"Mother…"
Astoria Greengrass knelt on the floor, clutching her frail and weakened mother as she sobbed softly.
The Patronus—a silver-scaled Panda—lay lazily beside her.
As guardians against Dementors, the emotions that shape a Patronus are exactly what Dementors feed on—hope, joy, the will to live. Yet Patronuses cannot feel despair as humans do, which is why Dementors dread them.
The Patronus's light enveloped the mother and daughter. Lady Diana Greengrass slowly, weakly opened her eyes.
"Mum… Mum…" Astoria called out incessantly from her side.
"…Astoria, is that you…" Lady Greengrass murmured, her face worn and hollow. "Is it really you, my daughter… Praise Misra, you're still alive…"
Her words soon grew incoherent, verging on hysteria.
"…Or is this just my hallucination… I can't feel the Dementor's chill anymore… Astoria, my daughter, I've come to join you, haven't I…"
"No… Mother… no…"
The poor girl shook her head desperately. "I'm still alive… and so are you… I came to see you…"
Her words were choked with sobs.
With the help of the Patronus, the Dementors' influence over Mrs. Greengrass gradually faded.
Her sanity slowly returned.
With great effort, she raised one hand and gently stroked her daughter's cheek—
"It's real!"
A flicker of excitement cut through the mother's weak voice as she trembled, calling her daughter's name.
"Astoria…"
"Mum!"
Mother and daughter clung tightly to each other, weeping together.
...
"Only two months?"
Diana Greengrass smiled weakly.
"Why does it feel like… I've been on this island for ten years…"
As she spoke, she gently stroked Astoria's face, as if the girl before her were a precious, fragile treasure she dared not take her eyes off.
Astoria silently nodded, clutching her mother's other hand tightly with both of hers, sobbing and unable to speak.
After a moment's hesitation, Mrs. Greengrass asked softly:
"The blood curse… the blood curse on you…"
"…Did he lift it for you?"
Her voice trembled with fear.
"Yes!"
Astoria nodded without hesitation.
"My blood curse is gone… Mother, I've never felt healthier!"
Mrs. Greengrass seemed to exhale a long breath of relief.
Soon after, however, a heavy sigh escaped her lips.
"It seems I was wrong… I was wrong…"
She lowered her voice, shook her head, and said:
"Astoria, my daughter, your foolish mother—her ridiculous pride and prejudice nearly killed you…"
"Mother…"
Astoria shook her head tearfully.
"How much longer do you have to stay on this dreadful island…"
"Don't cry…"
Mrs. Greengrass gently wiped her daughter's tears, then smiled and shook her head.
"Crying like this makes you look less beautiful…"
However, she did not directly answer her daughter's question.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall—
Jon stepped into the cell and clearly saw its occupant: Lucius Malfoy.
Before this, Jon had never met Mr. Malfoy in person. Still, he had often seen the man's imposing image in The Daily Prophet.
As a member of an ancient, wealthy, and influential pure-blood wizard family, Mr. Malfoy had always appeared impeccably dressed in photographs, exuding a refined, "gentlemanly" grace.
That former elegance was now entirely gone.
Disheveled pale-gold hair like a bird's nest, tattered prison robes, and skin so pale it bordered on sickly—everything about him spoke of a life reduced to misery.
Jon's Patronus remained with Astoria.
Judging by the sounds from that direction, Mrs. Greengrass had already regained consciousness. This was not the time to summon it back.
As for Jon himself, as long as he maintained strict control over his thoughts through Occlumency, he would not be greatly affected by Dementors unless they came very close.
But that alone would not suffice.
After a brief moment of thought, Jon snapped his fingers.
A large, vivid red bird appeared inside the cell and flew to his side.
Fawkes glanced around with clear displeasure. Dementors were evidently just as uncomfortable for her.
Jon nodded to the Phoenix, then reached beneath her right eye.
Fawkes seemed to exert considerable effort before finally squeezing out a single tear, which fell into Jon's hand.
Jon bent down, gripped Mr. Malfoy's jaw, and let the tear drip into his mouth.
The effect was almost immediate—
Within seconds, Lucius Malfoy's eyelids fluttered.
Then he shivered violently.
"Cold… cold… cold…"
Mr. Malfoy's voice trembled.
"Incendio!"
Jon swung his wand without hesitation.
At the same time, he took a ring from his pocket and slipped it onto the pinky of his right hand.
...
As a halo of flames enveloped Mr. Malfoy, his condition visibly improved.
Though still extremely weak, he had at least regained consciousness.
"Who are you…"
He cast a feeble glance at the uninvited visitor.
"Merely an intruder who happened to pass by," the stranger replied with a smile.
He glanced at the nameplate on the door.
"Incidentally, Mr. Malfoy… I happened to overhear your sleep-talking just now."
"My sleep talk?"
Lucius Malfoy shuddered.
"What did I say?"
"You seemed to be pleading with the Dark Lord, telling him your son couldn't carry out his orders," the stranger said calmly.
"Your son—Draco Malfoy, was it? Come to think of it, in a way, he and I get along quite well."
Seeing the change in Mr. Malfoy's expression, he added casually:
"Don't worry. I'm not from the Ministry."
Lucius Malfoy eyed him skeptically.
"…You're… Dumbledore's…"
"You mean… Albus Dumbledore?"
A shadowed smile crossed the man's face.
"Rest assured. No one hates him more than we do."
Malfoy noticed that he said "we," not "I."
"By the way, Mr. Malfoy," the man continued, not lingering on the topic.
"I heard that under the Dark Lord's orders, the Ministry released a group of Death Eaters. So I was rather surprised to see you still on this island…"
A bitter smile surfaced on Lucius Malfoy's lips.
"The Dark Lord believes… keeping me in Azkaban… will give Draco—will give my son—greater motivation…"
"In other words…"
The stranger spoke bluntly.
"Your master has abandoned you."
Lucius Malfoy opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Well then… in that case…"
The man continued unhurriedly.
"Mr. Malfoy, would you be interested in pledging your loyalty to another wizard?"
"Switch allegiance?"
Lucius Malfoy frowned deeply.
Even under the lingering effects of the Dementors, he could sense that the young wizard before him was anything but ordinary.
"You mean…"
He lowered his voice.
"I don't know how reliable the information reaching you in Azkaban has been," the man said with a smile.
"But you can always confirm it with your wife and son during their next visit."
"After all, it's already the Christmas holidays."
"…There is one matter the entire European Ministry of Magic is desperately trying to conceal and suppress."
His voice suddenly turned low and sinister.
"That is…"
"The tower of Nurmengard has collapsed."