Fickle alliance

Once he was finished with hiring more personnel with the help of his special brand of loyalty cocktail and a healthy dose of Legilimency, Gaude went to the Werewolf Academy. He soon found Irma that was already doing warmup exercises. She had been antsy to get her payback from Greyback.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

'Is that even a question? There are still the kids that have been stolen from all over the place. No child deserves to live like a wild animal.'

"Really? You're asking me this now? I've been wanting to beat his face off ever since he was caught. I would've already done it if your fucking doctor didn't keep me cuffed to a bed so I could 'rest'. " Irma said, stomping the ground hard enough to leave an inch-deep imprint.

'I should probably have the elves make and distribute snacks. She's definitely revved up.'

"Just double-checking. I was afraid you'd chicken out after getting manhandled so easily back then.", Gaude backtracked with a sheepish smile.

"See that cage over there? I had it specially made for the occasion. Once you're ready, an elf will bring him in. Uncuff him and wake him up with the Wiggenweld potion."

Irma quickly climbed into the cage and continued with her warmup once more, this time moving around within the limits of the cage as much as she could, even trying to use the bars as footholds.

Quickly, the area around the cage filled up with the other trainees, some of them vampires. A few elves were going around, handing out refreshments.

Gaude could see Werewolves grabbing steak dripping with blood in one hand and popcorn in the other. One of the vampires took a steak, some popcorn and a blood pack.

The tension was palpable in the atmosphere and with a vortex of colors in the air, an elf apparated into the cage, hand placed onto Greyback's leg, well away from his claws and teeth.

As soon as Fenrir was delivered, the elf disapparated. Irma had already shifted to a half-beast state, used an enchanted key to undo the cuffs and muzzle that were still restraining the beastly man and splashed some Wiggenweld potion onto Greyback's face.

'That's not how it's supposed to be used!', Gaude wanted to shout, but held himself back. Instead, he just smiled wryly.

The potion didn't seem to be too effective, but suddenly, Irma kicked Greyback in the groin and shouted: "I know you're awake! Get up and give me a good fight!"

As if she had cast an 'Enervate' on him, Fenrir's eyes shot open and in the blink of an eye he was back on his feet, swaying a little, already taking his first swipe at Irma. He wasn't using his caws, instead, he tried to catch her without injuring her too much. He figured there'd be time to play with her after, to make her beg him to mark her.

"Didn't have enough the last time, eh, bitch? Don't worry, I'll show you how a real alpha treats his bitches, I'll show everyone here!"

"Betting is over! Time starts now!", a loud shout could be heard from the crowd.

As soon as the shouts were heard, Irma made her own move. Her eyes glowed with silver and gold. Her muscles bulged up for an instant, only to reduce in size a moment later, leaving her body toned but lithe under the tight body suit that had become standard issue in the Academy.

Her swipe was so fast that it looked like a blur for most of the viewers. Greyback barely dodged it. Still, there were deep gashes across his chest and blood was beginning to seep out of them.

"What the fuck are you, bitch?", Greyback asked while taking several steps backwards.

"Your worst nightmare. Is that how you wanted to treat me? Because I'm liking it already. Too bad it won't last. You'd be too dead in less than ten minutes.", Irma said while waiting for Fenrir to back into a corner.

Yet, instead of doing what Irma had expected, the man-wolf took a low stance and rushed forward, and despite Irma's powerful strikes that mangled his shoulder, advanced towards her, intent on knocking her down with his superior weight.

However, suddenly Irma's whole body bulked up once more and her Werewolf was no longer lean and mean, instead it looked like it had been raised on a steady diet of steroids, lots of exercise and recovery potions.

She punched out with her fist and while she slid back a few steps, it looked like Fenrir didn't come out of the collision unscathed either – he was holding his left elbow that was bent the wrong way.

Seemingly having enough of the punishment, Greyback backed into a corner.

Once Fenrir thought that she wouldn't get the drop on him anymore, Irma darted towards him and with a roll, she grabbed his leg. The next instant, he was already flying through the air, final destination the other wall of the cage.

As Greyback slammed into the bars with a sickening crack, someone in the audience shouted: "Boo! Fight, Greyback! Fight! I bet on two minutes! If you can't hold on that long, at least put up a good show!"

Greyback got back on his feet, this time swaying noticeably.

"You made me change into this! Now you get to pay the price!", Irma pressed through clenched teeth, her slender form slowly returning. The next moment, her fist had landed in the monster-man's stomach, causing gastric juices to spew forth.

Greyback was unable to muster any meaningful resistance. The fight had turned into a one-sided beating. Now and then, snaps and cracks could be heard coming from his body, not that the audience noticed it over the jeering almost everyone seemed to be engaged in.

