Chapter 36.2- Doom Days

“Nepal?” He asked as he walked into the Dining room snatching an apple from the table and reading the headline over my shoulder.

“Was only a matter of time, I guess” I said in reply. And that was the truth. Japan in this world had some of the strongest and most dedicated wizards in the world. They’d more or less fought the entire world when they launched their first attempted conquest of Asia and held the world to a stalemate. Now that it had been decades since then and much of the magical world had spent that time demilitarizing in various ways, I gave them good odds of managing to win this time.

“Britain will not be able to stay silent and watch this” He said.

“We won’t? Not like we did much when the ICW output that had several British citizens in it was burned to the ground” I was sceptical. Fudge was content to bury his head in the and most of the time, and in this case that happened to be the popular decision where the electorate were concerned. It was divided but more people peached standing aside than there were proper calling for intervention. The rebels had won themselves no friends in their attack and people saw it as their rightful commeupance.

“With Nepal gone, what do you think Japan will strike at next?” He asked.

“India” It was the obvious choice. It was also where they had been stopped last time.

“And India matters in ways that only the old families truly understand” He said.

“What?”

“We did not join the war against Japan until India was threatened last time and that will be the case now as well”

“But why?”

“Let’s just say that India had some of the first wizards in he world and they left the kind of shit behind that no one wants in Japanese hands”’ He said.

“That’s not every specific”

“Then I’ll tell you the same thing old man Arcturus told me when I asked when I was just a few years younger than you are now— some things are better left buried, Harry. Don’t go digging them up” z

“Well, that was singularly unhelpful”

“What in the hells could have convinced you that I was even trying to be helpful in the first place?” He scoffed, swapping the apple for a slice of toast.

“How’s it going with Lucius?” I asked when it was clear that he was not going to keep talking about India. Even though he’d been the one that brought up the topic. Sirius could be uniquely annoying sometimes.

“Well. We’ve agreed as to a number. Now we just need to agree about what comes with the house he’s purchasing.”

“He wants the library, doesn’t he?” Sirius had the gall to break into laughter at that.

“Who do you think he is? Even Lucius Malfoy is not so stupid or greedy. The Black Library is cursed to the teeth— quite literally for some of those books— he even required that I pack up the library before the sale. What we’re debating is the collection of dark objects within the manor itself” he said.

“You’re trying to keep them?”

“For heavens sakes, no. We’re playing a game of hot potato with them. The truth is that with no one around to maintain the curses for over a decade, there’s a chance that quite a few of them would have grown intrtersting traits and personalities. Neither of us just wants to invite the ministry in to do a check and take them, but neither of us wants to go through the trouble o checking through them to find something actually useful. He wants to agree some sort of joint venture regarding their custody— paying for the curse breakers and the like and getting equal ownership of anything we decide to keep. I just want to leave the whole thing in his hands.” He said.

“That doesn’t make sense” I said instantly.

“You think so? Why?”

“Cursed objects are valuable aren’t they? And isn’t Lucius Malfoy a dark wizard? I would have expected him to be champing at the bit.” I posed.

“Well, both your premises are wrong” He said with a smile.