The Contract

Chapter 141

"I don't care if I have to stay here until the end of all things magic, get your ass down here now!" Sirius called out, his temper beginning to go from a simmer to a boil within seconds. He had a very short fuse, always had done, the curse of the Blacks. His therapy had helped him immensely. He was very grateful for everything she'd done for him; Harry wouldn't have been able to tolerate his outbursts back then. It would have scared him, not that he'd have showed it. Stubborn lad, he'd rarely shown any emotions back then. Although, it might have just been him.

"That might just be the case," Rookwood proclaimed with amusement, "The ritual will drain you of your magic, out of the three of us, you'd go down first." He wasn't bragging but he knew he held more power than Sirius Black. He was no slouch, but compared to him and the Dark Lord, he was normal where it comes to magic.

"How many times has this ritual been cast since Harry gave permission for it to be used?" Aurelius asked wryly, glancing over the information he'd been provided again. The file was sparely filled, but it could be worse.

"Collectively?" Rookwood enquired speaking lowly, as he glanced his Lord's way. "Roughly seventeen, give or take."

Aurelius' eyes widened, "That many?" truly amazed by the high number, they'd given it now approaching only twenty-four hours and it needed a high concentration of magic.

"There are far more Unspeakables now than there used to be in my youth. Given the state of our world for a time, it surprised me when I returned to my duties to see." Rookwood admitted, it had alarmed him, made him feel less special. Not only that but gravely worried about his job, which he loved, it was his passion. Equal to his desire to work for the Dark Lord and the betterment of the magical world.

"There was an abundance of students with desires for jobs far above their grades. It took a lot of work on both professors and students parts to see to it that they could get themselves on a career trajectory they desired." Aurelius agreed, "It's becoming much easier as the years pass, the professors are less overworked in their goals of helping their students. I've had so many conversations at the sheer shock of how bad the education at Hogwarts was before I took over."

"Wouldn't be surprised if there were a few Unspeakables in there somewhere." Rookwood murmured, "We have three new apprentices in the department, they've just spent four years in America gaining the qualifications to work here." The fourth prospective hire wasn't suited for the department.

Unspeakables recruited wizards and witches for their intelligence and power. Not just any intelligence does it, it needed to be a specific intelligence. Everyone can read books and memorise them, and recite them or recreate whatever subject the person desired. Such as potions, you can fulfil the recipe, truth was, they wanted people who thought outside the box. Someone who could say make the already created runes and potions and make them better. Those that could create spells, and learn ancient languages and such.

"How are they meeting expectations?" Aurelius questioned, as always, he liked collecting those powerful and intelligent. Rookwood was one of the many within his circle, and he'd never say no to more wizards and witches.

"Exceeding them," Rookwood answered, "I'd still take one Harry over five apprentices." He was just...amazing. Without knowing who he was, on paper, his work was brilliant hands down. He's the sort of wizard that would thrive in this sort of environment.