Chapter 267: Unable to Contact

Chapter 267: Unable to Contact

Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 267: Unable to Contact

"Lumos." A small bright sphere illuminated the hall.

A bit of moonlight was able to get into the entrance hall, but the upper corridors were pitch black.

There were some torches on the walls, but all of them were off.

'Something happened here...' The more time he spent here, the more he had this feeling.

Even if Augustus Rookwood was the only member left of his family or the only one who lived here, there should be at least some servants working here. A castle this big would need at a minimum three house elves or two dozen squibs to keep it in decent shape.

Harry looked over the furniture and decorations as he walked. There was no dust on them. The wooden floors were clean and polished. This home had been well cared for until recently.

'It also makes no sense for the wards to be... wait...' His green eyes moved to a double door to his right. It appeared to be the entrance to a dining hall or another large room.

But what caught his attention was that one of the door handles was missing and there were slash marks on the wooden surface. He could even feel the traces left behind by the cursed weapons that had been used.

Harry pushed the door open and aimed his wand inside.

"Wait! What?..." That had never happened before. Calling a spirit would take a toll on his magic, but despite that, he would be able to maintain it for a long time.

This could only mean that this was not a failure on his part but instead, it was on Rookwood himself.

"The soul... whatever they did to him, they must have also damaged his soul..."

He personally knew a few ways to accomplish that. There are spells out there that are capable of attacking more than just the body.

There is even an entire branch of magic dedicated to affecting the soul. It's called soul magic, but its main purpose is not to destroy souls but to find ways to make them stronger.

It is commonly believed that the soul is tightly associated with one's magic and is also the reason some people are able to use magic at all, while others just can't.

'There is another branch of magic whose practitioners normally delve a lot into the study of the soul... necromancy.'

Necromancy and soul magic go well together, and sometimes you need the latter to make the former work at all.

"Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Whether this was the work of a necromancer or someone else... it doesn't get me closer to my initial goal."

He came here looking for information about the other Death Eaters, and especially to Lord Parkinson.

Now he was left empty-handed, with no more leads to follow. He did not know where to find any of the other members of Parkinson's inner circle, and he couldn't exactly walk into a Wizengamot meeting and kill them there.

"There is another way..." He did not want to use this method, but the only other person who could lead him to where he wanted to go was Pansy Parkinson.

He had no qualms about using Draco Malfoy to access his house. But Pansy was innocent, as far as he knew, she had no idea what her father was doing behind the curtains.

With a sense of defeat... he returned to Hogwarts.

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