Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

In our basement, Quincy was feeding our prisoner a freshly made concoction of a veritaserum. It was better than magically forcing him to spill the beans with some kind of spell. Learning from how some of the Order's agents burst into flames from our school years, it was most reasonable to use potions instead of interrogating him with magic. Not that we learned anything... He was too low in the pecking order, knowing only details we could have gathered easily in different ways anyway. It was worthless, so we simply disposed of him.

"Here," I said calmly, giving Lockhart a wand. "The previous owner no longer needs it. I don't know much about wands, but it should do for now! When we can, we will look for a proper wandmaker and get you one that fits."

"Thank you, Conrad. It will do fine." He smiled, taking the wand and slipping it into his pocket. "I have experience using others' wands."

"It is best to train a little, though. We will still need at least one more person for our heist."

"Are you going to tell me about it now?" Lockhart asked, making me smile, while I nodded at Quincy, who continued as we all sat before the fireplace in the living room.

"We are going to break into Gringotts. In London. Yes... that one!"

"You are..." He whispered, inhaling a cold breath.

"Insane?" I asked with a half-smile.

"Probably... Um, and how would you do it? What would be my role?"

"Oh? Not asking us to not do it?" Quincy joked, making our old Professor smile back at us.

"It is too late for that... And I already told you, I am tired of hiding and running away."

"Well," I clapped happily, "That is why we need more people. You see, we have the target; we know the safe we are about to hit and what we are looking for. But we still need someone... authentic."

"Authentic?"

"Long story short," Quincy said, laying it out in the open, "We are planning on infiltrating the vault of the Dark Lord."

"Yeah. You are insane." He stated so clearly and firmly that it was our turn to laugh.

"As I said," I repeated, "We have the vault, and we can get into it. We have goblins inside who owe us. But first, we need to get to them, meaning we must only use our favors after we are right before the vault. Goblins would clap and dust their hands if we ask them to get us in, further than the front door, the crafty bastards!"

"For that," Quincy took over while I chuckled, pouring tea for us, "we need to either rope in someone who can get us deep into the vaults or simply capture someone and manipulate them. That is why we are happy to have you with us, Professor. You are one of the best wizards who can alter memories and help us pass through without issues!"

"Not to mention," I added, "After we got what we wanted, we will also need to alter the memories of the goblins with us. I am not risking leaving witnesses behind, but killing them would be... unwise."

"I never modified a goblin's memory, but... It should be doable if they don't have any defensive artifacts against it."

"I will deal with that." Grindelwald answered, walking into the room, holding a cup of wine, looking relaxed, clearly just out of the bathroom. As always, he was enjoying life like some kind of young noble son, and I can't blame him. After spending fifty years in a cell, I would do the same.

"Ah... Hello?" Lockhart stuttered, not recognizing him but finding his face somewhat familiar.

"Professor, let us introduce you to our Master." I explained, standing up and making formal introductions between the two. "Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, he is Gellert Grindelwald."

"The pleasure is... is... is... Excuse me?" He stopped, his hand halfway stretched out, looking at me, wanting to see if I was joking or not.

"Don't mention it." Grindelwald answered, shaking his hand, sitting down in an empty armchair, closing his eyes, and continuing to enjoy his wine. "Continue as you were before; I'm just here to relax."

"Merlin's beard... that can't be..."

"It can." We said in unison, finding his stunned countenance hilarious, "Well, back to topic! Master will deactivate the goblins' defenses, ensuring we are not discovered for using magic while we are down there. But for that, he will have to focus on that one job. Professor, you and I will be responsible for altering the goblins' memories, keeping them in a kind of illusion so they don't know what we take away. Even if they later betray us, they won't know they are giving away false information. Quincy would be the one who opens the vault and swipes what we are looking for, replacing the original with the fake I have been working on for the past year. If we succeed, the Dark Lord will lose something truly important to him, and he won't be the wiser about it!"

"And you need people for...?" He asked, licking his lips, feeling them drying up.

"As I said, we need someone who gets us in. Someone who has a vault down deep, close to where we want to go. I am hesitant to call them a fall guy, but they would be people who would be suspected the moment our little heist is discovered."

"That won't be easy..." He whispered, and I didn't have anything to refute him concerning the issue. He was right and- "But I may know someone."

"Oh?" I exclaimed, sitting up straight, and I saw from the corner of my eye that Grindelwald had also opened his eyes ever so slightly.

