Innovator; Chapter 12: Whispers of a Snake (Patreon)

Author’s Note: Hello my dear patron family. Here’s chapter twelve of Innovator. Hope you like it! Do tell how it was in the comments. Also, Chapters 1-10 are on my fanfiction and ao3 profile.

The previous chapters have been corrected. Thank you for your patience, my beta reader and I are working on the chapters.

Author Out!

“I am Talking.”

‘I am Thinking’

Spells

§Parseltongue§

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Information is the resolution of uncertainty.

~Claude Shannon

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Innovator

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~~Chapter 12: Whispers of a Snake~~

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Sirius Black sighed a bit as he finished up with the seventh letter that he had to pen. Honestly, this was the one side of work that he didn't like at all. Not one bit. Give him a million parties to attend, a billion women, and a trillion deals, and he'd succeed through every last one of them.

But letters? A big fat NO.

But, well…it wasn't like he took up the job just for the fun in it, right? He had enjoyed the pros of being the P.A., it was time to suffer the cons too. Something that he had been doing for the last two days.

After Harry had returned from his healing process, which was quite fast if he was being honest, the boy had immediately told him that he was way too busy with the pending work. The only award functions he had even agreed to go to were the ones held by the goblins and the French as well as Bulgarian ministries.

Other than that, the innovator had straight-away told Sirius that he will have to attend the functions in his stead.

And Sirius had! Yes, he had attended all of those 'extra' functions, worked with the big players and successfully got his 'employer' in the top order of the British Noble houses. He was hella proud of that too, he had used all of his negotiating skills and Black family charm drilled into him by his grandfather and father to get the results he wanted.

'I am sure dear mother would be rolling in her grave when she realizes that I used all of her teachings to help a 'dirty' half-blood instead of helping The Blacks.' Sirius smirked at that line of thought, before he quickly sobered up.

The Lord of House Black melted the wax and then put the signet ring of the Reagent of House Potter on it, before placing it in the 'Mail-Checks' that his godson had made. There was a small flash of green light and when Sirius opened the wooden box again, he smiled because true to its purpose, the letter wasn't there.

It was one of Harry's most useful inventions, The Mail-Checks or 'Instant mail delivery service'. You just needed three boxes of these: One for Family and Friends, One for Work related mails, and the last one was discard boxes.

The wooden boxes had a rune circuit in it that would immediately scan the address of the other mail-check box, and the mail would be delivered within five minutes. The most effective, and the fastest, mail delivery service in the whole world. The last box was used for discarding your spam mails or letters that were of no use to you.

These were linked to the Stationery House where the parchment was cleaned, refined, and re-used. It was then supplied to stationery shops around Britain where it would be sold again. This had drastically reduced the price of parchment as well as the ingredients that were used to make it.

Sirius smiled as he poured a glass of Ogden's finest. The day had been a tiring one. He just hoped that tomorrow would be one of the easy ones, though he heavily doubted it. Even though Harry hadn't created any new contraptions, the old ones were continuously being used and his new reputation as 'The Dragon Slayer' was only making the sales boom.

If he kept the modesty aside, Sirius thought that with the negotiating and manipulating skills of a Black, the backing of seven of the richest and most powerful houses on the globe, and Harry's mind-boggling brain and ability of creation, they might just become one of –if not the–the very best and strongest people on the globe soon.

'If only he used his fame too,' Sirius thought as he moved to his room, 'Well, I'll teach him how to do it one day'

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Harry looked at the destruction around him, this wasn't what he had planned to do when he had left the castle with the headmaster. In fact, this was the absolute last thing he had expected to do.

To even think that the great Albus Dumbledore would challenge him to a battle just after he came back from the guild. And when they were on a mission? It was both a shocking thought and a believable nightmare.

But, that still didn't answer one thing: Why was the headmaster smiling?

Yep, the person who had just lost the duel. The strongest mage in current times, and the only one who had defeated the Dark Lord Grindelwald, was smiling at the teenager who had just defeated him. The fact that the old man was smiling, even after defeat, not only made Harry curious, but also wary of what the old man's intentions were regarding their duel.

"You've won the duel Harry," Dumbledore began, "I am quite happy that you've defeated me." He said, his glasses askew on his hooked nose, "Can you please release me now? It's quite uncomfortable for my old knees to sustain my weight for this long."

