Chapter 806 - An Unusual Circumstance Ⅵ (1/2)
Near the little-known muggle town by the name of Sharamourn, there is an old manor that overlooked the small village down below. A tall, slender wizard with icy dark eyes appears on the path leading to the Gibbons manor. Rodolphus Lestrange pauses to pat his robes and finds the bottle gone. He did not recall how the bottle disappeared, but that was no matter. He understood that he had erased his own memory to prevent the Dark Lord or anyone else from learning more. He knew what his intentions had been, and his petition must have been accepted for the bottle was gone from his pocket. And that was more than ample sufficient proof for him to know what had occurred.
A faint flicker of a smile appears on his face, before vanishing. Rodolphus begins the climb up the path to the Gibbons manor. The dark manor is surrounded by thorny leafless overgrown bushes covered in patches of snow. Briskly he makes his way up the winding path and past the cold, metal gates and the ancient, decaying trees. The air is cold carrying the faint scent of je ne sais quoi. It was a stark reminder of the graveyard that lay behind the ancient manor filled with recent rotting corpses from Primus Wilkes and of the traitor, Empusa Snyde, (without her head).
There are no guards at the door causing Rodolphus to shake his head in disapproval, before entering Gibbons Manor and making his way into the great hall. The Death Eaters in residence are all busy with some ȧssigned task by the Dark Lord. Antonin Dolohov was notably missing on an errand to fulfill for the Dark Lord. No one knew the details of the errand except for Dolohov and Lord Voldemort. However, whatever the details of the task had been, Dolohov did not seem opposed to fulfilling the task.
The hall suddenly goes quiet as the various Death Eaters freeze and hastily move to the edge of the walls. A soft is heard echoing down the hallway to reveal a large, slithering figure emerging from the shadows. A green serpent with a flat viper's head emerges into the light, Nagini, the Dark Lord's pet. The serpent had diamond patterns on its flesh and was as thick as a man's thɨġh, and over twelve feet long.
The incredibly poisonous and deadly serpent, Nagini was the Dark Lord's eyes and ears, so to speak. None of the Death Eaters allowed for even a slip-of-the-tongue to occur lest word reached back to their newly returned Master. Although the Dark Lord had shown himself to be far more collected ever since his return, he had become far more ruthless than before. They all remembered the torturous death of Empusa Snyde at the hands of Dolohov that still haunted the nightmares of many.
Nagini flicked her tongue at spotting a tall, slender wizard with icy dark eyes. It was the wizard that scented of fiery brimstone and frigid ice so cold that it sent a shiver crawling across her flesh. It was this wizard who caused her skin to crawl, ready to coil and spring forward to attack at the slightest provocation. However, her kin trusted the brimstone, ice-scented wizard. And no matter what she thought, the wizard had yet to prove treacherous to her kin. Still, she would remain watchful lest the wizard turns on her kin.
Nagini and Rodolphus eye each other, while the Death Eaters pressed tightly against the walls, trying not to breathe nor move lest they draw the attention of either of the very dangerous figures before them. The crimson serpent eye figure of Lord Voldemort emerges from within the inner Great Hall clad in billowing dark robes.
”Nagini,” Voldemort gently chastised the serpent who hissed threateningly at Rodolphus Lestrange, before slithering down the hall away from the crowd. Nagini had a task to do and she must continue to keep an eye on the wizard with the filthy scent. It had been a solemn request of her kin and she would fulfill her duty.
The large serpent slithers away impossibly fast considering the bulk of Nagini. The Death Eaters slowly exhale in relief and bow towards their Master, before hurrying away to fulfill their tasks. The outer Great Hall is empty within a moment leaving only the two wizards behind.
”Come,” Voldemort ordered and lead the way into the inner Great Hall. There is a marble throne once more erected in the center of the inner Great Hall for the Dark Lord to rest and command his loyal followers from. Not taking a seat at his throne, he walks past it, before coming to a halt at one of the windows.
Voldemort clasps his long pale, spiderlike hands behind his back as he stares out of the windows onto the peaceful sleepy, snow-covered muggle village down below. His reflection is faintly reflected in the windows and as is that of Rodolphus Lestrange, who remains standing behind him some distance away.
With his back still turned to Rodolphus Lestrange, Voldemort says, ”What do you have to report, Lestrange?”
Rodolphus bȧrėly tilts his head as usual, before replying, ”My mother-in-law, Druella Black was kind enough to speak favorably on my behalf and petition to Orion Black to permit my accessing Bellatrix's dowry vaults. I was permitted with the strict restriction to only retrieve the object that had been entrusted to Bellatrix.”