After a while, Irma took a short break and Fenrir's body that had been supported by her punches and the bars slumped down onto the floor.

Irma's face was still full of wrath and she started kicking the man instead, most of her strikes homing in on his reproductive organs.

While she was still venting, Gaude shouted: "That's enough, Irma! I need him alive!"

Irma turned towards the shout, only now noticing that Gaude had been right next to the cage the whole time. Her eyes were still glowing with gold and silver and her face was distorted into a snarl. She was clenching and relaxing her fists.

'Maybe I should teach a lesson to Gaude, too. He's been acting like a brat a lot. A good beating should set him straight.'

"You don't get to tell me what to do! I'm the most grown-up in the house!"

"Really, Irma? It looks to me like you're losing control over yourself."

Gaude had already snuck a Legilimecy probe into Irma's mind – while he didn't want to intrude on the privacy of those close to him too much, she had been doing everything she could to alienate him.

He was well aware of her thoughts, and he didn't approve. He decided to try something new instead.

Gaude opened a special kind of two-way channel between them, and allowed the calm resulting from Occlumency to pour into Irma's tumultuous mind while he allowed the rage and bloodlust to pour into his.

"I understand how angry you are. You've beaten him up plenty enough. I have a way to make him suffer for a very, very long time, but that requires him to be still alive. What do you say, does that sound like a good plan?", Gaude said with clenched fists. Occlumency was good at suppressing emotions, but it was powerless against those he was getting from Irma's mind.

Irma's blood-soaked foot stopped mid-kick. She took a step back and her rapid breathing started to slow down.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.", she said with a regretful face.

"I think you've been bottling things up for a while now. You should talk to someone about what you're thinking and feeling. I hear the Academy's counselor has some free time right about now, so how about you pay him a visit?", Gaude asked.

He had cut the link between the two of them a while ago, but somehow, the frustration and rage had remained, as if they had found a better home in his head.

After Irma had let the cage, Gaude took out a potion in a black phial. He used telekinesis to hold Fenrir's beaten and mangled body up, uncorked the phial and threw it at the Werewolf's feet.

Grey mist erupted from the phial and Gaude controlled it carefully with telekinesis so it wouldn't spread too far.

Ten seconds later, the grey vapor slowly turned into an amber-colored semi-transparent solid.

"For a prototype, it's not too shabby. Too bad it's not as clear as I hoped."

Once the entirety of the vapor had solidified, Gaude took out an inkwell and a fine brush. The inkwell contained the stabilized blood ink while the brush was your regular Unicorn hair brush, perfect for fine arts and drawing runic charms.

It only took him half an hour to draw five different kinds of stasis charms onto the chunk of Boron Nitride crystal, and a few for unbreakability just in case.

Satisfied with his achievement, Gaude Flooed the well-preserved Greyback to his manor and stored the statue in a heavily reinforced cage.

While Gaude was double- and triple-checking the safety measures, he thought to himself:

'That's Fenrir Greyback off my list. Who should I get next? Lucien Sanguini? Nah, he's not all that impactful. He's not worth collecting. I really want snake-face, but I won't be able to catch him yet! Maybe I should steal Grindelwald from Azkaban?'

Just as his musings came to an end, Laly apparated in front of him.

"Master Gaude Vywin, it's time to attend your appointment with Lucius Malfoy in the Leaky Cauldron."

Gaude took the Floo to the not-so-Leaky Cauldron and quickly found a youth that closely resembled one Draco Malfoy, except his hair were much longer.

There were even two wizards, one thin and the other 'big-boned', throwing more glances than it was healthy towards Lucius from a nearby table.

'Like father like son. He even has two not so secret admirers. I really don't want to know what the three get up to when they're home alone.'

Gaude approached Lucius and when he was close enough for a handshake, he stopped.

"Hello. I���m Gaude Vywin."

'What the hell? Why is a brat in Muggle clothes trying to pester me? Doesn't he know that a snot-nosed kid isn't even worth listening to? I have no time for that, I need to get the meeting with that Charles Vywin person going so I can pass my father's test and get access to our family's vault.'

Lucius snorted with disdain and said dismissively: "Kid, get lost. I'm busy."

'Oi, kid, I'm mentally older than you. I could probably kill you in two moves at most, but you don't see me treating you like the insect that you are, do you? At least hear the other guy out before you start acting as if you had a ten-foot pole up your arse.'

Gaude dropped the hand he had still been holding up and said: "Listen, I want to waste my time here about as much as you do, so let's just drop the small talk."

'That piece of trash is just asking for trouble. I should get rid of him before he ruins my meeting.'