Harry frowned at that, the headmaster was admitting that he was happy at being defeated by a teenager? What was this? Some sappy 'Teacher being proud of his student' shit? He prayed not, it would be awkward if Harry told the old man that he was never his teacher and that he should be ashamed at losing, not proud.

"Only when you answer my questions, sir." Harry told him.

"Sometimes, the answers to the most difficult mysteries are within our grasp, Harry,” Dumbledore smiled, “One just needs the right time, and the right sight to understand it.”

Harry frowned at that, his mind already working optimally as it methodically dissected his old headmaster's words. According to the old man, Harry already knew the answer to his query. He was either overlooking something, ignoring something, or categorizing something really important as a trivial matter. Or it wasn’t the right time.

Which meant that Dumbledore wasn’t going to give him a straight answer anyways. The innovator groaned at that, he'd had to fight with his life on the line. Even though he knew that the headmaster wouldn't have actually killed him. But that would mean that he fought for naught.

“So, since you aren’t giving me straight answers right now, what do you think we should do?” Harry asked the old man who gestured towards the runic array that had trapped him. “I think we should start with you ending the supply of this runic array so that I could free myself. However I am quite surprised that you were not only able to make a complete Hexagonal-array, but also one that was powerful enough to bind me with what little magic you had.”

Harry smirked as he flicked his wand at the primary circuit and deactivated it. The golden line broke off in a small magical outburst of sparkles, and the five other arrays around Dumbledore also vanished into nothingness.

“If our duel had occurred somewhere else, I would have failed long ago, sir.” Harry told him as Dumbledore slowly got up.

“Oh?”

“Yes sir, this array was able to trap someone like you only because I hadn’t powered it,” He said and saw Dumbledore’s face fall into confusion, “I only started the primary circuit with my magic which charged the master-control of the array. After that, I linked the array with the ambient magic of the shack, the trees around it, and nature.”

Dumbledore would not be ashamed to admit that he was indeed surprised that a young boy like Harry had been able to do that, and that too amid a duel with himself. He was by no means in his prime, but that didn’t mean he was weak. And playing with wards amid battle is a big risk to oneself.

One mistake and one might end up becoming a thin layer of red paste on the ground.

“How did you know that the place had enough magic to sustain the ward scheme?” Dumbledore asked as the duo started moving towards the point where they had come from. This time when the warlock looked at Harry, he was surprised to see the one look on the boy’s face that he had not seen for almost two decades.

Disappointment.

Albus Dumbledore was many things and he might have disappointed more than a handful of people in his century old life, but never had this look been thrown his way by a teenager. And it most certainly never asked him, ‘Are you dumb?’

“Err…Harry?”

Harry shook his head and picked up the pace. Then he smirked at Dumbledore, “Sometimes, the answers to the most difficult mysteries are within our grasp, Professor, one just needs the right time, and the right sight, to understand it.”

And with that, Harry gave the headmaster his wand who laughed jovially before the duo apparated back to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey was definitely going to have a field day with them.

Well, that was not a good thought.

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Harry Potter entered his suite again. It had been two days of pure torture with the matron. She had completely refused to give him any reprieve from the potions that were administered to him thrice daily. He still grimaced at their tastes.

The potions used in the hospitals neither smelled nor tasted good.

He had tried experimenting with many health potions, but had only succeeded in improving the potency of eight potions, and the taste of even less. And out of those, only one was a health related potion. He just couldn’t alter all the potions, even if he tried neutral ingredients like the muggle flowers that have absolutely no magical properties.

Well, at least he was happy that Dumbledore also suffered with him. The headmaster was worse than what he had shown. Harry wouldn't have been able to defeat him outright without activating at least two more runes, but that didn’t mean that the headmaster was as strong as he had assumed.

In fact, to Harry’s eyes, the old man’s health had only deteriorated in the past two days. Which was weird because they were being treated by Madam Pomfrey. Still, the old man looked more and more tired and weary. It was as if he had suddenly aged ten more years in a span of two days.

Harry smirked at the fact that Dumbledore’s shiny, meter long beard was now only a foot long. He took pride in the fact that his flame whip had singed half the beard, and the headmaster had to chop the other half so that it didn’t look weird. He won’t deny that he is really excited to see the reaction of Hogwarts’ populace regarding the change in length.

There was a small ‘pop,’ and Harry was greeted by his enthusiastic personal elf who was really happy to see him again, as apparent by the way he was hugging Harry’s legs.

