struggle

Bella's investigation went smoothly. When she discovered that Peter Pedro had been hiding in Weasley's house as a mouse for more than ten years, she knew that she had found the breakthrough she wanted, so she hurried to Malfoy. manor.After seeing Lucius, she immediately gave a malicious smile: "That Pedru has stayed at the Weasleys' house for more than ten years. Now, it's no wonder that little girl has no problems."

"Bella, you just need to tell the master the news, don't say too much, the master will judge for himself." Lucius pondered for a while, then carefully folded the parchment with information that Bella brought back to its original form , and gave it back to her.

"I understand. Anyway, let's see how that little girl explains her relationship with that mouse this time." Bella took the parchment with a smug gleam in her eyes, "I really doubt that the Order of the Phoenix was actually played in the first place." As a trick, I deliberately let that Pedro go. I blocked all the news about him, because I was afraid that if his details were found out, the traitor would be suspicious. But because I couldn't figure out which one was the real owner. , so I sent that little girl again. Now, let me see how long that little girl can be rampant."

Regarding Bella's conjecture, Lucius did not comment, but had a thoughtful expression in his gray-blue eyes: "Bella, then you should go to the owner first, and the information you find out will be obtained by Go and report back."

Bella, who was immersed in the excitement, didn't notice Lucius' unusual look, but just gave him a mocking look: "It's really rare, this time you didn't take credit, and you didn't actively ask for credit." Said Without waiting for Lucius' answer, she almost impatiently walked towards the fireplace: "Riddle Mansion." With the rising green flames, her figure disappeared in front of Lucius' eyes in an instant.

Staring at the fading flames, Lucius was lost in thought for a moment.He couldn't be sure whether Pedro was related to Ginny, or whether it was a conspiracy of the Order of the Phoenix.But at least, let Bella test it first, and at the same time confirm some of his guesses about her. Perhaps, it can also allow him to truly determine his future direction.

While meditating, flames rose again in the fireplace, and then a long-lost friend appeared in front of him.Lucius woke up suddenly, and greeted his gloomy black-haired friend: "Sev, long time no see, why are you here suddenly today?"

"I'll come and see you. By the way, I'd like to ask about your situation." Snape shook his black robe, sat down in front of Lucius with a serious face, and picked up the bag that Lucius had summoned for him. I took a sip of the tea, "The situation over there is not very good. The potions needed by the recently killed Death Eaters almost left me with no time to sleep."

"In other words, who has been fighting with the Order of the Phoenix?" Lucius leaned back in his chair, summing up what Snape had hinted at.

Snape nodded silently, almost knitting his eyebrows: "There is no way, no reason, I can't even find the reason for him to kill people and the benefits he can bring by doing so. It is simply a crime for him to do so." It's just a bloodbath of Muggle-born wizards, and it has no practical effect other than reducing the population of the wizarding world. Instead, those followers are taking the opportunity to plunder their own interests and make a fortune by taking advantage of the chaos." Facing Lu Xiu Well, Snape's words are also much more straightforward, without too many scruples and concealments.

"The one on my side is obviously very sensible. He is taking advantage of this chaotic time to consolidate his strength. It seems that he wants to get power from the Ministry of Magic to pave the way and reshape his own identity under the banner of the descendants of Slytherin. Image." Lucius briefly introduced the situation on Tom's side, then paused, stroking the snake-headed stick in his hand and pondering his words, as if thinking about how to say, "It's just that he also has problems. Because some Death Eaters are obviously dissatisfied. Because of his way of devouring. In other words, they can’t see the direct effect and can’t bring them obvious benefits, so they have resentment towards him. Over time, these people may become hidden dangers for this side.”

"For example?" Snape crossed his fingers, leaned forward slightly, and stared intently at Lucius.

"Well, I haven't finalized which ones are included." Lucius hesitated for a while, but still didn't specify who it was. "Also, some people think that the master has not fulfilled his purpose of cleaning the bloodline and restoring the glory of pure blood. Especially After the little girl Weasley came recently, they were even more dissatisfied with the master's doting on her, and they always wanted to find a chance to get rid of her so that the master would not be deceived by her."

