Lestrange Mansion.
Seated around a long rectangular table, twelve witches and wizards remained silent. Of the twelve, at least half had escaped from Azkaban, all of them looking towards the head seat, where a young man with soft black hair and red eyes was seated.
The table, a huge serpent was smoothly sliding between the plates and goblets. A hissing sound echoed particularly loudly in the silence of the room.
Perhaps the only one relaxed in such a tense environment was Bellatrix. The woman was filing her nails, ignoring the murderous looks her former husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, was giving her.
Blowing off the nail remnants, Bellatrix extended her hand and looked satisfied at her perfectly manicured nails.
"What can you tell us about your cousin, Lady Lestrange?" Lucius asked, his tone low, fearful of offending the head of the table.
Bellatrix placed a finger on her lips and pondered her choice of words with an innocent look. "In terms of appearance, he's adorable, lovely, cold, and very cruel. He wouldn't let me eat sweets after dinner!"
In the end, she spoke with a particularly resentful tone.
Lucius's face twisted slightly at the absurd response of the mad woman.
"He's talking about his weaknesses and strengths, Lady Lestrange." Ernest Macmillan, patriarch of House Macmillan, spoke, his voice somewhat helpless. Although he noticed the murderous look from the Patriarch Lestrange when he called Bellatrix Lady Lestrange.
"In terms of strength, we will die almost instantly if we face him head-on. Any special level cursed spirit will turn all of us into a delicious tomato sauce seasoned with our organs to put on the salad!" Bellatrix spoke in an animated voice, as if being crushed was a good final fate.
This made everyone avert their eyes; conversing rationally with a madwoman was difficult, especially with Bellatrix, who was famous for her madness.
But when it came to loyalty, no one questioned her. Everyone could betray the Dark Lord, but not Bellatrix. The woman was such a loyal follower that she did things that made some people in this room feel sick.
And mind you, no one present in this room was innocent; the person with the fewest kills had at least ten deaths to their name, so it was quite an accomplishment to make these racist murderers feel nauseous.
"We already know that, Lady Lestrange." Lucius spoke in an annoyed tone.
Bellatrix's green eyes fell on Lucius, her lips curling into a malicious smile as she spoke in a sadistic tone. "How's the single life? Bringing your sex toys home? Poor Narcissa, betrayed and even blamed for the divorce. If it were me, I would have killed the mistresses and the fruits of the betrayal right in front of you."
When she said this, Bellatrix intentionally looked at Rodolphus, who seemed ready to attack at any moment, especially at the mention of his beloved and dead child.
Everyone felt a chill hearing this; they did not doubt that Bellatrix could do it. Lucius, in particular, showed a cold and slightly murderous expression.
"Enough of this foolish discussion."
With a cold and indifferent voice, everyone fell silent and focused on Voldemort, who was petting the serpent Nagini.
"Asterion Black's weaknesses, Bellatrix," Voldemort said, his tone making everyone shudder involuntarily.
Bellatrix showed no fear; her smile grew as she spoke. "There is only one."
Everyone looked expectantly at Bellatrix.
"And what would that be, Lady Lestrange?" Ernest asked eagerly.
"He loves his family." As Bellatrix finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
Bellatrix's words were obvious to everyone.
"It's unrealistic to attack Black Manor." Voldemort looked at Bellatrix with his red eyes and spoke calmly. Even though he had never been to Black Manor, he knew there was certainly something of great danger protecting that thousand-year-old mansion.
"I agree." Surprisingly, Bellatrix agreed with Voldemort's words. "Attacking Black Manor is a suicide mission. Arcturus wouldn't hesitate to blow up the entire mansion with everyone in it."
A heavy atmosphere hung in the air.
"We will first attack Gringotts," Voldemort said, drawing everyone's attention immediately. "We will leave no one alive."
"Yes, my master." Bellatrix was the first to speak. She stood up and saluted like a soldier who had just received orders.
As for why they were attacking Gringotts, Bellatrix didn't ask, nor did anyone else around. Working with Voldemort, they knew that questioning orders meant death. They had seen this happen countless times in the war thirteen years ago. No one wanted to be the next corpse thrown into an unknown ditch.
Suddenly, everyone heard a knock on the door.
"Enter," Voldemort said casually.
The doors opened, and a young girl of thirteen entered the room, with pale blonde hair and icy blue eyes.
"The drinks as ordered, father." The young girl bowed to Lucius, and the trays holding wine glasses floated automatically to the table.
Picking up the wine glass, Voldemort's cold eyes fell on the girl with a faint murderous intent. "You should bow to me, Dorea. This is my final warning to you. Thank your father for being a loyal follower; otherwise, I would kill you now."
Dorea's body trembled at his words. She quickly bowed to Voldemort and spoke with a slightly trembling voice, "Y-yes, my Lord."
Fear infiltrated the young girl's heart like a deadly poison, making her look as if she was about to die at any moment. This horrible feeling made her face pale.
Ignoring the tense atmosphere caused by Dorea's mistake and Lucius's extremely irritated face, Bellatrix looked at her niece and spoke cheerfully, "You really look like your mother, Dorea."
As if hearing a call for salvation, Dorea looked at the aunt she had never had contact with and greeted her respectfully, but did not bow due to the previous events.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Aunt."
"Humm~" Bellatrix hummed and casually chatted with her niece. "You are almost a copy of your mother; she looked exactly like you at your age."
