The shadow conglomerates
// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.
The next morning, the wizarding world is in the middle of panic movements. The purchase of healing potions is booming in the shops that my mother bought and the rare few people who did not have a magiphone yet rushed to buy one to try to contact their relatives. The Dark Mark has rekindled too many bad memories in the minds of wizards and witches.
But today, it's a whole different matter that brings me to the door of Lucius Malfoy's mansion. When I ring the doorbell, a house elf opens up for me, Dobby. The little house elf is visibly malnourished, and bandages cover various wounds of varying ages.
"Hello sir, the master is ill and does not receive visitors for the moment."
"Hello, tell your master that the heir to House Bones wants to talk to him about his involvement in a recent incident and how he could make benefit while avoiding ending up in Azkaban. I'll wait here a few minutes, could you tell me if your master agrees to meet me after hearing my message. "
"Yes sir, Dobby will get your message across immediately." The house elf closes the door leaving me alone on the doorstep.
I hope Lucius will agree to receive me or I will make some regrettable changes to my plan. After about twenty minutes, the door reopens to Lucius Malfoy in perfect health.
"Lord Malfoy, how nice to see you have been able to recover on the way from your bed to the door. Healers speak the truth when they urge us to exercise to stay healthy." Lucius ignores my attempted joke
"Mr. Bones, come in, we'll be more comfortable chatting in my office, away from prying ears."
The Malfoy family mansion is richly decorated, one can clearly see the results of Lucius' successes during the last war as well as in his political career. I follow my host through the maze of hallways to a large wooden door carved with wolves and snakes. Lucius' office is a mix between a living room and a library that reminds me of the Slytherin common room.
"Take a seat, can I offer you something to drink? Water? Wine? Bourbon maybe?"
"Bourbon will be perfect." Lucius didn't seem to mind serving alcohol to a minor in any way.
"So, Mr. Bones explain to me which incident exactly you speak of and tell me more about how I might benefit from it." Lucius Malfoy is in front of a cupboard full of fancy liquor, I can smell the poison coming from the bottle he just opened.
"I'll be pretty blunt Lucius. Can I call you Lucius? I know you're one of the Death Eaters who attacked the Quidditch World Cup just recently." Lucius' movements skip a beat as he serves me a drink. "I also know that this is not your type and that you prefer politics and money to solve your problems, it is enough to observe your excellent career in the ministry to realize it. That is why I come to see you with a proposal. " Lucius sits across from me, setting my drink down on a small metal stand on the coffee table between the two of us.
"Let's say that I was involved in this incident, which is of course not the case. What is this deal you are offering me?"
"Well, I'll start with some news that might upset you. Voldemort is back." Lucius' face is empty of all color. "He's still weak for now but I plan to give him back all of his powers."
"And what is your interest in bringing the Dark Lord back to life? Are you a Death Eater?"
"Absolutely not but to destroy Voldemort once and for all I need him to regain his powers and kill Harry Potter. Then we can betray him and turn his precious Death Eaters against him."
"And how do you plan to turn his most fanatical minions against him?" Lucius looks at me seriously and I feel he might get aggressive if my answer doesn't suit him.
"Ah, I'll get to that in a moment." I give a mental command and we hear someone use the knocker on the front door. "He's one of my guests, you can ask Dobby to bring him to us."
After a while the office door opens on Ned Taylor, the son of the manager of the magic pet store, my slave. I get up and unbutton his shirt revealing my seal.
"This is Ned Taylor. This boy is a bad Gryffindor seed that I plucked out and took into my service. Ned, be nice and stick that knife in your arm please." I hand him a paper cutter that was lying on Lucius' desk.
Ned Taylor smiles and thrusts the blade into his arm, letting his blood run down and then trickle down onto the floor.
"What is this madness?" Lucius seems more curious than disturbed by Ned's behavior.
"A little trick that I learned in a book that some of your Death Eater friends hastened to sell at Borgin and Burkes. It's fine Ned, it's very nice of you to have passed by. You can go now." I hand a small vial containing a healing potion to Ned before he runs out of blood. He grabbed it and left the room.
"My plan is quite simple. You are a smart man who has business acumen as well as political talent. I propose to pool our resources with the Death Eaters who are less loyal to Voldemorts and who would be likely to join our project. The others will be placed under the same brand as young Ned to help us set a trap for Voldemort and destroy him for good when the time is right. "
"What project are you talking about?" Lucius finally seems interested in what I'm trying to sell him.
"The creation of a shadow conglomerate. My family has become extremely wealthy recently and yours have been for a while now. Together we represent a considerable financial and political power. Now imagine a handful of men like us, working together for their mutual benefit and control of the wizarding world in the shadow. " I see on Lucius face that he is really thinking about the possibilities of such an alliance.
"And what tells me you won't betray me when I least expect it."
I take a contract out of my jacket and unfold it in front of Lucius. "You don't know yet what this is because my company only provides them to MACUSA for now but it's a magical contract that replicates the effects of an unbreakable oath with some change." Lucius grabs the document and begins to examine it. "This contract stipulates that anyone who signs it with their blood becomes a member of the shadow conglomerate and that they must actively participate in the interest of the group. In addition, anyone who signs the contract is prohibited from attacking another member as well as his family or his possessions. If he does it voluntarily death awaits him. If it is involuntary then the person who committed the offense will be marked and judged by the others, and he will have to pay an adequate compensation. If one of us sets a trap for another member to damage his possessions, then he is the one who will be marked and judged. Any attempt to divulge information to someone who has not sign this contract will be punished by death. "
"And why would I trust you?"
"Because you don't want to go back to Voldemort. And because you are desperate to become prime minister, which could become a serious possibility with my help." Lucius seems to think for a moment before signing the parchment.
"I'll change your drink, I'm afraid this bourbon has gone bad."