White Council I

"We should be doing something!" One man angrily exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the wooden table, glaring around at the table filled with men and women who simply stared back dismissively.

"So you keep saying, Gregori." An aged, white-haired witch muttered. "But surely, the threat posed by the Werewolves takes priority in this situation?"

Gregori scoffed angrily. "You're a fool, Ancient Mai." He snapped angrily. "Croaker is a dangerous man, one not to be underestimated and I've understood why we've done nothing in the past few decades because he hasn't had the resources to do anything except hide away in his shadows. But now, that's no longer the case."

"You're sounding like a broken record." Ebenezar McCoy replied tiredly. "You've never even met Croaker, you're just a young upstart who was given the position after Croaker was removed from this council."

"And why was that exactly?" Gregori posed, turning to Ebenezar with a frown on his face. "Croaker is a man with ambition far beyond his ability. But he made up for that by surrounding himself with skilled individuals, the formation of the Unspeakable Field Agents. I know that you were scared of what he could become should he remain in the shadows so you offered him a position on this council in order to keep him on a leash and the moment he lost his agents, you let him go."

"Harry Potter is weak." Ebenezar shot back. "The boy struggles against Betas, he's far from a serious threat and Croaker, live you've said, is a man with ambition that far outstrips his ability. But he makes up for that with intelligence and he knows better than to go to war with the council."

"You're still blind, ignoring the fact that's right in front of you." Gregori insisted. "Harry Potter is an Archmagus, a talent that comes about every millennia. Every time in history when an Archmagus comes about, huge waves ripple across the world. The political landscape changing and we, as the council are forced to adapt and ensure that no power becomes too strong, and that magic remains secret to the Muggle world."

That in itself was a fact everyone sat around this roundtable was well-aware of. Magicals were often classified in one of four ways, Warlocks, Mages, Sorcerers and Archmagus. They were given such titles to represent the type of being they were. An average witch or wizard was referred to as such, there was nothing special about them, they were just average.

Above them, were the Warlocks, a classification of wizard or witch that represented a once every generational prodigy. They were the type of people that stood out amongst their peers for being above average.

The next were the Mages, a prodigy that would only come about once every decade. Then there were the Sorcerers who were a prodigy that came about every century. And finally, the Archmagus, a prodigy that came about every millennium. Archmagus' were often the pride of their nation, but also a source of great fear and terror amongst the people of the Magical world. These were individuals that could, without even trying, change the way people viewed magic, revolutionise it and create wondrous things never thought possible. And more often than not, change the very foundation of the world.

There wasn't a single Archmagus in history that hadn't changed the world in some way shape or form. It was their duty as the White Council to not only ensure that no power in the Magical world became too great and to also ensure that the Statue of Secrecy held.

Archmagus' were a threat to that mission, but there were numerous times in the council's history in which they had attempted to stop one, only for it to end in failure. As a result of this, the council had changed how they dealt with individuals classified as Archmagus' and that was to simply deal with the aftermath.

However, the past century had produced four Archmagus', it was rare to find two being born in the same century, but they had faced with twice that number. Gellert Grindelwald, arguably the weakest of the four, but perhaps the most politically savvy and charismatic. He had managed to lead a war against all of Europe and nearly succeeded it all until Dumbledore had intervened.

In the aftermath, all of western and most of eastern Europe had undergone massive political reformations.

Albus Dumbledore himself was the most powerful of the four produced. He had fought against two of the four Archmagus' produced, defeating one and dying at the hands of the servant of another. But not before changing Magical Britain by driving out the Vampire Court holdings in Britain and killing three Denarians. He had been a contender to become the new Merlin but had refused, instead of allowing the current Merlin to take his place.

Then there had been Tom Riddle, a man who led a campaign of terror and brutality across Britain, inviting Pureblood families from all across Europe that had been squeezed for all they were worth by the new regimes that gripped their countries. Britain had been pushed backwards, becoming more feudal in its society and that had only ended when the last and final Archmagus, Harry Potter defeated Tom Riddle.

"We are very much aware of what Archmagus' are capable of, we don't need reminding of that fact." Ancient Mai said. "But the Werewolves pose a bigger threat to the Magical World. They have been pushing rapidly into Russia, the rival Warlords not unifying together and instead of continuing to distrust one another. Western Europe has been pushed back into western Germany and Scandinavia have been pushed completely out of Denmark."

"The fact is Gregori, as correct as you are." Gregori turned to look at the French wizard, Aleron La Fortier. "The Werewolves do pose the biggest threat, I am not denying that Croaker having Harry Potter under his control isn't a worry thought, and I think it's something we should all take note of. But the Werewolves are evolving rapidly, our attention and resources should be directed towards containing them and allowing the Wizarding world to deal with them."

All those present looked towards the Merlin, Arthur Langtry who had remained silent throughout this entire ordeal. And for a moment the man said nothing before his eyes looked directly at Gregori.

"Our attention shall be focused upon the Werewolves, Harry Potter and Croaker are not to be touched. That is my ruling." With that said, Arthur rose to his feet and walked from the room, effectively calling an end to the meeting and frustrated with this event, Gregori stormed out soon after.

-X- Line Break -X-

Angrily, Gregori slammed the door to his office behind him and moved towards his desk, collapsing into his seat and rubbing both hands through his hair frustratedly. Gaining a position on the White Council had not been easy and that was for many reasons and in fact, most of the Wizarding world was unaware of its existence.

But Gregori had known about it and he was only a relatively new member of its roster. Much like Ebenezar had said, he only got the position because Croaker was removed from his seat. Gregori was afraid that if Croaker grew to be a dangerous figure like he had been, then the council would once again invite him to join them once more. And in doing so, they'd no doubt remove one of them from the council to open up room for him.

Gregori wasn't blind or arrogant, he was very much aware that it would be he who would be removed from the council and that was something he couldn't allow. 'I need to kill Harry Potter, without him, Croaker is nothing.'

It was then that door to his office and he looked up to find two men entering inside, Aleron LaFortier and Simon Pietrovich. "What do you two want?" He snapped out angrily, glaring at the French wizard who had spoken against him. Even though the man had agreed with him that Harry and Croaker were a threat, the fact the man hadn't taken his side was a sore spot for him.

"We share your opinion on the issue of Croaker and Potter." The Russian wizard, Simon Pietrovich stated, his accent thick and strong. "And we would both like to offer you aid in dealing with them."

"Why not say so sooner."

"Because Arthur has his eyes on making Potter his successor. As a sorcerer, Arthur has certainly become one of the most powerful wizards alive, surpassing even Riddle and Dumbledore. But everyone knows that if they had been able to access the resources and knowledge Arthur had they would be many times more powerful. Arthur knows that and he wants to secure the council's power by having an Archmagus become the next Merlin." Aleron explained.

Simon nodded his head in agreement. "Arguing against that would have only put us all in danger and I do not fancy my chances against the Merlin. He did not gain that title simply because Dumbledore refused it. No, the man has proved himself time and time again that he is deserving of the title. Going against him would be suicide."

Gregori frowned at that but seemed to recognise the sense in what they were telling him. Even so, he didn't have to like it.

"So what exactly, you came here to simply tell me you agreed?"

"We came to tell you that we would like to propose an alliance," Aleron said. "We all have our resources outside of the council and while they certainly would have been helpful and make it easier, we can do this without the resources of the council. So, we combine our efforts and eliminate not just Croaker, but Potter as well. I would rather not have an Archmagus runaround, especially not if he's caught the eye of Arthur."

Gregori leaned back in his chair, looking at the two men across from him in curiosity. "So an alliance?"

"A triumvirate." Simon corrected earning nods from the other two men.