Disclaimer:I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER, nor do I have any money, so don't bother trying to sue me. I do this for fun, and it is a lot of fun, so on with the story…

Thoughts

" " – Speaking in English

$ $ – Speaking in Parseltongue

' ' – Non verbal spells

" " – Speaking in other languages

The Dimensional Traveler Chronicles

1: Arrival of The Traveler

She was falling. She could see the green patch increasing in size with decrease in her altitude. If she was not so afraid of dying painfully, she would have marveled at the beautiful sight. She saw the ground approaching her at great speed and closed her eyes awaiting the inevitable. Fortunately or unfortunately, she hit the topmost branch and then rolled over to the lower branch of the next tree and continued rolling until she hit the ground. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming due to the pain in her bum. She silently cursed Grindelwald for thinking that it was a good idea to create an inter dimensional portal and summon demons, Tom for not finishing Grindelwald quickly enough to come and help her shut down the portal, herself for playing with things she could never understand and for other idiots who came in her way even though killing them had been satisfying. She got up using a nearby tree as a support which turned out to be a more strenuous task than she would have preferred due to the injuries she had sustained in the battle. She looked around and realized that she was in some kind of forest. She wondered what kind of demons roam that place and hoped that she was not way over her head. She detected some movement in a clearing some distance away and decided to check it out. She put on a Disillusionment Charm, masked her scent and silenced her boots. She kept going closer until she was near enough to see the cloaked figures. She saw a blond boy who looked to be in his teens kneeling in front of a demon extending his hand; at least she assumed the figure to be a demon as she had never seen a real demon before. It had no hair, nose, lips or any other usual human identifying features but had eerie red eyes glimmering with hatred. The thing touched a wand-like thing on the boy's arm and he started screaming in pain. It stopped after a few minutes and by then the boy was so tired that he had to use his hands to support himself. It held out its hand and the boy crawled to it and kissed it. She felt disgusted with the sight.

Did the boy have no sense of self worth? Was it just a small group or were all humans enslaved by demons?

She then saw an unusual sight.

"Nagini"

What was she doing there alongside the demon? Where is the Tom Riddle of this universe?

The snake then turned towards her and hissed at her. It was then that she realized that she had spoken out loud, at least loudly enough for Nagini to hear. She cursed her loud mouth for getting her into trouble. Even though she was very friendly with the Nagini she knew, she knew that she could not trust the one that seemed to have sided with the demon. She took off quickly and reached another clearing. She took off all her enchantments and started a complicated wand motion concentrating on what she needed.

She saw the snake arrive slithering in followed by the demonic figure. He was looking around trying to find her. She felt smug knowing that they would never be able to find her unless she reveals herself. It was an indigenous spell created by her mentor. It had started with common questions 'Where do vanished objects go to?' and 'Where do conjured objects come from?'. The end result was a spell which bended the space-time fabric around the caster and encased them in a protective cocoon, at least that was what she was able to glean from Tom. Theory had never been her strong suit. The advantage of the spell was that the usual detection charms would not work on it. She then saw a woman with unkempt black hair wearing torn robes approaching the demonic creature.

"My lord, you seem to be troubled. Is there any problem?", the hag-like woman asked hesitantly as if she was expecting to be punished.

The taller figure ignored the question and surveyed the surroundings in search of the intruder, his glittering ruby eyes promising slow and painful death to the one who gets caught.

"Nagini sensed the presence of an intruder but it seems to me that they have managed to escape. I am leaving to address certain matters that have come up, Bella. I hope, for your sake, that your nephew doesn't end up to be as much of a disappointment as you have become.", he said coldly, the last part was uttered in such a scathing tone that Bellatrix flinched.

He disapparated away by the time she opened her mouth to reply leaving her to wallow in her shame.

