Harry Potter: The Golden Viper
0784 Choices

The Malfoy Manor

The servants were tending to the lush green lawns, white peacocks strolled and pecked for food around the fountain plaza, and gentle breezes rippled across the lake's surface—this was another peaceful, tranquil day at Malfoy Manor.

The servants, taking advantage of a brief break in their duties, had gathered in small groups to engage in conversations about the day's most anticipated event. The second task of the Triwizard Tournament had captured the imagination of the entire wizarding world, and even the staff of Malfoy Manor were drawn into feisty debates about which champion they favored to succeed in the underwater challenge.

"I tell you, that Granger girl has very good 'luck'," whispered an elderly groundskeeper, his hands still clutching his pruning shears. "Mark my words, she'll find a way through whatever they've planned."

"Luck can only carry one so far," countered a younger groundskeeper. "That Krum fellow has real skill, he has been trained since childhood. And the French girl—she's got Veela blood, doesn't she? That gives her advantages we can't even imagine."

Their lively discussion came to an abrupt halt when they caught sight of the manor's master and mistress approaching along one of the pathways. The servants quickly arranged themselves in a straight line, their eyes fixed respectfully on the ground. They remained motionless as statues, barely daring to breathe, as the elegant couple passed by.

Only when Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had disappeared around a corner of the manor, did the servants allow themselves to exhale the breath they had been holding. Shoulders relaxed, whispered conversations resumed, and the passionate debate about the tournament champions continued in softer tones.

"I find myself puzzled, my dear," Narcissa's melodious voice had a tone of confusion as she glided beside Lucius along the path. "Why would Fudge extend an invitation for us to rejoin the Board of Governors?"

A cloud drifted over from the endless countryside, and Malfoy Manor, which had been bathed in bright sunlight, was suddenly plunged into shadow. Lucius cast a cold glance at the strangely shaped cloud, his expression blank.

"Obviously, our 'beloved' Minister is very dissatisfied with the current state of affairs."

Narcissa was far from the decorative socialite that many assumed her to be. Behind her beauty and refined mannerisms lay a sharp clever mind. Her husband's hint immediately made her understand the true nature of Fudge's plans.

"Ah, I see," She said, nodding slowly. "The Ministry is preparing to intervene more directly in Hogwarts affairs. They're preparing to exert greater control over the school's operations, and they need allies on the Board to facilitate this... transition."

"Your perception serves you well, as always, my dear," Lucius confirmed with a slight nod of his head. "We are all well aware that Fudge's main, indeed, his only concern is the accumulation and maintenance of political power. Watson's increasingly bold actions of independence represent a direct threat to that power structure. I have no doubt that Watson also understands this well, but he doesn't care—"

A smile flickered across Lucius's lips, there one moment and gone the next.

"The incident involving the attack on the young Triwizard champion provided Watson with the perfect excuse to demonstrate his authority," Lucius continued. "With nothing more than a few words, he dismissed Dolores Umbridge from her position in the Transportation Department. Fudge maintained his composure at the time, of course—he's far too skilled a politician to reveal his hand so obviously but we all know how furious he was afterward. The conflict between them will certainly escalate—it's inevitable."

Narcissa's expression grew thoughtful. "But surely inserting ourselves into their brewing conflict cannot serve our family's interests, can it, Dear? We have always prospered most when we remained above such petty squabbles."

For the first time in their conversation, Lucius was without an immediate response. He came to a complete stop on the pathway, his gaze lifting to take in the full magnificence of the ancestral home that had sheltered the Malfoy family for countless generations.

Worry lines appeared across his forehead. Another moment of choice had indeed arrived—one that would determine not only his own fate, but the future of his entire bloodline.

Lucius didn't believe Watson would fail.

Watson was, in Lucius's opinion, essentially Albus Dumbledore stripped of his hypocritical image of benevolent wisdom and humanitarian restraint. Where Dumbledore wrapped his actions in layers of moral justification and necessity, Watson operated with a more direct and rational approach.

Most importantly, Watson would never voluntarily abandon his greatest single advantage—his extraordinary magical prowess. If Watson found himself at a significant disadvantage in the escalating political struggle with Fudge and his supporters, Lucius had little doubt that the man would resort to the most direct solution available: the physical elimination of Cornelius Fudge.

And Watson possessed both the power and the wit to accomplish such a thing without leaving any trace that could be followed back to him.

