Chapter 703: Spider's End, Bellatrix's Mistake
Chapter 703: Spider End Alley, Bellatrix’s Mistake
As the Minister of Magic, Scrimgeour has no choice but to do whatever Fudge decides, no matter how unwilling he is.
Especially after receiving one-fifth of the donation, his attitude was not as firm as before, and he could be regarded as acquiescing to Fudge's proposal to let Lupine try.
When Sirius walked out of the Ministry of Magic, he already had a piece of parchment in his hand.
“I didn’t expect that the problem that had troubled Remus for decades could be solved so easily?” Sirius carefully put the parchment away, “I have to thank you on Remus’ behalf, Kyle.”
“I didn’t donate the five thousand Galleons.” Kyle said, “And it’s not easy at all. After all, not everyone can just come up with five thousand Galleons.
“Furthermore, this has a lot to do with Lupin’s identity.”
"Lupin's identity..." Sirius was a little confused and asked doubtfully: "A member of the Order of the Phoenix?"
Other than this, he couldn't think of any other special identity for Lupine.
"So be it." Kyle said, "Dumbledore trusted him and not only allowed him to attend Hogwarts without exception, but also later made him the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is something Fudge and Scrimgeour would agree with." main reason…
"If Dumbledore hadn't started this, let alone donating five thousand galleons, even if it were donated, it would be impossible for the Ministry of Magic to agree to let a werewolf become an Auror."
"No way...that's fifty thousand Galleons." Sirius said with some doubt.
Fifty thousand galleons is a huge amount of money even for those ancient pure-blood families.
"The situation is different now." Kyle said, "The werewolf has already made it clear that he will join the Death Eaters. If people know that the Ministry of Magic has asked a werewolf to join the Auror, Fudge will be kicked out by the angry wizard the next day. By the way, I have to bring Scrimgeour with me.”
“That Remus…”
"He is different. As I said just now, Professor Dumbledore made a start..." Kyle said softly: "Even if people know it, Fudge only needs to say, 'He was a professor at Hogwarts and was deeply involved in it. With Dumbledore's trust, you can easily resolve the anger of wizards."
“Is that so?” Sirius nodded as if he understood.
He didn't understand it, but he thought it made sense.
But no matter what, Lupine can finally live in the sunshine, just like when he was cleared of his grievances.
Of course, there will definitely still be strange views, but Sirius believes that with Lupine’s character, one day he will be respected by more people.
Lupine did it when he was at Hogwarts, and it was very successful. After he resigned and left school, at least more than a hundred students sent him letters and gifts at Christmas.
As for the fact that Lupine not only spent all his savings in return for the gift, but also borrowed a lot of money from him... that's not important.
“I have to go back quickly to tell Remus the good news.” Sirius said impatiently: “What about you, do you want to come with me?”
"No." Kyle shook his head and said, "The time has been delayed long enough. I have to go find Cedric quickly. He is probably already waiting."
“Or is it because of the Dementors?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah.” Kyle nodded.
“Didn’t I already donate? News about the dementor bounty will be published in the newspapers soon, so you don’t need to be in such a hurry.”
“The bounty is just to speed up the progress, there is no conflict.”
"Okay then." Sirius didn't say anything else, but said seriously: "Be sure to pay attention to safety. Once you find something wrong, don't hesitate and run away."
“Don’t worry, I know.” Kyle said.
The two of them separated after that.
Kyle returned to the village of St. Catchpole and found Cedric spinning anxiously in front of his house.
“You are finally back. I have been waiting for you all morning...”
"Sorry, I was delayed due to some things." Kyle said. At this time, he suddenly realized that Cedric was not the only one here.
Beside him, there was also a house elf wearing goggles and leather clothes, dressed like a rock singer.
In Kyle's impression, there is only one house elf who dresses so fashionably...
“Tata?” Kyle asked in surprise: “Why are you here?”
“The master asked me to come here.” Tata walked over and said.
“Nico?” Kyle scratched his hair.
Yes, the Tata in front of him was Nicoléme's house elf, but there was one thing he didn't understand...
"I just asked Nico how to use the thing. I can tell you on the letter paper. Why do you have to come all the way from Devon?"
"The master said..." Tata cleared his throat, "It's really unexpected. I have lived for more than six hundred years, and I have never heard of anyone using the Fire Curse to deal with Dementors. A normal wizard would You wouldn’t do that…”
Tata imitated Nico's tone vividly, but the more Kyle listened, the more he felt something was wrong.
What do you mean by "no normal wizard would do this"? Isn't he normal?
Also, there has never been a dementor rebellion before, shouldn't it...
It's a pity that Nico didn't come, and Tata, a house elf, probably couldn't answer his questions.
