Chapter Text
The Department of Mysteries
The Love Chamber
Knowing who Reyna’s mother was was one thing, but Harry wanted to have all of the answers before he showed up on Reyna’s doorstep with that information, and now that he was the Head of the Department, he had access to almost all of it. The original files about Reyna’s conception and several other experiments from that era had been destroyed. So, Harry had to tackle this from another angle, and that brought him to the Love and Fate Chamber.
When he stepped inside, Gareth Greengrass stood up straighter and gestured for his apprentice, Emelia Davis, to leave them be.
Harry raised an eyebrow, “This is a nice place. I like what you’ve done with it,” he said, gesturing at the large fountain in the centre of the room.
Gareth narrowed his eyes at Harry and walked towards him, “As Head of the Department, you are, of course, permitted to be here, Harry. However, I would still query what brings you to our domain.”
“Oh, call it a hunch, Gareth,” Harry said calmly, “I need to ask you some questions.”
Gareth glanced behind him to ensure that Emelia was out of earshot, “Funnily enough, when you became Head of the Department, I thought you might.”
“Hm,” Harry mused, “It was why you didn’t want me to become Head, I suppose.”
“I believe you are a good man for the job, Harry,” Gareth said honestly, “A little young perhaps, but then again, some of the best are. However, I did fear that your headship would bring to light one of the most shameful moments of my career.”
Harry leant against a stone post and looked at the fountain behind him. It was a beautifully ornate stone fountain, and it was clear it came from a different time. The circular fountain was filled with a pale blue shimmering fluid that looked similar to the liquid that came out of the wand when casting the Patronus charm. At the centre was a secondary structure. It was almost like a small stone gazebo, held up with three pillars and with a platform big enough for two people to stand on beneath it. A stepping stone across the fountain’s base was how the little platform was accessed. The stone was white and shimmering, obviously well-maintained for a fountain Harry guessed was older than Morgana.
“The Fountain of Love,” He said, gesturing at the fountain, “The mythical fountain in Ancient Rome. Is that it?”
“If it is, don’t tell the Italians,” Gareth said with a smirk not too dissimilar to one that Harry had seen on Cygnus Greengrass’s face many times.
Harry chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, “How does it work, then? Two people stand on that platform, I suppose?”
At the moment, the blue fluid was still. There was nothing about the fountain that moved. It was as if it was frozen.
“Indeed,” Gareth replied, “When two people stand on the platform, twin streams of the potion cross before landing in the base of the fountain.”
“And if those two people drink from the fountain at the same time, the potion kicks in,” Harry finished with a nod, “It works, then?”
“Oh, it works,” Gareth replied confidently, “According to myth, those who drink from the fountain together will remain in love and faithful forever. Perhaps that used to be true, but in this age, it is much more complicated than that.”
“And you know this because you wrongfully allowed a child to be conceived under its influence,” Harry said. It was a statement, not a question.
“I knew your fondness for Reyna Rookwood would bring you here one day,” Gareth admitted. He sighed and added, “I hoped I would be long gone by then.”
“Unfortunately for you, you aren’t, and Reyna happens to be one of my closest friends,” Harry said, eyeing Gareth carefully, “I think she deserves some answers, don’t you?”
Gareth gestured to a stone bench that looked out towards the fountain. He sat down, and Harry took a seat next to him.
“I suppose you know who her mother is by now.”
“Yes, and I’ve got to say, I considered a lot of people, but I would never have considered Andromeda Tonks,” Harry admitted.
“Originally, I didn’t either,” Gareth admitted, “The idea of the experiment was brought to me by Pollux Pyrites, who - ”
“Pollux Pyrites?” Harry cut in.
Gareth looked at him, “Yes. He was Head of the Department at that time. Did the files not tell you as much?”
“No, because half of them had been destroyed,” Harry replied. He narrowed his eyes at Gareth, “I’m guessing that’s because this wasn’t the only unethical experiment he commissioned.”
