"Put your wand away you moron" Arcturus hissed. "The wards will obliterate anyone it deems acting threateningly" he explained.
LeStrange paled and swallowed deeply before placing his wand gingerly back in his pocket. "Your ignorance really is astounding" Harry sighed. "Yes, we have wands but they have weapons much more destructive than ours and they number in the millions, that is why we have the statute of secrecy, it is there to protect us, attempting a takeover will be the end of us" he concluded gravely.
"Bullshit" LeStrange broke in once more. "Their gans, or whatever they are no match for us" he declared vehemently.
"They are called guns and they would be the least of your worries, though I imagine even they would be sufficient to destroy us" he mused aloud.
"What are you talking about?" Arcturus growled irritably.
Harry sighed once more.
"Imagine having 300 killing curses fired at you every minute, that is basically what a gun does" Harry explained. "Ha, that is where you are wrong" LeStrange returned triumphantly. "It takes a long time to fire it and put the stupid powder back in to fire again".
Harry shook his head and chuckled darkly.
"I believe your knowledge is very outdated" he replied. "The guns you refer to haven't been used in decades, what they have now is far more superior and as I already said, they would be the least of your worries" he finished seriously.
"What do you mean?" Orion chipped in.
Harry thought for a moment, trying to come up with the simplest way to explain, when he had it he nodded contentedly.
"Uncle, if you were to fire a blasting curse in this room, how much damage would you do?" he asked. Arcturus frowned and scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"I imagine at full power I could destroy the entire room and some of the next" he answered proudly.
Harry nodded, not at all disagreeing with the man's capabilities.
"Well, imagine a blasting curse that could wipe out the entirety of our shopping district in London" he implored.
"Impossible" LeStrange huffed.
"Now imagine a blasting curse the could level the entirety of London" Harry continued, ignoring LeStrange completely.
"They can do that?" Arcturus asked worriedly.
"They can and no matter how powerful you are no shield would protect you from it" Harry answered sincerely. The room were shocked into silence whether or not the teen was believed, the thought of such a thing was not pleasant.
"So as you can see, not only would most of us be killed in pursuit of this, we would all be killed if we attempted a muggle takeover" he concluded.
Again the room was silent while the occupants were lost in thought, though Riddle simply glared at Harry.
"You are a very intelligent young man, I could use someone of such calibre for our cause, you have certainly given me much to consider" he conceded, knowing he had been beaten this time. "But our plans will go ahead, once I have of course given much thought to what we have discussed" he added, giving Harry a speculative stare as he bowed reluctantly in his direction. "Indeed, it has been a rather enlightening afternoon" Malfoy muttered, also glaring at Harry.
"I do hope I can gain an audience with you once again Lord Black, once things have moved in a much more decisive direction" Riddle requested.
Arcturus simply nodded dismissively.
Riddle once more turned to Harry and gave him a calculative stare.
"I hope you yourself consider joining our cause young man, I assure you that you would indeed be very welcome and a valued member" he said promisingly with a bow.
Harry raised an eyebrow at the man.
"It is doubtful Mr. Gaunt, I am rather fond of living" he returned firmly.
Riddle glared at him once more. "You know my family has a rather insightful saying that I believe you would do well to listen to" he intoned thoughtfully.
"What saying would that be?" Harry inquired curiously.
"If you pull on the tail of a snake, you should be prepared to face it's bared fangs" Riddle hissed in parseltongue.
Harry smirked amusedly and again reinforced his occlumency shields as he felt a probe of passive legilimency.
When Riddle felt the powerful mind shield he immediately withdrew from his attempt, his eyes widening very slightly in surprise at the occlumency skill on display.
"I am not pulling on the tail, I always go for the head" Harry hissed back, clearly surprising everyone in the room besides Dorea. "It is not wise to make threats in the house of Black Mr. Gaunt, as I am sure you know, the wards are most unforgiving" he added warningly.
Riddle could not stop the look of shock that appeared on his face, but managed to school his expression quickly.
"How is it you came across such an ability?" he hissed.
"The Blacks were once known for it, it seems that I am the first of our blood in centuries to be gifted with it" Harry explained, of course not wanting to share Dumbledore's theory of how he became a parselmouth.
Riddle nodded and smirked.
"I do implore you to reconsider your position Mr. Potter, I assure you that you would have a place at my side, we could achieve many great things together" he offered once more.
Harry shook his head. "I think not Mr. Gaunt, though I am flattered and can respect your ambition, it is however, not for me" he declined diplomatically.
"Then perhaps you will change your mind once you have witnessed how successful we will be, I will leave my offer open to you, if you of course do not oppose me" he Riddle returned warningly.
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