Kyle thought for a while and took out a bottle containing black particles.
“So Nico doesn’t know what the use of this thing is?”
"Yes." Tata said, "But the master was very interested, so he asked me to take some back."
“Then I’ll give it all to you.” Kyle was about to pass the bottle over, but after hesitating, he poured out half of it.
It’s not that he’s reluctant to part with it, it’s useless in his hands anyway, so it doesn’t matter if he gives it all to Nico.
Mainly because Kyle suddenly thought that in addition to alchemy, potions might also be useful.
Even rat spleens, locust sap and other messy things can brew potions, so why can't dementors... So he planned to give the remaining half to Dean Sacia of St. Mungo's.
…
After Tata left, Kyle and Cedric continued to search for traces of the dementors.
At the same time, in a place many miles away...the sky here was covered with much thicker gray fog than other places. Even in broad daylight, it looked gloomy.
A dirty river meanders in the gray fog, with overgrown weeds and piles of garbage on both sides. A huge and dilapidated chimney stands tall, looking eerie.
But in this harsh environment, a woman appeared out of thin air in the next second... Oh no, it should be two.
The two figures apparated to this place one after another.
“Sissy, listen to me!
"The second woman caught up with the first woman and tried to grab her arm, but she was freed.
“Go back, Bella.”
“You must listen to me Sissy, you can’t trust him.”
"Why not? Even the Dark Lord believes in him!" The woman still walked forward without looking back.
“The Dark Lord must be…trust me, he must be mistaken.
"Stop, Narcissa!" Bellatrix shouted, "He has probably betrayed us. Even if not, we cannot reveal the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord."
"Okay, then you go and expose me." Narcissa said without looking back: "Let the Dark Lord punish me later, the Cruciatus Curse? Or the Death Curse... I don't care!"
Her voice became sharper and shriller, with a hint of hysteria, "I tell you, I don't care about anything right now!"
Narcissa took out her wand and swung it in front of her face. Bellatrix, who had just grabbed her arm, seemed to have been stung by something and let go of her hand in pain.
“Narcissa, how could you do this to your own sister...”
"There is nothing I can't do now, for Draco..." Narcissa Malfoy glanced at Bellatrix blankly, then turned around and walked into the maze-like river bank without looking back. Deep inside the abandoned brick house.
Bellatrix could only follow.
They passed by a faded sign, with the name "Spider End Alley" vaguely visible on it.
Finally, Narcissa stopped in front of the last house in the alley and knocked on the door amidst Bellatrix's cursing voice.
With a creak, the door opened, revealing a gray-yellow face and a pair of black eyes. "Narcissa? What a surprise and joy..."
"Severus," Narcissa said nervously, "Can I talk to you? This matter is urgent."
"certainly."
Snape stepped back and invited her into the house, but Bellatrix also forced her way in.
Snape's thin lips twisted into a slightly sarcastic smile, but he didn't say anything.
They came to a small, dilapidated living room. A weak candle light cast from the ceiling, barely illuminating the few pieces of furniture here.
A frayed sofa, a worn armchair, and a rickety table.
Moreover, it seemed that no one had lived here for a long time. As soon as Narcissa came in, she smelled a strong smell, like rotten straw.
She subconsciously covered her nose, but she seemed to find it rude, so she put her hand down again, trying to get used to the smell.
But Bellatrix next to her has no such worries...
“Snape, how long has it been since you lived here?”
"I thought you had adapted to the environment in Azkaban..." Snape brought two glasses of water and put them in front of them. "It must be worse there."
Bellatrix's face turned a little blue and she said coldly: "I went to Azkaban for the Dark Lord. It is much better than you hiding in this dirty garbage heap and living an ignoble existence."
"Really?" Snape glanced at her sarcastically, "As far as I know, you seem to have lost something of the Dark Lord, something very important. As a result, his attitude towards you is now very different from before. "
Bellatrix's face turned even darker.
“Someone stole it from my vault! It was Gringotts who was incompetent, not me!”
"What a coincidence, isn't it..." Snape said in a long voice, "When you were in Azkaban, someone stole the Lestrange family's vault key, and then went to Gringotts to take away the key to the vault. The devil’s things, and finally put the key back in its place.”
"Tsk..." He smacked his lips, "Seriously, let alone the Dark Lord, even the stupidest students I have ever taught can hear how ridiculous this excuse you think of is."
"What I said is true!" Bellatrix's eyes turned red. "As long as we catch the goblin, we will know who did this."
"You won't have to worry about this," Snape said. "In fact, I have already done it for you. I used Legilimency to look through the memories of several goblins."
“Who did it?” Bellatrix suddenly took two steps forward and grabbed Snape's shoulders.
