The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 576 The Black Sisters

The courtyard of Malfoy Manor was in a mess, with collapsed walls, broken fountains, burning hedges, white peacocks roasted by fire, and the main building with broken windows. The whole manor looked nothing like its former splendor, and was in tatters everywhere.

Ada walked up the wide stone steps and entered the main building's foyer, which was lined with picture frames.

The chaos outside also extended into the house. Just in the short distance from the foyer to the living room, there were three bodies lying there.

The spacious and elegant living room was dim, with broken crystal chandeliers scattered all over the floor and more blank picture frames hanging on the dark purple walls.

The picture frames in the hallway and living room originally belonged to the Malfoy ancestors, but no one knows where they have gone now.

Extravagance and ostentation are the habits of many pure-blood families. As an old pure-blood family, Malfoy is no exception. There are many rooms of different sizes in the main building, and each room is luxuriously decorated.

Ada had been looking for the Malfoys for two chapters, and they were now hiding in one of the many rooms.

There was a golden bed in the room, a marble fireplace, and a gilded mirror above the fireplace. The walls were also dark purple, and there was also a picture frame hanging on them.

Unlike the portraits in the living room and the entrance hall, this frame was packed with people; almost all of the Malfoy family's ancestors were crowded here.

Some of them were sighing, some were jumping up and down and cursing, and some were loudly accusing Lucius Malfoy, saying that he had brought disaster to the family and caused today's catastrophe.

The Malfoy family has lived on this land for ten centuries, and tonight, this land will be destroyed and burned by war.

Lucius looked very haggard, with unshaven beard, sunken eye sockets, and the luster in his gray eyes. Even when he spoke, he no longer gave people the lazy feeling he used to have.

There were banging sounds outside the room, but Lucius inside the room seemed not to hear them. He sat there blankly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Beside him, his wife Narcissa Malfoy was trying to persuade him.

Although they were sisters from the same mother, the Black sisters had completely different attitudes towards Voldemort. Narcissa had never shown the same perverted worship that Bellatrix had.

"Let's get out of here and take Draco with us!" Narcissa said, "If we stay with him, we will all die!"

For the sake of her children, Narcissa could swallow her pride and beg Snape to tell him everything Voldemort had said. There was nothing surprising about his words of betrayal today.

Before she was a servant of Lord Voldemort, Narcissa Malfoy was a mother.

Mothers are great. They can give everything they have, including their own lives, to protect their children and families.

Lucius raised his head slowly, his eyes empty like a walking corpse. In just a few months, he experienced a rapid descent from heaven to hell, and it was a drop that others might not be able to withstand.

"No, how could that be!" Lucius' voice sounded a little abnormal. The first half of the sentence was full of uncertainty, while the second half sounded like he was encouraging himself, forcing himself to believe that the Dark Lord would grant him all the glory.

"No, we will all be fine!" Lucius' voice became a little crazy, "As long as Draco succeeds...as long as our son completes the Dark Lord's mission, he will forgive us and give us everything back!"

Lucius spoke excitedly, his listless eyes sparkled, and a sickly flush appeared on his pale, pointed face.

Narcissa closed her eyes in pain, then she shook her husband's shoulders hard and shouted, "Wake up, please! You and I both know that the mission is impossible. He just wants Draco's life! He wants our lives!"

Her roar even drowned out the noisy portraits, the crackling explosions outside the door, and the wizard's screams.

Lucius was still in his trance and was having unrealistic fantasies, but Narcissa had already woken up from her fantasies. She wanted to protect her family at all costs.

Just as Narcissa was trying to persuade her husband to flee, the bedroom door was slammed open, and Bellatrix, her robe stained with blood, rushed in. Like the Malfoys in hiding, she had never left the manor's main building, but the difference was that she was guarding the prisoners here, and the bodies in the hallway were her masterpieces.

"Cisi!" Bellatrix said, "Come with me, let's kill all those who broke in together! The old man in the dungeon is very important to the master, we just need to protect him..."