"The little girl from the Weasley family? Ginny? Weasley?" Snape glanced at Lucius in surprise, and asked back as if in disbelief.

Lucius nodded: "Yes. Her magic power is very strong, as if it was trained by the master himself, and the master seems to attach great importance to her, so others dare not mess with her easily. It's just that she was born in the Order of the Phoenix. , and her attitude towards the Order of the Phoenix is ​​somewhat ambiguous, so there are many people who are dissatisfied with her in private."

"Her attitude towards the Order of the Phoenix is ​​ambiguous? All I know is that she has betrayed the Order of the Phoenix and the Weasleys?" Snape asked in a deep voice, fiddled with his coffee cup.

"I don't know, but just a few days ago, she rejected the proposal to kill Harry Potter and Dumbledore, which aroused many people's speculation about her." Lucius rubbed his forehead with some headaches "Although the master said on the surface that he listened to her opinion, I don't think the matter is so simple, but I haven't figured out what the master is thinking for the time being. So, I hinted at Bella and asked her to try to test the master. A real attitude to Ginny."

After listening to Lucius' words, Snape's eyes flashed a thoughtful look, but Lucius, who was immersed in his own thoughts, didn't notice it, and still closed his eyes and held his forehead.There was a moment of silence between the two, lost in their own thoughts.It wasn't until the clock on the wall struck ten o'clock that Snape woke up suddenly and stood up abruptly: "I have to go back, I can't leave Hogwarts for too long."

Lucius nodded knowingly: "Dumbledore and that one are not easy to deal with. Sev, it is better for us to meet less if there is no important matter. As for the master on my side, I will come back when I have definite news. contact you."

Snape responded casually, and under the watchful eyes of Lucius, he left Malfoy Manor through the Floo network again.After Snape left, Malfoy sat back at the desk, looking at the dark night outside the window, secretly guessing whether Bella had told Tom the news, and how he might react.

At the same time, in the Riddle mansion, Tom looked at the parchment presented by Bella, gradually tightened his hands, and said in a cold tone: "Bella, what is written on it is the result of your investigation in the past few days? You guarantee everything true?"

"Yes, master." Bella felt Tom's anger, and while lying on the ground in fear, she also felt extremely excited, "Peter Pedro's whereabouts over the past ten years have been deliberately determined by the Order of the Phoenix." However, they forgot that there was a house elf in the Black family. Sirius, the traitor, only remembered to warn him not to leak information about the members of the Order of the Phoenix, but Peter Pedro was not a member of the Order of the Phoenix. So, finally, I got the whole thing straightened out."

She still wanted to continue to express her conjecture, but Tom suddenly raised his hand and stopped her next words: "Okay, Bella, you did a good job this time, and I will deal with the next one. "

Bella glanced up at Tom secretly, and found a storm brewing in his eyes, knowing that her news had achieved its effect.So, she didn't say any more sensibly, but bowed respectfully to Tom, and with Tom's signal, she left the Riddle mansion with satisfaction.

After Bella's figure disappeared, a ferocious expression crossed Tom's face, and he summoned "Blazing Flame" to burn the parchment in his hand.When the charred ashes fell to the ground, he stood up abruptly and headed for Ginny's room on the second floor.But when he walked to the door, he suddenly withdrew all his expressions, and knocked on the door lightly: "Ginny, I have something to ask you."

Ginny obviously didn't expect him to come to her so late, she closed the book in her hand in surprise, got up and opened the door: "What's the matter?"

There was no trace of emotional fluctuations on Tom's calm face. After entering the door, he said lightly: "I just suddenly remembered some questions about Animagus. I don't know how much you know about Animagus, or, How many Animagus wizards have you seen?"

Hearing his strange question, Ginny was slightly taken aback, but immediately reacted.The Animagus she knew, Professor McGonagall, Sirius, and Rita Skeeter would not have anything to do with him, and the only thing he might ask was Scabbers——Peter Pe Drew, and this also means that he already knows about Peter's situation.Thinking of Bella's hostility and defense against her these days, Ginny knew that denying it this time was useless.So she took a deep breath, looked up at Tom, and said, "I let him go." She knew that he understood her.

