The Leaky Cauldron

"I wonder how he did it. He truly was the greatest dark wizard. I only wish I had more time to learn from him." He sat in remembrance of his Dark Lord.

"May his memory live on..." He bowed his head in reverence.

"We'll build his empire again. Make it stronger this time." He flashed a malicious grin at Crouch. "You up for the challenge?"

Crouch grinned crazily, "oh but of course..."

"But we need a new approach, clearly martial might was not the answer..." He thought deeply, "furthermore losing the one and only dark lord devastated the entire order."

"Maybe we should follow his example. Start small, build a group of followers in the dark. Once we've got the power behind us, then we jump from behind the bushes and take our rightful place." He smirked at his brother. "If you can contain yourself long enough, that is."

"Necessity provides patience, however unpleasant..." He gritted his teeth in irritation. Such a slow, methodical tactic didn't agree with his very nature.

"I had an idea I wanted to run past you for your input."

"Don't worry my brother. We can find ways to release your desires." He leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his drink. "Pray tell me what your idea was."

He picked up single knife, holding it in front of his face, "With but a single Dark Lord... " He waved his wand and the knife got red hot, sizzling with intensity as it turned into a puddle on a table, "It's easy to eradicate us..."

"But..." He raised three knifes and performed similar magic on them, taking far longer to melt into a chunk of ore, "three is a beast of a different nature..."

He watched the knives melt into a puddle of metal onto the table.

Three.... He'd never thought of multiple leaders like that. He always figured it was Crouch's right to take over as Dark Lord and he'd act like a second in command. Much like Bellatrix Lestrange had.


"Alright, you've made a very valid point. Who is to be the third?"

"Who even said you were the second?" He told him in a serious tone before he chuckled, "Just kidding. Anyway, my apprentice Raven. She has really come a long way from where she began. She fought a deck stacked against her to get to where she is and she's truly a master of the dark arts." Nothing but pure emulation and pride shown on his face. "She's extremely reliable and capable. And in this day and age that is in short supply..."

Death cracked a smile and nodded in agreement. "Yes, Raven is a good choice. She has great potential."

D'awww!!! :3 

Speaking of Raven, should I bring her in?

Raven walks in, having gotten a note from Crouch, never refusing to see him.  He's the one she admires most in this world.

"Speak of the devil..." Crouch smiled at his favorite apprentice and waved her over to have a seat.

"Am I intruding on a pre-planned meeting?" He kept his tone light and his expression pleasant while the witch approached them.

She sits down with them, "I was going to ask if I was interrupting..." She chuckles.

"Far from it." Crouch looked between them, "I was going to talk to you as well Deathy, this meeting was just quite fortuitous!"

"Indeed," he murmured before lifting his drink to his mouth. After replacing the glass to the tabletop, he cleared his throat and spoke to the pair of them. "Since we're all here, let's discuss a new plan of action."

She looks to Crouch, knowing he's the one with the huge vision for the world.

"Right so..." Crouch started and then paused, "well..."

Crouch scrambled in his brain for a new plan, one that would work. "Clearly declaring my intentions outright was a large miscalculation on my end. We need a bit more tact and subtlety then I'm usually willing to accommodate..."

She speaks in a more hushed voice, "Well I don't think anyone would expect three Dark Lord's in the mix, so that would certainly give us a one-up.  I think we also need to find more followers..."

"I agree with Raven. For what is a leader without their followers?" He stopped after that and scrambled to find a plan in which they could subtly build their followers until they were strong enough to plan an attack.

"Then we are all in accord. But who?"

"I feel like we should try to get people we know already, people who can be either turned or persuaded..."

She thinks long and hard. She hesitates, but then she says, "What about Crest Strayer?  He's just one step away from corruption..."

"Crest is unstable. His loyalties could be swayed at any time. Unless we get someone that he values to turn to our side as well, we have nothing that will keep him with us."