Pfft—
Before the compressed air could let out a sharp crack, the gale atop the mountain scattered it, reducing it to the faint hiss of a leaking balloon.
The two men who appeared on the mountaintop turned back at the same time, gazing at the beautiful view of Ottery St Catchpole.
From such a height, the village looked like a scattering of toy houses beneath enormous beams of light slanting down through the clouds.
Both men tried to find the carefully cleaned broom shed they had just left.
Yet the distance and clear moonlight made that isolated house at the edge of the village seem like a single wave among the rolling swells of a boundless sea, impossible to distinguish.
The two gentlemen withdrew their gazes and looked instead at the house standing between the neighboring slopes, like a black pillar.
Though they could have Apparated there directly, neither spoke, yet they showed a mutual understanding as they set off on foot toward the house.
"Come to think of it, I haven't had the chance to express my regrets to you, Lucius—"
Though he was walking downhill, every step Adam took through the gale was firm and steady, no easy feat for a man of his age.
"I heard that after the Battle of Diagon Alley, the Dark Lord took your wand."
"What do you mean by that?"
Lucius Malfoy remained expressionless. Deep in his indifferent gaze, fixed on the stone house, lay a trace of hidden unease.
"The Dark Lord chose my wand. That is proof of his trust in me. I'm afraid you cannot understand that, to those of us who have sworn to serve the Dark Lord unto death, it is the highest honor."
"Ah, my apologies—"
Adam said, though there was not the slightest apology in