Corbin Yaxley stood on a plateau overlooking a massive courtyard; this was in southern Britain and a castle stood behind him. Or more like an old luxurious building, but it was still called a castle. And it was one that had now been built as a fortress against any potential French Invasions.
And living in this castle and the maybe two hundred tents set up around it, lived over 500 dark wizards. Men recently freed by Draco Malfoy and had now pledged themselves to the Dark Lord.
Yaxley had to admit that the young heir had per now left quite the impression on Yaxley, Draco had proven himself a man of sufficient cunning and potential. The balls needed to step before Voldemort during his worst of moods, and bring forth such a suggestion was one thing.
But to then ask command and sole credit for said task? That was a whole other thing, but the young man had pulled through. And the Dark Lord's cause had been greatly strengthened by his efforts. Not only in the massive amounts of loyal personnel that had no way home, except through the Dark Lord.
But also in quality, for alongside these prisoners. Had arrived 4 men and 1 woman of noticeable skill. Most of the troops had already been tested to note down their skills and to then properly divide them, and it had been quite remarkable.
A man by the name of Henry Tostrup had fought Fenrir Greyback to a standstill, and thereby entered the ranks of Voldemort's 4 strongest men. And another man by the name of Karsten Daos had fought and barely defeated Rodolphus Lestrange- Bellatrix Lestrange's wife. And thereby ranked amongst the top 8.
Additionally, there were three others around Lucius and Yaxley's own level: Sofia, Isak, and Andre. Surprisingly, through the tests they had discovered that over 90 of the dark wizards were extraordinarily powerful, around the same level as the general French Aurors.
However, it was undoubtedly young Draco Malfoy that won the most from this. For not only did he gain the loyalty of one Torstein Galte, a man rumored to be an equal to Bellatrix Lestrange. But so came his sons, Sverre and Jacob Galte, both only slightly weaker than Yaxley himself.
Alongside Lars Fabian and Oscar Høydahl, both of whom ranked in the top 15 of Voldemorts men. He also had some 12 men of noticeable skill, and 120 ranked equal to most security personnel. And 158 of lesser skill, and Voldemort had cared little for the fact that young Draco now held the second-largest force. Except for Garrick Travers, while Fenrir was slightly weaker than Draco due to personal strength.
The reason Garrick Travers was so strong was that eight great houses had pledged themselves directly underneath him. While the remaining 15 or so that openly supported the Dark Lord supported his faction in some form or way.
Both Dolohov and Scabier followed him, one out of interest, the other for money. Alongside Rookwood. And in total, Travers commanded more than 25% of Voldemort's total forces, with Fenrir holding 13% and Draco 8%.
Yaxley and Pirus had bonded together to combat this immense political force gathered around Travers, and with their combined positions essentially held the entire Ministry for Magic- granting them immense political weight. But not as much physical weight.
Though the Inquisitors were turning out to be quite an effective investment, though the 4th Company was solely Draco's, and everyone knew it, and Yaxley let it happen. Though he would still participate in any credit the unit received.
Voldemort's forces were widely spread and lacked any form of central command. Something which Yaxley hoped to improve upon, which would give him and the Magister additional powers as high upon the chain of command, but would also weaken the other major powers.
But still, they needed order. And Yaxley had somehow managed to gather a full tally of all of Voldemort's Death Eaters, at least those centralized under the dark council. And the numbers had turned out surprising.
Across all of Britain, a total of 2500 wizards were registered under the Dark Lord. And out of a population of 125,000 wizards across the country, it was actually quite acceptable. And coupled with some 1500 wizards in the Ministry for Magic, they held a vast majority over any other military force in England.
The Order of the Phoenix, had according to Lucius- a surprising change of focus from the man, he had grown a network of god knows what. And they were gathering quite concrete and effective evidence. Anyway, he had somehow managed to discern an ish number of members.
They too had clearly grown. And now possessed nearly 800 members in all types of form or specialization. And now they had settled in a base in Northern Ireland, constantly receiving reinforcements from wizards across the country. Though very few actually knew the Order was doing something.
The result of a very expensive war of information, but one that was certainly necessary. And in a similar fashion, Lucius had revealed the Irish numbers. They had been hard at work, and had assembled an army of 1000 wizards. And out of a total of 15,000 wizards, that was quite good work.
