Hello dear readers! Yes, this is the next chapter. I'll continue to develop this story. I don't want to retell what happened in my life in the previous months, but I must warn you that I really don't have much time now.
I hope for your patience.
It was late afternoon. Rodolphus hoped to find Malfoys and Bellatrix at home. He hadn't originally planned to return to Malfoy Manor so soon at all, but he had come to the conclusion that getting the sword of Gryffindor and Hermione's wand was best done as soon as possible.
He took advantage of the Floo Network. An echoing silence reigned in the house, the once bright and polished interior now evoked gloomy thoughts. Since the beginning of the war, the tapestries and carpets seemed to have faded, in some places on the marble columns one could see thin cracks from random spells. Dampness and piercing cold settled in the walls. The subdued light did not dispel the shadows, but rather thickened them. The echo of footsteps seemed to be too loud in the deserted rooms. No one ever came forward. Rodolphus felt like an uninvited guest and wanted to return home as soon as possible.
Muffled voices reached him as he passed through the main hall. Voices came from the direction of the library. The door was ajar and Rodolphus entered. Only a small island of space was lit like everywhere else. Lucius was lounging in an armchair with a glass of firewhiskey, the smell of which hung in the air, a large, half-empty decanter on the table next to him. Narcissa sorted through the papers scattered on the table.
"It's just unthinkable," Lucius's displeased voice sounded harsh with undisguised reproach, "You and Draco need to weigh everything carefully, you yourself know that if ..."
The witch's gaze darted to the entrance, she noticed the movement and immediately straightened up.
"Rodolphus!" her strained exclamation interrupted her husband's lamentations, she hurried to meet the newcomer. "I didn't know you were coming, but I'm glad to see you."
Rodolphus kissed Narcissa's well-groomed delicate hand and nodded to Lucius, who didn't rise from his chair because he clearly couldn't stand firmly on his feet.
"And I'm glad to see you both. I was on my way to visit Bella, but I heard voices." At these words, Narcissa shot a worried look at her husband. Rodolphus added doubtfully: "I hope I didn't disturb you."
Once upon a time, Lucius and Narcissa seemed to be the strongest couple of all and always acted together. It was strange to find them in an uncharacteristic skirmish.
"Of course not! Lucius just drank some firewhiskey and got into swearing," she said forcefully. "I'm so ashamed that you may have heard his hard-hitting remarks about me."
"Don't exaggerate, Cissy," Lucius waved it casually, "I've only had one drink. And I'm always a courtesy myself." But Narcissa was right, he drank all the time now and looked disgusting.
"I don't have such sharp hearing," Rodolphus hastened to reassure the witch.
But Narcissa was not calmed by his words. On the contrary, she stared at him with a fixed cold look, as if wanting to find signs of a lie: in an accidentally trembling muscle or in a flashing shadow in his eyes. A forced smile, a slight expectant squint in her eyes, a tense wooden posture - Rodolphus was amazed at how she had changed in fifteen years. In the past, she seemed to be a sluggish, spineless person, but now her icy hardness could compete with her sister's fiery temper.
The prolonged silence was broken by Lucius, who decided to intervene. "You have no idea what your beloved wife is doing here," Lucius snorted, looking at the bottom of his glass in disappointment, "can you send a couple of house elves to serve her when she needs to swallow something inedible? You should know that she's already killed two house elves for nothing. Look, soon we'll be left completely without servants, almost like some poor people."
"Don't say that, Lucius" flatly said Narcissa. The coldness gave way to a mask of courtesy as she turned to him again, "I'm sorry, Rodolphus. Do you want some tea?"
"No, I won't be for long. I just want to talk to Bella." He shook his head.
"She's in her room," Narcissa said, ignoring Lucius who rolled his eyes, "Not feeling well lately. I'm worried about her."
"Yes, your wife is harassing my elves because she's sick," Lucius repeated again "Take her away, Rodolphus."
Narcissa sighed wearily "Stop it, Lucius."
"What? I only hinted that Rodolphus could take home his lawful wife. This is how husbands usually behave," Lucius's words oozed like poison. "The war is over. Shouldn't a pregnant witch be close to baby's father?"