“Master is back! Dobby knew that Dobby’s master would be back soon,” The diminutive creature whispered, his eyes full of unshed tears. Harry gave the little being small pats on his back and a soft smile, which relieved the elf as he slowly disengaged from the young mage’s lower limbs.

“How has it been, Dobby?” Harry asked as he moved towards the bathroom. He really needed something relaxing now, and there was nothing that could supplement a long, drawn out bath.

“Master’s suite was peaceful, there were only three important visitors in the last two days, sir.” The elf told him.

“Who were they? And what was the purpose of their visit?” Harry asked him as he removed his upper vest and dropped it in the elf-washbucket.

“Your dogfather, Sirius Black, came to tell Master about a few celebrations that were being done in Master's honor and their dates. The letters are on Master’s work-table,” Dobby answered as Harry nodded, “Then there was Master’s friend, Blaise Zabini, who came to check on Master, and tell Master that something important was going to happen soon and to beware.”

Harry frowned at that, something important and to beware? Blaise pre-cautioning him? That was unheard of. This wasn’t the Blaise he knew. This meant that something really serious was going to happen, and it might, somehow, pull him in the chaos that would unfold.

“Did he tell you what the important thing was?”

Dobby shook his head, and Harry made a mental note to ask his friend about it whenever they would meet next.

“And the third?”

“That would be Master’s other friend, Miss Ashley. She visited Master’s suite two days ago. The cause is unknown, but probably related to future bonds.” Dobby said as bluntly as he could and saw Harry's forehead crinkle in a frown.

“Petrovia? Why would she want to visit me?” Harry thought out loud before his mind caught the meaning of Dobby’s last sentence. “Dobby..what did you say about bonds?” He asked the elf and looked at the bath-tub that was half-way full.

Dobby bobbed his head as he prepared the bath, “Miss Petrovia was wearing clothes that were more revealing than she usually wears, and there was a distinct taste to her magic that told Dobby about Miss Petrovia’s nature of visit. And the tasteful magic would have worked wonders on Master, or any male like him.”

Harry knew what the elf was saying and he was proud of the fact that Dobby was trained enough to use better words than simply ‘sex’ and ‘fuck’ to describe what Pertrovia wanted. Still, what confused him was the question ‘why?’. Why did Petrovia want that? And what good would she gain from it, other than winning some sort of competition between her and Beaufort?

The innovator shook his head, ridding his mind of such insidious thoughts. This was not the place for these kinds of thoughts. His bath was ready and he would deal with all other things later.

“Dobby, was there any mail from Daphne Greengrass?” He asked the elf, who for some reason gave a mysterious smile and bobbed his head in agreement, “All of your mails have been placed in their respective drawers, Master. Master’s lady’s mail is also there.”

And with that the git smirked as he snapped his fingers and vanished with a small ‘pop’, leaving his master who grumbled at his own elf’s cheekiness.

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Deep inside the heart of a floating building that overlooked a valley full of graves, there was a chamber that was full of black crystals, scrolls, tomes, and a stone throne with many runic letters carved into it, several of which were glowing.

The chamber was currently occupied by a feminine figure who sat on the throne, seemingly in some sort of trance. The woman’s closed eyes snapped open, and she looked at the crystal ball that she had been holding for the last few hours.

She smiled in satisfaction and snapped her fingers. The crystal ball vanished in a puff of black smoke and she stood up from the runic chair. The runes on the chair went back to normal rose, their magic receding back into their depths.

“Persephone,” She called out and felt her spirit guardian, the one who had been with her since the time she joined the guild, centuries ago, materialized in front of her eyes.

“I would like you to tell Drauma that the plan has been initiated.” The Enlightened One said, “Albus Dumbuldore has relinquished his command over the Wand of Destiny, and it is now in possession of Anubis. It is time that we begin stage two.”

The large, ethereal Raven’s gray eyes glowed as it received the message, and, with a mighty squawk, it flew towards the mouth of the chamber with the intent of accomplishing its task.

The Enlightened One sighed as she watched the raven fly away. It was time to prepare herself for a few meetings so that they could accomplish the harmony that would be needed to survive this mission.

It was time for The Triumvirate to convene again, and join their forces to save the world from the destruction that Tom Riddle had unknowingly brought upon this world. She just hoped that the other two great guilds would look past their own might and see the importance of the task at hand, as there was no other organization that could help them in this task.

After all was said and done, they would put their demands in front of the ICW, there was nothing that the organization could do if the order was passed by The Triumvirate.