She was shocked when she heard her name. She then looked at the woman properly. The moment she moved her head, her face could be seen clearly. The woman looked exactly like how she would have looked had she been two decades older. She considered herself lucky that no one could see her. She would have been mortified if anyone had witnessed her loss of composure. She used her Occlumency skills to push away her shock and uncertainty and started analyzing the situation logically to decide how to use the information she now had to her advantage. Her first priority was to create an identity and place for herself in this reality. She initially considered kidnapping or killing the other Bellatrix and taking her place. It would not have been that difficult as she was distracted and would be vulnerable to a surprise attack. She then decided against it as she knew nothing about the cult her other self was part of. Also, she would have to take Ageing potion or Polyjuice potion at regular intervals which someone might notice. The risks involved with that plan easily outweighed any potential benefits. Revealing herself and negotiating with her other self was another plan she had discarded due to the amount of risk involved. The most important problem she was facing now was that she knew next to nothing about the universe she was in. So, she decided to lay low and learn everything she could before she did anything. She saw Bellatrix leaving and undid the spell after she waited for some time to ensure that it was safe. Her legs gave way beneath her and she fell down causing her to realize how bad an idea it was to cast such a powerful and complex spell at her current physical state. She realized that she needed to get somewhere safe immediately to recover from her injuries. She concentrated on the required location and apparated home. Later, she would realize that in spite of all her attempts to avoid taking risks, the decision she took then was as risky as the ones she had discarded.

She appeared in front of a huge wooden door with a handle shaped like a snake. She grabbed the handle and felt something prick her thumb. She then saw her Head of the House ring glow for a few seconds and felt the wards of the house being tied to her. If she was not as eager to get a proper rest as she was, she would have grasped the significance of what had just happened. As that was not the case, she accepted it without question. The door clicked open and she entered closing it behind her. She leaned back on the door for a moment to catch her breath. The family house elf suddenly appeared. It seemed quite excited.

"Mistress Bellatrix has returned home at last. Kreacher is very happy.", it then frowned and said, "But you is not Lestrange. You is only Black."

"I will explain everything later, Kreacher. Now, I need some rest. Don't contact or speak to anyone else until I say otherwise or some other emergency comes up. It is an order.", she said.

"Yes Mistress", it replied and disappeared.

She went to her old room and settled down on her bed. Kreacher appeared with many potion vials which she consumed quickly. She then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Few days later, she was woken up by the sound of footsteps. They were so light that she would not have heard it had she not been fighting in a war for the last few years. She unsheathed her wand and slowly slipped out of her room. She followed the sound and quickly reached the living room. She saw a dirty man with long, unkempt hair wearing torn rags carrying a bag over his shoulders.

"Hey! Stop! Who are you? What are you doing in my home?", she shouted.

She saw him stiffen when he heard her. He looked back and his face took on an expression of shock and fear. The expression on his face made it clear to her that he was doing something he was not supposed to.

Accio…

The cloth bag flew towards her and she caught it. She saw him drawing his wand and cast the first spell on her mind.

"Crucio"

The sight of the intruder writhing in agony made her smile. Cruciatus had always been a favorite of hers. She stopped the curse and summoned his wand which he had dropped on the ground. She scanned him with a Portkey destroyer spell and saw him screaming when the portkeys he was carrying were destroyed burning into his skin at the places it was in contact with.

She jabbed her wand in his throat and said, "I will ask you one again. Who are you and what are you doing in my home?"

"Please don't kill me. I will do anything you ask.", he babbled shaking in fear.

She scrunched her nose in disgust when she smelt the strong stench of alcohol the moment he opened his mouth.

"Kreacher"

The elf appeared.

"Check the thief for any hidden weapons or portkeys.", she ordered.

The elf checked him and took out a wand that was cleverly hidden beneath the rags. His eyes widened when he saw the wand. It was obvious to her that he treasured that wand more than the rest of his possessions.

"Kreacher, lock him in the dungeons. I don't want the filth dirtying my home. I will have a long talk with him and then decide what to do with him.", she said.

"Yes, mistress", Kreacher said excited.

He liked the new mistress. She was nothing like his old master. The filthy thief had been nicking things little by little for the past year and there was nothing he could do to prevent that. It had started with small things like forks but soon enough many utensils had gone missing. He had once caught the thief and handed him over to his old master but he was released without any punishment on old man Dumbles' orders. He then realized that the only thing he could do was to hide the most important heirlooms in his room. He did not know how the thief found his room and managed to steal everything but he was happy to see him get his due. He locked up the thief in the dungeon as per the new mistress' orders. He could see that unlike his old master his new mistress would not let anyone walk all over her. He was eagerly anticipating the punishment she was going to dole out on him.

Bellatrix opened the bag and was astonished by what she found inside. The bag contained numerous priceless heirlooms which had been in the family for many centuries. She felt her fury rise at the audacity of the thief. She summoned Kreacher.

