HP - Shadow Monarch!

Chapter 123 - The Dark Side of the Magical World 01.

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV

London.

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"What's going on here..." A frustrated voice muttered while reading the daily newspaper.

"Is something wrong, Father?" His son asked, entering the room just as Abraxas Malfoy sat in the kitchen with a house-elf—a new addition after he lost Dobby at the auction house—looking quite frustrated by the strange news.

"The sick ones... they went to the Blacks' house. I don't understand what they're planning, but it doesn't seem good when we don't know anything about it." Abraxas spoke without lifting his eyes from the paper.

"The sick ones...? Really? What would they want with the Blacks at the mansion?" Lucius asked, equally puzzled.

"I don't know... but we should investigate... I've been speaking with Astraea for some time now. It's time to formalize your engagement with the youngest granddaughter." He referred to Narcissa, the youngest of the Black sisters.

"I see..." Despite his frustrations over his fiancée ignoring him all year, he still had to follow the family's wishes and would accept his marriage to Narcissa as his father desired.

"Why are the sick ones so active all of a sudden, Father?" Lucius asked, glancing at the newspaper beside him.

"I don't know... but they're acting very strange... I encountered Severus Snape at Gringotts..." Abraxas mentioned this for the first time.

"Snape? Did you manage to catch him?" Lucius asked immediately.

"No... the bank manager... would you believe that Snape was protected by him?" His father said, while Lucius's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Snape, why? Snape shouldn't even have a bank account... he's a poor wretch and practically starving!" Lucius couldn't believe it, still recalling how Snape often couldn't afford things at school, so much so that Lucius would lend him money out of pity, even though the young wizard always repaid him eventually.

"I don't know... Snape is very different from the last time I saw him. As you mentioned, and given his reputation for angering many purebloods... it's true that he's changed quite a bit... he didn't even look at me with wary eyes anymore, and the manager told me he was a valued client, even more so than our privileged family—can you believe that?" Abraxas said with some frustration.

"That's..." Lucius murmured.

"I don't know what's going on between Snape and the sick ones, a half-blood who came out of nowhere and became someone they're defending above the great pureblood families, but we'd better investigate, and I'll find out. I'll deal with him myself..." Abraxas said in a serious tone. "It's a shame that Steve won't cooperate; after all, no one knows where Snape is, according to my sources. He left his father's house and disappeared..." He commented before his gaze shifted back to his son.

"The Dark Lord will want answers, and we need to be ready for his questions. You should try to gather as much information as possible from the Black family. I'll also be visiting them soon and will see Astraea Black to find out what's going on." Abraxas spoke in a stern tone as Lucius nodded in agreement with his father's words.

Lucius could only agree with his father, beginning his day while he prepared to meet some young wizards eager to have a pureblood gathering to discuss matters. Nott would also attend, though he'd been tortured at Hogwarts, and no one knew by whom... though the thought of Snape crossed Lucius's mind, sending a chill through him as he imagined Snape casting an unforgivable curse even against prominent families. But the fact that an Auror had confronted him made Lucius reconsider, realizing that perhaps Snape wasn't that person after all.