35 Dealing with Ron

Ronald eyed Kaiser warily. 'Why is he looking at me like I murdered his family?' he thought fearfully. This was not looking very good for him. He saw what Kaiser was capable of during the fight against Death Eaters, and he did not fancy the idea of being target to his spells. "H-hello?" he said weakly, but got no response from Kaiser, who merely stared at him for a while, wand in hand.

Harry and Hermione were puzzled about this turn of events. 'What's going on?' they turned at Daphne, who seemed equally angry, but she gave no hints either.

"Ron. Did you speak to anyone about Sirius striking a deal with Daphne's father?" He finally asked with a cold tone. Kaiser was not afraid of anyone overhearing them. He already cast several privacy charms silently. He merely observed Ron's reaction, while sending a Legilimency probe towards him. Kaiser would never needlessly invade someone's mind. He considered the action immoral, and would detest anyone doing the same for him. However, this is one of those moments where nothing is off limits. When his safety or the safety of the people he cared about is at stake.

Ronald finally understood what this was about. 'Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit…' It is as he feared. He royally screwed up, once again. He may have found his way out of the situation if it was the first time, but this is the second time his mouth and inability to process his own words have betrayed him.

"W-whaaaaat?" he said in mock shock. "I would never do that. You're joking right?" he said weakly. If the truth isn't going to solve, then bluffing shall do.

"Do I look like a fucking joke to you?" Kaiser said angrily, pointing his wand at Ron's head. Turns out the idiot did tell people. Ron's neck shrank in fear. "What exactly did you say?"

"Kai… I don't think violence is the answer here…" Harry tried to reason with him. Was that really necessary? He made a mistake, granted, but was it such a big mistake he'd threaten him with his wand for it?

"Really? You're telling him he should not use violence against people trying to get him and my family killed? What should we do, offer him cookies instead?" Daphne answered sarcastically.

Harry and Hermione were dumbfounded at her response. They rarely heard her speak, and to hear so many words from her at once is definitely out of character for her. What did she mean, trying to get him and her family killed? A few words certainly couldn't do much damage, can they?

"The last time you opened your stupid mouth, you nearly got all of us killed. Not only that, you cost me an additional two thousand galleons. Did you think the untraceable portkey we used to get your sorry ass out was free? (Fortunately, Karl had a large enough network to be able to make them without spending anything but the materials.) Not to mention how you casually started a war between two political factions. All because YOU. COULD. NOT. SHUT. UP. And now, you're telling the whole world, that what would've been a simple retribution from the neutral faction against the dark one, is something a lot more complicated than just revenge." Kaiser said coldly, rage seeping through his voice. "I'll ask you this one time. Did you, or did you not, at any point, mention the Black Library?"

Ron started realizing to what extent he screwed up. He started a war?! And he's making things even worse. Why did he have to play the knowledgeable one in front of his house mates. This all could've been avoided if he only shut his big stupid mouth. Luckily, things weren't that desperate. He never mentioned the Black Library. Harry explained to him it was related to Voldemort's secret to immortality. Even he wasn't stupid enough to speak of that. Or did he? He didn't honestly remember.

"I did not!" Ron exclaimed, offended at the mere thought of it. He was about to elaborate, but a stunner cut him off. As much as Kaiser wished to end his miserable measly life, he could not. He could do other things, however. Ignoring the shocked gasps, Kaiser pointed his wand and took his sweet time rummaging through his memories. After five minutes of browsing, he finally incanted 'Obliviate.' and turned towards the other two in the room.

"I apologize for the unsightly display." he finally regained his composure and said. "But this was necessary. From now on, don't ever tell him anything related to either me or Daphne in anyway. You're free to give him your innermost secrets, but I don't trust him with mine." Kaiser warned them, before he left.

Neither Hermione nor Harry were happy with what just happened. However, they understood what was at stake here. They initially thought not much harm had been done, but turns out they were very wrong. They couldn't help but be disappointed in Ron. How could he still run his mouth after what he did to them the last time? Why did he even tell people anything about Sirius? He doesn't gain anything from it, does he? Their only consolation was that Ron was just that stupid.

"We should wake him up." Harry said. Hermione nodded and pointed her wand at Ron's head.

"Rennervate." Ron sleepily opened his eyes to the sight of his friends peeking at him from above.

"Hey, what's wrong? why are you staring at me?" He lazily asked.

"Nothing much. You slept well?"

"Yeah. What did you wake me up for?" Ron asked.

