PureCrow - ALG - Chapter 22 - Train Ride

The rhythmic clatter of the Hogwarts Express against the tracks usually signaled a peaceful transition back to school, but my hopes for a quiet trip to contemplate my plans for the coming year were abruptly shattered. The door of our cabin slammed open, rebounding off the wall with a loud crack, heralding the arrival of the most annoying Slytherin to ever grace the halls of the castle.

"Where’s Potter?"

I didn't even need to look up from my seat to picture the arrogant sneer plastered across Draco Malfoy's pale face.

"While I know that you are desperate to find your boyfriend, Malfoy, it is polite to both knock before you enter and to greet the person you're asking a question of," I said, keeping a slow, deliberate drawl in my voice to emphasize my annoyance at his interruption.

Sitting across from me, Yennefer let out a sharp, genuine giggle. She crossed her long legs, resting her chin on her hand as she leveled a mocking glare at the younger boy. "If my father ever heard that you were insinuating his precious heir preferred riding brooms, he might just declare a blood feud between our houses, regardless of our upcoming engagement."

"Your father could never take a joke," I noted dryly, turning the page of my book.

Yennefer rolled her pale purple eyes before waving her hand dismissively at the doorway. "Go bother someone else, Draco. We are busy."

Draco flushed a violent shade of pink, his jaw working silently for a moment before he turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him. Draco, always too afraid of his sister to put up a fight.

The silence settled back into the cabin, save for the hum of the tracks. Yennefer shifted in her seat, her playful demeanor fading into something slightly more contemplative. "You know, my mother has been quite persistent with asking me about our wedding date ever since the World Cup."

I looked up, closing my book and setting it aside. "Oh? And what is your opinion on the matter?"

She let out a quiet sigh, leaning her head against the cool glass of the window. "Marriage means kids, Ingris. I’m not ready for kids, and considering everything we are dealing with right now, you certainly aren't either."

"It will be just our luck that we end up being the few devils who don't take decades to have children," I replied, a small smirk tugging at my lips. "But that doesn't mean we can't get married sooner just to make Narcissa happy. We will simply make it explicitly clear to her that we are going to wait a while before providing her with grandkids."

That seemed to instantly lift the weight from her shoulders. Her face lit up with a relieved smile, the tension bleeding out of her posture. 

"Do we really have time for a wedding right now with everything you have planned and everything that needs to get done?" Yennefer asked, her tone turning pragmatic. "The Junior Rating Games are a mere three months away. You still have to acquire at least one more peerage member just to meet the minimum requirements to compete. And while I am highly confident in my own strength, and I think Nym is making great progress in her training, I’d rather not take on a full team of devils with just four of us on our side."

"Well, you already know of my next recruit," I said casually, leaning back against the velvet cushions. "Fleur Delacour."

Yennefer stared at me, genuine shock bleeding into her voice. "The Veela? Ingris, I know that you wanted to add the Veela to your harem, but that was before everything that happened this summer, can't you just seduce her and keep her around? Why in the world would you waste a highly valuable peerage slot on a Veela?"

I watched her for a moment. She might be as blatant about it as other pureblooods, but she was still raised in a traditional pureblood household where Veela were often looked down upon as mere creatures rather than wizards.

"Yennefer, she might be a Veela, but she is also an incredibly talented witch. She would make a highly capable Pawn in our ranks."

She crossed her arms over her chest, leveling a flat, deeply unimpressed glare at me. "Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it. I just hope you aren't making important decisions with your little head."

Well, I definitely am, I thought to myself, but I am certainly not going to admit that to her out loud.

Instead, I cleared my throat and shifted the topic. "I also have my Clone in Japan, looking into a Longinus user."

Yennefer immediately made a visceral face of disgust. "Ingris, I know you are desperate to fill the peerage, but if you bring that pervert into this family, I will kill him myself."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud at her immediate hostility. "You haven't even met the boy and you already want to brutally murder him. That has to be a new accomplishment for him."

She jumped up from her seat, her eyes flashing violet. "Wait, you are actually considering him? After everything you told me about him, he should be locked up!”

"Calm down," I said, raising my hands in surrender. "I wouldn't let that little shit within a mile of you girls. No, I am tracking down a different target. There is a girl from Grigori, Lavinia Reni. She possesses a Longinus and could be an unbelievable asset to the peerage."

Yennefer slowly sat back down, smoothing the front of her dark robes as she grumbled sarcastically under her breath. "I'm sure you were thinking entirely about how much of an asset she will be, rather than focusing on her assets."

I coughed loudly into my fist, deciding that changing the subject was the only way I was going to survive the train ride. "Moving on. What did your mother say about acquiring that cup for me?"

"She was highly reluctant until I finally explained to her exactly what it was," Yennefer replied, her tone shifting back to business. "She said she should be able to access the Lestrange vault where it is being stored. But physically removing it from Gringotts would be extremely difficult while her sister Bellatrix still lives. The goblins monitor the wards closely. And she specifically demanded that you do not go and kill her sister just to make the withdrawal easier."

"I am not about to off someone who will technically be my family-in-law, no matter how batshit crazy she is," I replied smoothly. "Tell Narcissa I will procure some Basilisk venom for her. She can simply destroy the cup right there inside the vault without ever removing it."

Yennefer tapped her chin thoughtfully. "That should actually work. I'll let her know."

While Narcissa might be able to destroy the Horcrux with a point-blank Avada Kedavra, I preferred she avoid using it. The Killing Curse fundamentally alters the mind and magic of the caster. Not to mention, Narcissa made frequent trips to the Ministry of Magic, and the Aurors randomly checked the wands of high-profile visitors. Her husband Lucius only managed to evade those checks due to his deeply entrenched position on the Wizengamot.

Getting the venom would require bringing Harry Potter into the fold. I could easily fabricate an excuse about needing a piece of the slain Basilisk to forge custom magical armor, promising to have a set crafted for him as well to help him survive the upcoming Triwizard Tournament. I had stayed on good enough terms with the boy over the years that he would likely agree to the expedition.

Once I destroyed Ravenclaw's Diadem and Narcissa eliminated Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup, Voldemort's horcruxes  would be reduced to nothing but his snake, Nagini, and Harry Potter himself.

We were already making progress. Yennefer had used her connection to the Black family to call Kreacher, convincing the old elf to hand over Slytherin’s Locket. Narcissa had practically cried herself to sleep in my manor when Yennefer finally revealed the truth about how Regulus Black had actually died.

Meanwhile, my clone had successfully hunted down Marvolo Gaunt's Ring. It had secured the Horcrux alongside the Resurrection Stone, which I promptly buried in the deepest, most heavily warded vault I owned and walked away as fast as possible. The 'Death' figure from the old children's stories sounded far too much like Hades for my comfort, and from everything I knew about the Underworld's political landscape, Hades absolutely despised devils. Alternatively, the stone could have been an prototype Sacred Gear forged by Azazel.

Either way, out of sight meant out of mind. Perhaps I could figure out a safe way to exploit the artifact later, but right now, I had a tournament to exploit, a dark lord to erase, and a Rating Game to dominate.

AN. who would you like to see In the peerage?

once again I don't own the image.