15 The Gaunts

"Can you please stop doing that… it makes me feel really… inadequate" Cassiopeia said and shifted uncomfortably. Destiny started to chuckle after hearing the green-eyed Witch's words.

"Sorry for making you feel like that, but using Magic Wandlessly had become kind of normal for me in the last couple of years" Destiny chuckled as she sat down in her own chair. Cassiopeia followed the example and sat down in her own chair. 

"By the way, I was simply joking. You don't have to change anything. I think it is a good incentive for me to start training again" Cassiopeia said with an amused grin on her face. Cassiopeia pulled out her Wand and cast a Tempus.  

"Wait! Let me inform my house-elf to make us something light" Cassiopeia said and Destiny wordlessly agreed with her. "Dinky!" Cassiopeia called out and moments later, a house-elf appeared beside Cassiopeia with a small pop. 

"What would Dinky be doing for Missy Cassi?" The house-elf asked in a chirpy tone. 

"We would be eating something light for dinner" Cassiopeia said and the house-elf popped away after nodding her head. After that, Cassiopeia glanced towards Destiny. 

"Tell me, Cassi, why do you hate Muggleborns?" Destiny questioned without wasting any more time. Cassiopeia snorted after hearing the question. 

"You mean, besides the obvious reasons?" Cassiopeia asked sarcastically. 

"Humour me" Destiny insisted. 

Cassiopeia took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, they insult our culture and tradition like we are a bunch of barbarians or cavemen. They think their World is better than ours and they want to turn our World into the Muggle world. That is just the beginning, I could keep going on" Cassiopeia sniffed and leaned back in her chair. 

"Do you really think it is their fault for thinking like that? No, it isn't. They act like that because they grew up in the Muggle World, with the Muggles and they take those animals as their role models. Tell me, Cassi, do you hate newborn Muggleborn children?" Destiny asked softly and after a few seconds of thinking, Cassiopeia shook her head in denial. 

"You see, you don't actually hate those children, after all, they are just the same. You or the others simply hate the world in which they grew up, and by extension you those children too. What if they grew up with your families, learning your tradition and culture would you still hate them?" Destiny asked passionately. 

Cassiopeia pondered Destiny's words for a couple of moments, then she grudgingly shook her head. She wanted to argue that Destiny was wrong, but she couldn't do that. Destiny was right on every account. 

Yes, they considered themselves superior to Muggleborns, but that was only because Muggleborns insulted their tradition and culture while praising everything about the Muggle World. 

The Statute of Secrecy was established worldwide in 1692. At first, the Wizarding Population wanted to do nothing with the Muggle World, but after a few years, they decided to bring in new blood. Yes, they decided to allow Muggleborns to be brought into their world. 

At first, the Wizarding Population happily welcomed the Muggleborns even though they were somewhat wary of them at the same time. Slowly it started to change when the Muggleborns started to reveal the existence of their World to the Muggles. 

That is when the discrimination started. Some families started to see that Muggleborns were a danger to their society and that is how the initial bigotry started. Throughout the years, the hate and bigotry only increased. 

Cassiopeia knew the whole history, most of her family members also knew the history. Black Family was one of the oldest and most prominent families, they were present when the Statute of Secrecy was established, and they saw exactly how Muggleborns were trying to destroy their World. 

Cassiopeia had access to the untampered history, so she couldn't deny Destiny's statement. Those problems could have been avoided if Muggleborns grew up in their world. Muggles would never understand their world, it was a simple, but bitter truth. 

"No, I wouldn't hate them…" Cassiopeia's voice was barely louder than a whisper. "If what you are saying can be done, then I don't mind giving it a try. To be honest, a lot of us are tired, but we can't accept them because of their usual habits" Cassiopeia said and Destiny hummed in agreement. 

"That is all I am saying… you should give it a try. Do you know, there are some Muggleborns who despise the Muggle World? Their parents try to murder them or they abuse the child in an attempt to stamp the Magic out of them" Destiny clenched her fists tightly as she spoke. Cassiopeia looked completely aghast. 

How can someone do that to their own children?? Children were considered gifts in the Magical World and the parents cherished their children. Yes, some parents would very harshly discipline their children, but at the end of the day, they still loved their children. 

"Muggles are worse than animals" Cassiopeia spat out in disgust. 

"True… they are Savages" Destiny added with a serious look on her face. After all, she had experienced their savagery firsthand. "Well, that is what I wanted to say. Should we go inside? Though, I would like to stay here… the wind is great" Destiny smiled softly as she relished the wind caressing her skin. 

"I don't mind sitting outside and I also like the wind. Shall I bring the drinks here?" Cassiopeia asked and Destiny simply grinned and summoned the Firewhiskey bottle from the inside. After that, she Conjured two glasses along with some ice. 