"Let go." Snape took her hand away in disgust and paused slightly before continuing: "Unfortunately, no one in the goblin's memory has been to the Lestrange family's vault...the last one to go in That's you, the day before you were imprisoned in Azkaban."
"This is impossible!" Bellatrix screamed hysterically: "This is impossible!"
"You'd better explain this to the Dark Lord." Snape glanced at her, "I'm not interested in hearing it.
Bellatrix stood there blankly. She seemed to want to leave here immediately and go to the Dark Lord to explain, but she didn't dare...she didn't dare to imagine that scene...
"The annoying guy is finally quiet." Snape waved his wand, and the water glass on the table disappeared.
He brought two new glasses and a bottle of wine.
"Have a drink..." Snape poured Narcissa a drink, "I think you might need it."
Narcissa grabbed the cup with trembling hands and took a sip, spilling some on herself.
“Thank you…thank you…”
“You’re welcome,” said Snape, “it’s time for you to leave...”
"No!" Narcissa screamed: "Listen to me, Severus, you are the only one who can help me now... Although the Dark Lord forbids me to say this, Draco..."
"Since he won't let you speak, you should shut up." Snape interrupted her.
“If I hadn’t happened to know about this plan, you would have made a very serious mistake, serious enough to cost you your life!”
“You know!” Narcissa raised her head in surprise.
"Yes," Snape said. "Although there are only a few people who know about this plan, I happen to be one of them."
"I knew...the Dark Lord trusts you so much, you must know it."
Bellatrix on the side raised her head and looked at Snape in disbelief. She did not expect that the traitor in front of her, a coward who did nothing when the Dark Lord lost power, was still trusted.
Why!
Her face began to twist with an inexplicable jealousy.
But neither of the two people present looked at her.
"You must help me..." Narcissa said, tears streaming down her pale cheeks,
"Severus, Draco is only sixteen years old... He has no idea what is waiting for him... This is too dangerous. The Dark Lord is simply retaliating for Lucius's mistake, I know it!"
“While in the Department of Mysteries, the Prophecy Ball was shattered and the Dark Lord was angry. He needed to find someone to take responsibility for it.”
“Lucius was the first one to run back, so he chose Draco just to punish Lucius, right?”
"Shut up!" Snape said coldly: "Don't speculate on the Dark Lord's mind. And when it comes to the prophecy ball, this Ms. Lestrange has a greater responsibility than Lucius."
Narcissa's body shook violently, and a lot of wine spilled out of the glass again. As for Bellatrix, she was already numb.
Compared to the thing she lost, the prophecy ball is nothing...
But she didn't understand how the thing disappeared after it was so good. The key was obviously well hidden, and no one knew where it was except her.
Bellatrix was a little confused. She even thought for a time that she had put the thing somewhere else, but she had lost this part of her memory because she had been with the dementors for too long.
She has seen this situation many times. Dementors can torture people to the point of madness and mess up their memories. This is too common.
And Snape just said that she went to Gringotts once before she was captured...
But what was she doing at that time?
Bellatrix tried to remember, but couldn't remember anything.
On the other side, Narcissa was still pleading with Snape.
"If Draco succeeds," Snape said calmly, looking at her, "he will be honored above all others."
"He won't succeed!" Narcissa screamed: "No one has ever succeeded...but Dumbledore..."
The name seemed to have exhausted all her courage. Narcissa said with a trembling voice: "Severus, you are the Dark Lord's most proud confidant and most trusted advisor. Can you talk to him and convince him..."
"The Dark Lord will not be persuaded by anyone," said Snape. "I would not be foolish enough to attempt such a thing."
"No!" Narcissa clutched her chest, "If it doesn't work, even if it's only half done... half will do..."
Snape raised his eyebrows, "If I remember correctly, the Dark Lord has two goals this time. Half of them have been completed. Could it be that..."
"Yes, that student named Kyle..." Narcissa sobbed: "Although I don't know who he is, he is definitely easier to deal with than Dumbledore, right..."
Snape's expression was a little strange, but he quickly returned to normal.
In one sense this is true, but in another sense it is wrong.
How to put it this way, at least Draco's life would not be in danger even if he failed when facing Dumbledore.
Seeing that Snape remained silent, Narcissa gradually collapsed. She grabbed her long golden hair and fell limply to the floor.
"Narcissa, that's it." Snape helped her up.
“Perhaps it is possible for me to... help Draco.”
Narcissa sat up straight and asked, "Are you willing to help him complete this mission?"
“No, this is the Dark Lord’s task and can only be completed by himself.”
"Then will you protect him?" Narcissa clutched Snape's robe tightly. "Be there to take care of him and ensure that he is safe and sound?"
Snape was silent for a moment, "All I can say is, you can give it a try."
…
(End of this chapter)