A Different Kind of Magic--UNDERGOING EDIT

Chapter 49- Changing of the Guard

The blade of the muggle knife gleamed dully around the flesh and viscous blood from Yaxley’s carotid artery, pulsing uselessly into the floor. That had not been satisfying in the least bit, but it simply wouldn’t do to have such a moronic imbecile under his rule. The useless fuck had finally picked the short straw. Lucius internally cursed himself for not disposing of the man sooner. Now, the lack of foresight had cost him the one thing that was most important to his final goal; Lupin’s brat.

Lucius briefly entertained the notion of violating Yaxley’s arse and dispensed with it just as quickly. It took kinky, dangerous and infinitely more bizarre acts of sexual pleasure to excite Lucius. Sex with a corpse was old news. Yaxley hadn’t even been attractive. He was a boring screw at the best of times. No, there had definitely been no pleasure lost there.

In a fit of rage he obliterated the man’s face and skull until a mush of brains mixed with bones dotted the various surfaces of the room. When the edge had been taken off his rage, he summoned Shacklebolt’s wife to clean up the mess. It was time to kick some serious ass.


--


“Umbridge!” Malfoy roared, stomping gracelessly into her office during afternoon tea.

The normally shrewd woman cowed momentarily under his wrath, her putrid pig nose twitching in response.

“Assemble the senior staff. I want answers!”

“Yes My Lord!” she hastily replied, knocking her tea over in her haste to obey his orders.

Lucius Evenesco’ed the mess and promptly took her seat. After she had rushed out of the room, Lucius took great pleasure in shattering each and every cat plate on her wall, one at a time.


--

Each and every head before him was bowed, each gaze averted to the floor. He mentally ticked off the assembled heads of staff. Umbridge, Shacklebolt, Kisklove, Shaw. They were all complete and utter imbeciles. He realized that his methods had been wrong from the start. Malfoy had tried to act covertly, behind the scenes through Shacklebolt.

Rita Skeeter had readily subjected herself to his and Narcissa’s depravities in exchange for whatever coverage of any topic they wanted. His recent purchase of the Daily Prophet had seen her lips wrapped permanently around every cock in this room at one time or another; terrified she would no longer be needed.

They were all irrelevant. What he needed was someone with gusto. A person who wasn’t afraid to carry out orders, kill on command and got results. He needed a real powerhouse, someone who could hold his trust and not fuck up on every third command. Bingo.

“Umbridge!” he barked. She stepped forward mechanically, desperately unhappy with his displeasure amid the ruins of her carefully cultivated cat plate collection.

“Yes My Lord Malfoy,” she grated. It still irked her to address him so. He would have to punish her for her suppressed insolence.

He ignored it for the time being. “You have a man in your employ at Hogwarts. My former colleague Rabastan Lestrange, I do believe?”

“Yes My Lord. He has been placed there as Deputy Headmaster at your command. Professor Lestrange took over Severus Snape’s position.”

“Has he had anything to report?”

“Nothing of consequence, My Lord. He suspects the Order of the Phoenix may still be operating within the castle but has been unable to provide concrete evidence. He does not hold the full confidence of the Headmistress.”

It was of no consequence. Lucius could give a flying fuck about Hogwarts. He needed the man in the field to dig up the rest of the Prophecy parchments. The lackluster performance of his current team left much to be desired. Rabastan had always remained loyal to the Dark Lord. It was time to put his talents to good use instead of letting him rot away at Hogwarts.

“Summon him to me. I am putting him in charge of the Prophecy.”

“But My Lord! You have entrusted me with the hunt for the scrolls! I assure you that-“

“SILENCE WOMAN!” he thundered. “You have displeased me with your lack of progress. Your arse has seen more growth than your efforts!” Lucius snapped his cane onto the floor for emphasis.

“Empty promises and idle prattle ends here. Today. The games are over. You will obey me to the letter or suffer exquisitely before each one of you is sacrificed to further my glory. Fail me, you die. Your families will die. If you think my threats are not real, feel free to test me.”

Not one of them met his challenging gaze.

“You are my servants, nothing more. Your thinking will change. There is nothing for you independent of me. I choose whether you eat, breathe shite or die. If I tell you to jump, you will ask how high. When I ask you to run, the correct answer is, how far, My Lord? Self interest ends in this room. If you do not serve me wholly, tell me instantly, and on offer, for this moment only, I will grant a quick and painless death.”

You could hear a pin drop. A mewl from a piece of cat plate issued plaintively. Lucius ground the remains of it beneath his boot.

Just to keep them off guard, he forced Umbridge to strip and have each wizard violate her with their wands and various spells of his own design. It was quite satisfactory. Narcissa didn’t know what hit her that night.