"Yes, I was missing the ice" Cassiopeia gave Destiny a grateful smile as Destiny poured the drinks. Destiny handed one glass to Cassiopeia and kept the other one for herself. Cassiopeia raised the glass. 

"To our budding friendship" Cassiopeia said with a smile. Destiny took a moment before raising her own glass. 

"To our budding friendship" Destiny said with a similar smile… Destiny was really glad that she found a friend so quickly after arriving in this country. She was from a prominent Pureblood family, that was a bonus… 

<Line Break>

Destiny was Hexed awake by the alarm Spell. Destiny shot out of her bed and looked around for a moment until she remembered where she was… she rarely used the alarm Spell, so she was taken off-guard. 

Destiny finally calmed down and she started to stretch while yawning. It was bright outside, so Destiny suspected that she had overslept. With a wave of her Wand, Destiny cast Tempus, and her suspicion was confirmed. 

Destiny was only wearing a pair of brassiere and knickers. It has been some time since she had stopped wearing corselets. Once again, Destiny yawned and made her way towards the washroom. Cassiopeia was kind enough to give her a bedroom connected with a bathroom and a walk-in closet. 

After taking care of morning business, Destiny walked out of the bathroom, dressed in a completely new set of clothes. Destiny had her new Wand tucked away in her new holster and Neptune was tucked inside her pocket. After that, she walked out of her room as she wanted to greet Cassiopeia and get some food. 

Destiny reached the living room, but Cassiopeia wasn't there. So, Destiny cast the Revealing Spell and found that only a house-elf was inside the house besides her. Moments later, the said house-elf appeared bedside her with a small pop. 

"What can Dinky be making for Missy Destiny?" Dinky questioned eagerly. 

"How did you know that I was hungry?" Destiny questioned, looking slightly amused. 

"Dinky thought that Missy Destiny be hungry after waking up" Dinky said while nodding her head. 

"You are right. I don't have anything in mind, you can choose a dish, but don't make anything excessive, okay?" Destiny smiled softly. There were a lot of Wizards and Witches out there who abused their House-Elves, but Destiny wasn't one of them and clearly, Cassiopeia was also wasn't one of them. 

The house-elf eagerly nodded her head. " By the way, where is Cassi?" Destiny asked curiously. 

"Missy Cassi be going to the Leaky every morning. Missy Cassi be liking the fresh air in the morning, she says she can think more clearly" Dinky answered, and before Destiny could say anything, she popped away. Destiny decided to return to her own room and bring the ancient tome and the Grindelwald Grimoire with her to the dining room. 

She could continue translating the tome while waiting for the food. Destiny was able to translate two more pages before Dinky arrived with the food. So, Destiny put away the tome and Grimoire as she was really hungry… When Destiny finally finished eating, she decided to move to the living room and continue the translations. 

After a couple of hours, the Floo flared and Cassiopeia walked out of the flames. With a wave of her Wand, she removed the soot from her robes. "Good morning" Destiny greeted Cassiopeia, looking up from her books. 

"Good morning to you, too" Cassiopeia greeted back with a smile. After that, Cassiopeia threw herself on the couch. She looked quite tired. She rolled her shoulders and her gaze focused on Destiny. "So what have you been up to?" Cassiopeia questioned curiously as she leaned forward. 

Destiny looked up from the Grimoire. "Some time ago, I found this tome and since then, I have been busy translating it" Destiny explained, she wasn't worried about revealing these sorts of things to Cassiopeia. 

First of all, Cassiopeia wasn't strong enough to pose a threat to her and secondly, if she could bring Cassiopeia to her side then, she would not only gain the support of the Blacks, but she would also get her hands on a lot of obscure and ancient Magic. 

"It is written in Hieroglyphics, but the book is a treasure trove" Destiny added chirpily and resumed what she has been doing. 

"Ohh… What is the book about?" Cassiopeia questioned. She was intrigued as soon as she heard that it was written in some lost language. Since Destiny was investing her time to translate it, then it must be very important and Destiny herself mentioned that the book was a treasure trove and that was all Cassiopeia needed to know. 

"No offence, but the book is not for you. You only have a Liquid Magical Core and you need to have Crystalized Magical Core to even practice anything inside this book" Destiny answered honestly, but she gave Cassiopeia an apologetic smile. 

Cassiopeia looked unhappy, but she accepted the reason. "You have a Crystalized Magical Core?? Both my father and Uncle who is also the current Lord Black think that Dumbledore's Magical Core is also Crystalized. Probably you two are the only ones in this country with Crystalized Magical Core!" Cassiopeia exclaimed with stars in her eyes. 

