The person walking toward Noah spoke in a low, silky voice that seemed squeezed from his throat: "Since her mind no longer exists, there's no need for her to attend the meeting. Come with me."
Noah quickly controlled Lys, who was pulling his hair and trying to climb onto his shoulders, and followed.
He cautiously whispered his thanks: "Thank you, Sev—uh... sir. I wonder about Senna..."
"You'll see Mrs. Black in a moment, but I sincerely suggest you hurry up and find this fool's brain."
After all... Snape thought, Lucius, himself, and Regulus all had close ties with her. Once Bellatrix successfully pinned the blame, he would certainly be questioned as well.
That madwoman had always held strong opinions against him, and he couldn't withstand scrutiny right now.
Soon the three arrived in a drawing room. Snape seemed quite impatient with another person who appeared in the room.
Before Noah stepped in, Snape added one more thing: "The Lord hasn't spoken. You'd better not do anything excessive."
Then he turned and left.
Senna sat on the sofa in the middle of the room, but her complexion was very poor. There was also the same acrid burnt smell as in the reading room.
"Senior, long time no see!" The person standing to one side studying some notes smiled brightly and enthusiastically greeted Lys, who was being restrained by Noah:
"Maybe Senior still remembers me—Barty Crouch. Do you remember?"
"We even beat up little Thomas together at Hogwarts!"
This was the other Death Eater known for fanaticism and madness who had been neck and neck with Bellatrix this past year.
If Lys were still lucid, she would certainly know, but she wasn't lucid now.
Senna's face was pale as she clutched her stomach and arm, her shoulders occasionally twitching slightly.
Her gaze looked toward her husband, who was caught between panic and joy, then glanced at the little madwoman whose old injuries had obviously relapsed.
The surname Black was truly unlucky, Senna grumbled internally. So far, more than half the blows this family had suffered came from this surname!
Senna kept an eye on Barty Crouch while asking Noah what was wrong with Lys. Noah simply explained what had just happened.
Barty Crouch seemed very interested in this topic, pressing for answers to those three matters, but neither Noah nor Senna knew—Lys rarely talked to them about such things.
"Then we'll have to wait for Senior to wake up to know the answers..." Barty Crouch appeared disappointed, but quickly perked up again.
Noah was puzzled to see his wife become tense, even scooting closer to his side. Before he could understand the panic in his wife's eyes, Barty Crouch raised his wand.
Noah was startled by Senna's trembling and immediately embraced her. When he looked at Senna, he found her eyes wide open, staring beside him.
The curse light of "Cruciatus!" fell directly on Lys!
Lys was still under Snape's unique silencing spell "Langlock." The agony of the Cruciatus Curse made the unconscious Lys arch and fall onto the carpet, writhing silently twice.
Crunch also sprang from Noah's side, lunging at Barty Crouch.
However, Barty Crouch'sShield Charm reacted quickly. Crunch was blocked and bounced back, its dangerous fangs just short of piercing his defense.
Crunch, thrown to the ground, hissed angrily and crawled to Lys's side, coiling its neck and belly muscles to gather strength again.
But Barty Crouch's method seemed quite effective. When Senna and Noah shielded Lys, her eyes became much clearer due to the pain.
Lys tried to say something but found her open mouth produced no sound. She tremblingly stood up, picked up Crunch, and tucked it under her arm to prevent it from charging forward.
She glanced sideways at the excited Barty Crouch, then walked to the table, drank all the water from the teapot, and finally raised her wand to lift the spell on herself.
Bellatrix had just said the Bones children were reported by Crouch?
"Junior Crouch," Lys's voice was like containing a handful of sand, hoarsely greeting him.
At this moment she knew why the address on that note was "Senior."
Bellatrix hadn't even been looking at her before—she was an acknowledged waste, and wouldn't be suddenly targeted like this.
It seemed it was him, but why?
Fury burned in Lys's eyes. She put down the empty teapot and walked back to the sofa, reaching out to snatch the notebook from Barty Crouch's hands. Barty Crouch wasn't in a hurry and generously let Lys see the notes.
"Then Senior can personally explain to me..."
"Snap!" This was the sound of the notebook closing.
"Smack! Smack!" This was the sound of palms making intimate contact with a face.
Barty Crouch's smile hadn't even faded when he looked at Lys in disbelief—she had just slapped him twice.
He angrily raised his wand. Apart from his father, no one had ever hit him like this!
Lys sneered: "So Bella's groundless accusations that made the Lord lose face were your instigation."
Lys's voice was rough and unpleasant, yet it struck Barty Crouch's heart like lightning—the Lord lost face...
Looking down at that notebook again, Lys couldn't control her mocking tone: "Ha, having a father who's Minister in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is quite nice, isn't it? You even know about the foreign noble inheritance content I signed at the Ministry of Magic. But do you know that I don't really choose means or costs when seeking revenge?"
That notebook contained everything it should and shouldn't have.
But fortunately, Lys had never liked talking about unpleasant things at home before, so Senna didn't know about many things and naturally couldn't reveal them.
But those records of Senna's responses made Lys want to kill Barty Crouch.
He had not only threatened her mother—he had even used "Cruciatus"!
Lys wanted to shake off Noah's hand holding her, but was suppressed by Senna's look.
Seeing the little madwoman come in practically riding on her husband's head, if she fought with people randomly again, no potion would help.
She clutched her stomach and grabbed Lys's sleeve.
Lys suppressed her muddled brain and threatened Crouch: "What do you want me to explain to you? Huh?!"
She turned her head, not knowing what she was thinking, then reached into her pouch and pulled out a calming draught and a lunch box to hand to Senna and Noah.
Senna instinctively released Lys's sleeve, took them, and passed them to Noah.
Barty Crouch saw the family of three even sharing a lunch box as if they were on a picnic, and what little rationality remained in his brain—already mostly lost from those two slaps—completely disappeared.
Senna and Noah hadn't meant to provoke him; they had just instinctively accepted what Lys handed them.
And Lys?
Her mind wasn't clear... Seeing Senna like that, she only remembered Noah saying when she came home that Senna would be so hungry she'd eat birdseed...
Just as Lys was crouching on the back of the angrily cursing Barty Crouch, drinking water vigorously, Lucius and the youngest Lestrange walked in.
Seeing this scene, both men drew in sharp breaths.
They couldn't understand how she could be thinking this way in such a situation...
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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