With a flick of her wand, Lys deflected the opponent's curse aimed at her from the side. For a moment, she wasn't sure how to deal with him. Thinking back to the notes she'd studied before leaving home, Lys's expression grew so strange that the man on the floor finally began to regret his greed.
Leaving the room, Lys pulled a handkerchief from the breast pocket of her suit and wiped the blood from her fingers. She held her hand up to the light, and only when her knuckles were once again pale and clean did she toss the handkerchief to the floor.
At the door stood a woman, her face alight with excitement, holding the hand of a thin, battered little girl.
Lys had originally thought that with this man gone, she'd have to find a new contact for this channel. But the woman immediately dropped to her knees before Lys.
"Ma'am, ma'am!"
Lys frowned beneath her Lily mask and used magic to lift the woman upright.
"Speak while standing."
"Ma'am, he's dead, but I know where the lists of suppliers and buyers are, I..." The woman was so frail that her excitement made it hard for her to finish a sentence.
Lys rummaged in her pocket, fished out two pieces of clotted cream fudge, and handed them to the woman. "If you want him dead, you have to do it yourself. Now, take your time and speak."
"I can serve you, ma'am. I handled most of the early-stage dealings myself."
At these words, Lys finally gave her a proper look.
The woman was the sister of the man who'd just died in the room. She'd previously been involved in some of his business, but had quit because the risks were too high. When some of his deals were exposed and he was targeted for mysterious attacks, he became convinced his sister had betrayed him.
"He wanted to kill me before, but he couldn't do without my management and advice. He was only notable for his greed and nerve—nothing else."
Lys glanced at the little girl she was holding. Oddly enough, the girl's cheeks were plumper than her mother's, and she clutched the candy her mother had just given her, looking at Lys with clear, bright eyes.
"This child... she's a Squib, ma'am, you don't need to mind her." As she spoke, the woman pulled the girl behind her.
Lys had no interest in this. She straightened her clothes and hair. "Fine, I'll leave it to you. Are your spell skills decent?"
Seeing the woman nod, Lys summoned the two ledgers and the man's wand from the floor and handed them over without much care. "Follow these for the next inventory."
After a moment, she added, "I'm short on patience lately. Don't bother me unless it's necessary."
The woman nodded quickly—she understood.
With her wand back in hand and her power restored, the witch finally felt secure.
LysApparated back to the reading room and handed the ledgers she'd taken from the man to Noah. "I'll leave it to you from now on, Dad."
Noah licked his dry lips, pushed himself up from his wheelchair with his cane, and patted his increasingly thin daughter on the shoulder—he could feel her protruding bones even through her clothes.
Sighing, he took the stack of parchment to the counter to sort through the accounts.
After failing to win Gageng's favor, Lys returned to studying her notes on the soul.
Whether it could be solved or not, she had to try, didn't she?
In early June 1979, the Order of the Phoenix foiled a Death Eater operation, saving the family of AurorDolores, who worked for the Order, as well as young Moody, who was visiting.
With some progress in her soul research, Lys went to great lengths to help Senna acquire illicit potion ingredients, hoping to study the wounds in her soul—wounds she had altered herself, only to have them torn open again by the Dark Mark.
In mid-June, Dumbledore once again blocked the passage of the aristocracy bill at the Ministry of Magic's legislative session.
Someone tried to threaten the new contact witch and seize some rare Chinese ingredients. Noah took Lys to Knockturn Alley to sort out the small smuggling business.
At the end of June, the Daily Prophet failed to publish for several days due to various reasons.
Taking advantage of a rare moment of peace, Lys took Senna and Noah to Bournemouth Beach. With its steep cliffs and beautiful scenery, it was the perfect place to avoid Muggles and other wizards.
On a clear day, you could see the distant islands, though the interesting wizard shops that used to be there were now gone.
A wooden sign on the ground told visitors that the wizards here had chosen to live in seclusion.
Noah was pushed into the shallows by Senna and spluttered after swallowing several mouthfuls of water. In the end, the three of them—plus a snake—lay in a row, soaked, on the sand.
Mid-July...
In mid-July, several Death Eaters were arrested for murder, the evidence irrefutable. For the first time, the Dark Mark on their arms was publicly exposed in the newspapers, bringing disgrace.
This provoked the Dark Lord's fury!
The moment Lys saw the paper, she knew trouble was coming—but she didn't expect the Dark Lord's retaliation to come so swiftly.
The pain and burning in her left arm guard made her heart race. She dared not delay, telling Senna and Noah to return home at once.
Noah, leaning on his cane, said seriously to Lys, "Don't push yourself. If it's too much, we'll leave the country."
The silence between them was broken when Lys clutched her left arm again.
Catching the potion Senna tossed her, she threw on her cloak—no time to change shirts—tied up her hair, fastened her mask, and Apparated straight to the source of the summons: the Dark Lord's side.
At that moment, the Dark Lord was using Crucio to punish two Death Eaters who had failed him.
"Useless. Even the smallest scraps of information reach me so slowly."
Through her mask, Lys quickly scanned the scene, confirming the presence of several targets—Lucius, Severus, and Regulus—all standing to either side of the Dark Lord.
It was clearly a major operation. This time, she should be able to keep to the fringes.
Standing in the courtyard as more and more people Apparated in, Lys even spotted Fenrir Greyback, the foul-smelling werewolf, clutching his filthy wand and surrounded by a dozen like-minded followers.
Suppressing her restless urge, Lys melted into the crowd at the very edge.
Today's mission was to raid a house—a house where Order of the Phoenix members were gathering.
Hearing the Dark Lord demand enough blood to be spilled, Lys couldn't help but wonder: how was he so sure there'd be people there, that a meeting would be taking place tonight?