"Probably" Destiny mused. The rest of the day was completely normal. The two of them kept talking about various topics and whatnot. Cassiopeia was extremely interested in obscure forms of Magic and Destiny was only happy to oblige, but at the same time, she was careful. She didn't reveal all the details as she wanted to keep Cassiopeia wanting more. 

Two more days passed quite normally and there was finally something which caught Destiny's eyes. "Cassi, there was something I wanted to ask you" Destiny said and she slowly closed the ancient tome and her Family Grimoire when she noticed Cassiopeia return from her Leaky Cauldron. 

"Yeah, sure. I don't know if I could answer your question or not, but I will try my best" Cassiopeia answered with a serious look. With the sudden change of Destiny's expressions, she understood that it must be something serious. 

"What can you tell me about the Gaunt Family?" Destiny's question took Cassiopeia completely by surprise. She wasn't expecting a question like this.

Cassiopeia bit her lips as she put the words together inside her mind. She didn't have anything polite to say about that family, but she would try to answer Destiny's question best to her abilities. 

"They are one of the oldest Magical Families and they are also one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight or well… they used to be. Once upon a time, the Gaunt Family was powerful, feared, respected, but now, they are mere jokes. They are a shame to all the Pureblood families" Cassiopeia spat out the last words. 

"Hmm… I have heard that they can speak to snakes, is that true?" Destiny asked softly, she was only interested in that particular ability. Nothing else… 

"Yes, it is true. They can speak to snakes. They are the descendants of one of the founders, Salazar Slytherin. He was a parselmouth. As a Slytherin, it shames me that someone like them possesses such a renowned ability while we don't" Cassiopeia's voice was completely icy. 

Destiny grinned. "Oh… how many of them are there?" Destiny questioned, looking slightly excited. 

"From what I know, there are only three members alive right now. Their family used to be great, but those fools destroyed themselves by practising inbreeding. Hah… all Pureblood families practice inbreeding, but we have learned to introduce new blood among us. We have learned from our mistakes, but they didn't" Cassiopeia shrugged in frustration. 

"They were too proud to accept that their ways were wrong and a whole Bloodline was destroyed, just like that" Cassiopeia finished and started to shake her head in disappointment. 

Almost all the Pureblood families have learned to introduce new blood among them. They are not marrying Muggleborns or Half-bloods, but they are marrying Purebloods from other families to keep the blood fresh. Yes, it didn't mean much in the long run, but it was much better than staunch inbreeding. 

"Do you know if anyone among the current members are Parselmouths or not?" Destiny nudged, her eyes were glowing in excitement. Cassiopeia noticed Destiny's eyes and she almost blurted out the word 'beautiful'. Cassiopeia shook her head to clear her mind. 

"I know for sure that Morfin Gaunt has that ability… instead of English, he keeps hissing most of the time" Cassiopeia answered with a sigh. 

"You said that they used to be a part of Sacred Twenty-Eight, what is that?" Destiny asked as she returned to her spot. Right now, she had a contemplative look on her face. 

(A/N: The description regarding the Sacred Twenty-Eight is going to be AU, so please don't complain afterwards and the explanation will be important. It won't be important right now, but it will be pretty important in the later parts). 

"It is somewhat complicated to explain, but at the same time, quite simple. Basically, Sacred Twenty-Eight are the true Purebloods of the Pureblood Society" Cassiopeia answered in a somewhat prideful tone. 

"Then what about the other Pureblood Families? I know for sure that there are a lot more Pureblood families out there" Destiny questioned curiously, she knew that Pureblood Families were way too proud of their lineage, but she hoped that all this Sacred Twenty-Eight tripe would mean something in the real world. Not just your common 'I am the Superior Pureblood' tripe.

"They are considered as Purebloods too, but they are Purebloods only recognized by the System. They aren't true Purebloods. The Sacred Twenty-Eight consists of Families who can trace back their ancestry to Myrddin Emrys or better known as Merlin" Cassiopeia finished her explanation with a proud look on her face.

'Ah… so, that's how it is. At least, this isn't your common Pureblood tripe. All of their Families are related to Merlin… Hmm, if I was in their shoes, then I would be prideful too' Destiny mused internally.

"Ah… I understand. So, how can a Family belonging to the Sacred Twenty-Eight be ousted?" Destiny raised an eyebrow along with the question. The position was hereditary, since the family still existed, they should still be a part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, right?

"They have lost all of their political, economic, and Magical power throughout the years. They even lost their seat on the Wizengamot. They are basically squibs with a little bit of Magical Power" Cassiopeia answered in a dismissive manner, but it was clear that she was angry.

