"You say that like it's a bad thing, Lucius." Wilkes noted, his dark eyes gleaming malevolently.
"Why did we follow the Dark Lord, Norman?" Lucius asked politely. "Because he espoused a pureblood agenda and promised us a place of power at his side? Because he was the Heir of Slytherin? Because he was to be feared as a Dark wizard with knowledge of the Arts beyond most of us and had the power to kill us if we did not?"
Everyone stirred uncomfortably.
"Let me take each argument singularly. Yes, he espoused a pureblood agenda but how many purebloods in our ranks did the Dark Lord kill simply because he was angry at them for some misdemeanour?" Lucius saw the question hit home. "How many purebloods were held under the Cruciatus curse for the same reason? How many died in skirmishes and raids due to the war he waged?"
"On both sides," Nott added with his usual quiet assurance, "blood traitors they may have been but we lost a number of families because we were ordered to eliminate them."
"It is interesting, is it not," Lucius added, "how we managed to secure most of the agenda we wanted in the days after the war without bloodshed?"
"You make a good point but to what end?" Selwyn said bluntly.
"I'm older and perhaps wiser," Lucius said, "I question the decisions made back then in a way that I didn't in my youth."
Travers looked at him with a glower. "You are heading down a traitorous path."
"I admit," Lucius said calmly, "that I would never have questioned the past in such a way except I have recently learned that the Dark Lord is not a pureblood."
The outcry was immediate.
"Lies!" It was Travers again that spoke out. "Traitorous lies!" He yelled at him. "The Dark Lord is the Heir to Slytherin!"
Lucius simply raised an eyebrow. "I did not claim he wasn't. He is indeed the Heir. Tom Marvolo Riddle was born of Merope Gaunt, descendent of Slytherin. His father, however, was a mere muggle who disowned both Merope and his son. The Dark Lord is no pureblood."
"What makes you think this Riddle fellow is our Lord?" Avery's voice quavered.
"I was given a possession of the Dark Lord's which bore his name and Black filled me in on the rest." Lucius said candidly.
"Well, Black lied to you! He has filled your head with a story!" Travers insisted.
Selwyn was the one who shook his head sadly. "No, Lucius tells the truth. The Dark Lord hid his secret well. I only discovered it when my niece investigated the Heir of Slytherin nonsense at Hogwarts a year or so ago and found Riddle's name and history in an old genealogy book in my family library."
"You also forget, Travers, that some of us are old enough to have known Tom Riddle." Nott said with authority. "Lucius is quite correct."
"Why didn't you say something?" Wilkes demanded.
Nott raised one dark eyebrow. "Those of us aware of the Dark Lord's true name swore never to reveal it. I'm rather surprised that Selwyn's niece and Black found anything; I thought the records had been destroyed."
Most of the gathering looked appalled to realise they had followed a halfblood in a war of his making that had decimated so many purebloods. Travers looked belligerent.
"And so we come to the final reason why we would follow him; his magical power and knowledge." Lucius stated. "His knowledge of the Dark Arts is certainly extensive and vast." He motioned with his hand. "But it is not equal to the House of Black. He courted all of us associated with the House so fiercely because he wanted that knowledge."
"But he is unequalled in power!" Travers pointed out. "You cannot deny that!"
Lucius smiled cruelly. "As much as we all don't want to admit it, he was bested by a baby; a baby that has grown into a powerful young wizard."
"Pah!" Wilkes said. "The Boy Who Lived is a myth of Dumbledore's making!"
Lucius inclined his head. "I believed the same but yesterday I saw his power. Croaker was present and declared the event need-to-know."
Another wave of muttering swept around the table.
"The Potter boy is truly that powerful?" Selwyn looked at him sceptically. "The reports coming out of Hogwarts suggest an average child."
"Academically, perhaps," Parkinson countered, "but there are rumours that abound of his adventures. A troll? The whole mystery over what actually happened Quirrell? A basilisk? Dementors? How many of these tales have we heard from our children and dismissed assuming childish exaggeration or more myth-building by Dumbledore?"
"I can confirm that those incidents occurred." Lucius murmured.
"Well, something doesn't add up." Nott observed. "On one hand we have a child who is average and yet who apparently can take on Dark creatures and come out the victor."
"He could be hiding his power – that would explain the average performance." Gibbon suggested brightly.
"That's a Slytherin trait and the boy's a Gryffindor!" Wilkes countered.
"There may be a reason for his hiding his abilities within his upbringing." Yaxley interjected. He lifted a hand from the table. "Bones kept the Black investigation close to her chest but checking it out since – she visited Potter at his muggle residence and the next day had Potter's guardianship changed to Black."
"Abuse?" Gibbon looked horrified.
Yaxley nodded slowly. "I believe so. There is a detailed report filed with the WOO but it is under seal."
"Muggles!" Wilkes said darkly. "Why the old fool thought placing a wizarding child with muggles was a good idea is beyond me!"
Lucius refrained from pointing out the many meetings in the days just after the Dark Lord's defeat where they had discussed tracking down and killing the boy only to be stumped on how to navigate the muggle world.
Nott motioned at Lucius. "You say you saw his power yesterday? Can you give any details?"
"I cannot due to a Vow," Lucius said with frankness knowing they would assume he meant one authorised by the Head of the DOM, "but it was…incredible."
"So the boy's powerful, I fail to see what this has to do with anything!" Jugson stated impatiently.
"You cannot see why we would wish to know these things before we begin discussing the possible return of the Dark Lord?" Selwyn replied before Lucius could. "Are you an idiot, Jugson?"
Lucius was amused to see MacNair, Crabbe and Goyle flush alongside Jugson; evidently they had all been thinking the same thing.
"From what Lucius has said, we now have an independent and powerful House of Black to contend with along with the resurrection of the House of Potter." Nott summarised. "Both of which are under the control – directly or indirectly – of Sirius Black who, despite being a blood traitor is in every way as mean a son-of-a-snake as every Lord Black before him. He's already shown ruthlessness in disposing of the LeStranges and cunning in his obtaining the guardianship of the Potter boy."
"In other words, make him an enemy at your peril." Selwyn nodded in agreement.
"The bad news is that if the Dark Lord returns, the House of Black will consider him and by extension his followers as an enemy." Parkinson chipped in. "However, the good news for us is that Lord Black doesn't seem inclined to bow down to Dumbledore as he did as a youth."
"No, the bad news for us is that if the House of Black stands against the Dark Lord and leads the fight instead of Dumbledore this time, the current Lord Black has no compunction about killing everyone who may threaten his charge." Nott contradicted. "A charge who evidently has the power to defeat the Dark Lord himself."
Selwyn coughed. "So last time there was the Dark Lord or Dumbledore; this time there will be the Dark Lord, Dumbledore or the House of Black – a third option that wasn't available in the last war."
Wilkes snorted.
"You're talking of betraying the Dark Lord!" Travers insisted.
"We are talking of how best to preserve and further our agenda." Lucius replied easily.
"By abandoning our Dark Lord!"
Nott smiled blandly. "The only one to suggest such a thing has been you, Travers." He motioned towards Lucius. "I believe we were merely drawing a picture of how the landscape is now and how different it is from when we all took the Dark Lord's Mark."
Which meant Nott was on board and understood: they had another choice than following the Dark Lord.
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