William racked his brains for a while but couldn't find words to comfort the disheartened Auror before him. He could only nod and leave a remark, "I'll try to chase them—" Then, his newly emerged figure disappeared above the seawater, fixing the damaged cabin before leaving.
With a gust strong enough to give one a heavy cold, the biting chill finally vanished, and all the "Aurors" breathed a sigh of relief—
But the Azkaban prisoner who was taken away wasn't feeling comfortable—Lucius Malfoy felt like a cat rudely stuffed into a rubber bag; after the dizziness and pressure that seemed endless passed, there was the fleeting sensation of his feet touching the ground again.
The damp, cold air seeped through the thin prisoner clothes into his marrow, his nose filled with the rich scent of water vapor, moss, and decaying earth.
Lucius was tossed to the ground, and he immediately started coughing violently, attempting to vomit out the salty seawater with a rusty taste that had infiltrated his lungs. His eyes were struggling to adapt to the faint light around him—not daylight, but far away, like across a lake, shimmering with a dim, greenish hue, reflected in the dead-still lake below.
"Master..."
Lucius almost instinctively murmured, and then, a fervent light ignited deep within his gray-blue eyes; this power of "faith" even helped dispel his physical discomfort. He struggled to stand firm, yet the heavy shackles on his hands and feet still restricted his movements.
Finally adapted to his current situation, Lucius managed to stand up forcibly. He took a deep breath and looked towards the shadow standing not far away.
The black-robed figure was now standing in shadows—not facing Lucius, casting a twisted and large shadow in the dim green light.
Then, under Lucius's gaze, the black-robed figure took out a "small bowl" from his cloak, then placed the ceramic bowl into the water in front of him. In the next moment, the small bowl began to enlarge, the change continued until it reached a size big enough for two people, then it slowly stopped—
At this point, the black-robed figure turned his head to look at Lucius, who then noticed that the black-robed figure's face was also shrouded in shadow.
...So, how should he distinguish the head (front) from the rear (back)?
The fleeting moment of random thoughts flashed through his mind, and Lucius quickly understood the man's indication. Clutching his still somewhat unusual abdomen, he stood up and slowly sat into the bowl.
The black-robed figure also stepped onto it, and so the "small bowl" parted the waves, heading for the depths of the water.
Soon, within Lucius's view appeared a rocky small island, and it wasn't long before the two stopped next to the island, stepping onto the rock island, which seemed only enough for four adult Wizards to stand upon, and at the island's center was a stone basin, approximately as high as Lucius's waist.
The stone basin's groove was filled with a liquid that was black as ink with a hint of green, and just as Lucius gazed at it, somewhat mesmerized, the figure in black extended his hand.
—In his hand was a... ladle.
"..."
"Do you want me to drink it?"
Lucius fell silent for a moment, then took the ladle, somewhat unsure, and asked.
The black-robed figure nodded.
"..."
Staring at the basin full of liquid that just by "looking" already felt very ominous, Lucius took a deep breath.
Stretch your neck, you get a knife, retract it also a... What the hell!
It would be better to just cut me with a knife!
The ladle was flung out by Lucius with trembling hands; the extreme, almost indescribable terror drained his face pale like a sheet of white paper. The man fell to the ground, his chest heaving violently, the burning sensation in his lungs made him instinctively plunge towards the surrounding pitch-black lake water—
But the expected coolness didn't arrive, as the black-robed figure summoned the ladle back, then fixed Lucius beside him, beginning the ritual of "Big Brother, take your medicine—"
...
A quarter of an hour later, Malfoy's face was as pale as gold paper, unable to even utter a sound of wailing from his throat, collapsing to the ground without the strength to crawl towards the lake.
The black-robed person's gaze lingered on the stone basin before him for a long moment, finally reaching out to retrieve a small golden box with a somewhat faded color from beneath the basin, which then crumbled into a pile of powder in his hand.
Although Lucius didn't know what happened, he keenly noticed that the mood of the black-robed man beside him was unpleasant.
Soon, the almost paralyzed Malfoy was dragged onto the small bowl, and the two again cut through the surface of the water, not only returning to the shore but also exiting the cavern through a narrow opening, inhaling the salty sea breeze at the tip of his nose, but before Lucius could react, their figures flickered, disappeared, leaving only the surging waves futilely crashing onto the empty shore.
...
This time, it seemed they arrived in a somewhat drier place, Lucius noticed someone fed him a cup of water... no, nectar.
The refreshing spring soothed Lucius's mind, relaxing his frown considerably, finally restoring most of his consciousness, sitting up from the bed... Bed?
Touching the still somewhat soft bedding beneath him, Lucius was rather surprised—based on that black-robed figure's aura of nearly drowning him in the basin of unknown liquid, he didn't think that guy or whoever behind him would give him such good treatment, but reality and imagination perhaps were just exactly opposite.
He glanced around, the place seemed just like a very normal living space, with beds, wardrobes, and furniture all fully available.
Before Lucius could truly wrap his head around it, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind, so he stepped down from the bed, walked out the door, looking at the hallway split in two directions, he seemed to have determined one direction, then after crossing through three hallways, he finally paused at a doorway.
By this time, that thought which seemed to guide him finally faded, Lucius looked at the wooden door in front of him a bit bewildered, he was silent for a long while before finally deciding, pulling open the door and walking inside—the room behind was unusually cramped, or rather, except for the spot right at the door, almost everywhere else was swallowed by darkness.
"...Is there anyone?"
Lucius fell into silence for a moment, involuntarily asking.
The voice echoed in the darkness for a while, seeming to circle three times before it finally disappeared.
After waiting a few minutes, just as Lucius thought the upcoming story required his own push, a lamp above suddenly cast light down, instinctively raising his head to look, only to see an exquisitely carved Golden Cup glowing faintly atop a tall wood structure draped in red cloth.