The Last Horcrux/Visit Lucius Malfoy
One morning, at breakfast, you receive a very brief letter, delivered by Owl.
Dear Emily, your aunt Bellatrix said that you wanted to see me? I asked if she meant your cousin Draco, who is on holiday in Switzerland, but she insisted that you meant myself. I am free on Thursday evening at 8pm. I know that Draco is very excited about beginning school at Hogwarts next week and will be excited to meet you on the train. Yours sincerely, Uncle Lucius
You smile to yourself and finish your breakfast. You will miss the food that Nanny and your House Elf prepare, but you know that Hogwarts is well staffed and will lay on a feast when you arrive.
Bellatrix has done as you said and arranged a meeting for you, but not told Lucius your true identity. You are pleased, and decide to follow her idea of playing a “little game” with the good Lord Lucius.
By the time the evening comes, you dress smartly and all in black. You had thought about travelling by carriage, but for convenience sake, you decide to travel by floo network. The fireplace in your gatehouse links to a fireplace in the House Malfoy gatehouse, which means you only need to walk the grounds of each property. You would have preferred to disapparate, but underage disapparation would only draw unwanted attention to you, and would, in any case, give the game away somewhat.
As you walk the grounds of Lestrange Manor you realise you will miss the place. It is the only place you have ever lived, and you have only ever been away from home for a month or so at most. Soon, you will be walking these grounds for the last time. No, that’s not true, you will return for Christmas, and other holidays. It will always be your home.
You throw some Floo powder into the fireplace at your Gatehouse, say “Malfoy Manor Gatehouse” and are transported through the Floo network in the blink of an eye and a burst of green flames.
Appearing in the fireplace of a somewhat grander gatehouse, you see that the Malfoy’s have taken it employing Goblin guards. One of them smiles at you; a thin, fake smile, revealing the sharp filed teeth that all goblins have.
“Miss Lestrange, we were expecting you. The carriage is ready to take you to the main house.”
You give the goblin a slight nod of acknowledgment and enter the carriage, pleased that Lucius had taken your request seriously. A few minutes later, you arrive at the Manor itself and are brought into the main reception.
“Wait here please miss,” the Butler says, and goes to find his master.
It’s just like Lucius, you think to yourself, keeping me waiting as if I were a servant or a business partner instead of family. All part of his power games. You pass the time by admiring the paintings on the walls. Generations of intermarriage between pureblood families means that knowing the portraits and family trees is exceptionally important. One picture is particularly striking, a family portrait of the sisters of House Black, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Andromeda, before they married into other families that is. For some reason, it doesn’t seem to have captured Bella’s likeness quite correctly.
A second painting dominates the room. It is Lucius? Or one of his ancestors? It certainly resembles the man. You are pondering the image when the Butler calls your name.
“Miss Lestrange? Lucius will see you now, in the smoking room.”
You enter the smoking room to see Lucius stood by the mantelpiece, a magical fire burning in its hearth, from which he can, no doubt, converse with his contacts all over Europe and beyond. He gives you the respect of a small nod of his head, as befits a fellow pureblooded magic-user.
“Emily, how nice to see you,” Lucius says, greeting you in his charming silky voice. Lucius can sound good, but his demeanour is entirely fake. The man is a snake, but a cowardly one, as you know well from your timeline.
“Likewise,” you say, not making eye contact but instead looking at the paintings in this room.
You wait for a moment, just to mess with him.
“Niece,” Lucius says, breaking the silence and attempting to put you in your place, “Your aunt Bellatrix didn’t say why you wanted to see me?”
“No,” you reply, after a moments pause, “she didn’t.”
Lucius smiles his fake smile again.
“Would you care to tell me why?” He enquires.
You casually draw your wand, point it at his jacket and incant “Accio wand.”
Lucius gasps as his wand flies toward you and you deftly catch it in your right hand, your left still pointing your own wand at him. He is momentarily shocked into silence and looks apoplectic with rage. For some reason, you find the sight of the man furious but helpless to be hilarious funny, and burst out laughing.