"Kreacher, is it the first time something was stolen from the house?", she asked.

"No, mistress Bellatrix. He has been stealing things for a year. Kreacher tried to stop it but there was nothing he could do.", he replied with his head bowed down in shame.

She was surprised. Black properties were always heavily warded against intruders and Grimmauld Place was the most protected among them. If he had been sneaking in and out for a year, he must be the best in the business. If that was the case, then she should not have been able to catch him that easily.

"How did he manage to get into the house by the way? Didn't the wards stop him?", she asked.

"Master Sirius keyed him into the wards. He was in the old man Dumbles' group. Master Sirius and Dumbles let mudbloods, blood traitors and thieves run around the house whole year. It made Mistress very angry but she could not do anything.", he said.

Now, she was confused. When did Sirius become the head of the house? Who exactly is Dumbles? Who does he mean by Mistress?

"Who is this Dumbles person? It is not Albus Dumbledore, is it?", she asked.

"It is, Mistress Bellatrix.", he replied.

"Are you saying that Dumbledore is still alive? Didn't he die dueling Grindelwald?", she asked.

"No, mistress. Grindelwald lost the duel. That is why Dumbles so famous.", he said in a tone implying that she should have already known it.

"Who is this mistress that you were talking about? I never knew Sirius married.", she said.

"Kreacher was talking about mistress Walburga. Master did not marry. Until few years before, master Sirius was in Azkaban.", he replied.

The elf was looking at her as if it was questioning her sanity. Well, even she was questioning her sanity right now. She rubbed her forehead in frustration. She could feel a headache coming.

"Kreacher, it might sound like a stupid question but is Aunt Walburga alive too?", she asked.

"Mistress is not alive but mistress' portrait is there covered by cloth.", he pointed behind her.

She looked behind her and saw something covered by moth-eaten velvet curtains. She had never noticed it when she had arrived, though to her credit, she was too tired and exhausted to notice anything. She opened the curtains to reveal the portrait of a middle aged woman whom she recognized as her Aunt Walburga. It was good to see that she had someone more human to talk to. She did not have anything personal against Kreacher but chatting with a house elf was making her feel like an idiot.

"Filth! Scum!-"

A clearing of throat interrupted her tirade. The sight in front of her left Walburga speechless. She recovered from her surprise quickly.

Bellatrix gave a quick bow as per the pureblood customs and said, "Bellatrix Black at your service, Lady Black."

Walburga acknowledged her with a nod and said, "I can see that you have not lost your flair for dramatics. I have to say that I am surprised to see you, a pleasant one compared to many others."

"Well, I am Bellatrix Black even if I am not the Bellatrix you knew.", she replied.

She could not help the widening of her eyes. It was not every day that she hears something like that. She scrutinized the young woman in front of her. The woman in front of her was too young to be her niece. She would be in her early forties now and spending a decade and a half in Azkaban would have made her look older if her son's appearance was anything to go by. There was a possibility that she took a potion to give herself a youthful appearance but even the potions had their limits. She was sure it was not a case of time travel. If it was, everyone who died at her niece's hands would have come back alive and she would not have remembered them dying. So, the only possible explanation left is that she came from an alternate reality.

"I have heard the theory about alternate realities. Many have tried to open a portal to other realities but they have all failed.", she said.

She did not completely deny the possibility but she did not accept it either. The response and reaction to that statement would determine what the young woman's presence meant for the House of Black.

"You are assuming that no one had succeeded and decided to keep their success secret. You have also not considered the possibility that there are realities more advanced than this one.", she replied nonchalantly.

She pursed her lips in frustration. Just when she thought she was going to get some answers, the girl had thrown her for a loop. She would have to try another way.

"What do you want? You would not have approached me if you had not wanted anything.", she said giving the girl a piercing glare.

"I wanted to inform you that I am going to alter the ward structure. So, you will be inactive for some time. The present wards allow every thief and scoundrel in the country access to our house. Considering that we are at war, I am going to upgrade the wards to war setting.", she said.

Bellatrix smirked on seeing her aunt staring at her gob smacked.

"There is no need to look so shocked. I know about the Death wards.", she said.

