together very soon,' he promised, 'if you do as we require. You may do it today, this very afternoon if you wish. I will assist you. But you must do it with no hesitation and no questions. It may shock you and even pain you, but only a little, and it will be over in mere minutes. Can you do that, my dear Mrs. Agnellis?'
She nodded, nervously but with great resolution. 'I knew that Wilfred's bosses weren't the nicest of people, and that the things they made him do were sometimes awful. I told him then what I'm telling you now, sir: I don't want to know anything about it. I'll do what you want me to do, but don't make me know any more about it than I have to. I just want my Wilfred back, and after that, we'll take our leave of the lot of you, if you don't mind.'
Lucius nodded understandingly, patting her hand, but Lianna seemed to have nothing more to say. The firm line of her mouth proved to Lucius that the simple-minded woman had determined to do nearly anything to get her husband back. She seemed to sense it would be rather horrid, but she had a look on her face that Lucius knew well. It was the look that said I will do whatever it takes, and then I will never speak of it
When Lucius was quite confident that the look of resolve was fully solidified on Lianna's face, he reached slowly into his robe, maintaining his expression of kind concern. He produced a folded black cloth and laid it on the table.
'Unwrap it, Mrs. Agnellis,' he said quietly. 'It is for you.'
She reached and pulled the folded cloth to herself. She unwrapped it and stared blankly down at the ugly silver dagger.
Lucius continued to smile at her. 'It'll only hurt for a moment,' he said reassuringly. He began to explain to her what she must do.
'That's absolutely horrible,' Rose said, her voice shaking. 'Your grandfather is a monster!'
Scorpius didn't respond. He looked away, glancing at the dusty Mirror of Erised.
Ralph frowned. 'So how did that Baddock bloke get the dagger Horcrux?'
'He was a seventh-year student at Hogwarts right before the battle,' Scorpius said. 'My grandfather thinks the dagger somehow allowed Baddock to find it, knowing it could use him to get to where it wanted to be.'
'Poor stupid git,' Rose said, sighing.
'But if the dagger was with Baddock,' James asked, 'then what was the magical object your grandfather sensed in the Forbidden Forest—' He stopped suddenly as the answer came to him. Rose's eyes widened as she also made the connection.
'The Resurrection Stone!' she breathed. 'That's how they found it! He got lucky enough to get near it when his senses were on high alert! He felt the lost Resurrection Stone and mistook it for the hidden dagger!'
'He must have realized that as well,' James nodded gravely. 'He probably didn't know what it was, but after Baddock tried to attack him, he knew the thing in the Forest couldn't have been the dagger. Eventually, he snuck out into the Forest to look for it. Bloody hell! He must have wet himself when he found out it was Slytherin's half of the Beacon Stone!'
Scorpius shook his head. 'I don't know anything about that part, but yes, it would make sense.'
'So,' James asked, 'that's the end of the story, then? This poor Lianna woman scratched Voldemort's initial on her belly and gave birth to a baby with part of Voldemort's soul in it?'
Scorpius nodded, still averting his eyes, 'She was sick with what she'd done, and of course, my grandfather did nothing to see that her husband was released from Azkaban. Not that he really could even if he'd wanted to. All of that had been lies. Eventually, as Wilfred wasn't released, Lianna became convinced that she'd done something awful, and for no reason. She became very sick and was taken to St. Mungo's hospital. That night, she died giving birth to her baby.'
Ralph's lips were pressed into a thin line. He shook his head and said, 'This is awful. I didn't need to know any of this.'
Rose looked up, her eyes shining. 'Whatever happened to the baby's father?'
'Wilfred stayed in Azkaban for years. He knew his wife had died giving birth to his child, but he never saw the baby. He demanded to be let out so he could raise his child. He became irrational and was put into solitary confinement. A short while later, he was found dead in his cell. My grandfather believes he was thrown into the Dementor pit by some of the guards.'
'The 'Dementor pit'?' Ralph said, shuddering.
Rose sighed shallowly. 'The Dementors used to be the guards at Azkaban. When they were deemed untrustworthy, most of them were rounded up and imprisoned there themselves, in a virtually lightless room in the cellar. Just like with the Borleys, the Dementors are creatures of shadow: without light to show up against, they're helpless. Azkaban's dark pit keeps them imprisoned and weak but mad with hunger. If a human was thrown into the pit with them, it'd be an extremely horrible death.'
Ralph asked, 'But why would the guards throw that poor sap into the pit?'
'Revenge,' Scorpius said simply. 'They believed he was holding out, protecting the worst Death Eaters, the ones who hadn't yet been captured. Most of the new guards at Azkaban had been former Aurors and Harriers. They'd seen loads of people killed by the Death Eaters and had no mercy on someone they believed was protecting those responsible. Nothing was ever proved though.'
'So the baby was an orphan,' James said quietly. 'Just like my dad.'
Scorpius nodded. 'To my grandfather's great anger, the baby was a girl child. To this day, he has no idea that it was the hex of Severus Snape that clouded his judgment, working through the dagger itself. He refuses to refer to the child as a 'she', calling it either 'the Bloodline' or even 'it'. He simultaneously despises her and obsesses over her, knowing she bears the last shred of his dead master. The baby girl was raised by Lianna's parents, who were not particularly loving. My grandfather has spied on them regularly through the years. The grandparents were never overtly cruel, but Grandfather believes they secretly blame the girl for the death of their daughter.'
Rose shook her head. 'Stop. I don't want to hear any more. It's just too beastly.'
James face had grown hard and resolved. He looked at Scorpius. 'No,' he said. 'You've told us everything else. Now tell us the most important part. Tell us who the Bloodline is.'
'I'd thought you would have figured that bit out by now,' Scorpius answered. 'She is the only known orphan girl currently at Hogwarts, although she never speaks of it. She has her mother's dark hair and her father's height, but everything else, she gets from the persistent dark influence of the dagger Horcrux, from the last fragmented wisp of the soul of Voldemort. She was standing right next to you this afternoon, hidden behind a bookshelf in the library, listening to you three. It was her presence that set off the Sneakoscope in Ralph's satchel. You know who I mean. Tell me her name because I can't bring myself to say it out loud. My grandfather would kill me, and he'd probably use that stupid dagger to do it.'
James looked at Rose and Ralph, measuring their faces, and then he looked at Scorpius.
'The Bloodline of Voldemort is Tabitha Violetus Corsica,' he said firmly. 'Somehow, I've known it all along.'
'Then you know something else as well,' Scorpius said, sighing and standing up.
'What?' Ralph said, looking one by one at everyone in the room.
Rose answered calmly, 'We know who Bloodline is, so we also know who the host of the Gatekeeper is going to be. Both are Tabitha.'
James shook his head slowly. 'The only thing we don't know,' he said, 'is how and when it's going to happen and what we can do to stop her.'