“Given that he always had Tom Riddle’s best interests at heart, I doubt it was,” Gareth said diplomatically, “It was his friendship with Tom that led him to commission the experiment.”
“Yeah, I know about Tom’s hatred for love potions and why,” Harry chimed in, “Still, you could have fought Pollux.”
“No, I couldn’t,” Gareth returned, “It wasn’t a discussion. He came to me and told me that this was what we would be doing. It didn’t matter which two Unspeakables we chose, just that they weren’t two people who would fall in love otherwise.”
Harry frowned, and Gareth continued, “Andromeda was my apprentice, so she and I had discussed the idea long before we took it out of this room. She was as obsessed with this fountain as Augustus was with the veil. So, she volunteered to participate in the experiment, despite the strain she knew it would put on her marriage.”
Harry didn’t have to ask why she would do that. He was an Unspeakable too. He knew obsession, and in this line of work, it made them do stupid things in the pursuit of knowledge.
“How did Gus get roped into it?” Harry asked.
“I asked Andromeda to pick one person in this department who she would categorically never fall in love with of her own free will, and she said his name,” Gareth answered honestly, “So she approached him, and he agreed to partake in the experiment.”
Harry looked at the fountain, “So, they drank from the fountain, and then what?”
“Well, the process was interesting,” Gareth replied conversationally, “You see, this fountain is unlike any other love potion, but aspects of how each sub-standard potion works could be seen in what happened to Augustus and Andromeda.”
“How so?” Harry asked curiously.
“Prank love potions last for an hour if you’re lucky,” Gareth explained, “A store-bought love potion lasts for a few hours. In both cases, the potion is absorbed into the bloodstream like alcohol and gradually leaves the body in the same way. Apothecary-brewed love potions last for 24 hours because a thickening agent is added to stop them from leaving the bloodstream so quickly. Homebrewed potions can last for weeks, depending on their strength and whatever added agents are brewed into them. They can also be given continuously so that the effect lasts for months.”
Harry frowned but listened to Gareth’s explanation, “Those prank potions cause childish infatuation. It’s harmless. Store-bought potions are usually similar, but apothecary and homebrewed potions are much more dangerous. They don’t just cause infatuation. They cause lust.”
“Right,” Harry said slowly, “And I mean, this one must have done too because, you know, Reyna exists.”
“Hm,” Gareth agreed, “It did. At first, it caused a surge of infatuation and lust. The goal of the experiment was for them to conceive a child, so that was convenient. However, what was interesting was how things developed from there. The infatuation and lust wore off after about 24 hours, and it gave way to fondness and familiarity. It did not seem false. It felt like watching two lovers who truly cared about each other. They drank from the fountain once, Harry, just once, but throughout Andromeda’s pregnancy, they grew closer. The bond between them only strengthened. I found that interesting, and I wondered if it was because of the child that Andromeda carried. I thought, perhaps, the effect would slowly start to wear off once she was born.”
“Did it?” Harry asked although he felt like he already knew the answer.
Gareth shook his head and turned to look at Harry, “No. Reyna was born, and being separated from her daughter broke Andromeda’s heart. She asked Augustus to obliviate her because knowing Reyna existed and being unable to see her was just too painful. Still, even after the spell took effect, she still felt this overwhelming fondness for Augustus, and he loved her too. It destroyed his marriage to Johanna, and a few months after Reyna was born, it made Andromeda leave the department.”
Harry’s frown deepened, “So you’re saying that the potion in that fountain causes lasting love.”
“It certainly appears to,” Gareth replied.
“That shouldn’t be possible,” Harry said, he looked at the older man,
“Why do you think there’s a whole division devoted to the notion of love?” Gareth countered.
Harry blew out a breath, “Okay, so how is that possible?”
“I cannot say for certain because we have not used it on humans since that experiment, but I believe it alters the brain chemistry,” Gareth confessed, “Thus creating lasting love and heartbreak.”
