cycle

I had nightmares for several nights—maybe it wasn’t night, the torch at the end of the corridor was always burning unhurriedly, only stingy to give this dim dungeon a little bit of light, there is no difference between day and night, only water The faint click of the beads sliding down the wall is a reminder that time is still passing.

As long as I close my eyes, the memories I peeped that day will flood into my eyes like a tide. People with different expressions and I don’t know them fall straight down under the dazzling green light, and they don’t know what they represent What a strange scene, Voldemort's louder and harsher laughter-they all undoubtedly represent the secret behind Voldemort, but I am like a person who is carrying a heavy box and has no idea where to find the key.

In the beginning, I was worried that Voldemort would arrest me for interrogation again, and if he used Legilimency to pry open my mind, he would find that I had secretly checked his memory.Fortunately, he probably felt that he had read all my "valuable" memories last time, and could no longer provide him with any information related to Dumbledore and the two boys.For him, my only role right now is to stay alive and kill Neville and Harry together after he catches him.

In the dungeon I was in, apart from me and Mr. Ollivander, there was also a kind-looking man who was imprisoned. Although his body was thin, there were still traces of his former fatness on his face.When the unconscious Mr. Ollivander and I were just thrown in by the Death Eaters like corpses, he carried the weakened Mr. Ollivander to the slightly higher ground away from the damp wall, and We all had some hay under us, in case we caught typhoid before we woke up.

"I've been locked up here for a whole year, and we only know what year, month and day it is because of a newcomer like you." The man handed me a comb and a cat's-eye emerald hair clip, letting me I tidy up my long, knotted hair, "Here, I use it to comb my beard sometimes, I hope you don't mind, this hair clip rolled out of your clothes pocket when you were unconscious - it should be yours ? After all, the dungeons were only locked up with men before.”

"Thank you very much." I gratefully took the hairpin and comb, and put the hairpin carefully in my pocket.Although the comb had broken several teeth, there was no hair left on it.Worried that the large piece of mud-knotted part at the end of the hair would directly break the entire comb, I frowned and tore off that part of the hair with my fingers.

"Actually, I wanted to suggest you to do this from the very beginning. It's too easy to catch cold with long hair in such a humid place." The man had already turned his head and continued to take care of Mr. Ollivander, feeding him every day he was sent by the Death Eaters. A small bowl of water came, "But little girls are always reluctant to part with their own hair—would you like some water, Miss Snape?"

"No need." Seeing that the small bowl of water was almost bottomed out, and Mr. Ollivander was still swallowing, I licked my lips and shook my head in surprise, "You know me?"

"I can only say that I have a little impression." He laughed, reached out and shook my hand, "I'm Florin Fusco, although you don't know me, but—"

“Florin Fusco’s in Diagon Alley.” I was reminded of the ice cream parlor that always had a whole row of little wooden tables and sun umbrellas outside, and strawberries that never melted in the window Nut crushed ice cream balls, accompanied by delicious waffles, no little wizard can move outside such a window.When I haven’t saved my own pocket money, being taken to Diagon Alley by my mother is one of the times I look forward to the most, because although I don’t say anything, as long as I stare at the window for a while, my mother will smile He took me to sit in the bright sunshine to share a large bowl of ice cream, and commented on the boss's improved formula by the way.

"Your memory is really good." I took the towel he had wiped Mr. Ollivander's cheeks, and soaked it in a small basin by the corner (the basin kept falling down at the corner) drops of water), "Should the owner of the shop have the ability to remember all his customers?"

Mr. Ollivander coughed and shook his sagging eyelids but didn't wake up, but Mr. Fusco didn't look too worried.He came over and collected the hay I was lying on just now, and put it under Mr. Ollivander's head to make him sleep more comfortably. Only then did I find that there was a crack by the wall where Mr. Ollivander was. I can feel a faint warmth in the wind blowing from inside.