Years of observation had made Lucius understand that Dumbledore's supposed influence over Watson was far more fragile than most people believed. The relationship between the two powerful wizards was built on mutual respect and shared goals rather than any form of absolute control. When push came to shove, Watson would act according to his own judgment, regardless of Dumbledore's preferences or objections.

After all, as Watson himself had demonstrated on numerous occasions, reputation and political maneuvering were ultimately inferior to the application of raw, overwhelming magical power. In a world where a sufficiently skilled wizard could reshape reality itself with a gesture, all other forms of influence became secondary considerations.

Yet Lucius also knew that Watson was neither reckless nor impulsive. The man would not resort to extreme measures unless he believed them to be absolutely necessary for the protection of his interests and the people under his care. Before that point was reached, there would be a period of intense political and social upheaval—and the early signs of such turmoil were already becoming visible to those who knew where to look.

The Malfoy family's business enterprises had spread their influence throughout the European wizarding world over the course of several centuries.

This network of commercial relationships and financial dependencies was inseparably linked to the Ministry of Magic's continued support and favorable policies. If Fudge and his administration came to believe that the Malfoy family was not firmly committed to their cause, the resulting backlash would be devastating.

Government contracts would be canceled without warning. Regulatory approvals would be delayed indefinitely. Competitors would suddenly receive preferential treatment that had once been the exclusive domain of Malfoy enterprises. The family's business empire could be dismantled piece by piece through nothing more than Ministry hostility and bureaucratic obstruction.

How to extract maximum profit from both sides of this brewing conflict while minimizing exposure to potential retaliation—this was the question that had consumed Lucius's thoughts for the past several weeks, keeping him awake long into the night as he weighed possibilities and calculated risks.

Narcissa watched her husband with concern as he stood motionless, lost in the calculations. She had lived with Lucius long enough to recognize the signs of his deepest contemplations, and she was preparing to say some gentle words of comfort when she was shocked to see her husband's previously dull expression turn pale in an instant, his eyes were suddenly filling with terror.

"Lucius, what in Merlin's name is wrong?" Narcissa asked, her voice sharp with alarm as she quickly moved to support her husband's suddenly swaying body.

But Lucius gave no response to her urgent questions. His gaze had dropped down, fixing in horror on the arm that Narcissa was supporting. His breathing became shallow and rapid, like that of a man who had just run a great distance or received news of unimaginable catastrophe.

"Impossible," He whispered.

For several seconds, Narcissa remained in a state of confused panic, unable to understand what could have caused such a transformation in her husband. Then, with the sudden clarity, understanding crashed over her like a wave of freezing water.

Her own cheeks turned ashen white, matching her husband's pale face as the situation became clear. She staggered backward several steps, shaking her head in desperate denial.

After a few seconds of paralyzed shock, survival instinct overcame disbelief. She rushed forward with sudden determination, her hands trembling but resolute as she grasped her husband's sleeve—the one he had been staring at with horror—and pulled it back to expose his forearm.

The vivid tattoo was crimson red, and the snake held in the skull's mouth was gently moving its head. Lucius's pupils turned blood-red. Since the Dark Lord's downfall, the Dark Mark had never been this active in over a decade, even though it had occasionally emanated heat in recent months.

Whoosh!

The wind that had been gently caressing the lake's surface suddenly turned foul and rancid. The dark clouds that had been drifting peacefully across the countryside now pressed down upon the earth like a suffocating blanket, blocking out the sun and transforming the once-bright day into an unnatural twilight.

Throughout the grounds, the rows of trimmed topiary trees began to bend and sway. The previously peaceful Malfoy Manor was instantly thrown into chaos.

Servants throughout the grounds looked up from their tasks with expressions of confusion and growing fear as the unnatural wind whipped through their carefully ordered world.

It wasn't an illusion.

The burning sensation in his arm grew increasingly clear, and Lucius's lingering hopes shattered.

'The Dark Lord is returning,' the thought echoed through Lucius's mind like a death knell. 'What should I do? What can I do?'

This question had existed in Lucius's mind for quite some time. He knew this day would come, but he hadn't expected it to be so sudden.

Should he flee, or should he loyally follow that Dark Lord again as he had before in pursuit of ideals, he now understood to be nothing more than the frenzied dreams of a madman?

No—there was no option of escape. The Dark Lord and his mad followers would hunt the Malfoy family to the ends of the earth. Even Draco wouldn't escape!