“How dare you,” Lucius finally spits, “take my wand in my own home? And you are underage Emily, the Ministry will contact you about this and…”
“I have hidden myself from The Trace,” you interject, “they will not know of this. Come, I do not like the smell of smoke in here.”
You throw his wand at him, which he scrambled to catch, and walk in the direction of his main reception room. He scurries after you, still incensed at your behaviour, and completely flat footed by your control of the situation.
“This painting hasn’t captured Bella’s likeness very well has it?” You ask him.
“On the contrary,” he says irritably, “it is as good a likeness as one will ever see of Bellatrix. She changes her appearance with minor transfigurations, something she learned from your mother. Some witches are obsessed with vanity.”
Something about the way he says your mother annoys you, as though it were a bad thing.
“And what of this picture?” You say, pointing your wand at the large portrait above the fireplace, “It looks better than you do. Have you commissioned a more flattering portrait? Or have you transfigured yourself to be less attractive, to dispense with vanity?”
“It is a picture of my Grandfather, Severus Malfoy,” he says, his blood rising again, “and you Mademoiselle, should have some respect for your elders.”
“No,” you snap, “it is you that should respect your elders.”
Again his anger almost silences him, but he opens his mouth to speak, outraged that you should treat him like this in his own home.
“Have you just come here to insult me? I’ve half a mind to…”
You cut him off by raising your wand again.
“Morsmordre,” you incant softly, almost whispering, and ghostly image of a glowing green skull appears in the middle of the Malfoy reception room, a large green snake emerging from its depths.
“The… Dark Mark?” Lucius gasps, “you come into my home and conjure the Dark Mark? You are a CHILD! Explain yourself!”
“No,” you tut, pointing your wand back at Lucius, “you are the one who should explain yourself, do you truly serve Lord Voldemort?”
“You dare to speak his name?” Lucius splutters, finding the heights of his surprise are being constantly exceeded, “I was serving the Dark Lord long before you were born Emily.”
“Then why have you not searched for him?” You snap back, still brandishing your wand and walking toward him. “Bellatrix has searched for him, Neeva has searched for him, even Peter Pettitrew has searched for him.”
Lucius looks stunned, and confused.
“Pettigrew?” He asks, “Pettigrew is dead… he…”
“Why didn’t you search for him Lucius? You took a vow.”
Lucius moves as if to raise his wand, but you act before he can do a thing.
“Accio smoking jacket,” you say, and Lucius gasps as his own Jacket twists and pulls him toward you, ruining any chance he might have had to cast a spell as it tries to remove itself from his body.
“Evanesco,” you say, making his jacket, waistcoat and shirt vanish. You seize his left arm in your right hand, stabbing him in the chest with your wand in your left. You dig your fingers into the flesh of his left forearm and speak again.
“You made a VOW!”
As you speak, Lucius cries out in pain, as a pale red mark on his inner forearm starts to smoke, and changes into a dark black tattoo of the skull and snake illusion that still hangs in the air of the room. Lucius falls to his knees from the pain, humbled before a mere girl. He grits his teeth and responds to you.
“You… you can’t be. You were dead. Gone. Everyone was dead.” The fear in his voice is palpable.
“I am back,” you simply say.
“No, you can’t be… it’s a prank… who are you?”
“I AM BACK!” You snarl, emphasising each word and squeezing his forearm harder, causing more smoke to rise from his flesh, which sizzles and smells as the meat cooks in the searing heat of your magic. You press your wand harder into his chest and the goblin wrought silver of the spike draws blood.
“Do you need the Cruciatus to believe your master has returned? I can give it to you?”
“N-no… My Lord, please forgive me!” He begs, “I didn’t know. None of us knew!”
“You didn’t know,” you say, mocking him and driving the point of your wand deeper into his chest, “well you know now.”
Inside Extended Luggage Suite
Books: Life Magick of the Celts and ancient Britons, Wiccan Blood Rituals, A Primer of Magickes of Imperial China, The Fragmented Soul, Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts, Love Potions, Sexus, Serpentes et Magicae Voluptatis, The Daughters of Hecate, A Secret Guide to Hogwarts.
Magic Items Sofia Lestrange’s Pensieve, Enchanted Tarot, Self-Writing Quill
Other Items