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Chapter 2.- At Malfoys' Manor"I'm not supposed to be here. If the Dark Lord knows I'm here, he will kill me. But I took the risk. I come with you to tell you what I know about Potter, hoping this will help. Do not tell anybody I was here, won't you?"
Rufus Scrimgeour could not believe what he was hearing, what was happening. A moment ago he was in his office, being informed that Potter had escaped from Azkaban, when suddenly a blond teenager appear in front of him. The teenager was Draco Malfoy
"I can see your quite surprise" he said "But do not ask unnecesary questions. I have just several minutes."
Scrimgeour stood perplexed. After like a minute, he finally said:
"You are Malfoy. Lucius son. How dare you come like that in here!"
Malfoy was kind of expecting this welcome. He let Srimgeour spit at him all kind of courses. Then he said:
"Are you finished?"
"What?" he seemed confused. He was shaking from the anger. "All right, what to you want?"
"I've come in peace" Indeed he looked in peace, but not relax. He looked more pale than usual, almost the veins of his face could see. "I suppose you are searching for Potter, right?"
"You suppose correctly"
"Well, I only know his next stop. It is just a hint, but it will help"
Scrimgeour stared at him. He was no stupid. He knew that Malfoy was also a Death Eater. He will not fall in the trap.
"Wait a minute, do you think I'm going to believe what you will say and then follow your instructions as simple as that, to fall in the trap for You-Know-Who kill me?"
"No, I expect you to follow them going where they are, with aurors and catch Potter"
The Minister contemplate the situation for a moment.
"Any way I will find You-Know-Who, won't I?"
"Yes, so you must be prepare"
"Hmmm, so tell me what's this all about" Even if he wasn't going to do it, at least he must hear it.
"Well, last night he was at my house. My mother and I were having dinner, when we heard somebody knocking at the door. My mother went to open the door, and paralized when she saw who it was."
" 'Good evening Narcissa' said the Dark Lord 'May we come in?'"
"My mother only said automatically 'Yes of course my Lord. Do come in'"
"You-Know-Who entered, followed by Harry Potter and Severus Snape. The 3 of them stand in the leaving room. Potter was still wearing the dirty and filthy robes of prison, and was watching all my house, since in was the first time he put a foot in it"
" 'You really have a pretty house, Malfoy' he said"
" 'Silence Potter' said You-Know-Who 'later you make observations at Malfoy's house. Right now you need a bath'
" 'All right, Malfoy, can I take a shower?' he asked me. His words were in a submissive way."
"What could I say? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was ordering him. He did not wanted to, but he had to. I only said 'Yes'.
"I went upstairs, followed by him, showed him where the bathroom is and lent him some clean clothes. He was only watching me, and his face didn't show anything. Really, anything at all, not a feeling of hatred, nor rage. Nothing at all, as if he was empty. Perhaps he is, perhaps not. I can never know."
"After Potter took the shower, he came downstairs where we were waiting for him. Well, I'm ashame of saying this, but it did something for him. A bath I mean. Looked different and maybe handsome. Yes, it is true. Evil looks beautiful."
" 'Ah, Harry, finally.' said the Dark Lord 'Are you ready?'
" 'For what?' asked my mother nervously
" 'Relax Narcissa' said Snape 'Potter is only going to tell us a story'
" 'A story?' I asked confused 'We are all here reunited to hear a story?'
" 'Yes,' said Potter 'and guess what? You're in it. Remember that day in Diagon Alley? Not when we met, I mean a year ago.' He was ready, sitting in front of us. We were ready. Pay attention, Minister, the good part is starting
The last things I said ("Really said, Minister, because, I realized Potter have become more quite") were that of my dream. Some days later, we had to go to Diagon Alley. There's nothing important before that, only my obssesion getting stuck to my head. In the Diagon I found, Ollivander was missing, and the cheer it had, was missing too. A graveyard look more cheerful.
In the course of the evening, Hermione, Ron and I went to Madam Malkin's for some robes, and guess who we found?
"You?" asked the Minister "They found you?"
