Rita's look went from angry and rebellious to defeated within the span of a few seconds, before she responded. "I'll have that for you in a week's time, my lord."
He decided to abandon this issue for now and move onto less contentious topics. "What happened today?" he asked, eager for news of his foe's capture and imprisonment.
...
Rita quickly relayed the day's events, as his mild annoyance at being kept waiting quickly changed to anger; it became clear that Madam Bones' carefully considered plan had fallen apart rather spectacularly, with Pettigrew doing a runner and Lord Malfoy obliviating himself to the point that he probably didn't even know his own name anymore, making him useless in court, and incapable of revealing the name of the assassin that had tried to kill him or bringing down his fellow Death Eater who remained out of Azkaban. After all, you can't put a man on trial if he couldn't remember his own birth name.
"My Lord?" Rita asked carefully. He realized by her question that he had been quiet for far too long.
He deliberately took a deep breath before responding, as he fought to keep his anger in check. "Carry on with the story as originally planned; and make sure the auror that messed up the arrest and allowed my parents' betrayer to escape is dammed utterly. Do what you do best and tear them apart. Once you're done with everything, I'd like you to prepare a transcript of everything you heard and a copy of the memory for my review."
"Yes, my Lord," Rita quickly agreed, not wishing his malicious mood to be directed at her.
He was just about to close the connection, before another idea suddenly occurred to him. "I also want you to pay a visit to St. Mungo's and take some embarrassing photos of Lord Malfoy," he ordered, deciding to destroy the man's image even further, so even if he did by some miraculous chance recover his memory, he would be utterly humiliated in front of his peers and all of magical Britain. He might even send some of the pictures to Hogwarts prior to publication, to further embarrass Draco; maybe even give the photos to Ron and Neville?
After all, the blonde haired Slytherin was a consummate bully, who threw his weight around whenever possible, so why not give Malfoy's victims and enemies alike some real ammunition to destroy Draco's reputation for good. He knew on some level that he was becoming a bit of a bully himself, but he didn't start this conflict with Draco, he was merely pressing his current advantage. If you wanted to rise to the top, sometimes you had to crush the opposition below you.
"Yes my Lord," Rita agreed, before waiting quietly for further instructions.
"Rita, after you became an animagus, did you notice any behavioural changes? Stronger impulses and the like?" he asked.
"Yes, a couple of minor ones. From what I know about the process, my Lord, such minor changes are normal and to be expected," Rita answered thoughtfully.
Considering her answer, he wondered if due to her being a beetle animagus, her inherited animal instincts were weaker and less pronounced then the changes he had experienced when he successfully became a male Siberian tiger, with all the aggressive instincts of an apex predator.
Either way it gave him something to consider to help explain his swift change in behaviour and personality. "Rita, that will be all for now, thank you," he replied as he closed the connection. His mind started to twist and turn, trying to make sense of his sudden shift in behaviour, as several likely theories were considered.
Knowing that he would not be able to sleep now with his overactive mind fully engaged, he silently slipped out of his bedroom and down the hall towards the familiar confines of the Black family library.
...
Pulling out his gold plated pocket watch, he casually checked the time, before putting his timepiece back into his pocket. "You can come out now Peter," he voiced good naturedly, as the wanted criminal appeared from the shadows of the bushes.
"How did you know I was there headmaster?" Peter asked curiously, but timidly, as he changed from his rat form and appeared from the undergrowth.
Smiling at the Gryffindor's curiosity and surprise at being detected, he gave an answer. "With all the free time on my hands currently, I spent a couple hours learning how to track and detect an animagus," he answered easily, but keeping his answer vague, rather than share any secrets. While answering he once again discreetly took in his surroundings. Thankfully the numerous wards he had erected around the empty park were telling him that they were alone, but one's own eyes were always good to check with as well, especially with his glasses having several powerful enchantments placed on them. After all, even the very best laid wards could be tricked and altered. "I trust everything went according to plan?"
"Yes headmaster, the port-key worked exactly like you promised it would," Peter replied quietly, before shifting uneasily under the headmaster's gaze, as he skimmed through Peter's surface thoughts with practised ease. "How did you know that Lucius would memory charm himself? Why are you helping me?"
He ignored the first question; after all he wasn't going to mention how he had cast an illegal, but very powerful compulsion upon Lord Malfoy during their earlier meeting, or the use of his own time turner that he had acquired close to 80 years ago.
Instead he went with his long pre-planned reply. The simple truth was that it worked in his favour to help Peter escape. With Peter gone and Lord Malfoy in the hospital, Lady Malfoy was the most likely candidate to be made the scapegoat for all her husband's crimes. A lengthy prison sentence would allow Severus to take over the guardianship of the Malfoy family holdings and Draco's care for the next couple of years at the least.
"The reason I helped you Peter is because I believe that you can reform Peter, to redeem yourself, unlike so many others. You were willing to testify in court, to stand up like a true Gryffindor and admit your guilt despite the dangers of retaliation from the other Death Eaters." Peter stood slightly straighter and prouder at his rehearsed words of praise.
"With Lord Malfoy's sudden incapacitation, that deal you made with Madam Bones became useless, and you would have been made into a convenient scapegoat in the end for the aurors' failings. That is hardly fair," he continued, with a disapproving shake of his head as he sat down on the nearby park bench. "You were never the bravest or the strongest out of your friends Peter, but you had the heart of a lion. I know how badly you wanted to be brave and noble."
"Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before Lord Voldemort targeted you." Peter instinctively flinched at the Dark Lord's name. "I should have taken this into account, predicted this tactic of Voldemort and countered it. To my everlasting regret, I didn't," he lamented, as he patted the bench next to him, and Peter took the seat.
He casually looked over towards the sober Gryffindor. "Now, here's another port-key, it will take you to Venice and a safe house maintained by the Order; to activate it merely speak aloud the activation phrase 'second chances.'" He handed Peter the port-key. "I'll be along in a couple weeks to check up on you and set you to work on some brewing assignments; we might as well put you to work."
"Yes Headmaster," Peter replied, standing up to leave.
"Peter, leave the gold and the wand behind," he added forcefully, before the rat animagus could disappear into the night once again. For a moment it looked like Peter wanted to object, but eventually gave in under his unblinking stare, and left the chest of gold and the wand behind, before disappearing into the night.
The gold would be added to the Order's growing war chest, and some of it would be given to the Weasleys in compensation for what had happened to Ginny. After all, he had to keep his long-time supporters happy and loyal to ensure their continued support in the dark times ahead. Voldemort's wand, in turn, would be used as bait in the years to come, to help draw out the Dark Lord.
After all, a wizard or witch's first wand was a special case, a treasured item of unmatched value that few would willingly part from. Knowing Tom's mentality, he would surely want his precious wand back, since it was what he thought had provided undeniable proof that he was a wizard and not a 'normal' powerless orphan. And the mere thought of it being in Albus' possession, like a trophy of victory, would surely enrage Tom.
This would ensure that Tom's first objective upon his return to corporeal form would be reclaiming his wand, allowing him to predict the Dark Wizard's opening moves with far greater precision than normal. And on a darker note, he wanted to check and test the wand, since it could quite possibly be another horcrux.
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A/N : if we get 400 power stones by the end of the week, I will release an extra chapter ;)
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