Corvus slipped through the Nest. Stone corridors hummed with charms and the clean bite of alcohol from the labs. Rookwood was waiting just inside the arch, hands behind his back, head bowed.
"Heir Black."
Corvus nodded past him to the nearest time bubble. Inside, Wilmut, Campbell, and a half dozen white coats moved at a pace that was hard to follow.
"The ratio."
"One to twenty," Rookwood answered. "An hour for us, twenty for them."
It had been fourteen hours since he left for Nurmngrad, which meant nearly eleven days had passed inside the bubble.
"Sleep cycles?"
"On schedule. Food and light are patterned to reflect their day. No one is burning out."
Corvus stepped through the veiled edge of the bubble. The world tugged, then settled. He crossed to Wilmut, who was bent over a bank of clear pods that glowed with soft runes.
"Doctor Wilmut."
Wilmut straightened, eyes bright. "The artificial wombs are stable. Ten embryos are developing as expected. Heartbeats are regular. No anomaly beyond what you warned us about in magical variance."
Campbell tapped a slate. "We can sustain to term if the metrics hold. But controlled gestation is only half the question."
Wilmut kept his gaze on Corvus. "We still need births. Natural ones. Magical and non magical mothers. The comparison set matters. If you want real answers, we must control the mothers, real ones."
"You will have them," Corvus said. "Work as if the logistics are solved. If you need something Rookwood cannot provide, call for me."
Wilmut rubbed his neck. "Then we press on. This time bubble is amazing, I wish we could have it out in our world."
Corvus' gaze locked with his for a while. Mind what you wish for, Wilmut, it tends to come true in the worst way.
Corvus moved down the line. Two pods shimmered with containment arrays; life runes pulsed while sigils crawled along the glass. He checked the secondary benches where druids in dark linen whispered over rune plates, hands steady as they tuned arrays for additional pods.
Further on, another team collated samples from squib lines and matched them against parent houses. Charts climbed and fell. Arguments were quiet and sharp. The Nest worked like a heart.
He left the bubble, and the press of accelerated time eased. "Keep them on cadence," he told Rookwood. "Be watchful, so we do not lose people to speed."
Rookwood inclined his head. "Understood."
Corvus flashed out in fire and landed in the lord's study of Grimmauld Place. He went back to the drawing room. Tea was already steaming. Vinda, Arcturus, Grigori, and Sigibert had settled into the kind of silence that meant they were waiting to pounce. Grindelwald sat a little apart, the line of his mouth amused, as his old friends or rather what was left of them, were around him.
Corvus took the empty chair. "I need test subjects. Send me your female prisoners first. Strong magical males as well."
That knocked the quiet off its feet.
Arcturus set down his cup. "Before we send you anyone, you will translate the elf's talk of eggs and chickens."
Vinda leaned her elbows on her knees. "Tell me you are not breeding chimaeras from beasts and wizards."
Corvus lifted a brow. "No chimaeras. Yet. Though it is an interesting approach. Too many unknowns for too little return.
I am working on a way to increase the wizardkin's population with help from Muggle science. I have teams who have built an artificial womb, and it works, at least for now. What I need is natural births to measure what the mother gives in both Pure and Halfbloods. Hence, I want criminal women to use as brood mothers."
Grigori snapped his fingers. An elf appeared after nearly three minutes, gaunt with travel. Sigibert did the same; his elf took less time to arrive. Each rattled off low orders in their native tongue and shoved notes into small hands.
"Two days," Grigori said. "Prepare your cells. You will have women who will not be missed, and men who are hard to break."
Arcturus watched him over the rim of his cup.
"I am not sure I want to know all the details of such an operation or where you are conducting them. Just be careful, Corvus. Do not offend Mother Magic."
After a while, he remembered the owl he received from John Major and scoffed.
"So the news about the abducted Muggle... What was the term?" He turned to Vinda.
"Scientists." She filled in the word he couldn't find.
"Yes, scientists are linked to you after all. And what about England? Can it provide what you need or not?"
"It can, of course. I will handle England personally. I want a larger gene pool."
He called, "Kreacher."
The old elf arrived with a crack, uniform neat, chin high. He bowed to Corvus, then to Arcturus, then gave Grindelwald a long, unimpressed look.
"Young Master Black."
"How are you, old friend?"
"Kreacher is well. Kreacher is very bored. New elves run the house."
"I see, then it is good that I have work for you." Corvus kept his voice even. "I need subjects. No foreigners this time. Start with prisons, next hit the streets, the usual places. If they are broken, I'll patch them enough to use them. Cage them as before. Most must be female. Some males with strong bodies are needed as well."
Kreacher's face went blank in a dangerous way. "No female Muggle for Young Master Black."
Corvus blinked. "That is not what this is."
Kreacher crossed his arms. "Beautiful Wolf Mistress is good for Young Master Black. No filthy Muggle females."
Grigori laughed first, loud and pleased. "Elf, you have a room at Volkov Manor whenever you want it."
Kreacher sniffed. "Kreacher will think, cranky wizard."
Even Vinda's mouth curved. Sigibert shook his head, eyes bright. Arcturus coughed into his fist to hide a smile.
Grindelwald tilted his head. "Loyalty like that is rare. Do not waste it." His eyes flicked to Corvus's hands, then to the door. "But do not let it slow you either."
Corvus looked back at Kreacher. "The work is the work. We are not discussing my personal life. Find the woman, please. They will not see me. They will not speak to me. They will not remember me."
Kreacher hesitated, then gave a stiff nod. "Kreacher will bring them. No pretty ones. No softies." He gazed at Corvus suspiciously.
Kreacher vanished with a pop.