She saw her aunt's eyes widened further when she saw the Head of the House ring on her hand. Not many know that Grimmauld Place was actually built as a defensive location, a last stand. It had two settings. There was a peace time setting in which the wards are powerful and there was a war time setting in which wards are impenetrable. The wards were so powerful that they were lovingly called the Death wards. The wards were not the only ones affected by the new setting. Everything inside and surrounding the house is supercharged with magic such that they become semi-sentient and attack the intruder on the will of Head of the House. The knowledge of the existence of these wards was kept a secret among the heads and only a few among them even knew how to erect and control the wards effectively. So, she could not blame her aunt for being so shocked. The downside to this new ward setting was that it was necessary to sacrifice someone who was already keyed in to the previous wards to get the required power to start and run the wards. Fortunately, she did have an eligible candidate sitting in the dungeon. She enjoyed the delicious irony of the thief helping in upgrading the security of the house.

Walburga Black was shocked when she saw the Headship ring on the girl's hand. The first thing she did after that was to use her connection to the house and check the wards. She found out that the wards were in fact tied into the girl. But, the girl had complete control of the wards unlike her son who only had limited control over them. That meant she had power over her and could destroy her the moment she decides to. At least, unlike her son, she had not shut her out. From what she had managed to learn of the girl, which was not much, they do agree on many things. She realized that the girl standing in front of her was the future of the Black family and decided to help her to the best of her ability.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?", she asked.

"In fact there is. My knowledge of this reality is limited. I would need all the information I can get to bring our family back to the top. You can help me with that.", Bella replied.

"I will if you tell me about the place you came from.", she said.

Bellatrix tilted her head in contemplation and made a show of thinking before agreeing. She was no fool. She knew very well that the information she would be getting would not be unbiased. She was confident in her ability to extract truth from trash. After all, biased information was better than no information.

"It was a pleasure to talk to you but there are many important matters that demand my time. We will talk later.", she said.

"Go on, child. Do everything to bring prestige back into the family.", she replied.

Bellatrix spent the next few days slowly and carefully extracting all relevant information from the thief, Mundungus Fletcher. Even if mental health was not necessary for a sacrificial lamb as far as she knew, she had rather not take the risk. Surprisingly, he turned out to be a well of information concerning the goings on in the Knockturn Alley. She now had many contacts in the Alley who could get her anything from illegal wands to undetectable poisons. After his usefulness was over, she conducted the ritual to upgrade the ward system.

"I have not seen you for many days. I did not know that the process of upgrading the wards was that long and complicated.", Walburga asked.

She felt no qualms about admitting that she did not know how to upgrade the wards. She knew that the girl would guess that soon enough as she had never done it herself.

"The ritual was a simple one but it required a human sacrifice. The one I had acquired had more useful information than I had anticipated. Extracting all that information took time.", Bellatrix replied.

She had more sense than to blab every detail to anyone even if that person was a portrait. She was no novice at political games. She gave enough to satisfy her aunt but not enough to be useful. If her aunt had a problem with the incomplete answer, she never showed it.

"As far as I know, the duel between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald was the divergence point of our realities. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"To understand our present situation well, you have to know what exactly happened in the war against Grindelwald. In that war, we all had fought together irrespective of whether we were light or dark, well all except some families like the Malfoys. We had all lost a lot in the war effort. Grindelwald's muggle-wizard combination attack was very effective. Dumbledore was the only one who was strong enough to defeat him but for some reason they kept away from each other. It was in 1945 after the muggle portion of war was over that Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald and he won the resulting duel. Dumbledore became a legend overnight. He rose up the political ranks with time. When he reached a position of power, he allied with the Light sided families and turned against us. He used his influence to pass many laws favoring the Light. It was not difficult for someone who occupied every important position in the wizarding world other than the Minister of Magic."

"Every important position?", Bellatrix asked surprised.

"Yes. He is at present Supreme Mugwump of ICW, Chief Warlock of Wizengamot, Grand Sorcerer of Council of Magical Law, Order of Merlin First Class and the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Why he keeps so many titles is beyond me. The sad fact was that, in his youth, Dumbledore had supported us and was the most outspoken about the unity between Light and Dark. In spite of the fact that he was a Light wizard, we had considered him as one of us and we felt betrayed when he turned on us. We lost a good part of our fortune to war efforts and it was your father's dealings with the muggles that kept us afloat and prevented us from sinking into oblivion like many other families."

