Touched

Shadow of a Motive - Seventh Year

Marvolo Gaunt stood in the middle of the darkened room. The curtains hung from their rods, velvet green, the tassles golden on the floor. The shadows of the bodies against the wall on the other side of the room were hard to look away from - a certain lust for more had lingered in Marvolo's chest with every muggle he had hurt.

He thought of muggles and mudbloods, of half-bloods and blood traitors. He thought of Salazar, his ancestor, trying to rid of all of those said traitors during his life.

Marvolo had been chosen, by his family - to complete a task of finishing what his ancestor had started. They treated Salazar like he was a God, like what he had done during his life was worth worship.

He had set out, not too long ago, to steal information about a rare form of magic. There were many forms of magic that could help him with his life's work, but there was one in particular that if he could wield, he could kill all of them.

Ancient magic.

Marvolo had worked briefly with Rookwood and Ranrok before their demise in order to catch the girl - the Mudblood - who could wield the magic. He needed to find her, but first - he'd have fun with it. He'd play with his food until he was really ready to bite, and then he'd end everyone.

He was good at that.

For example, Marvolo was proud of the Professors he had come upon many years ago. It was his first proper mission, without his father, to set the toxins on them in their own basement. Gassed them, watched them choke on their inhaled air until their chests ceased movement. The Sallow Professors, well - they'd researched that ancient magic for a long time before they'd died. And when Marvolo had gotten in, after the children had ran - he used the materials he'd found to make a plan, and he needed to follow that plan now.

Recently, his youngest brother had come of age - and that meant that he needed to join forces with them. Useless, compared to the others - he needed to marry. The only way he was young to be helpful to them was if he had a child with a wife, to keep their bloodline intact.

Their mother had ordered Marvolo to find the girl that Ominis was currently partnered with. She was a half-blood, and Marvolo was happy to do so. However he didn't get far before he realised that she wasn't where his mother said she would be, and he took out his anguish on the people living there. They were dead, now.

Every last one of them.

It almost made Marvolo smile. To have that much control over people was to be in control, and he adored it.

His brother had come back to the family house and threatened them, and Marvolo had sent him to their father, who Marvolo assumed did his best to hurt him without killing him. It was what they always did, with that boy. Of course, Marvolo had seen a lot of the beatings with his own eyes, with his own body - and he had the marks and scars to prove it. It only made him angrier.

His family left him to study the book, as they did whenever he had a chance to be alone. It had depicted the use of that certain ancient magic. Marvolo had stolen it from the Sallow Professor's after they'd been killed, and he had it in this manor ever since, consulting it for ways to practice wielding the magic. Of course, he could find the girl - but what was that going to do? She couldn't give him the magic. He needed to learn how she had come upon it. Once he did, he would be unstoppable - and all individuals that weren't pure of blood - they were to be obliterated.

He would make sure of that.