Arcturus set his cup down. "You are running at the edge of the knife."
"We are at war," Corvus said. "Time is the only resource I cannot buy."
Vinda studied him. "How many births for your comparison and how many years will you need to finalise the setup?"
"As many as we can manage without burning the subjects. I will manage that, do not worry, please." His non answer was not missed by anyone, especially Vinda. "As for approximate births, five to start. More or less, depending on the results of the first batch."
Sigibert rubbed his jaw. "We will get you what you want, Corvus. Their wands will be sealed. The rest is your problem."
Grigori leaned back, grin still wide. "I am excited about the results. If you can manage this, I would provide some Volkovas as well."
Vinda did not add anything, but her gaze was troubled. It was the same for Arcturus.
Gellert's gaze slid toward the fire. "You are building an army of children." It was a statement and a false one. It told him Grindelwald and the others had no idea what the science was.
Corvus did not look away. "Who knows, time will tell, Lord Grindelwald."
Silence held, not quite friendly, not hostile either. Everyone was aware there were two leaders in the same room, and even though Gellert had smoothed the clash at Nurmengard, it was far from over. Plans moved in the space between teacups and thoughts. Corvus stood.
"I need to leave," he said. A day has already passed in the bubble at the Nest.
The old wolves nodded like men who had already decided the same.
Gellert stayed where he was sitting. "It would be productive to sit and plan, Heir Black," he said while Corvus was opening the door.
"Of course, Lord Grindelwald. There are many things you are not aware of."
Corvus opened the door, going to his chambers.
After the door closed behind him, Gellert turned to Arcturus and Vinda. I would like to listen to everything about your Heir, and the reason why you three," his gaze went to Grigori as well. "Are looking decades younger than you should."
--
Corvus worked through the night with his teams in the Nest, then flamed to Grimmauld Place just after breakfast. The house was awake and wary. Old friends mingled in quiet voices.
They stayed up almost to dawn. Old stories, names of the dead, toasts that burned going down. Vinda and Arcturus laid out the new map. Abernathy listened hard, jaw tight; McDuff kept pressing for dates and numbers. Moira Carrow went quiet when Vinda reached the Carrow holdings; she stared at the rim of her glass and nodded once. Lucien Nagel pushed for France and did not like the answers. Vinda's work was moving things, yes, but Paris was not London, and the Ministry there still hid behind wards and committees.By the time the bottles ran low, Gellert had stopped needling and started to see a pattern. Corvus Black was moving towards world domination.
The young man ran the table without even showing up for the shift. Fewer mistakes than Gellert had made at the same age. The question was, can Grindelwald work with someone so young? He was not used to sharing command. Yet, as his gaze roamed around, the only people who meant anything to him anymore, he decided to give it a shot.
By the morning, Grigori and Krafft were already gone. Grindelwald asked for a meeting with Arcturus, Vinda, Corvus, and the four newly freed.
They took the study. Arcturus chose the chair behind the desk and settled there like a shield. Vinda chose to stand beside him. Corvus took the right chair. Grindelwald chose the one across his, one hand curved around a cup. Abernathy, Nagel, McDuff, and Carrow stood together near the window, still enjoying the free air.
Gellert tasted the tea. A small nod. Pale eyes on Corvus.
"Corvus Black," he said, voice light, almost lazy. "You have done much in a year. I applaud you." He tilted his head, a ghost of a smile. "You were correct on your accusations as well. More accurate than you were pleasant."
Corvus waited.
"I am a seer. Heir Black. I see glimpses of futures, not whole portraits. What I see is the most probable form of events based on what we do in the meantime." His gaze thinned. "I have acted based on those visions. I did not believe we as Magicals had the time to prepare. In the end, my visions come true, but from Muggles towards other Muggles, not us." He inhaled, locked his gaze with Corvus, and continued. "For years, I watched a single end. My death in the very cell I walked out. By the hands of someone who profaned Mother Magic. It did not change for years. Then last year it broke. Now I have no end that I know of."
The room held its breath. Arcturus folded his hands on the blotter. Vinda watched Corvus, not Gellert.
Gellert leaned forward. "So, I offer quiet." His eyes moved to each of the four by the window, then back. "I will rally what can still be rallied. I will turn minds against the Confederation where they still pretend at power, though on that end, you have done much better than I've ever managed to. I will lend myself and mine to your operations." A small pause. "In return, those four will enjoy youth again. Sigibert as well. Years stolen by Nurmengard will be paid back by the one who caused them to rot away."
Vinda's shoulders lowered a fraction. Arcturus did not blink.
Corvus looked at the four. Abernathy's jaw worked. Nagel's eyes stayed on the floor. McDuff tried to square his spine. Carrow pressed her mouth flat and would not fidget. Then Corvus looked back at Gellert.
"No."
A beat.
"No?" Gellert's brows rose, not offended, curious.
"I do not trust you. Lord Grindelwald." Corvus kept his tone even. "You were beaten by Albus Dumbledore, yes. Yet before that, you were partners. You shared methods. He is a Machiavellian through and through. You matched him step for step. You did not part over principle. You parted when Aberforth stepped in, and Ariana paid the price."
The name hung and cut.
Corvus went on. "So answer this for yourself. Would you trust someone like you?"
Silence settled, clean and heavy. Gellert's fingers tapped the rim of the cup, once. Twice. The old poise returned. He turned his head toward Arcturus and Vinda.
"You were right," he said mildly. "He did not even consider agreeing."
Arcturus let out a breath he had been holding since the tea was poured. "Terms, then," he said. "We are not children. We can make them."
Gellert looked back at Corvus. "Are you willing to hear them?"
"Please do continue, Lord Grindelwald," Corvus answered.