"In a couple of decades, their Family won't even exist anymore… No self-respecting family would allow a Witch from their Family to be married to one of the Gaunts. That is why the other Families from the Sacred Twenty-Eight have decided to oust the Gaunt Family from the Sacred Twenty-Eight"

"We can't oust them literally as they can trace back their ancestry to Merlin and we can't change their ancestry, but we have stopped considering them one of us. None of us would shed a tear for them if their Family is to die tomorrow" Cassiopeia bit out in a clipped tone.

"Ah… I see. So, what would happen if the Gaunts were to disappear today?" Destiny asked looking really excited. Cassiopeia seemed to ponder the question for a few seconds.

"There will be some noise if somebody finds out about their disappearance. Nobody wants to mingle with Gaunts. An investigation will be initiated, but that would be simply a formality" Cassiopeia shrugged. Destiny started to rub her chin after hearing Cassiopeia's answer.

"Tell me, Cassi, would you like to have the ability to speak Parseltongue?" Destiny asked with a grin. Cassiopeia's eyes grew wide by the sudden outrageous offer. It took Cassiopeia several seconds to react accordingly.

"You are telling me that I can become a Parselmouth, please tell me you aren't joking!!" Cassiopeia blurted out hurriedly.

"Nope… not joking. Just tell me if you are interested or not" Destiny pressed on.

"Of course, I am more than interested, any self-respecting Slytherin would be" Cassiopeia snapped back, but she looked almost giddy.

"Good, but first you need to swear an oath of Secrecy, the Magic I am going to use is considered highly illegal in almost all the Magical Communities" Destiny said with a serious look on her face. Cassiopeia was slightly taken aback by the sudden demand of an oath, but she wasn't put off by it. She would even swear her loyalty to Destiny for a chance like this.

Cassiopeia immediately pulled out her Wand. "I Cassiopeia Ursala Black swear on my Magic that I would never reveal any secrets belonging to Destiny Grindelwald in any form without her permission, so mote it be" Cassiopeia swore and the tip of her Wand lit up, signifying that the oath was established.

There were some loopholes, but Destiny could manage it easily since Cassiopeia swore that she wouldn't reveal anything Destiny considered to be a secret. Destiny smiled brightly and stood up with a beaming smile on her face.

"Good, so, where can I find them?" Destiny asked and for whatever reason, Cassiopeia's smile widened. 

"I know where they leave and you are very lucky. Marvolo Gaunt was recently released from Azkaban" Cassiopeia smirked. "Unfortunately, Morfin Gaunt is still Imprisoned in Azkaban" Cassiopeia sighed in disappointment. She really wanted to get rid of the pathetic family. 

Destiny has read and heard about Azkaban, it is not a nice place and at the same time, all the Dementors reside on the island. Azkaban is used by the British Ministry of Magic as a prison. "What did they do?" Destiny was curious. It was pretty clear that the Gaunts weren't liked, but she still wanted to know why they were sent to the prison. 

"Apparently, Merope Gaunt fell in love with a Muggle and she was discovered by Morfin. Marvolo and Morfin decided to play curse the Muggle. They were caught by Bob Ogden" Cassiopeia answered. 

'Ah… yes. If you curse Muggles then you are going straight to prison. I wonder why all Magical Governments are so dedicated to protecting Muggles instead of protecting the Wizard kind' Destiny pondered. She wasn't even angry or upset after hearing about their crime… 

"Ok… so, are we going to Apparate?" Destiny asked and Cassiopeia nodded her head. "Good, let's go then" Destiny extended her hand towards Cassiopeia. The green-eyed Witch accepted the offered limb and moments later, both of them Disapparated with a somewhat loud pop. 

Both Destiny and Cassiopeia gracefully landed on their feet. "This place is truly shitty. Now, I understand why the other Pureblood families don't want to mingle with these shit stains" Destiny looked displeased with the location. She could see a rundown small shock at the end of the dirt road. 

It was surrounded by some vine and trees, the shack was filthy and dilapidated, they had also nailed a dead rotting snake on the door. Destiny couldn't blame the Pureblood Families for hating these fools. 

"So, how are we going to do this?" Cassiopeia asked, and Destiny simply smiled, and with a small flick, Destiny found her Wand in her hand. 

With a small flick, Destiny erected the Anti-Portkey and Anti-Apparition wards along with several other Wards, that would stop Floo from functioning if there was a Floo inside that lousy hut. Cassiopeia wasn't even surprised with that casual display of advanced Magic, she was becoming kind of numb to all of that. 

Destiny cast a revealing Charm and found only one person inside the house. It was a man, so it must be Marvolo. "Let's go, we shouldn't keep our sacrifice waiting" Destiny said and Cassiopeia couldn't help but stumble. 