Narcissa phlegmatically retorted: "You do not understand. Bellatrix needs supervision, and Rodolphus cannot be with her all the time, he is busy almost all the time. Or are you more free now?" Her voice sounded hopeful. Yet despite the small squabbles, the Malfoy couple continued to be the most faithful accomplices to each other. They must have hoped that Rodolphus would be able to rid them of Bella's company. But Rodolphus did not have time to insert a word, Lucius again argued with his wife:
"Do you think I can be with her all the time, right? In my opinion, these are just excuses." Lucius again turned to Rodolphus in a falsely confidential tone: "When Narcissa was pregnant, as a pure-blood witch, she lived at home and under the supervision of my house elves."
Rodolphus listened to them with a frown and no longer hiding his irritation because Malfoys didn't pause to hear his opinion. He hadn't expected them to talk about it, usually they both pretended to be more delicate, but now they openly wanted to shove Bellatrix away. As if she would listen. This conversation bored him. He understood the futility of trying to explain to them that Bellatrix herself decides where she should be... in this case closer to the Dark Lord. Rodolphus knew she would ignore any hints she didn't like, so Lucius was doomed to endure her presence until the Dark Lord found another home.
"You both know that her presence here depends only on the will of the Dark Lord and her own," Rodolphus said coldly in an apt pause. He didn't really need Bellatrix on his estate. The very thought of her returning home seemed absurd. Especially now, when he sheltered Hermione and was not going to put the girl on the street. A couple more months of wandering would simply finish off the girl or she would again be caught by the Snatchers. Then it would be difficult to explain why she is still alive. Besides, he didn't want to look for her in the woods so that he could discuss their mission? No, it's better to let her be in the next room: alive, healthy and sheltered from enemies. Which means no homecoming for Bellatrix.
Lucius suddenly cheered up "Well, you at least hint her that it is unacceptable to dispose of other people's property without the knowledge of the owners. Killing house elves is a waste of valuable resources."
"Very well," agreed Rodolphus, suppressing a mocking tone and a wry grin.
Lucius saluted with his glass, then took a long sip. Narcissa's mood improved markedly and the tension that held her down disappeared somewhere. Rodolphus decided that the time had come to get down to business.
"I didn't just come because of Bella. Actually, I wanted to take one of the captives' magic wands."
Narcissa and Lucius looked at each other. Lucius muttered something unintelligible, to which Narcissa only grimaced. Suddenly, the man glared at Rodolphus with an almost sober and piercing look, as if everything that had happened before was just a skillful performance:
"Augustus has them," Lucius replied, "he took all the wands as soon as it was over."
"Why do you need a wand?" Narcissa didn't hide her curiosity well. "Is something wrong with yours?"
"I wanted to take it as a trophy, since I was the one who disarmed Potter and helped win the war." This lie seemed to satisfy both. The mask of indifference returned to Narcissa's face, though she still looked a little unnerved. Lucius drained his glass in one gulp and poured himself a fresh shot of firewhiskey.
When Rodolphus said goodbye to the Malfoy couple and left the library, the door closed tightly behind him, and no more sound came from inside. These two should be a lot more careful now as long as they keep secrets with each other. Rodolphus tried to imagine what an important secret they were hiding, that both of them had to improvise as they went, but he couldn't imagine. He could only hope that sooner or later he would have a chance to find out everything.
In the meantime, the sword should have been taken from Bella while it was possible. Rodolphus approached Bellatrix's room and knocked. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long; permission to enter came from there almost immediately.
"Why are you here?" Bellatrix asked, dissatisfied with his appearance. She sat on a pouffe in front of the mirror and looked at him through the reflection. She looked no better than in their previous meeting, but more relaxed. She changed her dress to a simpler and more homely one. Her hair was pulled back into a messy updo with a couple of stray strands. Around her neck was a heavy emerald necklace that Rodolphus had never seen before.
"I just wanted to see you and apologize, my dear." Rodolphus held up his hands placatingly and smiled at her. Knowing her temperament, he didn't even try to get closer to her, just bowed his head slightly in mock reverence, but continued to keep his distance. "And I brought some potions for you." Rodolphus took a potion casket out of his pocket with the gesture of an illusionist, then enlarged it and placed it on the table in front of Bella. The casket was lined with silver velvet inside and divided into cells. Each cell contains a tightly corked vial with a purple potion.
"Thirty-six vials for twelve days. One vial is one serving per meal. I brewed them myself last night, just as you wished" he actually ordered all the potions from the shop in Diagon Alley. He didn't want to waste his time brewing potions, since a pregnant witch didn't need anything specific. Most potions were simply contraindicated. To hide this little deceit, Rodolphus tore off all the labels and put the vials in a casket with the family crest on a glossy lid.
