Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 386: Peter and the Abyss

Bellatrix’s laughter echoed in the grim and terrible Azkaban.

“Of all the Death Eaters ever put on trial, Bellatrix is the only one who refused to plead guilty; she kept swearing that her master will come back.” Dumbledore said. He frowned and looked at Bellatrix for a moment, nobody knowing what he was thinking.

“As I knew her, Bellatrix is a creature of ruthlessness and cruelty, and had no love to anything.” Sirius said, “She’s just a replica of my mother, always rambling about family glory and pure blood.”

Sirius did not look at Bellatrix anymore, and seemed determined to ignore her.

“Of course, that was in her school days,” he continued. “She became a Death Eater shortly after graduation, and it’s really surprising that she could still defend Voldemort so heartily, even in the High Court of Wizengamot.”

There were signs that Bellatrix had ambiguous feelings for Voldemort.

Evan thought maliciously that there might be some kind of secret relationship between them.

Voldemort and his favourite female Death Eater…. the idea was as awkward as it was intriguing…

As they moved on, Sirius introduced to him some notorious Death Eaters and other Dark wizards. That weird voice never appeared again.

Dumbledore did not find any anomalies, so it seemed to be just his own imagination.

Evan breathed a sigh of relief and walked on for about twenty minutes. He couldn’t help asking, “Where is Peter Pettigrew?”

“In a special place, it is called the Throat of the Abyss, the core of Azkaban.” Dumbledore explained, “Not all prisoners are eligible to be detained there. The Ministry of Magic probably thinks that Peter Pettigrew is the most vicious prisoner, so he’s put in a special custody.”

Hearing his words, Sirius made a disdainful laugh. “He doesn’t deserve it!” he exclaimed.

“He certainly doesn’t deserve it. He’s not that strong. He’s not as strong as Bellatrix.” Dumbledore said calmly, “But there��s nothing wrong with keeping him in special custody, at least to prevent him from turning into a rat and running away.”

They crossed the cell at the highest floor and began to descend down the narrow staircase on the other side.

The revolving stone staircase stretched downward, seemingly to the deepest part of the earth, straight down to hell.

The floor was now made out of primitive rocks instead of bricks, and the temperature was getting lower and lower.

Evan could hear the sound of the sea, and the cave seemed to extend deep into it.

He could not remember how long he had been walking, and the fog was beginning to fill the surroundings again.

This fog was brought about by countless Dementors, hidden in checkpoints and narrow rock crevices along the way.

Dementors floated there quietly, and he didn’t know what they were waiting for.

“The throat of the abyss, I’ve never been there before!” Sirius said, he looked as surprised as Evan. “I only know that Dementors are all from this place, and that’s where they came from.”

Evan looked around and his unspoken sense of uneasiness grew stronger and stronger.

His consciousness began to blur, and the scene in front of him was undergoing earth-shattering changes.

But when he looked again, he found that nothing had happened, and that everything was his illusion.

In the haze, Evan followed Dumbledore and Sirius to a deep hole in the earth with a glowing green light. The number on it was 7.

This was the cell 7, where Peter Pettigrew was being held.

He seemed to have lost a lot of weight, like a balloon that suddenly deflated, pale and trembling, curled up on an iron bed.

Peter’s small black eyes were dull, and there was no evidence that he was alive.

He lay there, unaware of anything around him.

As the light of Dumbledore’s Patronus shone on Peter Pettigrew giving him back consciousness from the influence of the Dementors, his first reaction was to cry.

He cried like an ugly big child, and then realized what was going on.

He tried his best to stand for Dumbledore, Sirius and Evan. He knelt on the ground, and words of remorse were uttered by his mouth. Just like before, he was asking everyone for forgiveness, and hoping they could take him away from here.

Evan knew that he was not really sincere. He was just afraid of the Dementors and Azkaban. Pettigrew feared that he would continue to be left alone and become a soulless monster.

Evan saw Sirius kick Peter Pettigrew away roughly. He rolled aside like a ball, and then he began to climb over back to him, kissing his robe and pleading bitterly.

If he could hear what he was saying, Evan might have pity on him.

But the scene he was seeing now was completely different from reality. As Pettigrew begged, the green cave in front of him was collapsing.

Evan found that something on him was shining, and he reached out and took the thing out. It was the red nameplate Dumbledore had just returned to him!

It seemed to be awakened somehow; the monster on the nameplate seemed to have suddenly come to life.

He just heard strange words ringing in his mind and the changes happening in front of him were all the reasons for this nameplate. Evan felt his soul was coming out of his body.

It was as if the nameplate was a Portkey, opening the path before his soul to drift fast forward, and be taken to unknown realms.

It was as if he was in a dream, were light was spinning, to be swallowed up by the sea. With the light, the entire world seemed to be spinning.

Many Dementors and other hideous demons emerged from the depths of the earth. They all looked at Evan. The twisted, noisy old demons laughed, along with the little green-haired devils with bat wings.

Even the Dementors had all became excited.

“Dementors are particularly sensitive to changes in the soul, and they become very excited whenever someone dies.”

Evan remembered what Sirius had told him before. They were so excited. Was he going to die?!

He pulled out his wand to use the Patronus Charm.

But before he could read the spell, he found that everything around him had disappeared. The surroundings were calm, and he stood in place gasping violently.

Drawn by the nameplate, his soul has reached its destination.

It was still Peter Pettigrew’s cell, but there was nobody else but Evan.

Dumbledore, Sirius, Peter Pettigrew and the Dementors seemed to have never existed before.

At the location where the original iron bed was, a deep pit suddenly appeared.

It was a path going down. Although no one told Evan where it was heading, he suddenly understood that from now on it was the real Throat of the Abyss!