‘It all depends on you Anubis…You have to be strong for what is coming.’

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Dumbledore sighed as he looked at the wand in his hand. It was the one that he had been utilizing for almost half a century. The wand that he had won from his once close friend. A friend, who had been his companion in their first grand venture: The attainment of The Deathly Hallows.

Dumbledore considered himself lucky that he had, indeed, acquired each of the three Hallows at some point of time. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to assemble them together.

The knotted, eighteen-inch wand, gifted to Antioch Peverell, was the first Hallow that he had gained the allegiance of. After that, he got the second one in the form of the Eternal Cloak of Invisibility from James Potter during the last wizarding war.

Dumbledore released a bit of his magic on his right drawer to open it. He then pulled the drawer out and looked inside at the small black box with the Slytherin sigil inscribed on it.

He had the third one, The Stone of Renaissance, or The Resurrection Stone, which was bestowed upon the second brother, Cadmus. He immediately closed the drawer and released his magic, locking the stone away once more.

But none of them were his anymore.

The Cloak was given back to its rightful owner, Harry Potter, during his second year at Hogwarts. The metal around the Stone held the curse of Entropy, and the entire thing was a cursed object of the darkest kind. Finally, his trusted wand, which had served him for almost half a century, had accepted Harry Potter as its true master.

The Wand of Destiny was still in his possession, but it was quite clear that it had shifted its allegiance to the younger wizard. This became apparent when he had been unable to cast even the simplest of spells with the ease and fluency he had possessed a few days ago.

Add to that the matter of the deterioration of his health, it was quite apparent that the wand had been supporting him with its magic. Dumbledore knew that he could easily cross hundred-and-fifty on his own magic, but then he would have had to accept retirement from all of his active roles a decade ago.

The Wand’s ambient magic had mixed with his own and had given him much more power than he actually had. Something that he had used for the welfare of the wizarding world in the last two decades.

And now, it was time to hand over the baton to the next man who would take his place. The person who would guide the wizarding world, lead it with his intellect and perseverance, and change their ways with his vision, the person who would fill his shoes and assert his control over the reigns of all the wizarding governments one day–Harry James Potter.

There was a gentle knock on the door and the headmaster sighed when he felt who it might be. He had called the boy to explain the wand and the finer details to him. The Enlightened One had asked Dumbledore to keep the wand in his possession and only give it to him when the time was right.

But Dumbledore believed that Harry needed to know these things beforehand. It wasn’t the guildmaster who knew the mental strength one needed to handle the whispers of the corrupted wand, it was Dumbledore, and he would hate to see someone like Harry succumb to the allure of the cruel Hallow. The Wand’s history was drenched in the blood of its wielders.

“Come in, Harry.”

However, when the doors to his office opened, Dumbledore was shocked to see the person standing there. Shocked because he hadn’t expected the two to come to his office anytime soon.

“Lord Greengrass..? Is everything alright?”

Cygnus didn’t need to answer it because the emotion on his face answered it for him. He was smirking, and that rarely meant anything good.

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Sapphire eyes glared at the door that was in front of them. Their owner wanted nothing more than to blast the stupid door to smithereens, but the person behind it was their prey and they would rather see their prey begging for her life than take it away.

The door opened and the person inside froze immediately, her mind blanked out as her worst nightmare came true in the form of the person who was standing outside her door.

Daphne Greengrass.

“He-hello Daph-”

Daphne simply kicked the door open and entered Angelique Beaufort’s room. She had been in Hogwarts for less than five minutes and was already standing in her nemesis’ room. All because of one reason–The letter that was clutched in her hand, penned by Angelique Beaufort to Daphne Greengrass.

“You have some explaining to do, Beaufort. Convince me why I shouldn’t just give this letter to the authorities and have you arrested for your crimes, like you should be,” Daphne said as she sat on the sofa and glared at the prone form of her prey.

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“Are you really sure about it, Cygnus?” Dumbledore asked once more.

The blonde nodded, “Yes headmaster, I am as sure about this as I could be.”

Dumbledore hummed and leaned back in his chair. At first he had thought that it might be some bad news, what with the way the young lord was smirking when he entered, but his worries for naught.

It was, in fact, quite the opposite. Cygnus’ request was profitable for the school, and he didn’t know why he should deny it. Unfortunately, there was still a question that gnawed at his mind.