"Did you do all this for me?" Bellatrix's expression softened. she smiled. At that moment, she reminded herself of a younger and more cheerful version of herself, with only one difference — it no longer aroused any sympathy in him.
"Someone in this house thinks it's time for you to go home like a diligent and obedient Mrs. Lestrange, and leave the unfortunate house-elves alone," he said in a mocking tone. He intentionally framed the phrase in such a way that Bellatrix wouldn't want to come back out of a sense of contradiction.
Bellatrix laughed? "Let me guess, that someone is Lucius? I don't care what he thinks. Let him try to expose me if he has the courage. I have a magic wand, and in his hands, I saw only a glass of firewhiskey lately."
Rodolphus walked away from her pleased with the result. Now he was sure that Bellatrix wouldn't show up on his doorstep anytime soon.
He looked around. There was a strong scent in the room from the bouquet that stood on the bedside table, interrupting the heavy perfume of Bellatrix: white delphiniums, bright multi-colored irises, interspersed with odorless alstroemerias and scarlet lycoris. The heavy curtains drawn and a few sagging candles created an intimate atmosphere, just the way Bellatrix liked it. Dark and cool.
A crudely assembled wooden crate of potions was tucked into a far corner behind a chest of drawers. Rodolphus called the crate closer. It must have been Snape's potions. He was one of the few who knew about Bellatrix's pregnancy and brewed potions for her at Voldemort's request. The potions were lined with hemp fibers to protect the thin-walled vials, which in practice were meant specifically for magic-sensitive potions. The mother-to-be potion was not like that. There were tags tied to the necks, written in a stingy, compact handwriting. The thought that Snape had laced the potion with poison was intriguing. Especially in light of Bella's deteriorating state of health and the diagnostic charms of Rodolphus, which did not show anything strange. And he knew a lot of diagnostic charms for any case.
Bellatrix looked at him expectantly.
"This must be destroyed," Rodolphus took the crate and hid it in the extended pocket of his robe. "Don't tell anyone about this. Let Snape spend his time brewing potions. Thank him for his concern. Pretend you drank everything. Pretend you trust him."
"So you believe me! You believe that he wants to poison me." Bellatrix concluded, satisfied with his behavior. Joy flashed in her eyes. Wishing to show unconditional trust to her husband, she took one vial from the box. She had to make some effort to uncork the potion, before she would have used magic without hesitation. Rodolphus noticed a shadow of embarrassment on her face, although she tried to pretend that everything was fine. The cork flew into a corner. Bellatrix pressed her lips to the vial, closing her eyes as she swallowed her first potion. A feverish blush covered her sunken cheeks. And when the potion was over, she got up from the pouffe and went to Rodolphus, giving him an empty bottle.
"I'll tell you a secret," she whispered, almost on the verge of hearing. "Our lord said I won't raise my baby. It will be taken from me."
These words were a complete surprise to Rodolphus. Voldemort never explicitly stated why he wanted a child, the answer always seemed obvious, especially after his sudden disappearance years ago. The Dark lord could rethink everything and change his attitude towards his own childlessness. He might want to continue his magical lineage. All this seemed understandable and natural, as far as such situation could be natural at all. However, Rodolphus was wrong. He judged by himself, but Voldemort had other motives. Moreover, Dark lord could no longer be called human. God alone knew what was going on in Voldemort's head.
Bellatrix, who lost her head from passion, willingly agreed to the role of the future mother. She believed that her child should have the last name Lestrange for the sake of secrecy and was still looking for a consonant name. She dreamed that her child would study in Slytherin and calculated the possible zodiac sign of the unborn child - Libra or Scorpio. She read spell books for expectant mothers. She even learned how to swaddle using dolls found for this purpose. Rodolphus hated her for her ardent desire to fulfill the Dark Lord's plan. And now she has learned that the child will be taken away from her.
Rodolphus felt pity for her unexpectedly for himself, but this feeling was so weak that it was not difficult for him to throw it away and switch his attention to what really worried him now. What does Voldemort really want? This question, which had been bothering him for a long time, suddenly became very important.
Rodolphus asked insinuatingly, not yet understanding why this question seems so dangerous in this situation: "Who will raise the child then?"
"I do not know. Could you... Please, Rodolphus, could you ask the Dark Lord about this? He appreciates you. He will tell you everything, I'm sure."
"I can't promise anything, but I'll try to find out," said Rodolphus.
Bellatrix nodded. She placed both hands on her stomach and took a deep breath, a softened and weak version of Bellatrix, radiating vulnerability throughout. The end of the struggle with a common enemy deprived her of a particle of fire. And fighting Lord Voldemort for her child had never crossed her mind.
