Even though there were two gawking spectators watching the show, the rage and terror boiling inside Lucius were hard to dispel.
The diary's whereabouts were unknown, the Chamber of Secrets had been opened by a group of students, and even the Basilisk was nowhere to be found.
It was hard not to suspect that Dumbledore was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Perhaps this old man had gotten hold of the diary long ago and had orchestrated all of this—dragging the whole of Hogwarts, including his daughter, into it—just to lure him into a trap!
And yet he had no choice but to walk straight into that trap, for otherwise he would have no way of learning the diary's whereabouts.
"You look a little unwell, Lucius." Dumbledore smiled placidly. "Would you like to try my black tea?"
Kate, standing behind him, chimed in at just the right moment, "Professor, drinking too much black tea will keep you up at night!"
"Oh, all right." Dumbledore gave a helpless shrug. "It seems we'll have to wait until next time—you'd best come earlier so we can have tea."
Lucius's face was taut, his gaze fixed intently on that aged face. Had he not had his reservations, he would probably have let slip a few rather inelegant words.
"How dare you!" The pale skin of his face twitched slightly. "Leading students to search for the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk—do you know what the consequences would be if something went wrong?"
"What's more," he forced a slight smile to display his confidence, "as far as I know, the Hogwarts Board of Governors has no record over the years of any large animal corpse being found. If that was not a Basilisk, and you encouraged students to go looking for one——"
Harry, who had only just managed to sit down, immediately made to stand up and defend Dumbledore, but Kate pressed him firmly back into his seat.
"Here is the thing, Lucius," Dumbledore replied calmly. "You may ask any student in the school whether I deliberately led them to search for the Basilisk.
"Furthermore, if you and the other members of the Board have objections, I can take you all on a tour of the Basilisk's skeleton, which has lain hidden underground for fifty years."
Without the string of attacks that had occurred in the original works, Dumbledore held his post as Headmaster rock-solidly, and had nothing to fear from Lucius's childish interrogation.
What was more, even Lucius himself felt that using such things to interrogate him was rather flimsy.
He simply needed an opportunity to speak with Dumbledore face to face.
"By the way," Dumbledore suddenly turned around, looking at Kate and Harry, who were still in spectator mode, "do you remember the diary you handed to me earlier?"
Harry stood up eagerly. "I remember, sir—it had the whole account of how the murderer fifty years ago released the Basilisk to kill people!"
At the mention of this, Lucius's face went a few shades paler.
"Indeed—a diary belonging to the true culprit, appearing fifty years later. What does that mean?" Dumbledore glanced at Kate, who was hiding behind Harry and refusing to show her face, and gave a faint smile.
He looked at Lucius. "I have already obtained that diary and examined it in detail. Lucius, you should know what that means, shouldn't you?"
It meant that Dumbledore had thoroughly grasped the evidence of his crime!
Lucius's face grew as stiff as though he were wearing a mask.
"Just imagine—the Weasleys are one of the most prestigious pure-blood wizard families.
"If Arthur Weasley's little daughter were bewitched by a diary and driven to do something irreversible, what impact would that have on Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act?
"Fortunately, this diary was discovered, and for various reasons, everything within it has been wiped away."
As Dumbledore spoke, he walked behind his desk, took from a drawer a diary that had been scorched by fierce flames until only half of it remained, and tossed it at Lucius's feet.
Lucius stared fixedly at the diary, and finally forced himself to speak. "How truly fortunate."
There was now no evidence to prove that he had slipped the diary to Ginny Weasley; even if Dumbledore suspected him, there was nothing to be done.
"Yes, how fortunate indeed," Dumbledore said, going along with his words with a beaming smile. "If Kate hadn't accidentally destroyed it, I'm afraid you'd be in quite a bad spot right now."
Suddenly singled out, Kate's eyes shot wide open.
So a shoddy, counterfeit diary like that got destroyed—fine, but why did he have to bring up her name!