"It is... just a half-rumor. But I heard while running from my pursuers, hiding in a shady part of Antwerp, that there was a pair of noble pair who were cursing the goblins for making them wait to enter Gringotts. They were also openly berating the current Dark Lord and his regime, without fear, for still not giving them the visa for entering the country..."

"Oh," we all said, looking at each other. "I think it is time we visit Antwerp tomorrow. Can you take us there, Professor?"

"Y-yes. I can." He nodded, truly standing straight this time as I no longer felt he would abandon me halfway there.

...
....
......

When we arrived at the city, Grindelwald was also accompanying us. I didn't think it was because of the Professor or because he didn't trust him. It was more so because of the news and how it piqued his interest. Of course, I wasn't going to mention it to Lockhart, but I found it somewhat funny how nervous he was around him. Serving under one Dark Lord just to escape and now fall under another one... ehehe. Fate is fascinating; how it likes pulling pranks like this.

Our target was a local pub and guest house, and as we entered the street of its location, I was greeted by surprising scenery. I could even call this a culture shock, something that not even the goblins managed to pull off.

"What's the meaning of this, Professor?" Quincy asked, her voice surprisingly calm and cold, while she grabbed my wrist with one hand.

"Ah. I forgot... It is the cheapest place, okay?!" He answered, getting flustered. He walked onwards before he needed to explain why there were conjured, naked images of girls dancing in the windows of some buildings, illuminated by a soft, red light, giving them an even more enchanting look.

"It's not that shocking." Grindelwald added, walking beside us, "We are still humans."

"Yes, yes!" Lockhart agreed, feeling happy to find our Master backing him.

I knew enough to remain silent and stop speaking. I could feel Quincy's anger mixing with a sudden flare of heated jealousy, so I kept my mouth shut and my eyes looking forward. It didn't help that we had to enter a building with the image of a girl swirling around a pole, throwing kisses toward us while we walked in... Not that I would do anything unfaithful. Instead, I was imagining watching Quincy do it for me, which was a much more entertaining thought! However, I think she misunderstood the change in my expression because I felt her nails dig into my hand... owie.

The inside was just like any ordinary pub, with the only difference being that the staff, being all girls, delivered the orders wearing... well, nothing besides thigh-high socks and gloves.

"My love..." I moaned, "I love it when you claw at me while we do it, but now is not the- owie...!"

Well, it seemed she was not up for my jokes because she just squeezed even harder. Okay, wisecracks won't help me out here. I'll go back to silence then! It wasn't just me who decided not to look at Quincy right now, expecting her gaze to kill like a basilisk. The other one who avoided turning towards her at all costs was Lockhart, looking around and searching for someone or somebody.

"Ah, Marit!" he finally exclaimed, and one of the girls with curly, ash-blonde, short hair came up to us at once. While doing so, she let her chest jiggle so that everyone could see. This caused sharp pain in my feet because Quincy immediately stomped on my poor toes, noticing where my eyes were darting toward.

"Where should I look?!" I moaned in hushed tones, making my wife hiss like a snake.

"Nowhere!"

"Ah, you are back? How nice! Will it be the usual?" Marit asked, her voice clearly enchanted because it was way too pleasant. I felt my neck being caressed by her tongue as she spoke.

"Let me help you before Quincy kills you." Grindelwald looked at us, and he tapped our heads with his wand.

The moment he did so, my blood ran cold, like I was doused in a bucket of icy water. I felt the atmosphere change at once, and if, before his intervention, the place felt as if it was filled with sweetness and desires, now it was just an average pub again. As I looked, the girls were no longer naked; hell, they were not even that well adorned in the chest region.

"I will need to train you two on how illusions work." he added, smiling a little, making both of us go so red in the face that we felt we were burning away there and then.

Fuck. I wanted to curse openly... I didn't even notice it, nor did I think about it. All of this was just an illusion? Tsk... No wonder 9 out of 10 boys will fall for it! Me included! Heh... and looking at Quincy, even jealous girls are susceptible to it. If I have ever seen one, this is a genius application of illusion magic! It was at the end of my thoughts when I finally registered Lockhart's final words, speaking with the now commonly dressed girl who, at second glance, looked not even that young.

"Thank you, Marit." He smiled, giving her a coin, before turning to us. "Let's sit down! The people I mentioned are out, but they should be back. Let's wait here; I will recognize them at once." He explained, playing with his fingers, not even noticing the sudden change that happened to us.