'Morgana!! Did she just say sacrifice? No surprise, she was sure that it was highly illegal. Well, I can't find myself to care… In fact, I am quite giddy. For the first time in my life, I am about to witness Sacrificial Magic. I have read about them in our library but never witnessed one. My father and my uncle are going to be so jealous' Cassiopeia internally cheered. 

Destiny ripped apart almost half of the shack with a slight flick of her Wand, Marvolo who was standing by the door, waiting for the right moment to shoot Killing Curse at the attacker was also thrown aback, but Destiny was very careful not wanting to hurt him much. 

"Imperio" Destiny muttered and Imperiused the man before he could even gather his bearings. Once again, Cassiopeia wasn't surprised. With a wave of her free hand, Destiny cleared the rubble. Destiny pointed her Wand towards the floor and with a minute jab, she Conjured a snake. 

'Make it dance' Destiny ordered through the connection. Marvolo's will was pathetic at best, he didn't even put up a fight, not that he could gain anything by trying to fight. 

Marvolo hissed at the snake with a blank look on his face and the snake started to move weirdly. 'I suppose that is how snakes dance' Destiny pondered in amusement. 

"Well, he is a Parselmouth" Destiny looked towards Cassiopeia and said with a grin. 

"So what are we going to do now?" Cassiopeia asked curiously. Destiny vanished the snake with a wave of her hand. 

"Now, we collect some of his blood" Destiny answered and Conjured a bowl with a wave of her hand. Destiny ordered Marvolo to sit down in front of the bowl. Marvolo used his own Wand to make a cut on his palm, and then he placed the palm over the bowl. 

After a few minutes, the bowl was completely filled with blood and Marvolo looked slightly pale. After that, Destiny fixed the wound since the stupid man didn't even know the basic healing Spells and she didn't want him to bleed out like a pig. 

'Step forward' Destiny ordered the man and the man stepped forward with a blank look on his face. Destiny started into the man's eyes and entered his mind… the mind was a cesspool filled with shit. Destiny was disgusted, but she continued to rummage through his mind. 

After a couple of minutes, she finally found what she was looking for. 'Thank Circle he didn't auction off his Family Grimoire' Destiny was glad that they still had their Family Grimoire along with some of their Family books. They kept everything under a loose floorboard instead of Gringotts. 

They didn't have enough gold to maintain a vault at Gringotts. Destiny smirked and once again looked around. As soon as Destiny finished looking around, she stunned Marvolo with a jab of her Wand. She Wandlessly levitated the man to the side as he wasn't needed right now. Cassiopeia saw Destiny staring into the man's eyes and she knew what Destiny was doing, so she decided not to disturb Destiny. 

"Tell me, Cassi, do you know anything about Sacrificial Magic?" Destiny asked in an amused tone and erected a small Ward around the bowl which was now filled with blood. She didn't want the blood to be contaminated by something foreign. 

"...I have read a few rituals, but I have never practised them. Nobody in our family has ever witnessed Sacrificial Magic, but I am sure that our ancestors have practised the art" Cassiopeia answered honestly. 

"Hmm… you see, most people don't mingle with Sacrificial Magic. It is very dangerous and you need to be very proficient at Blood Magic" Destiny said as she started to draw a ritual circle with the bowl in the middle. Cassiopeia nodded her head in understanding, she knew that Blood was the main ingredient in any type of Sacrificial Magic. 

"I am going to sacrifice our generous volunteer to cleanse this blood" Destiny added with a grin as she continued to draw the ritual circle. 

"Cleanse?" Cassiopeia tilted her head in confusion. 

"Of course, I am not going to use this tainted blood for the original ritual. This blood is tainted by generations of inbreeding. To get the best results from the ritual, I must remove that taint from this blood. When I am done, the blood will be as pure as the first Gaunt" Destiny explained and Cassiopeia's eyes widened in shock and surprise, but internally she was completely giddy. 

The First Gaunt was the strongest Gaunt. In the past, Witches and Wizards were much stronger than the current generation. Nobody knew exactly why… though there were some theories running around. Some believed that Muggleborns were stealing their Magic, which was completely outrageous and only Pureblood bigots believed in this theory. 

Secondly, Magic, in general, was becoming weak or they have lost their ways to harness more powerful Magic. Many believed in this theory and finally, some believed that it was due to inbreeding. This was the most obvious reason, but nobody wanted to accept this due to their own shame and whatnot. 

Destiny finally finished preparing the ritual circle. "That's it!" Destiny exclaimed cheerfully and levitated Marvolo towards the centre of the circle. Destiny held the man over the bowl. "Cassi, it would be better if you step back" Destiny warned and Conjured an intricate dagger with her Wand. 

Destiny took a deep breath and started to chant in Sanskrit, the ritual circle started to glow, Destiny placed the dagger at the man's left wrist and made a cut. The ritual circle started to glow brightly as his blood started to drip over a smaller circle within the ritual matrix. 

