Lucius's expression changed. This man was mad. Even if he genuinely didn't recognize Will, couldn't he take the hint when he saw Lucius accompanying him?
"Callum, shut up!" Lucius said hastily. "Has something you ate rotted your brain?"
"Mr. Malfoy, please be quiet." Will waved a hand, silencing Lucius.
Lucius immediately fell silent. At that, every Death Eater in the hall turned toward Will. Anyone who could silence a senior Death Eater like Lucius with a single remark was clearly no ordinary person.
Some seemed to recognize Will and looked astonished, but most had yet to catch on.
Will looked at Callum, who was still gnawing on raw meat. He cast a disgusted glance at the yellow fat on it and drew his wand.
"You want to fight me? You—aaaargh!"
While Callum was spouting nonsense, a spell struck him at a speed almost too fast for the naked eye to follow. A scream cut off his words as twisted, winding bone spikes sprouted from his arms, shredding great swathes of flesh.
In the blink of an eye, Callum's arms were gone. All that remained were hideously twisted bone spikes with strips of mangled flesh dangling from them. The agony and rapid blood loss left him unable to speak. He could only groan in pain.
Horror flashed in Lucius's eyes, while the other Death Eaters instinctively backed away from Callum at the sight of his gruesome condition.
"Muggle research in 'science' has found that humans who consume the brains or spinal cords of other humans may become infected with 'prions.' Supposedly, this infection causes holes to form in the brain.
I've always wanted to observe the living brain of someone infected with them firsthand.
Callum, was it? You have the honor of becoming my experimental material. Not only will you get