--

Rabastan stood before Lucius Malfoy by the grave of Tom Riddle. It was symbolic unholy ground. Rarely was the site employed except for the most potent of meetings between black wizards. He was not afraid of Malfoy, merely curious. The big wizard admitted to himself that a bit of complacency had slipped into his normally razor sharp demeanor since his employment to look after the spawn of inferior blood had been enacted. Comfort was never something he had aspired to. It made one weak, much like certain curly haired witches with soft backsides and willing lips that haunted his dreams. Yes, it was definitely time to take a new tack. Despite his disgust with Lucius, the new assignment should prove interesting.

“Undersecretary Umbridge has spoken very highly of you, Rabastan.”

“Thank you, My Lord,” he enunciated tonelessly.

“My personal apologies for not revealing myself to you sooner in the game, but you understand, we had to test your loyalty, just to be sure.”

“Of course, My Lord.” Personal apologies, his arse, more like.

“Hogwarts is unworthy of your infamous talents. Pity about your brother; Rodolphus was a most unimaginative creature. He had a flair for the arcane, although a bit bloodthirsty and backward for my taste. Roddy never did fit in well at our Dark Lord’s social forays, did he?”

“No My Lord, he did not. He preferred to remain undistinguished.” His brother had despised being called Roddy.

“You mean he liked to fuck. Rape, fuck, and murder. If the man wasn’t killing, he was fucking. There was no finesse to his method.”

“Very true, My Lord.”

“But you,” Lucius circled him like a predator assessing his prey, “you, Rabastan, have potential. Yes, I can see greatness in you. My right hand man. How would you like to be at the side of the next wizard who will rise to become even more powerful than the old fool we used to serve?”

That caught his attention. Lucius was definitely onto the Prophecy. It was the only explanation.

“I can see in your eyes the seduction of power. I can teach you the finer points of the Dark Arts, some of which were wasted on Voldemort. He was too shortsighted to use them effectively. That is why he lost.”

Rabastan instinctively flinched at his name.

“I can assure your immortality, wealth, prestige and power. And, of course, whatever you wish to satiate your appetites.” Lucius cast a knowing glance at him.

Rabastan’s sexual appetites during the Death Eater orgies had been insatiable. It hadn’t entirely been coerced. There was definitely a part of him that craved the twisted, corrupt sexual release that only came from an unwilling victim. He was both deeply ashamed and strangely excited at the prospect of revisiting that particular part of his past.

“I live to serve, My Lord. I am at your command.”

Lucius was all business. One could almost be fooled into mistaking him for a gentlemanly Lord of the Manor, gone for a bit of a stroll with a counterpart, having strayed into a bit of bad ground.

Rabastan would never be fooled by the exterior. The man was a fucking monster.

Lucius described, in detail, what they knew of the Prophecy and where their searches had, so far, been focused. Rabastan was relieved to find that the Order had exactly the same information as Malfoy, plus one additional fact; Hermione had him looking into the deed for Snape Manor. Lucius had no such information. They were ahead of the game. It was the perfect opportunity to seize authority to search whatever Ministry records he needed access to. This assignment had dropped into his lap at exactly the right moment.

“What shall I tell the Headmistress, My Lord?”

“For now, you shall keep up appearances. Do not give them any indication that your role has changed. When the beginning of school arrives, I will arrange for an extended absence if it is required for you to fulfill your duties. Your number one priority is the acquisition of the additional Prophecy scrolls. Do you have any concerns?”

“None, My Lord.”

“Very good. Rabastan?”

“Yes, My Lord?”

“You now have the authority to do as you will within the Ministry, as long as you do not overstep your bounds. You will report directly to me. If you wish, have some fun with Umbridge. She deserves to squirm.”

“Yes My Lord.”

“One last thing.” Lucius leaned forward conspiratorially, as if there were someone else in the graveyard to overhear them. “Our old friend Severus has rejoined his traitorous allies in some way. He is accompanied by a young witch who attended Hogwarts as his student by the surname of Granger. She is presumably his Mudblood whore.”

Rabastan’s blood ran cold.

“You are to inform me personally if you become aware of their presence.”

“Yes My Lord.”

“You are also aware of Professor Lupin?”

“Yes My Lord. He is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

“Yes. If you are ever afforded the opportunity, seize his young son and bring him to me.”

“As you command, My Lord.”

“That is all. You may return to Hogwarts. If you need to report to me, use this Port Key.” Lucius dropped an innocuous looking skeleton key into his hand. “It will take you directly to my office within the Shacklebolt Estate if you speak the word ‘Absinthe’. “

“Very good, My Lord.”

“Rabastan.”

Lucius paused and pressed the tip of his muddy cane into Rabastan’s chest.

“Do not fail me.”

The deadly look Malfoy gave him left no room as to the seriousness of the statement. The power hungry megalomaniac Apparated with a resounding ‘CRACK!’, leaving Rabastan to weigh the enormity of his new assignment.