered the scroll, Bellatrix shook her head.
"So do you know what any of that means?"
Gellert hesitated, then nodded slightly. "At least we believe we do… Know what most of it means," he clarified and Bellatrix scowled.
"Brilliant. I suppose most has to be good enough," she muttered.
"We can get it all eventually," Grindelwald said optimistically. "The bit about enemy joining with enemy to fight an even greater evil could indicate something as simple as you lot working with Dumbledore to fight against Delphini. As you were once not quite on the same side," Zabini explained. "Or even Gellert and Albus working together as they don't precisely have the same values as a general rule." Gellert smirked.
"And if it doesn't mean that," Rabastan asked. He regarded Grindelwald and his man with suspicion.
"Then it could mean all of us having to fight shoulder to shoulder with filthy Muggles and blood traitors!" Kreacher nearly spat out the words.
Blaise and Gellert nodded, expressions dark as they exchanged a glance.
From the fact Kreacher and Regulus had remained relatively unmoved during the reading of the prophecy, Bellatrix assumed they'd already heard it before.
"That would suck," Rabastan said and Kreacher nodded.
"Indeed."
"We will do what we must to keep our people safe," Grindelwald said firmly.
Bellatrix sighed and nodded, though the idea of fighting shoulder to shoulder with blood traitors and Muggles provided enough nightmare fodder to last several lifetimes. "What else have you figured out," she asked, though now part of her didn't exactly wish to know.
"Well, the fact Delphini's evil is spanning three worlds is disturbing, but we think it is more about her working with those from other worlds, as we are doing. The dream enemy of Jekyll's, for example," Blaise said.
"As Merlin and Nimue have forgotten most of what they know, Gellert and I have been reteaching them. So that bit of the prophecy that speaks of the enchanter and the mage of fire and wind training them has already been enacted. This means that in this world, Gellert and I are the closest to Nimue and Merlin that you'll get," Blaise concluded with a pleased smirk. "I was even mentioned in old texts as Merlin's teacher, but that's obviously a bit of a time mix up on the part of whoever wrote it. Little threads like that are what guide us to figuring things out, though. It led me to understand that I am to teach, or rather reteach him now."
"So if you and Gellert are most like Merlin and Nimue, our mysterious Muggle will be most like Arthur," Rabastan asked and Gellert nodded.
"Yes, but don't go looking for a copy of Arthur. I'm no Nimue, after all."
Bellatrix cackled, waving a negligent hand in the blonde's direction. "You look like a girl to me."
"And you don't," Gellert shot back. He gave Bellatrix a smile that held a playful challenge, but she was in no mood to take the bait. She didn't have the heart to banter at present.
"What else," she asked, her mind having never left the puzzle presented by the blasted prophecy.
"Morgana's strongest element is earth, and perhaps this helps to ground the necessary connection of the three worlds," Gellert said.
"It said something about earth and feelings, though, right," Rabastan asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Feelings in this case indicate the fact she is an empath. She is documented as one of the most powerful empathic witches ever, if not the most," Grindelwald said.
"So she could use feelings as a weapon against Delphini and whoever is working with her," Bellatrix asked.
Gellert nodded, giving her a pleased smile. "Very good, Strange Bella!"
"But why do the three worlds have to meet for us to be victorious," Rodolphus asked.
"Probably because to win, we need something or some talent from those in each world," Bellatrix speculated unhappily. It all seemed so daunting. It wasn't as if they could simply world hop to get everyone together, after all. The growing complications were beyond frustrating.
Grindelwald nodded. "Correct again. You'd get a cookie if I had one to give you."
When Bellatrix only scowled, he grinned then continued with his explanation of the prophecy. "The bit about love being the weapon to strike at the heart of evil, along with the groups of three times three finally fell into place for me when you spoke of us all serving as some sort of love weapon," he told Bellatrix.
"You see, it all falls a bit more into place each day," Blaise said, nodding in satisfaction.
"Would you read the entire prophecy again from the beginning, so I can try once more to take it all in," Rabastan asked gloomily.
Gellert nodded. "Sure." He raised the scroll again and began to read.
"And there shall come a time when enemy must unite with enemy to fight an even greater evil that will span several worlds. Merlin, Nimue, and Arthur must be called, then retrained in that which they already know by those most like them who now live. The enchanter, the mage of wind and fire, and the Muggle of...missing word. Morgana the wise supports their efforts with earth and feelings. When three worlds meet, victory shall be reached. Love is the weapon to strike at the heart of evil. Three groups of three make the mystical power of three become the power of nine in each world."
With the prophecy concluded, Gellert lowered the scroll and began carefully rolling it up.
"Damn," Lyra's voice complained from the doorway, causing Bella to start and whirl angrily around to face her child. The fact she'd started served as an unpleasant indication of exactly how on edge she was.
"We were in the brain room and heard you lot talking," Cassius said.
"It was trippy in there," Graven said and Wulfric Dumbledore nodded. "It really was."
"Simply because you weren't mentioned directly in the prophecy does not mean you aren't involved," Gellert told the youngsters.
"Which of us," Lyra asked.
Grindelwald smirked. "All of you."