Chapter 363: The Only Person She Fears

When Harry returned to school quietly from the sky, he found that the roof of the Room of Requirement was still open, and those members of Dumbledore's Army who were suffering from not being able to find brooms, but actually very much wanted to go out, were sitting around in it at this moment, looking forward to the sky.

There were too many things worth saying tonight, and everyone began to frolic and prepare for the celebration banquet. The children were either asking about Gringotts or asking about the battle in the forest. Harry sat among them, showing a smile, but thinking of the accident at Sirius's place, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Harry," Hermione said softly, "let's go out."

In the quiet, deserted corridor, Harry, Luo En, and Hermione gathered together. Hermione took out a black velvet bag from her robe and whispered: "How should we handle this cup?"

"What?" Harry frowned. "Didn't Tang Tang Nade ask you to go get the cup?"

"Yes, he asked me to find a way to destroy it after getting it." Hermione said somewhat distressed. "But he also said that the Dark Lord turned the cup into a very evil magical creation; I'm afraid I can't easily destroy it."

"Then, shall we go to the Chamber of Secrets?" Luo En proposed a suggestion.

"No need." Harry vaguely realized that Tang Tang Nade didn't want this cup, so it, like Bellatrix, also became a hot potato. "Destroying the cup will only escalate the situation, and regardless of whether there is a cup or not, Voldemort cannot be resurrected."

"If you don't want to destroy it," Hermione opened the bag and took a look, "then how do we keep it?"

Harry wanted to say it could be placed with the diadem. But he soon noticed that the Room of Requirement was being used by other students at this time.

Just when they fell into silence, Snape suddenly walked out of the Headmaster's office. His face was very calm, but Harry felt this might not be true calmness.

"What are you doing here?" Snape said coldly. "Why aren't you sleeping so late?"

"Professor, I must tell you one thing." Harry said somewhat tooth-achingly. "Tang Tang Nade entrusted Hermione and Elina to obtain the cup."

Snape narrowed his eyes, and he soon noticed the bag Hermione was holding, so he asked out loud: "Is it here?"

"Can I ask you to keep it for now?" Harry felt Snape's speech was a bit cautious, so he also admitted it very vaguely.

"You can, and then you need to come to the office, Potter." Snape glanced at the door behind Harry. "Explain what is going on with the noise in the Room of Requirement."

Luo En didn't speak, just looked at Snape cautiously, while Hermione hesitated and handed the cloth bag to Harry. The two watched Snape lead Harry into the office, only sticking their tongues out slightly when Harry turned back to look.

"Before criticizing your stupid actions, we first need to solve the disaster your godfather caused." Snape waved his wand and closed the office door. "Rodolphus is preparing to launch a military rescue; perhaps he will break into Northern Ireland in the next second."

"This wasn't intentional on his part either; Sirius told me it was because the mole turned traitor—" Harry tried to defend him.

"It seems you have already seen him, and you even heard the excuse he found." Snape said disdainfully. "Could he not have thought of finding a confidant to control this matter?"

"Now, take my hand." Snape glanced at him. "Let's go over there first."

"Fine, however, I want to know if you succeeded over there?" Harry couldn't help but ask before grabbing Snape's sleeve.

"I succeeded, and no one discovered me. The reason I came back late is because—" Snape's tone carried a trace of anger. "The Minister rushed over after learning Bellatrix was captured, and he thought I was also there to discuss this matter. I was forced to participate in their stupid meeting—the Ministry of Magic can't think of any way, and can only suggest we send Bellatrix to Azkaban, perhaps because they themselves feel it has become a public lounge where you can come and go as you please."

Harry just caught a trace of inspiration. He felt a dizziness, and then he found himself and Snape standing in Sirius's reception room, and Sirius also stood up from the sofa in the reception room immediately, leading them out.

"I just thought of a way." Sirius said while walking. "We can reach some kind of deal with Bellatrix, collecting her ransom as a reason to release her."

"Then when she goes to Gringotts to take the ransom, she will find the cup has been stolen!" Snape expressed opposition to this.

"Gringotts already knows; the people Tang Tang Nade sent made a big scene there." Harry explained somewhat guiltily.

"Idiots." Snape criticized without hesitation. "I shouldn't have counted on you."

"Harry at least caught big fish." Sirius said.

"Yes, and my task for him was to stay in the dormitory honestly and not give the enemy an opportunity."

"We need to go down." Sirius opened an iron door and took the opportunity to change the subject.