"I don't like children," she admitted with her brutal sincerity. "I never really liked children. But now I think I could make an exception."
Rodolphus did not doubt it at all. But he did not come to listen to her lengthy speeches. He brought her the necessary potions to win her over. He expected her to willingly give him everything he asked now. Usually it worked, but now she was unpredictable, and Rodolphus wanted to close this topic as soon as possible.
"Bella, can you give me the sword?" The one you took from Her…" he trailed off as he almost said the name, "...from the Mudblood."
Bellatrix didn't seem to notice the slip of the tongue, she was still in her own thoughts and didn't answer right away.
"I hid it. She frowned. "What do you need it for?"
Rodolphus replied "Someone has created an exact copy of the sword from our storage. I want to check my guesses."
"Do you think it's Snape?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "He was the only one who knew I had the sword."
Rodolphus paused expressively, as if considering her words. And in the tone of his answer, he put mysterious notes, making it clear that he meant something more than it might seem at first glance: "I can't say anything yet."
She perked up visibly, reacting exactly as he expected, and asked a little impatiently: "But will you tell me?"
"Of course, when I myself will be sure," the lie easily escaped his lips. He allowed her to concoct any nonsense that her fantasy is capable of. If she believes that now they both have a common enemy, then she will be much more willing to help him.
She glanced around the room absentmindedly before moving towards the wardrobe. The wardrobe was filled with dark-colored outfits. Bellatrix was convinced that they emphasized the porcelain pallor of her skin. She threw these outfits on the floor, not caring about neatness. The value of her outfits lost out against the value of serving Voldemort. She was intent on helping Rodolphus bring the traitor to light; that was the only thing that mattered to her right now. He could only rejoice in her compliance. Soon a pile of discarded things grew up by the door. The search took a good half hour before Bellatrix turned to him in utter confusion.
"There is no sword. But I remember exactly, I hid it among my clothes," she thoughtfully looked around. "Maybe the spell is dissipated. This happens sometimes with fakes."
Looking over Bellatrix's shoulder into the empty wardrobe, Rodolphus did not particularly hope for a miracle. The sword is gone. At that moment, he clearly remembered Hermione's words: "I don't remember when everything was easy" — in his imagination, her quiet voice sounded pitiful.
Hermione was neither in the living room nor in the bedroom. Rodolphus found her at the observatory by checking the house with the Homenum Revelio spell. She must have wandered in out of curiosity as she passed the stained glass doors. And she remained there, captivated by the discovery. The dome of the observatory looked like a star map of the northern hemisphere, folded from colored stained glass in its usual state. On a sunny day or a moonlit night, it was a breathtaking sight - the light cast iridescent reflections on the marble floor inscribed with magical symbols. All this could be looked at for hours.
But today the weather was cloudy.
Hermione bent over the star clock in the center. It was an intricate magical mechanism designed to facilitate exploration of the celestial sphere.
The dial had several circles inscribed in each other, each of which was filled with magical symbols. Changing the position of the arrows changed the observation conditions. Hermione moved the long one. The arrow gave way with a quiet mechanical click. The stained-glass windows of the dome faded, and then became completely transparent, like the ceiling in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, revealing an overcast sky. All these changes were accompanied by a barely perceptible ringing of glasses. Hermione looked up, realizing that she could change the degree of transparency of the dome almost to the point of completely disappearing, as if she were not indoors, but outdoors. She moved another arrow. This time the light of day gave way to evening twilight and then to darkness of night, but it was impossible to watch the stars in such weather. Nothing happened with the displacement of the third arrow. All because of the dense clouds Hermione could not see the change of seasons.
She was so engrossed that she did not notice when Rodolphus entered. He did not immediately interrupt her research, but could not stand it when she continued to turn the same arrow in the hope that something would change. One spell directed at the dial, and the arrows came to life.
Hermione jerked her hand away from the arrows that had begun to spin, recoiling to the side. When her and Rodolphus' eyes met, for a moment she seemed to be seized by tension and a sullen expression flickered on her face, it was almost hatred. A moment passed and her eyes cleared and her shoulders relaxed. She became the same as always. Perhaps she did not immediately recognize him, Rodolphus attributed her reaction to the fact that she did not expect him to appear.
"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" he asked, doing his best to ignore the sense of power that came over him at the thought of how easy it would be to take her by surprise.
She nodded and averted her eyes.
