Antonio returned to his house after his 'teaching' session with Bellatrix only in the afternoon. Even after few hours of continuous and almost intense practice, Bellatrix had not been willing to stop. Only after he had explained and tried to convince her that she should give her mind a rest had she finally agreed to return.
But Antonio doubted she would truly rest at Grimmauld Place. Even if she did not practice with her wand, her mind would surely keep turning the spell over again and again.
Naturally, she had not been able to master the spell in a single day, but thanks to Antonio's guidance and insights, she had made marked improvements in her fundamentals and was covering her basics properly. Bellatrix, to be honest, needed nothing more than a little bit of guidance to approach that particular. She was no slouch and with Antonio guiding her, things were bound to come to her.
Antonio's explanation and guidance had not only helped her in this particular spell but had also improved her understanding of her magic as whole.
Antonio expected her to be able to perform the spell within a couple of weeks. Thereafter, she would still need more time to truly master it, and to wield it with the same stability and power Antonio had displayed during the honour duel would be an even tougher task.
Bellatrix was a naturally talented witch. Her control over magic was impeccable, as was her obsession with strength and complex spells. Her expressions while he was guiding her had almost reached the level of devotion.
Though her path had been altered, Antonio sometimes still wondered if her obsession with strength and powerful magic had been what led her, in another life, to fall into obsession with Voldemort. As of now, her father, Cygnus Black had stopped talking of her marriage with Rodolphus Lestrange and this allowed Bellatrix to keep her cool. Even so, the proposal had not been annulled. But now with Reinhart dead, he was curious what turn Cygnus was going to take.
And thinking of Voldemort, he could not help but wonder, what was that man plotting now? A revenge attack on Edmund Bones? Highly unlikely, Antonio reasoned. If Edmund were attacked again, public sympathy and emotion would shift completely against Voldemort. And Antonio was sure Voldemort would not want that.
Then perhaps a diversionary attack on someone else? He was not certain, but he remained in anticipation of Voldemort's next move. The moment when the Death Eaters would emerge once again.
Antonio did not waste much time dwelling on these thoughts, as he had something else to do today. Pay a visit to the Sinistra family.
It had been quite a few days since he had sent a letter to Aurora, and he had not received any reply from her since then. Now, he was beginning to grow a little worried about her. Unless there was something, Antonio could not see any reason why would have she not replied. And thus, he decided he would pay her a visit and find out what was happening with her. To the Sinistra Mansion.
.
.
.
Abraxas Malfoy, Lord of House Malfoy, was going through a period of uncertainty and anxiety. He had just returned that morning after spending the entire night standing before the Dark Lord, where he had learned of the death of Reinhart Lestrange.
Although he had tried to maintain a firm stance in front of his son, Lucius Malfoy, inwardly he was growing increasingly worried.
Abraxas would not claim that Reinhart was his best friend or even a great friend. In the kind of life they lived, dictated by politics and survival, there was no such thing as best or great friends. At most, they were colleagues or allies, bound together by circumstances. Bound together by greed of benefit.
And Reinhart had been one of his closest allies. Since the very inception of the Dark Lord's movement and the formation of the Death Eaters, the two of them had come together for their mutual benefit.
In terms of wealth and votes in the Wizengamot, the Malfoys stood on equal footing with the other three most powerful houses- the Potters, the Longbottoms, and the Blacks. But their influence was not as wide as the other three families, nor were they as respected as those houses. The reputation of the Malfoy was no where as legendary as those three families.
And so, Abraxas had aligned himself with Reinhart Lestrange and Lord Nott. Under the umbrella of the Dark Lord and his promised reign, which Abraxas was certain would come, the trio had woven plans and plots of their own.
Plans to raise the status of their family. Plans to accumulate more power in their hands when the reign of the dark lord comes over Wizarding Britain. One of those such plans had included roping in the Black family. Marrying the heirs of their families to the three Black sisters had been part of this big trap they had been weaving.
Now, with Reinhart dead, much of those plans had come crashing down. Abraxas was not certain if he would be able to hold these plans together or not.
But this was not the end of Abraxas' worries. He was also concerned about the coming behavior and future steps of the Dark Lord. The death of eight Death Eaters was no small matter. He knew the Dark Lord to be a volatile man and remained completely unaware of his true nature. What worried him most was the thought that, in his anger, the Dark Lord might take some reckless step that could shatter all their plans.
Abraxas feared the Dark Lord doing something insane.
He understood that this was not the time to be carried away by emotions, but to think and plan carefully. One wrong move, and the whole of Wizarding Britain would turn against them. And that was not something Abraxas desired.
Abraxas had just finished his breakfast or whatever one would call it after remaining famished for the entire night and was about to retire to his room for rest when he felt someone tugging at the wards of Malfoy Manor. Cygnus Black.
He had a fair idea of what Cygnus was here to discuss. He did not really was in the mood to deal with Cygnus but he could not really turn away the man. With a deep sigh, he prepared himself to welcome him.
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