"Yes, they found me. But please, be quiet, this is the introduction"
Draco Malfoy was there, with her mother Narcissa. They wanted trouble when they saw us. They started, I continued. Enemies are used to that.
But let's do not waste too much in what happened. You can imagine. Narcissa knew we couldn't do magic. Neither does his beloved son. Getting to the point. A consequence of that day was that we found out that Malfoy had replaced his father as a Death Eater, though later we realized of that.
Now, I do not hate you Draco, now I pity you. Funny, isn't it? But I should thank you, because going to Knockturn Alley increased my doubts.
And you were going to kill Dumbledore.
"Albus Dumbledore?'" interrupted Scrimgeour. "You were supposed to kill him?"
"Please Minister, do not interrupt. But yes, I was going to kill him. I'd no option. Him, or I got murdered."
Let's rewind. I hated Draco, and I stopped hating him till I talked to Voldemort. ("He looked at him. 'Go on' said Voldemort). The chat. But that happened months later. But thanks to him, I got the connection in Hogwarts to talked to him. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't had the chance to talked peacefully to Voldemort and be tasted to join him.
" 'So you can imagine. That's why you aren't dead Malfoy. You failed for not murdering Dumbledore, but unintentionally, you showed me the other side. Evil as God made it, not as Satan transformed it. Naturally, this seduced me.'"
Malfoy stopped to sighted. Scrimgeour looked thoughtfully. They stared at each other.
"Is that it?" asked Scrimgeour
"No, of course not. It is just the finale of Potter's tale. Well, not the real one. Letting us to know that is kind of transforming him, more than he already is. It is hard for him to be explaining with feelings why. When he joined…it was…well, shocking for us Death Eaters. And yesterday, was for me shocking. I didn't know I had something to do with him. Well, more than that chat."
"Chat?"
"The chat, as both Potter and You-Know-Who call it. When they settle things."
"And when did that happened?"
"I can't tell you right now that. I've to hurry. Listen, after Potter finished talking it was very early in the morning. Let's schedule, because probably you lost the sense of time.
"My mother and I were preparing to had dinner at eleven-thirty. Around that time, the Dark Lord and them arrived. Potter took half-hour taking a shower. Fifteen minutes from that to when we started telling the story. The story I told you without interruptions. But we spend too much time listening to it.
"So, and owl arrived at my house early in the morning, can't tell the exact time. Brought the Daily Prophet.
" 'Daily Prophet? Oh, what does it says?' asked Snape
Harry Potter escapes from Azkaban"Read my mother:
"The seventeen-year-old boy, Harry Potter, has escaped from Azkaban. How? We believed with help from his master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Well, if he really is. All of these are rumours. What are his plans? It is also a mystery, because too few know the real reason of why he was there.
Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, explained: ' Over the last year he changed a lot. Nobody knew what was happening to him in his head. No, I don't think he has gone mad. He's perfectly aware of what he is doing. Along the year, we discovered that he was forming an alliance with You-Know-Who. When we find out, at the end of the year, we send him to Azkaban, so he could reconsidered of which side he was on. Apparently, he did not like that, especially because he was there in his birthday. What he will do next? We do not know, we only wishes that he do not chose the wrong side.'
I myself, had the pleasure of meeting Harry Potter, when, if I may say, he was still good. I could never knew that he will become like now.
Where is the next stop? What he would do next? Is he really ally with You-Know-Who? And if so, why? He all pray that it is all false, because we all know that if Harry Potter and You-Know-Who are an alliance, we are all damned, because they will be unstoppable."
" 'Touching' said the Dark Lord 'It is indeed inspiring'
" 'Who wrote that article? It says he knew me."
" 'Not a "he"' Snape said 'it is a "she", and so it happens that she knew me too.'
" 'Really? Then who is she?'
" 'Cho Chang.'"
Malfoy got up. He was leaving
"Where are you going?" asked Scrimgeour "You can't leave"
"I have to. I have spent too much time here."
"But where am I supposed to go?"
"Think Minister, think. I gave you a clue, now you do the rest. Good-bye" And with that, Draco Malfoy disappeared.
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