Sure enough, after hearing her straightforward confession, Tom lowered his voice: "Reason?"

"As you guessed." Ginny didn't say much to him, too much explanation would only make him more suspicious, and she is now betting that she is still useful to him, and hoped that relying on this, at least he would not would kill her instantly.

"Very well, it turns out that the resurrection of the main soul is the result of your deliberate efforts. Ginny, I still underestimate you." Tom exploded a powerful pressure on Ginny for the first time, approaching her, There was a trace of killing intent in his eyes.

"When I let Peter go, I didn't agree to cooperate with you. Naturally, I considered the situation that was most beneficial to the Order of the Phoenix." Ginny tried to calmly choose an angle that was beneficial to her, trying to justify her behavior.And at the same time, she slipped her hand into the pocket of her robe and gripped her wand tightly, preparing for the final blow that might be needed.

"Are you implying that I have no position to punish you for your past actions?" Tom laughed back angrily, but he didn't draw out his wand, but suddenly stretched out his hand and stuck it on Ginny's neck, pressing her against the wall "Ginny, do you dare to say that you don't want to find a chance to embarrass me now?"

Feeling Tom smile and slowly tighten his hand, Ginny moved the hand holding the wand, but finally hesitated, instead of taking out the wand, she made a last gamble.She closed her eyes and said calmly: "I can't be as determined as I was then, Tom. Emotions can corrode people's will." She knew that with her own magic power, she couldn't defeat Tom, and in such a situation To save my life, perhaps I can only use a lie to exchange for a possible chance.It's just that when this lie was uttered, even she herself didn't know how much of it was true and how much of it was false.

Hearing her words, Tom was slightly taken aback, and then loosened his hands.There was a gloomy expression on his face, and finally he slammed her to the ground: "Ginny, do you think I will believe such a statement? I really won't let you die now, I believe that the savior will kill you with your own hands." Killing you would be a better way for you to die." Then, as if wanting to strengthen his confidence, he pulled out his wand suddenly: "Cruciate!"

Ginny immediately tried to hold the pendant that Lorian had given her around her neck, but she was a little horrified to find that there was only one chain left, and the pendant that never left her body was not there.She closed her eyes in despair, waiting for the pain to come, but unexpectedly found that there was no expected severe pain.

She opened her eyes in doubt, but saw Tom staring at her with a complicated look in his eyes.After a brief pause, Tom sneered: "This is the second time, I almost forgot that you can resist my Cruciatus. It seems that you still have a secret. Very good, then let I figured out how many things you have kept from me, and from today on, you don't even think about leaving this room." Then, he slammed the door and walked away without looking back.

After he left, Ginny stood up, first went to the door to check, and sure enough, he had put several spells on the door, and it seemed impossible to open it quietly, but at least, she temporarily won't die.Thinking of this, she turned around and carefully searched for the pendant on the ground, and finally found it not far away. It was obvious that he loosened the pendant just now when he grabbed her neck in a fit of anger. And when he threw her to the ground, the pendant fell off.

Holding the pendant tightly and sitting on the ground, Ginny was a little dazed.The two times he said, the first time was obviously in the secret room. That time she reached his Cruciatus Curse by relying on the pendant, but this time without the pendant, why did his Cruciatus Curse still not work on her?

In her meditation, she remembered the so-called requirements for successful casting of the three unforgivable curses. She suddenly had a ridiculous guess, but she immediately denied it.She didn't believe that Tom would understand the so-called feelings, let alone that he would disable the Cruciatus Curse for this reason.The current situation is already too chaotic, and she does not want any more complicated connection between them. Perhaps, this failure is also an accident, an accident that she has not figured out the reason. Perhaps, she would rather believe in such an explanation than Willing to think about the possibility of another cause.Between her and Tom, there can only be a cooperative relationship, and there can only be a cooperative relationship. She slowly clenches her fists. She believes that no matter for her or Tom, reason will override feelings, and there will never be so-called emotions. beyond one's control.

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The author has something to say:

Do you still remember the conditions for the successful casting of the Three Unforgivable Curses?So, now I understand why Tom's Cruciatus Curse failed, hehe...