The Cave was pitch-black.
The sound of waves crashing against the cliffs came from afar, and water occasionally dripped from the ceiling. Apart from that, nothing stirred.
The air was thick with the cold, salty smell of seawater, mingled with a hint of the Altar's sinister aura.
Barty Crouch Sr. stood hunched on the shore of the black Underground Lake. The sea breeze stirred his graying hair, making him look somewhat forlorn.
His gaze was fixed on the figure not far away, his eyes filled with an indescribable pain.
It was his son, Barty Crouch Jr.
The Death Eater, who had just been beaten down by Douglas in the most direct way possible and then forced to swallow Magic Suppressant, was pacing along the shore like a trapped beast, low, rasping growls rising from his throat.
Douglas stood there at ease, toying with a Silver Wire Cage as Nagini kept ramming against its bars.
"Do you really think doing this... will work?"
After a long while, Old Crouch finally spoke, his voice very hoarse.
He did not turn around, his gaze still resting on his son's back.
"I mean, will shutting him up here and making him read those... Muggle books really change him? The evil in his heart... runs too deep already."
"Whether he changes is up to him, Mr. Crouch."
Douglas's voice was calm.
"I'm merely giving him a choice, a chance to use his own brain to work out just what it is he believes in."
He paused, a hint of amusement entering his tone.
"After all, using a genius's brain to study things he looks down on, only to discover that they're more interesting than everything he's spent his life learning... that must be hard to stomach, wouldn't you say?"
Old Crouch closed his eyes in