“Why are you doing this Cygnus? What changed between today and your last visit from two days ago?” Dumbledore asked the man who smiled back, as if his request wasn’t that big.

“I just don’t want to press charges, Professor. Is that so hard to believe?” He asked the aged warlock who narrowed his eyes.

“When you were the one who wanted nothing more than to ‘capture the perpetrators and torture them’ just two days ago and now, all of a sudden, you don’t want to press charges anymore and want to pull back the aurors? Yes, it is very hard to believe.”

Cygnus cursed the old man’s tendencies of digging the earth till he either reached gold or coal. “Well, I don’t want you to think that I am doing it of my own choice. Because let me tell you headmaster, I still want all of that to happen. My daughter, Daphne, however, thinks that whatever has happened won’t ever happen again and she will make sure of it.”

“She knows something about this whole case, then?”

“Probably, but your guess is as good as mine,” Cygnus sighed before he got up, “Unless you have anything else to say, Headmaster, I’d much rather visit my daughters before I leave for the DMLE to pull back the case. Do I have your permission to visit my daughter?”

Dumbledore nodded and allowed the Verdant of the Greengrasses to leave his office. His own self sinking back into his chair, thinking about the reasons for the Greengrasses latest act. He knew that Cygnus wasn’t a foolish man, and the same went for his daughter. He hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting the young heiress, but her name had been circulating the rumor mills for some time.

The Greengrasses were, in a word, opportunists. People who won’t do anything without an ulterior motive, and even then won’t do anything till the right opportunity arises. Sometimes their behavior scarcely reminded him of the old wizengamot politicians like the Lords Arcturus Black and Charlus Potter.

Ergo, he was sure that Cygnus Greengrass didn’t tell him everything. He had purposefully hid the identity of the perpetrators, and whether he, or his daughter, knew them or not. This meant that there would be some form of change that will be seen tonight’s dinner onwards. And he will have to be extra vigilant to notice it.

Again, there was a knock on the door, and this time Dumbledore checked the sensor rune plate that was placed beneath the welcome mat on his threshold. He smiled.

“Come in, Harry.”

Harry entered the room and took the seat that was offered to him. He just raised his eyebrow when Dumbledore offered him lemon drops. The headmaster chuckled a bit as he placed the bowl of his favorite sweets down on the table.

“How are you, Harry?”

Harry frowned at that, he had assumed this was an important meeting and not a get-together. It’s not like he hadn’t met he headmaster just a few hours ago when they had been released from the hospital wing

“Indulge me Harry, even if you don’t want to,” Dumbledore repeated his question.

“I am good, a bit stiff in the back, but I think it’ll go away by tonight or tomorrow morning, why?” Harry asked.

“Do you feel any change in your magic? Anything that you feel is new?”

The boy frowned at that. Anything new? No, everything felt alright to him. In fact, everything felt really good, better than how he had been all his life. It was as if there was a small illness in him and now it was cured, even though he knew that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his body.

Wait….what if that was the wrong thing?

“I feel good headmaster,” Harry began, “It’s as if I am recharged, and somehow my body has cured some sort of illness that I had. Though, I am pretty sure that I was perfectly fine before we went under Madam Pomfrey’s tender care.”

Dumblefore smiled at Harry’s choice of diction for the renowned healer’s practices when healing her patients, but he knew that there were far more important matters that needed to be answered.

“Yes, the ‘cure’ as you put it. Have you tried to feel it?” The warlock pressed, “Did you try to discover the reason behind why you are suddenly feeling healthier and far more energetic than normal?”

Harry shook his head.

“Have you ever read the Tales of Beedle the Bard, Harry?” Dumbledore asked him as he placed a small worn out book on the table.

“I have, sir,” Harry nodded, “The Tale of Three Brothers is quite a mysterious as well as popular one in the Wizarding World. The most powerful wand, the stone to raise the dead, and the cloak that renders you invisible to Death itself, quite a fascinating tale, I must say.”

Dumbledore hummed in agreement as his eyes focused on the boy, “And what do you think of the objects Harry? Do you believe they were really given to The Peverell brothers by Death?”

Harry shook his head, “No, the actual tale is quite different. It was turned into a children's tale by Beedle the Bard about three centuries ago, so as to prevent dark wizards from gaining the knowledge of such artifacts that had boundless powers confined in them.”

Dumbldeore nodded, he understood that Harry knew of the actual story behind the three Hallows. The story that very few in this land knew or could speak of. It was a closely guarded secret of the Necromancers Guild, and anyone who was found telling it to someone not of the guild was immediately killed.