The last arrow clicked its short path and froze in a new position, due to which the clouds dissipated. Hermione tilted her head up and covered her mouth with her hand in surprise. This time, bright stars twinkled in the crystal clear sky and meteorites flew by from time to time. This sky was brighter than any other because there was magic involved.
"What a great tool!" she admired. "It's a pity there's no such thing at Hogwarts. How many sleepless nights have been spent drawing star charts when I would have preferred to watch the tenth dream!"
Of course, she had never seen anything like this, because it was the only instance of the star clock in the whole world. Maybe someone created something similar, but it was this mechanism in this form that existed in a single copy.
"This star clock is my mother's invention. She did not have time to finish working on them."
"But it works great!"
"Not really. With it's help, you can see the celestial sphere of the southern or northern hemisphere at the moment or a week ago, for example, but you cannot see what the sky was like last winter. As planned, if everything worked, we would be able to look at the sky a thousand years ago."
"A difficult task," Hermione reasoned, "but even what we have is incredible."
She moved the hand back to the day position. Sunlight flooded the observatory. With that, she left the star clock alone and sat down by the transparent stained-glass window right on the floor.
"Here you can sunbathe like on the beach," she muttered ironically under her breath.
Rodolphus did not understand what she meant, but did not go into details, judging by the tone, it was a random thought aloud.
"I brought the news. I couldn't get your wand back, Rookwood took it. And yet, Bella lost the sword of Gryffindor, she says that it dissipated along with the spell."
"Dissipated? It can not be. Someone must have stolen it or she's lying."
"She had no reason to lie, but there is no sword."
Hermione looked distressed. She rose from the floor. Her attention returned to the star clock, as if some answer was centered in it. She began to randomly move the arrows and seemed determined to explore all the possibilities. The machinery chimed and chirped under her manipulation as the surroundings rearranged the views. Judging that she was out of sorts, Rodolphus decided to leave her alone.
He went to the laboratory on the first floor. Many generations have been brewing potions in it. The lab was small, but well-lit, because no one in the Lestrange family liked low lighting while brewing potions, as was customary among wizards. That is why, contrary to tradition, the laboratory was on the first floor and not in the basement. It would be easier to close the shutters if necessary. Thanks to the high narrow windows, the room was often ventilated, but despite this, its walls were still saturated with the smells of fumes, herbs, and especially vigorous ingredients. The ingredients themselves and stocks of potions were stored in dark, cool pantries, as they should be. Rodolphus didn't like Potions enough to come here often. Today he had a special occasion.
Snape potions.
Snape was cunning. He certainly wasn't stupid enough to poison Bella, because Voldemort had personally asked Severus for those potions. And would not be substituted for no reason. Rodolphus was almost a hundred percent sure that he would not find anything suspicious in the composition of the potions. The only thing that alerted him was the choice of special vials. Some poisons were indeed magically sensitive and should have been stored in unenchanted vials. But even if something in the composition was inadvertently destroyed, at least traces of decay must remain.
Bellatrix, meanwhile, was slowly withering away. It was not yet noticeable to others, but Rodolphus saw the signs and understood where everything was going.
And although Bellatrix did not touch the potions - all the vials were filled and none were opened - during the first pregnancy she drank all the potions as expected. Now she didn't even try to pretend that she was drinking them, because the box was pushed back out of sight and completely forgotten.
Rodolphus chose to rule out the possibility before reaching a definitive conclusion. A simple plan formed almost instantly. To begin with, it was necessary to test the potions with spells, then with a crystal that reveals magical poisons. And in the end, use small insects and spiders to eliminate all the unknown and Muggle toxins. For such tiny creatures, the concentration of poison could be minimal. It was not difficult to catch a few insects, he summoned them with a simple action by leaning out of the laboratory window. Now he had a few soldier bugs, a pair of yellow-and-black-striped garden spiders, and three crickets. So that they do not scatter, Rodolphus placed each in a separate magic bubble. Rodolphus got down to business rolling up his sleeves.
Soon Hermione appeared in the laboratory. Apparently, having already played enough with the star clock, she decided to find Rodolphus. In her hands was a heavy book and a small notepad. She watched with interest as he tested each vial with different spells, and then dripped first on a transparent crystal, and then through a magic bubble directly onto insects. The latter especially required precision, so that the bubble would not burst when injected.
What are you doing? she asked, when she considered that it was possible to distract him without risking the process.
"Testing the potions," Rodolphus said shortly.