"I'm not like Garrick, who can remember when a wizard came to his store and bought what kind of wand." He took me to squat next to Mr. Ollivander to keep warm, and said with a smile, "I remember you because of Harry Potter. His dad helped me a lot, so I kept giving him free ice cream. There was a summer vacation when you were all in my shop, and he kept watching you from the next table. I Let him try to talk to you, and he keeps shaking his head. He has never seen that naughty boy so shy—if I remember correctly, you should be students in the same grade? Did he talk to you later? "

"Uh," I said with a flash of heat on my face, "he...uh, that...we got together later."

"Oh!" Mr. Fusco showed a suddenly realized expression, "Did you be arrested because of this? Garrick said that the mysterious man has been hunting Harry and Neville Longbottom, and he is going to use you to threaten them, yes no?"

"Hmmm..." While he's undoubtedly a good guy, I can't tell him anything about prophecy, information that might cost him his life.

Fortunately, Mr. Fusco seemed to just want to chat with someone, or he took my hesitant voice as an affirmative reply, and then murmured: "I hope those two children are well. I heard Garrick say that the mysterious Someone killed James...I'm very sad, he is a very good man, of course, the old Potters only have James as their only child, so when he was young and energetic, he was a bit arrogant because he was spoiled too much ...His wife is also very good, she brought up Harry very well, although she is naughty but knows how to measure...all of them died at once, leaving only one child still on the run..."

I felt a heart-wrenching sadness, and my head began to ache again.

"Hush." ​​When I saw him take out a wooden stick the length of his index finger from under the haystack and mutter something to the hay, my eyes widened in surprise.Mr. Fusco quickly put an index finger on his lips to prevent me from making any noise due to excitement. He looked vigilantly at the door of the dungeon, and after confirming that there was no movement outside, he lowered his voice and said, "They forced Garrick to give Lucius Malfoy made a new wand, and Garrick secretly left some leftovers to make it-but he couldn't do any magic, and he could barely dry the haystacks... It's too humid here, and I'm covered in blood now The bones are hurting, come here and help me lift his head up a little bit... Poor man, he has to suffer like this because he is too good, I hope he can get through it, otherwise where should the British children go to buy wands in the future Woolen cloth……"

"Why did you get caught here again?" I tried my best to suppress the idea of ​​snatching the short wooden stick from his hand, which allowed me to get a little bit of magic again, and chose at will. asked a question.

"I probably offended one of them when I didn't know it, and I took the opportunity to avenge myself." Mr. Fusco actually made a dry joke, "I don't think it's the mysterious person who wants to Eating ice cream and no Death Eater would do it, they seem to have forgotten about me."

There was a slight pop in the air, and we looked up vigilantly, only to see a flustered Senna appear holding a tray, the house-elf looked like he was seriously frightened, and there were still steaming cups in the tray It was dangling in her hand, and it was about to sprinkle more than half of it, so I rushed over to catch her who almost slipped and fell.

"Senna, Sena was sent by the hostess to deliver food to the young lady!" She said in a high-pitched voice, and the hand that put down the tray tightly grasped the dirty pillowcase on her body, "This is the order of the Dark Lord , don’t let the lady die!”

"Is something wrong, Senna?" I saw her eyes the size of tennis balls unconsciously looking towards the door of the dungeon, and her body was trembling slightly, as if someone was watching outside.

"Did you poison it?" Mr. Fusco asked sensitively. "You were ordered to poison Miss Snape. Are you lying?"

"No—no!" Senna was taken aback, her eyes filled with tears instantly, "Senna is an elf who takes care of the young master, how could she harm the young lady! Someone, someone broke into the manor to kill someone, It's a mess, a mess! Senna's because—it can't be said! Senna is a bad elf! Bad elf!"

"Who broke into the manor? Killed who? When?" I was so surprised that I even forgot to grab Senna who slammed her head against the wall. Mr. Fusco pinched the elf in a rude manner. The pillowcase on the back of her neck was lifted up, and Senna struggled a few times in the air, making a suffocating sound because her neck was strangled.