Lucius turned to the two admirers of his and said with a sneer: "Help the kid get out of here. I don't want him annoying that Mr. Vywin I'm supposed to meet here."

The two got up from their seats, but before they managed to take more than two steps, Gaude had already turned around and started walking towards the door.

'It would be so much easier if I could just kidnap and indoctrinate him. Unfortunately, there's bound to be an elf in hiding keeping an eye on him. The moment I did something untoward, Voldy would most likely get notified and come for me.

There's no doubt that he'd keep a close eye on a pureblood scion, different from a half-blood like Snape.

Normal human interaction sure is different from going with Legilimency or using an overwhelming force. It looks like my people skills are still lacking after all. I guess I'll do this one in a roundabout way.'

---

Lucius ended up waiting for two hours, yet nobody that looked even remotely like Charles Vywin showed up at all.

'Damn bastard, did he stand me up? Does he think that just because he's got a bit of money and a few properties he's a big shot? I'll let my father know that Charles Vywin isn't worth considering as a potential ally.'

"Let's go.", he said to the two admirers of his.

The two goons, silent as ever, rose and left with him through the Floo in the foyer.

In an instant later, Lucius noticed his father Abraxas pacing in front of the fireplace. He was holding a letter in his hand with a worried look on his face.

'I hope he didn't make a mess of things.'

"How did the lunch go?"

Lucius' face scrunched up and he spoke in an annoyed tone: "Mr. Vywin never came, even after hours of waiting. There was only some kid that kept annoying me."

Abraxas slapped Lucius' face with the letter still in hand and said in a tone that didn't allow a single argument: "Read it!"

'What the hell, old man? What was that for? I did nothing wrong!'

However, as Lucius read the letter, his face became a few shades paler, making the red handprint on his cheek nicely contrasted.

The letter read: 'Dear Mr. Malfoy. Unfortunately, something urgent has come up and I cannot attend the lunch myself. I will be sending my grandson and heir, Gaude in my stead, as a test of his qualifications to take over the family business when the time comes.'

'I chased away the person I was supposed to meet? What should I do? What can I do?'

"Father, what should I do?", Lucius asked, his face and tone filled with regret.

The frown on Abraxas' face mellowed out to almost non-existent and he said: "It's good that you understand your mistake. You should go and apologize, and let's hope Mr. Vywin is a forgiving man."

Lucius sighed in relief and replied: "I know, I will arrange another meeting."

---

On the next day, Gaude showed up in the Leaky Cauldron wearing the illusion of Charles Vywin – it was time to help Lucius out with his itchy face issues.

As soon as Lucius saw him, he got up from his seat and walked up to him, his face a mask of a faint smile.

'Everything is not lost yet. He still came. I must do this right and I might even get back to my father's good graces. Otherwise, who knows when I'll get the vault's key and the dark lord is getting impatient.'

"Mr. Vywin. I would like to apologize for my actions yesterday. I truly didn't know that the boy was your heir." Lucius' words were sincere, but it didn't really reflect in his voice or even the posture of his body. He was still as straight as a ruler.

'Hm, minus ten points for acting skills.'

"If you're truly sorry, you should kneel and bow to the ground three times as a show of sincerity."

Lucius' face reddened at that, his shoulders started shaking a little with suppressed anger.

'What? Is he trying to just humiliate me in front of all these people? How would I dare to appear in public after that?

But, I must. Father told me to do whatever it takes. If I play my cards right, I'll even be able to make my way into the board of the Vywin Conglomerate and I'll be able to use their means and power, perhaps even funds to my own ends.'

After a few moments of thought and plenty of helpful compulsions from Gaude, Lucius half-reluctantly did as he was told with that same faint smile on his face, his hair brushing the floor each time.

A smug grin made its way onto Gaude's face for just an instant. However, before Lucius was done with the exercise, Gaude managed to suppress it, at the cost of his facial muscles feeling like they would cramp any moment due to the exertion.

'Hm, seeing people kowtow isn't too bad. I should make it a thing in Magical Britain.'

"That will do. Your apology is halfway accepted. You should also apologize to my grandson, as he is the one whose time your actions wasted the most."

Lucius took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands before taking out his wand and casting what appeared to be a scrubbing charm on his hands. All the while, he looked as if the floor had been covered in a thick layer of goat feces.

'I'm lucky the place was renovated, and the floors are washed daily now. Still, it's best that I have the ends of my hair cut. Who knows how many mud-bloods have walked here?'

"Thank you, Mr. Vywin. When will I be able to have a meeting with your grandson?"