She leaned closer, reading the labels on the vials.
"That's Snape's handwriting," her face showed a deep dislike for the wizard in question.
She moved away and sat down on a chair at the other end of the large table where there was room for a book and notepad.
"Why do you need the 'Pure-Blood Directory'?" asked Rodolphus. On the cover was the Black family crest, which he wouldn't have mistaken for anything else. Apparently she got this book from Sirius Black's house. She shrugged.
"I am working on one version," she said.
"Version of what?"
"The one where the last Horcrux is hidden." She flicked the thin metal stick she held in her hand and began to trace it with the tip in her notebook. It must have been some new writing device, as it left traces of ink behind. "I can't steal the cup yet, so I'll hope You-Know-Who doesn't want to take it away. I just have to switch to finding another Horcrux. And destroy the cup when I'm ready." She spoke as if Rodolphus had nothing to do with this matter. He didn't like that wording.
"Where do you think there might be another Horcrux hidden?"
"I'm almost out of ideas. I analyzed the information that I have to find a logical chain. The first Horcrux was hidden in the house of his mother, Merope Gaunt. The other is in the cave where he tortured the orphans. Another one from Lucius Malfoy. Fourth at Gringotts. And a snake next to him."
Rodolphus nodded, capping the potion he had just tested and proceeded to test the next one.
"And of course I thought about Hogwarts, if I were You-Know-Who I would want to hide a part of my soul at school, but ..." she got up and approached Rodolphus, standing not far from him.
Without asking permission, she took and uncorked one vial, brought it to her nose to sniff, but immediately pulled it away from her. The smell was pungent. She continued speaking out loud.
"Professor Dumbledore would have found a Horcrux at Hogwarts? He was aware of everything that was happening at school, he told it to Harry. What if You-Know-Who didn't take the risk and chose another hiding place. Less obvious." She busied herself with the insects almost fiercely and strangely meticulously, mimicking his actions as she spoke.
Rodolphus sighed, inserting a word into her angry monologue would be impossible. She spoke quickly, following her words with jerky, careful movements—Gryffindor impulsiveness at its finest.
"Don't think I'm taking Hogwarts off the list, I just don't know how I could roam the castle without a wand and still go unnoticed," she finished on an emotional note. As she watched the largest spider in the bubble swarm, she sighed, "What are we even doing?"
Looking for poison. He caught the movement of her thin fingers running over the shape of the vial as she thought about something, and an unpleasant guess dawned on him. "Better wear gloves. The poison may end up on the glass instead of the potion." Of course, in this case, its concentration should have been negligible, most likely Snape was counting on a cumulative effect, but it did not hurt to be careful.
Hermione hurriedly rubbed her palms on her blue Muggle pants, naively thinking that this would save her in case of emergency. Rodolphus cleaned her palms with a spell, just in case. Hermione certainly felt the characteristic tingle of the cleansing spell and tensed as she looked at him in disbelief.
"Don't ever do that again," she snapped.
"I won't," he agreed easily. He made a mental promise to himself next time that he would at least warn her before pointing his wand in her direction. Her reaction spoke for itself. Despite everything he'd done, she still didn't trust him enough to let him work his magic on her. Maybe it was because he didn't keep his word, but he was going to get her a wand anyway. He didn't break his promise.
"Who is Snape trying to poison?" Following his example, she slipped on thin protective gloves made of acromantula silk and now checked the next vial.
"Nobody. It's just that not everyone is able to come to terms with his high position among the Death Eaters," he said casually, not wanting to go into details of this story.
"An honor to be Professor Dumbledore's murderer," Hermione snorted, a distasteful smile on her thin lips. "A vile traitor."
Rodolphus would have been surprised if Snape hadn't been what he was. Hermione didn't know anything about Snape. She did not see the whole picture and was angry that everything was not as she thought. Snape's actions were not betrayal. He did many of Voldemort's tasks and did not hesitate to use all his talents in the name of an idea, proving his devotion time after time. There were a lot of Death Eaters like him. Magicians talented in various fields of witchcraft. Those who chose the pureblood supremacist ideology and devoted themselves to serving the good of the pureblood society.
He himself was not so principled when he found out how dangerous and hypocritical Voldemort was. So now he stood side by side with the Mudblood. And he almost didn't care anymore. He easily sacrificed all his principles, changed sides, only to recoup those whom he hates with all his heart. He acted selfishly. But deep in his heart, he was sure that he was doing something meaningful not only for himself, but for all pureblood magicians. Intuition told him that he was where he should be.