"Answer her questions!" he said savagely.

"No no! Please let her go!" I didn't expect that Mr. Fusco, who had been kind to me just now, would be so indifferent when facing Senna. He obviously, like many ordinary wizards, doesn't think that house elves need to be respected. . "She's a nice, kind elf!"

Senna, who was thrown to the ground by Mr. Fusco, coughed several times before standing up staggeringly, a big lump bulged out of the bluish-white skin on her forehead.

"Senna doesn't know." She hid behind me and said timidly, "Senna was sent to help other elves in the kitchen after the young master left. It was very noisy outside this morning, and Sena heard a lot of spells Senna was worried about the young master's flowers, so she ran out of the kitchen and went upstairs, and saw the guests in the manor arresting a man who broke in, and the spell flew around, hitting the hostess' favorite decoration , a lot of things are broken—"

"A man?" My throat felt dry. "Have you seen what he looks like?"

"I didn't see it clearly, I only saw black hair." Senna shook her head, "But he was caught, and those guests were searching for his companion, so Senna quietly came to see the lady and brought her something to eat."

"Caught it?" I almost screamed. "Black hair? Wearing glasses Senna? Does he wear black glasses? Where is he being held now? Are they torturing him?"

Senna was about to speak just now, but there was the sound of someone walking outside the dungeon door. Her eyes widened and she disappeared into the air in the next second. My fingers that were grabbing her pillowcase were empty.

The elf didn't lie, the Death Eaters outside the dungeon did sound like they were looking for something. Mr. Fusco and I put our ears to the door and listened to the vague cursing for a long time. At least the black-haired man's companion hasn't been found yet. .Malfoy Manor was by no means small, and it was not easy to search through it thoroughly, but it was also not easy for complete strangers to find a safe hiding place.

I yielded the food Senna had brought to Mr. Fusco and Ollivander, fear now tangled in my throat like a thread, and I couldn't even take a sip of water.

"Relax, girl, you need to take care of yourself first, and then think about others." Mr. Fusco left me two cakes that I had to eat, and the soft pastry was like a big ball of cotton at the moment It's also stuck in my throat and it's hard to swallow.

Thinking in a better direction, Harry probably doesn't know I'm currently under Voldemort's control - but he has the Marauder's Map in his hand, as long as he takes it out and checks it, he will find that I am not at Hogwarts, Dad is the headmaster , I'm not by his side, it's definitely not right to think about it - but he sure doesn't know that I'm at Malfoy Manor, no one knows about it... But if Neville can be like before, when Voldemort lost control Forced to share Voldemort's emotions... Voldemort's last out of control happened to be torturing me and Ollivander - but Senna said that the man who broke in was killing people, and Harry wouldn't do that... the old Harry wouldn't , but if he lost his parents and wanted revenge...

I felt like I was soaked in ice water. After comforting me for a while, Mr. Fusco continued to take care of Ollivander, who was not fully awake. After a while, he also fell asleep on the hay due to exhaustion. , Breathing gradually became even.I was desperate for news, even tried calling Senna's name into the air, but she didn't answer me.I had no choice but to continue sticking to the door of the dungeon hoping to hear some movement, but apart from the Death Eaters who came to search a long time ago, there seemed to be no one guarding it—after all, there was magic on the door, and everyone in the dungeon No wand.

"Miss Snape?" I don't know how much time passed, my consciousness began to blur, and I thought I was dreaming when I heard a thin voice calling me.

"Miss Snape, are you being locked up here?" I straightened up abruptly, confirming that the voice coming from outside the door was not a hallucination, and the girl's voice was obviously crying.

"Astoria?" I asked a little uncertainly, the iron door of the dungeon was much thicker than the door of Draco's bedroom, her voice was indistinct in my ears.