Dumbledore pressed a rune on the underside of his desk and immediately activated the silencing ward around his table. The room was locked and all the portraits were forced into slumber by the magic of the ward, their curtains shutting closed.

“Then you must also know where the Hallows currently are, considering you have one of them.”

Harry nodded, “The Potters have had the third Hallow, or the Invisibility Cloak, for generations. You are the current wielder of the first Hallow and the Resurrection Stone is missing.”

Dumbleore leaned back in his chair as he peered at Harry, neither confirming nor denying anything. He knew that the Guild kept a close eye on the Hallows and where they were. Whenever one of them got a new master, the Guild would then call the person, and explain the Hallow to them as well as how to control their minds and not give into the allure of the Hallows.

“You are partially correct, Harry,” He told the boy, “The third Hallow is with you, but the first one isn’t with me anymore. I am just the keeper of the Hallow.”

“What?”

Dumbledore nodded as he looked at the flabbergasted expression on the Innovator’s face, “I lost it’s allegiance the same way I had gained it, with a duel. So the one who owns the Deathstick, isn’t me. It’s the person who defeated me,” Dumbledore flicked his wand arm and kept the Elder Wand on the table.

Harry’s eyes widened when he processed the information and looked at the Wand of Destiny that was placed in front of his eyes. His mind only uttered one word, ‘Shit…’

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The door to the VIP suite of Angelique Beaufort opened and out stepped the Greengrass heiress, a smug smile on her face. She looked behind at the weeping mess that was Angelique before she closed the door and started moving towards the staircase.

Daphne had been furious when she had received the letter from the French diva. In fact, the girl’s audacity had shocked the Greengrass heiress to the core.

The girl had told her that it was all planned and they had only planned to have some fun, nothing serious as evident by her intact virginity and scar-less body. But then one thing led to another and they had ended up wiping her memory.

She had begged the heiress to dismiss the case and call off the aurors because the girl was afraid of her career, rightfully so, as sooner or later the aurors would have caught her, and no amount of political clout could have saved her from what Lord Greengrass would have done.

Therefore, the girl was justifiably scared and had begged for forgiveness, willing to give Daphne an oath to never harm her, and would consider this as a huge favor. Daphne on the other hand had been furious, absolutely livid, and her father had been the same.

They would have stormed through the Hogwarts gates two days ago and punished the bint themselves if it wasn’t for the cool head of her mother, Elizabeth Greengrass. Daphne’s mother had stopped both of them and made them think this situation through with a much cooler head.

That's why Daphne was currently here, walking toward the staircase with a signed bond from Angelique Beaufort to serve Daphne Greengrass, personally, until the next year, and become an agent for House Greengrass for the next twenty years, working relentlessly for the benefit of the Noble house.

Angelique had put up an impetuous fight and threatened Daphne, but the heiress had simply told her that her father was in Dumbledore’s office with the letter still in his pocket. And the Lord’s ring would tell him of the threat on a member of his house which, as much as she knew, wouldn’t end well for the French diva or her life.

That had been the final straw and Angelique had signed her life away to the Greengrasses. Daphne was proud to have someone as socially powerful as an international celebrity under her thumb. It was also a side-benefit that Angelique had been the best duelist when she was Daphne’s age, and even now she ranked fourth internationally.

‘If only the girl was as good with her mind as she was with her wand,’ Daphne sighed and looked at her father, who had waited for her near the stairwell. ‘Well, good for me, she will train me in dueling now.’

“By the look on your face I am assuming she signed?” Cygnus asked his daughter who smirked and gave him the bond parchment.

“Did you expect anything else from me, dad?” She snarked back and they laughed. It was true that she had entered the situation unexpectedly, and for the worse, but she had come out of it gaining a good….servant, for herself and her family.

“I have already met Tori. She was worried about you, you know.” He told her as he patted her cheek, “Go tell her that you’re fine, alright?”

Daphne nodded and, with a last parting hug, Cygnus left her. Angelique got what she rightfully deserved, and now the Greengrass heiress was waiting for the one person who had been the mastermind behind all of this.

Draco Malfoy will get what he rightfully deserved, and the later he receives his due, the more her revenge would be sweeter.

Daphne looked back towards the way she had come from, she debated whether she should go and greet her Harry or not. But then she decided against it, they’ll meet in the great hall soon anyways.