Besides, Hermione had an ace up her sleeve. She was not afraid to play this trump card almost alone, it would be foolish to underestimate her desperate struggle for the right to be called a witch. Everything she and her friends had already done against Voldemort was more than enough for Rodolphus. He wanted to be a part of it. He wanted to destroy Voldemort.
In the meantime, she never explained how the book connected with all this, but Rodolphus already understood the train of her thoughts.
"So, since the Dark Lord entrusted Horcruxes to two followers, he could entrust a third one as well. That's why you're digging through the pureblood family directory." That was the most logical conclusion that came to his mind.
"Yes, I don't have any other options. Who would you list as His most trusted person? Hermione asked."
"The entire inner circle. We can make a list if you want." Rodolphus beckoned to her pad and metal pen. Both objects hovered in the air in front of them, the pen quivering slightly in readiness to write.
Hermione continued to help him, biting her lip in annoyance. In fact, he could have done it himself, but the two of them could do it much faster. Besides, he liked how methodically she did her part of the work.
"First, Rookwood. Second, Dolohov, he named the most obvious candidates." The pen, obeying his mental command, slid across the paper. When the first two names were drawn in Rodolphus's sweeping handwriting, the pen hovered over the paper, waiting for further instructions. "Both of them are very dangerous. They are not part of the 28 sacred pureblood families, but they are one of the earliest Death Eaters."
"Rookwood is the Unspeakable, isn't he? What if he hid the Horcrux in the Department of Mysteries. Seems like the perfect place," Hermione suggested. "And with Dolohov we fought twice. Once he used a spell on me, I almost died. With this spell, he killed Ron." The boy was funny, and if Rodolphus had a son, he would like him to be as cheerful. Too bad the boy died.
"You are very lucky to survive. Dolohov is a professional curse breaker. The only place he could hide the Horcrux was in his own house. And trust me, if he has a Horcrux, it's more secure than Gringotts."
"What a pity, because then I will smash his house brick by brick," the playful tone contrasted sharply with her burning fury in her eyes. "What about the rest?"
"Nott, Avery, Yaxley." The pen scribbled new names. "It won't be much easier with them."
"I have one thought," she paused, frowning, "what do you think about Barty Crouch?"
Barty? Rodolphus shuddered. He remembered Barty well, too well to pretend he had forgotten. "I saw him in Azkaban, or rather what was left of him, he was sentenced to-"
"Kiss of the Dementor. I know. A terrible sentence, but he deserved it," Hermione spoke with conviction, not hiding her disgust.
Rodolphus involuntarily remembered those who, due to Barty's tip, had been brought to a similar state. Maybe Hermione didn't know? Would she think he deserved a Dementor's kiss if she knew? He wasn't going to enlighten her, if so.
He replied: "We can inspect his house, I don't know other places where he could hide the Horcrux. He was young, worked as a clerical rat in the ministry after graduation. Now his house is probably empty."
She nodded and offered "Then let's search his house first. Who else?"
Rodolphus never thought that he would discuss his associates in such circumstances. "Since we're on the subject, it was also Rosier and Rowley. Rosier was killed in the first magical war. And Rowley died in Azkaban, he has a son who followed in his footsteps. I find it unlikely that the Dark Lord entrusted something to Rosier, but we would be fools not to consider these options."
"Then we'll deal with it," she agreed.
Rodolphus ordered the pen to write down next three names. When the list was replenished, he grinned and added another surname "If I were the Dark Lord, I wouldn't trust Carrow with anything serious, they always have a crowd of relatives hanging around in the family estate..."
"But we'll be fools if we don't consider them," Hermione finished instead, mimicking his tone.
"So it is," Rodolphus chuckled.
Hermione left the vial and grabbed a slightly quivering metal quill to make notes next to the names on the list. When she had finished, Hermione let go of her pen and returned to her work. Rodolphus could not read what was written. Her small, beady, oddly shaped letters and his sweeping handwriting were mixed into a wild, completely unreadable mix due to the fact that the enchanted quill resisted her hand. Hermione didn't care at all.
"Those are the ones I would think of first. But there are others. For example, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Bulstrode, Selwyn, Travers, Flint, I would check them at the very end."
"You have a lot of work to do. Are you on good terms with everyone?"
"No, not with everyone, but they will have to put up with me. Now it would not be difficult to establish more friendly relations with the 'comrades-in-arms'" - for this she wanted him to rise in the hierarchy of the Death Eaters more than before.