"Enough of the useless chatter, Bellatrix." Voldemort interrupted the conversation and spoke, "Prepare for the attack."
Everyone stood up, placed their wands over their chests in respect, and left in an orderly fashion one by one, leaving Voldemort alone, petting Nagini and lost in thought.
---
Inside a room.
*Sound of a Slap*
The sound of a loud, strong slap reverberated between the walls.
Holding the left side of her face, Dorea suppressed the tears threatening to fall and looked at her father with a resentful gaze.
"Never embarrass me like that again!" Lucius roared, his eyes almost brimming with fury. "You are just like your mother, useless, not even fit to perform simple tasks like serving drinks competently."
Draco, who was watching everything from the side, opened his mouth to defend his twin sister but closed it, seeing his father filled with rage.
"But it doesn't matter anymore. You will marry the son of House Macmillan." Calming down a bit, Lucius straightened the creases in his clothes and spoke coldly.
Dorea couldn't help but widen her eyes upon hearing that, the memory of the Macmillan House son appearing in her mind. A decently handsome but talentless skinny boy.
Dorea didn't want to marry someone like him, weaker than her, not her who had always been taught to respect the strong.
Seeing the veiled rejection on her daughter's face, Lucius mocked, "Who said you have a choice?" Without waiting for her to respond, Lucius left the room with his cane.
"Sister..." With their father absent, Draco approached Dorea, but halted his steps at that moment.
Dorea looked at him as if he were a traitor.
Draco clenched his fists and tried to explain, but every time he tried to speak, the words couldn't come out.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Dorea straightened her back and showed an indifferent expression.
"Leave," Dorea spoke coldly. "Leave my room now."
Draco hesitated, but obeyed and left the room with his head down.
Now alone, Dorea bit her lips so hard that blood came out. Looking at her wrist, she felt disgust and hatred seeing the skull and snake tattooed on her wrist.
Suddenly, the doors of the room were abruptly opened, startling Dorea. Looking up, she found her aunt Bellatrix looking at her with a big smile.
"You're bleeding," Bellatrix noticed the blood on her lips and the red mark on her niece's left cheek. She already knew what had happened.
"It's nothing," Dorea tried to wipe the blood from her lips, but only made it worse, spreading it all around her mouth.
Sitting on the arm of the chair Dorea was sitting in, Bellatrix spoke with an amused smile.
"Staying strong even after what happened, your mother would be proud of you."
"My mother would probably mock me if she saw my state now," Dorea spoke, her tone low and full of disdain for herself.
"Knowing Cissy, she would have hugged and comforted you in her arms. Then she would have ripped Lucius's head off for touching you." Bellatrix spoke, her lips curling into a cold and sadistic smile.
She approached Dorea's face and helped clean the dried blood spread around her mouth.
"You are very beautiful; you must have many suitors at Hogwarts," Bellatrix commented amusingly, looking at her niece's lovely face, which had entirely inherited her sister's beauty.
"Not as many as my mother probably had," Dorea replied in a lighter and more relaxed tone with the change of subject.
"You have no idea how popular Narcissa was at Hogwarts. The famous ice queen of Slytherin. The line of suitors was so long that almost every boy had a crush on her. If she winked at a boy who was dating, relationships would end," Bellatrix said, recalling her time at Hogwarts with a low laugh.
A smile appeared on Dorea's lips upon hearing this.
But her smile faded. "Daphne Greengrass is the queen of Slytherin." Her tone was a bit disheartened; she should have been the center of attention, but because of Daphne, she was just another pretty girl.
"Being Asty's fiancée certainly made her popular." Having finished cleaning the blood, Bellatrix spoke casually.
Looking at her niece's disheartened face, Bellatrix showed a mischievous smile. She knew how important it was for a proud girl to be the most popular at school.
"You can become popular too; just get into Asterion's bed, and you'll gain power," Bellatrix said with a cute smile on her lips.
Dorea felt her cheeks heat up at her aunt's bold proposal.
"Remember, dear niece, a Black never bows to anyone." With that, she stood up and walked towards the room's exit.
"Where are you going?" Dorea asked; she didn't want to part from Bellatrix, the only woman she could seemingly trust.
"To bathe in goblin blood and listen to their sweet screams while I torture them." Looking over her shoulder, Bellatrix responded with a cold and somewhat crazy smile.
Watching Bellatrix leave the room excited like a child going to play in the park, Dorea murmured to herself.
"My aunt is crazy."
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Next Chapter: Chapter 88 - Civil War (4), 89 - Civil War (5), Chapter 90 - Civil War (6), Chapter 91 - Battlefield (1), Chapter 92 - Battlefield (2), Chapter 93 – Conflicts on the Battlefield (1), Chapter 94 – Conflicts on the Battlefield (2), Chapter 95 - The War Intensifies (1), Chapter 96 - The War Intensifies (2), Chapter 97 - The Death of Voldemort (1), Chapter 98 - The Death of Voldemort (2) And end of the first volume.
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 99 – Decision (1), Chapter 100 – Decision (2), Chapter 101 – Decision (3), Chapter 102 - The Black Sisters (1), Chapter 103 - The Black Sisters (2), Chapter 104 - Rose's Past (1), Chapter 105 - Arrival of Country Representatives (1), Chapter 106 - Arrival of Country Representatives (2), Chapter 107 - Arrival of Country Representatives (3), Chapter 108 – Party (1), Chapter 109 – Party (2).