"We thought you were dead for a second there." Harry lied. He wasn't comfortable in doing so, but he had no choice. "I could swear you stopped breathing."

---------------------------

Remus Lupin was torn between being excited and being wary. On the one hand, he received a letter from Karl Greengrass, someone from the 'High Society' according to what he was told, stating he had a job opportunity for him. On the other hand, it was done right after he was expelled from his job as a professor at Hogwarts, due to his special condition. Meaning the other party knew about him being a Werewolf.

You'd wonder why he wasn't just happy light finally appeared at the end of the tunnel. To him, it was suspicious that anyone would want to hire him, right after knowing he was a Werewolf. Werewolf were never employed, unless the nature of the job was on the darker side of the world.

But this 'Karl Greengrass' did not appear to be such a person. He was from the Neutral faction, one that only cared about 'prosperity through economic means' as he was told. It was safe to assume he was hired because he was a Werewolf. But what kind of job would require someone being a Werewolf? He had no idea, but he guessed it couldn't be anything good.

He was meeting him today in private room at the Leaky Cauldron. He was checked at the doors by a couple of guards, before being allowed entry. The man he was supposed to meet, a lord no less, actually stood up from his seated position, and offered his to shake.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin. Please have a seat." He gestured to the empty seat across from him.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Greengrass." He was dumbfounded at his easy-going attitude, but managed to regain his wits in time. Maybe he was trying to get him to lower his guard?

As he sat down, a teapot levitated and poured tea in a cup, which in turn made its way to Remus Lupin for him to take: a basic display of Charms.

"My daughter told me a lot about you, Mr. Lupin. You are apparently the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Hogwarts had in years." Karl began by praising.

"I am undeserving of such praise, Lord Greengrass. I was merely doing my job." Remus answered humbly, though he was eager to get to the main topic.

"I won't waste your time, Mr. Lupin. As I stated in my letter, I do have a job for you." Noticing Remus tense expression, he continued. "And while you might think it might be… somewhat dishonest due to your special circumstances, I assure you it is nothing of the sort." Karl said in understanding, which somehow alleviated Remus' worries. "However, before we begin, I will need you to sign this." Karl presented a document, along with a special red quill, which Remus recognized. He frowned at this turn of events. What kind of job would require him to sign a contract before even talking about said job?

Remus said nothing, and began reading the document. It basically stated that Remus had the right to either accept the job or refuse, but in case he refused, he would obliviate himself of their conversation's content, and never speak of it again, even if he somehow got the memories back. It also contained clauses in case Remus had already sworn an Unbreakable Vow that would interfere with the contract, just in case.

"As I told you, Mr. Lupin, the job itself is nothing dishonest. But there is a reason why Werewolves are not recruited by others, and some would disagree with me doing so. It is merely for my own protection that I require such promises." Karl carefully explained, sipping his tea calmly. He was particularly worried about Remus refusing. This whole thing was Kaiser's idea, and he was willing to give it a shot. It might be interesting in the long run, but if Remus couldn't even agree to such simple conditions, then he was unsuited for the job. Besides, he was sure Remus was desperate enough to take the job. He didn't have the luxury not to.

After several minutes of pondering from Remus' part, with Karl waiting patiently the whole time, he finally sighed and signed the contract, earning nothing but a nod from Karl's part. What followed was an explication of their newly founded organization: 'Transcendence', and its goal. Lupin was very impressed at what he was hearing, excited in fact.

"… Now, this is where you come into play. We are recruiting talented people who are proficient in Runes, either through enchanting, curse breaking, or any practice that would give them such skills. It saddens us to see such talents go to waste just because of a sickness the world fails to deal with. And while we would be most pleased if we could help every one of them, our abilities are very limited, and therefore they need to be screened carefully, until such time arrives where we can recruit more." Karl explained. He had no doubt, from the expression Remus was making he would accept the job, which was a huge success for him.

Neither Karl nor Kaiser were saints. They were not going to go against the world, defending Werewolves and providing sanctuary for them, if they had nothing to win from it. Especially not when it was such a lost cause. The Werewolf situation has lasted for several thousand years, and a few mere years would do nothing to make it better.

Instead, since they need people to sign Unbreakable Vows of loyalty, they needed desperate people. Those that would hop on the first opportunity out of their misery for them. For the same reason they joined Voldemort in the last war. It was a smart move of his part to entice them with things such as freedom and money, and they did exactly the same. Except in their case, they truly promised freedom and money, but also something even better: Knowledge. Which is synonymous to power in this world.