She jerked her head up and, caught completely off guard, met Lucius's eyes.
"Er..." Kate stood up rather awkwardly. "Uncle Malfoy, I..."
Lucius forced out a smile. "Our two families have been on good terms since our ancestors' day. I imagine my son gets along well with you?"
Setting the facts aside, it probably was pretty good.
"It's all right, I suppose." She tugged at the corner of her mouth as well, smiling politely.
"Mm. Draco will invite you to be a guest at Malfoy Manor sometime." Lucius lifted his chin, speaking as though bestowing a favor.
Kate blinked, somewhat bewildered. What was that supposed to mean?
Inviting her to Malfoy Manor?
You, sir, are a Death Eater—inviting her, a reserve member of the Order of the Phoenix, over to your house to play; is that really appropriate?
She instinctively looked toward Dumbledore, and found that Old Man Dumbledore's originally relaxed expression had also turned grave at this remark.
Only then did Lucius feel he had won back some ground. He turned to his house-elf and said, "Let's go, Dobby!"
He wrenched the door open, and Dobby scrambled over; Lucius kicked him out the doorway, and even through the closed door, one could hear Dobby's pained shrieks.
"Harry," Kate gently poked him, "remember what I explained to you before? Giving clothing to a house-elf means setting it free."
Harry snapped back to attention and hurriedly asked, "Professor, may I return this diary to Mr. Malfoy?"
"Of course you may, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. "But you'd best be quick—it's nearly curfew."
Harry snatched up the diary and dashed out of the office.
Watching with satisfaction as Harry charged out without a moment's hesitation, Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Harry really is a good boy, wouldn't you say?"
"Of course." Kate nodded in agreement.
The mere fact that he'd been bullied for so many years without turning into an Obscurus was proof enough of Harry's character.
He only needed to keep honing himself, and one day he would surely become a fine blade to slay Voldemort.
Though it was a rather callous way of putting it, she knew that Dumbledore most likely thought the same.
When this old man needed to be ruthless, he could be more ruthless than anyone in the world.
She yawned, putting on a drowsy air. "Professor, I should head back to the dormitory to rest."
Having helped Old Man Dumbledore finish this whole act, surely she'd earned a rest.
"Kate," Dumbledore suddenly called her name, his deep blue eyes lowering to gaze at her gently. "You did very well too."
She tilted her head, thoroughly baffled.
What was this—did praise have to be handed out in equal shares?
She wasn't a child!
Still, praise from Old Man Dumbledore was worth accepting. After a moment's blankness she caught on, put on a delighted expression, and left the office with a light step.
The office, so lively just moments before, suddenly fell quiet.
Dumbledore stood in place and waited a while before unhurriedly turning to feed his bird. "Fawkes, it seems that little one's acting still needs some work."
Everything had been quite good up until the end, but the smile she'd faked upon hearing his praise had been far too formal.
Was his praise really so unsatisfying to her?
He instinctively gave his beard a stroke—or perhaps mere praise simply wasn't enough?
Right—Kate wasn't as easily pleased as Harry.
"Achoo!"
Unaware of who might be talking about her, Kate suddenly sneezed and glanced back with some puzzlement.
"Kate, are you all right?"
Harry, who had just freed Dobby with his own smelly sock, was now in high spirits.
The mystery of the Chamber of Secrets had been solved, the Basilisk was dead, and Dobby was free too—there had never been a happier moment for him than this.
"Mm... it's nothing." Kate rubbed her nose. "Maybe someone's just thinking about me."
It was all over. With more than two months left until the end of term, she could spend the remaining time peacefully enjoying a pleasant student life.
Oh right—next year the school would be crawling with Dementors, so she'd need to practice a Patronus Charm ahead of time.
Harry looked at her curiously as she sank into deep thought once more; after some consideration, he decided not to disturb her musings.
Probably only Hermione could put up with this person lapsing into contemplation every now and then.
He thought this, and cheered right up again.
____
________________________________________
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