Chapter 330: Clash
Screams rose and fell, but they echoed only within the study, unable to pass beyond its tightly sealed walls.
"Enough... enough..."
"Please... I beg you..."
Lucius lay on the floor, shaking uncontrollably and begging for mercy.
He truly could not endure any more.
He had always been the one to use this curse on others. No one had ever dared cast it on him, let alone subject him to it again and again.
Dobby, watching Lucius writhe and howl, simply turned his head away so he would not have to see.
This time, the Cruciatus Curse had lasted a full minute.
When the minute was up, Dudley lifted it.
"Well? Ready to talk now?"
He tapped Lucius's cheek with the Malfoy wand as he spoke.
"A reminder: every time you lie, you get another dose of Crucio," he said.
"This round was one minute. Next time will be two. After that, five, and so on. I am very curious how long you can last."
His tone was calm, almost lazy, and there was even a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
He looked for all the world like a courteous gentleman out of an old pure‑blood portrait.
But in Lucius's ears, every word sounded like the whisper of a devil.
"I... I will talk..." Lucius gasped.
He was spent from the torture, but he had no choice except to answer.
"I am listening," Dudley said.
He flicked the wand. A soft sofa glided over from nearby and settled behind him. He sat down and arranged himself as if to listen to a story.
"I... I gave that brooch... to Narcissa... my wife," Lucius stammered.
"What sort of brooch?" Dudley asked.
"Black... with a red gemstone on it... very ornate..." Lucius replied.
Dudley searched his memory but could not recall any sealed artefact that fit that description. The eerie Beyonder world held many sealed items, and he did not know them all.
"Where is Narcissa now?"
"She... will be back later," Lucius said.
Dudley stared at him.
So quick to sell out his own wife?
Or was Lucius angling for something else?
"Sleep in peace," Dudley said suddenly.
A soft light fell over Lucius. His eyes slid shut, and he sank into a deep slumber.
At the same instant, Dudley closed his own eyes, leaned back into the cushions, and stepped into Lucius's dreamscape.
At first, everything around him was hazy, but he could just make out the drawing room of the manor.
He walked forward and saw Lucius sitting slack‑faced on a sofa by the fireplace, lost in thought.
"Answer my questions," Dudley said.
"First. Besides that card, what other dark artefacts did you buy? How many in total, and who did you sell them to?"
"I bought five items in all, including the card," Lucius said dully.
"I kept the card for myself, gave the black brooch to Narcissa, and sold the other three dark artefacts, for the time being, to Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley."
Dudley's eyes narrowed slightly. He had not yet gone to speak with Borgin about dark items.
"Describe in detail how you acquired this Tarot card," he said.
Lucius recounted the entire process, including why he had gone to France in the first place. It did not differ much from his earlier story.
Dudley asked a few more questions, and Lucius answered them all mechanically, but nothing of real value emerged.
"What other important things has Voldemort entrusted to you?" Dudley asked, slipping in the matter of Horcruxes.
"He has not given me much. I usually keep it in the hidden chamber beneath the drawing room," Lucius said.
"A hidden chamber under the drawing room?" Dudley's gaze sharpened.
"So that is where Malfoy Manor's real secrets lie," he thought. "I will have to come back another time."
Aloud, he asked, "You just said Narcissa will be back later. You are not afraid I will go after her?"
"Narcissa has invited several pure‑blood families to visit," Lucius replied. "When they realise something is wrong, they will think of a way to rescue me."
"I see," Dudley said with a cold snort.
Lucius really did know how to hedge his bets.
Just as he was about to continue his questioning, Dudley suddenly felt someone tugging at his hand in the waking world.
He pulled free of the dream at once and opened his eyes.
"Justiciar, Justiciar..." Dobby was shaking his hand.
"What is it?" Dudley asked.
"The Manor's front gates just opened," Dobby said quickly.
As someone who worked here, he could immediately feel when Malfoy Manor's main entrance was thrown wide.
"Is Narcissa back?" Dudley roused his spirituality and swept his senses outward. At once, he detected several people approaching the manor house.
"Time to go," he said.
"Dobby, we are leaving."
Lucius had already uncovered Dobby's betrayal. Leaving him here was no longer an option.
"Yes, Justiciar," Dobby said, a look of longing flashing across his face.
He had finally completed his mission. Now he could leave this place for good and live a truly free life.
Dudley glanced at Lucius lying on the floor, thought for a moment, and chose to leave him alive for now.
A man who collapsed to his knees at the first sign of danger could be useful someday. Of course, that was only because Lucius posed no threat to Dudley's core interests at the moment. Otherwise, he would already have been erased from this world.
"Release," Dudley said.
He dispelled the confinement on the study, then took Dobby's hand.
"Apparition."
Crack.
With a soft sound, he and Dobby vanished from Lucius's study.
About a minute later, clear footsteps sounded outside, along with cheerful conversation and laughter.
"Lucius should be in his study. I will fetch him," came Narcissa's voice.
She walked to the study door and knocked.
"Lucius, we are home," she called.
No response came, even after a long pause.
Lately, Lucius had forbidden anyone from entering the study, even her. She hesitated to open the door on her own.
Then her gaze snagged on the shattered silver mirror nearby, and her expression changed at once.
She whipped out her wand, forced the door open, and rushed inside.
"Someone, come quickly..."
Moments later, a terrified scream rang through the manor.