"I just thought of it, let Bellatrix go but keep Delphini." Harry had an idea. "We need to pass the message to Rodolphus, letting him know both are still alive; nothing is more credible than Bellatrix herself. This constitutes the excuse for us to release her."

"Keeping Delphini, in the eyes of others, is also a means to hold Bellatrix." Sirius said thoughtfully. "And Delphini is still just a child; we can teach her some correct principles."

"I don't think you three men have the ability to take good care of her." Snape snorted coldly. "After the dust settles, I plan to send her to a Muggle family, and wait until she grows up to age in the Muggle world before bringing her to Hogwarts."

Harry didn't think this idea was too bad; he grew up in the Muggle world himself, which not only helped him eliminate prejudice, but also made it easier for him to understand the big picture, and Muggle knowledge also played a certain help in magical learning.

"Too terrible, he actually wants to send Delphini to the Muggle world; what kind of heartless cruelty is this," "Vicious scheme, extreme humiliation, chilling," "It would be dangerous for the boss to be with this kind of person, right?"

Sirius completely ignored the whispering of the gangster crowd and led them with brisk steps past several utility rooms to the location where Bellatrix Lestrange was being held.

That was a place similar to a bedroom; a little girl with delicate features was lying on a large bed, while the once arrogant Bellatrix was sitting blankly on a chair beside the bed, covered in ropes.

"Let her go." Sirius said in a low voice.

Suddenly, Bellatrix's eyes cleared up, and upon seeing Harry, she immediately showed an angry expression.

"I knew it! I knew it!" She screamed. "Bastards, you two shameless things, want to use this bitch-born mongrel to humiliate me? Impossible! Ava—"

"Imperio." A calm voice sounded in the corner, and Bellatrix immediately returned to that blank look.

"You'd better use this spell less, Gordon." Sirius said. "This will only make her more irritable; release her first, and if she still makes trouble, switch to the Full Body-Bind Curse."

Only then did Harry cast his gaze toward the guard responsible for monitoring Bellatrix; he had sturdy arms and wore a pair of square-framed glasses, looking like someone who didn't joke around.

Gordon nodded steadily, then released the Imperius Curse again.

Bellatrix breathed heavily, staring at Sirius with wide eyes, full of defiance.

"We are prepared to let you go." Sirius said. "But Delphini must stay."

"I either take her with me, or I don't go." Bellatrix said contemptuously.

"The Ministry of Magic's opinion is that they are willing to send Bellatrix back to Azkaban again." Snape said. "This at least can prove she is still alive."

"We won't hurt Delphini." Perhaps the child's sleeping face aroused Harry's sympathy, and he suddenly added, "She is, after all, uh, in some sense, my sister."

"I don't think you three men have the ability to take good care of her." Bellatrix seemed to have found a bargaining chip. "Only I can take care of her, only I, this mother. If the Dark Lord finds out she is living poorly after he is resurrected—"

"We have ladies who can take care of her." Harry retorted; he almost instantly thought of Tonks.

"If the Dark Lord finds out she only lives in an ordinary family when he returns, he will definitely impose punishment on you." Bellatrix said urgently.

Harry just wanted to open his mouth, but Snape gently stopped him, and then spat out a name that was both familiar and strange: "Cassandra."

Bellatrix froze instantly; she opened her mouth halfway and didn't speak for a long time.

"Since we have already found her, we won't let you, this mistress, touch the Dark Lord's bloodline again; give up the fantasy." Snape vividly played the role of a Death Eater keen on power. "I advise you to choose to cooperate with our plan; that can at least exempt you from the prison disaster of Azkaban."

"No, I don't believe it; how could you find her?" Bellatrix shook her head, unwilling to believe the fact. "Narcissa and I looked for so long and didn't find her; it's not true, impossible."

"She lived in China before." Snape said confidently. "Now, Regulus has secretly picked her up to Gillingham; we noticed this person very early."

Harry was somewhat speechless; he probably guessed that the "Cassandra" in Snape's mouth was actually Tonks. This familiar plot—last time it was a fictional dew-drop romance for Aberforth, this time it was a fictional childhood sweetheart for Voldemort. The coincidence was that the clowns in the story were all Lestranges.

"No, no, he loves me most, he loves me most..." Bellatrix Lestrange's eyes lost focus, and her body went limp, as if all her spirit had been drained.

"You should make a decision; is it to cooperate with our plan sensibly, or to suffer in Azkaban, and then be forced to cooperate with our plan?" ===== CHAPTER 364 =====