But to comply…. The foolish mistake he had made years ago haunted him. The diary he had lost and destroyed, the precious artifact that the Dark Lord had personally entrusted to his care with the strictest instructions to guard it with his life—all sacrificed in a moment of petty spite against Dumbledore.

If that diary had indeed been what Lucius now suspected it was, then his fate was sealed regardless of his willingness to serve. The Dark Lord had never been known for his magnanimity or forgiveness—this was something he understood clearly even without Watson's warnings.

Even if the Malfoy family demonstrated absolute loyalty and dedication to the Dark Lord's cause, even if they proved their worth through the most dangerous and degrading of tasks, Lucius knew that acceptance was far from guaranteed.

More likely, the Dark Lord would choose to make an example of him, punishment delivered not through the mercy of a quick death but through the destruction of everything he held dear.

The Dark Lord would target Draco.

"He's summoning me," Lucius said out loud, his voice sounding hollow with despair and resignation.

Lucius was drenched in sweat, as if he had suffered a severe illness. His eyes were filled with terror, deaf to his wife's calls.

The Dark Lord was unreliable, treacherous, and ultimately self-destructive—Lucius had learned these truths through bitter experience. But to protect even a few members of his family, to give Draco and Narcissa some chance of surviving the coming storm, he would have to accept the olive branch that Watson extended and the price would be—

"He's summoning me," Lucius repeated, his breathing coming in short, desperate gasps

"I need to write to Watson immediately," He continued, his voice gaining strength as desperation transformed into determination. "The letter must reach him."

"What?" Narcissa stared at her husband in complete confusion, wondering if the shock had somehow damaged his reasoning abilities. She didn't understand why her husband would want to write to Watson at a time like this! "Why would you—"

"There's no time for explanations!" Lucius interrupted. He pulled down his sleeve, grabbed his wife's wrist, and ran madly toward the house, ignoring the servants who rushed up with concerned inquiries upon seeing their disheveled, panicked appearance.

He kicked open the study door. Without pausing to catch his breath, Lucius rushed to his desk. His hands trembling, he pulled out parchment and a quill. At the moment the quill touched the paper, Lucius hesitated briefly, then began to write.

"The Dark Lord has returned. The Malfoy family is willing to follow you, willing to serve as your eyes and ears."

An incredibly simple sentence, followed by Lucius Malfoy's personal magical seal.

"Dear Merlin," Narcissa whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief as she stared at the letter in her husband's hands. "You're going to... this is... this will make us..."

"Traitors," Lucius finished for her, his voice steady despite the magnitude of what he had just written to paper. "Yes, my love. This is exactly what Watson has been waiting for, what he's been planning for since that conversation months ago. He knew this day would come, and he offered us a chance to survive it."

His face was pale, but his eyes held a resolve that had been absent moments before. He quickly sealed the letter with additional protective charms, then pressed it into Narcissa's trembling hands.

"Take the Floo Network to Hogsmeade immediately, find any villager who appears trustworthy—preferably someone with no obvious connections to the Ministry or Death Eater sympathizers. Give them some gold galleons and have them deliver this letter to Hogwarts, specifically to Watson's office. He will understand."

Narcissa stared down at the letter in her hands, understanding what it represented. Her thoughts were interrupted by a muffled sound from behind her. She turned to see her husband rolling up his sleeve once more, exposing the Dark Mark to the dim light.

The tattoo had undergone another transformation during the brief time they had spent crafting their desperate message. Where moments before it had glowed red, now it had turned black.

Lucius waved his wand. A section of the study's wall slid aside, revealing a hidden compartment. From within this secret space, a black hooded cloak emerged, floating through the air to settle into his waiting hands.

"No! Don't go!" Narcissa's voice cracked with desperation as she watched her husband don the garments of his former allegiance. "Please, there must be another way. We can flee together, take Draco and disappear into the Muggle world. They'll never find us there."

But even as she spoke the words, she knew they were born of desperation rather than realistic hope. There was no corner of the world, magical or muggle, where they could hide from the Dark Lord's vengeance once he decided to pursue them.

Lucius paused in his preparations to look at his wife, the woman who had stood beside him through decades of triumph and scandal, prosperity and danger. He tried to smile, but the expression came out as weak and unconvincing.

"The situation regarding this matter is quite simple, my beloved Narcissa," He said softly. "The Malfoy family no longer has the luxury of choice in these matters. We can either attempt to cross the coming storm and hope to emerge with some portion of our lives intact, or we can be swept away by those forces far greater than ourselves."

*******************************

For More Chapters; /FicFrenzy