While everyone was engaged in their discussion about interrogation strategies and what to do with their prisoner, Adrian suddenly sensed something unusual, a subtle shift in the room's magical atmosphere.
His magical awareness picked up on it immediately.
He turned his head sharply toward Bellatrix's direction and noticed her previously limp eyelids were now twitching rapidly, fluttering as if responding to some internal struggle. Her fingers were also trembling unconsciously where they were bound to the chair arms.
"She's waking up," Adrian immediately alerted everyone.
"Let's hope the massive dose of Veritaserum hasn't completely turned her brain into mush and made her a drooling idiot," Sirius said with a cold, harsh laugh. He stepped forward and kicked the chair leg with force.
The chair jolted violently from the blow, rocking on its legs. Bellatrix's head snapped up in response to the sudden movement, her eyes were flying open with astonishing speed.
She first looked around in apparent confusion, her dark eyes were bleary and glazed, taking several seconds to process her surroundings. Then, as if pieces were gradually falling into place and she was slowly realizing her situation and predicament, her gaze sharpened and focused on Sirius.
A twisted smile began forming on her cracked lips.
"Ah, my dear cousin," she said in a hoarse, rasping voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in days. Her tone dripped with icy contempt and venom. "How touching. Look at what kind of miserable place you've brought me to... The Black Manor, reduced to this."
She sneered, observing the room with disgust.
"We don't need you to speak right now," Sirius interrupted her abruptly. He reached out and took a small vial of Veritaserum from Moody's hand, holding it up to the light to check the contents. "You'll speak when we want you to speak."
At this moment, with Bellatrix conscious and potentially dangerous despite her bonds, it was definitely safer to make her drink another dose of the truth serum.
"If you move around or try anything clever, your neck will be snapped immediately," Kingsley warned in his deep voice. He pressed his wand firmly against the vulnerable side of Bellatrix's exposed neck, the tip was creating a small dent in her skin. "We won't hesitate."
Adrian knew this was merely a psychological pressure tactic, they wouldn't actually kill Bellatrix, at least not now.
However, Bellatrix completely ignored the warning as if Kingsley hadn't spoken at all. She continued observing the room slowly on her own with an almost nostalgic expression, her wild eyes weremoving across the walls and furnishings. Her voice took on a strange melancholy tone.
"Do you know? This used to be where I lived... Before I left, this house—it was always such a beautiful place then."
Then her tone abruptly became sharp and venomous. "And now! Look at it now! This place is crowded with filthy Mudbloods and disgusting blood traitors! You've defiled every single inch of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black! You've brought shame to our noble name!"
Her voice rose to a shriek on the last words.
Hearing this bigoted rant, Sirius paused what he was doing with the Veritaserum vial. He leaned down slowly to meet her eyes at her level, bringing his face close to hers. His expression bore a mocking smile that would have looked perfectly at home on any Black family portrait.
"But there's nothing you can do about it, is there?" he said softly. "My dear, dear cousin. You're tied to a chair, wandless and helpless, surrounded by the very people you despise. And I own this house now. It's mine to do with as I please."
Adrian, observing this conversation from his position near the wall, thought that Sirius right now with that particular smile and that cold tone seemed more like a villain.
Bellatrix ignored Sirius's taunting words, as if he hadn't spoken. She suddenly twisted her attention away from him and turned her intense, slightly mad gaze directly toward Adrian instead. Her voice became abnormally fervent and excited.
"Adrian Westeros," she breathed his name like a prayer or curse. "The Dark Lord values you greatly, you know. He speaks of you often. He's been watching you all along."
She struggled desperately to lean forward despite her bonds, straining against the ropes. Even as Kingsley's wand pressed tighter against her vulnerable throat in warning, she persisted.
"Submit to the Dark Lord..." she gasped out. "Join us. Your power would be welcomed. You could be great under his guidance. He would teach you things beyond your imagination..."
Adrian simply shrugged with complete indifference, then looked at Sirius with puzzlement and slight amusement. "What's this supposed to be exactly? Some kind of pathetic attempt at recruitment? Sowing discord among us? Does she think I'm that stupid?"
Sirius spread his hands wide, showing a helpless expression. "Who knows what goes through that sick mind? Maybe this woman's brain was already damaged by the Veritaserum..."
He glanced down at the vial still in his hand and added with mock concern, "Should I perhaps have used a smaller dosage?"
Adrian turned toward Bellatrix, meeting her fervent gaze with calmness. His tone was utterly flat and straightforward as he spoke.
"Even if I somehow agreed with your so-called ideology though I absolutely don't, and find it disgusting, I would never willingly associate with Voldemort or his followers. As I see it quite clearly, he's just an idiot with a broken brain and delusions of grandeur."
"An idiot with a broken brain."
Probably only Adrian present would dare to refer to Voldemort in such casually dismissive, insulting terms. Even speaking his name was considered daring by most wizards.
Everyone in the room felt a trace of chill appear without warning, running down their spines. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees.
Meanwhile, Bellatrix let out an absolutely piercing, inhuman shriek that made several people wince. She began struggling frantically against her bonds with new energy, her entire body was trembling. "How dare you! How DARE you insult the Dark Lord! You'll regret those words! Everyone here will regret this! He'll make you suffer! He'll—"
She was raving mad, spit was flying from her lips, exactly like the Bellatrix in Adrian's memories from the original story.
