But since a few minutes in this studying session, the conversation thanks to Morag was less about Potions and Transfiguration, and more about her memorable day at Black Cobra Manor.
"Sorry. But you have to admit it's bloody funny!" Laughed Morag.
"Language!"Protested Hermione. "And I don't see what is so funny anyway."
"Alexandra insulted in her own home one of the worst Dark Witches of Britain." Clarified Morag. "No one in the Ministry dared to do it, ever. My parents told me how frightened they were by her. Merlin's pants everyone feared her! Cassiopeia Black is renowned to be one of the worst practitioners of dark magic on the British Isles. The Death Eaters fled when she was in the vicinity in the last war!"
"Well I'm so glad you found it funny... because passing three or four hours in her manor was an unpleasant experience I don't wish to repeat." Affirmed Alexandra.
The whole event had not been as bad as what happened at Brise-Roc, but that left plenty of bad between. "But I've never read in any history book mentioning Lady Cassiopeia Black participated in any battle in the last conflict." The black-haired witch remarked.
"Neither did I." Added Hermione, who was the group's expert in the subject of 'official' History.
"Oh, she was Neutral in the war against You-Know-Who." Affirmed Morag. "It was in the war before this she earned her reputation."
Given that there had only been one major magical conflict ravaging Europe after the 1900s, it was not hard to guess which.
"Grindelwald?" Demanded Alexandra more for confirmation than anything else.
"Yes," said Nigel, raising his head from his Potions essay which progressed at a slug's pace. "Lady Cassiopeia was famous for being one of the rare witches and wizards to go on the continent fight the Dark Lord Grindelwald. My father always told me she became for a lot of people the symbol of using dark magic to fight dark magic. Her personal body count was rumoured to be near the triple digits when the war ended."
"Charming." Said Alexandra, thinking exactly the opposite.
Thank the Valar and whatever divinities exist in this world she was almost dying. At the peak of her power, this Black madwoman would have likely poisoned everyone and everything when we entered her manor...
"I don't understand." Admitted Hermione in a puzzled tone. "Why would a...Dark Witch fight against a Dark Wizard?"
"Oh, that's easy to explain." Told Morag, shaking her head in a move which made her red-hair reflect the weak sun of the Saturday afternoon. "The Blacks have always been big supporters of the Purist or the Conservative factions when they sat at the Wizengamot. Grindelwald, on the other hand, wanted to establish a Wizarding Empire where Muggles would be enslaved, but the wizarding social order was supposed to be a meritocracy. Of course, a meritocracy for Dark Wizards but a meritocracy of sorts."
"You mean..." Said Hermione in a horrified tone, "she fought against Grindelwald because he would have forced her to consider Half-Bloods and Muggleborns her equals?"
"I think Grindelwald was planning to go a bit further than that, Hermione." As the bushy-haired Gryffindor turned her head in her direction, Alexandra added "Grindelwald was one of the worst Dark Lords. Ever. The man imperiused Nazi leaders like Hitler and Himmler, ravaged Europe with his Inferius hordes and unleashed countless calamities on magical and non-magical populations. He had the blood of millions people on his hands. If this psychopath had attacked Magical Britain, House Black would have been among the firsts targets to be exterminated. You can describe Lady Black's actions as...self-preservation, shall we say?"
"Well, I don't think that makes her a good person." Huffed Hermione. "And it was still Professor Dumbledore who vanquished Grindelwald!"
Alexandra and Morag exchanged looks that by the expression on their respective faces were thinking the very same thing. Everybody respected the Headmaster of Hogwarts to have brought down the most dangerous wizard conqueror of the twentieth century, yes. But people forgot very easily Albus Dumbledore sole and only act in said conflict had been this victory. During the nine years Grindelwald had launched his dark armies at the conquest of the world, Magical Britain, unlike their non-magical counterparts, had done their very best to imitate the species named ostriches and stay away from this conflict at all costs. If one had to make a comparison with Tolkien's works...well, Alexandra was unable to reveal one character to be put on the level of the 1940s British Ministry of Magic.
Grima Wormtongue, maybe?
There had been a few exceptions to this bigot approach, of course. Witches and wizards like Cassiopeia Black, James MacDougal, Henry and Charlus Potter, had fought in this conflict, and been churned when they returned because their fellow magical citizens felt this conflict was not their problem. And after Dumbledore's rise to prominence, the rest of the surviving war veterans had been progressively erased from the updating history books, as was the mention that Grindelwald's 'Empire' was reduced to Berlin and its surroundings when Dumbledore decided to intervene. The old and new versions present in the Hogwarts Library had really little in common. Assuming you managed to find the former, because they were located in the section reserved to the breeding of magical slugs. Somehow Alexandra didn't believe it was a coincidence.
"One thing I didn't understand why Percival Weasley was here. He did not look like he was at ease to be invited..."
The Heiress of House MacDougal was apparently aware of this reason because the answer was immediate.
"He has the black blood flowing in his veins like you Alex."
Alexandra passed back the image of the Weasley in her mind with the other persons invited at Black Cobra Manor. The Potter Heiress didn't find a lot of common points. Apparently her doubts had showed on her visage because the red-haired Ravenclaw added shortly after:
"Yes, he didn't inherit the black hairs. But he and the rest of the Weasley family are descended from Cedrella Black, who was their grandmother."
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/Makimafic
If you guys wanna check it out.