Narcissa pushed the excited Bellatrix away. The sudden push made Bellatrix stand there in a daze, at a loss as to what to do.

"I don't want to hurt anyone, and I don't want to argue with you anymore, Bella!" Narcissa said, her voice trembling slightly, "I just want my Draco to be safe!" "What are you talking about?" Bellatrix looked at her sister in disbelief.

"That is the honor bestowed upon Draco by the Dark Lord, and it is also the honor of the entire Malfoy community! Just think about it, Lucius did so many stupid things, but the Dark Lord still trusted Draco. What an honor it is!"

Hearing his name, Lucius Malfoy slowly looked at Bellatrix. He was not angry, nor did he fight back. He looked like the Flash in "Zootopia".

"Enough!" Narcissa's voice was sharp and piercing, like the sound of nails scratching on a blackboard.

Then she begged, "Bella, let's go, leave here! Just pretend you know nothing and haven't seen anything, please!"

Tonight, the Malfoy Manor was in chaos and the fighting was brutal. There was no better situation for the Malfoys to escape. Without their trace, they could say they were captured by the Ministry of Magic, or they could say they were missing or dead.

Either choice would be safer than continuing to be controlled by Voldemort.

Although there is still a chance for the Malfoy family to turn things around, how can the couple pin their hopes on an impossible task or on Voldemort's magnanimity?

Bellatrix thought her sister was crazy for daring to betray the Dark Lord and ignoring his grace, not knowing that she was the real madman.

Although Bellatrix was also afraid of the Dark Lord, her worship of Voldemort was deep in her bones. This crazy worship offset her inner fear and made her obsessed with Voldemort's power.

"Take that back, Cissy!" said Bellatrix. "I'll pretend I never heard it."

Bellatrix, who had been even more cruel to her relatives, finally softened her heart. She did not want to do anything to her own blood sister, even though her sister's words and deeds showed signs of betraying the Dark Lord.

"Let us go, Bella!" Narcissa tremblingly pulled out a wand from her robes and held it threateningly in front of her.

Faced with the threat, Bellatrix was a little panicked, not because of fear, but because she couldn't understand. She didn't know why her sister had become like this.

Bellatrix looked at Lucius with annoyance. If this good-looking but useless man had done one thing right, she would not have faced such a dilemma.

At this time, Ada, who had searched many rooms, finally found this place. As soon as she came in, she saw Narcissa pointing her wand at Bellatrix.

What was going on? Were the Hei sisters turning on each other? Or was it just some bloody family feud? Aida was filled with questions.

It is said that it is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. Ada's appearance just helped Bellatrix make a decision. Bellatrix decisively broke open a window and jumped into the courtyard.

After Bellatrix escaped, Narcissa pointed her wand at Ada.

The dazed Lucius Malfoy finally reacted. He suddenly stood up and rushed to his wife, blocking Narcissa behind him.

"What I hate most in my life is people pointing magic wands at me." Ada had put a lot of effort into finding the couple, so naturally she felt resentful.

Lucius Malfoy was still protecting his wife, and even though his legs felt weak, he did not retreat an inch.

He seemed to have used up all his courage in his life, and said tremblingly: "Don't harm my wife and children. Narcissa and Draco are not Death Eaters. Only I am - I beg you to show mercy and let them live."

Do I look that fierce? Ada asked herself, reflecting on herself.

She thought she looked kind, not the kind of fierce, evil-looking person that would scare people to sleep. But why did Bellatrix run away when she saw her, and why did Lucius look like a mouse seeing a cat?

"If you can't even hold the wand steadily, don't hold it up. It's tiring." Ada said leisurely.

Looking at Lucius Malfoy's indescribable expression, Ada was about to say something else when she heard a loud noise outside the window, and saw a huge ball of black flame hitting the wizards in the courtyard.

Voldemort is coming!
(End of this chapter)