Chapter 299
The two moved quickly. Every minute they spent here increased the chances of them being discovered. Soon, a wide stone staircase appeared before them, spiraling upward in a winding coil. Every time they climbed another level, several small stone doors appeared along the walls, each secured with heavy metal locks engraved with dark magic runes. With Malfoy's knowledge, he recognized many of the powerful magical symbols.
Behind those locks should be the prisoners held on each level. It was an entirely different world, but neither of them had any interest in exploring it now.
Just as they reached the fifth floor, the tower suddenly trembled violently, and tiny stones began falling from above.
"We've been discovered." Malfoy frowned and immediately quickened his pace. Hibiscus hurried after him.
Their response had been faster than he expected.
"Your hair…" Hibiscus panted as she followed behind, hurriedly warning him.
"I know." Malfoy quickly glanced back at her. The Polyjuice Potion had already lost its effect after passing through one of the barriers. Hibiscus had returned to her beautiful silver shoulder-length hair and delicate features.
Naturally, he himself had also reverted to normal. His pale blond hair and fair complexion had completely returned.
At that moment, every torch embedded in the stone walls suddenly went out simultaneously, plunging the spiraling corridor into total darkness.
The tower shook even harder, and Malfoy could hear the whistling roar of massive objects falling from above.
He guessed this was probably a defensive mechanism intended to seal the passageways.
Under gravity's pull, the mechanism activated quickly. Heavy stone slabs crashed down from above with deafening booms, blocking the corridor one after another.
"Stay behind me."
"Shatter!"
The massive stone doors exploded apart one after another, fragments of stone scattering everywhere. Hibiscus was dragged along behind him as they ran, breathing harder and harder.
A girl's stamina was naturally weaker. That was simply an objective fact.
After destroying countless stone barriers, the two finally reached the top floor. An old metal door stood before them, secured by a heavy lock.
During wartime, Muggles had coined a saying — the strongest fortress in the world is always breached from within. In the magical world, Sirius Black and Barty Crouch's escapes from Azkaban were considered minor oversights at best and could hardly be called true prison breaks.
After all, most prisoners remained locked away even after those incidents.
According to the original course of events, Azkaban would only truly fall after Voldemort convinced the evil Dementors to betray the Ministry.
Impenetrable and airtight — those words could also describe Nurmengard. Its guards were highly trained Aurors from the German Ministry of Magic, and deceiving them was far more difficult than manipulating creatures like Dementors, who possessed no concept of morality.
However, as long as one was human, there would always be weaknesses. And if those weaknesses could be exploited, Polyjuice Potion became the perfect infiltration tool. At the very least, it could fool most of the outer guards.
Inside Nurmengard Prison, the lower floors were the most strictly guarded. The Aurors watched those prisoners carefully because they were the ones most likely to cause trouble. They still had hope. Those serving finite sentences still longed for freedom.
The higher the level, the longer the sentences became. Once imprisonment exceeded a normal lifespan, the concept itself lost meaning. Those prisoners could only quietly wait for death and accept that hopeless reality.
As for the very top floor, there had been almost no movement there for decades. Aside from the guards who periodically delivered food, nobody dared approach that small dark room. Dead rats, rotting corpses, and dried maggot remains littered the area around the door. A foul, decaying aura permeated the air, enough to make anyone nauseous.
At the summit of Nurmengard Tower, narrow windows were sealed behind pitch-black iron bars. As always, only the occasional ray of sunlight managed to slip through, leaving the cramped room buried in darkness. The old man inside looked exhausted, and most of the time he preferred keeping his eyes closed.
It conserved energy.
He was emaciated beyond description. "Skinny" no longer felt like an adjective but rather a permanent state of existence. Most days, he either sat or lay on the filthy, hard bed. Even when standing, his body remained hunched over.
The lack of sunlight and nutrition had left him aged and withered.
His beard and hair had grown long. Dull gray strands tangled together into greasy knots.
Several teeth were missing, while the remaining ones were stained an ugly yellow, crooked and neglected.
Prisoners rarely cared about appearances, and nobody wanted to get close to this old man anyway.
Thunder rumbled faintly outside, and the sound of rain and wind seeped through the stone walls. A few scattered raindrops slipped through gaps in the iron bars and dripped onto the floor with soft tapping sounds. Only during moments like these could he occasionally feel connected to the outside world.
Fresh air was a precious thing here.
Sometimes he wondered whether lightning might someday strike the tower. Perhaps then someone would finally have to repair it.
As for escaping…
He had never considered it.
His pride mattered more than freedom.
Since he had lost that duel, he had calmly accepted the result.
But even now, he still did not believe he had been wrong. In pursuit of his ideals, he had used ruthless methods, yes, but he still believed his cause had been just.
At worst, his methods had simply been too extreme.
His only true regret was that battle. Had it never happened, Albus Dumbledore's sister would not have died, and the contradictions between them would never have become irreconcilable. Perhaps by now, the wizarding world's new order would already have been established, and their "greater good" achieved long ago.
In truth, he had shown mercy during that duel.
At least toward Dumbledore.
That duel changed the future of the wizarding world.
In his youth, Dumbledore himself had once been extraordinarily ambitious. At the time, he was no less driven than Grindelwald. Their ideals had been remarkably similar — to establish a new order where wizards no longer had to hide beneath the Statute of Secrecy.
Thus, through coincidence and fate, those two brilliant young men came together. In only two months, they became inseparable friends, perhaps even something deeper.
During his Hogwarts years, Dumbledore had displayed astonishing talent. He won countless awards and quickly began corresponding with many of the era's greatest magical minds, including the famous alchemist Nicolas Flamel, historian Bathilda Bagshot, and magical theorist Adalbert Waffling. Several of his papers were even published in journals such as Transfiguration Today, Spellcraft Innovation, and Practical Potions Mastery.
He needed prestige.
Only enough prestige could earn him enough political capital.
At that time, he resembled Percy Weasley in some ways, though vastly more talented. The position Percy desperately desired would have naturally belonged to Dumbledore in that era. If he had simply continued down the established path, becoming Minister for Magic would have been inevitable.
Back then, he preferred isolating himself in his room, reading books, organizing awards, and corresponding with famous scholars. He disliked dealing with his sister because it wasted his time.
In the end, however, Ariana's death changed everything.
The kind-hearted man finally realized what truly mattered.
And so he parted ways with Grindelwald and defeated him in the legendary duel of the century.
The rumors claiming Grindelwald surrendered willingly never truly made sense. If he had genuinely abandoned his ideals out of guilt, he would not have fled after Ariana died.
Grindelwald was not that weak.
Dumbledore had once been drawn to him precisely because of his charisma. He would never have loved someone who abandoned his ideals for love.
In that legendary duel, Dumbledore had simply been stronger.
He defeated Grindelwald fairly.
Grindelwald accepted the defeat proudly, but he never abandoned his ideals.
The only thing he truly regretted was the duel that cost Ariana her life.
Years of endless solitude inside the tower slowly changed his mentality, but he still remained the Dark Lord feared most before Voldemort.
And now, Malfoy was about to face this old man whose life was filled with legends and the weight of history.