She glanced up, puzzled by the Dark Lord's increasingly pale skin and unstable mood. One moment he was torturing his subordinates with Crucio, the next he was smiling at the thought of enemy blood.
Lys didn't understand, and let it go.
Her gaze drifted again to Fenrir Greyback.
She couldn't help but look; her wand trembled slightly in her hand.
When the werewolf looked around in confusion, Lys finally looked away. Whatever the Dark Lord was saying, she barely registered it.
The Dark Lord departed, leaving Lucius in charge. Lys nudged the person next to her. "What did Malfoy just say we're supposed to do?"
The person beside her, impatient, pulled his cloak tighter before answering.
But... intercepting on broomsticks in the air?
Lys recalled her disastrous performance in first-year flying lessons.
Not wanting to be stuck on the ground where she'd stand out, she quietly edged over to Severus Snape. That little bribe—no, that friendly exchange—was about to pay off.
Though Snape was annoyed, he agreed to Lys's request, slipping her into the group assigned to perimeter patrol as they passed by.
Once again, Lys couldn't help but glance at Fenrir Greyback.
This time, their eyes met. Unlike Greyback's confusion, Lys's face beneath her mask even held a faint smile. Thinking about what had just gone through her mind, she lowered her head again.
She needed to think carefully about something she'd long desired.
Think carefully.
About her past, her future, and the possible price...
Could she really bear the cost of killing this werewolf?
Events unfolded as Lys expected. Though the Death Eaters had numbers, the Order of the Phoenix fought with more desperation. The battle quickly became a stalemate, and those on perimeter patrol were the most relaxed on the field.
Lys hid behind a small tree, focusing on the tracking charm she'd cast earlier—unfortunately, the distance was too great; she'd missed her chance.
Just as she was sighing to herself, a spell curved toward her.
Reinforcements from the Order of the Phoenix!
Lys quickly parried the curse with her wand. She had no interest in fighting—she just wanted to put on a show for the other Death Eaters, then slip away.
But unfortunately, she ran into Benjy Fenwick, one of the Order's strongest fighters, along with two others who were no slouches themselves.
The two Death Eaters with Lys were quickly taken down.
Lys was left alone, clutching her left arm, bombarding the three with magic.
She cursed inwardly—how had they not noticed she hadn't used any truly lethal spells all this time? Yet they kept pressing her!
The three on the other side, though suspicious, were so scarred by the Death Eaters' reputation that they dared not let up.
Worse, the fight dragged on, and more Order reinforcements arrived. Lys spotted that familiar messy black hair hurtling toward her on a broom and felt a headache coming on.
As her blackthorn wand swept through the air, black mist began to swirl between Lys and her opponents. Benjy Fenwick frowned at the barrier, calling out a password as he fired off more spells.
But Lys gave no response. How was she supposed to know "lemon ice cream apple pie" was a password? It didn't even sound right.
Taking advantage of the hesitation when the other two heard the code, Lys quickly cast "Arrow Flight" and shot out of the small grove. But she forgot—her "Arrow Flight" was so fast that, at short range, she was liable to crash into something.
Which is exactly how she collided with Potter, who was flying in on his broom.
Over the past half-year, without carrying Gageng every day and with her health declining, Lys's physical condition had worsened. The collision left Potter and his broom mostly unharmed, but Lys went flying.
Adjusting her slightly dented mask, Lys summoned her magic and, aided by "Arrow Flight," dashed away at top speed.
Potter wanted to give chase, but Benjy Fenwick stopped him.
Though disappointed, Potter had to admit Fenwick was right. He glanced toward the fighting by the lakeside cottage and sped off on his broom.
Only to be intercepted by other Death Eaters on brooms.
Gryffindor's famed Seeker skills weren't for nothing; dodging curses, Potter even managed to trick two Death Eaters into crashing into each other.
Lys rubbed her ribs, cast a few healing spells on herself, and hurried toward the edge of the battlefield. But just as she was about to disappear into the woods, a wave of furious emotion from the Dark Mark on her arm made her double back.
The anger wasn't directed at her personally, but at all Death Eaters—it was something they could all feel through the Mark.
The Dark Lord was furious, which meant the battle wasn't going as planned, or the results were disappointing. There would be a reckoning after this—Lys cursed under her breath: Damn you, Thomas, just wait!
Thomas and Black—if it weren't for them, she wouldn't be in this mess.
Back at the edge of the main battle, Lys did her best to muddy the waters—darting in to knock away lethal spells, making it look like she was fighting hard for everyone to see.
She didn't even know which side she was saving at this point—she just made sure to put on a convincing show.
When someone shouted that Dumbledore would arrive soon, urging everyone to hold on, Lys finally let herself go.
She picked out two spells—not too dangerous, but flashy enough—and hurled herself into the fray, waiting for two nearby Death Eaters to look her way before collapsing beneath a tree that would shield her back.
Lying on the ground, Lys even had the presence of mind to plan a trip to Knockturn Alley after this, to get Gageng some of its favorite white stones—there was only a fist-sized one left in its nest.
She wondered if that new contact woma—
A wild blast of fire magic struck the tree behind her, making her jump.
Rolling away, Lys cast several Protego charms on herself and tried to play dead behind another tree root, hoping the duelists would move elsewhere.
But luck wasn't on her side—the two fighters stayed right beside her.
It was Lucius Malfoy and Benjy Fenwick, who'd just fought Lys.
Lucius wasn't a particularly strong fighter; he should have been observing the battle from the sidelines as a high-ranking member. But for some reason, Benjy Fenwick had singled him out and chased him here.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
🤔 Want to know what happens next to the characters?
🤫 Eager to explore the untold secrets of this world?
✍️ Ready to read more of my wildest stories?
✨patreon.com/DarkGolds