Chapter 56: 56 Reaction
"You can have everything the person you bring me knows, but you won't get my knowledge. And I want some insurance. If we are going to make an unbreakable vow, which I believe you want to, then I need some assurance that I won't be serving you forever." Lucas said decisively. Giving away his memories was a deal breaker for him.
Peneus lowered his eyebrow, he was already expecting it. It wasn't the worst thing to happen. He doubted Lucas knew anything about blood malediction anyway. With a sigh he agreed, "very well. What do you have in mind?"
An idea formed in Lucas' head and a wicked smile formed on his face. "I want your daughter, Daphne."
The moment her name left his mouth, Lucas could almost taste the shift in Peneus' mood. The air was filled with his barely concealed rage.
"As collateral. If you can offer Daphne than I am willing to work for you."
"I will not enslave my daughter!" He yelled as he jumped up from his chair. "You can forget it."
Lucas remained calm despite Peneus's outburst, his expression unwavering. "I can assure you I will do her no harm," he replied evenly. "If you're not willing to consider it, then I'm afraid we don't have a deal."
Peneus, still visibly agitated, took a moment to compose himself before responding. "There must be some other form of assurance you'd find acceptable," he insisted, his voice strained with frustration.
Lucas considered it for a moment, then shook his head. "I am afraid not."
After a tense moment of silence, Peneus finally said with pure coldness in his eyes. "It seems that we won't be able to come to an agreement. I hope you won't regret your decision in the future. Leave my tent now, I don't fancy your presence here any longer."
——
The Bone's manor was quiet as usual. Amelia, Susan and their few house elves its only inhabitants.
*knock**knock*
Amelia opened the door to the guest she had called. "Mrs. Vale, welcome. Please come in."
Mrs. Vale was an elderly woman from America, who Amelia had requested to come in order to have a look at her niece. She was one of the few master Legilimens, who managed to flee the country before Voldemort could massacre them all. Although she originally was British, she preferred staying in America nowadays.
"Thank you Amelia, it's nice seeing a familiar face. Can't say the same for the weather." She remarked as she entered, her makeshift umbrella disappearing from the tip of her wand. "Where is the emergency you couldn't stop pestering me about?"
"It's about my niece. Someone messed with her head." Amelia said as she lead Mrs. Blank inside.
There was a moment of stillness, as the elderly woman froze. Bad memories resurfaced, ones she preferred to keep buried. "I thought the ministry had it under control, after you know who."
"Yes we thought we had, but he somehow managed to hide until last summer." Amelia said with barely hidden disgust in her voice. "But that is not important at the moment. Susan is waiting in the living room."
Both women made their way over there, where the girl in question nervously waited. Although she was aware of who was coming and why, she never believed that Lucas would cause her harm in any way. It just wasn't possible.
"Could you brew us some tea, before we begin. To calm the nerves." Mrs. Vale said kindly while she sat down opposite of Susan.
The elderly witch then explained to her what she was about to do. Once they drank their tea and Susan was less nervous, Mrs. Vale took out her wand and in a flash, before the girl could register what had happened, cast "Legilimens" on her.
Amelia watched as her niece fell back into her chair, drifting off to dreamland.
——
Mrs. Vale as a highly skilled Legilimens didn't take long to find the discrepancy between Susan's normal mind and the lock placed on her. What surprised her, however, was the fact that there were no indications of someone trying to hide it. It was freely visible if one looked for it.
She approached the anomaly floating in the sky. It was a dark pulsating sphere that neither let anything in nor out. Once she came close enough an orange light to materialised in the middle, before growing larger, only stopping once it reached about half the diameter of the sphere.
Another spot appeared inside it. A pitch black one that increased as well.
Mrs. Vale observed it calmly, inspecting it for any hidden traps. Only after she had confirmed that there were none did she reach out towards it with her magic. The moment they made contact the black circle surrounded by the orange one focused on her, earily similar to an eye.
It stared at her for a moment, before a deep and gravely voice reverberated throughout the mind. "Are you sure you want to undo the seal?"
"Yes!" Mrs. Vale responded simply.
Without any warning or further complications, the orange ring expanded, dyeing the rest of the sphere in its beautiful colour. Shortly followed by the pupil, which revealed what had laid inside.
The witch watched intently as everything unfolded before her eyes she wanted to shield Susan so that she could make sure it was save first, only to be sucked into the memory herself. With her guard up she experienced a dampened version of what slumbered beneath Lucas' sea of tranquility.
——
*plop*
A tear hit the ground.
*plop*
And another.
Mrs. Vale was silently crying.
She was simply overwhelmed.
How could a single person neglect themselves to that extent and not crumble under the weight on their shoulder. How could someone long for genuine connections so much, yet not dare let themselves be vulnerable. How could someone live with all that loneliness, only having the future in sight. How could he live with all that anguish and be completely ignorant of it, to the point he thought it to be normal.
