Spinner's End, Snape's house.
For the first time ever, this house, which had long been occupied by Snape alone, welcomed a guest.
Lucius Malfoy's cloak billowed behind him.
The faint, lingering stench in the air made him furrow his brow deeply.
The source of this foul odor was a dirty, rubbish-strewn river that wound its way past Spinner's End.
Lucius quickened his pace, walking past boarded-up, dilapidated windows, his footsteps echoing against the cobblestones.
He stopped in front of the very last house in the alley.
Taking a small piece of parchment from his pocket, Lucius softly read the address written upon it.
In the next moment, the ground rumbled, and a house materialized abruptly, squeezing out the building that had stood before him and taking its place right before Lucius's eyes.
Naturally, this spectacle was visible to Lucius alone.
Once Snape's house appeared before him, sparks of fire erupted from Lucius's fingertips, incinerating the piece of parchment held between his fingers.
Before he could even raise his hand to knock, the front door swung open soundlessly on its own.
Flipping his hood back to reveal his long, platinum-blonde hair, Lucius walked straight into the living room.
Snape, who was sitting on the sofa, set down the newspaper in his hands. He had clearly been waiting for a long time.
"Severus," Lucius greeted him briefly, sitting down directly on another sofa across from Snape.
"Lucius," Snape replied, his voice devoid of any inflection.
"Why have you called me here?"
"I have found the whereabouts of the other two Deathly Hallows," Snape said. "I need you to help me."
"Help?" Hearing Snape's words, Lucius froze for a moment before recovering. "How so?"
The Invisibility Cloak was in Harry's possession. If Snape wanted to, obtaining it wouldn't be a difficult task.
The Boy Who Lived had absolutely no idea how precious a treasure the Invisibility Cloak in his hands truly was. Forgetful as he usually was, it wasn't just once or twice that he had misplaced it.
The only real difficulty lay with the Elder Wand.
Snape motioned with his hand, and a kettle flew over, pouring tea into the cups arranged on the table before them on its own accord.
Picking up his teacup, Snape gently blew across the steaming liquid.
"There is no need to worry about the Invisibility Cloak. The only thing of note is that the Elder Wand is in the hands of Albus Dumbledore."
Lucius's gaze grew somewhat panicked. "You aren't planning to assassinate Dumbledore, are you?"
"Assassinate?" For the first time, a faint trace of emotion flickered in Snape's tone.
He had always thought Lucius was a complete coward, but he hadn't expected the man to be so bold—so utterly audacious as to consider assassinating Dumbledore.
Snape let out a scoff. "How could that be possible?"
Hearing Snape's words, the heart that had leaped into Lucius's throat finally settled down a bit.
"Albus Dumbledore has a son," Snape spoke in a chillingly cold tone.
Dumbledore's son?
Lucius froze for a moment. Was Snape talking about that boy named Kyle Dumbledore?
He had initially thought Kyle was just a distant relative of Dumbledore's. After all, considering the massive age gap between the two, for an old man in his nineties to produce a child was simply too bizarre.
But he never expected that Kyle was actually Dumbledore's son.
So, did Snape intend to capture Dumbledore's son and use him to coerce Dumbledore into handing over the Elder Wand?
"If it's just a matter of capturing a young wizard who is still attending Hogwarts..."
Lucius looked at Snape with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"With your abilities, there shouldn't be much of a problem even if you acted alone, right?"
Snape shook his head gently. "You don't understand just how terrifyingly talented the children of the Dumbledore family are."
"Even though he is only a third-year student, not even an elite Auror is a match for him."
Snape's words successfully reminded Lucius of that day at Hogwarts Castle, when Kyle had planted a kick right onto his handsome face. Even now, he could still feel a dull ache in his cheekbones.
Rubbing his cheek, Lucius banished those unbearable memories from his mind.
"So, you want me to sneak into Hogwarts and help you capture Kyle Dumbledore?"
Snape nodded slightly, then shook his head. "No, you don't need to enter Hogwarts."
"A Hogsmeade weekend," Snape said succinctly.
Although he was highly reluctant to accompany Snape on such a crazy venture, the faint, shimmering glow emanating from the scar on his arm left him no choice but to comply.
He hesitated, muttering, "If he truly is as exceptionally gifted as you say, will the two of us be enough?"
Snape looked at him as if he were looking at an idiot.
Lucius slapped his thigh, realizing how foolish he had been to ask such a question.
Currently, their Kara Organization—or more accurately, Lucius himself—had already contacted a small group of former Death Eaters who used to follow Voldemort.
Unlike those fencesitters who had paid a heavy price after Voldemort's fall to escape the Ministry of Magic's trials and avoid imprisonment, the individuals Lucius had contacted were loyal Death Eaters who had survived the purges.
They were like rats living in the dark, sunless gutters, barely scraping by in the wizarding world.
Lucius's recruitment under the guise of Voldemort's name was like a saving grace to them, which was exactly why these people, still completely kept in the dark, remained fiercely loyal to him.
They still naively believed that Lucius was genuinely planning to lead them to welcome back their Dark Lord.
If there was any dirty work to be done, sending them was the best option, sparing the two of them from having to get their own hands dirty.
Furthermore, given Kyle's status as Dumbledore's son, these people would undoubtedly put forth twelve tenths of their effort.
"Have your people get ready and await the arrival of the next Hogsmeade weekend."
Snape set down his empty teacup. "When the time is ripe, I will send you a signal."
After a moment of silence, Lucius nodded slowly.
He didn't have any other choice anyway.
"In that case, I shall take my leave." Lucius stood up and left the dimly lit room, which felt more like a prison cell than a living room.
Snape let out a soft, low sigh.
He walked slowly over to the living room window, gazing out at the desolate street outside.
If given a choice, he wouldn't want to make an enemy out of Dumbledore either.
Even though he had now decided to make a move against Kyle, he had never intended to take the boy's life.
All he needed to do was gather the three Deathly Hallows. Once he resurrected Lily, he would return the little demon back to Dumbledore completely unharmed.
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