"It's me! Miss Snape, you are indeed here!" Her voice was very anxious, "I can only ask you to avoid suspicion. I don't know how healing potions would work without them both—"

"It's okay without lion stone powder, it just makes the potion finally condense into a paste, but it won't be so good without lily of the valley, si - can you go to the garden now? I remember that the fence closest to the fountain in the garden used to be planted At least five big dipper lily-of-the-valleys grown in Norway, which are very expensive but very effective." After I instinctively answered, I remembered to ask her, "Who was injured?"

"I... I picked up a badly injured puppy," she replied, "Sorry, I know it's not the time to take care of pets, but it's the same as the long puppy I met at Hogwarts earlier." It's very similar. It looks like it's going to die. I can't bear it, and I don't know where it came from. Mrs. Malfoy will definitely not allow me to raise it...I don't know what to do now, I can only Find medicine first—”

"There is a hidden compartment under the stairs between the fourth and third floors here that can accommodate a child." I never thought that the accidental discovery of hide-and-seek in the past would come in handy at this time, although Astor Leah said that now is not the time to care about a pet, but it is a life after all, I told her softly, "I forgot which staircase it is, it is probably closer to the fourth floor, you can hide it there temporarily The Death Eaters don't usually go to the third floor, and I don't think Mrs. Malfoy will go to the fourth floor very often when Draco is away."

"Okay, Astoria, I have a question for you." I quickly interrupted her thank you, "Don't worry about how I know - the man caught today is Harry or Neville?"

"I was locked in the room by Mrs. Malfoy." Astoria's voice showed a hint of worry, "but I don't think so, Miss Snape, I overheard Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's conversation , the Dark Lord is not here, Mr. Malfoy thinks that the person they captured today is still useful to the Ministry of Magic, and Mrs. Lestrange is not allowed to kill him. Mr. Malfoy seems to be planning to send that person to Azkaban—— He's quite happy, because that man killed Greyback, and Mr Malfoy hates werewolves coming in and out of his house."

Although a bit selfish, I still breathed a sigh of relief for the time being. Being sent to Azkaban means that it will definitely not be Harry or Neville.But just as I relaxed a bit, Astoria's footsteps ran away in a panic, and then I heard another footstep approaching, and a woman's hoarse voice sounded: "Who was here just now?"

As soon as I moved back to Mr. Fusco and pretended to be asleep, the dungeon door was suddenly pushed open. Fusco was awakened by a loud noise, and even Ollivander made a series of inarticulate sounds .

"Who was outside the door just now?" Bellatrix walked in in a black robe. There was a horrible wound on her face extending from the corner of her eye to her neck. The blood on it hadn't even completely solidified—— But she didn't seem to care at all, and walked straight in our direction, with Mr. Fusco keeping me behind him. "My cousin's accomplice who hasn't been caught by us just asked for help, right? I heard someone talking here just now!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Fusco glanced at the wound on Bellatrix's face with a bit of disgust, "I can testify that we were all asleep just now, who will come and be locked in the dungeon people asking for help?"

"That's not certain, old man." Bellatrix licked the blood from the wound to the corner of his lips, laughed, and easily waved his wand and threw him against a wall, "The people behind you That little sweetheart is a lovely baby, she is more familiar with this manor than I am, she used to fantasize about being the hostess here, isn't she, baby?"

"You caught Mr. Black?" I widened my eyes.

"Yeah, he came to avenge his wife and James Potter, but he didn't even see my master, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha" Bellatrix seemed very satisfied with my reaction, She pointed her face with her finger, "This is the wound he left me, of course, as a courtesy between relatives, I also paid him back - it's a pity that that idiot Malfoy won't let me kill him directly But it’s okay, the master might change his mind when he comes back.”

"You like my wounds too, don't you?" She suddenly thought of something, took out a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp tip from her pocket, and leaned over to scratch it with her nails Passing my face, there was a warm and crazy light in the eyes, "I just got this gadget not long ago, and I have improved it for a long time-why didn't I think of asking you to try it, my little baby Ai Liz?"