Bellatrix felt amusement when she saw a constipated expression cross her aunt's face when she mentioned the muggles. She knew what business her aunt was talking about, at least in her reality. Her father had started doing business with the muggles in the real estate sector. It was laughable how much profit a wizard with sense could make out of a simple Room Expansion charm. Very few knew that the famous business magnet Cassius Bancroft, the owner of a hotel chain spanning across the globe, was her father. As far as she knew, her father had never step foot in the muggle world. He had managed his business through his squib assistant but after she inherited it, she felt a 'hands on' approach was better and personally over saw many details. The results agreed with her by showing an increase in profits.

"In 60's, a new political player emerged who claimed to represent our interests. He was a charismatic young man who called himself Lord Voldemort and was said to be powerful enough to take on Dumbledore. He was outspoken in support of bringing back the Old Ways and the resurgence of the dark families. We never joined him but supported him financially and politically. After all, there was no reason for us to lower ourselves into foot soldiers. We never had any indication that he was intending to start a civil war until the Minister was assassinated in 1971. He was very smart. He knew that many families would get cold feet on learning about the lengths he was willing to take and took steps to keep them in line. By the time war was declared, he had at least one marked Death Eater in most if not all our families. He had his people everywhere from the lowest to the highest strata of society. Anyone who spoke against him or did anything against him either were killed or returned home to find a Dark Mark floating above their home and corpses of their family inside to greet them. We decided that the best way to survive was to outwardly show our support but ensure that none of the family heirlooms or books makes it into his hands. Sirius never made it easy for us by openly hanging around the Potter boy and his riffraff.", she sighed and continued, "Our family has been in decline since the war was declared. The scandal caused by Andromeda's elopement with the muggle Tonks had the first blow. Sirius running away from home was the second blow. Then, Regulus joined the Death Eaters just like he had always wanted to. Even if I was against him making such a big commitment, I never had the heart to spoil his happiness. On hindsight, that was a big mistake on my part. With Cygnus, Druella, Orion and Regulus dying in 1979, I was the only one left in the family. Two years later, in the Halloween of 1981, he attacked the Potters. I don't know what exactly happened but I do know that both the Potters died and the dark lord was not seen for many years. The child, Harry Potter, was the only one known to survive that night. He is said to have survived the Killing Curse and everyone calls him the Boy-Who-Lived."

"How old was this Harry Potter on that day?"

"Somewhere around one and a half. Why?"

"Just curious. What happened next?"

"Next day, Sirius was caught after killing his best friend and twelve muggles and sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban. I reinstated him into the family and made him my heir sometime after that. Unlike what my son believed, I did not do it because I believed the lies about him being the dark lord's right hand. It was because I did not want the Black family ending with my death. Age had caught up with me and I knew that I would not make it till he gets out. On the same day, Barty Crouch Jr and Lestranges including your other self got caught torturing the Longbottoms and received a lifetime imprisonment as well. As you know, I lived for four years after that. I put up this portrait so that I could guide the one who takes over the reins. I hoped it would be Sirius but we don't always get what we want."

"What happened to the Longbottoms?"

"The torture was much more than they could handle. I heard that they are locked up in their own minds and has been undergoing treatment in St. Mungos since then. They have shown no sign of recovery yet and their only son is living with his grandmother."

Bellatrix had to admit that her aunt had played the game well. She had done an excellent job of showing herself in good light. After all, no one could fault a woman for doing what she believed to be necessary for the survival of her family. From everything she had heard, she learned that her aunt held the same views as Lord Voldemort and had nothing personal against him. The problem she had was the war and its consequences. That had to change for her plan to work. She took out a box and opened it. She brought out a gaudy locket with a serpentine design on them and called Kreacher.

"Yes mistress"

She saw his eyes widening in recognition when he saw the locket.

"You recognize this, don't you? Now, tell me how a Slytherin family heirloom ended up among our heirlooms. I want to hear the complete story.", Bellatrix ordered.

"Master Regulus called me once and told me that the dark lord had a job for me and ordered me to return soon after. The dark lord took Kreacher with him to a cave on which he spilled some blood. The cave opened to a dark passage. Kreacher was very scared. He took Kreacher with him on a small boat across the lake to a small island. Kreacher saw a basin in the middle of it. There was a green liquid inside it. Dark Lord make Kreacher drink everything. It was very disgusting and Kreacher saw things, horrible things. Kreacher nearly went mad. Dark Lord saw Kreacher screaming and laughed. After Kreacher drank everything, the Dark Lord put a locket into it and filled it again. Dark Lord went off leaving Kreacher alone to die. Kreacher felt very thirsty and tried to drink water from the lake but dead people came out of the water and tried to pull Kreacher under water.", he paused.

