That evening, Lys sorted through the correspondence on her desk. After some deliberation, she picked up her quill and penned a reply to the witch in Knockturn Alley. Given the woman's impossibly long name, Lys typically simplified it to "Lulu's mum"—a nickname the witch herself embraced wholeheartedly.
Dear Lulu's Mum,
The German assignment isn't the golden opportunity you might imagine. While I appreciate your trust in me, I hope you'll consider this carefully. There will be times when I simply lack the power to shield you.
But that witch understood perfectly—this might be her only chance, her and her daughter's sole escape from the damned shadows of Knockturn Alley.
She couldn't let this slip away.
Perhaps her abilities weren't extraordinary, but they were far from mediocre. And because of Lulu, the adults could trust her loyalty. Even when their moods turned peculiar and restless, she always delivered. Value and reliability meant she wouldn't be discarded easily—that was exactly how these people operated.
She was ready to gamble everything. Watching her daughter sitting obediently beside her, wand in hand, she thought about how Lulu had long passed Hogwarts age, yet she still yearned to give her a proper education.
She wanted her daughter to choose her own path with full understanding, not stumble through life in ignorance as she had—stealing, hiding, never seeing daylight.
Before bed, Lys was forced to drink her strictly measured potion under vigilant supervision.
Digging her nails into Noah's arm, Senna snarled at Lys: "If you want to die before we do, just keep secretly doubling your dosage! If I didn't watch you like a hawk, you'd probably down the entire month's supply in one sitting, wouldn't you, you little lunatic?!"
Lys hastily tried to soothe her mother. She really was quick to anger these days... Well, perhaps she had been rather reckless with the potions. She couldn't blame her mother for being furious...
It took both Noah and Lys considerable effort to coax Senna back to bed. Lying there afterward, listening to her stomach's desperate rumbling, Lys pulled Gabeng over her head like a blanket. She was nearly in tears from hunger.
The next day, while pruning roses, Lys actually considered popping a flower into her mouth for a taste.
Noah, watching through the window as she lifted and lowered the bloom indecisively, covered his face in despair. She's only twenty, he reminded himself. Just twenty. Still a child. When I was twenty, God knows what nonsense I was thinking...
He glanced around, deduced Senna was likely tending her cauldron, and tossed a piece of candy down to Lys.
But before Lys could even get it to her lips, Senna's voice drifted sweetly from the kitchen...
"Go ahead, eat it~"
Lys jumped, immediately flinging the candy back up to Noah.
Since Stalys had no legitimate business experience, Lucius suggested she spend time shadowing him to learn proper oversight procedures.
What he hadn't anticipated was Stalys proving utterly clueless—like a complete amateur. Instead, her perceptive werewolf father, who maintained a respectful distance, demonstrated genuine insight into such matters.
Lucius watched Stalys feebly attempt to explain her confusion to her father and felt a migraine building.
Could she truly manage affairs if thrown into Germany like this?
While Germany valued merit highly, they certainly wouldn't tolerate a werewolf giving orders.
Two days later, Lucius had to warn Stalys that if she continued this way, things would become extremely difficult once she arrived. After all, his influence couldn't reach that far—what kind of life she'd have there depended entirely on her own capabilities.
Fortunately, though she was hopeless with ledgers and accounts, Lys possessed a razor-sharp eye for materials, potions, alchemy, dark artifacts, and even jewelry. She'd identified a manager passing off inferior gems that even Lucius had missed.
"Senior Lucius, let's rest a moment. I'm exhausted," Lys said, catching her breath in the supply shop. Lucius was about to refuse, but remembering his and Narcissa's suspicions, and seeing Lys's substantial figure, he acquiesced.
Noah quietly offered Lys his water flask. After accepting it, Lys looked meaningfully at Lucius: "Senior, it's not that I can't pay certain prices—I simply choose not to."
Lucius heard her but said nothing. He understood exactly what she meant.