Cassiopeia had no idea what language Destiny was using, which was making the scene more enticing for her. Obscure Magic must be mysterious or it loses its vibe. Destiny was really good at maintaining the vibe as far as Cassiopeia was concerned. 

Next Destiny made a cut at the man's right wrist, once again the ritual circle started to glow brighter as soon as the blood started to drip over another smaller circle inside the ritual circle. Destiny's voice rose up another octave as she placed the dagger over the man's throat. 

Destiny slashed the man's throat after a few moments and the ritual circle became blindingly bright when the blood dripped into another smaller circle inside the ritual matrix. Marvolo's body started to glow and he finally regained his consciousness, but he couldn't scream because his throat was slashed. 

He was feeling unimaginable pain, but he couldn't move or scream, he could only choke on his blood. The man slowly started to shrivel up and the bowl started to glow brightly. Moments later, Destiny stopped her chant and the ritual circle stopped glowing, leaving behind charred lines on the floor. 

Marvolo was mummified and his body was slightly smoking too… the blood inside the bowl was still glowing, but after a few more seconds, the glow subsided. Destiny grinned and she was about to remove the mummified husk when the Gaunt Family ring slipped off the man's finger and cluttered on the ground. 

Destiny raised an eyebrow and cast a cooling Charm on the ring. She grabbed the ring and immediately her eyes grew wide. 'Either this Stone is the real deal or this is the best replica' Destiny concluded. Gellert was obsessed with Deathly Hallows, so obviously Destiny was also pretty knowledgeable in that regard and she would recognize the Stone anywhere. 

Destiny placed the ring in her pocket, she would check if the Stone was the genuine artefact or not when Cassiopeia wasn't around. She wasn't going to trust Cassiopeia with one of the Deathly Hallows. She hadn't even told Ambika about the truth of Gellert's Wand. 

After that, Destiny Wandlessly banished the mummified body to the side. She Conjured a big glass vial and charmed it unbreakable with her Wand. Destiny slowly and gently levitated the bowl filled with the cleansed blood, after that, she carefully poured the contents of the bowl inside the vial. 

She closed the lid of the vial and shrunk it with a tap of her Wand. Destiny grabbed the vial and tucked it inside her pocket. Destiny stood up and with a flick of her Wand, she ripped apart the floor revealing the secret hiding place. 

"Is that Gaunt Family Grimoire?" Cassiopeia asked, looking slightly surprised. 

"Yes, and there are some other Gaunt Family books too" Destiny chirped in a cheerful tone. Destiny started to wave her hand and she Transfigured some rubble into a bag. Destiny levitated all the books inside the compartment and placed them inside the bag. She wasn't going to touch any of them with her hands, all of them were laced with nasty curses and only a Gaunt by blood can touch them without getting harmed. 

Then, she levitated the bag towards Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia immediately grabbed the bag and decided to carry it without any complaints. "Cassi, how much time do you need to find someone in London?" Cassiopeia was slightly bewildered by the sudden odd question. 

"A Witch or Wizard could be found easily as I know where to look, but I don't know about Muggles or Squibs, so I would need to pay some contractors" Cassiopeia said with a thoughtful look on her face. 

"Good… let's talk after we return to your house" Destiny said and both of them walked out the shambles of Gaunt Shack. Destiny stopped and turned around. "Fiendfyre!" A tiger made up of fire lunged out the tip of Destiny's Wand and engulfed the shack. 

"That will take care of any Magical Signature…" Destiny said with a grin. Destiny expertly controlled the cursed flames and kept them around the shack. After a couple of minutes, the shack was completely gone, so Destiny banished the flames. 

Marvolo was nuts, so his death might be considered an accident. With a wave of her Wand, Destiny dropped the Wards she had erected and gave a small nod while looking towards Cassiopeia. Moments later, both Destiny and Cassiopeia Disapparated with a soft pop… 

<Line Break>

"Cassi, can you get me these ingredients?" Destiny asked while holding out a parchment towards Cassiopeia. The green-eyed Witch accepted the parchment and quickly scanned the list. After a couple of seconds, Cassiopeia simply nodded her head. 

"Dinky can get all these ingredients for us" Cassiopeia answered and Destiny gave her a small nod. 

"Good. Do you have a ritual room or something in this house?" Destiny asked and Cassiopeia immediately shook her head in denial. The Blacks had a ritual room in their Ancient House, but there was no way she could access it without informing her father or uncle. 

"I see… then, I will need to prepare the circle outside the house" Destiny muttered with a thoughtful look on her face. 

