04:35 pm,
London
In a dark alley, surrounded by tall buildings on either side and with only one entrance, a hooded figure was standing with its face hidden under a darker cowl.
Suddenly, an audible popping sound echoed from the closed end of the alley.
From the darkness, this new apparated figure walked out, one step after another. As this second figure neared the hooded one, its face came out in the open. It was a woman, her color dark, and her eyes like the gray of winter.
She was Madam Villanelle.
"Did someone see you?" the hooded figure asked, her voice also feminine.
"No." Madam Villanelle took out her wand, and swished around both of them, creating a light fog. "I am on a 10 minutes break," she told the hooded one. "Have no worry, minister."
"Do you have to call me so, V?" Millicent Bagnold took off her hood and asked, smiling. "I will always be Milli for you."
The ladies shared a glance, smiled, and hugged each other.
"So?" the minister of magic raised an eyebrow.
Madam Villanelle sighed. "You were right, Milli," she said, her eyes shining brilliantly. "The little girl has a near-perfect memory. I've heard the muggles call it photographic memory. However, things aren't limited to it.
"Not only can she recall everything read by her before, but she can also make logical deductions based on the stored information. Her hunger for knowledge astounded me the most. It almost felt like the girl was holding herself back, and if she were to be permitted to let herself loose, then she would devour everything.
"Something is truly odd going on, I agree. Her mind getting affected by the Chaotic Magic might have some truth to it."
The minister looked thoughtful, but her eyes shared the same glint as Madam Villanelle's. "I knew it was the right decision to separate her from a blood-supremacist family like the Malfoys," she whispered. "Talent like her is an unprecedented gift, but in the wrong hands… I dare not imagine the possibilities."
"What do you mean?" Madam Villanelle asked, puzzled.
"Oh, V!" the minister shook her head. "I don't know how to word it out…"
Madam Villanelle's eyes narrowed. "Milli," she said, nearing her more, "you aren't letting yourself become a victim of rumors, are you? How could you think that? I thought you and Darcie were friends. The girl admires you so much. Have you no idea?"
"I do!" the minister gritted out the words, leaning against the cool wall. "And knowing this pains my heart no less," she told V, her eyes moist. "You were away, V. You weren't here.
"Otherwise, you would have known how helpless the ministry was; how helpless I was when Voldemort was running amok in the Wizarding Community. Oh, I don't fear his name. Yes. But if there are rumors about him, absurd or not, then I will pursue them."
Madam Villanelle's breath quickened. "Darcie Malfoy, the daughter of the Dark Lord," she said as if reading off a paper. "Even absurdness has its limit, Milli. You are playing with the emotions of the most outstanding child I've ever met, and you hide behind your just intentions. Like a coward! Moreover, she is a twin child."
"We both know that means nothing, V," the minister said, looking away. "Voldemort's powers knew no bounds. Only a fool would say otherwise. Even Dumbledore agreed with me, when we last talked, that the Dark Lord had gone beyond the realms of known magic.
"And don't accuse me of a crime I've not committed. You don't know Darcie as I do. The bounds of a mansion, family, and relationships could've never held her back for long.
"So, when she suggested to me her intentions of leaving her home and come here, I had agreed, despite knowing the controversy it would cause. All I want is one confirmation.
"One nod to tell me that there is no connection between Darcie and Voldemort and that the worst wizard known to wizardkind hadn't tempered with this child. The ministry is corrupt, V. That's why I had to call you back. I can't trust anyone. Even now, Lucius Malfoy is trying to unearth your classified files."
Madam Villanelle looked furious. It was obvious that the minister's explanations for her actions had failed to garner her sympathy. "For this one time, Milli," she told her. "For this one time, I will help you; for the sake of old times. You called me back; I did. You told me to meet the girl and become her mentor; I did. So, what do you want now?"
The minister took a deep breath. "All I want is for you to monitor Darcie Malfoy for one month," Millicent Bagnold ordered. "Watch her minutely during your time with her in the bookshop. Observe her actions and follow her movements.
"Give me the nod, I so desire, V. Give me the nod that she has nothing to do with Voldemort at the end of this month. Nothing would please my heart more than that nod. Believe me."
Madam Villanelle looked into the eyes of her old mentor. Then she nodded. "I will do it," she said, her voice bitter. "What if she has nothing to do with you-know-who? Then what?"
"Then…" the minister paused, licked her lips, and continued to say, "I want you to prepare her."
"Prepare? Prepare her for what, exactly?"
"You wouldn't believe, V," the minister mumbled, turning around with Madam Villanelle at her back. "The idea came to me from the girl herself. For many nights I couldn't sleep after hearing the words she had said to me a few months back.
"I don't know if Dumbledore can stop Voldemort again, for there is no doubt he is alive, just biding his time to come back. There will be no 1-year-old Harry Potter to survive the curse and send him back anymore, either. And I've seen the documents on young Harry, V. He is no Darcie Malfoy, let me tell you.
"I don't want the ministry to be only good enough to carry rotten wands this time. I don't want us to be only good enough to make statements when the better wizards and witches had already sacrificed themselves. This time, I want to be prepared. And if that would need me to bend and twist all rules of the ministry, then I would do that too."
Madam Villanelle's eyes had widened in shock. "You…" the words got stuck in her throat, but she forced them out. "You want to rear that child into a weapon?! A weapon!! And you claim yourself to be her friend? Have you no shame left, Milli?!!"
The minister of magic spun around and faced her apprentice with a hardened face. "Weapon?" she repeated the word. "No, V. Not a weapon. I want her to be a symbol…
"… A Symbol of Power!"
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