"What about them?"
"They - or rather, their daughter and son-in-law - are the worst wandmakers in Britain! In fact, they don't even make their own wands. They import them from some cheap operation in China. It's probably bamboo and you couldn't identify the core inside the damn thing if you tried." Bellatrix smirked. "Ollivander's is the only place to buy a wand in this country if you don't want it blowing up in your face like this. I'd reckon you'd know that." There was a triumphant glint in her eyes. He's hiding something. He has to know about Ollivanders, and there's got to be a reason he didn't just get a wand from there.
"Right," Harry said as the rest of his wand crumbled in his hands. He supposed he would have to stop by Ollivander's at some time to pick up a new wand. He just fervently hoped it wouldn't be overly suspicious. Ollivander seemed to know everyone - heck, Ollivander had even known him before he had ever set foot in his shop the first time! In the meantime, though, he reckoned that his cheap wand had served him well enough.
"So, did you come to see me about anything specific, or did you just want to initiate a brawl?"
"Yes," Bellatrix replied. "I just finished a list of students at Hogwarts who have influential parents that you might want to get to know. Depending on what you have planned, their support might help or hurt your position." She reached into her robes and handed him a piece of folded-up parchment.
Harry briefly glanced through the list, impressed that her idea actually had some merit. He didn't know enough about the current situation yet to be comfortable in advancing his plans, so feeling out any potential support or opposition would help. He also noticed the names of a few rather prominent future Death Eaters on the list. Getting to know those might provide some valuable intelligence on Voldemort's current activities.
With a triumphant smirk, Bellatrix watched as Harry pondered over the list of names she had produced. "Slughorn used to invite several of his students to private dinners in his quarters," she added. "I was thinking you might start doing the same. Maybe reel in some invitations by their parents if you're liked by the students."
Harry nodded absently as he continued down the list. Aside from future opposition, he also recognized several others that would be instrumental in the Order of the Phoenix in the coming years, such as Bones, Prewitt, and Abbot. "All right," he said after a moment. "But I'll need some time to review this list and see if there's anyone else I'd like to add."
"Also, you aren't going to be able to invite everyone at once. Especially since some of them don't get along with each other," Bellatrix cautioned. "You might want to divide our list into groups that we can take care of one at a time."
Harry arched an eyebrow at her choice of words, but decided to say nothing. Her idea was sound - he could invite groups of potential Death Eaters one time and pretend to be a first-rate dark wizard, or at least someone who was sympathetic to the pureblood cause, and then invite the other half and put on an entirely different act. It would let him feel out both groups at the same time.
"I'll get the house elves to organize the food and drink. You just let me know when and where, and I'll have it arranged," Bellatrix offered.
"All right." Harry wasn't sure whether to be grateful or suspicious that she was offering to do work. It would help free up his time to plan, but he wasn't really sure what she was playing at. "I've got lesson plans to review, and you should go get your injuries looked at. That burn looks nasty, and your nose is still bleeding. Do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?"
Bellatrix shook her head. "Don't be stupid. If you show up with me, there'll be a lot more questions."
"Right."
"Though a cleaning spell would be nice. I don't need everyone in the castle seeing me walking around dripping blood everywhere. I've got an image to maintain."
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