"Dinky!" Cassiopeia called out and the said house-elf appeared with a soft pop. Cassiopeia handed her the parchment. "Go and buy everything on that list. You remember where to go, right?" Cassiopeia asked, and Dinky nodded her head. 

"Dinky won't be disappointing, Missy Cassi" Dinky proclaimed and disappeared with a small pop. 

"Destiny… I don't know much about rituals, but I have read that rituals should be performed on specific days of special significance to get better results. Do you think it will be okay to perform the ritual tonight?" Cassiopeia asked in a slightly nervous tone. 

Destiny grinned after hearing the question. "You are right, in most cases performing a ritual on a day of special significance can get you better results, but the ritual we are going to perform is completely independent of that specific factor" Destiny answered. Cassiopeia nodded her head in understanding. 

"You said you would be preparing the ritual circle outside the house, why?" Cassiopeia asked curiously. She was really intrigued by the topic and she wanted to learn everything she could. 

"The ritual we are going to perform would release a small shockwave at the end, I don't want to damage the house, it is a nice house" Destiny smirked. Once again, Cassiopeia nodded her head in understanding. 

"Ah… what was the language you were using during the Sacrificial Magic?" Cassiopeia asked. 

"Sanskrit. I learned it when I was travelling through India" Destiny answered immediately. "I think, I should start the preparations" Destiny sighed and walked out of the house. Cassiopeia obviously followed her as the green-eyed Witch didn't want to miss anything. 

Destiny pulled out her Wand and started to Transfigure the sand into a flat marble surface, Destiny wanted to avoid any type of inadequacy, that is why Destiny had decided to use her Wand. Cassiopeia had learned how to Transfigure something into marble in Hogwarts. It was in her NEWTS course.

When Destiny was finally satisfied with the marble floor, she started to carve the ritual matrix on the marble slab. It took Destiny nearly one hour to carve the ritual matrix on the marble. By the time Destiny was done, Dinky had returned with all the ingredients, so Destiny decided to start preparing the Potion… 

<Line Break>

Two Wizards appeared just outside a small village named Little Hangleton. The two of them were dressed in robes. Both of them were Aurors, and they were sent to inspect the location because half an hour ago, huge Magical activity was picked up in this region and everyone knew that only one Magical Family resided here. 

They looked around to check nobody was around and then they pulled out their Wands. They cast a revealing Charm and then they started to cast some minor Wards around the area to stop Muggles from snooping around while they were investigating the location. Slowly they started to walk towards the place where the Gaunt Shack used to be. 

"What the bloody hell happened here?" The first Wizard questioned as he looked at the charred ground with a bewildered look on his face. 

"Mate, the Gaunts lived here, what else can you expect from those wankers?" The second Wizard questioned and the first Wizard hummed in agreement. 

"He must have gone nuts in the Azkaban, maybe that is why the wanker thought that releasing Fiendfyre in the middle of a forest was a good idea" the first Wizard suggested after casting a couple of Detection Charms. 

"True… but something feels off here" the second Wizard said as he looked around, trying to find something. 

"Come on, mate! This is an open and shut case, the fool released Fiendfyre and we know how the casters end up after using Fiendfyre" the first Wizard argued back. 

"Correct, that is why I am feeling that something else happened here" the second Wizard said as he bit his lip. 

"Fine!! Enlighten me, oh great Sigrun Longbottom" the first Wizard said in a sarcastic tone. 

The second Wizard gave him a dirty look. "Fine… let's check the facts" the second Wizard now known as Sigrun Longbottom said. The first Wizard nodded his head and gestured his partner to continue. 

"We know that Marvolo Gaunt was a weak fool who didn't even graduate from Hogwarts" Sigrun said. 

"Check" the first Wizard chirped. 

"There is no way that a weakling like him could have controlled Fiendfyre" Sigrun made the second point. 

"Check" the first Wizard added, looking slightly confused right now. 

"Then see here… the Fiendfyre was contained around the property, Fiendfyre in a place like this would have caused a huge disaster, but see the grass here" Sigrun said and pointed towards the edge of the grass. 

"They are dried and shrivelled up, but the flames haven't touched them" Sigrun added and now the first Wizard could see Sigrun's point. 

"The flames might have been stopped by the Wards?" The first Wizard suggested and Sigrun gave him the 'Are you fucking serious?' look. 

"If this house belonged to a family other than Gaunt then I could have believed that. Gaunts are dirt poor, they can't even afford a Gringotts vault, how can they afford Wards?" Sigrun questioned. 

"I don't know! Look! We know that Fiendfyre isn't easy to control and what you are suggesting would mean that someone like Dumbledore is responsible for this" the first Wizard pointed out and Sigrun released a sigh. 

"You may be right. I might be thinking too much into it. We can cross off Dumbledore's name from the suspect list though" Sigrun started to laugh. "It was just a gut feeling, nothing else" Sigrun added. 