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The manor was cold and dreary, it looked lavish and like something that only a select few individuals would possess, which meant Nagrrish was currently in a posh pureblood home. It was so different from the one where he had come from. His place, which was in shambles right now, was once a beautiful place with a lush green forest and ambient magic that helped the last fifteen generations of his family.

Nagrrish looked over at his guide and gave what others of his species would take as a relieved sigh. He had been locomoting relentlessly for the last two days and was dead tired, but he had a task, and he would do everything to fulfill it. After all, his whole family’s sacrifice depended on this task.

It was really unfortunate that his entire family was dead now. He had seen the two wizards come and kill almost every member of his immediate and extended family. The fact that Nagrrish was alive was actually a miracle, and the result of a good distraction.

Nagrrish had been the youngest, and smallest, member of his family, not more than seven inches. Therefore, it was easier for him to hide in the tall grasses and run away from the two mages who had destroyed him home.

And that’s why, his family had sacrificed themselves to save him. They had a task to accomplish and that was now entrusted on young Nagrrish’s shoulders….or on his body, as he didn’t have shoulders.

Yes, Naggrish was one of the many snakes that had infested the area near the Gaunt Shack. And he had been slithering for the two days, hiding from the muggles and doing everything to follow the magical sense that was leading him towards his master, the very same who resided in this giant manor.

He had just reached the lush green garden a few minutes ago. He had been making plans on how to infiltrate the manor and reach his master when he had been spotted by his guide. The very same who was currently walking beside him.

Apparently their master had felt Nagrrish enter the place and had sent her to help him. Nagrrish couldn’t help but wonder at his master’s strength and power. To sense a small being like him all the way from inside the tower was like searching a needle in the haystack. Even if he was sure that his master had only sensed the part of familiar magic that had invaded the manor, it was impressive nonetheless.

The door to one of the rooms opened and Nagrrish slithered inside, followed by the crazy lady who had been leading him this whole time. She gave him shivers and not of the pleasant nature.

“My Lord, I found him.” Bellatrix said and bowed in front of the green and silver throne that her lord was currently occupying, “He was hiding in the bushes, looking towards the window,” She pointed at the open window.

Voldemort’s red eyes focused on Nagrrish and he beckoned the snake forward, “I can sense my magic inside you. That is what alerted your presence to me, otherwise, you would have been dead a long time ago.”

Nagrrish knew that already, he was a smart snake. After all, it wasn’t an easy task to come to this place all the way from his birth place. There were a lot of villages that the two-legs infested.

§What brings you here my friend? I am assuming that the presence of my magic inside you is because I entrusted you or someone in your previous generation with some specific task?§

Nagrrish nodded and bowed, his master was a true speaker, the first that he had witnessed. There was only a story in his family, that his forefather, who had been entrusted with the task of protection, was the only one who had heard him speak, and Nagrrish felt elated that he was the second snake to hear their master speak their tongue.

§Yes master, you had instructed a member of my previous generation to protect a certain artifact to their last breath, and to tell you if someone took it away§

Voldemort frowned at that, he remembered all of his horcruxes; Nagini was used to make him whole, one was with the Malfoys, one was with Bella, one was at Hogwarts in the hidden room, and he had lost one to Regulus Black. The man had already been punished for that. He knew that none of these had been protected by snakes.

There was only one that was left and his red eyes widened when he remembered what it was.

§Tell me about it…§

And so, Nagrrish did just that. He told him how they were visited by two really strong and powerful wizards, they came and killed everyone in his family. Then they destroyed a part of the shack and removed something from it.

He also told him that for some reason, the two started fighting among themselves and traded deadly spells that changed the landscape around them. But since it was getting riskier to stay there, Nagrrish left the duo and followed the magic which would take him to his master.

The dark lord knew the treasure that had been kept there and he knew that someone had meddled with it. He just didn’t know who was strong enough to survive all the traps that were placed there, or who would even know of that place.

There was only one person that came to his mind when he thought of that.

“Albus Dumbledore,” He growled in anger before he flicked his wand and unleashed destruction in the room that he had been sitting in. Bellatrix was both scared and amazed at how easily her lord was wielding the force of destruction, and how fearlessly he was demolishing everything.

It was time to look after his soul pieces once more, it seemed that they were not safe anymore. Maybe he should relocate them once again.

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Ending note: There you have it fellas, chapter Twelve of Innovator, hope you liked it.

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Dev Black