The stone tower Lysander had assigned to Cho was less a room and more a gilded cage. It was round, lined with ancient tapestries depicting the elemental wars of the previous century, and furnished with heavy, opulent furniture that offered no comfort.
Cho sat at the heavy oak table, her hands trembling slightly as she pressed her signet ring into a pool of silver wax.
She wasn't writing to the Ministry. She wasn't writing to Hermione.
She was writing to the Godfather. To the man Harvey had chosen in that impossible, desperate future. The man who was the antithesis of everything the Order stood for, yet the only one James believed could navigate the grey world Lucien was now entering.
She had written only three lines.
The Paradox has begun. The boy is with Grindelwald. You owe a debt to a ghost. Pay it now.—C.
She didn't write the name of the recipient on the parchment. She didn't dare. Lysander Grindelwald was a legilimens of terrifying power; he would pluck a name from her surface thoughts if she dwelled on it, and he would certainly read any ink left exposed.
Instead, she performed the specific, obscure binding spell James had taught her—a spell used by pureblood families to send messages that could only be delivered by blood-recognition, not by address.
She pressed her thumb into the soft silver wax. "Sanguis Vinculum," she whispered.
The wax flashed red, then settled back to silver. It had absorbed the magical signature of the recipient she held in her mind. It would guide the owl unerringly to him, but to anyone else—even Lysander—the envelope would appear blank.
The door behind her creaked open.
Cho didn't flinch. She placed her hand over the letter.
"The altitude takes some getting used to," Lysander said, his voice smooth and cold as the mountain air. He placed a tray of food on the side table. "You haven't eaten."
"I'm not hungry," Cho said, standing up and turning to face him. She held the blank, silver-sealed envelope against her chest. "I need to send this."
Lysander raised a silver eyebrow, his eyes darting to the letter. "A letter? My dear Cho, we are in the Aerie. We do not exist. Sending an owl is like lighting a flare in a dark room."
"It's not for the Ministry," Cho said, her voice steady despite her racing heart. "And it's not for Harry Potter."
"Then for whom?" Lysander took a step closer, his presence suffocating. "Who else matters in this equation?"
"A failsafe," Cho lied, channeling every ounce of Ravenclaw wit she possessed. "An old debt. Someone who hates the Ministry as much as you do, but who owes me a favor."
Lysander extended his hand. "Let me see."
Cho hesitated, then handed him the envelope.
Lysander turned it over. It was heavy, expensive parchment. The front was completely blank. The back bore only the silver wax seal, unadorned by any crest.
He ran his long, pale finger over the seal. "Curious. No address. No name. A Blood-Bound delivery?"
"It's a family charm," Cho said. "The owl will find the signature locked in the wax. If you try to break the seal, the message incinerates. You know the spell."
Lysander hummed, a sound of grudging respect. "I do. Old magic. Paralyzingly private." He looked at her, his blue eyes boring into hers. "You are trying to recruit allies, Cho? Or are you trying to betray me?"
"I am trying to ensure my son survives," Cho said fiercely. "You think you can control the Ministry, Hermione Granger, and the prophecy all at once? You're arrogant, Lysander. You need a variable that Hermione won't see coming. This letter... this wakes up a variable."
Lysander studied her. He saw the fear, yes, but he also saw the strategic desperation. He loved chaos. He loved variables. And the idea of a secret player entering the game, one even he didn't know, appealed to his colossal vanity. He believed he could outmaneuver anyone.
"A mystery," Lysander mused, tapping the envelope against his chin. "Very well. I will allow it."
Cho nearly sagged with relief, but she held her posture rigid. "You'll send it?"
"I will send it to the Owl Post in Vienna," Lysander said. "From there, it will seek its master. But be warned, Cho. If this 'failsafe' of yours brings the Aurors to my doorstep, I will not kill you. I will make you watch as I excise the memory of you from Lucien's mind, leaving him truly motherless."
"Send it," Cho whispered. "Just send it."
Lysander slipped the blank letter into his robes. "Sleep, Cho. Tomorrow, Lucien begins Elemental Combat. The world is changing, and you have just cast a stone into the dark. Let us see what ripples return."
He turned and swept out of the room, the lock clicking home with a heavy thud.
Cho sank to the floor, her legs giving out. She had done it. The message was gone. It was flying blind into the world, seeking the one man who had every reason to hate her son, but who had been chosen by Harvey to save him.