“It creates soulmates,” Harry said, his eyes wide and disbelieving.
Gareth’s eyes darkened, “Indeed, and that is why it is kept behind lock and key to all bar those who work in this chamber and the Head of the Department. The power of this fountain gives us the power of a God, and no man should ever have that much power.”
“No, they shouldn’t,” Harry agreed.
He let out a breath as it all started to make sense. Of course, Gus had never been able to love Johanna. Of course, he had always struggled to look at Reyna without thinking of her mother. He was in love with Andromeda, and he always would be. He had never gotten over her because he couldn’t.
Castle Lestrange
The first emotion that Augustus Rookwood remembered feeling was fear. He didn’t remember much of his childhood, and he suspected it was because he had blocked it out. He had been raised by a bitter squib father and an even more bitter mother who resented that she had been married off to a Rookwood squib, not a Malfoy or a Black. Growing into an Unspeakable had been easy because Gus learned to lie to protect himself or his little sister very early in life. Becoming a spy hadn’t been hard because he’d always had to keep his and Delilah’s secrets from their parents.
The first emotion he remembered was fear, so he grew into a man who was too powerful and smart to feel it anymore. However, when he walked into the drawing room of Castle Lestrange, Gus was terrified. His hands were clammy, and he could hear his heart pounding in his ears.
Not many things scared him, but death was one thing that did. He had spent most of his adult life working on the veil, working in Death and Prophecy, trying to untangle the mystery of death and what came next, but as of yet, he hadn’t figured it out. Walking into this room felt like walking to his death because when Morgana found out that Johanna was dead, she was going to be furious.
“Augustus,” Morgana drawled, “What brings you to see me?”
Gus swallowed.
“I am hoping for good news, but judging from the look on your face, I suspect that once again, you are about to disappoint me,” Morgana said cruelly.
“I am sorry, my lady, but I came to inform you that the dimension poisoning was too much for my wife,” Gus said. He dropped to his knees, “I did all that I could for her, but she is gone.”
Morgana’s eyes flashed dangerously, “Gone?”
“I couldn’t save her without getting her back to her universe, my lady,” Gus explained hurriedly, “The Department of Mysteries is too heavily guarded, and we have not found the door that leads to any dimension.”
“And whose fault is that?” Morgana spat, “You informed me that it was at Hogwarts, and you were wrong! Are you capable of doing anything apart from failing me, Augustus? Because, at the moment, if I didn’t know better, I would say that your heart does not lie with my cause.”
“Your cause is my only option, my lady,” Gus said. He bowed his head, “I was born to serve you.”
“Yet you do such a poor job of it,” Morgana hissed, “Your wife was the only one who could unbind the Peverell girl's magic! Without her, I shall perish. Is that what you wish, Augustus? Do you wish to be the Rookwood who brought me back only to kill me? Do you wish to be the Rookwood who gave up everything to bring your mistress back, only to fail her at every hurdle?”
“No, my lady.”
“Then rise.”
Gus did so, but he kept his gaze down. Morgana raised her hand and twisted it, and Gus cried in pain. A crunching sound came from his legs, and he collapsed onto the ground again.
Morgana stepped towards him and turned him onto his back by kicking him with her high-heeled boot. She stood above him and looked down, the smirk on her face making her look more like Bellatrix than ever before.
“The Peverell girl is useless to me with her magic bound, but your wife knew that because you told her about the prophecy,” Morgana said, her voice low and quiet, “She bound the girl's magic to protect her. Why did she do that, Augustus?”
“I don’t know,” Gus lied.
Morgana scoffed, “I think you are lying, Augustus.”
She twisted her hand, and black fire engulfed it. Morgana cocked her head at Gus, “Black fire burns hotter than any other fire, but I expect you know that. You can imagine how excruciating the pain is when it comes into contact with the body.”