'No, kid. That's not how things are done. You should marinate some more in the feeling of not knowing the final consequences of your own actions.'

"My grandson is almost as busy as I am. He still needs to learn everything about running the business. It's the burden of being somewhat capable. You should be well aware of how to ask for someone to spare their time for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Vywin. I'll do my best."

---

Gaude had returned to his study and was reading up on the history of the Wizarding World – he hoped that he'd discover some dark witch or wizard notorious enough to become part of his collection if they were still alive.

Suddenly, an elf appeared next to him. It would've been nothing noteworthy, if the elf was wearing an uniform, yet, this one was wearing a shabby and dirty pillowcase that had been patched in few places. Some areas the pillowcase didn't manage to conceal were bearing nasty bruises.

After a moment of taking in its appearance, Gaude looked at the elf and spoke: "Hello there. Is there something you need?"

"Young Mister Gaude Vywin, Dobby has come to bring you a letter from young master Lucius Malfoy."

Gaude accidentally thought out loud hearing the elf unintentionally giving out its name, as a rather vivid memory had been triggered in his mind: "Hm? Dobby? The one noble elf that dies through self-sacrifice?"

The reason for Gaude's blunder was that the memory hadn't actually been his own, it was one from the Care Package that was triggered by the elf coming in contact with him.

"Young Mister Gaude Vywin, Dobby doesn't understand. Dobby dies?"

'Why the hell did I think out loud now of all times? Well, it's spilled milk. I guess I'll just gloss it over.'

Gaude put on a bad poker face and said in a commanding tone: "Disregard that. Hand me the letter, please."

The elf handed over the letter with shaky hands, not daring to look at Gaude. After a few routine safety checks, Gaude opened the letter. The elf that had been keeping a keen eye on him so far, disapparated from the room.

'Well, at least he knows how to write a proper invitation when he stands to gain. But damn, that handwriting is good, do the noble houses have a two-year training course in writing with a quill or something?'

---

Lucius rose from his seat in the Leaky Cauldron and walked towards Gaude with an outstretched hand.

"Hello. I'm terribly sorry for how I treated you earlier. It's just that I didn't recognize you. If you're already the heir of the Vywin family, why hasn't your grandfather introduced you to the society?"

'What introduction to society? Is that some kind of a noble thing? I should look into it some more. It might just save me a lot of trouble in the future.'

Gaude had his arms crossed and a slight scowl on his face, but after leaving Lucius hanging for a few moments, he finally shook it.

"Fine. Don't expect to get my forgiveness so easily next time. My grandfather has been extremely busy, it must've slipped his mind."

Lucius returned to the table and sat down once more.

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Please, have a seat."

Now, what did you want to discuss with me?"

A genuine smile appeared on Lucius' face as he thought: 'The kid seems to be a lot easier to deal with than the old man. If he has an actual say in business matters, I should just do everything through him. He's still green and easy to bend. Judging by the Vywin conglomerate's growth, it should be worth billions in a decade or two.'

"I'm here to represent the Malfoy family. We've been informed that the Vywin conglomerate is an organization that does business in both the Muggle and Magical worlds. The Malfoy family just so happens to have a few million spare Galleons in the vault. My father suggested that the family could invest into the Vyiwin conglomerate. How many shares is your family willing to sell?"

Gaude supported his cheek on his palm and thought about the best way to make the Malfoy family go buy a trunk, fill it up with all of their family's savings and hand-deliver it to his doorstep.

"Well, considering the value of the employees that have all been hand-picked by Grandpa Charles, the properties, raw materials, brand value and growth potential, I would say that for five million Galleons, you should be able to get around point one percent of the shares. Naturally, due to how fast everything is growing, the numbers are changing in real time, so the longer you wait, the less you'll get."

Lucius' face alternated between red and white while Gaude spoke, finally he said: "This can't be right. There's no way it's worth so much. Are you trying to swindle me?"

Gaude held back a smirk that had made the corner of his mouth twitch unnoticeably.

"That's just how it is. I didn't believe it myself at first before I ran the numbers. It all adds up. Of course, if you wanted to invest into a standalone enterprise of the conglomerate, things would be entirely different. For example, there's a geothermal energy project coming up that needs additional funds to speed it up. I'm willing to let you invest as much as thirty percent of the total cost. The profits will naturally be split the same way."

Lucius made a mental note to look up what 'geothermal energy' was. He had to make sure that he didn't make deals for something that would pay back only after a very long time, if at all.

"That's unfortunate. I will have to discuss it with the rest of the family before I can make a decision on it. I hope you understand."

'Heh-heh, sucker. I'll be covering the labor costs and your family will be covering the research and logistics. Except, elves work for free!'