"Mate, in our line of work, the gut feeling goes a long way. Hey, tell you what? Let's go and report everything to Scamander, let's see what he has to say" the first Wizard offered and Sigrun agreed with his partner. 

Moments later, the two of them nodded at each other and Disapparated with a soft pop… 

<Line Break>

After boiling the Potion for exactly an hour, Destiny poured the Gaunt blood inside the cauldron. She let it simmer for two more hours before turning off the fire. Destiny internally cheered as the Potion was perfect and with that, she was halfway through the whole process. 

"What now?" Cassiopeia asked, she sat by Destiny's side throughout the whole process. 

"Now, we perform the ritual. But before we could start, there is something else we need to take care of" Destiny said in a mysterious tone, but at the same time, she sounded really cryptic. 

"Is there something else you need?" Cassiopeia asked and Destiny smiled wryly. 

"Yes, for the ritual I need to put you under the Imperius Curse" Destiny said and as soon as the words registered inside Cassiopeia's mind, she stiffened and raised her guard even though she knew that it was probably useless. 

"Why?" Cassiopeia asked in a neutral tone, but internally she was panicking. She knew that if Destiny decided to put her under the Imperius Curse, there was no way that she would be able to stop her… 

Destiny released a sigh and leaned back. "For this ritual, we would need to draw Runes on our whole body using this Potion. A single mistake can be disastrous. I know the Runes because I have done this before, but you haven't. That is why I have to put you under the Imperius Curse, that way I can control all of your actions" Destiny explained. 

For a whole minute, Cassiopeia didn't say anything. She finally released a defeated sigh. "My parents would Curse me to the next century if they heard about this…" Cassiopeia muttered while shaking her head. She finally looked at Destiny who was still waiting for the response. "Fine, I agree" Cassiopeia relented and Destiny beamed at her. 

"Good! I suppose we shouldn't waste any more time" Destiny gushed out somewhat excitedly. Destiny jabbed her Wand and Conjured a paintbrush. After that, Destiny stood up and started to strip without any shame. Cassiopeia started to blush as Destiny took off her leather suit.

Destiny's abdomen was adorned with several rectangular muscles protruding out of the skin. The muscles were stacked into two symmetrical columns and three symmetrical rows. Cassiopeia had no idea what they were called since this was the first time she saw muscles like that on someone's body, but Destiny's mid-section looked smoking hot due to those muscles.

Cassiopeia's blush intensified when Destiny took off her brassiere and revealed her chest and without wasting any more time, she took off her knickers too. Cassiopeia had been hiding a secret from her family and friends, she was a Witch's Witch, that was the main reason why she had decided to off her soon-to-be husbands. 

That is why Cassiopeia couldn't look away. She kept staring at taking in Destiny's form with lust in her eyes. Cassiopeia was brought out of her musings when Destiny snapped her fingers. Cassiopeia tried to focus on Destiny's face, but no matter how much she tried, she simply couldn't. 

Destiny is a piece of art, Cassiopeia had seen many naked women, after all, she lived in boarding school. But Destiny… she was something else completely, Cassiopeia's breath hitched as she couldn't stop marvelling at Destiny's body. It was an extremely beautiful sight and Cassiopeia could already feel some wetness between her thighs. 

"From your reaction, I can see that you very much like what you see" Destiny said with a teasing grin on her face and Cassiopeia dumbly nodded her head. "I am flattered, but I think we should move on" Destiny said and Cassiopeia finally snapped back to attention as she knew what was going to happen. Right now, she was both hot and nervous, but for different reasons. 

Cassiopeia gave a determined nod. After getting the confirmation, Destiny pointed her Wand at Cassiopeia. "Imperio" Destiny cast the Curse and Cassiopeia's eyes became glazed for a moment. After a few moments, Destiny felt the Spell settle and the connection was finally established.

Since Cassiopeia was readily submitted to the Curse, Destiny didn't even have to fight for control. Cassiopeia picked up the brush from the table and dipped it inside the cauldron. After that, she started to draw Runes on Destiny's body using the contents of the cauldron. Destiny stood there patiently as Cassiopeia continued to draw Runes around her body. 

After half an hour Cassiopeia finally finished drawing the Runes. Destiny's whole body including her face was covered with Runes, she had cast a hair branding Spell to get her hair out of the way when Cassiopeia started to draw the Runes on her back. Destiny checked all the Runes for the second time using the connection, and when she was finally satisfied, she released Cassiopeia from her control.

"Let's get this done" Destiny said with a smirk and started to head towards the ritual matrix. It took Cassiopeia a moment to gather her bearings as she felt slightly nauseous when Destiny released her from the Curse...

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