"A lot of them. We can't search everyone's houses and vaults. It's unrealistic. We need to weed out those who do not suit us." There was silence for a few minutes as everyone pondered how to approach this task.
"The Dark Lord's mission," Rodolphus finally expressed his idea. "Only for one confidant. Top secret and important. Something that no outsider should know about."
"And what will it give us?" Hermione looked at him incredulously.
"The one to whom the Dark Lord gave the Horcrux will show a reaction or even let it slip if we're lucky," Rodolphus explained to her. "And if not, by instructing him to hide one thing, you can follow him to the hiding place. The one in whose cache the Horcrux is hidden is likely to want to add the artifact to the same place. So did Bellatrix, she put the sword and the bowl in the same place."
"If this place isn't somewhere in the Grindylow's asshole," Hermione continued her business after that, as if she wasn't swearing like the Snatchers. But then she set another vial aside and looked at him with concern. "We only discussed pureblood wizards. Could he make an exception? For example, could he give the Horcrux to Snape."
Rodolphus doubted Snape was one of the horcrux keepers. Still, the fact that he wasn't a pureblood remained significant. He looked at the girl doubtfully, she was hardly able to tell the difference, "I didn't think about that. We will check even absurd versions, right?"
"Better put his name on the list."
Rodolphus sighed, he was sure it would be a waste of time, but the metal quill wrote out Snape's name. Hermione looked at the list and counted all the names in her mind. "Sixteen Death Eaters!" she wondered. "Well, at least with those who are not alive, everything is simple, just search their houses."
Rodolphus warned her, "Not Rowley. His wife and son live in the house."
She seemed to be concentrating on the next vial, but Rodolphus noticed how she tensed up a little when she said in a deliberately cheerful and light tone "Good. Can we at least go to Crouch and Rosier's house sooner?"
"How soon?" Rodolphus realized that he had to clarify what exactly she meant.
Hermione made a careless move and the air bubble with the garden spider burst. The spider ran as fast as he could, lost among the many bottles. "Tomorrow," was her hesitant reply.
He frowned. Hermione obviously didn't know what she was asking for. "You're unarmed."
The girl just shrugged. "Their houses are empty. It shouldn't be a difficult task to ransack the homes of dead Death Eaters.
"Dead or not, these are the homes of the Death Eaters. Ready for surprises?" Rodolphus watched with satisfaction Hermione's attempts to come up with a counterargument, but in the end she only turned gloomy. Rodolphus did not want his words to act on her depressingly, his goal was to draw her attention to the risks. "How exactly are you going to search the houses?" Have you dealt with magical secrets?"
"Using an enchantment to detect magic?" a doubt sounded in her voice, although she tried to speak firmly.
"Of course you know that not all secret places are filled with magic," he suggested.
"And of course you have an offer, otherwise I don't see the point in arguing with you," she said quietly.
Rodolphus nodded "First, help me pack the potions." He knew what to do with the potions, the solution was obvious. He will take these to Bellatrix in twelve days, and of course she will not be poisoned, because there is no poison in these potions. Of course, Rodolphus hadn't gone through all the complicated research possible to find out the exact composition, but he didn't want to spend all day on it and his methods of checking were already redundant. He has already wasted precious time on useless activity, so at least he uses what he has for the good of the cause. He found empty vials and a suitable box in the supplies. A little more modest than the one he took to Bella, but this box held just as much. As he and Hermione poured the potion into new vials, the quill signed the labels. The two of them made it very quickly.
"Well, now what? Hermione asked indifferently looking at the result of what had been done."
"We need to test your charms in a relatively safe place," he said. he did not have time to think it over, it was a spontaneous decision. He explained everything to himself by the fact that he wants to make sure of her abilities. "My estate is suitable."
Rodolphus handed her his magic wand, which surprised both her and himself immensely. Perhaps he made a mistake, doubt crept somewhere in the depths of his soul. He added with a challenge: "You find my secret hiding places, and I won't say another word across."
Hermione beamed as she accepted the wand from him. He couldn't help smiling. She held her wand to her chest and looked around impatiently, deciding where to begin. He did not know what exactly pleased her, that she would be able to study his life or that she would have the opportunity to practice before an important matter. Or maybe it was the euphoria of being able to use magic again. He knew from his own experience how difficult it was sometimes to get by without magic.
"And you'll let me search everything?" she asked, a shadow of doubt piercing her voice trembling with glee.
Rodolphus only quipped: "You're already touching everything, what can I do? So feel free."