Despite his masterful control over his emotions, his soul was crying out in despair.
It was such a miserable existence that Mrs. Vale was astonished that the only consequence was the darkness in his heart she had felt for a split second.
"How bad is it?" The shaky voice of Amelia brought her out of her revery. She was scared whatever made a master Legilimens this sad.
The elderly witch wasn't sure what to say now. On one hand Susan was neither in any danger nor hurt in any way, but on the other hand she didn't want to seal the memories back up. She detested anyone doing such a thing.
If it were bad ones she would have helped the firl heal, but what was she supposed to do now.
Mrs. Vale took a moment to compose herself before responding to Amelia's question. "It's... peculiar," she began, her voice heavy with emotion. "I think it is best for you to experience yourself."
"What do you mean peculiar? What did he do to my niece?"
The elderly witch shook her head. "He didn't do anything bad. The boy just showed her his mind, or better put, a part of his mind, which was... frankly a lot, and regretted it afterwards."
Amelia's brow furrowed in confusion. "His emotions? What do you mean by that?" she asked, her concern growing.
Mrs. Vale took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to convey the complexity of what she had witnessed. "It's as if he opened up a floodgate of emotions, allowing Susan to experience them as if they were her own," she explained carefully. "But it wasn't just surface-level feelings. It was far more than that. More than he meant to share."
Amelia's expression softened at the thought that her niece was fine, but now her curiousity was peaked and she wanted to know exactly what Susan had felt. "Show me, please."
Mrs. Vale nodded. She pointed her wand at Amelia and whispered "Legilimens". She then turned to Susan and did the same.
Shortly after that Amelia returned to consciousness, with a grave expression. Although what she was told was right, it didn't put her heart at ease, because she had felt it.
The sliver of ice in his heart.
'That boy would rather watch the world burn than see his mother harmed.'
And she wasn't so sure she could stop the ministry now that they knew everything. It was a serious offence to use mind magic on a member of a noble house, something Lucius Malfoy was in the process of taking full advantage of. Not even Dumbledore would have an easy time protecting him against that.
Regardless of that, there was the possibility of Lucas' mother being dragged into this, which as she just learned will turn into a complicated situation.
Amelia was torn out of her thoughts about the catastrophe they were heading to by Mrs. Vale's voice, who asked what she should do with Susan now.
Amelia took a moment to collect her thoughts before responding. "I think it's best if we don't wake Susan now," she said, her tone gentle. "Could you please make it so that she slowly remembers her encounter bit by bit instead of all at the same time."
The elderly witch nodded in agreement, understanding the consequences of letting the full memory hit her all at once. "I'll make sure she's comfortable. It will take her two weeks to remember everything," she assured Amelia.
"Thank you," Amelia replied gratefully. "Once she wakes up, I'll talk to her and make sure she's okay."
With that settled, Mrs. Vale began the process of gently easing Susan into a deeper sleep, ensuring that she would remain undisturbed until she was ready to wake up on her own.
----
'Fuck.'
Lucas was angry and frustrated. He had to speed up his plans now that the ministry was actively moving against him. And one of the most crucial parts of his plans was apparating, which he knew how to do, but with his particularity he wanted to make sure nothing could go wrong. That's why he was currently walking towards the hospital wing, where he would take everything Madam Pomfrey knew.
With a loud creaking the massive wooden double door was pushed open. The matron swiftly came to the door upon hearing the sound, yet there was no one.
She looked with raised brows around, but found no one. So she assumed it was just another prank and went back to tend to her work. Little did she know Lucas was already in her mind, forcing her to ignore his presence, while he ransacked her mind.
It didn't take him a lot of time, so after a few minutes, with a few additional supplies in hand, he was back out, heading towards the Forbidden Forest.
Lucas was already quiet deep inside, as he separated from his puppet. He waited a bit, before concentrating fully.
Apparating was a lot closer to how he used magic than to the normal taught one. It didn't take long for him to give his first try a shot.
Focusing deeply, he imagined in full detail where he wanted to appear. Not withholding any magic, he felt the normal tug in his stomach that was common for apparating.
Before he knew it he was gone.
——
Somewhere else in the forest.
"Steven, bind its wings. We can't let it get away!" A man clad in leather armour yelled his orders. "Frank, what are you doing letting go?"
A majestic griffin was fighting against the trap around its foot, preventing it from soaring into the sky.
"Sorry boss, it's stronger than I thought." The one, whose wand was connected to the foot of the animal yelled back.
"Yeah no shit. Why do you think our client wanted it?" The boss announced sarcastically, while shooting stunners, which didn't do much. "Steven, how long?"
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