Kreacher was shaken by what he recalled and was in tears.

"What did you do?", Bellatrix asked.

"Kreacher apparated back as Master Regulus ordered. Master asked what happened and Kreacher told him everything. Master Regulus was very angry. Master ordered Kreacher to take him to that place. Kreacher took him there. We went on a boat again and reached that place. Master Regulus drink that liquid and told Kreacher to take the locket home and destroy it. He also told Kreacher not to tell anyone else about it. Those dead people took master under water and Kreacher couldn't do anything. Kreacher tried to destroy it for years but he failed. That locket is bad. It kept telling Kreacher how he is a bad elf who failed his master."

Bellatrix felt awkward. Consoling distraught elves was not a talent she possessed. But she was pleased to see that it had the intended effect on her aunt.

"Kreacher, elf magic cannot destroy it. So, I will take care of it. Is that why the house had not been cleaned for the last fifteen years? Was it because you were so busy trying to destroy it that you forgot that you had other responsibilities too?", she replied.

Kreacher looked ashamed for a moment before he perked up and said, "If mistress wants Kreacher to clean the house, Kreacher will clean it."

"Do it."

"Yes, mistress", he said before disappearing.

"I don't understand. Being a Death Eater had been Regulus' biggest dream. Why would he muck it up?", Walburga asked.

"May be he learned something that changed his opinion of Death Eaters and the dark lord. I might have an idea what it is but I am not sure.", Bellatrix replied.

"What is it?", she asked curiously.

"If I may ask, how did your husband die?", she asked.

"But-"

"If I am not wrong, he was perfectly healthy with no hint of illness until one day he went to sleep and did not wake up again.", she said.

She felt smug when she saw the shock on her aunt's face.

"I was just guessing but from your face I know it is the truth. I have heard about a special poison extracted from herbs which is undetectable unless you specifically look for it. It remains idle in our system until we sleep. Then, we will never wake up.", she replied.

"Are you sure?", she asked looking almost afraid of the answer.

"I have no proof to be sure of anything but it is a strong possibility. I can tell you one thing for sure. If uncle Orion's death was due to that poison, then he was not the only intended recipient.", she said.

She saw her aunt's eyes widen when the meaning of the sentence sunk in.

"We have so many enemies that there is no way we can know who exactly did it."

"Our family has huge fortune in terms of money and rare tomes, fortune other families can only dream of owning. If you had died then, who would have inherited that fortune?", she asked.

"As Sirius was disowned then, Regulus would have inherited it."

"Regulus who was the servant of Lord Voldemort.", she ignored the flinch and continued, "So, we can safely say that the dark lord would have gotten his hands on it. If Regulus had refused, then he would have gone the same way his father did. Who do you think will inherit it then?"

"House of Lestrange through Bellatrix or House of Malfoy through Narcissa. That is the same as giving it to the dark lord. So, he was trying to destroy the dark lord before he destroyed us. But, I don't understand one thing. Why didn't he try to kill me again?", he aunt said.

"I believe that he intended to do that but he was distracted by something he learned at that time. Surprisingly, I learned it from the thief. Around that time he learned of a prophecy linking him and a boy who we now know to be Harry Potter. He believed that the child mentioned by the prophecy had the power to destroy him. So, he postponed all other plans and set out to find the Prophecy child.", she replied.

"You have given me a lot to think about today. If you don't mind, I would like some privacy now. We will talk later.", she said with a tired sigh.

"Yes ma'am", she replied and closed the curtain.

She let out a victorious smirk that had been threatening to break out on her face for some time. Turning her aunt against Lord Voldemort had been much easier than she had anticipated. She still had a lot of planning and plotting to do. She would have to inquire with their Account Manager about their finances and about the one whom Sirius had chosen to succeed him. She would then have to discuss the possibilities of an alliance with Dumbledore. She would be a very busy woman in the coming days.

I had not intended to stop here but the chapter became too long. I will write the extra details in the next chapter. Also, next chapter will see Harry and Bellatrix meeting each other.