Recently, pursuing information the Dark Lord desired, Death Eaters and Order members had clashed in several major confrontations. Some voices suggested Stalys Black, with her formidable abilities, should contribute her strength to the cause.
Lucius had deflected all such suggestions. The Dark Lord himself had ordered her to maintain a low profile—and in her current condition, how could she possibly appear in public?
She was far too conspicuous.
"Just stay out of trouble and I'll be grateful," Lucius muttered, remembering how his heart had nearly stopped during her previous escapades.
Hearing this, Lys's smile became genuinely warm.
At March's end, before Lys could discontinue her potions, confirmation arrived from Germany—the partnership was officially launching.
Lys set down her suitcase, hoisted Gabeng onto her shoulder, and—under Senna's murderous glare—gently cradled the swaddled infant whose one eye remained half-closed.
"I'll return in three days."
Noah quickly positioned himself between Senna and Little Star, patted his daughter's shoulder, and whispered urgently: "Take care of yourself. And absolutely do not increase your dosage again, Little Star. Senna says your body won't withstand it. She claims I spoil you too much—that's why I'm still banished from the bedroom."
Lys nodded evasively. After walking a considerable distance from the house, she retrieved the Portkey Lucius had prepared.
Transported to the Ministry's entrance, Lys proceeded to the Department of International Magical Cooperation and waited patiently. Soon, a woman approached asking which visitor was there for the collaborative project.
Lys set aside her German dictionary and nodded at the liaison officer. However, when the woman spotted the badge on Lys's robes, her expression transformed dramatically and she began speaking in rapid, agitated tones. Lys merely shrugged and removed the badge from her robes.
So the intelligence was faulty—wasn't this contact supposed to be a Saints supporter? One of those devoted followers of Gellert Grindelwald who'd passed through his trials by fire?
Previously, Lys had wavered between Germany and Italy, but her father mentioned her mother's difficult experiences in Italy, making Germany the natural choice.
Lys was prepared to step immediately into the International Floo Network, but the woman intercepted her. Through somewhat labored explanation, Lys learned that international Floo travel required applications and cooling periods, and that others would be traveling with her.
Clearly, however, the others were running late.
Lys returned to the waiting area sofa. Though she'd slimmed down somewhat from her peak weight, she remained strikingly large and movement was still exhausting.
She pulled out her dictionary and continued studying. It felt like being back in first or second year at Hogwarts—she could listen and read, speak haltingly, but writing remained beyond her reach.
"Oh! If I'm not mistaken... Miss Stalys?" Lys looked up to see that man—Menierquaid Karkaroff.
His eyes held a mixture of shock and disappointment as he surveyed Lys in her oversized wizard robes. "What happened to you...?"
Lys raised an eyebrow slightly. "I'm bound for Germany. I'll be handling the Malfoy family's collaborative venture there."
She knew what he wanted to ask—but her weight was none of his bloody business.
Ever since consuming those potions while surrounded by Inferi, Lys had been haunted by hallucinatory memories of that summer—this very Menierquaid Karkaroff and the cold, lethal intent that had hovered over her family of three.
This had led her to connect the Karkaroff family with Voldemort and the soul stabilizer. Last time, she'd tested Snape's attitude toward soul stabilizers, only to receive a genuinely puzzled look in response.
Lys theorized the Karkaroff family possessed crucial knowledge—they were deliberately controlling soul stabilizer access, attempting to profit or gain advantage from an unstable leader.
After all, if you want to exploit drunkards and madmen, the optimal strategy is keeping them intoxicated or preventing their recovery...
Standing before the fireplace, Lys politely gestured for him to enter first. But as she stood within the Floo, the gaze boring into her back made her profoundly uncomfortable.
She still remembered his initial flippant behavior—Look, look, look! What are you staring at? Keep this up and once I'm fully recovered, the first thing I'll do is give you a proper thrashing!
But Lys only entertained such thoughts.
He was formidably powerful... and more importantly, heir to a premier German family.
No need for confrontation...
At least, not yet...
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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