But what could a witch without a wand actually do to struggle effectively?
Kingsley simply had to wave his wand in a motion to make the magical ropes binding her constrict even tighter, cutting into her flesh. She gasped in pain but continued struggling.
This was the predicament of wizards, losing one's wand meant essentially losing the ability to fight at any effective level. You were as helpless as a Muggle.
Although wandless magic theoretically existed and was documented in various texts, for those without years of special, intensive training it was extraordinarily difficult to perform, even nearly impossible under stress. You needed tremendous focus and power.
Adrian thought that aside from some particularly dedicated wizards who enjoyed deep academic research and had the time to study obscure techniques, almost no one would specifically dedicate themselves to mastering it.
And Bellatrix clearly wasn't among that number.
Watching Bellatrix's furious, impotent rage, her face twisted with hatred, Sirius burst into hearty laughter that echoed through the room. "Well said, Adrian! Brilliantly put! An idiot with a broken brain—I'll have to remember that one!"
At these mocking words, Bellatrix seemed to suddenly give up her struggles. She stopped thrashing abruptly, becoming eerily still. She lowered her head slowly, her disheveled hair was falling forward like a curtain to cover the expression on her face completely.
Sirius, apparently satisfied that she'd been subdued, stepped forward decisively. He was planning to continue with administering the Veritaserum—the time for idle chat and psychological games had ended.
At that moment, just as Sirius raised the vial, Bellatrix slowly raised her head back up. Her hair parted to reveal her face.
Her gaze swept across everyone present in the crowded room, lingering on each face as if memorizing them. The corners of her mouth curled up into a cruel, triumphant arc.
"Talking to all of you... is utterly useless," she said in an ice-cold voice. Her gaze settled finally on Sirius. "And you... pathetic traitor to your blood. You'll die screaming."
She shifted topics again, her voice was rising, saying with wild glee, "All of you can go die! Every last one! The Dark Lord's will cannot be denied!"
"Empty threats!" Sirius scoffed dismissively, already reaching forward with his free hand to pry open Bellatrix's mouth by force, preparing to pour the potion down her throat.
But the ominous premonition that had been growing steadily in Adrian's chest reached its peak at this precise moment.
"Wait!" He interrupted Sirius's action with a grave expression. "Sirius, stop! Have you cast a Fidelius Charm on this house? Or any other significant protective magic beyond the standard wards?"
Sirius stopped what he was doing, pulling back slightly. He frowned with slight confusion. "There's no need for anything that elaborate, is there? This is just a temporary base of operations. The old Black family wards should be sufficient."
Adrian fell silent for a moment.
No additional protective measures of any kind. No Fidelius Charm to hide the location. No enhanced wards. Just the standard protections.
This meant the place wasn't absolutely safe from intrusion, wasn't nearly as secure as they'd been assuming.
Anyone who knew the specific location of Number 12 Grimmauld Place could potentially enter here.
And now, right now, Bellatrix already knew that this was one of the Order of the Phoenix's operational bases. She was even here in person.
Seeing Adrian's expression and following his logic, Remus understood the concern. He stepped forward, gently trying to smooth things over and calm the rising tension. "Adrian, I think you're perhaps being too sensitive. This is the ancient Black manor, after all. It has powerful protective magic of its own."
He gestured around. "And with so many of us here..."
Before he could finish his reassuring statement, Bellatrix suddenly burst into bone-chilling, lunatic laughter that made everyone's blood run cold. "Too late!!"
She threw her head back, screeching.
Too late for what?
Hearing those ominous words, everyone's expressions changed instantly to grave concern. They immediately looked toward Bellatrix with suspicion.
The tip of Kingsley's wand, still pressed to her throat, began glowing with gathering magic.
Suddenly, Sirius seemed to realize something.
He quickly set down the Veritaserum vial with shaking hands, then fumbled desperately in his pocket. He pulled out a palm-sized crystal ball.
Inside the originally transparent crystal ball, an image began to appear and polish, showing the scene outside the front door of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
In the magical image, a blonde girl stood absolutely motionless before the door, facing it.
She appeared to be perhaps about ten years old at most. Her face was pale almost to the point of transparency, bloodless and waxy like a corpse. Her pale golden hair hung lifelessly, limply over her thin shoulders without any bounce or shine. She wore only a somewhat oversized black dress that hung on her body, standing like a broken doll abandoned in the cold winter wind.
But most deeply unsettling were her eyes.
They were hollow and utterly vacant, showing absolutely no sign of awareness or consciousness. As if she were merely an empty shell, a body from which the soul had been completely extracted or destroyed.
"This is..." Remus began with confusion and concern. His voice was uncertain. "Whose child is this? Do any of you recognize her?"
"Hey, this is obviously not a normal situation!" Sirius said sharply, jerking his gaze accusingly toward Bellatrix. His voice rose with anger. "What trick are you playing now? What have you done?"
For a child like this, looking like that, appearing at this specific time and in this specific manner to show up unannounced at their door was anything but ordinary.
Without question, without any doubt, this had to be Bellatrix's doing.
However, Bellatrix merely closed her eyes tightly and pressed her lips together firmly. She said absolutely nothing in response to Sirius's demands.
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