A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Southwest England,

Wiltshire.

A vast estate.

Malfoy Manor had stood on this land for a thousand years, but few knew that the Malfoys were not originally from England.

The first member of the family to come to England was Armand Malfoy, who arrived with the Norman Conquest.

Thus, King William I granted him a piece of land in Wiltshire, England.

For nearly a thousand years since, the Malfoy family expanded their estate by acquiring the lands of surrounding Muggles, growing their influence and wealth.

They also successfully ventured into Muggle currency and assets, becoming one of the wealthiest wizarding families in Britain.

This prosperity lasted until the rise of the Dark Lord, when they reached their peak, but it waned just as swiftly with his fall.

In the past decade, the family had faced increasingly difficult times with their situation becoming worse and worse, which was a direct result of choosing the wrong side.

In a gorgeous study, only two people sat silently, positioned at a long table adorned with elaborate decorations.

A fire burned in the marble fireplace, casting flickering light around the room. Above the fireplace hung a gilded mirror.

Lucius Malfoy, having finished reading the intelligence report he had just received, finally looked up and turned his gaze to his wife, Narcissa Malfoy, who was sipping coffee.

Lucius reclined in his chair and gently asked, "Narcissa, how was the trip? Did everything go smoothly?"

"It wasn't exactly smooth; the waves were too rough over there," Narcissa stirred her silver spoon in her cup, sighing deeply.

Azkaban Castle sat on a solitary island in the North Sea. It had not originally belonged to the Ministry of Magic, but was built by a Dark Wizard named Ectus.

His goal had been to lure Muggle ships to the island for various experiments, torturing and killing them in the process.

To ensure his success, he chose the location in the middle of frequent storm areas.

July and August were the peak season for the strongest storms.

"How is Bella?" Lucius asked, his concern evident.

"Her condition is terrible..." Narcissa said sadly, "I can hardly recognize her anymore."

Lucius took a sip of his tea and sneered. "Of course, it's bad. Living in that environment for eleven years... Do you know why Azkaban doesn't have Aurors guarding it?

"It's because the Dementors suck the hope and all the joy out of prisoners. The inmates are tortured terribly by the Dementors, and no one ever escapes."

"Is there any way we can rescue Bella?" Narcissa looked at her husband with pleading eyes.

Lucius shot her a sharp look and sternly replied, "Narcissa, don't bring this up again. Officially, we have no connection with the Death Eaters.

"Rescue her?

"How much gold did I spend bribing the Ministry to escape trial?

"And what about Bellatrix?

"She knew the Dark Lord was losing power and still had the audacity to torture the Longbottoms with the Cruciatus Curse.

"In the trial, she even openly declared that the Dark Lord would return, and that everyone would die!

"We are doing her a favor by not sending her to the Dementors for a Kiss."

Narcissa's right hand, adorned with an emerald ring, trembled slightly.

She knew all of this.

But...

"She is still my sister!"

Lucius shook his head, sighing.

"We are not the family we once were. Things are getting tougher. Although Fudge is in power, everyone knows he is just Dumbledore's lapdog.

"Look at this."

Lucius tossed the recent report onto the table, and Narcissa opened it, furrowing her brows in confusion. "The new Muggle Protection Act... what does this have to do with us? We don't harm Muggles."

"Of course, it concerns us! Look at this section." Lucius pointed to a specific passage, reading aloud: "'Aimed at protecting Muggles from the harm of Dark Magic-created objects.' How many Dark Magic objects does our family possess?!"

"Would they dare to search the Malfoy estate?" Narcissa's voice rose sharply.

"Of course, they would dare!" Lucius snapped, "Arthur Weasley was involved in drafting this law. He's also the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office.

"Don't be fooled by how insignificant that position seems. With this law, he can legally raid our house!"

Narcissa frowned. "Can we just pay them off?"

"Not likely," Lucius shook his head, "Dumbledore despises families like ours, and many are now distancing themselves from us because of it.

"Money doesn't work as it used to."

Lucius sighed. "And as for the trip to see your sister Bella—do you know how much galleon I spent and how many connections I used to arrange that?

"Fudge is just a greedy beast!

"He might act friendly to my face, but when it comes time to make money, he's ruthless."

To Lucius, Severus Snape was someone he couldn't help but admire in this regard.

Snape had secretly aligned himself with Dumbledore, and after the Dark Lord fell, Dumbledore had taken him under his wing, allowing him to become the Potions Master.

His foresight had paid off!

If Lucius had known that the Dark Lord would be defeated by a baby, he would have surrendered long ago, rather than find himself in such a precarious situation now.

"So, there's really no way to save Bella?"

Narcissa clutched her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes as she cried. Her chest rose and fell violently, her face flushed.

"Well, it's not entirely hopeless," Lucius said, his voice softening as he gazed at his wife with sympathy.

"How can we save her?" Narcissa asked, her eyes filled with hope.

"Even though Galleons aren't as effective as they once were, they are still Galleons. We just have to compensate Quality with quantity," Lucius said.

He stared at his wife, then asked, "Did your sister agree? Has she agreed to transfer her Gringotts vault assets to your name?

"We can use her wealth to rescue her..."

Narcissa shook her head.

Lucius frowned. "Didn't you tell her about the Ministry's proposed bill to work with Gringotts to confiscate the assets of prisoners serving life sentences?"

Of course, this bill was just a proposal, and it would never pass, as private property was sacred and inviolable.

But Lucius hoped to use this as a pretext to get Narcissa to take control of Bella's vault.

As a House of Black's heir, Bella had inherited a substantial fortune from her mother.

Just thinking about that vast fortune sitting in Gringotts made Lucius' heart ache.

He could never stand seeing money going to waste in another family's vault.

Of course, he was willing to let his own fortune gather dust, considering the greater good of his family's future.

Lucius preferred to help others protect their wealth.

This was why he had sent Narcissa to Azkaban in the first place.

Lucius hoped to use the excuse of "confiscating Gringotts gold" and "bribing officials to release Bella" to have the House of Black fortune—err, reasonably transferred to the Malfoy family!

Narcissa shook her head. "Darling, Bella has lost her mind. Didn't you see her? When she saw me, she grabbed my hand and kept asking if the Dark Lord had returned.

"She was rambling about the happy days she had spent with him..."

"Foolish!" Lucius replied sharply, "What about Sirius Black?"

According to the laws, Sirius Black had no inheritance rights, as he had been disinherited.

House of Black's fortune, except for Bella and Narcissa's share, would mostly go to Regulus Black.

But Regulus had died, and Sirius, being the only male heir, would have inherited most of the fortune.

"That Sirius... when he saw me, he just laughed... as if he were watching a joke."

Narcissa shivered slightly, clearly recalling that day.

"Let's go again sometime," Lucius said, unwilling to give up, "I'll go with you."

"It's beyond my expectations that they survive this long. If they die in Azkaban, the fortune will be lost forever."

As one of the most prominent pure-blood families, the House of Black's fortune was far greater than the Malfoys'. Lucius couldn't bear to let it slip away!

"Darling," Narcissa asked hesitantly after a pause, "Do you think the Dark Lord will ever return?"

Lucius looked up, his gaze distant as he stared at the ceiling. His voice echoed through the empty study.

"I don't know. But I hope... he never returns..."

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