Malfoy Manor
Bang!
An explosive crack echoed through the entrance hall.
Lucius Malfoy stumbled out of the twisted space.
His meticulously groomed platinum-blond hair clung in disarray to his sweat-damp forehead, all his usual aristocratic composure gone.
He staggered toward the enormous fireplace in the entrance hall, the snake-headed cane in his hand scraping shrilly across the floor.
"Incendio!"
Lucius roared, pointing the trembling tip of his cane at the traveling cloak he had just torn off, steeped in the salty tang of the sea wind.
A mass of dark red flames sprang into being, instantly swallowing the entire heap of expensive fabric.
The flames danced greedily, crackling until every trace of the North Sea, of Azkaban, of that whole damned affair had been burned into a pinch of unrecognizable ash.
Lucius stared fixedly at the ashes, his chest heaving.
Only when the last spark died did he cast a Vanishing Spell, erasing every trace.
Only then did he turn around, as though utterly drained, brace both hands against the enormous gilded mirror frame above the fireplace, and gasp for breath.
The man reflected in the mirror filled him with an unfamiliar fear.
Gone was the pure-blood aristocrat who had once navigated the Ministry of Magic with ease, who needed only to raise an eyebrow for Cornelius Fudge to hasten forward with a welcoming smile.
In his place stood a pale, hollow-eyed... failure, with nothing but terror left in his expression.
His eyes no longer held that deeply ingrained arrogance, only a lingering fright that seeped into his marrow, and a bottomless uncertainty about the future.
"Failed... a complete failure..."
He muttered to his reflection.
Just then, hurried, frantic footsteps came from the stairs.
"Father! Father!"
Draco Malfoy rushed down in silk pajamas, running so fast that one of his