Gus grimaced, and Morgana placed her hand above his chest. It was close enough to burn through his thick, leather cloak but not enough to burn his skin yet.
“Why did your wife bind the girl's magic, Augustus?”
“I don’t know,” Gus said, gritting his teeth and preparing for the inevitable pain.
When she pressed her hand against his chest, he screamed out in pain, and white spots flashed across his vision as he blacked out, forcibly remembering a conversation he’d had with Johanna not long after Tom had engineered his escape from Azkaban.
“What became of my niece?”
Johanna looked at her book and frowned, “I dealt with her as I told you in my letter.”
Gus shook his head and crossed the drawing room. Johanna drew back slightly. She was more frightened of him than she had been before he went to Azkaban. The tattoos and the manic look in his eye, combined with the way he screamed and twisted when nightmares of his time in prison haunted him, made him almost unrecognisable from the man he was before.
“Johanna, you know how important she is. She is Sirius Black’s daughter.”
“And Sirius Black died without being the heir to anything,” Johanna said coldly, “He was disowned."
"As far as legality goes, he is not a Black,” Gus said, his wide eyes fixed on Johanna’s, “But that prophecy does not care about legality, Johanna. It cares about blood, and that girl is a Black. So, what became of her?”
Johanna sighed and closed her book, “I don’t know. I left her in the Muggle world, close to a large dwelling where many women congregated. I supposed someone would find her there and one of them would take her in. I haven’t checked in on her, Augustus. I don’t care what became of your sister's bastard child.”
Gus’s eyes flashed dangerously, “You’re hiding something.”
Johanna pushed herself to her feet and admitted, “If I did go back and check on her, it was against my better judgment.”
Gus frowned.
“Delilah was dying,” Johanna admitted. She sighed and looked away from Gus, “And it’s no secret that I liked her more than I liked you back then.”
“You never liked me in the first place, Johanna,” Gus said, his eyes flashing irritably, “What did Delilah ask you to do?”
Johanna kept her gaze down, “When Theresa was born, she just lost the will to live, and she asked me to make sure that her daughter was safe. I thought she meant Theresa. So, I agreed to take her in, so long as she’d give me access to the Travers vault to feed the girl, but no, Delilah meant her other daughter, her first daughter.”
“Johanna,” Gus ground out through gritted teeth, “What did you do?”
“What Delilah asked me to,” Johanna replied honestly, “She said that if Morgana ever came back, she would need the girl for something but that if her magic were bound, she would be useless to Morgana. So I found the little urchin, and I bound her magic. I told Delilah, and she died knowing her daughter was safe.”
Gus growled, “You may have undone everything, Johanna! Binding her magic could affect the prophecy. Her bloodline must mix with Merlin’s for Morgana to return!”
“And if Morgana never comes back, good riddance!” Johanna returned, “I’ve read every book you have, and Delilah had too. She was insane before she was banished, Gus. What makes you think centuries of imprisonment might have mellowed her out?”
Gus scoffed and turned away from his wife, “You act like I have a choice.”
“You’ve always had a choice,” Johanna returned coldly, “Yet you keep making the wrong ones over and over again.”
“Perhaps that started when I married you,” Gus said, his voice dripping with venom.
“Yes, I suppose Andromeda Black might have been a better choice,” Johanna returned in the same tone, “Perhaps you could have actually loved her.”
“If I did love her, it was because she was capable of loving me too,” Gus said, seething with rage, “Unlike you.”
Gus left Johanna alone in the drawing room without waiting for her to say another word.
When Morgana brought Gus back to the edge of consciousness, he honestly thought that death would be a mercy. His body ached and burned. The first thing he did was throw up and then cry out in pain. Morgana stood above him. His vision was blurred, so all he could make out was the vague shape of her, but he could tell she was pleased from her tone of voice.