And Yaxley knew very well what was coming next; it was no secret for neither the Irish nor the British. And the Irish must have had some general idea of who broke out the Dark Wizards in Norway, whether the authorities discerned the truth from it or not. It mattered little.
A war was coming, and it would be a lot bloodier than the first. Because the conflict had changed from a coup to a full-blown war, and one was a lot bloodier than the other.
.....
Narcissa Malfoy sipped down the 4th coffee of the day, as she continued to read the various documents she had on her desk, sent to her by her assistant at Blackwood Corporation.
Everything had proceeded quite smoothly, and 3 oil rigs were set up and already running. Each rig was supervised by 5 wizards, loyal men who were paid extremely well and bound via the Unbreakable Vow.
It took considerable payment and convincing to make 15 wizards swear it. But she had done it eventually, and now the rigs were running at full capacity. Producing oil that went straight to refining corporations, that under the Imperius Curse would buy it at above-market prices. Earning them some nice coin.
Already, the money was being whitewashed through the purchase of gold, which was then turned into magical currency. And spent to pay the hundreds of soldiers now on Malfoy's payroll. Of course, Narcissa understood that only buying gold could eventually lower it's worth on the market, but that did not cost Malfoy anything. As Gringotts and the Wizarding Economy did not follow the fluctuations of the Muggle Economy.
That was simply how it worked, and Narcissa intended to abuse the shit out of it. She also found it quite surprising that her son had gotten her to do this, as no matter how different her and Bellatrix's upbringings were. Wizarding supremacy and independence was not lacking in hers either.
'The love a mother holds for her son is truly something of a different world. To make me do this, it is almost comical.' She thought as she read over the weekly output. The second week since it had all begun, and already they were beginning to earn more than what they knew to use it on.
Of course, that was only how her mind worked. Her son, however, had already informed her of multiple plans. He intended to buy massive properties across Britain. And it almost seemed like he intended to turn them into fortresses, but Narcissa doubted it.
However, what she did not doubt was his intent to rip apart the current system in place. And replace it with a new one entirely. For he had already detailed his plans to create massive glasshouses for the production of special magical plants, and other produces.
And with the money from the oil rigs, Narcissa knew that her son might just have the coin to simply buy out all competition and recieve Monopoly. Adding to that, she also knew that Voldemort could not care less of money. And even though some of the great houses might cause problems.
His son's position and might alone would hinder either Pirus, Yaxley or Travers from committing any rash decisions, and thereby her sons power would only continue to a grow to a point where only Voldemort could stop them. Though Narcissa was sure her son knew that as well, but how he was going to handle him?
She could not care less at the moment. As a matter of fact, she did not want to know. She and her son had both endured intense Occlumency and Legilimency training, taught to create fake memories and desires. But she did not want to risk it.
Her son's talents far surpassed her own. And that was a fact, not a question. He had been steadily improving in almost every field, and at first it had almost terrified her. But the more he grew, the safer she felt.
There was no more of the constant changing situations in the Malfoy Family, even before Voldemorts return there were always times when they had money, and time's where they were awaiting the 'next big thing' or when her husband was facing new investigations.
But now, in the middle of a war. As oil rigs ensured a secure income, as her husband's intelligence network ensured they had some advantage, and her sons might continue to increase. Both his subordinates and his own, and House Malfoy had never been so magnificent as it currently was.
For we were no longer the political gofer between ancient houses and magistrates; now we were the leading Magical House, equalled only by House Travers and Black. One through intelligence and support, the other through their bloodline and the strength of 2 of it's members.
She had even received marriage alliances from half a dozen houses for her young Malfoy, not that she would ever dare plot an arranged marriage for the man that all but led her house. But she also knew none of the Great Houses would interest him.
For unlike Voldemort, he was growing his house to become independent of them. And their influence was something that Malfoy cared little for; the problems they could cause him were very minor- and marrying one family was not going to help if they did try something.
Now they just had to bide their time, though Narcissa Malfoy knew a massive battle was creeping up on them, one she knew could once again threaten her sons life. And her husband, one that she was slowly beginning to love with the new changes in his personality.
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påetron: Pondsfyre
+6 chapters
6 additional books.
Star Wars: An Imperial Officer: +20 chapters (60 total)