“Ah, so you do know why the girl's magic was bound,” Morgana said, her voice lighter than before, “If only you had been honest with me before, Augustus, things would have been much easier for you. I know why you fought so hard to stop me from seeing that memory, though. It explains why your wife bound the girl's magic, but it also finally tells me why you have been so insistent that there cannot be another pure Black whose magic I could use to stabilise my own.”
Gus blinked, gasping in pain as Morgana’s face swam into view. She was smirking.
“I don’t need to wrack my brains to figure out who you would die to protect. There’s only one person that comes to mind now that your foolish wife is gone,” Morgana said calmly, “Your daughter, Reyna. Every time I mention the girl, you tense up, and I know why. I sensed that the Peverell girl wasn’t the only Black out there. I knew there was another just as powerful as her, and you did too, didn’t you?”
Gus said nothing.
“Reyna Rookwood,” Morgana said, as if she was testing the name on her tongue, “Or should I say Reyna Black? A product of your love for Andromeda Black, I presume.”
Morgana chuckled and said, “Your resistance is quite incredible, but nobody can resist forever. Everyone has a breaking point, and this, Augustus Rookwood, appears to be yours.”
She cocked her head and looked down at him, “You knew that I needed the magic of a pure Black to tether me to this place and time, and you knew that the transfer would kill the Black in person. I admire how hard you fought to protect your daughter, Augustus, but unfortunately, your resistance was in vain. You and she will both die, regardless.”
With a sigh, Morgana said, “And yet, to think of the world we could have built together if you had only been honest with me. It is sad, truly, Augustus, it is. If it makes you feel any better when I extract your daughter's magic to stabilise my own, it won’t hurt nearly as much as this will.”
Her eyes glowed amber, and she raised both hands, uttering an incantation in old English. When Morgana brought her hands down, lightning crackled out of her fingertips and sought out the first organic thing it could find – Gus. He screamed in pain when the lightning connected with his body, and Morgana laughed in that same cruel, high-pitched way she had done in every one of Harry’s dreams.
Rookwood Hall
Harry sighed when he knocked on the ornate wooden door into Rookwood Hall. He had the answer to every question that Reyna could throw at him, but he was still worried about how she would take the news. Andromeda was her mother, but she didn’t remember Reyna. Johanna had hated Reyna because she was the product of more love than Gus had ever shown her. It was bittersweet, and it would either make Reyna hate her father more or feel sorry for him.
When there was no answer, he knocked harder, wondering where the hell the house-elf was.
Another few seconds later, Harry’s stomach twisted. That gut feeling that something was wrong hit him, so he placed his hand on the wooden door. It hummed softly and swung open because, like everyone had told him, Gus had never removed him from the wards.
Harry stepped into the entrance hall and cast a spell that would tell him if there were any magical signatures in the house. Harry felt sick when it flashed green to tell him that the coast was clear. Reyna should be here. It was 7am, and she wasn’t at Potter Manor.
He ran upstairs, twisting around the corner and seeing it before he even had to walk into her bedroom. The wooden door was hanging from the hinges. Harry held his wand up high and edged into the room. The curtains around the bed were in tatters and scorched with burn marks, and the bed was empty, but there was a blood stain on the pale blue sheets, and a trail of blood ran from the bed to the window.
Harry swallowed and leant down, dipping his finger into the blood. It was still warm. It hadn’t dried yet. Whoever had taken Reyna, they hadn’t done it long ago. He drew himself up to his full height and turned around, ready to leave the hall and gather reinforcements.
He knew, deep down, who had taken Reyna, but what he saw above the door just cemented his theory. Like Tom had left his eery dark mark floating in the sky to signify that a victim had been killed by his hand, Morgana also had a calling card.
Above the door, a symbol was burned into the wood. It was the Pendragon crest, and Harry knew exactly what it meant.
This is my kingdom. If you want it, you’ll have to fight me for it.
His eyes glowed amber, and he yelled angrily. He threw a fireball at the symbol and obliterated it. He’d fight for it, and if Morgana killed Reyna, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her where she stood.
- TBC -